DeVries

Hi Everybody.

We are passed the three month mark.... Time flies... caught you .... You thought I was going to say, Time flies when you are having fun.... 

No seriously, time flies!  Some days are fun and other days just are. 

We are really fortunate to be here during Ramadan.  We were told that to experience Ramadan in Egypt is special and it really is.

In most of the areas, people decorate their houses and streets and it looks great.  The decorations are not fancy or expensive but it really is very festive.  In some areas the children collect LE2 (about R2.40) from each flat, buy the paper and make the decorations themselves.

The effects of Ramadan on our surroundings have been significant.  People work shorter hours, rush home, massive traffic snarls at strange times and then it quietens down for about a hour, maybe hour and a half and then night life starts.  Everyone visits and there are firecrackers and laughter and the ever present hooters.

This carries on until 2 am or so and then it’s quiet again until about 7h30.  The day slowly starts again.  Traffic builds up again, the owners of the donkey cars call out selling the wares, car hooters etc. 

The other effect that Ramadan has on our surrounding is smell.  The food that my neighbours cook smells amazing.  I have often been tempted to go and knock on one of the doors with a plate in my hand looking sorry for myself.  I wonder if it would work? 

Talking about amazing – the fruit here is great.  I think it must be because there is an abundance of local fruit and it is picked almost or completely ripe.  It definitely affects the taste.

At the moment there is an abundance of cherries, dark red, plump and sweet.  Watermelons.  Mangos of all shapes, sizes and varieties.  Figs.  Peaches.  Plums.  Melons.  Kiwis.  Bananas.  Dates.  Apples.  Pears.  If I have to choose a favourite, it would be mangos first and then cherries.  

There are fruit stands on almost every street.  A two minute walk in any direction allows me to replenish the fruit and I buy just enough for two days. Because fruit is so plentiful and easily accessible it allows me to make my favourite breakfast food almost every day.  Smoothies.  I cut the bananas into four pieces and freeze them.  This forms the basis of the smoothie.  At the moment my favourite recipe is:  four pieces of frozen bananas.  One mango, a handful berries/cherries, some ice water and two ice cubes.  Two scoops of Whey Protein.  Blitz and serve.  For variety, add one carrot some days and other days add a handful of raw almonds.  It’s also quick and easy.

More than enough to keep hunger at bay until sunset.

With sunset comes Iftar (breaking of the fast).  Families and friends gather together and eat the evening meal. 

Ramadan ends soon.  Then the celebration called Eid-ul-Fitr begins.  It is a 3 day celebration of the breaking of the fast. 

I have been alone since the 4^th as Andre is away at the moment and due back this coming week.  It has definitely shifted my comfort zone again.  I don’t have any reason for not feeling safe but being here on my own is strange.  It has made me appreciate Andre even more.  (Yes yes – before I wax lyrical... smile..Let’s move on.)

I am beginning to understand some of the Arabic words.......   (I am going to write phonetically otherwise none of you will understand what I am writing about but I am not even going to pretend that it is correct in any way but here goes...)  There is one cart that comes by calling “bateeck, bateeck” – the excitement when I recognised that the first time – I can only smile at myself – that is the watermelon seller – Watermelons are delicious here.  Very sweet and there are many different varieties.  Then there is the guy that walks past and he has a mini hooter that he blows, makes an enormous racket.  The first time I heard that I rushed out to see what on earth was going on.  He has a pole that balances across his shoulder.  Tied onto one end, candyfloss (spook asem for my Afrikaans readers), in the middle balloons and on the other end, dolls. 

Then there is the mystery cart (no longer a mystery as my friend Melody told me yesterday what it was).  I couldn’t place the word the driver shouts and I would look at the cart and wonder.  (It sounds like “Retnya” or “Vertnja”)  All I can see is rubbish.  Some wooden planks, sometimes bits and pieces of electrical goods (broken), some plumbing scraps etc.  I assumed he collected rubbish to cart away.  Remember Andre’s saying “Nothing is as it seems here in Egypt”....  Spot on again.  This cart is a handyman cart.  The driver and his helper go up and down the streets and if you have a handyman problem, they are IT.  Mystery solved. 

Another mystery has been the cars parked in the street.  Some of the owners leave the windshield wipers up and we asked a few people why they do that.  We finally figured that one out.  It is a sign to the guys that wash the cars.  You leave your wipers up, your car gets washed.  Good system.  Now of course there are about 2 343 567 other million mysteries still to go.  As I get to the bottom of each one, I will let you know.

Another car wash system is on the national roads.  Two guys with hose pipes.  Cars, trucks and even donkey/horse carts pull up, get washed down, pay a few pounds and away you go again.  (Even the horse gets washed down!)

Another ingenious system I have seen is that in some of the areas, the women have buckets and when they hear the street vendors, they check to see if they want something, buy it from their windows or balconies, put money in the bucket, down it goes, product in the bucket and it gets hauled back up.  Transaction done. 

Let me end this letter with a lesson that I have learned here in the last month.  No matter what your status in life, we are all equal and at the end of our lives, the thing that will count is how much we have loved.

On that note.....

Much love,

Andre and Juanita