Neighbourhoods and… neighbours :D

1. Part 1
   
   

   

   
   I could say my favorite subject, not because I spy on my neighbors and after this I go to gossip while I drink my coffee with my "friends neighbors"! In fact - from the beginning, I mention that I love so much the privacy and the intimacy of my home and me and my husband we prefer to keep our home far from any social meetings (as much as we can).
   
   
   Truly, I am the kind of person which appreciates and takes as good manners if before someone comes to us (family or friends) that person calls and announces the intention to visit us (with at least 1 day before) because I totally dislike that I change my daily program suddenly and run from here to there because we have a visit (hospitality is very important for me; as the guest prepares himself for the visit, so do I, I love to prepare everything for the moment of visit)! Speaking about calls too: no call after 22:00 and in week-end, no call before 10:00 (except the emergency cases)! 
   
   
   Why this? I come from a family and from an environment where the respect for the family and the privacy, the manners and the behavior are the business card or better said… the mirror of the education of any person who understands the meaning of words "gentleman" as a man and "lady" as a woman! 
   
   
   Well, from the point of view of privacy and intimacy – no problem about this with our neighbors because we don't connect with them more than "Salam Alaykoum/ Wa Alaykoum Salam" when accidentally we meet on the stairs (and it is fine like this, trust me!). So what’s the business with our neighbors? We will see…
   
   

   
   
   
   In this building there are people I never saw their faces not even once… but I can hear their voices… from the first until the last floor (10^th floor) so clear and SO LOUD that I can know where they went, what they bought, who they met, what they cooked, how many times they slapped the kids and called them with the names of the entire ZOO Garden and even the number of fights (which usually continue outside in front of the building from the reason "I want that people know with whom I married and how "toz" (jerk) he/ she is"!
   Note: We are living in a good area of the city, to Port Said Street, so near to the sea, practically I can say that I can "wash" my hands into the sea :D.
   
   
   TV… Mobile phone… we all have at least one of these two things…but how many times you shared them with your neighbors or people in the street? :D
   I wish from all my heart that my neighbors or anyone else related to them read this article and read well what I will say now: Rise Down the voice of your TV and Your voice when you use the mobile! I have the feeling that you are in my living room when you turn on your TV or you speak to mobile!!!
   
   
   And please! Try to show a minimum of decency and that there is difference between you and any jungle animal and that you value the fact that Allah blessed you with rationality, with mind and HE dignified you by being a human with religion and knowledge and you live in the city, not in the middle of the jungle!  The choice is yours: you can be the Tarzan or Cheetah of the community or you can honor the name you carry and say Alhamdulillah for the grace of Allah on you!
   
   
   Speaking about manners and behavior… one more thing: TAKE YOUR GARBAGE TO THE GARBAGE BASKET and STOP throwing the bags from the window in the middle of the night or early morning (you know that it is WRONG what you are doing so you try to put yourself under the protection of the darkness or the silence of the morning)!!! And here I speak first to the women: it is that hard that you move yourself from the couch and get down with the garbage basket? It is that hard that you ask your husband or your older kids to take the garbage out (in case that you can't or you are busy with something else)? Why you have to make yourself so cheap, less than the animals and dirty the view in front of your eyes because you are "kaslana awii" and don't want to move your "lanchon" to not lose a few grams??? TAKE YOUR GARBAGE TO THE GARBAGE BASKET (for Heaven sake it is besides the building)!!!
   
   
   In the end, all these things remind me with words I heard once: "Look to the desert… you don't see any flies, bugs or garbage. Take some humans and put them there… after a while you will see the place full with flies, ants, mosquitoes, bugs; all these beside the garbage and the bad smell!"
   Really, the human blesses the place… or maybe not, at least not in the situations mentioned above!
   
   
   P.S.: If you pass the same problems or even more with the community you are from, please let your comment here and uncover the situation! We don't have to be silent to these things!

Cairo - amazing every day (part two)

Only 25 km from Cairo, Egypt's biggest riches look into the sandy horizon. The pyramids, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, tower over the Giza plateau and turn into stone the tenacity and traditional skill of the people on the shore of the Nile. Among them, the Great Pyramids of Giza, popularly known as the Pyramid of Keops, is not only the most impressive given its size (the pyramid is about 139 meters tall and for over 3800 years, it was the tallest building in the world), but also offers you one of the most unusual leisure activities, given that you are so close to the desert: golf. The huge golf course at the base of the Great Pyramid belongs to Egypt's oldest luxury hotel, Mena House, and in order to play some golf in an ancient background, you must pay 12 euros. Don't worry about a dress code: you will be allowed to step on the course wearing any kind of T - shirt and even sneakers.

