Carpets for Sale in the Alleys

I arrived at the language center where I teach English early today, so I decided to use the rare bit of free time that I had to sit down and type up a post about my trip to Syria and Lebanon. Just as I was about to start, however, I heard shouts echoing through the alley outside the building. I stepped outside of the classroom and onto the balcony, and looked down into the street to see a group of four men strolling through the alley with giant carpets balanced on their shoulders. They were repeating a chant which I at first couldn't understand, but I soon realized that it was their way of getting the residents of the alley to come out to their balconies and take a look at the carpets. I don't have a precise translation of the chant, but it was something along the lines of "Carpets for sale! High quality! Cheaper than you'll find in stores!"

The sellers' strategy soon became clear as I noticed how densely populated the alley was. There were high rise apartment buildings on both sides up and down the street, each building generally consisting of six or seven floors with two apartments on each floor. Assuming that at least one or two people would be home in each apartment (the time being 5:30 or so in the afternoon), the sellers figured that they would have at least several dozen prospective buyers who would at least take a look at the carpets. When the sellers reached the middle of the alley, they stopped, unloaded the carpets off their back, and continued their calls to the residents of the alley to come out to their balconies and take a look.

As people slowly began to emerge on their balconies, the sellers then unfurled their carpets in the middle of the street! They then proceeded to try to convince a few of the residents that seemed genuinely interested, but unfortunately today was not their lucky day. From an aesthetic perspective, however, I loved the contrast between the colorful carpets and the street and the general oddity of seeing a carpet unfurled on the street (although, in fact, there are carpets rolled out on the street every Friday for the spillover from Friday prayers). Yet another unique image of Alexandria. Furthermore, when I peeled my eyes away from the sellers themselves, I stepped back to take in the sweeping views from the street to the sky: starting with the colors of the carpets, up to the colorful clothing and other laundry hanging from each floor of the high rises, and finally to the slim sliver of sky that was just visible above the buildings. A lot of times I feel like Egypt lacks color, which seems to be primarily a consequence of not washing buildings that are covered in a thick layer of dust, but the laundry hanging throughout every alley in the city, and especially this alley in particular, provides evidence to the contrary.

After rolling up their carpets once again and loading them up on their shoulders, the sellers continued their walk down the street. Certainly not an easy job, but I imagine that it has to be somewhat lucrative because at least a few of the hundreds of the alley residents that come out to view the carpets each day might decide to make a quick and easy buy.

A Discovery of the Utmost Importance!

Right on cue, after I just posted about how much I love the alleys here, I went out for a little walk with two of my friends from the dorm through the alleys / market close to the dorm. Amazingly fun and interesting, of course, and full of chatter, food, and hawkers. We walked past a myriad of vegetable sellers, fruit stands, small electronics shops, people selling Egyptian flags (probably in anticipation of the big match with Algeria tonight in the African Cup of Nations), and people cooking various things.

As we rounded yet another tight corner I saw, lo and behold, a baker rolling out dough, putting some meat and vegetables in the middle, and covering them with another layer of dough. When he had made four of those doughy creations, he stuck them all in oven and let them bake for a few minutes, at which point he pulled out four golden brown circles of meat-filled dough. Sound familiar? Instantly, I realized that I had just made a huge discovery, possibly akin to that of King Tut's tomb or the Titanic deep underneath the Atlantic...I had found the Egyptian version of a calzone! Anyone who knows me knows the special, special place that calzones have in my heart. Of course I had to buy one - 60 cents, what a deal! - and it took all of my willpower to restrain myself from buying two! After watching the baker roll out fresh dough, put the meat, tomatoes, and onions in the middle, and throw it all in the oven, I sunk my teeth into a fresh, hot, and incredibly delicious ha-wow-she (spelling approximate/phonetic). I think I'm going to break the language pledge on this one and just call it a calzone from now on. So good!

I am now happily relaxing back in the dorms, content with the knowledge that even if this semester turns out terribly for some reason (highly unlikely) I will at least have the calzone to fall back on for comfort and solace. And, in the more likely scenario that Egypt continues to be awesome, it will be even better because I will be feasting on calzones quite regularly!

The Magic of the Alleys

I mentioned briefly in a previous post the odd feeling that I get when I walk down the small side streets in Alexandria because of the towering apartment buildings that inevitably rise on both sides. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I am not used to being shorter than everything around me. But although (or maybe because) I feel like I am in the middle of a deep canyon I find myself constantly drawn to these alleys whenever I walk through the city. For one thing, there is so much more life in them than on the big boulevards that run through the city. Whereas a walk on the boulevard will yield nothing but car fumes and constant honking, a walk in the alleys always leads to new discoveries or sights that I would never see in the US.

Sidewalks technically exist here, but in the alleys they are generally dirt or jagged concrete, and you are apt to receive a free (and unexpected) shower if you walk on them from someone's dripping air conditioner, drying clothes on their balconies, and God knows what else. Thus, everyone walks in the streets. In addition to the constant foot traffic, there is also the constant hum of conversation. From within shops, between people on the street, the calls of the milk or fruit seller hawking his wares, or jabber back and forth between people on different balconies of the apartment buildings on both sides of the street. I periodically stop and just lean on the wall of a building or stand in front of a shop to drink it all in.

The whole life of the alleys is particularly interesting to me because I am currently reading Jane Jacobs' "The Death and Life of Great American Cities" in which she pinpoints sidewalk conversation, spontaneous interaction between customers and shopkeepers or passers-by on the street, and constant involvement by residents and visitors alike in the life of the street as critical for a neighborhood's vibrancy, safety, and overall quality of life for its residents. Jacobs assails housing projects and wide, sweeping streets through the city for their complete disregard for the importance of this street life and the negative consequences that result. I can say with absolute certainty that were Jane Jacobs still around today and were she to visit Alexandria she would be absolutely charmed by all of these alleys.

I might have felt some hesitance at first to get off the main streets and explore the alleys, but after a few weeks here and many amazing sights in the alleys that I now avidly seek them out whenever I walk anywhere. As a matter of fact, I think I feel even more safe in them than I do on the big streets (namely because of Egyptian drivers' general lack of sanity and propensity not acknowledging the existence of pedestrians). This sidewalk life in the alleys and total mixing of residents, businesses, and passers-through is largely missing in the United States (places like Chestnut Street, Fillmore Street, or Clement Street and Chinatown in San Francisco come close to approximating it but lack the residential aspect). So with that in mind I am going to relish every opportunity I have here to get off the beaten, smoggy paths on the main streets and work my way through the thousands of alleys that are hidden - but by no means undiscoverable - in this city.