For some, Maadi was a good place to be this week. Manmade water pools flooding Maadi streets offered some Egyptian citizens free car washes while Egyptian cats and dogs could be seen drinking and dancing in the water. For others, it was a complete disaster. I belonged to the disaster part of the equation, and after getting stuck in the chaos for hours, I was excited to finally arrive at my favorite coffee spot. Funny enough, coffee on a hot sticky day can have a cool soothing effect, at least this one did. That was until a very aggressive couple walked in, when I started to feel hot again. The big man walked in and sat on a seat with a thud as he waved to a waiter, Double espresso, and water please. Looking at him, Nelly asked, Are you not going to order something for me? Don t you have a mouth? You can do what you want. Waving to the waiter she said, Yes but you know what I always order, you could have ordered it for me. You just want to fight, we ba3den don t you and Habib el Alb drink this stupid mint latte together, order it when you are with him. Puffing she announced, Why should I take this? I told you that the story is long gone, it was two years ago, will you ever give it up? We are supposed to be talking about furnishing our house and you are talking of lattes, ouff! Ouff fe3lan you know you are right, there is no reason why we should take this anymore, it has been two years so I will go now, this is over begad. I ordered a coffee and decided to look for another coffee catch when my eyes fell on a group of women. OK ladies I would like to give a toast to Karen who will sadly be leaving us after having been the best nurse at the center for the past six months. Random clapping temporarily paused to allow a present to be handed over, and then resumed. Holding my cup between my hands, I had a flashback of a very sad farewell of my own that took place here years ago and while they say time heals everything, this one particular farewell has not healed yet. Sighs, laughs and gasps came from the far corner and I moved in closer to the excitement. Ya benti she was with him for 5 years, and they got engaged for a while and got married, he used to treat her brilliantly, a big love story, flowers, surprises, opens car doors, the works, Moving her chair closer to Marwa, Then he just cheated on her, just keda? Ya reit just cheated, it was with her best friend at her house, she caught them, and when she asked for a divorce, he refused saying it was his right, she had to tekhla.. Sipping on a coffee, Rola said, Tab listen to this one, a friend of mine who has been married 3 years is very stupid, it was arranged, but she was in love with him, and they have a child, and she found out he was cheating with many people but every time she hears stories or sees them, she believes him. Well maybe, Marwa said, shrugging her shoulders. Maybe what? His shirt full of lipstick was justified by someone bumping into him, when she sees him with someone, he tells her he was sorting out his best friend's divorce and he would hold the Qur an and swear on it, can you believe it? Tab Mariam do you know her, the girl that was not allowed to go to college without her family, on a rainy day, she was not to leave the house, and finally her dad married her off to a man and they lived in her family building. The waiter put down the drinks and as soon as he left Marwa looked at Rola to continue. Her husband told her to continue taking money from her family and to do her shopping with her family. She was not allowed to open the door to the iron man or the supermarket man so he would open it. Ya but that is typical Egyptian mentality. No that is not it, listen to this, three months after they were married, her father found that he was bi-sexual and that he was having multiple affairs with the supermarket man. La! I asked for the bill and decided to leave.
