Tea

Today I wanted to take a look at tea and it's significance in Egypt culture. It is hard to imagine an Egypt with out tea being sold at every corner. One can pay three pounds or even up to twenty five pounds depending on where you are. In my view the two most popular brands of tea in Egypt are Lipton and El Arosa. Their advertisements can be seen on billboards on the side of the roads and in shopping malls. You can buy both these tea brands bagged or in loose leafs. While living here Ellen and I have kept a large supply of tea and sugar in the room at all times. We drink on average 2 to 3 cups a day and we believe that it is a result of the culture we have found our selves living in.

Maybe back home when someone thinks about tea one can image British people sitting around in old white wigs and eating scones, but not here. Offering tea when someone enters your home is very customary, and usually very appreciated. Policemen in the early morning hours can be seen having cups of tea, usually filled with plenty of sugar. Walking through a market you will see usually younger men delivering tea to the shop owners off of a bent up metal trays. Instead of walking down to a local bar after work many people will retire to their local coffee/tea/sheesha spot.

Tea thank goodness has numerous health benefits such as Theanine and is an extra boost of caffeine. Many people can choose to put milk in their tea as well as mint leaves. Some people drink it like water here. I think my favorite tea experience was while waiting for a friend and his family to meet us by the pyramids. We arrived at 8 am when the doors just started opening and a number of phone calls we realised that we would be waiting there for a while. As we watched the tourists go buy in the most hilarius clothing we noticed that many of the guards were receiving tea from a shack just beside the ticket stand. Finally with encouragement from Ellen, both of us walked up to the enlisted soldier preparing tea. In Arabic I asked him if we could get to tea and he barely blinked an eye before he went looking around for some cups. Two cups were quickly returned and washed out in the sink. With a cigarette hanging out of his mouth he put tea leaves and sugar in the cups. The kettle they were using looked at least as old as me. It was probably tin and had as many dents and dings as the taxis on the street. We tipped the soldier a couple pounds, even though we probably could have gotten if for free. So there Ellen and I sat with our cups of tea watching the tourist pass as the Great Pyramid loomed over us.

Tea is a great Egypt past time. Brianna Lehnert