Friday, January 7

I-eed si-eed. That's phonetic pronunciation for "Happy Feast." That is the Arabic equivalent to "Merry Christmas." Today is the Coptic Christian's Christmas Day. We've had several people wish us a happy feast today. Because the Orthodox Christians celebrate on this day in Egypt, many people assume that being Christian, we must celebrate today as well.

Our very sweet neighbors (our landlord) came over today to wish us a happy feast day. We were just hanging out because, obviously, it's not our Christmas. The older girl rang the doorbell and said, "We will come to you in a quarter." I said, "You'll come in 15 minutes?" She said, "Yes," and hey, they came in an hour. That's pretty close to 15 minutes. Joe and I frantically ran around cleaning up the apartment, and luckily I still had enough tea on hand to be an adequate hostest when they arrived.

They are so kind; they brought us flowers. They really go out of their way to make us feel welcome. The littlest boy, if you remember, is adorable. He wanted to see the dog. Joe took him and showed him some of Leia's tricks. He used to be deathly afraid, and now he'll even pet her. His mom said now he wants a dog.

We are still trying to get used to Egyptian customs. They came in, and I offered tea which you absolutely have to do here. No one can come to your house without you bringing them a beverage, even if they say no. We talked for a little bit. Then, they jumped up and said, "Thank you" and left. I wondered if we had done something to make them leave so quickly, but I think Joe and I maybe just discovered how you leave when they keep urging you to stay. You jump up and say goodbye quickly. Then, walk out the door before they can say anything else. Maybe they thought they were imposing.

It's funny. I always feel so inadequate compared to Egyptians when it comes to receiving people in my home. Wait, no, it's just that I worry a lot about customs. They truly have the art of hospitality down. When an American comes over to my apartment, if they say no thank, then it really means no thank. I'm not required to bring them something anyway. If you don't bring something after an Egyptian says no, it is considered rude.

Anyway, they are very kind to us, and we love their children. Last week the little boy ran up to our door with his face painted like a green vampire. He thought he was so clever. He loved the shock on my face when I saw him. He even came up again later and knocked on our door again! He's always watching us, the foreigners.

After their visit today, Joe and I went to the new mall which is very close by, City Stars. It's huge. We're very impressed. It's six or seven stories and there are stores like Guess, Esprit, Chilis, Fuddruckers, etc. There's a food court, cafes, restaurants, and lots of shops. We can even walk to it. I'm sure it will fulfill our American need to consume.

I hate to admit it, but I went there last night as well with my friend Kelly. We walked around, did a little shopping, and saw the movie Polar Express. We ran into about 8 of our students. Tonight Joe and I ran into a couple of students as well. Kelly and I had to laugh because even the movie last night was on Egyptian time. The movie was supposed to start at 9:30, so Kelly and I, fools that we are, were there at 9:30. You'd expect the movie to start at 9:30, maybe 9:35. Kelly and I were the only ones in the theater. 9:45 went by...9:50...9:55. By 10:00 about 20-30 more people were in the theater and they actually started the movie. We liked it. There's nothing like a children's Christmas movie.

During every movie here, there's an intermission. We went out into the huge movie lobby during intermission, and it was packed with teenage boys, smoking. The air was so thick, I felt like I smoked 5 cigarettes on the way to the bathroom and back. Only in Egypt. They smoke everywhere. There will be no ban on smoking here any time soon. People smoke in the mall, in restaurants, taxis, even the kids at school go sneak up on the roof of the school for their daily smoke. Maybe that's half of what causes the polution here. Ha, ha.

We are having a lovely three-day weekend, though. It's always nice to have extra time to rest and relax.