Chicken

I bought this small frozen chicken, more for the label than anything. I am not sure you can read the small print in the red boxed area under the picture of a hand holding a large knife. Inside the red box it says "slaughtered by hand with a sharp knife as per Islamic rites."

Many of the Islamic food restrictions are similar to those of Judiasm, for the same reasons. I am told that the Islamic rites referred to on the label are similar to kosher slaughtering, and butchering.

It is a well traveled chicken. It came all the way from Brazil.

Cairo Traffic

Much has been written in various travel books, about the traffic here in Cairo. I can vouch for the accuracy of all that has been written. Cairo traffic is amazingly chaotic. Yet, somehow, it all works. There seem to be unwritten rules that all drivers seem to know but remain elusive to those of us who do not drive here.

The best time for maneuvering around Cairo is on Friday mornings. Friday is the sabbath for Muslims, so traffic is lightest. It is the heaviest on Thursdays afternoons at rush hour.

As you can see traffic is choked. Cars are parked on the sides--even double parked--sometimes triple parked-- which causes constrictions as traffic attempts to merge and move around the parked cars, or delivery trucks. Everything slows to a crawl. Other cars then start crossing the flow in both directions by sticking their noses into oncoming traffic creating more confusion. Add into the mix pedestrians trying to cross the street, and you have----Chaos! Interesting to watch--but you hate being caught in it.

Relaxing

Husband Jack is relaxing on our wee, small balcony. We shopped the district for two chairs and a table that was small enough to allow us to enjoy having our morning coffee on the balcony.

The balcony is only about 3 feet wide at the most. As you can see the table and chairs just fit sideways. If we want to sit and look straight ahead we have to move the chairs into the room.

You can see the building under construction, across the street, with the scaffolding in place. The exterior work is almost completed and we expect that scaffolding to come down any day now. You can also see a street the comes into our street right in front of our building.

Two doors south of us is an Arabic Evengelical Church and on the north corner, there is a Catholic Church. We see the nuns walking down our street. So we have safely assumed that we live in a more Christian section of Heliopolis. Both churches are very active and busy.

Spices

This is the spice section of the Metro Market where I shop for most of my everyday grocery needs. It is a very western-type grocery store, with Egyptian overtones. I especially favor this store for heavy items, like a case of bottled water and soda pop because they deliver!

This store, unlike other grocery stores that cater to westerners, also has a large Egyptian following, which accounts for this spice section. Egyptians prefer to buy their spices like this where they can smell the spices, and know they are fresh. These spices sell out regularly and are replenished everyday so they are always fresh. You can buy as much or as little as you need. Unfortunately the signs are all in arabic so I only have my nose to guide me as to what's what. I stick to the bottled spices that have labels in English so I don't get misled. But I am dying to try and figure out what all these spices are and how to cook with them. The smell is devine, and very intense.

Kahk Cookies

These are KAHK COOKIES. You see these cookies displayed in all the pastry shops right now. They are a very traditional and popular cookie served at the end of Ramadan for the feast of the Eid-al-Fitir, which marks the end of the Ramadan month.

They can be filled with dates, walnuts, a nougat filling or whatever you like. Most often, though they are served plain with just a dusting of powdered sugar.

They are easy to make, but call for some special ingredients that are not commonly found in U.S. grocery stores, like KAHK extract and MAHLAB extract. You can find a recipe for these cookies at www.epicurious.com.

The End of Ramadan Approaches

Ramadan is almost over. There are just a couple of days left until the Eid holiday that marks the end of the month of fasting, prayer, self denial, and spiritual introspection. It is prime travel season for Egyptians, who travel abroad as well as head for Red Sea and Mediterranean resorts to relax and get back to a more normal daily eat-sleep schedule. Schools, however, will remain closed until October 3. The Ministry of Health and Education are still determined that the Swine Flu scare is a real threat to Egypt, especially crowded Cairo, so schools will remain closed until well after the Eid holiday travel week to allow for a quarentine period. That way the Ministry will able to see how much Swine Flu comes into the country with returning travelers.

Grand Hyatt Iftar

Jack and I decided to go downtown for dinner last night. We decided to go to the iftar meal at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, which begins seating at about 5:45pm in time for the breaking of the fast at about 6:10pm. The hotel has a revolving restaurant on the 40th floor. We wanted to take in the view in both daylight and night. We stayed two hours, enough time for the restaurant to make one complete revolution.

The meal itself was spectacular. It was truly a feast. There were side dishes of every type of food, from fruits and vegetables to dips and various breads for dipping.

