Bayt Sharja: Memoirs From Your Local Mid-East Hotspot

 

 

From fall 2007 to spring 2010, residence #311 at 2461 Warring Street in Berkeley, California, was more than just a mere apartment. It was a place of culture, where all who entered were welcomed as if being reunited after years, a place where stories were told, movies were filmed, parties were thrown, and laughter was shared. The dolma was home-cooked and the tea never stopped flowing in a place that eventually obtained the ultimate title of “home”, even for people who didn’t formally live there. These are those stories.

The collegiate residence of Berkeley students Elise and Sharja, roommates that sealed a bond of Orientalized friendship from early on, Bayt Sharja (BS) served as the headquarters for a plethora of both intellectual and debaucherous shenanigans that would forever be immortalized in the memories of all to have visited it. It is not possible to thoroughly document the entirety of this apartment’s rich history; however, it is necessary to preserve what recollections have remained before time erases them forever.

Sharja and Elise in one of the earliest photos after moving in

“Give me paper… and I shall build for you the Taj Mahal” 

Many will remember BS for being probably the most unique of college apartments in its ornamentation and distinct artistic style. Where featureless walls once existed, Indian and Islamic arches stood alongside decorations of Arabic calligraphy and shimmering copper paper. Indeed, BS was the only apartment in town with architectural elements reminiscent of the East, adding a touch of spice and refinement to an otherwise third-world looking habitation. The story behind these embellishments is as follows:Having come back from Tibet, and with Elise still in Greece, Sharja reclined wide awake on his couch in the kitchen nook (the living arrangement in BS is another story). It was late, past midnight in fact, and jetlag kept him staring at the empty apartment and its blank walls. Sharja was the first to move into the place after Elise had found it a month prior, and alongside taking summer classes, it would be up to him to furnish the place in time for his roommate’s return. But as he lay awake that night, the great off-white walls bothered him. Sharja had come from a household that took great pride in the aesthetics of living quarters. As an admirer of traditional Islamic architecture, he had always wanted a place with arches, one of the most defining construction elements of his culture. Painting was forbidden, as well as the hammering of wood sheets to the walls (many ideas had passed through his mind) by the property manager. Finally, in one last effort, Sharja decided to create designs from a harmless medium – paper. For days, he hand cut pieces of black and copper poster paper in the curving outlines of arches and adhered them to the walls. Upon completion of his work, Sharja proudly uttered to an empty room, “Give me paper, and I shall build for you the Taj Mahal.” Over time, the apartment would accumulate an array of stylistic elements, all cut from paper and some even cut with a kitchen knife in the absence of a utility blade. Together with the soft light of Moroccan stained glass lamps and trinkets taken from exotic locales (both roommates were well-traveled), BS gradually gained a warm and palatial ambience that simply couldn’t be overlooked… even if the carpet was indeed ripping out.

Bayt Sharja on the eve of yet another amazing night of food, music, and culture

  

"Hafla": Not Merely a Party, But a Celebration of Life

Anyone you ask who had the opportunity to witness Bayt Sharja will firmly testify to probably its greatest asset – the hafla (Ar. حفلة, “party”). Haflas at BS were not merely an evening affair, but a ritual that took weeks of preparation for the utmost satisfaction of the guests. Lists were compiled of exclusive invitees, chosen specifically for the type of occasion and hand-selected to ensure that every guest would know at least one other person (because we all know the awkward feeling of being at a party and only knowing the person who invited you). Guests were also selected from a variety of ethnicities to ensure maximum cultural diversity, a quality that both Elise and Sharja found delightful. Once the invitations were made Facebook official, the next task was to compose the ultimate playlist. Taking hours to put together, songs were gathered from a variety of linguistic backgrounds and styles, predominantly Middle Eastern and South Asian in nature but always open to other genres. The amplifiers were then tuned to full bass output. 

  

 

 

Perhaps the most magical part of a hafla was the FOOD. Ninety percent of the food at a BS hafla was prepared by hand and from scratch either the day of or in the days prior to the event. Delicacies were many and varied, with select home-cooked favorites including: Elise’s classic dolma (stuffed grape leaves), Sharja’s sambousek (spiced ground-beef filled pastries), Greek salad with olives, Moroccan lamb tagine, Egyptian koshari with carmelized onions, Indian chicken tikka masala, Persian mast-o-khiyar, and fresh hummus/guacamole/imam bayeldi with homemade tortilla chips. Other treats that were purchased and served included vegetable samosas, trays of baklava, ma’moul with dates, and hot mana’eesh.  

