Another Magical Day: Independence day (THIRD OF JULY 2013)

This is a magical day to all Egyptians. Finally we got our 
country back... We have been kidnapped..Our country was stolen 
and pushed into the dark
 The Americans have a fourth of July and we, Egyptians, have the third of July as our independence day !i

We were transferred by Ikhwan into the dark ages…  the times of ignorance and evil and vulgarity…

And our ‘Tamarod’  youth  freed us again;  they brought us back to the light of hope and freedom. They gave us back our country and our identity that was kept intact despite all Ikhwan’s attempts to transform it.

“Tamarod” was the magical word that did the trick…

The energy and enthusiasm and hope our youth put into every tamarod document were contagious. People signed even without believing that it can work. Well, it did work like magic, white and pure magic.

Mabrouk to all Egyptians and to all those who love Egypt, the real one!

Mothering: Excerpt from Safe or Sound

I had the best evening with Kooky and Semsem, after Salem and Maha left. I resisted them so much; they wanted me to watch a Disney movie with them and I had piles of plates in the sink and wanted to finish tomorrow's lunch because my schedule is really tight with six hours of teaching three different classes and I still had to prepare some materials.  I said OK, when you decide what movie to watch, come and tell me and I will watch as much as I can when I clean up the kitchen. But then Kareem said,' Mama, do you know what I really want to be right now?  I want to be your mother and you my son.'  When I asked why, he said "because then I will choose to sit and watch the movie with you!" I was amazed at the logic of my sweet five year old son, and his way with words. It was simple as that. And I just could not resist it.

I went to the kitchen, turned the stove off and closed the door so that I will not see how badly the kitchen needed cleaning. TO HELL WITH THE KITCHEN!  I sat on the big sofa between the twins and we played The Lion King, again , maybe for the fiftieth times, but it felt different this one time.  We got a blanket because it was cold; we snuggled, laughed, tickled, and hugged. We cried when Mufasa died and sang along with Simba and Nala and danced with "I just can't wait to be king" and roared like a lion till we almost lost our voices.

 I wish I can do this more often . l wish I have time to engage with the twins in fun activities and stop being a caterer for food, a driver or a teacher. I realized after that night how much I needed them and how much I wanted to be a real mother. Mothering is not something you do by instinct; you really need to learn and my best teachers so far are my lovely twins. 

Morning Tension (excerpt from Safe or Sound?)

Salem stood leaning lazily on the kitchen door watching Hala;  she was busy stirring something in a big pot then she added vegetables inside it and covered it. She had already dressed for work and she had rolled the long sleeves of her blouse up.

What are you doing in the kitchen; it is only five a.m.  the smell woke me up, he finally announced his presence.

Oops, sorry.  We’re having a dish party for the new comers in the department and I am making koushary and lentil soup; I did not fry the onions yet to avoid the smell; you smelled the cakes maybe?

How nice, cooking at dawn for your Indian, Bengali, Pakistani and lovely Saudi colleagues and complaining every day about cooking for you own kids!

Hala wanted to remain calm; she will wake the kids up in half an hour and Salma will give her a hard time before she leaves for school;   then she will six hours of teaching.  She started to scoop the rice and lentils out of the tefal pot with a big spoon and place it in the oval stainless steel serving dish, then she placed the lid on the pot again and opened the oven and placed it inside to keep it warm for lunch. She moved mechanically like a robot and the tense muscles in her shoulders and back started to ache.

I will serve his breakfast first; I don’t want the kids to feel any tension; it is enough what Salma feels about school and abayas and all. She behaves like someone taken to jail to serve a life sentence, every morning.  

She removed the dishes of boiled egg halves and the chick peas from the table in the center of the kitchen to the other side. She will use these later for decorating kousahary. She started serving cheeses and cold cuts right from the fridge. Salem followed her movement from the fridge to the cook to heat something in a pan and sat at the table. "Do you expect me to eat that cold stuff?"

I am preparing foul and scrambled eggs.

Do we have any konafa? I want a piece with tea.

I ran out of Konafa…let me write it on the list or I will forget; she said as she moved to write something on a long piece of paper she placed under a magnet on the freezer door.. but I have some cakes for your tea, I have just baked it.

"An ideal wife", he said with a tone of ridicule; see I don't use the words you hate anymore…. I said" ideal", not "good". Satisfied?

Thank you! She still tried to act naturally, she had prayed God to help her remain calm for Salma's sake and now it is Salem playing on her nerves and looking for a morning scene. She hoped that he will eat and go back to sleep again before he pumps into Salma, witnesses her ugly morning rituals and starts to fight with her.   She had never hated school back in Egypt; even in kindergarten.  Poor Salma, she misses being with Kareem in the same class, and she misses her old friends and  the club and swimming under the sun rays every Friday morning and tennis practice twice a week.  Even though they go to an international school, they still have to follow Saudi school regulations, separating boys and girls and forcing girls to wear black abayas on top of the uniform.

Food in China

A family picnic in Crown Plaza  

We have been warned about the food in China before we came and had prepared a list of  restaurants that offer Halal food but we were disappointed all the same.  It is not that Chinese food is bad or tasteless- my kids used to eat at Panda house and Chinese corner in Cairo all the time- but we could never make sure if it had pork or not.

In all the regular Chinese restaurants  we tried , there were no English menus and few waiters spoke English.  Since all the Chinese we knew was "nee haw" and " "cece", communication was impossible in any way.  Our list of Islamic restaurants was no good too because the ones near our hotel turned out to be under construction or mobilization! For the first couple of days we still had hope to find one and when we finally got there, we were totally disillusioned.   

