Juice bar – crossed off the list
There are a number of experiences in Cairo which are on my list to do before we leave Egypt such as sleep in the Western desert, drink coffee from a local outdoor cafe, buy some vegetables from the market outside my apartment, and learn to ride the bus. One item which I’ve just crossed off the list: drink fresh fruit juice from a juice bar.
Juice bars are all over town – recognizable by the open-air store fronts, nets filled with plump, in-season fruit hanging over the entryway. These days, the nets are filled with oranges, mangoes, and pomogranates. Although I don’t know the word for “pomogranate,” I was able to point to the net filled with the beautiful, red orbs to make myself understood.
A grey-haired man with a faded and blurred image of a cross tattooed on his wrist, indicating that he is Coptic Christian, stood behind the shiny, steel counter. He pulled a glass container of dark, red juice out of the refrigerator and poured it into a tall, thick-handled beer glass. I paid another man who was sitting on a plastic chair near the entryway 2.5 L.E. for the juice and took a sip. It was sweet and tangy and it cooled me down quickly.
The man who poured the juice walked around the counter and out to a store down the street. His pants were tucked into yellow, plastic rain boots.
It didn’t take me long to finish the last drops and contemplate buying another glass. (At 45 cents a glass, why not?) I resisted this time though, laid my empty glass on the counter, and wrangled up the courage to try out my Arabic.
“Ma’ salaama,” I said.
“Ma’ salaama,” he responded. I walked out and joined the crowds on the sidewalk.
Juice bar: check
Arabic usage: check
Click here to check out somebody else’s photo of a juice bar in Cairo.
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