farsha cafe - egypt travel diary 埃及遊記

chess & awe in egypt, and finding a second home at a cafe

While you are about to pull up in front of the cafe, what comes to your eyes is the sight of where the sky meets the ocean with a depth that makes you realize you’re on a cliff. You walk into the cafe and you’re greeted by stairs. You can only walk downwards. You see a bunch of antiques, supposedly junk, gracefully decorating the space. You see art pieces that transform you back in time. When exactly? I have no idea, but it does not feel like today.

當你快抵達咖啡廳的時候，映入眼簾的是天與海相遇的景色，此時的你站在一個懸崖上，要進入咖啡廳的話必需下一層一層都樓梯。樓梯的左右兩側都是古董，抑或是撿來的破銅爛鐵，整個佈置的又好像毫無違和感似的。一件一件藝術品似乎將你送進一台時光機裡面，雖不知道被送去哪個時間點，我卻明確的感覺到——不是「今天」。

And you hear music. The genre varies from Latin, and Arabic, to electronic beats. You start bobbing your head as you finally make your way through the other entrance of the cafe. And then you see Egyptian-style carpets and cushions everywhere, people smoking shisha, and oh the view gets better as you are now situated in the middle of the cliff — you’re closer to both the sky and the ocean. You are in a different world. You are at Farsha Cafe.

耳邊傳來的音樂一下是拉丁樂、一下是當地的阿拉伯音樂，一下是電子樂。在終於抵達咖啡廳的正門時，你已隨音樂搖擺。大家坐在充滿埃及特色的地毯及坐枕上，有人在抽水煙、有人在喝酒。此時的你同時更接近海與天空。你已進入了另一個世界。你抵達了Farsha咖啡室。

How I knew about Farsha was via E who was arranging the transportation for the chess competition my sister was attending in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. Over the past two weeks, I was a chess mom for my younger sister (who is 16 years younger than me) chaperoning her for the first time at an international chess competition, and I did not realize how tough it could be for both of us. She had a chess game every single day for 11 days straight where each game ranged from 1.5 hours to 4 hours depending on the intensity of the game. There were many younger kids who were doing the same and I was astonished by their ability to sit still for so long! And for me, I can only sit by the courtside watching her from afar to play chess. No electronics allowed. The experience could be as boring or as meditative as possible. After two days of being extremely offline and failing at being present, I had to figure out what to do when she was playing chess. And that’s when I met E.

我知道 Farsha 咖啡室是由專門負責西洋棋比賽的交通的 E 所介紹的。前兩個禮拜，我假扮成媽媽兩週，帶著小我十六歲的妹妹去埃及的沙姆沙伊赫參與她的第一場國際西洋棋比賽。說是出國比賽好像很好玩，但對我們兩個來說都意外的辛苦。我們去的十一天中，她每一天要下一場一個半小時到四個小時的棋，而現場年紀最小有六、七歲的小孩也是這樣天天坐著下棋。我無法想像這些小朋友能坐著麼久，專心的做一件事情。當家長的則只能坐在場邊旁觀比賽，但觀賽的時候為了避免作弊嫌疑，旁觀者不能使用任何電子儀器——本來想說，那我可以好好在場邊寫文章、看書，但兩天的漫長的「靜坐」之後，我決定我在她下棋的時候應該去做點什麼。那也是我認識 E 的契機。

Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt is not an easy place to navigate alone. More so as a woman. And even more so not speaking Arabic. E was having some shwarmas in the parking lot when I approached him about going around the city during the competition. “We can go scuba diving. Let me show you the beautiful Red Sea. You cannot take taxis here alone, it’s not safe. Let’s go to Farsha cafe for sunset, you and me.” While I didn’t end up taking up his offer of showing me around the city, I did decide to check out what Farsha Cafe is all about.

沙姆沙伊赫並不容易隻身探索，尤其身為一位女性，又不會說阿拉伯文。所以我在情急之下，詢問了看起來很專業的 E ，雖然我和他搭話的時候他正在停車場吃沙威瑪。我到底可以怎麼探索這個城鎮呢？（畢竟出門前沒有做功課的我也不知道要去哪兒～） E 跟我說：「沙姆沙伊赫是以紅海潛水出名的城鎮，我們可以去潛水。你不能一個人搭計程車，太危險了。讓我帶你去 Farsha 咖啡室吧，夕陽的時候。」我最後並沒有讓他帶我出遊，但 Farsha Cafe 這個詞讓我印象非常深刻，我大算至少要去一次吧！

I held the widest smile when I went to Farsha. It’s impossible to not smile when you’re in constant awe. And to me, constant awe stems from constant surprise. And the constant surprise is possible to curate if you appreciate beauty, look for uniqueness in everything, and perhaps be in a good and light mood — which is a default feeling when I am traveling. Every single thing caught my attention when I was there. The sky. The decor. The stairs. Other tourists taking pictures. The music. Every single thing made me feel a sense of awe. And everything made me smile.

