If I'm going to get to it, it has to be now. So there are three groups in Islamic society and you have to fit in one of them; each with a defined rôle. Women, Men, Foreigners. In Siwa (a very traditional rural society), the men were everywhere. In the cafes, working in the palmaries, all over town. The women were almost invisible. They have quite the life at home, visiting each other and in many ways running the home (so i'm told), but they just do not exist in public. In siwa the women wear full hajib outside, no eye slit here, this is the full face/body/everything covering outfits. It actually took me a few days to even notice them sitting in the back of donkey carts, barely moving and looking almost like sacks. And then there are the foreigners who are not included in the same set of rules.
I met a fascinating young woman, Sevtap (turkish ancestry, german born) who fell outside these categories. She is a foreigner but by really getting to know the Siwans and by really having a deep respect for the local custom (and speaking moderate arabic) she moved out of the foreigner category and into the arab side. But being a woman in the man's world she really fell outside the norm. I don't think the Siwans quite knew what to think of her. We became friends by chance and she helped me see much more of Siwa than I otherwise could've. She introduced me to everyone in town and having been in Siwa before me knew all the good places in town. Her hotel is the second tallest structure (after the big mosque) in town so we went up there to be above the noise and dust and look down over the entire town square. She gave me some fabulous arabic language hip hop which will likely get airplay at my next dance party. Here's a picture from the roof of the 'shali' - an ancient fortress perched on a hill.
You really have a hard time seeing where the ancient mudbrick shali ends and the current mudbrick dwellings begin.
The next day we took bicycles and went out to a huge salt lake nearby to sit in the cool breezes. It is really amazing to see the completely arid desert next to a huge lake. Part of the fun was avoiding the roving children in the countryside yelling out "Hello, hello, hello". If you slow down there is no escaping and you end up playing pied piper to 20 children.
Sevtap also introduced me to her friend, Ari, a wonderful old soul living in Siwa. I managed to get an invitation to come sit in his garden where I ate dates from his trees and had a fabulous afternoon of meditation as the sun set.
Siwa was such a peaceful space perched on the edge of nothingness and sand. I have always had a fear of the small rural town - a place like siwa which is so extremely small where everyone knows you and knows your business, where nothing is private; but there is a peace to having everyone also watch out for you. I don't think i'm quite ready to give up on urban life yet, but perhaps one day it will call me.
So i want to contrast this with two girls i met back in Cairo before getting on my plane to Tunis. These were two tall blonde girls from Florida. They knew they could never blend in and embraced that completely. They would firmly be in the foreigner camp in Islamic society but that camp does allow a lot of freedom. They would never have the integration into society that Sevtap does though the Egyptian people were extremely wecoming and accepting of foreigners (and there are a lot of us). Like I say, as a man I really have no way of ever seeing the women's world but I was certainly welcomed by the men in every town and every bus and most every walk. Honestly, I had to sometimes pretend not to speak English if i wanted any space from new friends.
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