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『バルドゥース』 All Egyptian men have
their home afwa. The waiters and regular customers are
someone you know. It can be said that it is your second
home. You go there every day to talk about daily events, to
drink a cup of shai and to puff at a Shisha. They say that
there are many men who are ﾒfaithfulﾓ to their home afwa and
never go to other ones for some ten years. 
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『シャーイ・アラ・マイヤベーダ』 Egyptian loves shai
(tea). They drink it with lots of sugar all the time. I
thought sugary tea as something like children' prefer, but
majority of the people in the world would go for
plenty-sugar-in-tea. if that kind of survey is carried out.
The common sense of Japanese always comes to be out of
common sense of the world.  エジプト人はシャーイ（紅茶）が好きだ。砂糖が沢山入ったシャーイを１日中飲んでいる。紅茶に砂糖を入れるなんて子供っぽいと思っていたが、もし世界中でアンケートをとったら、大多数の人が砂糖タップリ派だろう。日本の常識はいつだって世界の非常識だ。 |
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『カッビーナ』 It is hot this year
in Cairo. I wedge the clay that will be used for tomorrow
with students to whom I gave the training until the evening.
We are all sweating and thus extremely thirsty, and of
course starving because we have been practicing without
taking lunch break. After cleaning up the training place, we
head for Afwa "Kabina" automatically. On the way to
"Kabina", we take away Koshari as usual. When we take seats,
everyone drinks a glass of water in one gulp, eat up the
Koshari at once, and then enjoy a whiff of Shisha with a cup
of shai. This is an hour of bliss under the rays of the
slanting sun. This is the summer time of Egypt.  今年のカイロは暑い。夕方までロクロのトレーニングをした生徒達と、明日使う粘土を揉んでおく。汗だくで喉はカラカラ。昼休みも取らずに練習しているのでお腹もペコペコだ。後片づけを済ませ、私たちは何も言わずアフワ『カッビーナ』へ向かう。途中でコシャリをテイクアウトして『カッビーナ』に座る。水を一気に飲み、コシャリをかきこみ、シャーイを飲みながらシーシャで一服。斜陽が眩しい幸福な瞬間。これぞエジプトの夏。 |
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My favorite things 私の一品 I never taste tobacco.
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Let's enjoy afwa, ladies! (written by A.K.Nesma) 女だって、アフワしましょ! "Afwa"
is "Kafwa" in formal Arabic. Surprisingly it is not known
well that the word "Cafe" or "Coffee" originated from this
word "Kafwa". The word "Kafwa" has two meanings - coffee
itself and cafeteria, which is the same as the French word
"Cafe". This time I am going to talk about "Afwa" of the
latter meaning as a place. |
There
are "Afwa" - Egyptian open cafe - anywhere in Egypt,
alongside a main street, inside souk, at a back alley in a
residential area, etc. as it is the birthplace of cafe.
Grown-up men are quartered at "Afwa" that pushed out on the
street, whether it is day or night, drink shai or turkey
coffee, puff shisha, animate a conversation, and enjoy
backgammon without betting. As this tranquil scenery is too
usual, it might not attract one's attention in particular.
As a matter of fact, just after having arrived here, as I
still had a mood of travelling, the sight of "Afwa" was not
so impressive as far as I remember.
although I have no hesitation to go to Yoshinoya (beef
rice-bowl shop) and ramen (Japanized Chinese noodle) shops
on my own in Japan. I am sure that even though I muster up
the courage to go there, I would end up feeling
uncomfortable. In this situation, the person who gave a
timely offer is the owner of SHIPPOKUDO who lived in Roda
Island in Cairo, and is a lover of Shisha and "Afwa". He and
I always stop in at "Afwa" wherever we visit. In any place,
as I obviously look like a foreigner, I am always welcomed
with the word "Etfaddal (here you are)" even though I am
female, and I never feel curious gazes of the customers and
workers that I am always exposed in other places. Rather,
there is such a straight atmosphere that the men's pride
would never allow the existence of only one oriental young
girl to disturb chats amongst fellows who met every day or
games rolled out as a routine. Still, as "Afwa" is the place
for people to meet and talk, it is not few occasion that I
am spoken to. Once the conversation begins with the
customers next to me, the rest of the customers cannot help
it to get an absorbing interest. It would come to a big
circle involving the half of the whole customers of the
"Afwa" at the end.
The
second is at the souk in a downtown called Imbaba of Cairo.
The scene of the contrast of the hustle and bustle of souk,
wooden light pole, washings hanging at the veranda of the
apartment houses, which can be seen from the seat of this
"Afwa", makes me notice the deepness of the town as well as
feel nostalgia strangely. I thus feel comfortable
automatically. As far as I know, the souk is the biggest and
the most lively one in Cairo. I sit down in the middle of
the souk, looking at the people coming and going, and
drinking a cup of tea. It is the luxurious moment.
あまりお酒の飲めない私は、そのかわりにというわけではないのだがお茶やコーヒーを外で飲むということに関して、他人には譲れないという余計な気概を勝手に持ちつづけてきた。だから宗教上、飲酒がご法度とされているムスリム達が、アルコール以外の嗜好性飲料を供する「アフワ」に対し、自分の場所としての誇りとこだわりを持つことに少なからぬ共感を覚えている。ならば「ヤッラ、アフワ！（アフワへ行こう！）」と来るべきなのだが、問題は私が「女」であるというところにある。日本では、喫茶店に集ってお喋りをするという行為はどちらかと言うと女性的と捉えられているが、ここエジプトでは、観光地の「アフワ」を除き、「アフワ」で女の人を見かけることは全くと言っていいほどない。もともと「アフワ」に女が出入りしてはいけないというきまりはないらしいが、エジプト社会にいまなお濃く残っている「男は外、女は内」の前提が、「アフワ」という公共のお楽しみの場所から女を遠ざけていると考えられる。また、家のなかでの権力者たる奥様方に虐げられている旦那衆にとって、地元の「アフワ」は男の聖域として残しておきたい場所だから、という説もある。
というわけで、日本にいたら吉野家やラーメン屋に一人で難なく入場できる私でも、街角の「アフワ」に一人で立ち寄るのは至難の技というより無理なのであった。頑張って行ってみたところで居心地の悪さを味わうだけのことである。そこで渡りに船の存在となったのがカイロはローダ島住民のシーシャ＆アフワ愛好家、卓袱堂店主である。店主と私はどの街を訪れても必ず「アフワ」に座る。どこの「アフワ」でも、見るからに外国人ということもあり、女の私でも、「ファッダル（どうぞ）」と歓迎してくれる上、ほかの場所で浴びるような好奇の視線を客や従業員からほとんど感じたことはない。「アフワ」の客のだいたいが常連で、連日顔を合わせる仲間とのお喋りや、日課のように繰り広げられるゲームを、たかがオリエンタルな小娘一人の存在が邪魔するなんてことは、男のプライドにかけて許されないとも言わんばかりの堅気な雰囲気がある。それでも「アフワ」は社交の場である以上、話しかけられることも少なくなく、隣りの客たちとの会話が始まると即、本当は興味津々でしかたがない、店の半分くらいの客を巻き込む大団円となってしまったりする。
二つ目はインババというカイロの下町のスークにあるのだが、「アフワ」の椅子から見渡す、スークの雑踏と木製の電柱や集合住宅のベランダに干された洗濯物とのコントラストに、この町の奥の深さと根拠のない懐かしさを感じ、不思議と落ち着くのである。ここは私の知る限りで一番大きく、活気のあるスークなのだが、その中ほどに座り、道行く人々を眺めながらお茶を飲む。贅沢なひとときである。