En Mi Vecindario II

Sometimes I find strange parallels between experiences I have had in other places and ones that I am presently having. Here is one. Three blocks from my apartment in Tuxtla is a Shisha Cafe/Restaurant.


Having spent three years in Cairo and feeling presently like I am as far removed from Cairo as I could possibly be, I was more than a little stunned to look up and see a sign using Latin letters for the Egyptian Arabic word for a water-pipe ( شيشه ). As expected, they indeed have shisha, but what turned this into a surreal experience for me was when the sight and smell of sheesha came together with the rhythm of a very Egyptian song, Habibi, Ya Nour Il Ayn. Were my heart not stronger, the shock of all my senses converging in such a way might have spelled the end for me.