How life is like a game of tawla

Today is my one year anniversary in Cairo. It's crazy, when I came here I remember thinking: if I can just make it two months, I will be proud of myself. Now, one year and countless "making it work" moments later, here I am with friends I know will never leave my side and  a pocketful of life lessons. This place means so much to me, I could never, ever explain enough what I have learned. But I am going to try through the similarities I find in life and playing tawla. Otherwise known as backgammon, tawla is how I spend a lot of my spare time. It goes with the ahwa scene (cafe), hanging out, smoking shisha, drinking tea and eating sandwiches from Walid's food cart across the street. It's like home base, and tawla is a great way to pass the time together.

Backgammon is thought to be the oldest board game in the world, dating back to 3,000 BC, so it shouldn't surprise anyone there's some life lessons hidden inside the strategy. The basic run down is this: There are fifteen black pieces and fifteen white. The goal is to get all of your pieces around the board, into your "house," and collect them all before your opponent does. You move by rolling the dice, and try to make sure to "cover" your pieces by not leaving them alone. If a piece is alone on a slot, it can be "eaten" by your opponent and sent back to the beginning. So there is a delicate balance of defense and risk, just like in life.
Here are some of the similarities I have found between how we live our lives and how we play tawla:





1. You have to play smart and work with what you have,  but remember that a lot is left to chance:

There is a significant amount of strategy to be used in tawla and life in general, but no matter how "good" you are, you can never plan for everything. You never know what the next roll will give you. You just have to prepare for both the best and the worst as well as you can. The future is always unknown until it's not the future anymore.














2. You can't play without taking risks: 


Sometimes I wonder what my life would have been life if I hadn't quit my job in Jordan and flew to Cairo with no plan, just hoping I could "make it." It definitely wouldn't have the series of adventures that have become my life and changed me for the better. There is not always a perfect "safe" option, and even when there is, it is not always the best option. Risky moves can pay off later.


3. But you can't play too risky and expect to get away with it every time: 

Taking risks has its role, but too much risk can make you crash and burn fast. Just like in life, you shouldn't leave yourself too vulnerable unless you are ready to deal with the consequences.

4. You should be careful what you wish for, double sixes are not always a good thing:

How many times do I keep calling out for double sixes, and then when I finally get them all the sixes are blocked and I can't move? Sometimes we think we really want something, and keep wishing for it and wishing for it and wishing for it, whether it's a new job or a gift or a special someone. Then when it comes, we realize that we don't know what to do with it, the timing was wrong, or maybe didn't really want it in the first place.

5. It's better with good company:

So many good conversations, serious and humorous, or both at the same time, have happened over a tawla board. It is a really good opportunity to bond and hang out while surrounded by the craziness of the cafe. We only get one life, so why waste time playing with people you don't even like? My current mantra in life is to only spend time with the people you want to spend time with.

6. You can't always win, but you should always learn:













There are times in our lives when we don't meet our goals, and rather seeing these moments as lost opportunities, we should see them as a chance to learn from our mistakes. A chance to analyze what you could have done differently, if there was a better way to play with the dice you rolled or not. The other player usually has something to teach you as well, if you are humble enough to listen. Then use those lessons the next time you play.

Here's to another year of tawla playing, let the lessons begin :)

I went to a classical concert at the citadel, and it was a fantastic reminder of exactly why I love Egypt

Cairo usually gets a really bad rap about being chaotic. Which it is. And if you ever forget that, just go sit in traffic for a while. But the crazy, spontaneous energy that Egyptians are so known for can create really beautiful moments, that while chaotic, should be no other way.

It was a perfect summer night. I was sitting on a wall, legs hanging over the stone blocks surrounding the venue and enjoying the breeze high above the chaos of the city. There were thousands of people in front of me, all there to watch the live outdoor concert at the nearly thousand-year old venue. The citadel is a sprawling structure on top of the city, and the concert was set in one of the ancient courtyards.

It was an amazing classical performance, but the environment was far from stuffy and proper. The crowd was fluid and alive as people moved up and down the aisles, children bounced up and down in their seats, and teenagers took selfies with their friends. Chairs in what used to be lines, were now zigzagging through the crowd as people adjusted them to where they wanted them, being careful to not move the red cushions that come off when pulled the wrong way.

