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Two Days in Cairo

February 13, 2009 • By Kelly Glynn

I spent the last two days wandering the neighborhoods of Cairo. It was a lovely experience and good to get away from the mobs of tourists. My exploring led me to a cute little neighborhood on the island of Zamalek and Gezira. Both areas are not what you would expect in terms of Egyptian culture. Zamalek houses many upper class Egyptians as well as foreigners and a number of embassies. There are beautiful flats and high rises in mint condition, quaint little coffee shops and a divine bookstore. I spent hours just roaming past the shops and houses and trying to get a sense of how people lived. Needless to say, the shops in Zamalek are much different than the bazaars for the tourists. Here I found finely crafted furniture and jewels that would have made even Cleopatra jealous. It was a real eye opening experience as many of these stores contain expensive antiques and fine linens. Again, if only I could ship a truck home.

From Zamalek, I ventured to the Cairo Tower. It was a clear day so I decided it was worth a trip to the top. I had 360 panoramic views of the city and enjoyed taking it all in. In the distance, the pyramids stood as they did thousands of years ago only now mildly ignored by the locals. Other than a brief encounter with an Arabic tourist, I found this to be a very peaceful and pleasurable experience. The tourist – a father- thought it would be a good idea to put his (maybe) two-year-old daughter on the top of the safety fence. We are talking Eiffel Tower, C&N Tower, Empire State Building tall. At least in other countries, the fences are efficient but this was not enclosed and her mother who was being bossed around let go of the child and I nearly had a heart attack. I guess my screaming at the father didn’t do much since I saw him taking her photo again on the other side. Some people are so stupid.

After I sipped my mocha and devoured my chocolate cake, I made for the local shopping district. It’s in the center of downtown. The area consists of coffee shops, stores and restaurants, banks, etc. and caters to locals. There were families eating ice cream, young couples courting each other, women shopping and men in the coffee houses smoking and watching soccer(football). It seemed like a great place to eat and people watch and I was craving Greek food.

Egypt has a very large Greek presence dating back to Alexander the Great. It’s reflective in their history and also the Christian Church. Coptic Christians are essentially Greek Orthodox. As a result, there is a sphere of Greek influence in the food and culture. I had heard rave reviews about the Greek Club and wanted to check it out. I must have been pretty determined as I walked around for two hours trying to find the restaurant. It seemed every person I asked for directions had a relative in either Texas or Minnesota and they all had very famous perfume shops right around the corner. The first time I felt obligated but by the 5th time I was downright ornery.

What kind of tourist police don’t speak a word of English? Even with my little cheat sheet telling them the name of the street and restaurant they were clueless. I really flipped out when I realized the cop IN FRONT OF THE GREEK CLUB sent me on another hour tour. Eventually, I ran across another man -who has a brother in Minnesota with a store in the Mall of America- and he escorted me to the very hidden side entrance of the restaurant. I did take his business card and promise to visit (ooops).

Grumpy and starving, I walked up two flights of stairs excited to eat. This was an exhaustive endeavor. Before I could take my seat, a “doorman” asked me to pay 35 pounds or 15 USD cover charge on top of the cost of my meal. Out of energy, I could not argue and paid the entrance fee. It seems I stumbled upon the Hellenic Center of Cairo and my cover charge didn’t even include entertainment. I scarfed down the saganaki and tsziiki and called it a night.

The Local Experience:

Today, I decided to stroll through Islamic Cairo. There is a tourist component but it’s pretty isolated to the market and 2 mosques. I arrived at noon just in time for prayer and the loud speakers blaring. The walk through the markets proved too much for my patience. After about the tenth whisper of “I love you,” I changed direction and lost myself in the narrow alleys of where the locals live. There are about 10 old mosques and 2 mausoleums and the architecture is quite unique to Egypt. My aimless wandering took me off the beaten path where I watched locals buying and selling fruits and vegetables, women with children admiring the galabayas and people going about their daily business. No one bothered me for a change.

Having walked for 2 hours, I was in desperate need for a bathroom(all can atest to my small bladder). I rushed to the Islamic Museum knowing tourist destinations had bathrooms and to my chagrin the Museum was closed. Now in a panic I turned and noticed a large inviting building with lots of Egyptian flags. I begged a guardhouse full of men to let me pass but the absence of English was not helping my cause. Squating, air drawing a toilet and saying WC, bathroom and toilet in every language I knew -Arabic excluded- produced results. One man led me to another security point and eventually an office with a very official looking man behind a desk. A bit concerned as I was surrounded by 3 armed guards, I could only focus on my bladder. Thankfully, this man spoke English and informed me he was the Minister of the Interior. Ummm my first thought– I’m about to get arrested and my second I’m going to piss on this guy’s floor and then get arrested. After some finger snapping and loud Arabic, I was taken to what looked like a locked public bathroom. It smelled dreadful but it worked. Completely baffled by this 5 minute exchange, I bolted out of the building and past the guards and wondered how I just did what I did. One thing I was certain…an Egyptian woman would have never pulled off that maneuver.

