Fellahin in Northern Egypt

The fellahin are the farmers that inhabit the delta or the northern part of Egypt. Farmers and grass and land and wealth and old style living and just away from the urban centers of Cairo. It is quite different from the centers along the Nile. The northern Egyptian cities are all known, however the villages that surround these cities are not known. Nonetheless all of the families that live in these villages know each other and that is only because there are like five or six families in a village. However there are a lot of people in one family.

There is electricity and water and necessary utilities in these northern cities, however the general background of this fellahin area and something like Cairo is that the cultures there are somewhat different. I won't go into too much details because I don't know much about the northern part of Egypt (the delta) or the cultures and practices there, however from what is shown on television and from what I hear, it is quite different from Cairo.

The fellahin also have a different form of music. I think it is nice. It differs from the modern street Middle Eastern style music of like Nancy Ajram or all of those other musicians. I don't know if they like them or not (referring to the fellahin and these modern artists) however I can tell you that their taste differs from a normal urban Middle Eastern.

I have visited the fellahin or northern Egypt a long time ago. I'll tell you that I didn't like it because I was little in age and the lack of amenities was uncomfortable for me. It was hot, and I remember I just didn't like it. Nonetheless, and as far as I know, the fellahin are very respectable because they just obtained their own culture. Some people mix them up with southern Egyptians and what not, however that's not important. The fellahin are in the north.

Tea in Egypt

Tea in Egypt (and I'm guessing around the Middle East, however I could be wrong) is essential. One cup in the morning, one or two cups at work, one cup after dinner, and maybe one cup late at night (however this depends on if the person is staying up late or not). This is a rough estimate. There could be more cups per day or there could be less cups per day, nonetheless, tea in Egypt is something that's available quite a bit.

Tea after breakfast is essential. It is technically considered during breakfast however since most people drink it after the meal then it is after breakfast. It is sort of an energy booster for the morning.

After dinner and either before or after the nap (depending on how tired an individual is) there must be a cup of tea. Usually more than one person drinks from a pot at a time so they leave the sugar up to the individual to place as much as they want. The large tray that comes in through the door carrying at least five or six cups of tea with sugar in it's own separate container is quite a sight. The smell is amazing (if it's made right) and the color is beautiful. The light reddish, or whatever that color is, is definitely essential post meals for plenty of people.

Then the late night cup of tea. However like I said before it depends on whether a person is staying up late or not. If they don't mind, then they sure will definitely drink a cup right then. This is also sometime however not all the time after the late night meal.

The reason for drinking tea after meals is because people over in the Middle East think that it "puts a lid on the meal". If a person ate a heavy meal or something, then that cup of tea will ease the heavy feeling, or so I understand from the Middle Eastern explanation.

Tea is also essential for gatherings. For instance if you have friends at your house or if you are going to someone's house or whatever the scenario may be, guaranteed there will be tea offered. After meals at a friends' house, they'll most likely offer you tea. At any shack or sit down area, people will most likely be drinking tea.

This also brings up the question of other forms of beverages such as coffee or juice. Juice and coffee is around, nonetheless it is not as popular as tea. I honestly couldn't tell you much about coffee or anything like that because I just personally haven't seen much of it in Egypt, except maybe at some people's homes or a restaurant or something like that.

Tea is extremely popular in Egypt...

Middle Eastern Dinner

Middle Eastern dinners vary from home to home and from family to family and from type of home to type of home. I'll elaborate. Dinner time in the Middle East (I'm talking about experience) is amazing. I'll leave out the era before the meal and the post meal naps (yes naps) and I'll just get to the point about the meal itself. It is very common to hear of a house in the Middle East with a dining table that hasn't been used. The main reason for that is the family (for some reason or another) prefers to eat on the ground. Yes, the ground. They gather around in a circle and pack tightly together and the meal is efficient. The dining table can be used for some special guest or of someone decides to eat by him/her self and they they're too lazy to put the floor mats and the old rags on the ground. They'll settle for a table meal. However, if there are a lot of people eating at the same time, then the dining table is neglected and eating on the ground (off of the floor mats and old rags) happens.

Eating on the ground goes for all meals also, not just dinner. For example, breakfast is on the ground, dinner is on the ground, and the late night meal is also on the ground. I never understood the reason for eating on the ground, however after experiencing it on numerous occasions, I have come to realize that it isn't as uncomfortable as it may seem.

As for the post dinner nap, I'll explain that too. The reason for the nap after dinner is because the men that come home from a long day at work all want their food and the women cooking the meals all want their food. Both of the parties have had long days and after a heavy Middle Eastern meal, sleeping is inevitable (however). Don't get me wrong, this doesn't happen in every home, however I am only explaining what happens in some of the instances I have seen.

Tea post dinner is also very important, however I'll get to tea and coffee and all the other beverages in another post. During dinner however, there may be some beverages available. It ranges from soda to water to mango juice to other types of juice and so on. It's important to have the beverages available, however there are the people (older people usually) that occasionally wait to drink their tea after the food.

