Working quietly and diligently inside one of the shops at Khan el-Khalili Bazaar, are a pair of very talented and skillful hands. These hands belong to Hassan, a jeweler who works at Hassib Yazdy's and Ahmed H. M.'s store on Number 6 Al Sormatia Street in Khan el-Khalili, one of Cairo's wonderful bazaars (Of which I wrote about on my previous post). 

It was probably 5:30 or so in the afternoon, when while strolling around the streets of the Bazaar, where you can easily get distracted by the multitude of amazing scenes of day to day life and shop owners or vendors who try to call your attention by any means possible to get you to buy something, when we entered the gemstones store. "Salamaleikum", my Uncle Ulises, his wife Lauren and I greeted everyone with this word, which means "peace be upon you" and is an equivalent to "Hi" or "Hello". "Aleikumsalam", we heard back. Instantly and cheerfully, Mr. Hassan stands up from his chair and shakes our hands to welcome us to his world filled with countless colorful small beads hanging from every bit of space in the store.

I realized we had just entered a place where hard work is the norm, because everyone waved and kept doing silently their business. Divided in two parts, the shop consists of a workshop, where the artisans make and repair jewels, and a display area where we sat down in front of a counter which contained, among others, beautiful gemstones, jewelry sets, hamsas and ayn (the evil eye charms). While we waited for a special order of bracelets that my uncle had requested before my arrival, we were offered tea, which we happily accepted because we skipped lunch and wanted to refresh after visiting the Saladin Citadel. Automatically, one of the workers following Hassan's command, went to get us tea. He came back carrying a silver tray with four cups.

 The best stories of this tour began by sharing a cup of this hot beverage. This time we got a black tea with mint leaves, which gives it such a refreshing taste that sweetens your taste buds and leaves a strong, but nice sensation on one's throat. After enjoying a tea together, I didn't want to miss the chance of asking for hamsas. I had a long time wish of buying a hamsa pendant. Hamsas (literally meaning 'five' in arabic) or Fatima hands, are amulets used for protection against the evil eye in the Middle East and the North of Africa. The amulet depicts an open hand and it is commonly used in jewelry and wall hangings. In other religions, for example in Judaism, it is called the hand of Miriam, and even Christians have a name for it: the hand of Mary.

Hassan hurried to find in the workshop my requested hamsa. He came back with three pendants, of which I loved the smallest one, one very beautiful silver piece. Upon my request, he also found a  very delicate silver matching necklace for it! Look nowhere else, this was the one for me. While he started explaining the gemstones he used for my uncle's special bracelet order, I engaged in an almost gestural conversation with him. His english wasn't the best and my knowledge in arabic limits itself to a couple of words and expressions that I learned during my time in Egypt. Nevertheless, we started communicating. 

I remember him telling me that he learned to be a jeweler as a little boy at the Bazaar. He also told me that he would love to run his own shop in Khan el-Khalili, to what he added, in english, "I work, I try". After this short conversation, it was time for business. Together, my uncle and Hassan started counting all the merchandise and set the final price. Lauren had also ordered a jewelry set in lapislazuli for her mother, so while this got done, Hassan indicated me to reach out my arm and he measured the width of my wristband. Then, he grabbed one of the thousand beads of the shop and got to work in a silent and quick manner.

When everything was packed and had a price, I saw him placing the most beautiful green bracelet inside a small sky blue pouch and pulled the drawstring.

As I reached in my pocket for the money of the hamsa, I looked up to his smiling face. Very humbly, he said "For you". Not knowing how to thank him for this kind gesture, I simply smiled back and complimented him on how beautiful the bracelet was. 

I felt the warm embrace of his smile.

A smile I will not forget, for it was sincere and kind. 

One day, I hope to come back and walk into his shop. Hassan the jeweler's shop. 

It's quite nice the name, don't you think? 

A beautiful present from Hassan

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