Cairo 3

Consensus about Cairo seems to be a love-hate relationship. So far, there is nothing about Cairo that I love. I do however hate being hassled on the street by cab drivers and little kids who want food or money. I hate the pollution, getting ripped off, the stares I get mostly for being an American, the trash on the streets, not being able to go most places without a male, the unfortunately small size of the Sphinx, not being able to show my skin and not being able to drink the water.

I reached my ultimate low point Wednesday and Thursday. Tuesday night I got sick from whatever I ate or drank (or just a combination of the water and my body not being used to eating what I’m eating, etc.). Wednesday I had to leave my Survival Arabic class early because I felt so sick. When I got in the cab, I had the sudden realization that I could not communicate with anyone here, I didn’t understand why things work the way they do, I don’t look like everyone else, I don’t walk like everyone else, I don’t feel any connection to the call to prayer that I can hear from my apartment numerous times a day. I came back to my apartment and just cried. After taking some medicine, I felt better, enough to meet up with some people, but by the time I got back, I was sick again and got only worse the next day because of side affects from medications including stomach ache, heaviness in my entire body and, my favorite, nose bleed. I slept it off and feel much better now. That doesn’t mean I can communicate any better or understand why anything works the way it does in this country.

To distract ourselves from the craziness of this city, we decided that touristy activity was probably our best bet. We walked around a bit of Coptic Cairo, saw some nice Churches and took a felucca ride. Feluccas are little boats that go up and down the Nile and are pretty nice assuming you don’t completely overpay the driver, which we did. Today we did the pyramids. Some friends have told me that they are disappointing, but I would have to disagree. The pyramids themselves are massive and it is unbelievable not only that they had the technology to build them however many thousands of years ago, but that they are still standing. The sphinx is a huge disappointment. According to Lonely Planet, it has cancer. For an unknown reason, it is being I guess eaten from the inside and is slowly deteriorating. It is also very small, relatively speaking. Men who wanted you to pay them to ride their camels or horses or buy whatever they were selling would follow and harass you even when you kept walking and continued to ignore them. This more than anything else drove me crazy. From what I’ve heard, the best way to do the pyramids is on horse. I plan to go back, ride a horse, go in a pyramid and even stay for sunset.



Restaurant behavior is something I have either taken a liking to or have begun to hate. More than anything, I think I just find it funny. Fast Food restaurants are high class. McDonalds and Pizza Hut seat you, take your order and are big hot spots for birthdays. No matter where you are, restaurant owners or workers insist that you sit down and the check never comes quickly. The only reasoning I can see behind this is a cultural one. For example, when going into an Arab home, it would be rude not to sit and enjoy yourself. People don’t rush with food or drink here like they do in America. There is no reason it would or should be any different in restaurants.

Drinking is legal but no less expensive than in the states. In fact, drinking is so legal that they even deliver it to your house and bars are pretty common. I was very surprised by this considering it is a Muslim country. In so many other ways, religion is so apparent. Drugs on the other hand, as we have also read in Lonely Planet, are very illegal. Penalty can be execution by hanging and we are not exempt. This is something that has been in practice for the last fifteen years. If you’re looking for some great pot, I’d say Cairo’s not the best place to come, though I’m sure it does exist in large quantities.

Things in this country still don’t make any sense to me and probably never will. I think I have to accept the fact that they don’t need to. I will never understand the logic of walking in the street when there are perfectly fine and completely clear sidewalks nor will I ever understand the logic of having traffic lights or lanes if you’re not going to use them. There’s also no use in trying to get me to buy things from you or take your cab or go into your restaurant because when you chase after me, I just want to go less. So just stop asking and get the idea when I ignore you and walk away from you. It’s really quite simple. And not only that, if you had set prices for cabs, no one would have to worry about the money. I still have a very long time to ponder all of this.