I spent the rest of the afternoon with a local man I met on my walk. Eheb watched me examine my map and asked me if I knew I was not in the tourist market. I thought that was pretty obvious by my surroundings but I informed him the market proved to be a hassle and I wanted to try something different. We talked for a bit and I learned he studied in the US and had actually spent 6 months at Kansas University(Patrick’s school). He seemed to know the campus so when he offered to walk me to some interesting historic buildings free of charge I went. After being pushed and pulled and tricked for days, I kept waiting for the punch line but it never came. He seemed open to my questions — I got to the basics right away. While I believe Egypt is becoming more conservative, he says it’s quite the opposite. He contends the women cover more but underneath they wear lingerie and more provocative clothing. I had to agree with him as I noticed several slinky outfits in the local markets and wondered who might be purchasing them.

He also reaffirmed my theory about the satellites. People don’t have money to eat here but everyone has a satellite dish. Apparently there are 3 levels of cable one can get for a total of 85 channels. The full package even includes 10 porn channels. He must have said porn 5 times before I got it. Like every other educated Egyptian, he believes satellites have ruined the people. The country is greatly influenced by Western ways more now than ever because of cable. It took me awhile to convince him every 14-year-old girl is not sexually active in the US. They watch a little too much Oprah, Dr. Phil and Jerry Springer. On several occasions, local Egyptians have told me they think American women are loose. Well after hearing Eheb tell me about Jerry Springer I put two and two together.

Eheb is a physical therapist/massage therapist at a local hospital. After some prodding, he told me he often feels like a hair dresser because the minute a woman starts talking she tells him her life story. He seems amazed at how many married Egyptian women cheat or have significant others on the side. I was surprised that he admitted most men have one wife but also one mistress. In his opinion, the women have watched too much TV and demand things be differently at home. (My mind instantly flashed to the porn channels!!!) He doesn’t trust the fully covered women and said,”the more covered the more they hide.” That is one loaded response.

On our walk, a few women approached me to pet my hair and said some gamala word. The second time it happened Eheb translated and informed me that the women do this because blond hair is not real here and they wanted to feel whether or not I was wearing a wig. Oh and it’s meant to be flattering.

Starting to show fatigue, Eheb suggested we sit for coffee or tea. We settled on this little cafe overlooking one of the ancient mosques. After a few blank stares from locals, we picked up where we left off. Ehen is 36, never been married and cares for his mother. He was very poor growing up since his father suffered a paralyzing injury. Therefore, it was up to Eheb to support the family. The government pays for school and he seemed to understand at 16 that he needed to finish university to get a decent job. He has 2 younger sisters and until they were married he supported them. One married at 17 and the other at 21. It disappointed him that the one sister never finished school. Both sisters each have 3 kids.

Eheb lived in Switzerland for 2 years, thinks Saudis are awful-they come to Egypt and drink alcohol and hire prostitutes so he says- and seems to live a conservative life. He wanted to learn all about American women and dating. Of course, he wanted to know what was wrong with me since I was not married. “You not like men?” Um I like them but they don’t like me. Then I turned it around on him and said well you are 36. You should nearly be a grandfather and that’s when I learned he works to support his family and can’t find a woman willing to marry him and live with his mother. He was very proud of the fact that he maintains a nice savings and he enjoys his job immensely.

After a call to his mother(so he said), he invited me to dinner with his family. Thursday night is family night since the weekend is Friday and Saturday. It would be his 2 sisters, their husbands and the 6 grandchildren. I really wanted to go and thought it would be an amazing opportunity but after a call to Joyce I decided against it. She reminded me the sad truth of the world we live in today. I don’t know who I can trust and to go alone could be jeopardizing my safety.

Eheb paid for our lunch, put me in a cab -negotiating a mere 5 Egyptian pounds and we said good bye. After spending 5 hours with him, I know I learned a great deal more about the life of an Egyptian and I hope I did the same for him. We exchanged emails and I’m sure we will keep in touch making the world even a little bit smaller.

Africa, Destinations, Middle East

The Mighty Nile

February 8, 2009 • By Kelly Glynn

After being bombarded by felucca sellers in Aswan, I boarded by Nile cruise bound for Luxor. Aswan is truly a beautiful spot in Egypt. It’s about 3 hours from the Sudan border and the widest part of the Nile. A picturesque scene with hill tops and surrounding ruins, it’s home to the Nubian community many who found their homes wiped out by the construction of the Aswan High Dam in the 70s. The Nubian’s look a bit more like continental African’s than Egyptians possessing a darker skin tone. They were farmers and depended on the Nile’s flooding waters for their crops, which meant when the Dam was completed they were not only homeless their way of life vanished. Now instead of farming, many of them depend on tourism for survival.

In addition to displacing the Nubian people, the Dam also flooded many ancient ruins several saved with the help of UNESCO but many are sitting deep under the Nile’s waters or Lake Nasser (man made by the Dam). Fortunately, the larger of the ancient temples like Abu Simbel and Philae were cut into pieces and reassembled on higher ground. The temples are powerful examples of ancient Egyptian life….Abu Simbel consists of 4 towering statues of Ramses II and sits at the foot of Lake Nasser. Inside the temple, there are amazing hieroglyphics of the King receiving gifts, the Falcon – god of sky, etc. Philae while created by the Greeks and then finished by the Romans —at the hands of Egyptian workers, is a complex network of columns and hieroglyphic engraving on the banks of the Nile.