The hotel, as well as most restaurants, starts seating for the iftar meal around 5:45 pm, so all are seated in time for the breaking of the fast at about 6:10 pm, with the siping of a traditional juice. Our juice was an apricot-ty tasting juice as well as a hibiscus drink. Both were very refreshing.

The meal began with a choice of soups. Jack had chicken and I had tomato. We then moved on to the smorgesbord of small dishes set about on the table. Some were dips for bread, like tahini, babakanoosh, and cucumber yoghurt, as well as fruits and vegetables to nibble on, little sausages and other finger foods. In addition there was various meat dishes. One was a fish dish with a delicious sauce; another was a beef dish, and another still, was chicken, all beautifully presented. Then came the main course. We had a choice of veal or sea bass. We both chose veal. The chef came out to see how we wanted our veal prepared. We were the only Westerners in attendance so the chef decided to check on us in person. We prefered our veal rare. It was done perfectly!

You can see the soup cups and the side dishes that began the meal.

After the main meal we sat and watched Cairo pass below, as the lights came on all over the city. It really was quite a view. After a while the desserts--yes plural--came. Then the mint tea. We tasted some of the desserts, but had little room left to properly enjoy them. There was a platter of pasteries, like bakalava, and other similiar sweets. There was a bowl of rice pudding and a bowl of bread pudding, an a large bowl of fresh fruit to share.

The food was delicious. We can understand why Egyptians gain weight during Ramadan. If they eat like that during the month it is no wonder.

A Shave

Jack needed a shave and decided to stop at this little barber shop.
He got the royal treatment for 35LE. That converts to about $7.00.

Here he is getting lathered up. The barber used a straight razor, sharpened on a strap that hung next to the chair. Afterward he got a facial with some sort of skin softening, then a hot steam treatment. He was so smooth, soft and sweet smelling when he was done. He liked the royal treatment and will go back for a haircut in a day or so.

More Drinking Water Containers

Here are two more examples of watering containers found on the streets of Cairo, which offer water to people passing by. All of them have a cup for drinking. Most are set in the shade to keep the water cool. The top one is nestled in among furniture for sale, propped up against a tree. The bottom one is set in a lean-to type enclosure attached to a small shop. The clay keeps the water nice a cool.

Jack Comes to Visit

The Ministry of Health / Education has decided that with the Swine Flu pandemic, coupled with Ramadan holiday, it was in the best interest of the country to postpone the opening of schools until after the 26th of September. They no sooner decided this when they again posponed the opening of school for another week. Now the opening of school for this year will be October 3. In addition any teachers or students traveling outside Egypt, may not attend school until after an 8 day quarantine period. Consequently my school decided that all teachers had to be back in the country by September 18 to insure the timely opening of school, with a full compliment of teachers.

With all that in mind, my husband decided it was easier for him to visit me, here in Cairo, than my trying to visit him in the US or meet up in Europe. He decided to fly over for my extended summer vacation.

We have been enjoying the streets of Cairo in the evenings, after the Iftar dinner feast. We go out walking. The streets are alive until well after midnight. The shops are open and the streets are thronged with people and deliveries. In the photo Jack is standing in front of a truck, stuffed to overloaded with electronics being delivered to the little shop directly in back.

Batteries

I needed one of those small little flat batteries that fit into my travel clock. I could not find them in the grocery store, but did find them at this wee, teeny shop, very near my apartment. It is on a corner, carved out of the recess where two stores come together at an intersection. This fellow had every shape, size and description of small battery imginable, besides the normal batteries like AA, or AAA. He also had the tools and exertise to put the batteries into your watch, travel clock, or whatever required. Best of all, he spoke French, so we could communicate. What a find! He folds the sides into the recess at the end of his work day and locks things up. When you pass by all you see is a padlock on a shiny , silver metal cupboard.

Water

Water is a gift from God, and must not be denied, it is said in the Koran I am told. To that end, coolers like this are set out on the streets of Cairo. They are put out by various shops and businesses all over town as a public service. They have a cup attached, are filled with cool water and are available to all. I am not sure I would feel comfortable taking a drink form a communal cup like this one, but others feel quite at home using these. You see people taking a drink all the time.

When I first saw these coolers set out on the street I wondered why they were there. They were most prevalent in shopping areas. As I pondered the next one I saw, a man came up and took the cup down, got a drink, rinsed the cup and set it back on the cooler. Question answered. This is Cairo's way of sharing the water. It is a rather nice service when you think about it--I still think I prefer a swig from my bottled water--but Cairenes take full advantage of these coolers in the course of their shopping and moving about town.