have a very shaabi day

I had a very eventful last couple days here in Aswan. I will start from the end and work my way back in time.

I just had lunch in a shaabi (Working class alternative to Egypt's slick middle class food, music, etc.. ) little restaurant. I had chicken, a block of macarona bashamel (egyptian baked pasta), moloukhia (egyptian leafy green soup, plain chicken soup, salad and bread all for 7 pounds about US1.25.. and it was really good.. I found this place with my local friend Hamada who took me there two days ago when we first met. he picked me up from my hotel after I had just returned from a long day trip to the temples of Abu Simbl in the south.. the trip left at 4 am the night before for the 3 hour drive.. we arrived at the temple site at 7 am and the sun was high in the sky but dim, a very strange light, it might have to do with being so far south and the time of morning, you could look straight at the disk of the sun without squinting.. as you arrive, you see a large mountain like mound, its the back of the reconstructed Abu Simbl after it was cut into parts and reassembled at a new site away from the rising waters of lake Nasser.. oh and the lake itself is an amazing thing to see.. its enormous (largest man made lake), with islands and a ridiculously rich natural life (massive fish, tones of birds, foxes, Nile crocodiles, etc..).. as you turn around the mound, the the massive faces of the four seated Ramses II statues appear out of the man made mountain... its a really impressive sight.. this is one of those things that I always wanted to see and again cant believe how lucky I am to have seen it in my lifetime along with the hundreds of other monuments that I have seen.. its one of those moments where I can really appreciate how lucky I have been.. aside from the hordes of trashy Italian tourists, it was a great experience. because of the unpractical convoy system (police escort) the buses had to leave at around 9... after another 3 hour drive back towards Aswan, we visited the Aswan High Dam (which does not appear very high when one is standing on top of it, but its a massive structure (18 times more material than the biggest of the three pyramids of giza *thanks lonely planet for this kind of info*) anyway, after that we went to see the temple of Philea (the last pharonic temple to be built.. it was also relocated from a would have been an underwater site because of the Dam project.. today its on an island, reached by boat and its really one of the most beautiful sites I have visited anywhere.

enough of this, more about the exciting part of that day.

I made it back to my hotel and on the way called Hamada to come and meet me.. I met him a week before randomly when I was having a foul and falafel sandwich on the sidewalk in Hurghada as I was waiting my bus... we talked, had a tea and shisha together and I promised to call him when I come to Aswan, which is where he lives.

it was oven hot outside, I mean its difficult to describe how hot it felt except if you imagine heating your oven to about 400-450 then open the oven door and stick your head in there.. it was hot.. we went to have a multi course egyptian lunch at a local place which was yummy, but I did not really fit with my shorts, sun glasses hanging on my collar and a tight tshirt.. however saying SalamuAlikum to the men present was sufficient to let them know that yes I am egyptian.

this reminded me a bit of my experience last year with lotfy in tunisia, the guy who gave me the local life experience for a day.. I had to eat the chicken with my hands and when I finished something more was coming (typical egyptian working class mentality that you should eat until you cant breath) it was delicious non the less.

then we went for a shisha (the plain honey tobacco not the touristy apple flavor, which they would laugh if I asked for that), it was too hot and then we went to visit some of his family.. we took a microbus (local mode of transport for Pt 25) and went to a typical poor working class home, with the unfinished upper floors, ready for expansion upon availability of funds or the need for more space, and with the wonderfully aged and pealing wall paint of two different tones of green and the simple yet comfortable wooden furniture with flower pattern cushions.. the home although small and crowded with I dont know how many family members was full of smiling faces.. I was a bit of an attraction, and they were curious to ask me questions about being egyptian american, and traveling in egypt etc.. they served me a drink made from Doma, a hard bitter fruit from a palm that has the shell of a coconut but is fully dry (resembles wood), it is crushed then mixed with water and sugar in the blender.. it was .. interesting, but a first non the less.
they then served me Shai Mazboot (perfect tea), and finally insisted that I not drink from my bottle of water but rather have some water from the Nile (which they had cooled in a container) although I never thought I would drink directly from the Nile, I was glad I had to.

we then went to his house, to do that we took another micro bus, then went further out of the city across the train tracks where we took another car.. we passed a weapons factory, a chemical factory with yellow smoke coming out of its chimneys, and the streets started to become unpaved.

his home was yet again a typical unfinished construction with the first floor completed with three rooms painted that tone of green upper egyptians love.. I took a shower then was given a summer light galabeyya to wear which was pretty much see through

I gotta run for my train to Alex.. ill finish later