Tonight one professor invited us to a dinner in the home of a Coptic Christian woman. The woman was celebrating Epiphany, a Coptic holiday that marks the end of Christmas and the commemoration of Jesus' baptism. We were looking forward to our first homemade dinner in Egypt, so 9 of us went. The woman turned out to be a really sweet, tiny old lady who lives in a very upper class home.
She was very welcoming and immediately served us tangerines, which is the traditional way to start the dinner on Epiphany. Then she treated us to asab, which is basically sugar cane juice and is the most popular drink in Egypt. Then it was time for the main course. She had laid out all the dishes and they looked so yummy (we would be shocked later on). There were potatoes, rice, veggie rolls, sauces, meat, and other little appetizers. This was my plate:
When we sat down to eat, we were in for an unpleasant surprise. While the rice and potatoes were good, one bite of the meat and I had to hold back my impulse to hurl. It was the most disgusting meat I've ever tasted- I don't even know what it was but it tasted the way I would expect meat to taste before it's been cooked. I think it was liver. It touched the rest of my food and left its taste on everything so I stopped eating after that.
Then came dessert, which was even worse than the meat. I feel bad saying it because she had prepared so much food. But she left a bowl of powdered cookies out, and when one of the students went to take a bite of hers, she realized there were tiny little black bugs crawling all over it. Thank goodness I hadn't touched them! After that, we all pretty much lost our appetites for anything. Overall, it was a pretty gross experience for dinner, and I think I'll be retreating to takeout for the next few weeks.
