globalmidtown

last week i was invited to have an afternoon meal at my co-teacher’s house. her name is doa’a. she is egyptian. and muslim. she dresses in western style clothes that are very conservative (cover her from her collar bone, to wrist, to ankle) and wears a head wrap. at school she is super sweet, a bit of a control freak (i.e. does EVERYTHING for the kids – down to doing their gluing for them … the montessorian in me just cringes!), SUPER MESSY, and can be very high strung. but – the most important thing here is the super sweet.

it’s thursday, so we get out of school @ 12:30 – by 12:33 we were at her house. she lives in the teacher housing in ghyathi (the town where we teach – it’s a horrible little town).
the housing is nice – very middle-eastern style. i.e. living room separate from the rest of the house – like a big entertaining room, all of the rooms are separate and off of the hallway and all have doors with locks. the doors are big & heavy and dark wood, the bathrooms have standing showers in the corner with no tub & no curtain, the toilets, of course, have spray hoses for cleaning your business …

she is married to an egyptian man & has 2 small boys (really small – 1 & 2 years old).
we get to her house & i meet her ‘assistant’ (nanny/housekeeper), joanna from the philippines, who speaks very good english & is adorable. adam (the 2 year old) loves me – we bond immediately. doaa’s husband is not home. (as she told me when she invited me over “my husband, he go away, so we have nice time with friend”).

doa’a immediately disappears into her bedroom & comes out in a super slinky little purple velour leisure suit – SUPER tight with lots of cleavage. AND – her HAIR is showing! i am completely fixated …
it’s amazing how different she looks with hair! her hair is long and dark and curly and beautiful. she is suddenly this beautiful woman….

i am told to “SIT” in this little chair in the kitchen while doa’a & joanna prepare the food. i have NEVER SEEN SO MUCH CHOPPING in all of my life. it was incredible. and the amount of spices all in these little unlabeled jars … and no measuring – just open the jar & dump in some spices … wow. the kitchen smells amazing. i am given tea & we chat in our broken sort of way. (doa’a’s english is limited & my arabic is non-existent) but we’re used to it & work it out.
then hannah (another egyptian teacher from my school whom i ADORE – lives 1 building over from doa’a) comes over with 2 of her kids – 2 beautiful little girls. hannah (pronounced ‘henna’) is super conservative muslim … wears and abaya, sheila, the face veil & all …

hannah comes in & immediately takes off her face veil & head wrap and then ….  she whips out her boob & starts breastfeeding. now, this is not something i would normally think twice about … but … imagine a woman whose hair you have never seen, all of a sudden her breast is in plain view?! i was a bit amazed. i admit, it was hard not to stare.

we all sit & chat & drink tea while the food is being prepared & the kids run all over the place.

THEN – it’s time to eat.  there is enough food for 10 of us, literally. doa’a serves me. i have 3 huge, full plates, a small fresh arabic salad, and a big bowl of soup. i am totally freaked out. in islam it is ‘hiram’ (forbidden – VERY bad) to waste food … so i know i’m expected to eat it all … damn.
the food is INCREDIBLE –
a chicken dish, charcoal meat of some sort, a dish with rice & sauce, soup, arabic salad, cheese & bread, grape leaves, olives … holy shit!
so, i eat and eat and eat – until i think i might die. i still have over 1/2 of my food left. no exaggeration. finally, i ask if i can take it home to eat for breakfast, lunch, & dinner for the rest of the weekend! “no problem, as you like” whew!!

afterwards, we all sit around and drink about 10 cups of mint tea.
then … DESSERT!!  flan. delicious.

hannah & doa’a tell me tons of things i don’t know about the arabic staff at my school. so interesting.
then they begin telling me how much they both like me. hannah says it’s because i am beautiful & show it in my smile. doa’a says it is because she can tell i love the children as if they are from my own country. wow. i am completely taken back.
after hours of talk, hannah & her kids leave. i try to leave, but am told “wait ms., sit, please” ok.
then, doa’a’s husband comes home. he iss a really nice man. speaks excellent english (went to college in europe) – we have really interesting conversation.
he says that they own a house in egypt and i am to come visit this summer. “well, i’m traveling with a friend this summer.” “of course you are! bring her! your friend is our friend, this is your home, come, come”. the hospitality is amazing.

i don’t leave until after 7 pm. over 6 hours! it is really an amazing experience.

these are the experiences i am looking for here …

unfortunately there are no pictures to share with you, as it is forbidden to photograph muslim women.