It
was by accident that I first stumbled across Che Guevara. Twenty minutes before
leaving the office, my daughter Maryam and I were looking forward to the
evening’s events. After only twenty minutes of walking in the oppressive heat
in Cairo’s streets, I looked up to see a façade different from the rest of
the street: a massive sculpted face that looked familiar headed with the
signature of “Che Guevara” across the top. An interesting looking café-cum-restaurant
that, as soon as I entered, served the initial purpose of relieving us from the
heat. And so it was many meals ago, which is unusual for someone who finds very
few restaurants that appealing.
As
one ascends the stairs one is met by the unexpected. A restaurant furbished to a
standard that is high, yet at the same time speaks of something else. The color
scheme is black and deep red, which, depending on where one comes from, can
convey differing meanings. If not for my initial need to be relieved from the
outside heat and to have what constituted my first meal of the day, I would have
left. But being a person who is attracted by new experiences, I was led to a
journey in time.
The
color scheme is black and deep red; the walls are stained to reveal the grain of
the wood underneath, which I observe approvingly. The walls serve as a gallery
of photographs and portraits of Che Guevara at different stages of his life,
framed with installation art concepts. The menu, the place mats and items for
sale all have the face of Che Guevara. For someone like me in these times, I
begin to wonder. However, just when I think that the point has been made, I
begin to realize that all the young waiters are wearing Che Guevara-type
uniforms (berets as well)!
Somehow,
in what I consider to be a depressing color scheme, I find myself relaxing and
observing more and more. That is, I begin to observe more and more once I get
past the TV screens at different locations around the restaurant piping a music
channel that has little to say beyond the sexploitation of today’s music scene
and the hookah-smoking individuals. I thank Allah that the air-conditioning is
efficient and refreshing. I experience different crosscurrents as I order my
meal. Crosscurrents of deep conversations on important issues that take place in
Nuevo’s Café in Greenwich Village, New York, where artists congregated during
the Vietnam war, and evenings spent listening to poets and local musicians
singing, communicating to the customers their perception of our realities.
Crosscurrents of evenings spent at poetry readings and discussions with people
anew. Crosscurrents of times spent at home with invited guests and friends to
eat, drink, laugh and talk about issues into the wee hours of the morning with
the occasional language of drums and song to add depth to the time spent
together. Each time I visit the restaurant, those crosscurrents are there.
This
time, I am here to interview Yusuf `Abideen, the manager of Che Guevara Project,
Cairo branch.
Q:
Please could you tell me about yourself and the idea behind this restaurant?
A:
Yes. My name is Yusuf `Abideen and I am the chief manager of Che Guevara in
Cairo. It’s a project …
Q:
Sorry, what do you mean by a project?
A:
We aim open a chain of restaurants, five branches throughout Egypt, including
Cairo.
Q:
Where did the idea of Che Guevara come from?
A:
The idea came from Magdy Sherif. He is the advertising manager and he has 25
years of experience. He came to us with the idea. At first I was surprised. Why
Che Guevara? But I know about Che Guevara, so I liked the idea. I felt that it
would create great interest.
Q:
How did you know about Che Guevara?
A:
I had just read many topics about him, but not in detail. I knew that his
origins were Argentinian and that he was in Cuba with Castro and that they were
together in the revolution against American imperialism, the same American
Imperialism we have today, and that he was in the Ministry of Employment. So it
wasn’t in detail, but I know of him and I know what he means to young people.
Q:
What does Che Guevara mean to young people?
A:
Che Guevara means a lot to people, especially when one talks about revolution,
freedom, about someone who stands up and fights, not just speaks. He was doing
everything until the last bullet, you know.
Q:
Do you find this to be important in this time?
A:
Yes. Really, we have been facing many situations within the last five to ten
years. That is for other people as well as for people in the Middle East who
feel obliged to do many things that they don’t want to do. So people are
always looking for examples of freedom, for someone to lead them and say
“No” socially, politically and for many things. So this is the time for Che
Guevara.
Q.
What about a local example, like Gamal Abdul Nasser?
A:
Che Guevara is one example. Gamal Abdul Nasser was the original choice, but
everyone in the world knows who is Che Guevara. Gamal Abdul Nasser is very well
known in the Middle East maybe and amongst educated people as well as people in
Europe, wherever.
Q:
That means you want to reach a broad cross-section of people?
A:
Sure. Foreigners, people living in Egypt and educated people.
Q:
Is there a reason other than the obvious as to why you wanted to attract a broad
cross-section of people to your restaurant?
