Living Like a Fireman

A very quiet daytime neighborhood view...

I've had a few false starts in writing this entry today.  Part of the reason may be attributed to another late night of Ramadan celebration in the neighborhood.  The 2 am show included bottle rockets, yelling crowds and a guy on a motorbike with speakers attached to each side of the wheel blaring Amr Diab.  (I actually like Amr Diab's singing so that's not too terrible.)

One of the funny (maybe funny isn't the right word) things about this is that when John and I are startled awake with these noises our first instinct is to jump up to see if this is a friendly get-together or some sort of angry demonstration.  Frankly, it's hard to tell the difference at times.  So we peer out the window watching and listening.

When we heard the popping sounds we looked at each other…gunfire?  No, bottle rockets.  People yelling?  No, just having an animated discussion.  The guy with the bike and speakers blaring?  Just obnoxious.

Once we've made our assessment, I realized I'm wide awake.  Gahhhhh!  I read for a while and drift off until the next gross of bottle rockets are secured by another neighborhood kid.  The last time I checked the clock it was coming up on 3:30 am and it seemed like everyone was preparing for their before-dawn breakfast and heading to bed.

John is a morning guy so he is always up by 8 no matter how late the entertainment goes.  I, however, am of the persuasion "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em."  I roll over and sleep until 10 but don't actually look presentable until 11 or so. It was a good thing John was ready to receive guests because the electrician arrived on time at 11 to work on the flat some more.  He's Coptic so he doesn't observe the fast or reversed sleeping hours.  Good to know.

Our landlord makes appointments for work on our flat at night and then the workers begin arriving depending on their sleep schedules.  So we must be ready at all times.  I feel like a fireman on constant duty, but that's the cost of building relationships.  Yeah, we're still the new kids on the block and we're learning a little more each day.  

I mentioned yesterday on FB that the internet and electricity have been sporadic…off/on…slow/fast/none.  I'm sympathetic.  I feel the same way.  Ramadan wears us all out.  Just a few more days until Ramadan ends and then the week long holiday starts.  If you thought Ramadan caused excitement, just wait until we join in the celebrations coming…Stay tuned!  Until then, I'll just be catching a couple winks….zzzzzzzzzzzz…….

Bleary-eyed but in good spirits...

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Today's BOGO Blog:  Guide to Taxi Honks--Abridged Edition

All the Noise, Noise, Noise, Noise

Last night around 9 pm, John and I decided to call it.  We were exhausted from being up the night before and thought we should just go to bed.  So we did.

Approximately 5 minutes following, an imam (local preacher) began his sermon.  It's typical to hear the call to prayer 5 times a day on a loudspeaker in this part of the world, but during Ramadan there are "bonus" sessions.  

Most of the population has rested during the heat of the day and have regained their energies at night when they can eat, drink and visit friends.  The imam apparently had a looooooong nap.

The imam had written out quite a developed speech for he presented it with fervor, extreme volume and (to John's chagrin) lots of reverb.  You….You…..You……should….should….should….pray….pray…pray….etc……etc…..etc…..(insert screeching feedback).

While this was going on, others took to the streets shopping, laughing and talking.  The farm animals didn't appreciate their sleep disturbance so the cows started in, then the goats…

Another imam from another mosque thought he'd get his two cents in, so he began his "Ramadan Reflections" at the same volume and timbre.  Sort of like dueling banjos...

The cherry on top was the boy who rides in a wagon with a pile of propane tanks (yes, you read this right) and uses a wrench to let you know he's in the neighborhood.  He takes the wrench and bangs it on a tank in a tap-tap-taptaptap rhythm.  And if you have need of more propane, you can just run down and get it.  Clever (dangerous, too) but now?!

John finally rooted through our belongings until he found a set of earplugs for each of us.  (Every audio engineer past and present has these available at all times.)  They worked fairly well cutting out at least the feeling that the entire city of Aswan was standing by my head.

As I lay there trying to sleep, I was grateful for the opportunity to be here. Not necessarily to be kept awake, but to live with and learn about these wonderful people.  I breathed a prayer for them and drifted to sleep.

Oh, we got a phone call too from one of our new Egyptian friends.  (We couldn't possibly be in bed yet, could we?!) He asked if we wanted to go around town shopping tomorrow.  John told him we could anytime.  He said, "It will have to be at night.  No one's open during the day."  We laughed and said, "Yeah, we know.  That will be just fine!"

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