I love people watching, so this was like a special treat. Thousands of Egyptians had come up to the citadel, bought a five pound ticket (less than a dollar), and enjoyed the fresh air and strong breeze. It was like all the worries of the city had been left below. The relaxed atmosphere littered with chatter and light from cell phone screens seemed perfect for the mood, rather than annoying crowd behavior as it might be seen elsewhere.

From my spot on the wall, I had a white cloth tarp on one side lining the "auditorium," my friend Weam in front of me on the stone block below, and the aisle way on the other side of me. I kept my dangling legs close to the stone so that people could pass me as they met up with friends, found seats, and went back and forth to the concession stand where they sold Doritos for two pounds and water for three.

It was never still. People who were there before we came left early, leaving seats for those who came after us. The chairs were arranged and rearranged countless times, flowing with the crowd.
A group of teenage boys sat on the blocks behind me, laughing and teasing each other the whole time. A little girl in the row nearest to me kept looking back each time Weam and I started a new conversation and would smile shyly.

An elderly man and his wife sat two rows back, dressed up in what they might wear to the opera. The husband in a formal button up shirt that was slightly too big for him, and the wife in a classy modest dress that matched her sparkly black hijab, accented by bold jewelry and red lipstick. Behind them sat a couple in their late twenties, the husband obviously had been drug along by his wife for date night, but was surviving by checking sport updates on his phone.

Past that the crowd was absorbed by teenage girls posing in front of their camera phones with their friends, families with three generations there together constantly shuffling seats as grandkids became restless, and suitors carefully escorting their blushing company to two empty chairs next to each other.

Weam and I stayed for the orchestra and a harpist she was excited to see. Both performances were amazing, but hands down I loved the crowd the most. Cairo doesn't have to be a hectic chaos all the time, it can also be a relaxed and refreshing chaos on the top of a hill, with good music, a fresh breeze, cheap Doritos, and great crowd watching.

7 times Egyptian society thought I was being a hootchie mama when I wasn't

I'm back in Egypt, just in time for the sweltering months of summer. But that doesn't mean shorts season, oh no. I have always been super self-conscious of being socially appropriate with my clothing choices while living in the conservative Middle East. Why? Because as a foreign girl, I already face unflattering stereotypes of promiscuity, mostly thanks to Hollywood and other media outlets that show foreign women as crazy sex fiends who never have good intentions. So I do what I can to not support that stereotype. I wear long pants and high-cut tops. I don't have male visitors overnight in my apartment. Sometimes, I even wait when a man is introducing himself to see if he offers his hand for a handshake first, so I don't make him uncomfortable offering him mine if he doesn't touch women outside of his family.
But I do have limits, and on some points insist on keeping my foreign standards for what is okay and what isn't. This, I am sure, has led to some moments that general society finds scandalous.

#1. When I decided to live alone

This has been the source of many scandalous theories. Why would a young, single girl want to live alone? Either she is up to no good, or she just wants to be unsafe. Maybe I just wanted peace and quiet. This has led to many arguments with my doorman about who is allowed to visit me and who isn't. After I admitted that I realized there are cultural differences, he emphasized there are big cultural differences and that me living alone was basically culturally inappropriate. I may or may not have told him that I have a life and he's not my dad. Classic. This leads to the second example:

#2. When Reda got kicked out during breakfast

Again, my doorman likes to think he knows what is best for me. One time, my very dear friend Reda dropped by with breakfast on a weekend morning (I know how to pick good friends). He somehow sneaked past Mohammad, but Mohammad has like a sixth sense, I swear he knows everyone's footsteps that lives in the building. He promptly came upstairs to kick Reda out. It was 11. In the morning. This issue has since been resolved with my landlord, who has told Mohammad I can have visitors at reasonable daylight hours. Thank goodness.

