On display

Display any above average signs of religiousness in normal countries, and people think you're a bit of a weirdo. Out here, it's the complete opposite. Twice today I popped out of my office for five minutes only to return to find one of my female colleagues in the middle of their prayers, a process which involves reciting a specific piece of text from the Qur'an and facing in a specific direction, on a specific piece of rug, with a specific bit of cloth on their head.

I never get used to seeing it. It doesn't annoy me as such: I find the whole thing just so snort-inducingly odd. It's a little bit irksome that I can't get on with my business when there's a perfectly good room downstairs to partake in the five-a-day ritual, but as nobody bats an eyelid (such is the extent of the religious brainwashing in this part of the world) I would feel like I was deeply offending someone (very easy to do with religious people) if I mentioned it, and so refrain from doing so. Nobody is aware of my particular stance on all things religion but I can guarantee that I am Christian by default in their eyes, although it has not been asked yet.

I cannot wait for the day they do ask.

In other news, the most irritating idiot in Cairo tried to force feed me a piece of apple today after refusing to accept I didn't want it. She offered me a piece. I politely declined. And then began an almost surreal minute of social nonsense; her being a complete twat, and me trying to remain professionally guarded. At one point, she actually held the piece of apple under my nose repeating 'take it, take it' and muttering something about Islamic customs.

Writing it down, I'm not doing any justice to how much of a lunatic she is.