10 Days in Egypt: Reflections

I am extremely grateful to have had the opportunity to travel to Egypt during the small window when civil unrest was at bay.  As a Peace Corps Volunteer, we are required to get approval from a long chain of command before traveling: site supervisor, program manager, PC medical office, PC safety & security, and the country director.  If the country of destination is experiencing any political or health issues (e.g. Ebola), then our request is denied.  Egypt has been on the restricted list for almost my entire service, and was finally approved just in time for my last vacation. 

While Dorothy and I were there, our tour guide informed us of the mass protests planned for June 30^th to remove the current president from power.  (*Our trip was June 14-24.)  If you read the international headlines today, the protests and violence have already begun.  While we were in Cairo, I took a picture of the fire damage (from the 2011 revolution) to the building next to the Egyptian Museum, which houses 120,000 ancient artifacts.  It’s scary to think that the political unrest came so close to destroying the irreplaceable remnants of history.

Aside from protests, I have several impressions from Egypt’s culture – the first being modern conveniences.  When coming from a village in Uganda, the first thing I notice when I travel is the availability of electricity & running water and paved roads.  But more than that, Egypt has fast food, a shopping mall with stores I recognize (Claire’s, Toys R us, Starbuck’s, Motorola, H&M, etc.) air conditioning, new cars, and high-rise buildings.  This is not to say that there still aren’t slums, insane taxi parks, and trash everywhere.

The good: modern convenience

 The bad: poor housing and trash

Upon arriving in Cairo, you will immediately take note of the number of smokers in Egypt.  Everyone smokes!  We saw kids as young as 14 or 15 years old smoking.  And you can smoke anywhere!  Restaurants, bars, airports, hotel lobbies, even the inside the mall!    After a few days I accepted the fact that the week was going to be filled with second-hand smoke – my clothes still reek.

 Dorothy (and the man in red) smoking inside a mall.

As a part of every culture, food and meal times take some adjusting.  The food in Egypt is classic Mediterranean (falafel, hummus, eggplant, etc.) – I was in heaven.  :)  And because we were in a tour group, a lot of the hotels had American cuisine too.  One thing that Dorothy and I noticed was the lack of fruit on the menu.  Fruit stands are everywhere in Egypt and yet we never got fruit with our meals (or even in the buffet line?!?!) and we couldn’t figure out why.   

In Uganda, leafy greens are considered a ‘poor man’s food’ because it grows on the ground – so it is not part of daily meals.  I wondered if it was the same way in Egypt with fruit.  One of the most difficult culture adjustments I had was with the meal times.  It’s true that I usually like an early dinner, but Egyptians take dinner from 9-11pm.  Yikes!  Breakfast between 9-10am and lunch around 3-4pm.  Luckily, Dorothy and I bought a bunch of snacks to carry with us and hold us over until the next meal.

It has been my experience that in most African countries, vendors hassle tourists.  It’s just their way of business.  “You come and buy from me!  How much!!  How much do you want to pay!!  I give you good price!  Very nice!”  Egyptian vendors seemed particularly aggressive shoving items in your face and not taking ‘no’ for an answer.  They followed us all the way to the bus, and even then stood in window and tried waving items in front of us.  One man gave Dorothy a “gift” of a scarf and put it around her neck.  She started to walk away and he demanded that she pay for it and came after her.  She threw it back at him.  Also, local people offer to take your picture in front of the pyramids or temples, then hold out their hand for payment.  We learned early on not to fall for the gimmicks.

Souvenir stand - every temple had them and they all sold the same things. 

Obviously, tourism is at a low point right now for Egypt.  That meant our tour group was on the smaller side (only 18 people instead of 40+) and the historic sites were virtually empty.  This was good and bad.  I loved walking around the temples without bumping into people or waiting in line, and I was able to take loads of pictures.  But after the first day Dorothy and I realized we need people in the pictures to give some perspective to the sheer size of the monuments.  Otherwise, the carvings look small, and the walls of the temples appear the size of an average building.

         

Tourism was low because of civil unrest, but also because it was the end of June . . . summer in Egypt.  Ouch.  Cairo temperatures were in the 90’s, but traveling south to Aswan and Luxor got us 100+ degrees everyday.  In the hot desert sun, we were dusty & sweaty by 10:00am.  Every place we walked, shade was essential and we couldn’t stay in the sun for any extended period of time.  Heat exhaustion hit me quickly and I was drinking twice as much water as I normally do.  But I still got light-headed and fatigued until we were back in the air-conditioned bus.

 Taking a break in the shade

Since living in Uganda, I’ve become to used animals everywhere, street food vendors, various vehicles for transportation (lorries, matatus, bodas, buses, and bicycles), and the open markets.  But here are some pictures of “Egypt Moments” that came as a surprise, even to me.

 A fresh juice stand (set up right next to traffic)

 

Donkeys!  (We don't have them in Uganda.)

 

First camel sighting - a man riding a camel down the street.

It's hard to see but the silver machine is for people to get drinking water (because it's so freakin' hot there).  These can be found in remote areas that don't have stores around to buy anything.  Local people set up these "drinking fountains" out of the goodness of their heart.  But, as a tourist, I still wouldn't drink the tap water.

 Fat man on a donkey near the pyramids.  Classic.