Cultural snippets from conversations with Sayid and his wife:

Hiam is reticent about being photographed. Sayid says that she is afraid people will make fun of her for being backwards. I told him to tell her that I believed the only thing people would say about her photo shown above is that she's beautiful. She finally allowed me to take the photo shown here, but only after putting her scarf back on. I was surprised that after she got to know me a bit, she would appear bare-headed in front of me and nurse her child in front of me. I'm not sure what the rules are surrounding being covered. Perhaps it was okay in front of me because I'm female.

They were fascinated with tampons. I took one apart to show Hiam (the wife) and though she looked embarassed, she was curious. She doesn't speak much english so I don't know details of what she thought but looking at it made her giggle.

About 40% of the women in Cairo are circumcized, but per Sayid, almost all them are in the countryside. Sayid says women can still reach orgasm. I remain skeptical. He says they only take a "little bit" but uh....just which little bit are we talking about? I don't understand what exactly is involved. Pursuing the subject further gets a bit more into sex than I can go into comfortably with an Egyptian man. It was already a bit treacherous, but Sayid mostly acts respectfully towards me because of how I conduct myself here.

(Later research on the Internet reveals that Egyptians practice two kinds of female circumcision: sunna and pharaonic. In sunna circumcision, the tip of the clitoral prepuce is removed. Presumably, this is the "little bit" that Sayid was talking about. This is the most common type of female circumcision practiced in Cairo. In Upper Egypt (south), pharaonic circumcision is practiced more often. This involves removing the clitoris and the labia minora. The sides of the labia majora are scraped off and then sewn together and is performed on girls between the ages of 5 and 12.)

Sayid says women wear scarfs because "woman is special" and should be saved only for her husband. He also says the desert is special, certain tombs are special, etc.

I have told Sayid that I am married and that I am a respectable woman. He flirts, but I do not flirt back. I emphasize over and over that to me, sex is sacred and involved a connection of the heart and that I am a good girl. My entire experience in staying with him would be completely different if I didnt set things up this way from the get go. But he tries to tempt me into intimacies over and over again anyway. But I believe he thinks I would be insulted if he didn't flirt with me.

When Sala'hadin died, his wife did not tell anyone. She dressed up as him and commanded his armies. At other points she pretended to relay messages from him. After victory was assured, she told them he was dead.

Public affection - when in his local neighborhood, Sayid states he would not hold his wife's hand. His neighbors know they are married and he doesn't need to protect her. In Cairo, he would hold her hand or arm, but never kiss her. "Why make a big show. This is not for other men to look at. If they see me kiss her, they will have imagination."

McDonald's - though I've almost never been out of the country, I have this morbid curiousity about McDonald's around the world. I want to eat in ONE McDonald's in every country I go to.....so I went to one in Giza. It was more similar to American McDonald's than New Zealand's was, though it was oversalted compared to ones back home (which means it was very salty.)

If you're ever in Egypt and you want a clean, flushing toilet with toilet paper, find a mcdonald's!! It gets my best bathroom award.

I'm told Barak resigned today. Public sentiment here is that this may be a bad thing. Can anyone clue me in?

La'yla