Ain Shams

Its a world I have been recently introduced to due to new relationships that I have in my predominantly discreet life...

All I knew about Ain Shams was that it was were the old city of Heliopolis really lied and that it is where many middle class Egyptians live...

When I got there, the Heliopolis fact was totally irrelevant and unimportant since the place itself expressed no indication of the historical value of the area...

Middle class Egyptians... well the second realization was that I really had no idea how did middle class Egyptians live...I realized how much I was locked up in the ideal world (by Cairo standards off course).

I doubt I will ever get to call my family an upper middle class family again since that would be a blatant lie and an embarrassing manifestation of my utter ignorance and my comfortable stay at the top of an exquisitely carved ivory tower.

Meeting and chatting with the people sitting all over the sidewalk smoking their shishas and sipping on their excessively sweetened tea helped me make yet another realization. I felt much more at ease and comfortable in the company of these people, who would most probably be the same people who would serve my shisha in Nasr City, sell me the stamps to stick on government related applications or wrap my shawerma in Mohandesseen.

The people I met in Ain Shams did not care that I went to the most expensive private higher education institution in Cairo, that I grew my hair long or that I threw in a few English words here and there (even if I try really hard not to). I was just by far the most obvious odd one out, that a 3 year old would be able to point me out as so. However, I was not made to feel as such. I was welcomed warmly, not asked too many questions, invited for a shisha and a tea, for which I had to ask that the sugar be not put in the glass...off course to everyone's shock and awe.

When I was about to leave, I received cheek kisses from people I have barely talked to for 30 minutes...they made me promise I would come back and hang out with them...

and I did promise to come back since I plan to maintain my ties with Ain Shams even if I do feel a general relief once the cab I am riding back drives by a familiar building with shops I recognize...when I start noticing the absence of the heaps of garbage bags piled next to the side walk... when I notice that a face veil was back to being an anomaly rather than an accepted standard...when it is much more pleasant to breathe again without so many disturbing odours attacking my nostrils...

I have been to Ain Shams 2 times since my first time...all in one single week...It reminded me of why Egypt is special since the Egypt I have been living since I came back is nothing but a wannabe of something else that is not Egypt...

Ain Shams again on Monday