Ramy – 3riana grande

By: Ariba Bhuvad

Maysa (Hiam Abbass) is praying by the bedside while Farouk (Amr Waked) is sleeping. She’s praying because Dena (May Calamawy) is supposed to find out about her law school scholarship the next day. She asks Dena to put on the hijab (head covering) and pray as well since she’s been praying for both her and Ramy (Ramy Youssef). Of course, Ramy gets more prayers because he needs it more. Dena calls her out on the praying and reminds her that the only time Maysa prays is if something is wrong or if she is trying to get something.

Maysa states that she and God have their own thing because she used to pray a lot as a kid so whenever she needs to talk to him he hears her out. Dena, on the other hand, never prays so God won’t recognize her. But Dena doesn’t think that prayers will make the difference now since she will be finding out the next day and the decision has been made. 

The next day Dena can’t stop refreshing her email while she’s with Fatima (Jade Eshete). Once she finally gets in the car, she sees the email and finds out she got the scholarship! When she gets home after the whole day Dena can’t wait to talk to Maysa and Farouk about it. Unfortunately, Maysa is angry with her because Dena has shared the news with all her friends and posted on Facebook about it. She’s worried that Dena will get jinxed because she’s talking about something she doesn’t physically have yet. According to Maysa, Dena might as well have posted half-naked pictures of herself online like “Eryana Grande” looking for attention. 

“Giving the eye” is a real concern from Maysa, which basically means that people have the ability to curse you through gossip and jealousy. Dena’s Uncle Naseem (Laith Nakli) was cursed along with another uncle of hers, so the concern is very real for both her and Farouk. It’s rather frustrating for Dena who doesn’t think either of her parents is actually happy for her. They point out; however, that the attention she is getting is dark and they just want to humble her. When Dena is asked to pray she walks away saying that the superstitious thing is not something she believes in. 

Dena starts to worry though when she begins to notice her hair is falling out and there is a bald spot on her scalp. When she returns home and sees Farouk there, she can’t help but notice how bald he is. So, she does the next thing naturally anyone in her position would do–ask him when he started balding. To her horror he claims he started losing hair around her age in college. His mother gave him a homemade remedy that helps to grow hair–mixing olive oil and garlic and rubbing it on the bald spot. Dena actually does that, but the next day in her yoga class her instructor (Tracy Weiler) notices the strange smell and asks whoever it is to wear something more natural next time so it doesn’t irritate everyone. 

To make matters worse, Dena notices a lump in her breast while changing and immediately heads to Dr. Chava (Michelle Sims) to find out what’s going on. They’ll have to take it step by step since she can’t determine right then and there what is going on, but she does refer Dena to a dermatologist for her balding issue. 

Given how much has happened, Dena is pretty rattled over it all. She can’t stop thinking about what her parents and all her friends have been saying between the warnings and the compliments. Filled with fear, Dena starts looking up articles about balding and then switches to looking up things on “evil eye.” Given that her Uncle Naseem has dealt with this before, she goes to him for help while wearing a hijab (head covering). He’s shocked to see her wearing it and thinks she’s just turning a new leaf in her life. Of course, she’s wearing it so no one can see her bald spots and just wants Uncle Naseem to help her with the whole “evil eye” thing. 

He sends her to a woman named Hosna (Randa Jarrar) who will help ward off any evil spirits if there are any. Dena heads to Hosna’s and drinks a tea so Hosna can take a look at the bottom of the cup. Whatever she sees in there freaks Hosna out and she immediately starts asking Dena to list off the names of her immediate family members. She begins shouting everyone’s name as she pokes a hole in a piece of paper which is meant to protect Dena from them. Hosna then asks Dena to show her the Facebook post and she begins doing the same thing by reading off each person’s name that liked the post. 

When Hosna tries to burn the paper, it won’t burn. This worries her even more. She lights some incense and blows it around Dena while reciting verses from the Quran. This will protect her and remove any bad spirits as they choke on the smoke of the incense, according to Hosna. 

After that very strange experience Dena gets into her car to drive home, but gets a call from Dr. Chava regarding the lump in her breast. As it turns out, it’s not cancerous and is just a fibroadenoma–nothing for Dena to worry about. Just as it seems luck is back on her side the car breaks down and she has to call AAA. 

Things progressively get worse for Dena as the AAA driver (David Zaldivar) won’t stop talking to her about random things. First, he’s surprised that she is going to grad school and then shares his shock that she can drive, which she’s quick to inform him about saying that was an issue in Saudia Arabia. Disturubingly, his next comment gets more offensive as he makes a remark about what her life might be like if she didn’t live in the United States.

What ultimately sets Dena off is when the guy asks her why she wears a hijab. She frustratingly explains that she is only wearing it because of her balding problem and then she loses it and rants about the world being a horrible place and the shape of the country. Because the driver was so curious about her hijab, she pulls it off and shows him the balding spots and then screams and asks him to pull over. Cautiously, he pulls the car over and a very annoyed, angry Dena gets out and starts walking away.