Most of our friends are already back in Cairo, because CAC started already last week. I’m glad we’ve got this extra time to enjoy our first visit to the US in over five years, but at the same time I’m a bit anxious that we’re missing out on things. I’m not sure what these things might be – possibly they have to do with social contact – but somehow I wish I could return to Cairo for a couple of days, and then come back here and enjoy our remaining 12 days.
I’m also having trouble remembering what it feels like in Cairo; what all those things are that I kept thinking about throughout the year “I can’t wait to be able to buy this and bring it with me back to Cairo after the summer!” I try to imagine myself in the grocery store or the kitchen or our bathroom, but it’s not working very well. I know there are essential things I missed, and that I want to bring back with me, but what?!
I got an e-mail from our downstairs neighbors who asked if I could bring something that they had forgotten about. I thought “oh, here’s a chance to see what other people bring back – maybe that will work as a reminder!” but to my great disappointment they were things I would never even imagine buying in the US, let alone drag across half the world: Q-tips and cream of wheat. I can’t help but wonder what these items represent, because as much as I’m trying to think of things to bring back with me, I realize that the items we pack on top of clothes and other necessities – the things we bring with us because we like them – are nothing but symbols of something. I don’t need pickles in Egypt, and I’m not able to bring a significant amount, let alone a year’s supply, but I like the Swedish pickles so much – and you really can’t find this amazing type of pickles anywhere else in the world - that I will bring a jar with me from Scandinavia, all across the Atlantic ocean to the US, and then back across the ocean again to Northern Africa, just so that I can have a few Swedish pickles with my meatballs on some very special day.
What do these oddities in our luggage represent? What did you bring back with you?
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2 comments:
German spices! They are light and make cooking much easier for me. And toothpaste (I know, but I just have to have my proper toothpaste). Various baking supplies that I haven't been able to find here. Still trying to work out how such a small amount of shopping can weigh so much!
We always bring back a year's supply of toiletries that we each claim aren't as good elsewhere (deoderant, soap, etc), lots and lots of books, and kraft mac and cheese which is my ultimate comfort food. But mostly books . :))
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