Fearless Travel

From Monterey bay and it’s cute otters, I take you to Egypt, a place I lived for a time. I hope you will enjoy the journey as much as I did. First, I will tell you up front I was studying there at the American university in Cairo. At the time, AUC’s campus was located downtown, on a plaza called Midan al Tahrir. It is perhaps one of the busiest places in Cairo, and that’s saying something. Egypt has about 40 million citizens (legally) and 25 million of those live in and around Cairo. The city is huge and it is packed with a crush of humanity that is both intimidating and exhilarating. Egypt’s main income is from tourism, though Egyptian cotton is also a huge revenue booster to the economy. Egypt is well-supported militarily, receiving lots of support from the United States both in the form of hardware and intelligence. Egypt is also technically a Republic with a President and a Council of Advisors (the majlis al Shoura), but in reality it is an olighrachy and sometimes an authoritarian regime. Police are everywhere and belong at least to the Middle Class, if not the lower upper class. They can be brutal and arbitrary to the people, but leave Westerners alone for the most part (unless the Westerners are stupid enough to do something illegal like purchase drugs or steal something).

The people of Egypt oscillate between being resigned and indignant about the political system. Though anti-American sentiment has been growing the the Middle East, particularly anti-American sentiment, for the most part, Egyptian people separate the American culture from the American people; they sometimes joked with me that Egyptians and Americans are brother - neither of them can change their government. This is in reference to the Defeat of John Kerry in 2004. 2008’s election, however, electrified the Egyptian people (I have a few friends living there still) who said there was widespread joy at the election of Barack Obama because he looked more like an Egyptian than any President before and they hoped that meant he would govern more fairly and force foreign policy that took into account the needs and dreams of the Palestinians (there is a large population of Egypt that considers itself Palestinian, having fled there in 1948, 1957, 1967, and 1973).

Egyptians are unfailingly nice to guests and tourists. A shop keeper will offer you tea or coffee (or if he’s rich, a soda or bottled water) and will talk about politics and life while they sell you something. if you try to speak Arabic to them, you are greeted enthusiastically and they will patiently correct your Arabic. Egyptian people are generally well-educated (except for the lower class whoa re only compelled to go to school until third grade, after which they usually find a job). and speak a multitude of languages; standing in line at McDonald’s I heard Arabic, English, and Russian spoken by the order taker and instead of getting your food at the counter, someone delivers it to you and cleans up your trash. Egyptians will never, ever tell you “no” if they can help it. Usually, if a shop keeper doesn’t have something he’ll say “Bukhara” which means “Tomorrow” but in reality, means “I don’t have it.” They will give you directions even if they don’t know where you need to go. They will always ask you to sit down first, even if you are the host. THey offer drinks when you come to their door, even if you are only delivering a letter or asking them to turn down the radio. They are angry at the high unemployment rate but don’t take it out of foreigners (who bring in what little money there is to earn).

I hope that you will enjoy the journey I took in 2006 as much as I did. Until then, Salaam Aleykum (Peace be upon you).

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