 

A variety of traditional beverages were also prepared from scratch, including Maghrebi mint tea (traditionally aerated from 1 meter above the cup), chilled karkadeh (hibiscus infusion), masala chai, mango lassies (seasonal), black cherry syrup with rose water, and Turkish coffee.  A hafla at BS was also a unique experience in that they were always dry (no alcohol). There were several reasons for this decision. As non-drinkers, both Elise and Sharja firmly believed in the ability to have truly memorable experiences and actually remembering them the next day. Their philosophy was always built on the idea that one does not need to chemically alter their state of being to have a pleasurable time. A second explanation lay in their idea of respecting cultural customs. Just as vegetarian options were made available for Hindu guests, alcohol was removed out of respect for Muslim attendees. Lastly, alcoholic beverages were costly, messy, and often implicated in the tarnishing image of a “frat party”, an attribute that a BS hafla simply could not identify with. Most interestingly, a significant number of guests, both drinkers and non-drinkers, have personally mentioned after such events as to how much more comfortable and rich their experience was in the absence alcohol. After all, how could a combination of truly savory food, rhythmic music, and flamboyant conversation go wrong?

Alcohol may have not been present, but another more culturally acceptable vice was – the shisha. The balcony always served as the open area by which guests could smoke a selection of fine shisha flavors, including mint, apple, melon, and the not so pleasant pumpkin pie (forgive me, it was on sale). Even on top of all of this, a BS hafla wasn’t complete without some form of live entertainment. In most cases this involved Sharja solo playing the darbouka, and on some occasions accompanied by a professional belly dancer (Zari McBerk), a sitar player (Apurv Gaurav), or another percussionist (Amer Abdullah). But when Sharja wasn’t performing, he could often be found frantically running around making sure everyone’s glass was kept full. Many have questioned whether his time was as well spent as their own, to which he would simply reply “happiness of the guest above the host”. After such success, the two hours of dishwashing at 2 in the morning never seemed that burdensome.

Good friends relaxing on a warm evening with tea, shisha, and rich conversation

 

Jaimee playing the role of a subservient Indian wife

The tea always flows when Sharja's home

Amer and Sharja in a darbouka performance

Zari exhibits her belly-dancing skills

Some of the more memorable, large-scale haflas include:  

• The Housewarming/Torrey Pines Gala 
•  Sharja’s 21st Birthday Bash
• Cairo Café 
• Come to My Party or Else
• Laylat Twansa: A Night of Tunisian Culture
• End of an Era: The Final Hafla

Visitors From a Land Down Under 

There was one instant where something truly uncanny occurred at BS that will forever be remembered in all its hilarity and implausibility. Following the end of yet another successful hafla, Elise and Sharja, along with a handful of other close friends, felt like taking a break from the cleanup and decided to relax in the common area. Elise’s laptop was on and they all decided to flip through YouTube music videos. Let it be known that the computer was disconnected from the speaker system, with sound only emanating from the laptop itself. Kevin insisted that everyone listen to a song he had become quite fond of, “A Land Down Under” by Australian 80’s band Men At Work. Partway into the song, a knock was heard at the door. Upon opening it, two young Caucasian men were found in a state of surprise. “Are you guys Aussies?” one of them asked excitedly. Unbelievably, not even two minutes into playing a song about Australians, two authentic Australians found themselves at the BS doorstep. Visiting a friend in the complex, they had heard the song playing through the open window from two floors below. Thinking there were others of their kind present, they anxiously traced the sound to apartment 311. As Sharja would later say, never had he seen so much anticipation and disappointment all at once.

Showdown Between the Police and a Party of Three

A party was ensuing two doors down at the residence of Kevin, Shyam, and Paul. As close friends of this trio, Elise and Sharja gladly attended and participated in the mayhem of overcrowding and pulsating house music. More like a conventional college party unlike the BS haflas, they were still able to have a great time among the many guests – and surely there were many. The place reverberated with bass, chatter, and characteristic party exclamations that made even basic conversation challenging. In an effort to take a rest and breathe, Elise, Sharja, and their mutual friend Jenny went back down the corridor to BS. Lounging on the couch, the three of them once again found themselves exploring their favorite Middle Eastern music videos on YouTube. Before long, the three of them found a new boost of energy in the form of dancing around the apartment to the music. Sharja also began to gently drum on his darbouka as Elise and Jenny joyfully pranced around. Suddenly, there was a firm knock at the door. Sharja opened the door to reveal a stern-looking female police officer. She told him that residents had been complaining of a wild party violating quiet hours and that the party had to stop. “I think you’re referring to the party down the hall”, Sharja carefully responded. The officer donned a look of sarcasm before saying that there was no other party going on and that the only “noise” she could detect was being emitted from their apartment. “Please keep the noise to a minimum” she strictly replied before leaving. Sharja, Elise, and Jenny were baffled. Indeed, there was not a sound coming from the apartment two doors down. Had the party abruptly ended? Had word reached them of a police presence in the building? Whatever the explanation, it was the first time an officer had broken up a BS party – a party of three.

