Excuse me, do you have a goat head?
Ahh, the things one must do for school. A recent class assignment took me on a search through Maadi for, you guessed it, a sheep or goat head. Actually, I needed the mandibles for either a sheep or goat, complete with teeth. Considering the plethora of butchers with dead animals hanging in their shop doorways, one would think that this would be a fairly easy assignment. We, as a class, were assured this was an easy assignment by Louise, one of the teachers. Get 2 or 3 mandibles, ask a series of questions, de-flesh and bleach the bones, bring them all in to class. This is my tail (pun intended) of how I came to have the goat head currently soaking in a bowl in my kitchen.
My journey began just before I left for a week to Luxor, where I had a fabulous time... check the pictures if you haven't already. In my EGPT 499 class, Animals in Ancient Egyptian Archaeology, we were told to get the aforementioned mandibles, ask questions, and bring them in after Spring break. Unfortunately, due to time restrictions, I did not go on my search until I returned from Luxor. I checked my local butcher... but there was no luck. I checked a couple of others with the same result. In a last ditch effort, I got a taxi and asked to go to Carrfour, a local shopping center with a meat department. Keep in mind that, everyone I spoke to do not speak English, Arabic only. My very broken Arabic got me a lot of strange looks, and misunderstandings, although I eventually got my message through.
My taxi driver, Gamil, tried his best. When I walked out of Carrfour, with a bag carrying a new skirt and shirt I found on sale (I wasn't about to leave empty handed), I told him that I needed bones. He didn't understand me, so I pulled out my English/Arabic book and tried to get explain, for some reason, those books don't have skull or mandible listed. I should write and complain. Anyway, I was speaking broken Arabic, he was speaking broken English, and after a lot of laughter and me trying to indicate my jaw bone (no, I don't need a Dentist), he decided to have me talk to his brother on the phone. He calls his brother and hands me the phone.
"Where are you going?"
"Well, we're heading towards Maadi, but I need sheep bones."
"Where do you want to go?"
"I want sheep bones!"
"Where do you want to go?"
"Enta mish fahim!" (Translation, "You don't understand"... me telling his brother this on the phone caused Gamil to burst into laughter).
While the taxi driver was talking to his brother, I head him say, "bizarre" at one point. I quickly looked in my book and exclaimed that I was not strange (odd), I have a class! We stopped at a couple more stores with no luck and called it an evening. The ride cost 50LE, but was worth it. When I got out of the cab, the driver tried to ask where I lived, perhaps so he could help my Arabic and I with his English. I pretended not to understand, and walked away.
Other students had trouble getting mandibles, so I didn't feel so bad for not completing the assignment on time. Not like me, I know, but I tried.
Flash forward a week to this afternoon. I tried again for at the local butchers. This time, someone who spoke English stopped by and was able to better explain what I needed to the butcher. He didn't have what I was looking for, but he did tell me someplace to go. I caught a taxi and told him what I wanted. The driver (whose name I can't remember) discovered I spoke a little Arabic, and after that he spoke a lot and fast, in Arabic. Thankfully, he repeated himself each time, but it was still a challenge. My driver, I also discovered, was an engineer, not a taxi driver. He was only driving because there was no work for an engineer.
He took me to a butchers. "Mish lahmah, kharoof roz" ("Not meat, sheep head") "wala" (or) and here is where I started moving my jaw up and down and pointing to it. The butcher leaned on the glass and started laughing. "Ma3andish" (I don't have it) he says. Back to the taxi driver, who calls someone for assistance. Off we go into EGYPT. This isn't Maadi anymore.
