Friday mass - part 3

This Friday afternoon Piet and Dorien attended a third mass, of what many people refer to as an alternative faith: the Hash. The Hash is "a running club with a drinking problem" or "a drinking club with a running problem". It originated in Malaysia in the 30-ies, when a number of British colonials found themselves drinking too much, and decided they needed exercise. The concept is that a group of runners, Harriers, are chasing a paper trail, set by a Hare. At the end of the run all members thank the hares and a social "Circle" is held to reward or (verbally) abuse some of the participants, while enjoying a drink and singing silly songs. The Hash House Harriers (HHH) has now grown to a worldwide phenomenon, with "chapters" in every major city, especially where there are a lot of expats living.

In Miri, Malaysia, where we used to live before Egypt, we often went, especially Piet was a fanatic hasher. In Miri the hashes were mostly held in the jungle, with spectacular trails, and many special events. The Borneo Ballbreaker was the toughest of them all, a gruelling marathon through hilly, hot and humid jungle; Piet managed to finish three of these, but the last one did his knee in. Longer distance running has been at a very low level since.

When we arrived in Cairo we found the Cairo Hash on the web, and normally go once or twice a month. The runs / walks are in desert terrain, which was a big step back from the Borneo jungle. Trails here are set in flour (for runners) or orange lentils (walkers). It is a very sociable affair, with mainly foreigners from many different backgrounds, and the basics are the same as they were in Miri.

This Friday the runsite was at the sandpit, a small excavation in the desert close to our house. We took the little car, and had to drive quite a few kilometers off-road with it to get there. It was, for Egyptian standards, quite cold, cloudy, with a bit of rain, and a nippy wind. As usual we did the walk. The hares were obviously not very experienced, as halfway through the walk we passed closely by the sandpit, and half of the crowd decided they were thirsty and descended to the cars to quench their thirst with a first beer. We continued, but the hare hadn't paid much attention while laying the trail so we were searching for lentils in a wide, flat gravel plain. In the end we managed to find the trail back to the sandpit, and opened our respective cans of beer and coke after a 90 minute walk. The Circle started quickly, led by the Grandmaster (committee chairman) Wesley, an ex-marine with a very load voice and a good sense of humour. Normally he is assisted by a Religious Advisor, a sort of Hash Master of Ceremony, who claims to maintain religious standards. There has been a large turnover with these RA's lately, so we have lost track who the real one is. Near the end of the Circle we decided to split early as we were getting very, very cold. Even in Egypt there is a winter!

Dorien is trying to find the trail

The Circle: Grandmaster Wesley is discussing the trail with the Hares