... Evil Eye ...

Attempting to try and explain the evil eye in a short blog is an intimidating task. However its prevalence in the culture in this area, the neighboring countries, and indeed the world (and in every souvenir shop) has led to many of our guests asking questions about the “evil eye”. So this is a very simple attempt to try and help us all have a slightly better understanding of this belief and practice.

WHEN DID THIS BELIEF BEGIN?

• It is interesting that the 3 main monotheistic faiths (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) all have some aspect of this in their writings. 
• The earliest eye idols were said to have been found in 3300 BC in Syria (Mesopotamia)

* Ancient Egyptians used to paint an eye of the prow of their ships.

• Classical authors (Greek and Roman times) tried to explain it in their writings
• Alexander the Great was a strong believer in the power of the Evil Eye, so as he expanded his territory, so he took the awareness of it and the protection against it with him.

PHARAONIC TIMES:
Some people link the evil eye to the Eye of Ra. This refers to the feminine counterparts of the God Ra, the sun-disc (his eye) being the symbol of the mother, sibling, consort or daughter of Ra. This round disc (representing the sun) is seen in the representation of Hathor, Sekhmet, Bastet, Wadjet and Mut. Some others link the Evil eye to the Eye of Horus. 

WHERE IS THIS BELIEF HELD STRONGLY TODAY?

It is quite strongly followed in the Mediterranean region, is found in central and west Asia, Latin America, west and east Africa and central America.

WHAT IS THE EVIL EYE?

Well, even at the outset this is quite confusing, because it is the same word used to describe 2 different things:

1. The Evil Eye is believed to be a look, cast by a person (either consciously or totally unaware) usually because they are envious of something a person possesses (both animate or inanimate) or has achieved, and results in some misfortune, illness or injury of that which the person was envious of.
2. The Evil Eye is also the name of the charm / talisman / symbol /decoration (Nazar) of an actual eye that is said to protect you from the malevolent glare from any person. The eye is usually blue in color (concentric circles of light and dark blue, sometimes with a layer of yellow)

WHO IS IT THAT GIVES THESE LOOKS? (curses)

It can be an individual person, in a family line, or even a tribe (it is said). Other opinions say it is anyone with an “unusual” eye: such as a squint, or 2 different colored eyes, or even eyes of an unusual color (so for example in an area where most of the population have brown eyes, blue or green eyes were thought to be more prone to having the power of the evil eye).

WHEN CAN THIS LOOK BE PASSED?

As mentioned, usually when someone is envious / jealous of the success, beauty, wealth, possessions etc that another has. This envious look contains destructive power and brings about harm. It is also thought that praise or compliments can lead people to give the evil eye. Some people will recite verses from the Koran for protection. Some cultures believe that spitting 3 times is what will chase the evil away. Yet another culture believes that putting a raw egg beneath a bed will indicate something about the curse.

CHARMS / TALISMANS / PROTECTION:

These are in the shape of an eye / ball / tear to represent an eye (usually in shades of blue, in concentric circles). 

The evil eye (of protection) is also to be found in a hand (along with a fish). The eye is embedded in the palm of the hand. In Islam, this is referred to as the Hand of Fatima. In Judaism, it is referred to as the hand of Miriam. Also known as the “Hamsa” (5). This hand is also present in Buddhism and Hinduism. All adhere to the belief that this hand will bring about protection.

These talismans are said to turn back the envious looks containing destructive power, thus protecting the person wearing them.The eyes can be worn in a variety of ways: necklaces, rings, ear-rings, bracelets. Nowadays you can get them as cushion covers, shoes and slippers, tattoos, gloves, or you can get the talismans set in gold, silver or surrounded by diamonds.

AWARENESS:

It is said that close to 40% of cultures around the world still adhere to the belief of the curse of the evil eye, and that of needing a talisman to protect you from the curse it bears. Here in Egypt, many believe that talking too much about success and possessions, or receiving too many compliments or praise about beauty or achievements can attract the jealous eye from someone with a subsequent curse. Many believe that babies and young children are more vulnerable to the evil eye, and occasions like births, graduations, weddings and birthdays can attract the evil eye.

It is good to be aware of the prevalence of this in so many cultures, and the fear that is associated with it. Whether you adhere to this in your own life or not, it is good to know and understand, particularly as a foreigner, especially with blue or green eyes, how speaking too much praise about a beautiful baby or new furniture in a home, can leave people in much fear of the evil eye. Let us be sensitive to others, understanding of their world-view, even if it is different to our own. 

... Kunafa ...

