I have just returned from a
long trip to Egypt. It was my first time in this very ancient country. Like many
people, I had always been fascinated by ancient Egyptian monuments and
civilization. When a tour with
everything that I wanted to see came up at a reasonable price, I jumped at the
opportunity and the chance to finally realize one of the biggest goals on my
bucket list.
I found
Egypt to be just as enjoyable as I had hoped.
The ancient monuments were as dazzling and fantastic as I had always
heard. The Nile River was even more
amazing and important than I had ever imagined.
Exploring the monuments and the river are worth making the trip, but
getting to know a nation's people and culture are where the heart of any trip
lies. Egypt is no different.
Unfortunately,
when one takes the path of a fully guided tour, one experiences a somewhat
rose-colored and spoon fed version of the local culture, but, even with that,
there is still some opportunity to get to know a few real people. I always like to learn as much as I can.
The first
thing you notice upon arrival in Egypt are the soldiers and the machine gun
emplacement guarding the entrance and exit to the airport. Then, as you proceed to your hotel, and later
on through the country, you will see frequent checkpoints, especially at
tourist sites, where soldiers and policemen watch everything from behind steel
armor-plated shields. Other police and
soldiers in white uniforms, wearing side arms or carrying automatic AR-15 type
rifles, supplement the checkpoints and make note of all movement. Our tour bus had to pull over several times
each day as we progressed from one location to another so that the police could
check our bus for bombs, run us through and occasional security scanner, and
record our number and country of origin.
I was told
that a military service commitment of one year is compulsory for all Egyptian
men upon reaching adulthood. I was also
told that any active duty soldier has the right to stop any person anywhere at
any time to check their identification and travel papers, and to jail or cite
them if their papers are not in order, or if their personal appearance and
clothes are not clean and respectable. I
noticed that the Egyptian people all seemed to be clean in appearance, with
close shaved faces or well trimmed beards and clean, hole free clothing, and I
had wondered at this marvel. There were
no slobs or kids with their pants hanging down to their ankles in Egypt. It appears that the soldiers are doing a very
thorough job.
The second
thing that one notices when arriving in Egypt, at least in Cairo, is the insane
traffic. The main road in the city
consists of four traffic lanes in each direction, but the four lanes can suddenly
and without warning turn into seven lanes of traffic. Cars, buses, and trucks cram into every
possible available space in order to get ahead of everybody else. Vehicles are sometimes only inches
apart. Pedestrians walk across the road
as if the traffic doesn't even exist and drivers go around them just the same
as if both vehicle and pedestrian are surrounded by several feet of bouncy
bubble wrap. Horns honk every few feet. There are no traffic lights and there are no
left hand turns across traffic. The
whole scene reminds one of a crowd in a theater trying to reach the exit after
hearing the word "fire"!
Every car
in Cairo has scratches and dents, regardless of whether the vehicle is new or
old. Most vehicles don't even stop if
they bump someone else. Comprehensive
and liability insurance is not required by law, and is not wanted by most. If one's vehicle is damaged in an accident,
regardless of the damage to the car or one's body, one does not usually sue the
other driver, even if the accident was the other driver's fault. One merely accepts any loss, medical costs,
and hardship as being one's fate, and then forgives the other driver (ideally)
and moves on with his life as best as he can.
Because of
the large amount of cars, garbage fires in the streets, and other pollutants,
Egypt has heavy smog from one end of the country to the other. The smog makes it harder to breathe. At night, one cannot see the stars because of
the smog, even in areas away from the city.
The people
of Egypt, at least the educated people, are very concerned with the election in
the United States. They want to know,
and seriously worry about, whether all Americans are bigots, misogynists, and
haters of Muslims, as Donald Trump portrays us to be. They worry that Trump is going to start a
campaign of persecution, and even worse, against Muslims if he is elected. The people who discussed the election with me
and my fellow tourists said that they have regarded America as the shining
example of acceptance, equal opportunity, and freedom in the world, but now
they worry that it may be something worse than they could ever have imagined.
The
Egyptians that I talked to said they wanted to make it clear to Americans that
they are not terrorists. All they want
is the same thing in life that every other person wants - a chance to live safely
in peace, without fear, and to be able to take care of their families and earn
a decent living. They say that Islam is
basically a peaceful religion, but Islam does have its share of psychopaths,
just like Christianity or any other religion.
They want us to know that they, and Islam, do not support these
psychopaths.
