Three Beautiful Things Thursday: Praying Outside And Koshari Edition
This week has been absolutely packed with beautiful things!
1. Sometime last week, I decided that I would drive to New York City on Friday night and search for one of my favorite Egyptian dishes, koshari. It consists of: Rice, Macaroni, Onions, Lentils, Chickpeas, and Tomato Sauce. These all seem to be basic ingredients, but just as Captain Planet, with their powers combined… watch out!
As soon as I made my plans, I wrote a note on Facebook [ add me ], and invited everyone I knew in New York City to join me at Pyramida, a restaurant on the Upper East Side. Reviews on Yelp said that the food was amazing, and that they made koshari. Score! The only issue? It was a little store-front place with only 3 tables and 7 chairs.
Friday came around, and unfortunately the weather along with the traffic was horrible. I was determined, however, and so I braved the the torrents of rain, blinding mist, and Lincoln Tunnel traffic to get to Pyramida. As soon as I got there, a parking spot opened up right on the street in front of the restaurant. (Beautiful Thing 1a)
I got there ridiculously early, but Roger the guy behind the counter was cool with me hanging out. I perused the menu and didn’t find koshari, so I got up and made some conversation…
“I just drove up from Philly and, and, and… and.. I came for your koshari!” I stammered.
“You came for what?”
“Koshari”
“We don’t serve Koshari”
“But I called, and whoever picked up said you did! And there are reviews on-line that say so too..”
“You came all the way from Philly, for koshari?”
I’ve gotten used to people thinking I was crazy, so without pause, I answered in the affirmative.
“Okay, you came for koshari, we are going to make you some koshari!” (Beautiful Thing 1b)
So while Roger, badass that he is, whipped up four ridiculously gigantic plates of koshari, people regularly started streaming in from various points in my life. First, it was Aaisha, a fellow Sindhi who has known me since I was just an adolescent. Then there was Sara, my old online-turned-real-life buddy of 8 years. Two guys from my undergrad swung by as well. I haven’t seen them in four years. Then a couple freshman walked in from Fordham. One of them helped me at my booth at ICNA. A few others followed. There were about 9 folks there all together. And they hadn’t met each other before. I love gatherings without little cliques. (Beautiful Thing 1c) God bless Roger, he was expecting a quiet night, and I brought him a gaggle of geese! Turns out he is from Trinidad, and learned all of the Middle-Eastern fare in culinary school. Wild.
Afterwards, I was treated to cupcakes and chai with Aly and S., a lovely couple that just got married. (Beautiful Thing 1d) That evening I planned to drive back to Philly, but they convinced me to crash on someone’s couch.
2. The next morning, at around 6:30 AM, I drove back to Philly, and spent 3 hours cleaning my whole apartment. I work best under pressure, and pressure = inviting new friends over. I swear, it is the best motivation to clean one’s living space. Nadia drove up from DC, and we decided to skip the manicure and pedicures we had planned. Instead, we drove to Tyler State Park, and enjoyed a ninety-minute hike/photo-taking adventure. Towards the end of our journey, we prayed on some moss-covered rocks (see photo above). We both agreed that the smell of moss while prostrating was refreshing.
And what does one do after splashing through streams, spotting frogs, deer, and fish? Eat Dessert! Twice!
After some lamb kabob at Sansom Street Kabob House,
We ended up eating gelato AND drinking liquified chocolate.
Beautiful overload!
3. On Sunday, I took a well-deserved afternoon nap and woke up to a very loud, repetitive pitter-patter sound. Scrambling to find my glasses, I jumped off my couch to see my worst nightmare. A YELLOW liquid had filled a light fixture on my ceiling, and the YELLOW liquid was streaming down onto my hallway floor!
“Oh my God, my neighbor’s toilet upstairs is broken, and there is piss all over my hallway and in my ceiling!” I exclaimed [inside my head].
I ran upstairs to find that my neighbor had fallen asleep.
while. washing. dishes.
The yellow was not urine, but water infused with dish-washing liquid.
Probably the most beautiful thing on earth, folks, is finding out that the yellow liquid that has seeped through your ceiling, flooded your hallway, and dripped all over you… did not originate from someone’s bladder.
Can I get an alhamdulillah?!
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baji at 19 September 08 :: #
only YOU could get something off-menu so easily.
and whew on the yellow liquid mystery. what kind of partying does your neighbor do that he/she fell asleep standing up?
Preeti at 19 September 08 :: #
This was a great 3BT! The photo at the top is just lovely.
rahma at 19 September 08 :: #
Why is it that the magic of koshari is so hard to capture at home? I must have tried a thousand times, but it never comes close to what you can get from a hole in the wall in Cairo
ammena at 19 September 08 :: #
Alhamdulillah :) I always look forward to these off the wall posts.. dude, you have so much fun masha’allah
pari at 19 September 08 :: #
can i tell you how awesome it is that you drove all the way to new york to get food?!
Shehnaz at 20 September 08 :: #
Salaam bro,
I am not a frequent visitor of your blog. But I shud say that when I do read your blog, it is very refreshing and makes me feel a lot better. Keep up your good work.
HijabMan at 22 September 08 :: #
Preeti: Glad you liked it
Rahma: Invite me over, and I’ll tell you :)
Ammena: I try.
Pari: You know, I kinda have to say.. im craving some stinky tofu
Shehnaz: I’ll try
saara at 28 September 08 :: #
alhamdulillah! ;)
love the moss-covered-rock pic!
ps. it’s been a few years since i was last here, it’s good to be back!