Why not cook Bhujia and Karahi Gosht everyday?

So today, we had off from our Arabic class. For lunch I made Aloo Bhujia and for dinner we had Karahi Gosht. This was the first time in the 10 months we’ve been here that I’ve cooked either dish. Now, neither one took hours to make, but they did take more time than a sandwich. Why not have these everyday? Well, when Shazia handed me “The Value of Time,” (Shaykh ‘Abd al-Fattah Abu Ghuddah) it was a quick read and a great motivator with many examples of the volumes that the scholars of the past wrote and read. Most of them accomplished in one day that many of us wouldn’t accomplish in a year.

One of the more extreme examples that I saw was that instead of eating bread with water, a scholar would mash it up and basically swallow it to save time from chewing. Although I’m not suggesting bread soup, it definitely resonates with many of the students here. We eat to keep going. So a diet high in protein and fast on time is ideal. Between studying new words, new grammar, new lessons, and new life lessons from Cairo… there’s not too much time for food. Many students end up ordering out almost daily and that comes with a price - paid in too many trips to the bathroom and developing a face to face personal relationship with “the John.” Alhamdulillah I haven’t had any serious incidents, but its more than common amongst students used to the clean FDA regulated products in the States and Britain.

So that is why it is important to take a few safe, clean, fast food items and use them to their full potential.

Sammer’s Desi-Egyptian Fool (13 minutes)

2 cans of Fool

1 onion

1 tomato

1 bell pepper

3 tbsp of tomato puree

Olive Oil

Salt, pepper, red pepper

Lime/Lemon

In a pan heat the oil, add chopped onions, stir until translucent, add chopped bell peppers, and tomatoes. Stir and add spices. Drain Fool and mix into the pan. Stir, add tomato puree and stir… let simmer. Eat with warm Lebnany or Shamy Bread.

Between the Croissants and Crosses

Walking through our neighborhood within a distance of about 7-10 minutes in each direction you will find a bakery. Some have delicious macaroons, bite size pizzas and fresh fattirah. Almost everything is between 1-4 ginnay (20-75 cents) a piece and usually its delicious. Of course each bakery has its own specialty, some are famous for their pizzas and others for their macaroons. They also usually have a variety of croissants with cheese, meats and other yummy surprises inside (be careful).

Most of these are open, with cooling racks lining the edges of the store, the man wears a plastic glove on one hand (maybe). So although the posh bakeries with the fancy doors, and tongs exist…these are definitely worth checking out once your stomach has settled with Egyptian flour

Our teacher spoke to us about the relationship between the muslism and christians here in egypt. Firstly, they are Coptic Christians. This denomination of Christianity is different because they are not found in many other parts of the world. They are specific to egypt. they broke off from the main catholic church and they have a variety fo different beliefs from mainstream chrisitanity.

Most Coptic Christians live in relative peace and harmony with their Muslim neighbors. They are treated like everyone else. Most of the time the only way to tell them apart from the Muslims is that they have small tatoo of a cross on their wrist of between their thumb on their hand.

There is an old Christian woman who lives next door to my teacher and she talks to her daily in a friendly manner. They speak about Islam, Christianity and their daily lives. They speak about their kids and other other things. At one point she told our teacher she is unable to sleep until she listens to Abdul Basit Abdus Samad. She asks the teacher the meanings of words she doesn’t know and has talked to her about becoming Muslim even. She says she can’t because her kids would be upset with her. So every night she quietly pulls out her mp3 player and listens to Surahs from the Quran as she falls asleep.

Many Christians in Cairo can be heard proclaiming the shahadah or Allahu akbar and such. At the top of a hill in Azhar Park, looking out into Islamic Cairo, small crosses atop churches dot the horizon line reminding you of the religious diversity present. The tolerance which they were treated with and the rulership which allowed them to live in peace resonates with them until present times.