It is true
that Islam does require Muslims to practice jihad, or holy war. However, jihad originally means that one must
protect himself and his religion when he is attacked, not go out and attack
others. It is not permissible to just go
out and attack whoever is different from you, and it is not permissible under
jihad to kill or harm women and children, unless they first attack you. In fact, the Egyptians told me, someone who violates
these tenants will go to hell, under Islam, instead of getting 70 virgins in
heaven. The 70 virgins story is a myth,
told for the benefit of those who are ignorant and easily manipulated.
I was
surprised to learn that everyday Egyptians seem to know, and take it for
granted, that Saudi Arabia is mostly responsible for the current terrorism
spreading throughout the world. They say
that many rich Saudis financially pay for many of the terrorist attacks
throughout the world. Saudi Arabia also requires
a book from a radical Islamist, written hundreds of years after the Koran, to
be taught in their schools. The book
teaches that Muslims must kill anyone (ANYONE!) that is different from them,
making terror acts and murder the official policy of Saudi Arabia. The Egyptians that I talked to made it clear
that if we want to bring terrorism under control, we have to first deal with
Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is not the
friend that many in power in our government claim it to be.
Another
very important thing that one will notice in Egypt is the condition of the
public restrooms. I only used the mens'
restrooms, of course, but I found most to be filthy, in poor repair, occasionally
lacking water, always lacking paper, and in general, always disgusting. Egypt wants to build up their tourism
industry, but, in my opinion, Egypt should be ashamed to offer such restrooms
to those visiting their country.
One
interesting thing about Egyptian restrooms is that you will find outside each
restroom entrance, a man, woman, or child who will hand you four sections of
toilet paper to use for any and all purposes while inside. In return, you are expected to hand them at
least one Egyptian pound coin, which is about 10 cents U.S. Egypt is a poor country and this type of
begging is the only way some people can make a living. I suspected many times that these people
stole the paper from the restrooms early in the day just so users would have to
give them money for the paper.
Ask for
coffee in Egypt and you will get Nescafe instant coffee, not brewed. The food is somewhat bland, but includes
plenty of lentils, local fruits, vegetables, pita bread, Tahini and similar
spreads, and stews, at least where I ate.
There is no
middle class in Egypt. You are either
poor or you are well off. There is no
welfare or government support system for the sick, poor, or aged. Each person has to work or depend upon their
family to live. The oldest able bodied
male is responsible for the well being of the women in his family. Our tour bus drove by a large cemetery one
day. Our guide informed us that over
500,000 people lived with the dead in the cemetery because they could not
afford to rent or buy a house or apartment and they did not have any family to
take care of them. We have homeless
people here in America too who live in cemeteries, so I guess the practice is
not all that unusual.
Most average
Egyptian people live in apartment buildings which they either rent or buy. The apartments are as plain as a cardboard
box on the outside and made of concrete and brick. They have no decorations and no attempt is
made to make the exterior look appealing.
The buildings looked like giant bee hives to me. I wasn't able to go inside one of the
apartments, but I was told that the interiors are decorated nicely, just like
any other home.
I was
privileged to attend a wedding after-party at my hotel while I was in
Cairo. In the after party, the bride and
groom come out into public view to dance to live music so as to proclaim their marriage
and joy to the world. The bride in her
white wedding gown, and the groom in his new dark suit, descended the decorated
hotel stairs, and led several dances in the hotel lobby. A live band with drums, a saxophone, and other
instruments preceded them, playing Arabic music all the while. Other women were dressed in beautiful and
colorful Arabic clothing. The dance
lasted for about a half an hour and then the wedding party and guests went back
upstairs to feast and party some more.
Our tour guide explained that if a couple cannot afford to rent a
building for their party, they sometimes just hold it in the middle of the
street. Traffic automatically and
courteously just diverts around them. I
felt very privileged to be apart of this couple's wedding celebration.
In general,
I found Egypt to be fascinating. I
enjoyed every minute of the trip, even though it was physically
exhausting. It took more than a day each
time to travel back and forth between the US and Egypt, my visit was not long
enough to fully adjust to the time differences, our schedule was very full and
hectic, and we had to get up several times around 3:00 a.m. in order to get to
our destinations in the cool part of the day, but the trip turned out to be
worth it. I had always felt an
unexplainable tie to ancient Egypt, and it was good to finally be able to
satisfy my curiosity.