#3. When I got dropped off at the checkpoint by one man at midnight, then went back out to return with two others at 3:00am
This one sounds really bad, but I swear I wasn't being a hootchie mama. I live inside the police checkpoint that guards the ministry of interior, so the officers who work there on a regular basis get to see me coming and going at whatever hour I want like I own the place. But this actually wasn't as bad as it looked. I simply was out with an old student catching up over shisha until midnight, then when he politely dropped me off at the barricade, I made a phone call to my guy friends Bishoy and Sahm, who were still out. I will admit I looked sheepishly at the guards as I went back out to meet the guys, mumbling that I "forgot something." One beer, sandwich, shisha, and three hours later they walked me back to the checkpoint. The guard just looked up and said, "you finished? Thank God."

#4. Basically any time I get back home after midnight

This is Cairo, the city is up late. Yeah, I know proper young ladies are not supposed to be out late, but then I would miss out on all the excitement of sitting for hours at cafes drinking tea and playing backgammon. That would be a shame. 

#5. When the police at my checkpoint checked my suitcase for bombs, and my underwear was on top

This was an accident. When I was packing my suitcase in Michigan, I forgot to think about how the police would have to check my luggage before letting me into my street. Perks of living kitty-corner from the Ministry of Interior. Oops.

#6. When I wore a dress that slightly showed my knees in the metro, because I was going to an engagement after church
I know I said I am always super self-conscious of dressing appropriately, but sometimes I make exceptions. That is, if you count wearing a dress that just touches your upper shin as an exception. It was my nicest dress, and it would have been fine except for I live in downtown, which is a little more conservative. Oops.

#7. When my friend Shyla and I were walking down the street in Alexandria and jumped into a car full of boys
But they were our boys, we knew them. They were actually our ride and trying to find us. But to be funny when they pulled up, they were all like "heeeey, wanna ride pretty ladies?" Naturally, we were all like, "heeeey, let's go!" We jumped in, and there were a few bystanders with looks on their faces saying "is it really that easy?"

Why I will always be missing something

Me and my soulmate reunited after over a year.
Hello's are so sweet, goodbye's so bitter.

I firmly believe that I live in a constant state of missing something. It's a natural thing, and it can't be helped. Before I left Egypt for Michigan, I missed my family so much it hurt and I couldn't wait to see them. I was counting down the days until I would be there. But at the exact same time, I was already missing my friends who were still with me! By the time I made it home, I loved spending time with my friends and family stateside, but realized I was already missing them even though they were right in front of my eyes. I could still touch them and I already missed them. Not to mention I was homesick for Cairo, and counting down the days until I would be back. I couldn't win. The problem is, there have been so many happy moments in my life, that I can't help but miss them and wish that I could have them all at the same time. I can't help but wish that I didn't have to choose.

If only I could go canoeing with my family down the Manistee River, and still watch the sunset from the edge of the Mediterranean Sea. If only I could stay out late at the cafe with my friends, drinking tea and laughing in the hot, Egyptian night, and wake up to a Northern Michigan sunrise and go jogging down the roads that I grew up on. If only I could talk for hours at my grandmother's kitchen table, and still make it back to my apartment in downtown Cairo in time to make dinner. If only I could hold everything important to me in my hands all at one time, but I can't. There's not enough room. And sometimes I get scared that there's not enough room in my heart. I'm not sure if it is even possible. Because sometimes I get so overwhelmed trying to hold everything dear to me close. Trying to stay in touch with everyone. Trying to not let anything go. Feeling guilty when I get distracted by what is going on around me and don't think about all the important things that have made me who I am.

I feel so torn between all the worlds that have built me up to be the person that I am today. As I sit in the Detroit airport waiting to board, I am barely talking to anyone. There are only so many "I'm going to miss you's" and "I can't wait to see you's" I can say until I just want to find the exact coordinates to the spot in the Atlantic between Kalkaska and Cairo, and just sit there in a rowboat and enjoy being exactly in the middle of my two worlds. Because then maybe I wouldn't have to choose. But I obviously know that isn't the answer, because then I will just miss everyone.

I think that the torn feeling will never go away. It wouldn't make sense if it did, because those worlds are always going to be important to me. It is a natural effect of being blessed with so many amazing people and incredible experiences. But I will continue to fight the feeling of missing things while I am in the moment enjoying things. At least silence it to a whisper rather than a roar. I will have forever to miss the happy moments of my past, it doesn't make sense to miss the moments of the present. It will take a lot of work, but I have to make myself constantly remember to enjoy what I have right now, to love the moment I have right now, promising that I will cherish the memories forever.

