Friday, September 2, 2011

Visiting the In-Laws and the Pop-In

So, I am leaving to visit my in-laws soon.  The truth is - I go almost everyday.  My husband DOES go everyday without fail.  I was planning to skip today but I cannot get through to my husband (who is already there of course) to tell him and I don't want him to worry about me.  So instead, I go, again.  I eat the same food (they don't like my American cooking) - either boiled chicken, duck or pigeon, some bean in tomato sauce, and rice.  Every stinkin' day.  It's common to visit family nearly everyday.  Of course, mine is in the US, so I only have my in-laws.  And truthfully, my mother-in-law is a saint, and I wouldn't have survived without the friendship of one of my four sisters-in-law.  But I don't always want to visit.  Plus, it's an expedition in the sand and trash of Cairo with a stroller to get there.  Maybe I am just longing for a car these days?

In Arab culture, it is preferred to "pop-in" on someone as opposed to calling and planning a visit.  So an unexpected knock at the door is often welcomed, and always accepted.  Then the sudden host must prepare a snack of some sort (fruit, cake, besbousa) and tea.  Always tea. The pop-in also comes after surgery or childbirth - usually within the first 24 hours.  It's SUCH a culture shock for my American mind.  I have always been taught to leave some space for people, especially during times of healing and sickness.  It's one thing to make a phone call or plan a 15 minute visit, but to just arrive an hour after a woman has given birth and then stay for 3-4 hours, that just never makes sense to me.  But, I've been on the receiving end of that one.  We'll save the Egyptian birth experience for another day!

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