I am traveling throughout next week, so light if any posting till the middle of the month. In the meantime:
1. Isn’t Alan Johnston great? Great TV interviews since his release.
2. The Christopher Hitchens article on Tunisia I asked about is online, and it’s awful.
3. When khawagas have no shame.
Re: #3. I guess I really, really am a khawagaya (my ex-mother-in-law said so, offending me greatly – my dad was a big Arab nationalist and the idea that being Lebanese made me a khawagaya astonished me).
Anyway. Please spell out for this “khawagaya” why the burger joint in Cairo is shameless? To me I see that it uses local ingredients and is an individual proprietorship, not corporate fast food. I hate American burger joints as much as anybody, but this one at least seems to try to do it right.
I’m not questioning your comment, I’m just saying I don’t get it. Elaboration would be appreciated. Thank you.
It’s not about Lucille’s, which is a nice enough place although the burger is not amazing by any standard, but about the article and its author who picks possibly the most expat of all places in Cairo as his favorite eatery.
Anyway, it’s meant tongue-in-cheek and light-heartedly.
(I suggest trying the Moroccan burger at Retro on Midan Thawra in Mohandiseen for a non-traditional, but really special burger.)
(Or come to think of it, what I like to call “the greasy egg-and-cheese burger” at Ne’ma in Agouza, best enjoyed when you have at least two and it’s four in the morning.)
And by the way, from what I understand any non-Egyptian is a khawaga. I have Lebanese-Egyptian friends born and raised in Egypt and living there all their lives, because of the Levantine heritage (esp. if Christian), they are still called khawagas.
Re: qualifications for khawagaya – I know, I know, it’s just that I was really shocked when I found out about it. I thought I was an Arab going to an Arab country. My experience in the Arab world before that was South Lebanon, secular lefty Arab nationalism of the 1970s. I had no clue about bourgeois Cairo of the 80s. My dad hated foreign imperialist occupiers so much that the word khawagaya to me seemed a big insult. Innocent and clueless, I know. I learned.
Thanks for digging up the Hitchens article on Tunisia, Issandr. You’re right. It’s horrible.
That might be nice, if the benign dictatorship never faltered. Ever. Alright, I’m persuaded. Where is this hypothetical country? Has Hitchens taken Tunisians’ universal, robotic response to questions (“The economy is wonderful in Tunisia. There is no corruption. There is no terrorism, nor counterterrorism. Women enjoy perfect rights. Everything is perfectly safe”) at face value?
And Scott McGalling…
Must admit I’m envious, though. I secretly want a job reviewing expensive hamburgers in expensive expat hangouts for Time Magazine.
When Hamas increased the pressure, the kidnappers put an explosive belt on Johnston, which he described as the “real thing”, and filmed him. Then they moved him to different buildings in the last five days.
He paid tribute to Hamas, the Palestinian people and Palestinian journalists in particular, saying: “I could sense how much they were pressing for my release. Prime minister Ismail Haniyeh was very clear that I was a guest of the Palestinian people.
“I know the Hamas leadership put a huge amount of pressure on the kidnappers. If it had not been for that pressure then I might have been left in that room for a lot longer.”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,,330133801-103552,00.html” rel=”nofollow”>Source: Guardian U.K.
Issandr,
I’m a big fan of the Arabist. I too was sure what you meant by singling out my hamburger story. After living away from home for 25 years, forgive me for indulging some of my childhood tastes! I have nothing against my fellow countrymen, but I go there for the burgers, not the company. If you haven’t been to Lucille’s, or there lately, check it out, because the majority of the patrons are Egyptians anyway, though you are right it is still a favorite expat hangout. Part of the problem, as Lucille will tell you, is that their hamburgers are addictive, unfortunately.
Next time you are in Maadi, you are invited. (I had to smile when you suggested trying the “Moroccan” burger–you nostaligic, too?) I’ll make a point of going there–maybe we should have an America-versus-Morocco burger contest–but Mohandesin is a bit too far to go for a quick lunch.
Glad to see you are a time.com reader. Check out our “Middle East Blog.”
Albest,
I’m an Egyptian who loves Lucille’s, but I must say that Retro’s Moroccan burger is indeed very special.
Lucille’s all the way. And I have to say I really appreciated the sign she put up saying she wasn’t serving alcohol.
Issandr,
Big fan of the Arabist though I thought that was cheap shot on Scott McCloud, who’s a pretty good guy and journalist. Don’t judge a book by the cover. In any event, his and the other replies made you look silly, I thought.
As I said above, the “cheap shot” at Scott is meant tongue-in-cheek, not seriously. I won’t be writing letters to the editor or anything.
And Scott, I appreciate the comment!
i.