I'm sitting in the dining room. I've been sitting here for a good 3 hours. I've cooked some food and had dinner; the call to prayer for both the sunset prayer and the evening prayer has been given and city has prayed them both; my American roommate has left to go to a cafe; I'm on my second cup of black tea with mint leaves. The only time I saw our Egyptian roommate was when I first returned home three and half hours ago and that was only when he was crossing the hall to enter his room.
But he did happen to come out a second time about thirty or so minutes ago when I was in the process of making my first cup of tea. The first thing he says is, "You didn't even ask me if I wanted any! You Americans aren't social at all. Your recluse lifestyle is wrong." He was hiding his smile, but you have to understand that he was genuinely, even if only slightly, offended. Egyptians are social people. Very social. You can make a new best friend in minutes. You can expect to get invited over for tea the first time you meet somebody. You'll hold hands with the person you just met while walking down the street. And, you can also expect them to get offended slightly when you don't return the same level of hospitality.
Egyptians aren't product oriented. They're relationship oriented. I didn't actually believe that when I came over here - I'd never really experienced it - but it's true, absolutely true. Three hours of talk is a lot more meaningful than meeting deadlines.
They have also preserved their community neighborhood feel too. Everybody knows each other and their daily schedules. In America we call our kids in at dark. In Egypt it seems like they push them out the doors. You can hear kids playing in the streets well into the night, past midnight. Giving kids a candy wouldn't be considered weird at all. I don't think anybody would even think to check if the wrapper had been opened or not already (that might be because half the stuff you buy here has seems like it has already been opened, dented, or re-used in some way in any case).
I'd love to write more, but I've got another paper to write. It's about how sectarian strife and social problems in Syria originated with the French and the foreign policies of their selfish mandate after the First World War. I'm almost done.
But he did happen to come out a second time about thirty or so minutes ago when I was in the process of making my first cup of tea. The first thing he says is, "You didn't even ask me if I wanted any! You Americans aren't social at all. Your recluse lifestyle is wrong." He was hiding his smile, but you have to understand that he was genuinely, even if only slightly, offended. Egyptians are social people. Very social. You can make a new best friend in minutes. You can expect to get invited over for tea the first time you meet somebody. You'll hold hands with the person you just met while walking down the street. And, you can also expect them to get offended slightly when you don't return the same level of hospitality.
Egyptians aren't product oriented. They're relationship oriented. I didn't actually believe that when I came over here - I'd never really experienced it - but it's true, absolutely true. Three hours of talk is a lot more meaningful than meeting deadlines.
They have also preserved their community neighborhood feel too. Everybody knows each other and their daily schedules. In America we call our kids in at dark. In Egypt it seems like they push them out the doors. You can hear kids playing in the streets well into the night, past midnight. Giving kids a candy wouldn't be considered weird at all. I don't think anybody would even think to check if the wrapper had been opened or not already (that might be because half the stuff you buy here has seems like it has already been opened, dented, or re-used in some way in any case).
I'd love to write more, but I've got another paper to write. It's about how sectarian strife and social problems in Syria originated with the French and the foreign policies of their selfish mandate after the First World War. I'm almost done.
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