Ramadan is a month of fasting for Muslims around the world. But also key during this time is the “breakfast” (the breaking of the fast) called the IFTAR meal. Every evening, for a month, there is a flurry of activity, so that everyone can get to the place where they will have this “break-the-fast” meal: at home, at a restaurant, near the sea, with family or friends. These meals are usually started with a date and a glass of water, accompanied by a prayer.

Then it is tucking into the meal:

These meals are usually quite significant:

• special drinks
• soup
• meat or chicken
• and lots of bread, pasta, rice

But many people’s favorites are the desserts after the meal. And the queen of Ramadan desserts has to be:

KUNAFA (Kanafeh, Kunafah)

This is a glorious pastry, with several layers, types and sizes, consumed in vast quantities during ramadan. Where did this pastry originate from? Some call it a Palestinian desert (from the 10th century), others say it goes back to the days of Mesopotamia. But whatever the origins, in Egypt, particularly during Ramadan, it is enjoyed by all.

TRADITIONAL KUNAFA

1. The basis of the kunafa is a long, thing, noodle-type pastry (flour, water, oil), which looks rather like thin spaghetti. It is prepared in local bakeries, are a very large, round, rotating griddle (and sometimes at home, on a much smaller scale!)

When it is finished, it looks a bit like a pale bird’s nest, often referred to as “angel hair” and is gathered up in large armfuls off the griddle by the baker. If eaten at this point, it is rather tasteless!

2. This angel hair is then usually soaked in syrup (water, sugar and rose-water), with a dash of orange coloring (the traditional color), and divided into layers, or shapes are required.

3. In between the layers, in the middle, is usually a light, unsalted white cheese or cream filling (or a combination of the 2). Baking then gives it a lovely brown and crunchy taste. 

4. Some nuts (usually pistachio) are then added on the top

Some forms of Kunafa are sold warm and delicious…. others are just as tasty eaten at room temperature or cold. 

MODERN KUNAFA

Over recent years, I have noticed, in many of the new and exciting restaurants and coffee shops that have popped up all over Egypt, a “modernization” of the kunafa

1. The size: no longer is it made only the traditional, vast, round metal containers. There are now mini kunafa (which can look like tiny birds nests, and in the middle nestles some lovely pistachios or almonds). There are also round family sized layered Kunafa (looking more like a cake). 

2. The filling: now gone is the basic cheesy filling: now available is nutella, custard, and even red velvet. My favourite is the mango Kunafa. 

3.  A few days ago, I noticed a “Cronafa”, a cross between a croissant and a Kunafa: a mini croissant stuffed with creamy-cheese, rolled in orange vermicelli pastry, topped with nuts, or you could have Nutella or mango!

But whichever kind attracts you, the traditional or the modern, do go ahead and have a piece, or better still, get invited to an Iftar meal with a local family, and go and buy a lovely, sweet, creamy Kunafa, and watch eyes begin to shine with joy, as it shared out at the end of the Iftar meal.   

... when a line not a line...

Probably the thing that irritates, frustrates, annoys and drives foreigners to distraction is the concept of politely standing in line while waiting your turn to be served!

However, just writing that sentence reminds me that getting to the heart of this blog page is actually necessitates a complete cultural paradigm shift:

When we view something from our own cultural perspective, there is always the assumption that the way I do it, is the correct way, therefore anyone else doing something in a different way has got to be incorrect.

WHEN IS A LINE A LINE?

Now for many of us, this is obvious. However when doing “research” for this blog with some of my friends, asking them how to explain the protocol, the system, the procedure for standing in “line”, I begun to realise that there are many innate rules, in fact some that people have never thought about: it is like it is in the DNA!

But what I have discovered is that there are basically 4 types of “waiting in line” scenarios here (but even using the word “line” is incorrect!)

1. MODERN OFFICES:

At present, there are many banks, Data providers, cell-phone companies and even some government departments that have the computer-generated ticket system. Generally this works fairly well, as long as the computer, the speakers (usually on the highest volume possible) and the screens displaying the numbers of the ticket and the corresponding counter…. are all working harmoniously. This is a system which many foreigners are used to, and are quite comfortable with, until this system dissolves into the 3rd type listed below!

2. CLASSIC LINE:

Again, this would seem to be something that foreigners might instantly recognize: where there is some sort of door or counter, and people seem to standing in a some-what straight line, leading from the door or counter away (though at times it may be in a curved shape as in waiting to check in at an airport). However, this again can easily dissolve into type 3, listed below.

3. SEMI-CIRCLE BUNCH:

This is generally in smaller, traditional type shops: selling local bread, vegetable barrows, meat and chicken vendors, grocery counters with cheese, olives, cold meats (a favorite in this country!) What happens is that people just crowd around the vendor or sales person, and gather together in a clump, trying to get as close to the vendor as possible. As the numbers increase, so does the loudness of the voices (sir, excuse me, please….), the waving of orders or money, the firm but insistent pushing by the person behind you, trying to get their shoulder or arm into the gap between you.