Less than 30 minute meals

InshaAllah I’ll be adding some quick, easy, simple, and cheap meals for the student studying abroad wanting to make the most of his/her time in Egypt (or elsewhere). We’re eating to sustain life and concentration. Mind you these are not diet foods (you may gain weight), but I tried to put in a balance of the basic food groups. These are also tested for time and taste. They are simple enough for brothers to make as well.

Tuna Salad (Prep time: 15 minutes)

2 cans of white meat tuna

1 can of sweet corn

3 tbsp. mustard

2 med. tomatoes

1 small onion

2 bell peppers

Salt and pepper to taste

Drain the tuna and corn, chop the veggies, mix all the ingredients in a bowl.  Eat with fork or use between two slices of toated wheat bread. Saran wrap any remaining and refrigerate. Yum-o.

Ikhlaas and John Mayer

I have had very strange, vivid, scary and at times laughable dreams in Egypt (I mean I was laughing in my sleep…loudly…enough to worry Alia). However, here is one that I could share.

I was working on a project with children with disabilities (yay!) . I had to make a video of the project with my special child, let’s name him Alex. Alex is a short pugdy kid with reddish blonde hair and wore glasses. He may have been in a wheelchair or he was just sitting the whole time. I followed the instructions and made my video. I felt like I wasn’t putting enough effort into it, but I completed it and Alex was happy. Then as a part of my organization, we submit our videos as a bigger project.

John Mayer was doing a fundraiser or support a charity thing for children with disabilities. He was choosing people to be part of this thing. He chose some of my collegues and then said something like, “Ok, you too.” I sensed he didn’t really want to choose me, so being averse to any half-ass acceptance, I told him, “If you don’t want to, I don’t care.” (Commentary) Why would someone say that?! Take the opportunity to be part of something good and prove that  whatever hesitations he (or any organization) has about you, were wrong! In other words, don’t be stupid!

He told me, he saw my video and thought that I didn’t look like I was really into it. That just blew me away. I was shocked that he noticed and picked up on it. We spoke a little about how important it is to be sincere about the causes we take on in life. It was not lost to me that I would blog about this in my dream. I then told John that I would blog about it and he would see it and talk about it on his own blog. (some part of that dream is really just a dream..heh)

So why share this dream? why not the others…? Well, I found a lesson in this one.

 I have alot of facial expressions that I cannot control, so it was apparent in my video that I was either tired or my mind was elsewhere. I started to feel really bad because John Mayer had noticed I didn’t give it my all. Which got me thinking, crap! why do I care if he can tell…what about Alex? what about my organization? If it shows in something like this, then how much more apparent would it be in other aspects of my life. People can sense when you do things without real sincerity. The trick is not to mask your insincerity with as much fakeness as you can, but to really take time to ask yourself why you’re doing it in the first place. If it is something you do feel good about, then get your mind, heart, and soul all intune to really do it with ”itqaan” (proficiency) and “ihsaan” (in the best way). Muster up some true sincerity and it will show through it what you are trying to accomplish. Even if John Mayer doesn’t end up looking at a video of your project, Allah is watching and He is the True Judge of whether we gave it our all or not.

Alleys in Alexandria

With a car full of 7 girls, a mix of London Bangolis, Pakistanis, Americans and an African we showed up to Alexandria as the Adhan for Maghrib flooded into the noise of coastal Mediterranean life to cleanse it. We were dropped off across from the train station, and the little conductor boy quickly shoo-ed us out of the van. They didn’t have a license to be driving us and so they closed the curtains anytime we tried to look out unless we were on the highway.

The setting darkness fell around us and we walked in the direction of the nearest minaret. The Imam had just started reciting and it was so incredible. Listening to him recite, it dawned on me that I could understand the ayaat. I knew he was reciting ayaat from Surah al-Kahf and which part he was talking about: how one brother advised the other, how the other rejected faith for the temporary pleasures of this life. This is what makes Egypt beautiful:

Walk into any random little masjid in an alley and you will have people who recite the Quran with so much meaning and beauty it can bring you to tears, and you will have the opportunity to listen, to understand, to practice, to test what you have been learning.

