11.10.2020
The first day alone. My husband went back to Europe for work. This time, of course, he’s going to Greece. Where he’s going to spend one week and then go to Prague. I’ve gotten used to our lifestyle. All goodbyes and greetings so it doesn’t even bother me anymore. I take this free time as a time for myself, to learn and personally grow. However to do not feel lonely I decided to have a cat.
“One German woman in the 20th century wrote that cats have letter M on their forehead as a starting letter from our prophet Mohammed from Islam. Cat saved our prophet life and he touched her forehead and back as a thank you,, and that’s why they have an M on their foreheads and never fall on their backs.
For my bad luck I got message from the lady that her mother is sick so she is not able to meet me and give me the cat. So I decided today to buy the cat at least food and sand and plastic box. I contacted a seller in Gleem who had a brand-called. I thought it would be easier for me, that he wouldn’t be surprised that I was a foreigner. But in the end, he didn’t answer at all. So I just dressed up with my daughter and we went to the streets in search of an unknown pet shop. But, happily, I live in a miracle street called Bakos. It’s in the middle of alexandria and you could say downtown. It’s this huge and endless market where you find everything but you have to look. I remembered there’s a little pet shop behind our house. But don’t think it looks like in Europe. Here, these local shops are quite different. In short, it seems like it’s a small garage where they just dump the goods, put the animals on the edge and sell themselves. They don’t really care about it that much.
So I just looked into this first shop and I didn’t like it. The seller was sitting in dark corner and was reading a book and I just saw a birds so I was not sure he has food for cats. To be honest the view looked kind of scary So I better went to the main street. I vaguely remembered that there was another pet shop at the end of the tram. I wasn’t wrong. This time the vendor was sitting outside and so I had no problem addressing him. I was speaking to him in Arabic and everything was going really smoothly.
I bought the dry food, meat for cat, bathroom for cat and he offered me even a small bell for the cat. ” he was telling me that we definitely didn’t have this in Europe.
I was taken aback but there was no point in hiding anymore. So I simply asked him “how did you know I was from Europe?,” he just smiled at me and said my Arabic was very funny. well, though I’m wearing a Niqab and I’ve got an Egyptian daughter with me and I’m even trying to speak Arabic. so I just can’t hide my European origins.
We carried the stuffs to our home and then we went to visit My mother-in-law. Of course, her apartment is really funny. The elevator was working this time but the light wasn’t on. I was really scared and I thought I wouldn’t risk it and we went up to the 9th floor by the stairs and in the end no one answered the door. Luckily I have their keys and I could open by myself. I waited inside and called her on the phone to ask where she was. But her phone was just ringing and no one answered it. In about 10 minutes both my father-in-law and mother-in-law -both came home. Only my mother-in-law brought daughter named Aseel from Fatma. Well, when my father-in-law saw that my daughter Asiya had chipsy and Aseel didn’t, he snatched it out of my daughter’s hand and gave it to Aseela. Of course my daughter cried really heartbreakingly. Luckily my mother-in-law stuck up for us and my father-in-law eventually apologized to Asiya. Even though I really like my father-in-law, he doesn’t like my daughter very much. He said it a few times himself but I don’t understand why.
It is really a pity that Asiya will not have good relationship with her only
grandfather.
Then My mother-in-law finally made lunch for all of us. I helped her with the laundry, and we ended the day with a typical Egyptian tea.
Books I wrote, you can read here:
The Niqab Girl 