However, there is the inevitable time when someone seems to merely glide to the front of this clump, which somehow opens for him/her, and they get greeted by the vendor and then served straight away. This had left me perplexed for many a year, until I began to join these “semi-circle bunches” just to see if I could work out an understanding of what the requirements are there that allow others to effectively “jump the queue” (or cut the bunch?). This is what I have observed over the years:

How to push in front…

1. Look more sick than anyone else waiting to see the eg: doctor 
2. Appear to be more busy and in a far more of a hurry than all the others waiting
3. Behave like you have more money than anyone else
4. Be in a major crisis, which of course necessitates you going to the front
5. Pay a “small gift” to the receptionist
6. Be known by the vendor (usually because you give really good tips for their service)
7. Look important (sunglasses and a suit)
8. Be a young lady, pretty, well made up and beautifully dressed!! (if the vendor is a man, which usually they are!)
9. Being tall (usually so that your arm is waving higher, or your head is visible, or you can get your arm over the rest of the people, right into the face of the vendor!)
10. Carrying an impressive looking briefcase (which satisfies numbers 2 - 4, 7 above)

In fact, I have heard from a few sources, that if people know they might have to wait in a line or a bunch, they “dress up”, so that by fulfilling as many of the criteria above as possible, they will be willingly let into the front.

SO…. how to get served as a foreigner:

Firstly, get rid of your preconceived ideas about waiting in line (unless of course it is a modern office as mentioned above). Don't get angry! Try and work out which of the types of line it is, and then behave accordingly. If you stand in what you think is a “polite manner”, standing in a type 2 classic line, when it is indeed a type 3 semi-circle bunch, you will not get served. And in fact people will not look at you and think: now there is a polite, well disciplined and sensible person. No… they will look at you a bit perplexed, wondering why you aren't joining the bunch and getting served. In fact after a little while, whoever can speak english will be sent to see if they can help you, as you obviously don't understand how things work!!!

So don't be scared, look and learn and get familiar and comfortable with the semi-circle bunch! And don't despair if a classic line or semi-circle bunch disintegrates into:

4. THE DREADED HYBRID: which is more of a “line-bunch”! It may have started out as a classic line, but then due to the fact that a lot of “important looking people” had arrived, they all go to the front and form their own semi-circle bunch!!!

But again, stay calm, breathe and enjoy the experience: All I can say is there NOTHING as sweet as a hot falafel sandwich, successful bought from a busy shop, where you have triumphed over the semicircle bunch.

If you can do this, you will know you have arrived!

... Where strength and a lot of water are required ...

For some it can be a bit of a shock to discover that you have not realized that the way you clean a house is actually a cultural thing: and that when you live in a different culture, you will find that many more things in your life are more culturally based than you thought. We often then assume that the way WE do things is correct (the right way to do it!) and any other way by definition is incorrect (the wrong way!).

But half the misunderstandings could be avoided if we take the time to understand and learn how and why other people do things differently, and taste the particular cultural flavor that is evident in whatever we are looking at.

Take cleaning the house for example:

How is it “done” in Egypt? Well again, that is such a broad question, and there will be differences in each village, town, city and family, there are some similarities:

SPEED: once Egyptian women (and indeed men) get going with cleaning, they seem to move in a frenzied whirlwind. The aim is to get through the cleaning as quickly as possible, so that you can get down to the good stuff (food and friends!)

WATER: there is usually a lot of water that is used to clean and mop, particularly in the bathrooms. Everything that is movable will be moved out of the bathroom and then all the walls, floors, toilet, basin, bath will be sprayed with water, washed and then sprayed down again. The wonderful thing about most Egyptian bathrooms (and balconies) is that they have small drains in the floor, and then you can simply “squee-gee” the water down the drain. This leaves the entire bathroom wet, but with the heat here (for the bulk of the year) it dries out very quickly. So a good hint is not to have too many things on your shelves or tables in the bathroom (as sometimes they get wet!!)

MOPPING: a lot of mopping also happens: in the shops you can find a variety of products to mop with: soap for tiles, marble, liquid for parquet flooring, wood flooring and any number of types of brooms, mops and buckets. Again, all this done with high energy and speed!

