Ned Greenwood looks at the World: Welcome to Friendly Egypt (Blog 7)

Just as I was posting my February blog, news was breaking of a major insurrection in Egypt. Even though the causes were undoubtedly justified I felt heartsick. Having lived in Egypt for a year as a Senior Fulbright Research Fellow, I have many friends and associates there. Although the years have largely severed my contacts, the people remain very fresh in my mind and my concern is deep.

Traffic Going into Midan el-Tahrir (Liberation Square) Where the

Egyptians Protested against the Regime of President Hosni Mubarak

Equestrian Statue of Muhammad Ali Pasha at Tahrir Midan

One poignant memory which occurred because of a trip up to Israel will serve as my entry vehicle. As we passed through the no-man's-land between Egyptian Passport Control and the Israeli checkpoint at Rafa into the Gaza Strip, a young woman, bus hostess greated us--"Welcome to Clean Israel." It was true that most of us were putting off our rest stop until we reached Israel. Even so, it offended me. Alverta and I had been in Egypt long enough to accommodate its third world status and seeming lack of public sanitation. But we had been in enough private homes to realize most were clean and well kept.

The Border Between Egyptian Sinai and Israeli Gaza Strip,

the Space Between the Two Walls Is a No-Man's-Land Buffer

Famed Western Wall of Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem

Dome of the Rock Mosque on the Temple Mount

Where Muhammad Ascended into Heaven

After a week in Israel we came back through the same checkpoints. When we cleared passport control a jolly Egyptian bus driver offered--"Welcome to friendly Egypt." In a phrase he epitomized my feeling for the land and it's people.

In 1989, the lunar month of Ramadan coincided with April on our solar calendar. That would have been a few weeks before our trip up to Jerusalem. I probably will never forget our introduction to the holy month of Ramadan. About 3:00 a. m., well before the muezzin from a nearby minaret would announced the call to prayer, a crier struck a heavy beat upon a large bass drum directly under our window in Ismailia. What a dream-breaker. Since everyone in our neighborhood knew where the infidels lived, I cannot ignore the suspicion that we received an extra vigorous wake-up call. The reason behind the wake-up was to allow the faithful ample time to eat breakfast and drink lots of liquids before sunrise ushered in the daylong fast. As nonbelievers we were not obliged to keep the fast. Never-the-less we tried not to indulge in the presence of our Egyptian associates. Two incidents related to Ramadan I will share.

A Colorful Canvas in a Park Near Our Ismailia Home Signifies the

Holy Month of Ramadan in Which Muhammad Received the

Revelations Recorded in the Quran

Preparation of Speciality Foods for the Celebration of Ramadan

These Goodies Looked Like Shredded Wheat but Were Much Tastier

During the holy month we had occasion to travel across the Delta from Iamailia to Alexandria. I loved the poetry of the names of the towns we passed through--"Zagazig, Zifta, Tanta and Damashur." It sounded like an old Arizona State University football cheer--"Markovitch, Markeekvich, Medikavich, a son-of-gun and Hugoboom."

On the return trip we were approaching Damashur when the thread colors lost discernability in the gathering twilight. So you ask," What the heck does that mean?" In traditional nomadic societies it was difficult to affix a precise moment when it was permissible to break the fast. Perhaps some mullah of long ago came up with the system--a dark thread and a light colored thread were held in the growing twilight. When it was no longer possible to determine differences between them it was time to chow down. Of course the opportunist could select threads of closer hues. In Ismailia a canon was usually fired to announce the arrival of sunset.

The Damashur Cemetery, Groundwater Tables Are so High in the

Delta that Artificial Mounds Are Frequently Built for Burial Sites

On that return home to Ismailia we were between Damashur.and Tanta when someone somewhere checked the threads and it was announced over the bus speakers that we were free to break the fast. Along with the faithful we broke out our reserve supply of peanut butter crackers, cheese crackers and English tea biscuits. Fortunately we had picked up a box of chocolates from Soulab Candy Shop, so we were not totally embarrassed to share the Ramadan treats offered by our fellow riders on the Super Jet (bus). It was a real cultural conjuncture, besides we enjoyed the Ramadan specialities. In addition we are all "People of the Book," Jews, Christians and Muslims all have their interrelated books of holy writ.

