Baby Habibi

This summer I was volunteering in Mauritius with AIESEC. It was a project on environmental issues and the crew was international. We were about 15 persons in this lazy ass project, where we worked hardest at getting tanned and partying. Even though I can definitely say that every person there taught me something new and opened new horizons for me, today I want to talk about Moe Osama aka Baby Habibi. Why? Because he impressed me most with his attitude and lightness in accepting every person and situation.

We first met at the kitchen table in our shared apartment. Sonia, my Romanian friend, and I had just cooked some pre-frosted fries and a salad for dinner. Osama and his friend, Haroun, had just arrived from Egypt and they were starving (especially since they were holding Ramadan). We invited them to eat with us and they refused, jokingly saying that what we had done could hardly be called ‘cooking’. But after 5 minutes of sitting at the table with us they both asked for plates and started eating like crazy. :))

After 2 or 3 days, Sonia and I gave him the nickname ‘Baby Habibi’ because he was spoiled like a baby and habibi (which means ‘lover’ in Arabic) because he was such a ladies man. After less than a week 5 of the 6 girls which were then in the project were jokingly calling themselves his wives. I ‘divorced’ him the quickest though, after only one day. The whole harem thing wasn’t really something for me. :))

What I liked about him most was that he never fought, not even when he was in a bad mood. Not only that, but when I was in a bad mood he wasn’t afraid that I would yell at him and he always came to ‘talk some sense into me’. Just his presence in the room was very supportive and he would take my side if someone treated me unfairly. 

One of our shared hobbies was dancing. Even at parties where people didn’t really feel like moving, we would look for the other because we both knew that we would be able to ‘groove’.

One funny memory with him happened at a souvenir stand near Chamarel. He was looking at a bracelet with his friend and at some point he called me over. He asked me if I liked the bracelet and I said yes. So he put it on my wrist. Then he went to take a picture with the others. I also went to take a picture. With the bracelet. Which I thought he had paid for and was just giving it to me to keep it for a while. In the van we discovered that it wasn’t the case and that we sort of stole it. :P He got to keep the bracelet for free then.

What I miss most is going shopping with him, where he would follow me around the whole supermarket carrying the basket, and him translating Arabic songs to me and Sonia. He was hilarious! Oh, and choking on his Zara Black perfume smell whenever he got out of the shower (he says he changed it to Zara Gold now).

He helped me withstand the many cultural differences in Mauritius much better and also, held me back from fighting with some people. That was very good for my experience!

Thank you so much, Baby Habibi, hope to see you next year in Cairo (you promised camel meat)! :D