Top 10 Big Little Things

In the spirit of the season, as everyone is making their top 10-100 lists to sum up 2010, I have decided to make a list of my own: My Top 10 Big Little Things about Egypt, or little things that are nice and fun and make a difference in my day and experience.

1. Microbus Door Closing Techniques:
The minibuses that I ride everyday are vans and have sliding doors. It is usually the responsibility of the person sitting next to the door to slide it closed. But in that person's absence, the drivers have figured out that if they start driving really fast and then slam on the brake, the door will close on its own. Simple. Genius.

2. The Cat Convention:
Cats here wander around the city all the time. But at the tunnel I use to cross the Cornische, there is a convention of them every day. All different kinds of cats and lots and lots of little baby kittens. They stick together and get food together and cuddle. All the time. Little babies cuddling. And sometimes, the guards of these tunnels give up their seats for these cats and you can stare at their cute little kitten faces cuddling and huddling together for warmth.

3. The 5 am Call to Prayer:
The muezin outside of my window who does the call to prayer at 5 am has the voice of an angel. Sometimes I wake up to it and my room is flooded with his voice, which is often harmonizing with the other 5 am calls to prayer, and in my disoriented, sleeping state, I feel like I've landed myself in heaven.

4. Greetings:
In any formal situation- thanking, welcoming, etc, there are very specific phrases that people should use to greet each other. The whole process is amazing to watch. Two people will lock hands and eyes and for five minutes straight, they will talk at the exact same time, over each others voices, using and repeating phrases such as, "allah khaleek" (God keep you) and hundreds of other phrases meaning something along those lines. They don't stop to breath and they just keep coming up with new phrases. I have successfully done this once with another person, but I only used the phrase "allah khaleek." So I won't count it all the way. But its a skill I'm dying to master.

5. English Pronunciation:
There is no "P" in Arabic. So any English word with a "P" in it because a "B." Examples: Combuter, Barty, Bennslyvania.

6. Literal Translations:
My friend, Charlie, discovered that Arabic is a hilarious language to translate literally into English. For instance, to say good morning in Arabic, you say, "Sabah el-Kheir," and the other person will then respond, "Sabah el-nur" or "Sabah el-ful" or "Sabah el ward" or "Sabah el gamal." You see, "sabah" means morning and the literal translations of all of these phrases are, "morning of goodness" "morning of light" "morning of jasmine" "morning of flowers" "morning of camels." You can basically insert anything good in the place of "nur" and you've got yourself a "good morning." Another example, here is a google translated version of a teachers email:

Peace to you my students wonderfulYou and the wonderful activists in a row today, I thank you for your participation and I hope players can reach the exceptional level soon - God willingAttached to this message Unit Plan III


Hilarious. 


7. High Fives:
When Egyptians make jokes, they tend to high five each other in recognition of the good humor. It's not a giant high five, but it's a little one, a low five, if you will. They just slap the tips of each others fingers and smile at each other. It's really nice. And it makes you feel really Egyptian when you tell your friend a joke and then slap their hand. 


8. Songs of Store Owners:
As you can imagine, I tend to have hilarious interactions with people. They can't seem to figure me out and there is a whole range of ways that they respond to me. More than once have I walked into a store, said something simple like, "bekam?" (how much) or "aywa" (yes), and the store owners have responded in song. "Aywa? aywa aywa ayyywwwaaa! aywa aywa ayyyyywa!" Or "2 pounds. 1 2. 1 2. 1 2 1 2 1 2!" Or "ful. falafel. ful wa falafel! ful wa falafel!" They usually add a little dance, too. 


9. Graffiti on the Cornische:
Along the Cornische, there are giant rocks that people tend to graffiti on. Some of them are stupid, like their names or their girlfriend's name, something like that. But sometimes, someone will graffiti a question or comment and people will respond to that question on the other rocks. They talk about love, democracy, God, lots of things. And when you go for a walk or a run, you get to read a whole conversation between people. 


10. Little Surprises Every Day:
Yesterday, I took a long walk along the Cornische and when I looked to my right, away from the ocean, I saw that on the grassy divider between the lanes, there was a gymnastics team practicing and doing flips. Another day, I got in a cab and the cab driver was singing German pop music at the top of his lungs. When we were in Sinai, there were a pack of dogs and one of them stole a tourist's flip flop. Every day there is a new little something that just helps me smile and keeps the days interesting. 


I want to wish you all a very very happy new year and I can't wait to see all of you in Philly tomorrow!!