A:
It is difficult to work in this particular field for particular people and then
to say you just want to target young people, families, or just Egyptians. It is
better from a commercial and marketing point of view to work for many lives.
Q:
The reason why I asked is because before you said you chose Che Guevara because
he is popular around the world and he is a symbol of revolution. Now if you have
a broad cross-section of clientele, there is bound to be discussion about
revolution and Che Guevara because the whole restaurant is dedicated to Che
Guevara, like a shrine almost, so people are bound to talk about it. Is this
another reason?
A:
Sure, and on the tiles on the walls throughout the restaurant people have come
and have written a lot of statements about Che Guevara.
Q:
Oh, I was wondering if this (graffiti) was a part of the design or if people
actually wrote on these tiles.
A:
(He laughs) By accident, you know. We just came up with the idea and
thought why don’t we use these tiles and let people write whatever they want
about Che Guevara. So it got busy.
Q:
What types of people come to your restaurant?
A:
You can say mixed. From teenagers, families, foreigners from Europe, America,
the Far-East and Arabs.
Q:
What do they feel about your restaurant?
A:
Really, very proud… (I was surprised) because for them it is the first
time in Egypt someone has tried to introduce such an idea in such a courageous
way to say that they are a restaurant called Che Guevara. So they come.
Q:
So, did you think that it makes them feel proud about their own people trying to
stand up and say this is who I am, no one is going to stop me from existing? Do
you think that this is why people feel proud?
A:
Maybe.
Q:
Why do you think that they feel proud?
A:
I was surprised. It is because they have finally got someone to introduce what
they feel inside.
Q:
Aahh! So you must have much conversation taking-place here?
A:
(He laughs) Of course! We are always discussing with our clients. We want
to know how do they know about us, what do they think about Che Guevara? Did
they know about Che Guevara before? I was surprised when I found that most
people know about Che Guevara and they are very deep inside his history.
Sometimes they wear a necklace, a ring or a t-shirt with Che Guevara on it.
Q:
From what I see, families seem to like coming here, like that father over there
with his two daughters, and then you have this popular music, yet they sit
together comfortably and very happy together. The father does not seem to be
upset about the TV. I would have expected a kind of generation gap with these
colors and a feeling of another time like the 60s and Vietnam when people were
ready to do anything to change their lives.
A:
Yes. That’s good. We use the red color as a symbol of revolution, not
communism. I always try to clarify that point.
Q:
Why do all the waiters wear Che Guevara uniforms?
A:
We should imitate the whole idea from uniforms, to colors and artifacts. So we
should do that to make all the waiters wear Che Guevara uniforms, like the army
(he laughs).
Q:
They are all young, so what did the waiters think about wearing such uniforms?
A:
They were surprised for they felt why are we wearing something like that, but
now they have become convinced of the idea.
Q:
And when the workers started, did they know anything about Che Guevara?
A:
The majority did not know anything about Che Guevara, but we try to educate them
to know all the details about Che Guevara so that they can have a conversation
with the guests when they ask questions.
Q:
Do you think there has been a change in them? Do you think you have noticed a
change in their attitudes between the time when they started working for you and
now?
A:
Yes, a big difference.
Q:
In what way?
A:
There has been a big difference in their thinking. As I said, they had no idea
about Che Guevara, but now they know. They had one idea when they came here, and
then we gave them material to read about Che Gueavra so now they have started to
act on what they know.
Q:
They come across as being very professional in the service that they give.
It’s good because some places can give a bad impression. It is good to see
young people behave in this way. I asked because it shows that there is more to
their behavior than just being at work.
A:
Sure.
Q:
My last question. Do you see a parallel between Che Guevara and Islam?
A:
Umm. Forget about him being a communist this is not important, he was like a
Muslim in behavior, in his activities and in defending his people. He made many
sacrifices.
Q:
So how does it relate to Muslims today?
A:
Muslims today are far from Islam. They just think about America and see what
they can consume. They are not thinking about what they are doing. We have a
problem here today.
We
spoke for a little while off the record. I seized the opportunity to say that
the music channel they show in the daytime does not suit the image of the
restaurant and that some local folk music has much more to say than what they
show us on TV. He then informed me that the TVs are switched off in the
evenings. They play a CD of Latin American folk music (which he proceeded to
play) dedicated to Che Guevara. By the way, they also intend to have poetry
sessions with local artists. As for me, I left knowing something about a hero
who I never knew about before, beyond the face that is.