Middle Eastern Food

Middle Eastern food is my favorite food in the world. It ranges from nation to nation in the Middle East, however some people also tend to know that this specific dish came from a certain country, or for example, this certain dish arrived from here or originated from here. And the people in the Middle East eat things that may seem foreign or strange to the foreign public, however it is stuff we see as normal. For example people in the Middle East eat pigeons, turkey, geese, cow calf, cow stomach, cow intestines, cow kidneys, goat, and probably any type of fish that can be found in the sea.

Seafood in the Middle East is pretty important. For instance, in Alexandria, Egypt there are plenty of seafood restaurants that serve amazing (informed by other people) food. I don't mind seafood, however I wouldn't be found at a seafood restaurant.

There are plenty of vegetable dishes as well, such as Bamya, Fasuliya, Qolqas, and stuff that foreigners would never eat, however I personally seem to like it. Most of these dishes (with exception to qolqas) are served in some form of tomato sauce or another type of soup. Also, most of these dishes are served with chicken or meat that's right in the middle of the bowl containing this also.

Koshary is another vegetarian dish that's popular in Egypt. It's basically rice, noodles, lentils, and heavy tomato sauce with some fried onions on the top. It's a very filling dish, however some people say they get hungry after they eat it. I also recommend brushing your teeth for quite sometime afterwards because the onions on the top will leave your mouth smelling not fresh.

Nonetheless, Middle Eastern food is very unique to that specific location of the world and people there tend to find the dishes very appetizing. The markets that sell the ingredients in order to prepare these dishes are usually filled with people around noontime when little children are buying their necessary materials in order for the preparation to initiate at around three and dinner to start around four.

Night Time in Mersa Metrouh

The night time in Mersa Metrouh is really nice. I liked the fact that its attributes weren't necessarily the original known qualities of a loose city. It was really family friendly. There were little children like five or six or seven years old (or I could be really off however that is what it looked like they were) awake and around at two in the morning. The streets were packed with cars and people. Shops were open and the polluted look of the city during the day time is the same look (I think) that was there at night. I understood that the people awake were on vacation, however I had this feeling that the city was like this year round.

Eating along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea was a nice experience as well. I also thought that the tanks that were in the streets was something that wasn't normally there, however I decided to dismiss it as well. They weren't there for trouble. I know this because I thought I remembered seeing some people taking pictures with them.

During the day time, the city was hot. Night time, on the other hand, the city was cool and a breeze would arrive every now and what not and make the scene a little cool. And if there was one thing I wanted to try but the chance wasn't really available was that I wanted to try night swimming. I know I already swam at light two in the morning in the Mediterranean when I was in Alexandria, however night swimming is always fun and it would have been a remarkable experience to try it again.

The apartment we rented for the week was also nice. It was spacious, clean, and very close to the beach. The only problem with it (and it was a big problem) was that it only had one bathroom. And after a long day at the beach when everybody is wet, sandy, and angry, the shower is always taken. Nonetheless, patience prevailed and we managed to get through the post swimming day routine.

I remember that I would sit in the balcony until five or six in the morning just looking out into the street. The sky would slowly turn from black to purple, and from purple to light purple, and from light purple to blue and then soon the sky would represent daytime. The birds chirping was always nice as well. I also remember seeing the water in the distance.

Mersa Metrouh

The reality behind Mersa Metrouh is that it is an amazing coastal and touristic city for the Egyptian population and for the foreign to the country as well. I really liked Mersa Metrouh because we spent like seven days there and we tried not to waste time. I was in fact surprised that I wasn't bored only because I was there with like family members, however that didn't really seem to bother me.

Mersa Metrouh is famous for the right reason: the water there is not like any water elsewhere in the world. It's crystal clear near the shore along the shoreline and it becomes more and more blue as you go deeper in the water. I loved swimming in this water because it was refreshing. The experience was amazing and the idea behind the trip was something that didn't really get to me until after I left. There was a revolution going on in the nation and I was relaxing on the beach some seven hundred plus miles away or something.

My favorite beach that I saw was definitely A'geeba beach. The image that I mentally took a picture of was fascinating. I was on top of a cliff looking down into the blue water. The white sand along the shoreline was amazing as well and the cliff that was on the other side was something else also. I know that as I'm describing this image now it seems very under-described or something however that's because I can't seem to take the time to elaborately explain the image for it is essential to be seen and not heard about.

The best beach that I swam in was one in which I forgot the name. Nonetheless the reason for my liking of this beach so much is because of the normal attributes found in any beach in Mersa Metrouh along with a specific quality not found in most beaches. This quality is waves. Large body slamming waves. Waves that will tear down a city. Waves that tossed me around for several hours. There were some involuntary tricks that I was doing in the water that I didn't even know were possible, however they were expressed under water due to the waves. Oh yeah, underwater, that is an entirely different story.

The under water scenery of the beaches was nice when you were looking down however it was much more beautiful when you are down and looking up. The water does hurt the eyes, however this can be dismissed due to the fact that the beautiful image when you are looking up at the surface of the water is amazing.

I really liked Mersa Metrouh beaches. I liked them for the specific reason that they are famous for.

