Friday, August 13

Today was an interesting day. We spent a good part of the day at Gheda and Wael's house. I have no idea how to really spell their names or even to pronounce them. The man told us to call him Camel because that is his last name. They are the people we met the other night who helped us translate to our bowab, Muhammed. Camel's Egyptian and Gheda is Palestinian, but I think she's been here for several years. We went over to their house around 12:30 for lunch and didn't leave until around 5 or 5:30. You wouldn't believe the amount of food they made for us!!

The first thing Camel wanted to know was whether or not we drank beer. When we said yes, Camel and Joe took off to the store to buy beer. When they returned, we talked for quite awhile. I got some insight into Egyptian cooking from Gheda. She really is a wonderful cook, and in general, they both were so nice and welcoming.

The food was awesome as well. Gheda made musaka (an eggplant dish with red sauce), an artichoke and meat dish, a roasted chicken, homemade cream of mushroom soup, seasoned rice with toasted almonds, and molokhiyya (I think this is the name.) Molokhiyya is a glutinous green stew-like dish with lots of fresh garlic. You can dip bread in it or you can mix it with rice. Camel showed us the best ways of eating each dish. And no, I'm sure you're dying to know, I didn't have to eat meat. I was almost ready to. Dinner was being served and Camel said, "We almost asked if you were vegetarians over the phone, but we didn't think of it." He said, "You're not, right?" I couldn't lie. I had to tell them the truth. I figured this way I can avoid the ackwardness in the future. I'm always causing trouble!

Everything was really very good. It was funny because, as Camel explained, in Egypt they serve you and when you finish they offer you more. He served up a heaping, impossible amount of rice to both Joe and me.

We picked up a few Arabic words in talking with them. Camel speaks very good English and so does Gheda, but she often talks in Arabic, so Camel will translate. We watched TV and hung-out. Camel translated many of the Arabic music videos for us. We even brought Leia up to play. They really liked her (especially after she settled down.)

Camel introduced me to my first Egyptian mango. It was the best mango I have ever eater. He taught me to eat it by cutting it in half, digging it out with a spoon, sucking on the core, digging that out, and then digging out the rest. We stayed until nearly 5:00 after we had tea and dessert. They encouraged us to come by any time. If there is ever anything we need, they offered to help us. I think they will become good friends to us. I'm so pleased to have met them. Because we will be working with Americans all day, I was afraid we wouldn't have many opportunities to meet Egyptian people. The people here are so friendly and social, they tend to take us in.

Tomorrow is our last day before we start school. We may do a little touring with the other teachers before we have to dig in and start actually working.