Kalkaska, Michigan: As American as Little League Baseball and Rhubarb Pie

For some reason there is a misconception that the United States has no culture. I don't really understand this at all. It probably originated with those snooty French people who think they created the meaning of culture, or something like that. In my opinion, nowhere else in the world has as much culture as the US. There may be no distinct "American" culture because there are so many various experiences here, but there is definitely culture. I grew up in the small town culture, specifically in Northern Michigan. I want to share the culture of Kalkaska and what makes it so special. Being away for so long made me realize that not all of these things can be taken for granted, because they are just not common everywhere else.

First of all, Kalkaska is beautiful. It has four distinct seasons, I visited in early summer. I forgot that so many shades of green existed. Driving around it was just green grass followed by green bushes followed by green trees followed by more green trees, every leaf catching the sun in a different way.

It is also very blue. Michigan is the water state. No matter where you are, you can find a stream, river, pond, or lake. This makes water sports very important to life here. Kalkaska's annual festival is based on the opening day of trout fishing season, the National Trout Festival. We have the giant fish downtown to prove it.

One of my family's favorite summertime activities is floating down the river in canoes or kayaks. Nothing is more relaxing than floating in the sun (or rain, if you are that dedicated), and sipping some Michigan made ginger ale, Vernors.

On the river it is common to see wildlife, birds, snakes, turtles, fish, beaver, deer, whatever. It is actually common to see wildlife anywhere in Kalkaska. There are more trees than people so there is plenty of space for them to live. If driving around sunset, people will remind you to watch for deer, when they are especially active. No one wants to hit one of those trying to cross the road.

Speaking of driving, everyone drives in Kalkaska. The town is so small and most people don't live inside the limits anyway, so there isn't much for public transportation at all. But that makes for very light traffic, and if traffic isn't light people are going to complain about all the "fudgies" who are up here from downstate driving crazy and clogging up the roads. There are only two stop lights, and they start flashing yellow late at night because the town shuts down. But on the flip side, the town wakes up early because there is no use "burning daylight." Kalkaska is a working town, with many people working on farms, in oil or gas, schools, trucking, or service industries like restaurants or the local grocery stores that require them to get up early.

Everyone knows everyone in Kalkaska. With only 17,000 people for 571 square miles (1,480 square kilometers), I joke with my Egyptian friends that as many people live in Kalkaska as on my street in Cairo, and it's not that far of a stretch. For perspective, the entire Kalkaska County population could fit into the Michigan State football stadium more than four times. This creates a very trusting, friendly community. Just going to the grocery store you are likely to run into someone you know. And at half the gas stations you don't have to prepay for your fuel. You can fill up and then go inside to pay.

When visiting, people talk about what's important. I don't know how many conversations I had about the late frosts the first few weeks I was there. It's important because it affects all the crops, gardens, and flowers. We have to talk about when things are planted, when the apple trees blossom, who has tomatoes first, when the corn pokes through the ground, and when the strawberry fields are open for "pick your own." I made it there for both the lilac season and the early irises. Beautiful.

At Matthew's game

We also talk about sports. There is so much little league baseball in the area, the fields are usually booked for a month. I went to my share of games while home, both my brother's and my nephew's. After the game, it is hard to not celebrate getting ice cream, and then eat it on the way home while listening to the Tigers play their baseball game on the radio. Because it's summertime.

At Carter's game.

I love having bonfires in the summertime. In June, the fires might get lit before it is dark because it stays light outside until nearly ten pm. But once it does get dark, the stars are beautiful. That is a bonus of not having big city lights anywhere nearby. Another gathering activity is playing Euchre. This is a four-person card name rarely found outside of Michigan, and it's the best.

When I think about food in Kalkaska, I automatically think of Trout Town, because I worked there for so many years. And I love the trout, reubens, meatloaf, pancakes, and breakfast skillets. But I also always think of rhubarb pie. And blackberry pie. And apple pie. And cherry pie. All things that grow locally.