Elise and Jenny the night the electricity went out

An 8 AM Apocalypse

Suddenly, the entire apartment shook violently. Banging. Drilling. Cracking. Pictures and other hanging decorations were torn from their places on the walls. What the fuck was going on?! Sharja jumped out of bed, partially blinded in the dim light but otherwise completely awake. He could hear Elise cursing in the other room. He quickly put on something warm and ran outside of the apartment, around the corner. Three Latino workmen were completely tearing away at the stucco exterior of their windows, on the verge of ripping their frames straight from the wall. “Excuse me? What the hell are you doing?!” It was 8 AM and Sharja was no longer shy about expressing his vexation. The men apologized, saying how they were ordered by the property manager to begin working on replacing every window in the building. Rather than stopping work out of courtesy for the rude awakening, the men were actually pleased to see that the apartment’s occupants were present and up, allowing them free access into the residence to facilitate construction. As upset as he was, Sharja didn’t have any more time to waste and tried to prepare for class amid the complete invasion of privacy. Thankfully, Elise would stay home to keep watch and see the men out when finished.

Hours passed and Sharja finished his classes. Expecting the usual peace, Sharja returned to BS to find it in an even greater state of disarray than before, the contents of his living area completely relocated, and even more obnoxious noise coming from right outside the window. Elise was curled on the couch with her laptop, trying to focus on her writing with a mien of utter misery. “This has been going on since you left,” she grumbled. Elise had planned on staying home from class that day specifically to work in silence. The workmen moved on to the kitchen window and the two relocated to her room. Unable to get any work accomplished, Elise and Sharja sat and vented about the irritating events of that day. Through the thin walls they heard one workman, “Twenty bucks says you break the window”, to which the other, hammering near the edge of the glass pane replied, “You’re on!” Sharja looked at Elise with widened eyes. “Oh hell no, he better not hit my...” – SHATTER! Sharja ran to his living area to find fine shards of glass covering his bed, desk, and floor. The men chuckled and exchanged money, before casually apologizing and promising to clean up the mess. Hours more passed before the men left and peace returned once again to BS. Sharja returned to his living area only to witness the glass still present, along with an additional layer of fine sand coating his floor and a massive circular oil stain on his white desk. Infuriated, he slowly began to sweep up the disaster. Elise brought out the vinegar and baking soda to tackle the stain. Looking up at Sharja, she sighed, “They managed to do more de-struction than con-struction”.

Elise's room arrangement, after her bed collapsed

Sharja's kitchen futon with adjustable curtain

 

“Yeah, could you send a locksmith? We’re locked inside”

Let it be known that even from day one, Elise and Sharja never got along with the property supervisors, who in turn never ceased to perplex them with their inefficient and absurd means of so-called “management”. Such asininity was truly epitomized in an incident that occurred late one evening as Elise, Jenny, and Sharja were studying. Elise attempted to exit the apartment only to discover that despite turning the door knob, the turn was just short of a full rotation, resulting in the door’s failure to open. Shaking the door in a vain attempt to dislodge it, she ultimately ran through the living room to Sharja, who was reclining in front of his laptop with headphones in his ears. “We have a serious problem…We’re trapped,” she cried out, not entirely in a state of worry, but rather with subtle hints of both humor and disbelief. Getting up from his bed, Sharja moved to the door and unsuccessfully struggled to open it. The three of them stood back in astonishment. Though initially comical, they knew this could eventually turn out to be rather problematic. A preliminary investigation led them to suspect that there was a jam in the knob mechanism. Elise ran from the kitchen carrying a bowl of cooking oil, being the closest relative of WD-40 in the place. Applying oil into the lock as well as between the door and its frame, the three tried once again to free themselves from the apartment. No success. The knob freely moved but the door still wouldn’t open, proving that the origins of a more serious problem lay in a disconnection between the knob and the latch. With oil no longer sufficient, Elise made a frantic call to Shyam and Paul down the hall. “Could you guys possibly come help us break out of our apartment?” There was a burst of laughter on the line. A minute later, Shyam and Paul could be heard on the other side of the barrier, trying to pry in as Elise and Jenny desperately tried to pry out.

