My Green Grocer Wears a Dress and Speaks Many Languages

Food Garden

 . . . is our favorite veggie and fruit place on Rd 9 here in Maadi. Outside of the tiny entrance sits the  store's most luscious looking fruit, welcoming you to step inside the small passageway leading to what appears to be a tiny cave filled with a variety of fruit and veggies. 

There,  I can pick out, pay for and have sent to our door anything I desire. This option is wonderful for those of us with bad knees, who live at the top of buildings without elevators, although I can be sure if they promise to deliver before 30 minutes, I MIGHT be waiting for the next three hours for my stash to arrive!

The alternative is to call in my order as clearly as possible, and then be surprised at what actually turns UP at our door.

I believe last week I requested 3.5 kilos of cucumbers and a bunch of other things. I received that bunch of other things, along with only 1 kilo of cucumbers, three large bunches of green onions and three packages filled with garlic. (that were NOT requested)

         Close enough, I guess -

 But actually visiting this teeny Mom and Pop shop is a great experience because the man who runs it, and his family members who help, are always quite friendly and extremely generous to Gracie, and that makes it fun.  Upon entering, you will always find incense burning and prayers from the Quaran gently being played from the speakers. The owner, who does NOT appear to be eating much of what he sells ... is a typical veggie-man here in Egypt ( all considered to be mostly uneducated, working class folks) YET he deals with customers from around the world. I do not believe he's had a language lesson in his life .. however out of necessity he has impressively picked up an assortment of languages in order to make his sales work with all of his customers. I've heard him speak English, Arabic, French and Portuguese! (I think?)

   I have studied Arabic on and off for YEARS in various school settings, memorized lists of words, bought and studied numerous Arabic textbooks and have had private tutors, and still struggle to get a point across.

   Whenever I visit his shop without Gracie by my side, he always asks about her and sends me home with a yummy gift of bananas for her, or small package of some other fruit.

   Upon hearing that we were leaving Egypt for the States, he rounded up and handed me a massive bag of lemons saying, "These are for YOU to take back to your family, from me."

  This is one of the things that I will surely miss about Cairo!

The stores we visit daily are all small, and run by the same people who have always run them and always will. 

The faces never change, and we are known by the folks who serve us. 

 For me, it's true that - "Sometimes you wanna go where everybody knows your name, and they're always glad you came ..." 

(Cheers, in case you are wondering!)