But of course Kalkaska makes me think of my family. Because as crazy as they are for insisting on living where it is the arctic wilderness half of the year, they are the greatest people in the world.

Islam in my life

When a religion is a dominant ideology in a society, it has more than religious implications. There are economic and social impacts on every day life. Growing up in a country built on Christian ideology, there were so many things I took for granted as normal. Living in the Islamic world, I have found them to not be normal, but rather something that can change based on what the majority believes. Basics of life are not actually basics of life when you move to a country that's dictated from a different base, a different history, a different experience than your own. Like, the weekend.

The weekend in the Islamic world is not Saturday and Sunday. I repeat, it is not Saturday and Sunday. The work week runs from Sunday to Thursday, because the holy day for Muslims is Friday. So we look forward to Thursday and Thursday night instead of Friday and Friday night. And Sundays become the dreaded equivalent of Mondays. Mind. Blown.

That's one example. I have more.

If you order a pepperoni pizza, it will always be beef or chicken pepperoni. Pork pepperoni, or any pork products in general, are not sold on the general market. There are ways to get pork, because there is an Egyptian Christian population. But it is not available in general society, because general society doesn't eat it. So there is no bacon cheese burger at McDonald's. It just doesn't exist.

The call to prayer is like public clockwork. Occurring five times a day, echoing all across the city, the call to prayer can give you a pretty good idea about what time it is without even looking at your phone. I find the call to prayer comforting, because in a culture where so much is unorganized and unplanned, at least I can count on the call to prayer being reliable. Many foreigners find it annoying, but I don't. Maybe I'm biased because I don't currently live around the corner from any mosques, so I can sleep through the early morning without being woken up by blaring religious texts. But I have been here long enough to appreciate when a mosque invests in an imam with a good voice, because it makes a big difference.

Speaking of mosques, they are everywhere. Directions to anywhere have a very high chance of including a mosque. Maybe in the form of a famous mosque as a landmark to head to, or just any mosque along the way that can tell you when to turn right or left.

Fashion is much more conservative. Even men are rarely seen in shorts, because showing too much skin is immodest. I would never wear shorts here; I would stick out like a redheaded ginger in an Arab country. Oh... wait.... The point is, people tend to be much more modest. The definition of modest varies. There are women who completely cover head to toe with only eye slits, and women who dress in tight, brightly colored skinny jeans. I have a feeling when I do visit the states again, I will feel like everyone is naked.

There isn't much of a bar culture. Don't get me wrong, this is Egypt, not Saudi, so there are bars. But they are not mainstream. It's definitely a subculture. So alcohol takes a little more effort to get, and is basically replaced with tobacco. Wow, is smoking a big thing here. While drinking is not allowed in Islam, smoking is not prohibited, so one vice has replaced another.

Ramadan isn't just a religious month of fasting, it's a life cycle. The year begins and ends with Ramadan. It is a massive event that must be taken into consideration when planning anything during that time period; it's the holiday season of the Islamic year. Marketing companies, publications, restaurants, hotels, airlines, basically every type of business has to have a specific plan for Ramadan. There are special show series, special foods, special business hours because people are up all night during the hours they can eat or drink. There are special fashion styles as people try to be more modest. There are special travel plans as people move around to visit family. For those people who do not fast, there are special strategies and inside information on what places might still be open during the day and how to stock up on alcohol. Basically, Ramadan is still one and a half months away, but we are already talking about it.

There are probably even more things that I just can't even think of because they have become so normal, but those are some of the main ones. Little technicalities that make a huge difference, and what make living here such an experience.

To stuff a pigeon... And other tales of Egyptian cuisine

The first meal I had in Egypt when I arrived last September was a healthy dose of ma7shy, which literally means stuffed. I think it's called that because what you are eating is literally stuffed with rice, and because when you are done eating it you feel "stuffed." A lot of things can be stuffed to make ma7shy, my favorite are the bell peppers, but we can also stuff cabbage leaves, eggplants, chickens, and yes, pigeons.

