An Empty House In Hacienda

A dear friend of my wife's got married last week. We were invited to her marriage celebration party at her house in Hacienda during the 23rd of July holiday.

Hacienda is a very upscale summer resort gated compound. It is located several kilometers within the confines of the famous city of El Alamein. The city is known for being the location where Rommel was defeated by Montgomery in WWII, a major turning point in this war.

Hacienda was created following the rapid decline of the city of Agami in the late 90's. Agami was then described, by a visiting foreign friend of mine as “the last bastion of decadence” in Egypt. By the end of his visit he called it “Agony” in lieu of Agami!

Due to Agami’s decline, a famous developer (Mahmoud El Gammal), and a famous architect (Shehab Mazhar) got together to create this new community of Hacienda. They are both very fine and respectable people who have acquired justifiable fame for the quality of their offerings. The masses had charged into Agami and the “well to do” had to flee out. Hacienda was one of the chosen sites. Nearly everyone who owned an upscale house in Agami bought a house in Hacienda. The developers and the architect made a lot of money, and the homeowners got what they paid for.

During the same period, another group of Agamists chose to buy homes in a Kibbutz style project called the Diplomats (Diplomasseyeen). It is now better known as Diplo. These were the simple, non-flamboyant, down to earth, less wealthy Egyptians. They also didn’t want to spend exorbitant money on a summer home. In due course most homeowners in Diplo tore down the facades and interiors of their homes in favor of a more esthetically pleasant, and richer, home. Till this day, inhabitants of both communities still argue why Hacienda is better than Diplo and vice versa!

Those who kept their homes in Agami joined the masses!

This brings me back to my presence at Hacienda on the 23^rd of July 2011. The simple wedding celebration party was made by, and for, the bride and groom’s friends. Food was prepared by a cook. A far cry from the days when the Hacienda hosts catered their food from the Four Seasons. The weather was wonderful, the house simple and modern. We were the house guests of the lovely, and extremely hospitable bride. It was her parent’s home and she felt like she was a guest there too.  The groom is a handsome, warm and an extremely creative person. Genius pops out of his eyes. He also bears a twenty centimeter scar on his right arm. The scar is a result of a surgery he underwent to remove a bullet from his arm. He received this bullet demonstrating against the Mubarak regime long before the revolution was ever contemplated. He doesn’t boast the scar, but when asked he gives you a modest recount of the event. He was bullet scarred, yet he is here in Hacienda celebrating his marriage. He displays a happy smile when we talk about the revolution. He has spent many a night in Tahrir square since the 25^th of January. He can recount a myriad of stories about this revolution.
The bride’s house is on the second row of houses, and yet it overlooks the sea. To its left is a house which directly overlooks the sea. The shutters are closed and it looks, and feels, uninhabited. The only thing different about it is the funny looking, hi tech, antenna sprouting from the middle of the roof. I ask the bride: “Who owns that house”? She replies: “Gamal Mubarak”.

So here I am, enjoying a lovely balmy summer day in Hacienda. I am sitting in the garden overlooking an empty house, talking to the groom and my eyes keep wandering to that scar on his arm. My mind also wanders to a friend, I once had, who is not in his home overlooking the sea in Hacienda. He is in a house with a room with no view. How on earth did he get there?

That is another story.