Khodragy? Fakahaany? Ba2al? What could possibly mean this? I assure you that all of you have seen or met these 3 characters (yes, you have already a clue - it is about 3 characters that it is impossible not to be seen in our daily life).
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| Vegetables and fruit seller |
Khodragy, Fakahaany and Ba2al are very popular and famous in Egypt, as in other parts of the world too, but under other identities and in some places, a little more modernized (this thing with modern it is not all the time the best choice and sure not all the time brings that "plus" that was missing; sometimes, old keeps the taste and the quality of the things; you will understand me well while you will read this article).
Khodragy is the vegetables seller, Fakahaany is the fruits seller and Ba2al is the seeds and beans seller.
First time I came in Alexandria, I remember that every morning I use to see from the window of mama and baba's home the vegetables seller or the fruits seller passing under the window and ringing a little bell to make the women hear them and come to the window to see their products. Usually the clear sound of the bell it is adjusted by their voices, - “Potatoes, tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplant, onioooooooooooon!” - because who don't know to sell his products, returns home with empty pockets.
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| Fresh vegetables home delivered |
Every time I was jumping to the window to see the beautiful colors show from above and to clear my eyes in the most fresh view I ever seen! Above of this, the flavor of fresh fruits and vegetables, just picked up, was always making me droll... yes people! DROLL! Because I am a fruits and vegetables lover (on our wedding day, I asked my husband as a gift a big water melon! So, what you expect???).
I was looking and measuring each fruit and each vegetable with my eyes from the second floor of the building. I still remember how during my first visit in Alexandria, the flavor of fresh strawberries was kidnap me completely!
You can see these men carrying the big cargo on the streets hoping that today they will have Insha Allah a good day in market. I never saw a woman as a street seller for fruits and vegetables and it is understandable - it must be a strong person who can carry all those kilos even if they use a carriage to do this attached to a bicycle, or sometimes using just a sort of big handcart which they push it with their own hands; so indeed it must be a man to handle with this effort.
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| Street seller with handcart |
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| Evening street seller in Cairo |
Looking to them, I noticed that between the street sellers, are also young ones and old ones, so old some of them - that you can even think - from where they still have the power to carry all this cargo every day? (because they do this every day - they don t have day off or holiday; they have just days of work, to be able to support their families, sometimes too numerous to can be maintain from street trade).
Yet so, they know that if they return home without money, the family will not have the necessary things to live; this is the reason why also the young ones, just recently married or even not married chose to be street sellers and they walk everyday for hours, starting early in the morning, until the afternoon and even in the evening. But they know that people buy their products in the morning and the chances to sell something after this, during the day light or in the evening, decrease because of their perishables products (under the merciless heat's sun, the vegetables and fruits lose their vitality and not just once I saw from the window, the street sellers wetting their products, trying like this to extend the freshness of fruits and vegetables... but in the end, the sun wins).
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| Street seller in Alexandria |
The sun lets marks not just on the vegetables and on the fruits... but also on the face of the street sellers: their skin darkened by the sun and aged by time, make you see real lessons of life and feel ashamed while you dare to complain that you die because of the heat on your way to your office (where you have air conditioner like at home) or on your way to return home... or maybe just when you go out to buy something! And not just this... if you once have the chance to buy something from these people, look to their hands and it is impossible not to see the marks of the land working, the callus on their palms from carrying the huge cargo everyday... some of them are weighed down by the life worries and by the many kilos they push or drag after them every day. Passing slowly on the street, dressed in their grey or white kaftans, wearing a hat or not and comfortable shoes, the street sellers are always ready to serve you in the best way (but you can always have the other option - to go to the market and pick up from there).
Many women chose to buy it directly from the window. You can see bellow of the windows baskets on a long string, rope coiled up and ready for when the fruit and vegetable sellers come. You can see windows open, housewives look down. Most of the heads of these women are covered in scarves. They yell down, inquiring prices and freshness:"bekam kelo el batates?w el batates di ataftaha emta?"
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| Housewife buying products from the street seller from her window |
The baskets gets lowered. The vegetable man places his produce inside. The women pull them hand over hand up to their second or third or fourth floor apartments. They haul them inside, take out their purchases, then re lower them with money.
About el Ba2al - well you can see them on the street too and as a memory from Egypt, first time when I was in Alexandria, I received as a gift, a sculpture representing el Ba2al from Egypt :). That time my husband told me that el Ba2al is a so famous figure in Egypt :).
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| Seeds seller in Cairo |
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| This is Heaven... for me :D |
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| Coconut seller |
Yet so, no matter how many problems they face and how hard is their life, the street sellers never forget to smile to you and to invite you to taste from their products before you buy, to make sure that you will be satisfied with your choice and that next time, you will buy from them again. I think now to the market sellers from back home - every time I was going me or my father or mama to buy something... no matter from what market, there could not be possible to chose your products and put it in your bag with your hand! Just touching the products a little bit to check the quality, would go nuts the sellers and make them bawl out to you - how you dare to touch his products? you want to spoil his work?"... And of course, the seller was always the one who picked up for you (many times you could find damaged fruits or vegetables inside and if you point that, with a big lack of respect, they would say to you, that if you don t like it you can chose from someone else!!! :O :O :O Lack of respect on my own money?? What is this? Beside the high price that sometimes was making you feel that you deal with thieves!!!).
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| Fresh fruits |
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| Fresh vegetables |
My parents were always proud people and never let the opportunity to others to show them lack of respect. So, when they were facing a situation like this, they always said: "Let's go somewhere else! The lake has enough fish for all of us" - trying to point out that we can buy from others too, the same products and even in better quality). After supermarkets appeared, we started to get use to chose from there, even that we many times missed the local products.
I remember that in our wedding day, while we were getting ready to go to the Ministry of Justice to marry, I went down with my husband, mama and baba. Mama stopped for a few minutes to chose from the seller some delicious products and guess what?! After mama picked up all and payed him, she asked him kindly to take the fruits up, where our niece was waiting to receive them. I can't imagine something like this in Romania, except maybe if I would pay him the road and double price for the fruits and bonus for his effort!
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| Vegetables seller waiting customers |
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| Kindness in a smile |
While mama was choosing the products, she told to the seller that I am the wife of her son and we are in our way to close the marriage to the Egyptian authorities. The old man prayed for us and wished us the best in our new life as a couple. The happiness and joy for us was so visible in his eyes... with all his worries stamped on his face, he still had time and power to be happy for other people.
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| All the parts fresh fruits and vegetables |
Sometimes I use to watch with mama from the window, the street seller passing under the flat and mama was asking me to look and to tell her what I want to eat from there. Many times, without even asking me, baba came home with kilos of fruits, knowing that I love this so much (every time when he use to go out, baba asked me if there is something that I need... yes, from the beginning I felt at home).
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| Kaftan, street seller, vegetables, fruits |
Kindness and politesse were all the time 2 qualities so important for me and so well searched by me in people. Sometimes I found this, sometime I didn t. Sometimes I found a sort of masked politesse, but under a vicious mind, that could make you feel disgusted! You know that type: I ll help you, but what you got for me?
AlhamdulilAllah, the best persons in my life are way far from cheap behavior like this! My parents always protected me from people like this until I learn to do this myself and now my husband is like my knight - always ready to protect me and to stand up beside me... even to fight with a water melon which don t let me to cut him in pieces quick and fast as I want!