Sharja later realized he had the apartment complex emergency number in his mobile, a number worthy of being saved on account of all the times he needed it to complain about the dilapidated building. No one picked up. Typical. Finally, there was an answer, to which Sharja pleaded. “Um, hi, could you send a locksmith? We’re locked inside”. The woman on the other end was a bit surprised. After explaining the situation and how a rusted latch or detachment may be the cause, the woman calmly replied that the next available time for a locksmith to come out to the site would be in two days. Sharja had heard excuses from the management before, but this was beyond ludicrous. “Ma’am, I don’t think you understand. We’re trapped inside our apartment and we have class tomorrow,” he burst out. “We tried using oil…--” The woman cut Sharja short, telling him that oil was a mistake and that it could potentially damage the lock. “Ma’am, quite frankly, if the lock and latch weren’t already damaged, then we wouldn’t be in this situation,” he exclaimed. “Right now, some friends are trying to help us from the outside.” The woman snapped back, ranting that any damage done to the door would be held as a violation of the lease contract, resulting in a loss of their deposit. Sharja took the phone from his ear and stared at it, completely bewildered by the preposterousness of what he was hearing. What if there was a fire? Or an earthquake? Or an intruder? Well, at least in the last case, no one would be getting in or out. But before Sharja could question the woman and likely enter an intense debate, Shyam and Paul successfully broke in. The entire group rejoiced with freedom after the hour-long ordeal. Sharja bluntly told the woman to replace the lock in two days and hung up. The next day, a barely visible handwritten message could be seen next to the emergency number posted in the lobby - emergency my ass.

    

Shyam and Paul from down the hall

Coming Soon to an Apartment Near You!  

The day Elise and Sharja premiered their film Alf Layla Wa Layla before Professor Bazian’s Arabic 20B class was a day that would forever be remembered. Undoubtedly, it was the most celebrated of presentations that semester for the attention paid to its lavishness and detail. In short, ALWL was a brief 20 minute recounting of Aladdin and the Magic Lamp in classical Arabic. Starring Sharja as Aladdin, Elise as Shahrazad and the evil sorcerer, Shoaib as the Shahriar and Genie of the Lamp, and finally Saba as Duniyazad and the Ring Genie, ALWL was truly a low budget production of the highest quality. The clothes and props were plenty and most fitting, however, the true question on the minds of viewers was where on earth was the project filmed? Many were shocked to hear that the entirety of ALWL, from the palace to the market scenes, was filmed at BS. The palace look was already well established thanks to the paper arches, Moroccan lamps, and other Arabian trinkets provided by Sharja upon first moving in. To add to the elegance of the set, Elise’s colorful sari fabrics and scarfs were draped over a wooden frame, remnants of her bed that collapsed in less than a year. For the final palace scene, Elise also went as far as to prepare an entire Persian spread of dishes to fill the sultan’s table. The market set was placed entirely on the balcony and consisted of a backdrop of textiles, basmati rice sacks, and bowls of produce. The Cave of Wonders was filmed using the dining table placed on its side, with deep colored blankets draped over it to give the appearance of a dark abyss. Potted plants from outside were also dragged inside to create a forested look around the cave; the stains from spilt soil on the carpet were still present up until BS shut its doors. Together with elaborate costumes, the roles were also played with the utmost precision. Shoaib played the predominantly masculine roles of the great king and thundering genie while Saba perfected her role as a delicate younger sister, ditzy princess, and comical genie. And one could never forget Elise’s rather seductive portrayal of the mystical storyteller Shahrazad, along with the hilarity of her role as the old evil sorcerer. Given that classical Arabic (al-fus’ha) is not normally a spoken language, the film was also praised for the inclusion of deleted scenes at the end, which were primarily based on bloopers during the recitation of the script and the inability to hold back laughter during filming. Select lines from the film that were added as “bloopers” include (read from right to left):

.إذا ما قدرت أن أملك المصباح فلم يملك أي شخص المصباح... !!laaaaaaaaaAHAHAHAHA

 [Elise and Sharja, upon throwing the blanket over Sharja’s face to “close the cave”]