That brings us to another story. As an adjunct professor at Suez Canal University, I was often included in university functions. On a particular day, Alverta and her friend Beth decided to go to Cairo. It was a 90 mile trip on one of the "Flying Coffins," usually multi-passenger Peugeots, so-called because of the many burned-out hulks lining the Ismailia-Cairo Highway. But they were much faster than the Super Jets if you made it. The Bedouins favored the sturdy Peugeot because of the Rampant Lion icon that set them apart.

With Dr. Samir Ghoneim, dean of the Faculty of Environmental

Agriculture, El Arrish Campus and Ada Abbassi of the Fulbright Office

To get on with the story, my contact and mentor Dr. Samir Ghoneim called, saying be ready to go to El Arrish in fifteen minutes. El Arrish is the capital of the Province of North Sinai and the site of three faculties (colleges) of Suez Canal University. Ghoneim is the Dean of the brand new Faculty of Environmental Agricultural Sciences there. On this occasion the group consisted of two university vice presidents, the deans of the Agricultural Faculty and the Medical Faculty plus Dr. Ghoneim and myself. The purpose of our trip was to confer with officials concerning the prospects and difficulties of expanding irrigation in Sinai. We were to be the guests of Governor Moneer Shaesh at the El Arrish Oberoi, the only five star hotel in Sinai.

As we waited for the strengths of the color differential in threads to dissipate in the gathering twilight, an announcement came over the public address system. My Arabic was so poor that I understood little--only something about Taba and Yamit. In that intellectual group I was the only one who didn't speak two or three languages fluently. These classy Egyptians were so considerate they hurried to explain what was happening.

At the Camp David Accords which facilitated the return of Sinai to Egypt in 1979, Israel demanded payment for the city of Yamit which they had constructed in the desert northeast of El Arrish as a regional banking and agricultural resource center. When the Egyptians said they could not afford the several million asked, the Israeli dynamited the entire physical infrastructure--roads, canals and concrete buildings.

Yamit Before the Camp David Accords

Yamit Following Israeli Dynamiting

Now it was interesting to watch this happy group of deans and vice presidents dancing about like kids weaving a May pole. The announcement was that Israel had agreed to let Egypt have two luxury tourist hotels at Taba on the Gulf of Akaba Coast instead of destroying them as they had Yamit.

Back to Friendly Egypt Featuring the Mossa Family

Soon after our arrival in Ismailia, we had gone to the Suk al Juma, the Friday Market, to purchase groceries. As we dickered with a vendor over the price of some paltry tomatoes, a deep voice with a clipped British accent asked, "May I help you?" We turned to face a large jovial man. We indicated we were shopping for tomatoes. In a few moments the vendor brought out some large beautiful fruit for which we paid less than what was asked for the original. That was our introduction to Fouid Mossa. Mr. Mossa owns the bakery at the suk. He learned English while employed at the Suez Canal when it was run by the British. From then on whenever we were at the suk it was incumbent on us to visit the bakery where we would sit in the shade and have tea or soft drinks and chat with Fouid while his wives did the work. Over time we became very fond of Lila his second wife. The others were nice, but she was super special. One day we were shopping for rice, so she accompanied us. Not only did she find the best deal for us, but as we returned to Fouid's shady spot, she sat down and hand winnowed it for us. She always had the extra touch of thoughtfulness that made us love Egypt the more.

Alverta with Mr. Mossa and His Three Current Wives--Lila, Fatima and

Nianma Who Lost Her Foot and Part of the Leg to Artillery

Bombardment During the Arab-Israeli Wars

Fatima, Fouid, Ned and Lilla

Mr. Mossa Demonstrates His Hooka Pipe

Front Row, Fouid jr. with Tarboosh and Mustache,

Musa (Moses) and Asa (Jesus)

Little Fouid Thought I Might Look More

Egyptian with the Tarboosh and Mustache

      The day following the end of Ramadan is Feast Day. It would be comparable to an American Holiday in which Christmas and the Fourth of July were combined. In 1989 Feast Day fell on May 8. We were invited to spend it with the Mossa's for a picnic and boat outing at Lake Timsah (Crocodile Lake) which forms part of  Suez Canal. Canal employees have their own beach at the lake. We were permitted to use the facility because Mr. Mossa's son-in-law works at the canal.
     Mr. Mossa picked us up in his Land Rover for the trip to the lake. It was a harrowing journey made worse by holiday traffic and the fact that President Mubarak had chosen to spend Feast Day at his villa on the Suez Canal adding a facet of extreme security measures. In spite of all we finally arrived. Most of the extended family were already there.