The "Silent of Bracelet" Aesthetic
So Sunday was Pay Rent In The Backseat Of My Landlady's Car Day, and to my surprise she brought her husband with her, the mysterious businessman who works in Libya, who I had never met before. After a charming conversation during which I had to reassure her that Ethiopians are capable of being clean and pleasant people too, her husband extended a very gracious invitation (what do you call it when "no" is not an option?) to have dinner at their home sometime. The conversation went something like this:
Mr. Libya: Has Henan (my housekeeper) been cooking for you?
Ms. Khawagga: Not since the summer, sir. I've just been too busy with school and am always eating on the go. (NOTE: what I really wanted to say was, "Not since the summer, sir. I'm afraid the sodium/fat content would kill me within a week.")
Mr. Libya: Don't you like Egyptian food? You really should eat more of it.
Ms. Khawagga: Oh yes! I love Egyptian food (when I want to clot an artery or two)!
Mr. Libya: You really need to eat more Egyptian food. You're too skinny. If you eat more Egyptian food, then you can look like my wife!
(Mrs. Libya/Landlady giggles raucously in that way only rotund, upper middle class Egyptian housewives can do)
Ms. Khawagga: Oh, God willing, sir, God willing.
Like in many countries, there is a healthy love here of what one might call the "Silent of Bracelet" aesthetic. As my CASA colleague, Ben, explained to me the other day, it comes from pre-Jahiliyya poetry, in which one of the highest compliments a man can pay a woman is to call her "silent of bracelet" - that is, she is so fleshy that when she walks, her bracelets do not jingle.
Call me crazy, but if I ever become "silent of bracelet," someone call Weight Watchers pronto before the zoo gets me.
Mr. Libya: Has Henan (my housekeeper) been cooking for you?
Ms. Khawagga: Not since the summer, sir. I've just been too busy with school and am always eating on the go. (NOTE: what I really wanted to say was, "Not since the summer, sir. I'm afraid the sodium/fat content would kill me within a week.")
Mr. Libya: Don't you like Egyptian food? You really should eat more of it.
Ms. Khawagga: Oh yes! I love Egyptian food (when I want to clot an artery or two)!
Mr. Libya: You really need to eat more Egyptian food. You're too skinny. If you eat more Egyptian food, then you can look like my wife!
(Mrs. Libya/Landlady giggles raucously in that way only rotund, upper middle class Egyptian housewives can do)
Ms. Khawagga: Oh, God willing, sir, God willing.
Like in many countries, there is a healthy love here of what one might call the "Silent of Bracelet" aesthetic. As my CASA colleague, Ben, explained to me the other day, it comes from pre-Jahiliyya poetry, in which one of the highest compliments a man can pay a woman is to call her "silent of bracelet" - that is, she is so fleshy that when she walks, her bracelets do not jingle.
Call me crazy, but if I ever become "silent of bracelet," someone call Weight Watchers pronto before the zoo gets me.
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