Deep in the Sticks

The chairs are made from papyrus reeds.

 Craftsmanship here varies wildly and widely.  Today my friend called to tell me that a bench she was having made for a nook in her patio didn't fit quite right.  Rather than the carpenter trimming the bench, he took a sledgehammer to the wall where it should go.  He pounded through the stucco to the brick before my friend intervened and insisted that he operate on the wood.  He was not happy.

Knowing things like this would be considered somewhat typical, I was dubious when I was told about a man who could make patio chairs out of sticks.  Riiiiiiiiiiiight, I thought.  I couldn't imagine how he would be able to create something that would be sturdy enough for every day use.  Still, I thought we should give him a try.

I called him and asked if he could come on Tuesday afternoon.  He speaks no English so I have no way of knowing if he fully understood my request since this is via phone.  John and I made sure that we were around on Tuesday afternoon.  Then Wednesday afternoon.  Then Thursday and so on.  I'm sure you are wondering if we could call to ask him if he's coming and we could.  It would just mean that he would say that he is and we would wait…still.  No real difference.

The detail is pretty amazing.

We gave up and went on with our lives into the next week.  Then as we were preparing to go into town one day, our neighbor showed up and said Mr. Nasser was at the door.  The Chair Man Cometh!  He arrived with four other guys in tow.  John was inside working on something so I told him that I would try to handle this encounter.

Mr. Nasser began speaking very fast and soon I had to stop him to ask if he would slow down his speech.  He looked at one of the men with him and spoke.  The man then turned, looked at me and translated…in slow Arabic.  It took me a second to realize what was happening, but it worked so I rolled with it.

I began to ask about the chairs that he made and he pulled up a picture of one on his phone.  He was currently promoting a new style of chair for the Fall 2013 season.  They were reminiscent of something you might see on the set of "Golden Girls" so I told him that I would like 4 chairs (regular style) plus a table.  What I didn't have in vocabulary I made up for in verbose charades.  I'm sure they all thought I was magnoona (crazy).  He really wanted me to have the new style.  I didn't really like the new style.  He really, really wanted me to choose the new style and finished the discussion by telling me that he would bring them and I would see.

He soaks the reeds so they'll bend.

Finally, I had to go inside the house and ask John to bring his manly self outside.  John greeted him and listened to Mr. Nasser's sales pitch.  At the end, John told him that we would like the old style chairs.  Mr. Nasser agreed.  John was a man after all and surely knew what he wanted.  No need to debate.  Sigh.

We went back and forth on price until we agreed at a suitable rate.  Someone had told me that I should order now and expect delivery in several weeks.  I could understand.  These chairs require a LOT of sticks.  We gave him a down payment and returned to our lives wondering when and if we would ever see any chairs.

Not 2 days later we received a call from a friend saying that a man with 4 chairs was at the gate.  What?!  Sure enough our first installment of chairs had arrived and I must say that they are pretty great.  So…if you're reading this…consider yourself invited to our home where you can enjoy our newly crafted stick chairs and gaze at the Nile.  Once we have the table, I'll even throw in a batch of chocolate gravy and biscuits!  (We are in the South here, y'know.) 

Y'all come!

You are welcome!