I should explain, Maadi is very westernized. There is a Radio Shack, McDonald's (the only one in Cairo - as far as I know - with a drive thru), the local stores carry some American and British products, and the prices are a bit more expensive. My taxi driver and I headed into the real Cairo, not even in Maadi anymore. It was a one lane street with cars and vans going both ways. People crowed under umbrellas in front of shops with various goods displayed out front. Multiple makehift tables were set up on each street with 3aesh balady (Egyptian bread) piled high, men and women grabbing some and putting them in cheap plastic bags. The road was mostly unpaved, holes dug and filled with litter. An American woman in the back seat of a taxi drew many looks, as well as a couple of "Welcome"s in an effort to draw my attention and wallet. Children were everywhere, older siblings younger than my son watching out for their brothers and sisters. The taxi, which didn't start for 30 seconds each time it was shut down and was so old and dented it would've been banned in the states, made it through the streets with much effort and skillful driving. We picked up a woman who helped me on my quest, and she also only spoke to me in Arabic, telling me that it was difficult to find these things unless it was early morning. One stop after another, through a maze of streets and alleys crowed with people and shops, did not provide the items I needed. Finally, they told me we would look at one more shop then call it done.
Al hum-de-le-lah (Thanks to God), the last place had what I needed... a frozen goat head. Complete with flesh, ears, and eyes. Now came the difficult part. This part of Cairo does not have English speakers, and I still had to ask the following questions:
Is this a sheep or goat?
How old is it?
When was it born?
What did it eat?
The first question, rather easy. He pointed to the herd of goats right outside the door. The second question is when the woman finally started to speak English. I discovered my goat was 2 years old. Then trying to ask when it was born was very difficult. At one point, I pointed to the stomach of a goat standing next to the trough and moved from the stomach to the tail, then crossed my arms to hold a baby. That managed to get my point, and I discovered it was born in May. The last question, what did it eat, was more difficult. I know the words, but I wasn't getting my point across. They thought I wanted to eat the goat's head! I even went to the trough and asked what the grass items inside were, but they just looked at me like I was crazy. Eventually, they understood and told me it eats full (flowers, not to be confused with fuul which are beans), grains, and crushed bread. I paid 10LE for the head, returned to the taxi, and was taken home. It was an adventure and it taught me a few things.
1. I need to practice Arabic more.
2. Guide books should include skeletal body parts.
3. People think you are strange if you want a sheep or goat's head.
4. Don't bring a goat head into the apartment when your roommate is on the phone with her boyfriend, because she will tell him you have a goat's head in a plastic bag and he will say you are a loser and gross.
After a few hours on my balcony to defrost, the goat's head is now in the green bowl we wash our dishes in, and tomorrow I will be trying to boil the flesh off.
For the sensitive, I am including a link to a picture of the goat's head, so you don't have to see it if you don't want to. It's kinda cool though (yeah, I may be a little odd after all).
Click to see a goat head.
My journey began just before I left for a week to Luxor, where I had a fabulous time... check the pictures if you haven't already. In my EGPT 499 class, Animals in Ancient Egyptian Archaeology, we were told to get the aforementioned mandibles, ask questions, and bring them in after Spring break. Unfortunately, due to time restrictions, I did not go on my search until I returned from Luxor. I checked my local butcher... but there was no luck. I checked a couple of others with the same result. In a last ditch effort, I got a taxi and asked to go to Carrfour, a local shopping center with a meat department. Keep in mind that, everyone I spoke to do not speak English, Arabic only. My very broken Arabic got me a lot of strange looks, and misunderstandings, although I eventually got my message through.
My taxi driver, Gamil, tried his best. When I walked out of Carrfour, with a bag carrying a new skirt and shirt I found on sale (I wasn't about to leave empty handed), I told him that I needed bones. He didn't understand me, so I pulled out my English/Arabic book and tried to get explain, for some reason, those books don't have skull or mandible listed. I should write and complain. Anyway, I was speaking broken Arabic, he was speaking broken English, and after a lot of laughter and me trying to indicate my jaw bone (no, I don't need a Dentist), he decided to have me talk to his brother on the phone. He calls his brother and hands me the phone.
"Where are you going?"
"Well, we're heading towards Maadi, but I need sheep bones."
"Where do you want to go?"
"I want sheep bones!"
"Where do you want to go?"
"Enta mish fahim!" (Translation, "You don't understand"... me telling his brother this on the phone caused Gamil to burst into laughter).
While the taxi driver was talking to his brother, I head him say, "bizarre" at one point. I quickly looked in my book and exclaimed that I was not strange (odd), I have a class! We stopped at a couple more stores with no luck and called it an evening. The ride cost 50LE, but was worth it. When I got out of the cab, the driver tried to ask where I lived, perhaps so he could help my Arabic and I with his English. I pretended not to understand, and walked away.