I ate stuffed pigeon. It's not something I ever thought I would eat, but it was just the beginning of a long list of foods I tried I never thought I would. Even more bizarrely, it was the beginning of a long list of foods I never thought I would like, but then ended up being okay with them, and sometimes even craving them.

Let's begin with the dishes in the picture on the left. Four of the plates are filled with ma7shy, the stuffed vegetables. In the middle is a duck, which I swear I ate a quarter of. For a week I was telling people the story of how I ate a duck, and afterwards walking like a duck. Ana akalt rub3a butta, wa ba3deen ana masheet zay butta. Wuk wuk wuk. The green dish is mulikhia, which is a soup/sauce made from some green leafy plant, chopped to pieces and cooked into a seasoned, slimy mess. I used to think it was awful. I ate it at people's homes to be polite and because I knew everyone loved it. Surprise, surprise, after a few months I was asking for it.

These above dishes are very Egyptian, and usually the first thing people mention when asked about Egyptian food. A list of all traditional dishes could be easily Googled, so I will only include some here. But of course, between the classic dishes, there are a lot of other things people eat on a daily basis that are not so famous, like french fry sandwiches.

I honestly don't know what's weirder... That french fry sandwiches are a thing or that I have begun to order french fry sandwiches... And liked it. You can get these delicious carbs in carbs sandwiches from little corner joints that most likely also sell fool, which is basically refried beans.You can get refried bean sandwiches, fried bean sandwiches, bean and egg sandwiches, eggplant sandwiches, scrambled egg and tomato sandwiches... Basically bread is just a medium here for anything.





Koshari is a staple in my life (and will also probably come up on a Google search of Egyptian food, because it's everywhere). It's a pasta mix, available anywhere, anytime, and it's dirt cheap. Different kinds of noodles, rice, lentils, garbanzo beans, and French-fried onions are all smacked into a takeaway container complete with twisted bags of tomato sauce, vinegar, and hot sauce. Really, thank goodness for koshari. I vaguely remember a time I didn't like it, but fortunately I got over that, and now probably eat it twice a week.

Kofta can be found in a wide range of restaurants, from high end sit-down restaurants that charge one hundred pounds for a meal to street carts that sell sandwiches for four pounds. Kofta is seasoned ground meat grilled on a stick, this picture also has some kebab stuff mixed in, all served on a bed of parsley.









This is a picture of two kofta sandwiches from a street cart because, well, it's me and let's be real, I eat cheap. Way more economical. Plus it comes with a little bonus bag of vinegar-soaked vegetables that people here call pickles.

What are these things? Not sure. Some sort of boiled bean things. You can buy them from a cart on the side of the road, or they are often served in cafes or bars. You have to squeeze the bean part out of the skin, it's taken me awhile to realize I should always aim down because sometimes those suckers shoot out all over the place. Other popular street foods: cotton candy, grilled corn on the cob, roasted yams, peanuts, and cheese and jelly sandwiches.

Yes, that's a McDonalds. There are fast food joints everywhere, like KFC, Hardees, Cinnabon, Pizza Hut, even some Burger Kings. But the prices translate into about the same as you would spend in America, so expensive compared to local fast food places, like Gad. If you do go to a McDonalds here, the menu is mostly the same, with the absence of any pork items and the addition of some Middle Eastern flavors, like kebab sandwiches.

Fateer is kind of like an Egyptian style pizza, where it is thin, buttery crust wrapped around cheese, veggies, and meat. Or it can be sweet. I really like fateer, even though it's kind of messy to eat. Not like that's ever stopped me from eating something tasty. If you get a "normal" pizza, they are usually made without any sauce worth mentioning, and are instead served with ketchup on the side.

With one of the longest rivers in the world plus coasts on two seas, the Mediterranean and the Red, fish and seafood are a big thing in Egypt. If you travel to Alexandria, the first thing people ask you is if you ate fish and seafood. Egypt is the first place I ate shrimp, squid, and an entire fish (head and all, but it was a little fish).

When I worked in the school, the most common lunch kids brought packed with them were sandwiches. Usually they were made with long bread and white cheese. Soft white cheese is very popular here. Also romy cheese, which is a strong white, sliced cheese. At first I thought it was awful, and I like strong cheese (all hail blue cheese). But eventually... Yeah, I bought my own package last week to make sandwiches for work. Oops. Tastebuds change I guess...

