Egyptian Hospitality

I wasn’t feeling very well last night and today due to eating far too much kofta (which had perhaps sat in the sun too long) and so on. So in the morning when I didn’t show up for breakfast, the staff got quite worried. They came knocking at my door and I told them no breakfast. It took a lot of convincing, since they seem to think the more food more often the better LOL. The amazing part is how very thin they all are. Well a few hours later the main staff member came to check on me again to make sure I was OK, and check to see if I wanted any food yet. Then a few hours later the manager came up having heard that I was ill, and wanted to make sure I was OK and wanted to know if I wanted food yet.

Well I finally made it all the way downstairs at about 6pm, asking if I could please have a piece of bread. I couldn’t think of much else that I could actually eat and not feel worse. So the staff just laughed and came back with a couple of pieces of bread... and I should have known he was up to something by his laugh, a bowl of potato soup and some mint tea. When I was nearly done my first bowl of soup he grabbed it and got me another, same with the second bowl... the third bowl came filled with rice as well as the soup. I have to say the tomato based potato soup was one of the best flavoured meals I have had in Egypt so far. I was basing everything on the restaurants here, but I have to say the home cooking is 100 times better. Well I guess it’s the same as in Canada, most restaurant food isn’t nearly as good as what you can make at home if you spend more then 10 minutes at it.

I figure this is what people must mean when they talk about Egyptian hospitality. This is a much better image of such things then the obligatory cup of tea at the papyrus, perfume and rug shops (and any other shop that can talk you into it). It’s a good thing I was only mildly ill, and couldn’t eat, I think they would have all worried sick otherwise, or if I was down for more then half a day! I do have to say the early morning knocking at my door can be annoying, especially that first morning when they somehow got the idea I wanted a 6am wakeup call, but all it all the service and attention is much nicer then the other hotels. Even with the other hotels though, they do seem to take an interest in helping out, such as preparing an early breakfast at 3am on the day I was leaving for a trip at that hour, recommending the best eating places complete with hand drawn maps, and so on.

After eating all I could tonight that they had served me, I went upstairs with a couple of pieces of bread telling them that I was going to sleep some more. Well they had asked if I wanted some cantaloupe earlier, and I said no thank you since I was more then full. Well about 5 minutes after I settled in in my room there was a knock at the door, and there was the main staff member standing there with a cantaloupe on a plate for me. The cantaloupes here are pretty neat, they are only the size of a large orange (this time of year), and are really sweet and actually taste better then the regular ones I’m used to. They aren’t orange inside either, they are green. I’m guessing when they get larger, they taste more like what I know as a cantaloupe. I was sort of wondering when I kept seeing fruit stands full of what looked like mini versions of cantaloupes. It’s a good thing I’m not staying long at this hotel or I would need to buy a new (larger) set of clothing!

I unfortunately didn’t get to the temple today since I wasn’t sure if I felt like the 10 minute walk each way, or dealing with one of the carriage drivers. Not a problem, I still have tomorrow to get photos of the last few hieroglyphics I may have missed, and get a little more meditation at the temple in. It is likely that all of the guards will wonder why I took a day off though lol. It was a nice and relaxing day where I got some of my work done, and organized my photos into a longer and nicer version of these blogs. I’m thinking of PDFing it.

I have found Horus’ presence to much stronger each day that I visit the temple and stay near the temple, which has been nice, and I will definitely miss visiting the temple daily. Anytime I wasn’t feeling my best and went to the temple I would feel so much better afterwards. I’m figuring it is a healing temple, as well as that one in Kom Ombo.