I am still enjoying seeing many of the ancient Egyptian ruins. Each is a marvel in itself. It is difficult to grasp how advanced the people were at this time. Without taking into account the history the hieroglyphics give us, the towering temples, the artwork and the forces of nature against the people, they were also a deeply superstitious people. It’s a little ironic that the ancient people were so deeply afraid of the the gods when really they should have feared each other or the high priests.

I’ve also learned a little bit about Egyptian culture on my stay here. The one word that keeps popping up every few minutes is the Egyptian word baksheesh, which means TIP. As a tourist, TIP is something I am expected to do often. It has become abundantly clear that the driver in Egypt is likely making more money than the travel woman who booked my $1,500 tour. Even though I’ve paid for all the services, I am required to tip the driver, the guide and anyone who I ask to take a picture. If I walk past someone and don’t want to take a felucca ride, I should pay him to leave me alone. The tourist police are a joke as I’ve come to the conclusion it’s just a ploy to put more people to work. The tourist police probably make a salary and then they accost tourists who then pay them to go away. Another bit of warning, when a shop seller says, ” it’s freeeee or just $1 or only 5 Egyptian pounds.” He is LYING. He is also lying when he says, “you come to my shop and just look.” That means you will be surrounded by shop sellers who will not let you leave the store. At one point, I had to be rescued as I needed a very cute hat for my Cleopatra outfit (more later) and I literally had to duck out of a circle of Egyptian men dressing me in all sorts of belly dancing outfits and Egyptian style dresses. My new South African friend had to put her arms up to get me out as I was yelling for these men to get away from me. Needless to say, the sellers are aggressive.

Back on the boat, I’ve enjoyed incredible views of the Nile. It’s hard to imagine 90 percent of Egypt is desert when I see the vastness of the Nile. Just sailing along and watching the people at her shores it’s hard not to imagine the Nile’s power in ancient times. People feared her and respected her. Originating from the waters of Lake Tana in Ethiopia and Lake Victoria in Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya. She comes to life in Sudan where the Blue Nile and White Nile Rivers join. The Nile flows all the way to the Mediterranean Sea and more than anything the Nile is Egypt.

I’ve enjoyed my boat mates immensely. My table consists of a lone Irishman, an older couple from the UK and another couple my age from Toronto. Since there is always one, we are the problem group and prove to be an interesting mix. The Irish party boy, the reserved English couple(both teachers) and the young at heart, still madly in love (almost)newlyweds and the brave traveler (that’s apparently me). After the first night, we also allowed a crazy South African couple from Durban to join us. It seems the rest of the boat is a bit stiff so it’s likely they sought out a more lively group.

During the day, we sail along the Nile and tour temples but at night we are overfed with international cuisine and entertained by Egyptian performers. The first night the entertainment consisted of Nubian dancers. Of course being the single blond girl, I was picked to assist the performer. He was dressed in bright colors and looked like a joker. With some paw like hand movements and some yelling like yeee, mooosh, shoosh, this toothless performer had me jumping up and down and trying to repeat whatever it is he said. He quickly figured out I was hopeless. Always the performer myself, I made up my own sounds and movements causing the crowd to erupt in laughter. I don’t think my Nubian prince liked being upstaged so he demanded me fall to my knees. Well that hurt so I stood up again and he gave me a Haaawwww sound which I took to mean he was not happy but I continued standing and then Haaaawww’d back at him. After some back and forth of mooosh and Haaaawww and yeeeee haaaawwww, he bowed at me and I bowed back. That was enough fun for the night.

There are about 60 people on the boat and the average age is probably 70, which means lights out at 10:30. Immediately following the nightly performances, a herd of 50 people get up and sort of hobble down the stairs to their cabins. My group stays behind and talks about them and shortly thereafter we make our way to bed. Last night, there was a battle over a grueling game of BINGO. I couldn’t stop laughing as I looked around and realized some tables had 7-10 cards. It was all very serious. My group did not participate in the game. We declared in advance we were there for moral support to the senior citizens. All I could think is please God don’t ever let this be me. Anway, with several winners the announcer declared we would have a runoff for the loser. Suddenly, there were 4 people on the 8×10 dance floor with their cards in tow. One by one went down until the number 72 was shouted out and a woman SCREAMED Bingo. When the game was over, like clock work the herd stood up and scrambeled to bed. Apparently I started singing a little too loudly, “So long, farewell Auf Wiedersehen, goodnight…” and again my group burst out laughing and joined in my rendition from the Sound of Music.

Tonight is our big Egyptian farewell. I will be dressing as Cleopatra in a beautiful Galbya dress. This is known as fancy dress in Egypt. I’m so excited I bought two head pieces in case one didn’t work. The store owner on the boat was very excited to tie my head piece. Following in the foot steps of the other Egyptian men, he had to touch my hair…”Oh you have such beautiful hair.” The poor guy doesn’t know I don’t have my mommy on board and he will be tying my head piece again later.