After that, you must also make at least one stop at one of the Egyptian capital's religious sites. Cairo is often called "the city of one thousand minarets", due to the multitude of buildings influenced by Islamic architecture and the high number of mosques there. The Mosque of Muhammad Ali Pasha or the Alabaster Mosque is the most famous of them, being over 60 meters tall and the first building greeting you from the distance as you draw closer to Cairo. Sultan Hassan's Mosque became famous in ancient times due to its size and innovating architectural style, with the dome shaped like an egg carved in wood. As for the Al - Azhar Mosque, its construction was finished in the year 972, which makes it the city's oldest religious building. 

The taste of Cairo

After so many trips, a hearty meal is an absolute must. Egyptian cuisine is famous for the generous amount of vegetables it uses, perfect for regaining energy after a day in the desert. Mesa'a'ah is one of the most savory choices: slices of grilled eggplants, onions, peppers covered by tomato sauce and Egyptian spices.

Cardamom (Hell in Arabic) is the most popular spice in Egyptian cuisine, which actually combines an amazing variety of spices, both Asian and African influence.

Mutton is Egyptians' favorite meat, (not the case of my husband, so I consider myself so so so lucky ^___*), either grilled or baked, with tahina sauce and a lot of herbs.

Bread (Eish Masri or Eish Balad) is also an important component of traditional Egyptian meals and the places you can have the best bread are Bedouin villages. Made of thyme and corn seeds, the bread of these desert inhabitants comes as an extra treat when you sit in their welcoming tents, in shelters made of stones and decorated with pillows.

Beyond being the lead character in the story of Arabian culture, Cairo stands out as a city that manages to offer its tourists many reasons to be fascinated, regardless of the social and political context. Which is another piece of evidence that the great Egyptian city, a not to miss vacation destination, is triumphant every day.

Egyptian lifestyle

Egyptian lifestyle… kind of "too modern" expression for a subject about Egypt from behind tourism commercials. In fact, I will speak about Egyptian life from a so "selfish" point of view… I say "selfish" because to speak about this subject I suppose to interview about 90 million Egyptians plus a few million foreigners living here because of work, marriage, adventure or just simply because they want so (from a reason or another).

From the beginning, I will point that each country of this world you can describe it easily using three words: people, places, facts. I learned this from a so simple old country man whom I don't think he had more than elementary school, but he was so wise and so equilibrating than any of us could be (I say "he was" because I don't know if him or his wife are still alive, but sure I felt so honored and so happy to know them).

People, places and facts… but if we look inside each country we clearly see that every home with its habits and what seems to be general it is not applicable to all! 

Egypt…well I have seen many women young and old jumping into Fontana d'Amore (The Fountain of Love) just to feel the magic of Egypt…but GIRLS (whatever your age is)! The magic of Egypt don't hide between the arms of a young restless Egyptian guy… and for sure not love either! The truth is that the magic of Egypt you can't feel it, discover it, see it or even smell it from the window or the pool of a fancy resort or from a visit to the Pyramids or a "stolen" kiss from the Sphinx! If you think that being a "faithful" tourist of Egypt brings you on the wings of Isis, you have to know that there is a long road until Osiris's palace and not every guy is a real pharaoh (being a pharaoh of our days has nothing to do with richness or "sculptured" body and "long teeth smiling"! But with being a true Lion of the Desert: honesty and dignity; character strength and self-confidence; born to be a leader and powerful enough by the power of word used as a sword, not just the strengthens of the body! Girls!!! Search for your Lion of the Desert from whatever country he could be, important is that "your guy" be the one which makes you the Queen of his kingdom and treat you as well too!!! ;) 

And what about you, the tourist guy which comes from Europe or from America with his group of friends to enjoy "the goodies" of Egypt? Just because you smoke nargeela and you wear kaftan (in your way back home to show your country fellows how "cool you are, dude"), just because you bought a t-shirt with "I love Egypt" or some "pharaoh stuffs" (souvenirs) this doesn't make you more than an ordinary "tourist dude guy" like any one else from your group or other groups!

So ALL OF YOU! Step aside and take a deep breath because we are going to explore a little bit the areas underneath the "clothes" of glamorous touristic Egypt: neighborhoods, markets, tram & micro bus stations, restaurants, cinemas, malls, library, museums, schools & education, street life, daily life and night life, work places, shops & shopping, hospitals and health care, religious life, family life, teenagers vs. adults, youth generation vs. aged generation, men & women and a lot more!