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| The view from the end of our road |
Over the years we have had various guests from abroad who
have bravely ignored all the dire warnings about the dangers of travel to
Algeria, and have come and stayed with us and created some very happy memories
with us.
One group who came to stay with us for 8 days were of
Pakistani origin but born and brought up in Kenya, after which they moved to UK
from where a few of them moved on to Canada.
The only man in the group was a very good friend of my husband in England
and he and his English wife had shown us a lot of kindness and support
throughout the years we lived near them.
He brought along his two sisters, one of whom travelled from her home in
Canada along with her 16 year old daughter.
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| One of my favourite views coming into Algiers Center from 'our side |
The morning after they arrived the two sisters were up on
the terrace supposedly admiring the view of the sea but instead looking down
into our neighbour’s back garden and shouting down ‘Asalaam Alaykum’ to them at
the top of their voices…..neighbours we had very little to do with up to this
point. Soon after they went out to go
down to the sea but somehow managed to wangle themselves an invite into the
very same neighbour’s home which was in the opposite direction, bringing back
home a plate of goodies. This was just the first morning and I started to
wonder if our fragile relationship with our neighbours was going to survive
their visit.
Their enthusiasm for soaking up as much as they could of the
unique atmosphere of Algeria was, admittedly infectious and rather endearing,
and they had a wonderful sense of humour which meant a lot of laughter echoed
throughout the house. The two sisters
were older than me and, like all sisters, bickered which sometimes bordered on
the point of a full-blown row, in the middle of which they would often stop and
invite me to sit between them and relax.
I stared at them disbelievingly and told them I’d be safer sitting in a
war zone! They often chatted away in
Urdu and then would turn to one of us and ask ‘what do you think?’ I dared not tell them.
Everything seemed to remind them of somewhere else…Dubai,
Saudi, Kenya…etc. Funnily enough nothing
reminded them of Pakistan because contrary to their outward appearance and
obvious Pakistani cultural preferences…none of them had ever set foot in Pakistan. A few times it was on the tip of my tongue to
say it all reminded me of Algeria but I kept quiet, and had my revenge when a
few years later they returned to Kenya after many years absence and drove their
brother mad by saying how much everything reminded them of…..Algeria!!!!
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| Ketchaoua Mosque, Algiers |
They loved everything and, to be honest even though they
were exhausting in their wish to see most of Algeria (we are talking about a
country 9.8 times the size of mainland UK) in 8 days, they were easy to
please. As fast as I chopped carrots for
the dinner, they ate them exclaiming with every bite how they hadn’t tasted
carrots like that in years. The ate
everything I put in front of them….as long as it was accompanied by a dish of
rice and they were very much hands on in helping with the cooking and the
washing up.
There were many times when we were outside and I was so
grateful for wearing a niqab…for all the wrong reasons. They totally ignored the fact that English
and Urdu are not universally spoken or understood here in Algeria and just
chatted away to every shopkeeper and vendor nevertheless. They decided that they just HAD to make
‘mandazi’s, something my sister had introduced us to years ago, which were the
Aisan version of a doughnut, but whereas my sister’s recipe did not include
coconut it was essential in their recipe.
So off we went hunting down the crucial and very elusive coconut
milk. They would walk into a shop and
ask for ‘halib’ and be shown the long-life milk cartons and then they would say
‘no, no…..we want COCONUT halib’ which invariably elicited a blank stare from
the poor beleaguered shop-keeper.
Eventually it occurred to me to point to a Bounty bar and ask them for
‘halib’ made with that…and hope they didn’t bring out a chocolate milk carton. Oh no…they didn’t have that kind of milk, but
wait here a minute and they would go down the road and ask in the next shop if
they had any. So many times it went like
that….the Algerian shop-keepers were so eager to please the foreigners and find
them what they wanted. We never did find the coconut milk and they had to make
the wretched things without them, which tasted fine to me. Of course they couldn’t just make them with
anything I had in my kitchen…..no….they needed a ‘tawa’ or griddle which they
just had to borrow……… from the neighbours.
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| The Port of Algiers |
They were very vehement in their desire to see the Sahara –
coming to Algeria and not going to the Sahara was like going to Mecca and not
visiting the Kaaba….their comparison….not mine.
So they piled into our car in the very early hours of the morning along
with my daughter (and the flamin’ mandazis), and my husband drove them the 10
hours drive to the Sahara. While my
husband collapsed in a heap and slept for a while they spent their time walking
around the beautiful sand dunes and taking pictures of themselves and the
camels and picking up Desert Roses, which are natural formations of sand in the
shape of roses. They ate at the home of
someone who was a friend of a friend of my husband, because, in Algeria
everyone is a friend of someone. They
were offered a place to stay for the night but our guests were adamant that
they wanted to return ‘home’. So my
husband drove them 10 hours journey back to our home, stopping once for a
little rest on the way. Our guests soon
felt the full force of the lyrics of a song ‘mad dogs and English men go out in
the midday sun’, when they became really ill on the journey home suffering from
sun stroke and dehydration.
They recovered quickly to attempt to see the rest of Algeria
in the remaining time of their holiday and when they did leave, we all
collectively collapsed in a heap.
But…..to be honest…..I would have them all back again tomorrow because,
simply, they loved it here, they appreciated our efforts and they were very
good fun, which is all I ever ask of a guest.
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| Port of Algiers |
