i just returned from a week-long trip back home in nyc/nj. and just in time to catch the last night of the nutcracker ballet at the cairo opera house.
i've been a big fan of the cairo opera house since i moved here last august. it is always playing ballets, operas, orchestras, and the tickets are cheap! people get dressed up (jackets and ties required!) and it's just an overall great experience. we've been to countless shows already, about one each month.
but our very first was the nutcracker ballet last year. i got the tickets hoping that we could go together-- we weren't exactly on the best terms then, so i wasn't sure if he would even be interested in going with me. but much to my surprise, he was very excited about it, even said that he loves tchaikovsky (jackpot!). so we went on our first date post-disaster, and i was nervous the whole time.
we laughed at the fact there wasn't actually a nutcracker in the nutcracker ballet. the toy that clara receives is a stuffed doll, not a nutcracker. and bib didn't actually know what a real one was. so after the ballet, i tried to order a real, mini nutcracker online for christmas, but couldn't get one delivered to egypt for a reasonable price. instead, months later while i was in paris, i found a christmas shop selling 3 small nutcracker ornaments.
luckily the outcome of that night was so successful that we got engaged a few months later, (and are now planning our wedding in a few months). the 3 nutcrackers were a part of his engagement gift. and while i was home last week, i SCOURED the stores to find a nutcracker ornament to bring him for christmas.
thus begins 2, bib family christmas traditions.
i've been a big fan of the cairo opera house since i moved here last august. it is always playing ballets, operas, orchestras, and the tickets are cheap! people get dressed up (jackets and ties required!) and it's just an overall great experience. we've been to countless shows already, about one each month.
but our very first was the nutcracker ballet last year. i got the tickets hoping that we could go together-- we weren't exactly on the best terms then, so i wasn't sure if he would even be interested in going with me. but much to my surprise, he was very excited about it, even said that he loves tchaikovsky (jackpot!). so we went on our first date post-disaster, and i was nervous the whole time.
we laughed at the fact there wasn't actually a nutcracker in the nutcracker ballet. the toy that clara receives is a stuffed doll, not a nutcracker. and bib didn't actually know what a real one was. so after the ballet, i tried to order a real, mini nutcracker online for christmas, but couldn't get one delivered to egypt for a reasonable price. instead, months later while i was in paris, i found a christmas shop selling 3 small nutcracker ornaments.
luckily the outcome of that night was so successful that we got engaged a few months later, (and are now planning our wedding in a few months). the 3 nutcrackers were a part of his engagement gift. and while i was home last week, i SCOURED the stores to find a nutcracker ornament to bring him for christmas.
thus begins 2, bib family christmas traditions.
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| the literal translation in arabic 'breaker of nuts!!' |
This is an awesome tradition to have!!! I saw the Nutcracker here in NYC performed by the NYC ballet and it was just so-so. I do watch a modern interpretation of the ballet called Nutcrack/d. It features men doing en pointe and combines ballet with tap dancing using Tchaikovsky's score.
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