The Christmas spirit is not limited to the heartland of Europe or America. Honestly, Santa is exciting, dashing and indeed “spicy” when transported to a new culture. Christmas and Santa are reinvigorated and actually re-invented in other cultures, like Muslim Egypt, for example. Maybe that is a good thing. Note: Egypt is about 15% Coptic Christians but Coptic Christian traditions are not covered in this article.
Dear Folks:
Christmas, 2020. I am going to keep the chat-chat really short and just send some local Holiday Jeer. I really am in Cairo, Egypt and can prove it. Today, I went to a Christmas event here in Maadi at the local Community Center Association (CSA). Maadi is considered a well-off neighborhood in Cairo, but I find Maadi to be economically and socially mixed. The CSA focuses on businesses and activities for ex-pats and upscale locals. The CSA is a combination shopping mall; recreation and education center; and social club — all catering to people in the Maadi area. Every year, the CSA holds an annual “Jingle Jangle Party and Parade.” The parade part does not start until Santa makes his appearance. Here is St. Nikolas himself at head of the parade line:
Notice on the back of the saddle are the last letters “am.” These letters are the end of wrap-around word “Islam” of which only the last two letters are visible. I am not sure what is going on here but we are definitely in Egypt if Santa has an Islamic saddle on a camel reindeer —
(ignore that bird flying by in the upper left)
The Anti-Christmas Photo:
American T-shirts are popular in Cairo. I commonly see people walking down the street proudly displaying all sorts of T shirts slogans on their chests; sometimes a chest full of ummm…. off colored sayings. I think to myself: Do these people know what the English words mean? For example, expand the photo, if necessary, and check out the anti-Christmas display on this guy’s shirt. By the way, this guy with the “punch me” shirt is the camel handler. He is guiding the camel in the other photos.
First of all, who is really in pain; the camel on the left, or the guy on the right?
Secondly, this gentleman above does speaks English. I asked him if he knew what the writing on his shirt meant. He said “yes” and offered up his left side of his face for me to hit — I assume this was a joke.
Once again, as to this guy, I am not sure what is going on here. I wind up saying that phrase a lot nowadays, along with another phrase: “Will wonders ever cease?”
The Cairo Christmas spirit exists in Maadi not only at the local CSA. The CSA has a cross-town competitor (sort of) in the Osana Family Wellness community center on the other side of Maadi. Santa came down the Osana chimney also to give the gift of Christmas yoga:
Merry Christmas or Hanukkah or Whatever to All-
Your Man in the Sand, Zephyr
Bonus Head Scratcher — When I fit saw this picture below, my first thought is that this photo was jarring only because of the incongruity of images. Then, I realized no, this image got my attention because it violates my childhood understanding (arguably a false memory) of what Christmas “should be.” This raises lots of questions of my implicit bias, or maybe I just over-analyze stuff? I dunno. How does this picture grab you, if at all?:
Or try this below photo on for size — odd or is it just me?
The crescent moon is a symbol of Islam. On the internet, you can find these photos commonly under the heading of “Ramadan tree.” The picture above and the one on the left came off the internet. I did not take these pictures in Egypt.