RUGS AND CARPETS: Egyptians are quite proud of having a variety of rugs, mats and carpets: small ones to rather impressively large ones. Fashions come and go, and you can see a variety of the “classic” rugs, with their beauty and style, and then the more quirky modern ones with louder colors and less natural threads. Egypt tends to be a rather dusty place, and keeping these rugs and carpets clean is something every Egyptian woman takes pride in. The easy, but more costly, way of having them cleaned is the local carpet cleaning man! You phone him and  they send a younger “runner” (or 2) to roll up and carry the rugs back to the laundry. They will then beat, wash and dry them, wrap them in plastic, and the same “runners” will proudly unwrap and lay down the new clean carpet for you.

However, if this is not an option, many homes will have daily cleaning ladies, who will (usually once a week, or month, depending on the dust levels) take out the mats, one at a time, throw them across the balcony wall, and then beat them with a carpet-beater. This is a sight to behold, (and to avoid when walking underneath the enthusiastic cleaning lady). Once beaten, they are left in the sun for a period (to sanitize them) and then brought back inside. Once every few months, the carpets will be washed: which involves the usual beating first, and then a strong broom with a soapy mixture to wash the carpet. It will then be hung out to dry.

100 cups and 50 towels….

Preparation for a wedding is complex and convoluted in any culture. Here in Egypt possibly even more complicated is the setting up of the home for the happy couple, and the “who buys what” leaves many of us foreigners completely stunned!
Recently 2 of our Muslim friends (as Christian requirements might be different) recently got married. Watching and listening to the pre-wedding discussions and then visiting the home after the wedding has made me understand that there are many unwritten rules, understandings, requirements that vary from village to town to city, from family to family, from home to home, but the rules (particulalry between the women) are stronger and clearer than if they were actually written down…. and most times the men are rather oblivious!
So from my limited understanding, referring mainly to the Delta region of the country, there is a fairly clear divide between:
THE GROOM: he is generally to provide a flat/apartment (built, finished and paid for) with all the furniture, lights and large electrical appliances. The rugs/carpets and curtains are usually his responsibility but sometimes the bride will get involved with that.
THE BRIDE: and this is where it gets exciting, and the short list grows to immense proportions:
She will bring:

• all the kitchen utensils (pots, pans, blenders, crockery, cutlery)
• all the glassware and tea sets
• trays
• Blankets
• Towels
• Sheets

Now this seems fairly straight forward, until one realises that there is an “expected number” of each of these. As one husband said to me: “how many towels does one really need!”.
However, I have discovered that this is not the correct question: it is not about immediate need, but more like keeping up with the Joneses! Each area actually has an acceptable number of towels, cups and tea-sets that a woman should bring.
One of the wives told me that she was coming to a small town from living in a larger city, and her mother had to find out what was “expected” in that town. Surprisingly, the small town’s requirements were much higher than that in the city.
But from recent discussions, an example of 2 village weddings in the Delta area, the women both bought:

• 100 towels
• 50 cups (mugs and glasses for tea and glasses for water, as well as special glasses for ice cream and juice)
• 3 tea sets (teapot, milk jug, sugar bowl, plates for cake, and cups and saucers)
• 2-3 sets of crockery (plates, bowls, serving bowls)
• 6-10 large fluffy blankets
• 2 -3 sets of sheets for the beds
• 15 local dresses (Aabeyas)
• and 30 “pyjama sets” for at home (a new one for each day of the honeymoon month)
• and of course all the multiple sets of pots and pans that are in the kitchen

But what is the most interesting is the use of a “Niche” (which is a large display cabinet with glass doors) which is usually in the dining area. Inside, under lock and key, will be the best of the glasses, the 3 best tea sets, the best crockery set or 2, and the best sets of drinking glasses and jugs as well as some glass ornaments and trays. These are usually never touched or used, they are to be seen and admired and possibly handed on to the daughters when they get married: and become the family heirlooms. Many husbands I have seen do not really “understand this” but it is something the women are very strong about: Don’t touch!
Then there is the cupboards that house the towels (or the drawers under the bed). Many husbands do not even know where all these things are in the house: but every woman knows exactly how many towels, cups, sheets and blankets she has. Some of these will not even be used for many years, or maybe never used, but handed on.
But these niches and cupboards are something that each bride is very proud of, and when you visit, you will be shown around the cupboards and the niche, where you can “ooh and aah” and congratulate the glowing bride about how beautiful all her cups and towels are… while the husbands scratch their heads and look perplexed!
And then I remember that my mother had a similar small sideboard, where she too kept crockery and cutlery sets, which no one was allowed to touch. And then I remember the “hope chests” or wedding kists of other countries, where hopeful young women (and their mothers) would place various items inside that were hand-made or embroidered table-cloths and linens, stored and viewed by excited neighbours.
We are all very similar…. but here it is so much bigger and brighter!