Sent by a friend here's some more ma7shy and mulikhia, this time served with a chicken dish. The funny thing about Egyptians and meat is that linguistically there is "meat," which refers to dark meats like beef and goat, then there's chicken. So if you order a sandwich, you ask for either meat or chicken.

Another friend sent me a picture of this meal. Notice the salad in the bottom left corner. I love the salads here, because they are usually full of tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, and lemon juice. Very fresh. Also note the strawberries. The perk of living in Egypt is that fresh fruit is very easy to get a hold of. Oranges. Bananas. Watermelon. Mangos. Kiwis. Lemons. Pineapples. It's great.

I will never be able to see lentil soup the same after eating it here in Egypt. Delicious! The lentils are blended together, and you can order it with butter. Popular in the winter, it's served with dried bread pieces and onions. Even when you order it to go, they still send you off with a package of onions, which is the purplish bag in the picture. This is from one of my favorite restaurants, Kazaz, which is an Egyptian fast food place where you can get burgers, fries, kofta, and most importantly shwarma. Shwarma is the meat that they slow roast in layers on the really tall poles, slice off the meat and chop it up with tomatoes and peppers.

Naturally in Egypt, one is not limited to Egyptian cuisine. This is from a Chinese restaurant, and there are also other types such as Italian, and Japanese. There are restaurants from all price ranges, sometimes I walk into fancy places and feel like I am in America. It's funny to see familiar dishes like macaroni and cheese available with a local twist, even if it's just in the name. It feels weird to ask for "mac cheese" or "mac chicken." But I suppose it's normal to put your own twist on something.

Sometimes we eat a meal with some greens on the side, and you eat the greens just like that, fresh. They are usually slightly bitter, but somehow still good. Again, I wasn't crazy about the idea at first, but when you continually eat food when you are hungry, eventually you start to associate that food as something good.

It would be impossible for me to write a blog about Egyptian food without including hawawshi. It's my fave. It's basically flat bread stuffed with flavored, ground meat. The meat kind of reminds me of meatloaf, kind of spicier. It's greasy, fantastic, and served with a side of tahini. Tahini is the white sauce made of pinenuts. If you've ever eaten Middle Eastern food, you've probably had tahini. I think it goes into hummus.

We just celebrated Sham El Nessim, which is the first day of Spring in Egypt. The holiday goes back to pharoanic days, and people go outside to enjoy the fresh air of Spring. Traditionally, people eat salted fish and raw green onions on this day. This is Sandy taking the bones out of the fish for our "family" celebration. We ate the salted herring, which was okay. There is another kind of fish, faseekh, which is more hardcore because it's kind of rotten, but we didn't eat that one.

This plate is a mess. The picture was sent to me through my phone, thank goodness because I don't even want to think about it. I know you shouldn't waste anything, but are lungs, intestines, tongue, head meat, and kidneys really necessary? But I am scared to say I won't eat anything, because every time I say that I end up eating it. For example, liver. Used to avoid it like the plague. Then I was served so much in December I got used to it. I also always said I wouldn't eat stuffed intestine. Ate that. Didn't want squid. Ate that. Nutella covered pizza. Ate that. See the trend here? Hopefully I get out of this one though. And brains. I don't want to eat brains.

The cakes here are really creative. I enjoy birthdays. Bakeries offer a wide variety of pastries and breads, even the really odd cracker bread I stumbled upon one day, as seen in the following video (filmed by Hany with a guest appearance of Menna).

The moral of the story is that I started out not-so-thrilled with Egyptian food, but after half a year it's grown on me. Now when I go out to eat, I don't think I'm going out to get "Egyptian food," I'm just going to get some food. It doesn't make sense to make a huge effort to find foreign food. It's so much easier to just eat what's around me. I like that method more, because it makes more sense and I feel more like I belong. People get very happy when they realize I know my way around Egyptian cuisine. Especially when they hear I had shakshooka for breakfast (scrambled eggs and tomato juice), because that is so local I've even had to introduce some Egyptians to it.