Port Said Memory

Tareq,the big brother of a lovely city in Egypt!World needs to know this man.He totally changed my perspective of arabic guys.Year 2009,i was studying arabic at Cairo University.Me and a few girl mates decided to explore Port Said.A bunch of 4Turkish,1Chinese and 1Polish girls!After two hours journey we landed in a wonderful Mediterranean shore!Thousand of seashells welcomed us!IThey are called Kawakebs in arabic, loved the name,and started to fill my pockets with them.My friend took a few seashells with her to throw them to Marmara Sea in Istanbul,as a gift to her city!The waves, the seahells,the wind,the warm weather,the wet sands,the wild beauty of the sea, the locals trying to take photos with these stunned&different tourists,the seagulls,the heart-shaped waterholes made by teenagers to impress girls and curious tourists,arabic- english- japanese conversations blowing in the air, these were just the beginning of an unforgettable Port Said morning.Some local families were having picnic in the beach. They invited us to drink amazing arabic tea with fresh peppermints,and suggested us not to leave Por Said without eating fish.so we hardly said goodbye to the seashells, and headed to the city center to taste this famous‘’fish’’which is specially fried in salt, we walked into a crowded-narrow-colorful street,surrounded by sellers.We were just looking around without knowing where to go,until we met our Hero.A big guy, with a huge belly, and tall mustaches asked us what we were looking for and we found ourselves in his little cafe.He set an amazing table to us just in seconds,and came 5 salted and fried special fishes to us,and pickles(which i can still feel their taste)then Yummy!it was definitly the best food i have eaten in my life,after we finished,he offered us some little,delicious bananas,but the best part was his company for sure,and when its time to go,he did not let us pay anything!he said: we dont let our guests pay.that was the first time in a foreigner country,i have seen something like this and took a taxi, but he surprised us once more he paid the charge secretly! Thats the real Arab hospitality that has been told for centuries,he was like a man coming beyond the ages,not belongs to this century.I still think of him, when i saw the name Por Said, this city just reminds me of this big hearted man. If someday you head to Port Said, just get lost in this beautiful city, maybe you will be lucky enough to meet him, who knows?