Ali Baba
Salaams,
Well with the remarks from the Fake Sheikh spurring me on (he is currently residing at the flat…..did I not mention “The Naked Lady Problem” is leading to lots of people coming to the flat…he’s just flown from Qatar for it..! lol) , this is my second entry in the last few weeks which, as you all know, is pretty good by my standards
Anyway, fancy going to Ali Baba's anyone…? Just thought would write about this little Egyptian restaurant we’ve discovered right next to where we live (literally a minutes walk) which we are now visiting quite regularly. Its pretty small and looks like they've just converted their house and seems like a classic little family run restaurant you would find in some little town in Egypt…it seems to give off that vibe. The mother of the family is the main chef and her daughters are the waitresses etc…and the men of the house…? Their upstairs watching TV and smoking sheesha….ok, so even though thee atmosphere maybe of a family run restaurant, I don't think this is how they are all run in Egypt.
When we first went, we made the comment that in this respect Asians are very different to Arabs. Like this restaurant for example. In the Asian community (tradionally anyway) the Worst thing that can happen is for the women folk in your family having to work, and especially serve other people (mainly men) to make money. It would be seen as a great "dishonor" and would imply that the men folk can’t provide for their family, and that’s why the women are having to work…(kind of makes sense, if you think about it…) Also the fact that they are working serving mainly random men would not look great on them and their family. So this restaurant all seemed a bit bizarre – that the mother figure ( who is quite elderly actually) is slaving away in the kitchen cooking lots of meals and her daughters are running around taking orders, cleaning tables etc, whilst the men of the family just do nothing. Does the husband not think that it's quite bad for his wife to be slaving away like this…? Does he not care his daughters are running around the restaurant with loads of men oogling at them (their mostly arab after all)…I don't get it, but this is the way it is. Obviously I'm making a lot of rash judgements here - I don't know their family circumstances, I don't know why the women are working and men do nothing…I'm just saying what I see (as the guy in "Catchphrase" used to say…Lol) and it all seems pretty bad.
Anyway, aside from the analysis, they make some good food..! Lol. And recently I have started chatting to them in Arabic, and got the mandatory questions with it “Are you Muslim? Noooo... are you sure? How do you pray?" etc etc…, and I mentioned I was in Egypt for a while, I had visited Alexandria (this is where they're from) etc and so now that we’re on good relations, hey presto, I get extra meat in my kebabs!
Let the Egyptian women work away in their restaurants, no complaints from me…!
Salaam
PS, just to clarify "The Naked Lady Problem"…this isn't some kind of "in-joke"…we do have a naked lady problem. Basically one of our neighbours on the opposing building likes to walk around her room, naked, with the curtains opened. Yes. So as you can imagine, this is a problem (hence "The Naked Lady Problem). Thankfully it's not on my side of the building, but if you go to wash the dishes you had better be careful…! Lol. So, as you can imagine, the washing is always done these days..! Lol. Nah, I'm messing. Thankfully though she has stopped doing it now as she hasn't been spotted for a while. All the brothers in the flat are viewing this whole thing as a test from God (mA, mA). So nice try Naked Lady. But no thank you.
Well with the remarks from the Fake Sheikh spurring me on (he is currently residing at the flat…..did I not mention “The Naked Lady Problem” is leading to lots of people coming to the flat…he’s just flown from Qatar for it..! lol) , this is my second entry in the last few weeks which, as you all know, is pretty good by my standards
Anyway, fancy going to Ali Baba's anyone…? Just thought would write about this little Egyptian restaurant we’ve discovered right next to where we live (literally a minutes walk) which we are now visiting quite regularly. Its pretty small and looks like they've just converted their house and seems like a classic little family run restaurant you would find in some little town in Egypt…it seems to give off that vibe. The mother of the family is the main chef and her daughters are the waitresses etc…and the men of the house…? Their upstairs watching TV and smoking sheesha….ok, so even though thee atmosphere maybe of a family run restaurant, I don't think this is how they are all run in Egypt.
When we first went, we made the comment that in this respect Asians are very different to Arabs. Like this restaurant for example. In the Asian community (tradionally anyway) the Worst thing that can happen is for the women folk in your family having to work, and especially serve other people (mainly men) to make money. It would be seen as a great "dishonor" and would imply that the men folk can’t provide for their family, and that’s why the women are having to work…(kind of makes sense, if you think about it…) Also the fact that they are working serving mainly random men would not look great on them and their family. So this restaurant all seemed a bit bizarre – that the mother figure ( who is quite elderly actually) is slaving away in the kitchen cooking lots of meals and her daughters are running around taking orders, cleaning tables etc, whilst the men of the family just do nothing. Does the husband not think that it's quite bad for his wife to be slaving away like this…? Does he not care his daughters are running around the restaurant with loads of men oogling at them (their mostly arab after all)…I don't get it, but this is the way it is. Obviously I'm making a lot of rash judgements here - I don't know their family circumstances, I don't know why the women are working and men do nothing…I'm just saying what I see (as the guy in "Catchphrase" used to say…Lol) and it all seems pretty bad.
Anyway, aside from the analysis, they make some good food..! Lol. And recently I have started chatting to them in Arabic, and got the mandatory questions with it “Are you Muslim? Noooo... are you sure? How do you pray?" etc etc…, and I mentioned I was in Egypt for a while, I had visited Alexandria (this is where they're from) etc and so now that we’re on good relations, hey presto, I get extra meat in my kebabs!
Let the Egyptian women work away in their restaurants, no complaints from me…!
Salaam
PS, just to clarify "The Naked Lady Problem"…this isn't some kind of "in-joke"…we do have a naked lady problem. Basically one of our neighbours on the opposing building likes to walk around her room, naked, with the curtains opened. Yes. So as you can imagine, this is a problem (hence "The Naked Lady Problem). Thankfully it's not on my side of the building, but if you go to wash the dishes you had better be careful…! Lol. So, as you can imagine, the washing is always done these days..! Lol. Nah, I'm messing. Thankfully though she has stopped doing it now as she hasn't been spotted for a while. All the brothers in the flat are viewing this whole thing as a test from God (mA, mA). So nice try Naked Lady. But no thank you.
posted by Me at
10:32 AM
3 Comments:
Salaam.
I'm not all too familiar with the British rules, but isn't there a rule against indecent exposure? You could probably report her if she's trying to cook up voyeurism perhaps...
Ewww!
By
Anonymous, at 4:50 PM
Oh my God, that would NEVER happen in Egypt. All the waiters, chefs etc are blokes. Allahu a'lam as to their situation but Egyptian men would normally never let their daughters serve in a restaurant.
t.e.b., I remember a lady won her case to sunbathe topless in her garden because it was "her space" even though her neighbours' houses overlooked her. But yeah, ewww.
By
Anonymous, at 11:16 PM
Aa
Yeah, i don't think anything can be really done against The Naked Lady given that she is in her house...But i'm pretty sure she knows what she's doing..
Ws
By
Me, at 12:20 PM
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