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Each country has its own character. Be it weird غريبة or unique مُميِّزة. Egypt is no exception. Egyptians are known for being fun and creative مُبْدِعين in strange ways. So I will list a few things that you’ll only see in Egypt.

السّبت Sabat

Remember Tangled? The cartoon movie where Rapunzel has wildly long hair شعْر طَويل? Well, in the movie, when Rapunzel’s mother wants to get to her house at the top of the tower البُرْج, she asks Rapunzel to let her hair down, she clings to it and then Rapunzel would pull her up the tower. Well, the sabat is no different. The word sabat means basket. It’s a basket which has a long rope حبْل tied to it. People living in upper floors الأدوار العالية use it to give or take something from people on the ground floor. Not clear yet? I’ll give you an example. If I am studying and craving some Doritos نِفْسي في دوْريتوْس. I’d call the supermarket and tell them to send me a pack. To save the stairs سلم or the elevator الأصانْصير trip, the delivery man would ask me to let my basket down with the money in it, and then he’d place the delicious Doritos in the basket and I’d pull it up. Another example is when someone is rushing to the building door and out of the blue realizes that he/she forgot their keys مفاتيح. Then he’d call someone from the apartment الشّقّة –or take the easier way and shout their name as loud as possible- and they would let their basket down with his/her keys. Quite an invention اِخْتِراع, isn’t it? Just kidding.

 

فانوس رمضان Fanoos Ramadan

In every Egyptian house, you’d find a fanoos. It originated in Egypt long time ago مِن زمان. It’s similar to a lamp with unique decorations and is associated with Ramadan. Ramadan is a Hijri month in which Muslims fast بِيْصوموا from dawn الفجْر to sunset الغُروب. During Ramadan, children walk around the streets holding them with their lights on. They are beautiful حِلْوين!

Prideful or strange sayings and images on the backs of microbuses

Well, I tried to search for the reason behind this but I didn’t find any. I don’t know why microbuses specifically. I only know that most microbus drivers are proud. But at least, I find myself occupied مشْغولة reading the quotes they stick to the back of microbuses during my ride to college every morning.

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