This was a memorable decade for me. Went for my masters' and found my mister in the process... Left to Egypt for a Christmas visit to be introduced to his family and friends, ended up staying there for ten years...
My first memory of that trip was arriving to Cairo... we arrived late and since I had left the US without a visa, some men in the airport that were waiting for us, took my passport and left us at a lounge room for about an hour. When they came back for us, I had a visa and the luggage was already in one of the two cars sent to pick us up. We finally left the airport (first time for me riding in a Mercedes Benz...) yup!... I was confused... this man I so adored was a student... that was all I knew of him... then the fact most car drivers in Egypt turned their headlights off at night (not to blind the cars in the opposite lanes!... OMG!) did not help ease my nerves!!!... Then, we there were... in Zamalek, the "pearl" of Egypt... a small island in in the Nile where anyone who's anyone lives at.
The door of his parents' flat was opened and I entered a lifestyle I never thought possible... the flat itself was a: four living rooms, two dinning rooms, bedrooms and bathrooms to accommodate the USA Olympic team... and their coaches... families... and friends!... it was an amazing feast for the eyes... nothing but antiques, Persian rugs, astonishing works of art... and they called all this "home"!...
My husband introduced me to his parents... his father was a very tall (about 6'4") and handsome man... not at all as I was expecting... the most beautiful blue eyes I had seen in my life. He commanded attention, respect... he was lacking warmth though... perhaps because I was someone new... someone who shattered all hope of marrying his firstborn son to a girl with their same background and social stature (I would find this out much later)...
When his Mom entered the main living room, where I've been waiting, the whole room lit up, she was warm and happy to see her son and his fiancee, a very regal and beautiful lady who was also the opposite of her husband, her eyes showed kindness... once the formalities were out of the way, father and son retired to the library and I was escorted to my room by one of the maids. The room was gorgeous... Louis XIV furniture, heavy drapes... a silver tray containing apples, grapes, cheese and honey (I had never felt so out of place in my life, just three hours into my "meet the in-laws adventure!)... my bed was turned down, a set of towels were on a chair... I was exhausted, afraid, lonely... "you need a good night sleep" I told myself as I watch the maid unpack my things and carefully placing them in drawers as if she knew exactly where I wanted everything, hanging some items in an exquisite beige with gold accents armoire that matched to perfection all the furniture in the room... Good Heaven!... nothing I owned fitted in that armoire!...
Not knowing what to do... should I change and go to bed?... should I wait?... I tried to get information from the maid in my assigned room but it was fruitless, she only spoke Arabic...
I decided to shower, change and go to bed... I remember that as soon as I came out of the bathroom, there was a tray on the table with soup, hot tea (with a bowl of cubed sugar and one of cream), toasts and honey, a glass of water and a coffee table book about Egypt. The tea had leaves inside (I later discovered they were mint leaves) and tasted delicious... I was eating (believe me, I was famished!), when my husband came in, apologized for leaving me alone and showed me the call button (more like a switch) by the night table that one presses and it rings in the kitchen and lights up a number... by the number lit, the right maid comes to see what one wants!... talk about "room service"!... but wanting to spend more time with his parents, he wished me good night and left...
... And that my friends, was my first night in Egypt...
My first memory of that trip was arriving to Cairo... we arrived late and since I had left the US without a visa, some men in the airport that were waiting for us, took my passport and left us at a lounge room for about an hour. When they came back for us, I had a visa and the luggage was already in one of the two cars sent to pick us up. We finally left the airport (first time for me riding in a Mercedes Benz...) yup!... I was confused... this man I so adored was a student... that was all I knew of him... then the fact most car drivers in Egypt turned their headlights off at night (not to blind the cars in the opposite lanes!... OMG!) did not help ease my nerves!!!... Then, we there were... in Zamalek, the "pearl" of Egypt... a small island in in the Nile where anyone who's anyone lives at.
The door of his parents' flat was opened and I entered a lifestyle I never thought possible... the flat itself was a: four living rooms, two dinning rooms, bedrooms and bathrooms to accommodate the USA Olympic team... and their coaches... families... and friends!... it was an amazing feast for the eyes... nothing but antiques, Persian rugs, astonishing works of art... and they called all this "home"!...
My husband introduced me to his parents... his father was a very tall (about 6'4") and handsome man... not at all as I was expecting... the most beautiful blue eyes I had seen in my life. He commanded attention, respect... he was lacking warmth though... perhaps because I was someone new... someone who shattered all hope of marrying his firstborn son to a girl with their same background and social stature (I would find this out much later)...
When his Mom entered the main living room, where I've been waiting, the whole room lit up, she was warm and happy to see her son and his fiancee, a very regal and beautiful lady who was also the opposite of her husband, her eyes showed kindness... once the formalities were out of the way, father and son retired to the library and I was escorted to my room by one of the maids. The room was gorgeous... Louis XIV furniture, heavy drapes... a silver tray containing apples, grapes, cheese and honey (I had never felt so out of place in my life, just three hours into my "meet the in-laws adventure!)... my bed was turned down, a set of towels were on a chair... I was exhausted, afraid, lonely... "you need a good night sleep" I told myself as I watch the maid unpack my things and carefully placing them in drawers as if she knew exactly where I wanted everything, hanging some items in an exquisite beige with gold accents armoire that matched to perfection all the furniture in the room... Good Heaven!... nothing I owned fitted in that armoire!...
Not knowing what to do... should I change and go to bed?... should I wait?... I tried to get information from the maid in my assigned room but it was fruitless, she only spoke Arabic...
I decided to shower, change and go to bed... I remember that as soon as I came out of the bathroom, there was a tray on the table with soup, hot tea (with a bowl of cubed sugar and one of cream), toasts and honey, a glass of water and a coffee table book about Egypt. The tea had leaves inside (I later discovered they were mint leaves) and tasted delicious... I was eating (believe me, I was famished!), when my husband came in, apologized for leaving me alone and showed me the call button (more like a switch) by the night table that one presses and it rings in the kitchen and lights up a number... by the number lit, the right maid comes to see what one wants!... talk about "room service"!... but wanting to spend more time with his parents, he wished me good night and left...
... And that my friends, was my first night in Egypt...