The Old Regime Needs to Leave

The old regime that once held Egypt needs to leave. That also goes for every single other country out there with a corrupt administration. Egypt's in a position right now that makes itself prone to going in any direction. I make it obvious to the public that I'm in no position to even offer an opinion on the political future. However I'm certain though that if someone from the previous regime (like Omar Suleiman who was running for president but is now disqualified) is around in the new one, there will be another uprising. In fact, more than half a million people were in Tahrir Square the other day protesting Omar Suleiman's involvement in the race. This number will be multiplied by like ten if he was to be elected president.

It's not like the new president is going to have a fun time in his new job. The country as it is right now is a mess. Politically unstable, economically unstable, and it's just going to take some time to fix it up. So if the new president is up for this huge responsibility and his intentions are clean, then he for sure has my vote. Along with the democratic policies and whatnot that everybody needs to hear in order to be secure, the main thing is that the president's personal qualities are respectable to a very high standard as well. This will ensure that no corruption will be present at all.

The Middle East right now as a region is going through some major historical changes. It's imperative that these changes don't ruin each individual nation's notion of removing corruption and maintaining stability throughout the region. There comes a point when a revolt is no longer necessary and negotiation is the only way they can move forward. Nonetheless, the revolt is important.

Presidential Elections in Egypt

The presidential elections in Egypt have truly been absorbing the spotlight for quite some time now and it plans to maintain its position among the most discussed topics between the Egyptian people for a while to come. It's considered the first democratic election in the history of the nation. If you have heard about the 2005 elections, forget about that since those weren't even democratic at all. However this once seems like it's going to be a true showdown.

Just yesterday ten candidates were disqualified and this decision was made by the temporary supreme court judges whose only jobs is to maintain the constitutionality of the elections. However only four or five names were given out of the ten that were disqualified and the final list of those still in the race will be announced on April 26.

There is quite a window of candidates in this election. You have the labor activist (Khaled Ali), you had the very conservative Islamist (Hazem Salah Abu Ismail), you had the ex-vice president (Omar Sulieman), you had the Muslim Brotherhood member businessman (Khairat El Shater), you have the moderate Islamist and physician (Abdel Moneim Abu El-Futouh), and plenty of other secular and independent party candidates. This really divides the nation up as it leaves the youth (whom constitute close to maybe half of the entire population) undecided with their future and whom they want to elect. There are of course the candidates that are popular with the youth, then you have the candidates that are popular with the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (who are currently running the country), and then you have the other different sectors.

I myself am leading towards the moderate and very knowledgeable Islamist Abdel Moneim Abu El-Futouh. This man just sounds smart when you hear him talk. He's open minded and above all that he's very intelligent. The robbery and stealing that used to happen under Mubarak's regime wouldn't happen under his regime. He's a moderate Islamist who's willing to negotiate. Many people who opposed the extreme Hazem Abu Ismail don't oppose this man only because they're sure of his values.

A lot of people were angry with the decision of ex-candidate Mohamed el Baradie and how he terminated his race due to the fact that he didn't like how things were being run. He was a very popular candidate among the Egyptian people and he is the one who essentially started the revolution, or at least had a very large and prominent role in doing so.

Then there was the controversy over the Muslim Brotherhood and how they did what they said they wouldn't do and that is support a candidate who was Khairat El Shater who is now potentially out of the race. They wouldn't have resorted to doing such a thing if it wasn't for the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces' dealings with this entire presidential race in the first place. However this doesn't matter now seeing that their candidate is out of the race and I wish that wasn't so because he would have been my first pick. Seeing now that he's out, I have decided to go to Abdel Moneim Abu El Futouh.

History of the Middle East

The Middle East has a long, complex, and possibly even the most complicated history in the world. The region has experienced many forms of occupations and has been the subject of numerous empires and a civilization that's been inhabited since its initiation. Numerous dynasties such as the Umayyad, the Ayyubid, and the Ottoman empire all have once had a say in the economic, political, and all other forms of affairs. It's fortunate for me to say that these empires were extremely successful. Their borders were very large and the economic stability was unbelievable. It makes modern day states seem like they are worthless. In the earlier era, the societies would build their economy on the ladder of trade, fishing, construction, technology, science, and education in a sense that made them more established then the modern day nations of the Middle East.

The Arabs invented many things. So many things that I don't even want to mention one due to the fact that I'll probably end up mentioning all of them. Their minds back then worked together and they accomplished numerous goals and their achievements were widely accepted throughout the world at the time. The Middle East was the world superpower and they (the people at the time) were the ones who ran the affairs.

Arabs, Turks, Mamluks, and many other nationalities all lived together in one empire. There was no theoretical separation, only that of political and tangible affairs. Seems logical? It most certainly is logical. I don't mix and match different forms of opinions of my friends to end up choosing all of them. It's a way to gain power and that is around the power itself.

Modern states could certainly learn a thing or one hundred from the earlier states. Their economic system, their political system (although that remains undecided because of the corruption), and a system based on dealing with international affairs and what not. Let those beneficial to you be the ones close to you and let them establish a well-connected friendship in your lands. I'm not saying that the earlier era was flawless. In fact, it was heavily flawed do to some political corruption, however the outer image of that time period is much better than the one now in the Middle East.