When I was here in the summer I'd become used to the incessant use of the expression "inshallah" (god willing)...eg: If you say 'I'll
see you tomorrow', the response is 'inshallah" (because who knows what will happen to the person in the next 24 hrs...or you!!). Or in the supermarket...."do you think you'll have more strawberries tomorrow?" again: "Inshallah!" (what if the fields get flooded, or the truck overturns on its way to the store?). This used to annoy me because I thought people weren't taking responsibility for their actions..... I would say to my driver: you'll be here at 9 tomorrow, right?? he'd reply, "inshallah, Miss Catherine.." and when he was late, well.....it was god's will. But I've started to realize, it's not a cop-out, it's just that in their eyes, Allah is so powerful, it would be an insult to him to assume that there was something he didn't have control over....When I was looking for an apartment, my broker who knew I wasn't muslim, excitedly told me one day that he had a flat to show me that was very near a Christian church...."you'll be able to walk!!" he said watching eagerly for
my reaction..."Great!" I said, because I didn't have the heart to tell him that it was unlikely that I'd be attending....Last weekend on our way back from Sharm, as soon as we landed, some Arabic writing appeared on the tv screen above my head. I asked Zoomie, who speaks and reads Arabic, if it was thanking us for flying Egyptair, and she said said no, it was a prayer to thank god for the safe landing.
In North America, the subject of religion in the workplace is a huge taboo, and we would NEVER mention our beliefs at work, but here it is thoroughly embedded in everything we do. When I first got to Cairo, I got an email from our new Front office manager, whom I hadn't met yet, but in it, he casually said that he knew I had a big job ahead, but that I shouldn't worry, because god was assisting me in the recruitment (interesting, because god has yet to offer to do a single interview or reference check!!!). At the end of every morning briefing, our GM finishes with, "have a good day guys, and god bless you". And Muslims pray 5 times a day, so it's a not uncommon at all to walk into someone's office and find them praying; one of our sales managers even leads the other girls in prayer after lunch. Applicants frequently tell me that they are praying for the success of our hotel and for my good health, ( the latter seems to be working so far so maybe I'll tell them to keep it up!)
Right now you're probably thinking... um, WTF, where is she going with this.... but what prompted me to write this post now was how normal it all seems to me now- this epiphany came today when my boss shut our office door and announced that if I needed her she'd be behind her desk praying..."mafishe mushkella!" (no problem) I said, as I continued eating my fat-free yogurt and typing an email to a new hire about an upcoming orientation.
Although I still don't feel a need to participate, it's nice to see how much comfort my friends and co-workers take from their faith. Even the poorest Egyptians seem to find some solace in the fact that there is someone looking out for them.....hard to believe when they seem to have little else than their faith, but then again, maybe some of them feel rich because of it...I guess it's all a matter of perspective isn't it...
Okay, too much thinking for one night...off to bed. I miss you all and Inshalla you will all have a great day!!
Over from Cairo. xoxo C
No comments:
Post a Comment