ياحبيبتي! ياحبيبتي أنا في البيت... يا حبيبتي؟! اه يا حاتم أين أميرتي؟... !!oh noooooo

[Sharja, after forgetting his lines]

shit...wait, what're you doing with that camera? ...يا انسة، عندي مصباح جديد، عندك مصباح قديم؟ ربما

[Elise, after failing to remember the phrase نستطيع أن نتبادلهما and getting distracted]

  

أنا مملة جداً

[Saba, when she was supposed to say أنا ملولة جدا. What she actually said was “I am very boring”]

  

يا أميرة فعلاً اهتم ب...oh shit

[Shoaib, after forgetting his lines]

أنا أمير فعلاً ولكن هل يمكنك أن تعطيني قصر,ooooops!! ...I mean

[Sharja, after accidently switching to English mid-sentence]

Sharja, as Aladdin

Elise, as Shahrazad

Shoaib, as Shahriar

 

The evil sorcerer commands the genie of the lamp

The cast of Alf Layla wa Layla, post-production

The entire filming of ALWL was done in one day using a laptop, along with editing and special effects added by Elise. It truly was a memorable and all around fun experience, filled with hilarious moments that can only be understood via watching the film. Nevertheless, the most common question following its debut was simple - will there be a sequel?

Life in Bayt Sharja: Anecdotes and Memories

1. There was one time during the hot summer months when Sharja awoke early in the morning to the sound of a couple across the courtyard making intense love. Apparently, they were courteous enough to shut their blinds, but completely forgot that the window was still open. 
   
2. In October of 2008, Sharja decided to participate in Halloween since his last one in 1997 by dressing as an American boy of the Emo culture. This required his hair to be dyed black. With the help of his friend Pari, his hair was dyed, but upon the primary washing, the entire tub and walls of the shower were stained black. Moving on to receive fake piercings from Elise, it took Pari close to an hour to scrub the tub clean.
   
3.  Elise and Sharja were the only residents in the complex to have an extensive amount of potted plants on their balcony that needed regular watering. During one overcast day, Sharja went out to water all the plants. The inhabitants in the apartment one floor below had visitors over and their windows were open. After fully watering the plants, the heavy run-off water began to flow from beneath the pots and over the edge of the balcony. From below, Sharja could hear a girl complain, “Oh darn, it’s started to rain”, to which he heard a second response, “That’s funny, it’s not raining outside my window”.
   
4. Warring Street Apartments was absolutely notorious for fire alarms being pulled during the middle of the night.
   
5. There was one time when Sigma Mu Delta fraternity had its initiates come over to the complex courtyard to practice some Backstreet Boy/NSYNC song and dance number. After hearing this song for 20 minutes, Elise and Sharja decided to retaliate by opening all of their windows and singing the same song back while banging raucously on drums and pots.
   
6. The original apartment property manager, Crystal, once semi-mockingly called Elise “Rapunzel” on account of her long hair. This same manager also told Sharja to tell his father to “take a chill pill” after she had violated the initial housing contract. Sharja’s mother had a few words to say to her when she visited the leasing office in the early years of BS. Since then, no one really knows what happened to Crystal.
   
7. On his way down to let more friends into the building for yet another BS hafla, Sharja happened to be behind a group of Caucasian residents in the stairwell. Arabic music and vivacious party sounds could be heard coming from his apartment. One girl asked what was going on, to which her male friend replied, “Oh, the Middle Eastern people are having a crazy party again. Should we crash it for hookah?”
   
8. Jenny Tan eventually became a permanent addition to the Bayt Sharja household. Sharja probably should have just given her the blue lounge chair that she practically claimed for herself.
   
9. There was a growing collection of Arabic post-it notes all over the rear of the front door.
   
10. Late night discussions between Elise and Sharja that started on science or politics, worked their way to the impact of religion, then always finished with plans to travel somewhere. These were some of Elise’s most vocal hours.
    
11. Nights of international music swapping, followed by YouTube music video presenting, then finally bursting into singing and/or dancing once a common favorite was found.
    
12. There was the time Elise showed Sharja excerpts from the Quran that she planned on using for her thesis paper. Immediately upon reciting it, Sharja's nose began to bleed on the paper. Utterly shocked, the two saw it as an omen and felt the need to blame someone - Dr. Hatem Bazian.

Elise and Sharja in traditional Arabic attire