CAIRO: The al-Maadi metro stop just south of Cairo's city center feels like a gateway between two worlds. On one side there is KFC, a gaggle of supermarkets, a clustering of banks, even a Cinnabon. On the other side of the tracks, literally, is home to a bustling dirt-road market, dappled with ahwas, local coffeehouses, and the standard koshary, or lentils piled on rice and noodles, and falafel, or taameya in the local dialect, joints. Today, the difference is all the more palpable on account of Eid Al-Adha and Thanksgiving landing on the same weekend, highlighting the merging and the divisions between the two cultures. Expatriate Americans are usually brought to their new country for work or study and some choose to engage their host cultures more than others. Some families and individuals look for any and every “taste of home,” creating a world within a world, where as others more aggressively embrace their hosts' cultures, preferring souqs (local street markets) to supermarkets and falafel to Big Macs. Thanksgiving marks one of the specific times that many expats are in search of that “taste of home.” And luckily for them, this year, they get the day off thanks to the Islamic holiday also marking Thursday as a national holiday. People often joke about the foreigner bubble that is created in the upscale Maadi community. With a view of Road 9 – the main drag in Maadi – Wednesday, one could see American moms and their drivers run in and out of the supermarkets, arms full, stocking up for the big day, not unlike a scene from upper-middle class American suburbia. On the other side of the tracks, the main street is lined with the hanging livestock and their temporarily fortunate, huddled, and marked peers. No turkeys in sight. Sheep is on the menu for most Egyptians, who slaughter the animal to mark the holiday. With most supermarkets not offering canned-pumpkin, cranberries, turkeys, and the like, the majority of American expats in Cairo are left to improvise. Experimenting with Egyptian pumpkin for the traditional pie and coming up with substitutes for turkey. This is one of the few situations in which it is easier to be a vegetarian, as the markets are brimming with fresh produce. Those with money to spare can head to Carrefour and Alfa Market where a turkey could set you back upwards of 400 Egyptian pounds ($72). “Won't be doing that here, because I don't feel like killing my own and it would be too expensive anyway,” said American archaeologist Adam Prins. Thursday, American expats in Cairo will celebrate the harvest across the Atlantic with family and friends. **additional reporting by Joseph Mayton BM
