Coffee at a Khedive's Palace

Coffee at a Palace: I had coffee and dessert this afternoon with Dr. Meguid Hassan and his wife, Maha, at the “Palace Al Gezirah” in Zamalak,which was built by Khedive Ismail as a guest palace for the Suez Canal inauguration celebrations in 1869. It housed European monarchs, including Empress Eugenie, wife of Napoleon III, and it was to be the venue of the first performance of Verdi’s Opera Aida. Because of the Franco-Prussian War, the opera had to be performed later at the Khedevial Opera House. Meguid is a friend of Egyptians (Ahmad Sultan and his wife) Mike Amling and I had met at Diversity Dinners and a professor at the British University in Egypt (BUE). He got his Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from the University of Maryland and has been a Fulbright Scholar to the United States. His wife has a masters in the same field. They and their two daughters had just been to Rome for a conference. They noticed that the majority of tourists were American. Maha indicated that Egyptians usually don't save up to take a holiday, but either help out their children with housing or invest with any extra funds. Politically, the couple doesn't trust the Muslim Brotherhood and voted for Hamdeen Sabbahi, a liberal candidate, in the presidential elections. Their view is that there is not much consensus among the middle class on which direction Egypt should take. Religion influences the lower classes, according to them; but they thought, nonetheless, I was very lucky that my taxi driver made the effort to return my wallet. A lot of the atmosphere of the old palace remains (furnishings, fountains, etc.), sandwiched in between two tall very modern towers, all currently managed by Marriott. Meguid and Maha each had a muffin (a food item unique to America) with their "American" coffee , while I had a cherry yoghurt tartlet (a smidgeon of blueberry in the center). The hotel lounge did offer American apple pie on the menu. Meguid and Maha picked me up at my apartment and dropped me off. In driving by the new Cairo Opera House, they said they had attended some performances. Friday was a good day to go out, because it's their equivalent of Sunday; and the traffic was light. Meguid is hoping for me to meet the members of the Political Science Department at BUE and give a talk at the university. The institution is a private, Egyptian university but maintains ties with two British universities (hoping for more) and grants students upon graduation a British and an Egyptian degree. There are also French, Russian, German, etc., universities; but they are Egyptian private schools. Only the American University in Cairo, about 100 years old, is an entirely independent organization. Cleaning Lady: My cleaning lady, Nabila, came today for the first time. I'm having her come every two weeks. She mopped, scoured, and dusted but didn't vacuum the carpets–so I gave them a quick going over. She speaks no English but did ask for sugar. She wanted some tea and I'm sure couldn't imagine anyone drinking tea or coffee without a good amount of sugar. Most Egyptians use a lot of sugar in their drinks. I hadn't thought about offering her something to drink.