我記得我一到 Farsha 的時候我忍不住我的笑容——當你對於周遭的事物感到驚奇的時候，無法不笑吧！當你能更加的注意周遭的美麗、並在萬物中去找尋獨特性，帶著一個輕鬆愉悅的心情，便能經常感到驚奇、笑不攏嘴了。旅遊時能隨時感受到這個感覺，真好！真的每個小事情都能讓我感到驚奇耶，從天空、古董設計、簡單的樓梯、看到其他觀光客在拍照、音樂⋯⋯著實數不清。

On travelling 談旅遊

Since being on a sabbatical I have intentionally not traveled, partly because I was burned out from traveling by being on the road for two years straight without a home base, but mostly because I wanted to see if I could actually live in one place, work on interesting problems, and feel the same awe I do when I travel in my day-to-day. There are days when experiencing awe is easy, but there are days when it’s extremely difficult. Traveling makes being awe-inspired so much easier, and I could only tell the difference once I was on the road again after 5 months.

自從我開始留職停薪之後，我刻意不去旅遊，主要是因為我有點旅遊疲乏（畢竟之前連續兩年，沒有依歸的不斷旅遊），但也是因為我想要能好好的定下來，去嘗試不同的生活模式，並期許自己在定下來的同時能夠找到自己的愛好，與想要投入全力去做的事情。我也很好奇是否能將旅遊的心境帶回平常的生活裡：事實證明，偶爾可以、偶爾很難，而旅遊的驚奇之心與平常之心真的是在五個月後重返旅途的時候才能明顯的感受到其差別。

In the short 11 days I was in Sharm, every moment felt like it had to be experienced fully. I don’t just look at the sky, I observe it — from the bluest blue to the gorgeous night sky with shimmering stars. I gather my energy every day to enjoy the hotel pool and water park with my sister. I am much more open-minded in meeting people. I have no labels I need to adhere to. My only obligation outside of taking care of my sister is to enjoy every moment. I already like music, but I even feel more from the music I hear ringing from the hotel pool speakers or on the shuttle bus radio — I dance to it freely. I am fully part of this foreign world I am now in. In fact, I don’t feel foreign at all. I am here.

在沙姆沙伊赫的短短十一天中，每個瞬間都覺得必須要好好去感受。我不單單只看天空，我很認真地觀察他的每一種藍，每一塊雲朵，到夜間裡的每一顆閃爍的星星。每天我即便累，也會打起精神帶妹妹去享用飯店的泳池與水樂園。我更加的願意去認識不同文化的人、結交新朋友。此時的我沒有任何的標籤指示著我該做什麼事，除了好好照顧妹妹之外，唯一該做的事情就是細細品味每一刻。我本來就很喜歡音樂了，但在沙姆這個城鎮的我更能和音樂合而為一，隨他起舞。我似乎就這麼屬於這個陌生的世界，而我一點也不感到陌生。

End 完

And with that attitude, I’ve been to Farsha Cafe 3 times in the short time I was in Sharm El-Sheikh between chess tournaments. I had fresh smoothies alongside good conversations with new friends, danced to the vibe-y music, and simply sat still and stared at the lights and the sky and immersed myself in this cafe. Farsha also means carpet/mattress in Arabic — and I felt so oddly comfortable there that it felt like another home. Perhaps in an alternative universe, I do have a home sitting on a cliff with carpets and antiques in it. And I am grateful to have experienced this possibility for the brief moments I was in Sharm.

抱持著要好好感受每一刻的心情，我一共拜訪了 Farsha 咖啡室三次，每一次都喝著好喝的果汁、奶昔，和新朋友聊天、跳舞，並好好的享受坐著不動、觀察著天空、燈光的細微變化。我整個融入在這個充滿特色的咖啡室裡。Farsha 在阿拉伯文裡指的是地毯或床墊，也許這也是為什麼這個咖啡室讓人覺得像在家裡一樣。在另一個平行時空裡，也許我也有一個座落於懸崖峭壁邊的一個家，裡面有著諸多古董以及美麗的地毯。真開心能在沙姆沙伊赫體會另一個平行時空裡的自己，即便短暫，卻很美好。

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