Other students had trouble getting mandibles, so I didn't feel so bad for not completing the assignment on time. Not like me, I know, but I tried.
Flash forward a week to this afternoon. I tried again for at the local butchers. This time, someone who spoke English stopped by and was able to better explain what I needed to the butcher. He didn't have what I was looking for, but he did tell me someplace to go. I caught a taxi and told him what I wanted. The driver (whose name I can't remember) discovered I spoke a little Arabic, and after that he spoke a lot and fast, in Arabic. Thankfully, he repeated himself each time, but it was still a challenge. My driver, I also discovered, was an engineer, not a taxi driver. He was only driving because there was no work for an engineer.
He took me to a butchers. "Mish lahmah, kharoof roz" ("Not meat, sheep head") "wala" (or) and here is where I started moving my jaw up and down and pointing to it. The butcher leaned on the glass and started laughing. "Ma3andish" (I don't have it) he says. Back to the taxi driver, who calls someone for assistance. Off we go into EGYPT. This isn't Maadi anymore.
I should explain, Maadi is very westernized. There is a Radio Shack, McDonald's (the only one in Cairo - as far as I know - with a drive thru), the local stores carry some American and British products, and the prices are a bit more expensive. My taxi driver and I headed into the real Cairo, not even in Maadi anymore. It was a one lane street with cars and vans going both ways. People crowed under umbrellas in front of shops with various goods displayed out front. Multiple makehift tables were set up on each street with 3aesh balady (Egyptian bread) piled high, men and women grabbing some and putting them in cheap plastic bags. The road was mostly unpaved, holes dug and filled with litter. An American woman in the back seat of a taxi drew many looks, as well as a couple of "Welcome"s in an effort to draw my attention and wallet. Children were everywhere, older siblings younger than my son watching out for their brothers and sisters. The taxi, which didn't start for 30 seconds each time it was shut down and was so old and dented it would've been banned in the states, made it through the streets with much effort and skillful driving. We picked up a woman who helped me on my quest, and she also only spoke to me in Arabic, telling me that it was difficult to find these things unless it was early morning. One stop after another, through a maze of streets and alleys crowed with people and shops, did not provide the items I needed. Finally, they told me we would look at one more shop then call it done.
Al hum-de-le-lah (Thanks to God), the last place had what I needed... a frozen goat head. Complete with flesh, ears, and eyes. Now came the difficult part. This part of Cairo does not have English speakers, and I still had to ask the following questions:
Is this a sheep or goat?
How old is it?
When was it born?
What did it eat?
The first question, rather easy. He pointed to the herd of goats right outside the door. The second question is when the woman finally started to speak English. I discovered my goat was 2 years old. Then trying to ask when it was born was very difficult. At one point, I pointed to the stomach of a goat standing next to the trough and moved from the stomach to the tail, then crossed my arms to hold a baby. That managed to get my point, and I discovered it was born in May. The last question, what did it eat, was more difficult. I know the words, but I wasn't getting my point across. They thought I wanted to eat the goat's head! I even went to the trough and asked what the grass items inside were, but they just looked at me like I was crazy. Eventually, they understood and told me it eats full (flowers, not to be confused with fuul which are beans), grains, and crushed bread. I paid 10LE for the head, returned to the taxi, and was taken home. It was an adventure and it taught me a few things.
1. I need to practice Arabic more.
2. Guide books should include skeletal body parts.
3. People think you are strange if you want a sheep or goat's head.
4. Don't bring a goat head into the apartment when your roommate is on the phone with her boyfriend, because she will tell him you have a goat's head in a plastic bag and he will say you are a loser and gross.
After a few hours on my balcony to defrost, the goat's head is now in the green bowl we wash our dishes in, and tomorrow I will be trying to boil the flesh off.
For the sensitive, I am including a link to a picture of the goat's head, so you don't have to see it if you don't want to. It's kinda cool though (yeah, I may be a little odd after all).
Click to see a goat head.