There is a spring in Cairo and it is beautiful.

The weather was cold from November until mid-March. We had a week where it felt like summer time and now, Alhamdulillah the weather is perfect. and this makes me very happy.

While I was home in the States, I would try to study Arabic here and there. I even bought the Medina University Arabic Textbooks in a futile attempt to teach myself Arabic, they caught dust on my bookshelf for a very long time. The only successful study of Arabic was actually through trying to memorize passages of the Quran where I would be forced to listen and break down the words to forge connections in my mind with the rhythm and meanings of the verses. Other than this, my time was never productive in trying to learn Arabic. In the back of my mind I felt that I wouldn’t ever acheive much by self-study or without proper books, teachers and most importantly focus.

Half of this is correct. I didn’t benefit because of lack of focus, however, vocabulary is something that I could have easily picked up. This isn’t regret, but rather if you find yourself in a similar circumstance, don’t wait until you are in an Arabic study program to learn simple vocabulary. Make flash cards or learn a couple new words each day. They will add up and it will give you alot of background. There will still be plenty of vocabulary waiting for you on the other side, but you’ll be ready for it because you’ve already built up some.

 Another thing that I’ve learned here is that bad study habits don’t magically turn into good study habits in another country. They stay bad study habits. So instead of hoping you’ll suddenly be a good student when you’re learning a very difficult new language, start by being a good student AND having good study habits in other subjects. Implement as many studying techniques as you can, and find out what are the most effective techniques for you. When you know these, you’ll be able to get down to study Arabic 3ala tool (right away).

Bad habit: blogging the night before an exam

Chivalry resurrected

So far everything about the Taxis here have been tinged with a bit of shock, betrayal and caution. However, there have a been a few very good experiences.

We were returning from the International Book fair, I believe it was the final day, (correct me if I’m wrong Alia) and we were waiting to get a taxi back home. From previous experiences we knew that it was a terribly busy time, and most taxis did not want to go in our direction. We told taxi after taxi our destination, ready to agree to a ridiculous fare however, no one wanted to go in our direction. The dim remants of the sun’s light had faded and the blanket of night began to settle in on us. We continued to try with each taxi, walking further and further back along the road to ask before the other people waiting for a taxi. The piles of books began to feel like mountains and my feet were pulsating and throbbing from a long day of walking and bargaining through the book fair.

A young man heard where we were going and it was on the way to his place. He offered to share his taxi with us, and the taxi driver agreed because he would be able to charge the man for the further destination. Semi-hesitant, but relieved we took the taxi. The young man opened the door as we sat and closed it. Sitting down finally in the cab, I looked over at Alia and we shared a moment of serene joy. He calmly sat up front, without making any conversation with us and explained to the driver that he would stop along the way to drop us off. He stopped on a main road near our place and opened the door of the taxi for us. He instructed us that it would be easy to get home from there in a taxi (it was), and when I asked how much the taxi driver wanted, he said, “You are my guests.”

He gained nothing from this brief encounter, and that we felt chivalry and courtesy are not dead because men like him exist.

Top Ten Golden Rules for Black and White Taxis

10. Go with your instincts, they are usually right.  

9. Wear a wedding band/ring.

8. Agree on a price and destination before the journey begins.

7. Keep your change (fare) ready to hand over as soon as the ride is over.

6. Keep quiet, for two reasons: so he doesn’t know you’re agnabi and so he doesn’t get comfortable with you.

5. Sit in the back!

4. Have a travel buddy after Maghrib even if it a very short distance and you’ve done it before alone.

3. If something happens and you can’t think of what to do…scream. In Cairo, people everywhere will jump and run across busy intersections to come “save your life.”

2. Carry pepper spray or a small can of hairspray and have it ready.

1. Say your adhkar for EVERYTHING!

The now.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=KuKCda-cFew&feature=related

Listening to him and doing homework and having a headache…