The smell was awful, the place looked dirty and ,to our surprise and dismay, there was nothing Islamic about the menu; they had many pork dishes and even more, they had some donkey meat.   The smell of boiled cabbage permeated the place and I felt a sudden urge to vomit or cry, neither of which I could do in front of my kids!  The only beef they had in that restaurant was served raw with vegetables and we had to do the cooking in their hot pot!  No offense meant or anything, but in our Egyptian culture, you go to a restaurants  to be served and pampered, not to do the cooking yourself. I was in no mood to try any new cooking experience.  Had I not been tired to death with every muscle and joint aching after four days of traveling and sightseeing, I would have loved the idea of a hot pot on a restaurant table and cooked for my family in the manner I used to do for the last twenty years. BUT I COULD NOT DO IT THEN OR THERE.  That was way too much.  Nora almost fainted from fatigue and disgust and we decided to leave after ordering two dishes that no one could eat.

But at least we knew better than trying to find other restaurants, Halal or no Halal, we will not set foot into any Beijing restaurants   again.   

After four days of near starvation, we decided to save what remained of our energy by eating a big lunch in the kids' hotel room. We finally came across 711 and there we got the only foods we could recognize: toast, cheese, boiled eggs, Pepsi, fruits and chocolates.  Since the hotel room had only one small table and one chair, on which I sat in front of the treats, everyone else sat on beds and waited for their turn to eat. I had never seen my children so happy to eat the cheese and eggs  sandwiches I made. They savored every bite of the food with huge appetite and asked for more!  That was one hell of a picnic.  We still love China!

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

sweet little things 2

Yes, I insist; life can be joyful. You must work hard to spot happiness anywhere and grab it. It will not come easy to you if you do not do your best to seize it.

 Despite the traffic jam, despite the rubbish heaps on every street corner, despite drivers cursing one another and homeless children selling tissue paper as a means of begging; despite non-stop TV commercials urging you to pay the last pound in your pocket to help save the life of poor sick children, or participate in the education of promising needy youth; despite all the misery in your heart and around you.

Despite everything… life can be joyful; life must be joyful. Don’t lose faith; don’t surrender to the tensions and worries; open yourself to all possibilities; open your eyes and heart to the little things that are the substance of happiness and life; look in the eyes of your child; listen to their pure laughter; rejoice in their unconditional love and acceptance of you; touch their hair and hug them; try to feel their heart beats; try to indulge in their little dreams and to make them come true. The sight of a beautiful bird on a tree, a lovely flower in a garden; the smell of baking, a lovely dress on a girl with smooth hair can change your mood. Just keep your senses open to the world and be keen on receiving little joyful things that will make you happy… for a while. Yes, happiness is brief, but it is worth taking the trouble to find.    

Excerpt 3 The Good Wife

Hala went into the sitting room, the one saved for guests and never used by the family, the chairs that usually outgrew their owners and see more than one generation.  The rocking chair, her mother's, looked inviting with its soft crimson velvet fabric and the golden embroidered cushions on it,  but she was too restless to sit down. She was attracted by the patch of sunshine outside and went straight to the window to get a feeling of warmth that she desperately needed. She was faced with the neighbor's laundry hanging, neatly organized: small pieces on the front lines, followed by the bigger ones. The clothes looked whiter than any clothes she had ever washed or hanged; the type of radiant whitens that Hala believed was possible only in Ariel commercials.  How she envies that woman and admires her housekeeping skills, without even knowing her name. They talked only twice, once when their eyes met while both were busy hanging clothes and the second time when they met by the elevator and she took the opportunity to ask her about her maid. She has always wanted a maid to come once a week but for years, Salem did not agree, especially after the incident of the little servant they had when the twins were little. He does not trust strangers, he would simply announce and if she insisted he would proceed with the "the good wife" sermon. A good wife does this, a good wife does that and would go on forever and she would drop the subject and try to be a "good wife". 

Sweet little things

Sweet little things

"Tomorrow, tomorrow , I love you tomorrow; you're always a day away!!"

Do you remember those lyrics from the lovely Annie movie as the sweet little girl sings for her dog promising it things will get better tomorrow? Here is the link to remind you:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZ5DORLwJY0&feature=related

This is the motto I live by; actually all Egyptians do; we are too indulged in the struggles and disappointments of everyday life to feel an ounce of simple joy.

We are used to postponing joy and happiness and well -being to the future.  We have no time for joy; no time for the little sweet things in life that make it bearable, if not happy. Happiness, fulfillment, peace, and even health are "always  a day away", like the little movie heroine promises. Nothing is to be enjoyed today. For us, today is just a passage to tomorrow and the tomorrow we all wait for never comes.

 A heart-felt laugh, a peaceful evening with soft music, a heart-warming conversation with a true friend, a good movie with the family, a hug to a little child, an outing to the park are little sweet things that we miss, things that can change the quality of our life and boost our energy and spirits. 

I remember the time when I lived with my family in the STATES and was amazed at how Americans enjoy their time at no cost at all.  The walk in the park with the kids, the watermelon festivals; the marathons in the early mornings, and my all time favorite activity: strawberry picking are just a few examples.

 When the strawberries are ripe in spring, families are allowed to go into the fields, each person with an empty container to fill it with strawberry and spend great time picking it.  My twins were only seven months old when we took them to the strawberry field with the older kids. That was one of the most fun and enjoyable days we ever had.  The tiny green plants ornamented with fresh red strawberries ready for picking; the children racing to get the largest and reddest fruits, then running to wash and eat them, the lovely photos we took of the twins sitting on the ground and fighting one another to get the bucket full of strawberries. The fun and joy we experienced that day as a family is still remembered by all of us.

 Why cannot we enjoy the tedious days we live by adding a sweet strawberry on top of all what we do. Let's all have fun; let's all enjoy the present moment because it is all we have for now. Let's hope tomorrow will be better but never forget that today counts more.