Terella

On the road from Cairo to Alexandria, there’s one thing you will always spot: the terella. Huge, wobbly, and carrying a container or two on its back. If you look closely, you’ll also see that your typical terella is covered in art: eyes, stripes, stars, horses, pigeons, and witty phrases. But have you ever wondered why?

Part of it is practical. The art is printed in phosphorescent ink, which makes it glow at night and keeps the truck visible. But there’s another, much more fascinating reason. It’s meant to overwhelm the spectator. So much as to distract anyone from casting an evil eye, or hasad, on the truck. Can you believe, this means that the art works as a kind of amulet, something that Egyptians have believed in for thousands of years.

As for the humorous phrase on the hoodie, it reads “rabbena yehmeeky men el mekaneeky” which means “May God keep you free from the mechanic’s fee.”