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[Jul. 1st, 2008|11:19 pm]
Scott
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I keep reading about how poor and corrupt and unhappy Egypt is. But that's not the impression I'm getting. Granted, I haven't been outside central Cairo yet. But central Cairo is really, really nice. It even seems pretty wealthy. There are malls and Western restaurant chains and ritzy hotels and everything else I associate with a rich city, even as the newspapers assure me it's falling apart.
It's pretty Muslim here. Most of the women wear headscarves, even though it's not legally required. I have surprised myself by being able to appreciate the rationale behind some of the less revealing Muslim clothing. It really is nice to be in a less sexually charged atmosphere. Of course, my thinking that as a male is no excuse for forcing women to wear clothes that look pretty uncomfortable, but even though it is oppressive I can at least understand the basis behind the oppression.
There is not a lot of obvious anti-Americanism or anti-Semitism or anti-me-ism. Of course, I have only been in central Cairo, and have only read the English newspapers, which I gather are a bit toned down. The only really inexcusable thing I've seen was a copy of Protocols of the Elders of Zion prominently featured in the English-language bookstore.
Oh, and Obamamania has reached Egypt too. The big news here is about Obama going before an American pro-Israel group and promising he would support Israel 100% in everything. One would think that might make him sort of unpopular here. On the contrary. Views range from "Oh well, he's got to do that to get elected" all the way to "Ha! He's lulling the evil Zionist billionaires into a false sense of security so when he saves Palestine, they'll be caught completely by surprise! Brilliant!" And yes, the newspaper really did say "evil Zionist billionaires."
The mosques here are incredible. I am in love with the architecture.
There have been fewer scam attempts here than elsewhere. I am having trouble adjusting. My impulse is still to yell at people to go away the moment they try to talk to me or help me, which has led to me alienating and offending the few Egyptians that still are willing to talk to Americans. So I've been trying to be less paranoid and confrontational - with the result that I got scammed out of a total of $30 today. I really need to figure out a happy medium between intense unceasing hostility to the locals and falling for their tricks, but I think that would take longer than I have.
I met an interesting person today. She comes from Nebraska and is about my age. She read the Koran a few years ago, thought it had some good ideas, and converted to Islam. She figured she needed a Muslim husband, so she went to a Muslim dating site, met an Egyptian guy, and agreed to move to Egypt and marry him. It didn't work out, so he divorced her by sending her the message "I divorce you" over the Internet, which is a legal way of doing things here. So she tried again with a different Egyptian guy. That didn't work out either. Now she has no money but has after some effort procured a ticket back to the United States (although I had to pay for her taxi because she had no money to get to the airport with). Despite all this, her natural cheerfulness setting seems about ten times higher than the happiest I have ever been in my life, so go figure. It takes all sorts to make a Universe.
I saw the Pyramids today. They were big and pointy and full of mummies and con artists. More con artists than mummies, actually. I didn't see any mummies. But I did go into the Pyramid of Khafre (it was dark and cramped and boiling hot) and see the sarcophagus there, and I saw the Sphinx from far away (but close enough to see Schoch's infamous erosion marks) and I got scammed a few times and then went back. I like the pyramids. The brain doesn't really have a schema to fit them in. They're too big and strangely shaped to immediately appear as buildings, but too regular to be mountains, so I just sort of kept looking at them and subconsciously wondering "What ARE those things?". But not for too long, because it was really hot.
With any luck, I am going to Sinai tomorrow. With a LOT of luck, my bus will be air conditioned and therefore I will survive the trip. |
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