The People in Your Neighborhood

This is post consists of photos taken within a one block radius of my apartment in Mokattam. There are of course nicer neighborhoods in Cairo than mine. There are however also worse areas. Makes you, or at least me, grateful for what I do have. Enjoy.

Yes, somebody lives here. Whole families live in each home pictured.

The Heat!

Yes, it’s HOT here. Some have been wondering what the weather is like here now. It’s HOT. Typically it’s in the high 90s everyday. Today 100 and tomorrow predicts 105. And temps are only going to continue to rise.

Yeah, to all of you who say, “But, it’s a dry heat!” Yes, it could be worse. But, a pizza oven is dry too ya' know. I don't care what any one says, dry, humid, whatever 105 degrees - is really freakin’ HOT.

The mornings start out deceptively nice, in the 70s with a nice breeze. But it heats up quickly. The breeze usually lasts throughout the day but in the sun this just feels like a hot hair drier blowing on you. The breeze only offers relief in the shade, which is surprisingly cool. But in the heat of the day, even children lounge in the shade like lethargic slugs.

The buildings do stay cool thankfully. The marble that I cursed in the winter for freezing me out is now my savior. And if you keep the windows and shades drawn it’s almost bearable inside.

The heat and day-light savings time forces everyone change their natural-body schedules. People just want to sleep due to the heat and often nap in the late afternoon. Young children come out to play in the streets after sunset 8:30ish and play long after I’ve gone to bed. The evening meal is delayed even later then usual – you cannot cook in this heat. So in turn everyone is sluggish again the next morning.

Interestingly enough, the young Muslim women DO wear the cute little tank tops and fashionable short-sleeve shirts. However, they also wear another shirt underneath it like a spandex body suit that covers them from the neck to the wrists – believe it or not. And of course they are still wearing head scarves and older women still wear the full abayya (covering) – often in black. I don’t know how they do it?!?! I sweat just looking at them.

The men often wear gallabayas – the long shirts that look like dresses. This is often a class distinction however; the lower or working class and general laborers wear this year round. Professional, white collar working men typically wear western dress.

Gallabayas

Me? I’m still trying to keep up respectable and conservative appearances, at least at the office. I wear Capri or long pants, occasional long skirt and three-quarter length sleeves.
Once at home the shorts and tank tops come on though! The funny thing is that is exactly what the Egyptian women do at home too. In the privacy of their own homes and as long as there are no unrelated men around they can wear anything they want - and they do.

Partying at the Pyramids!

Last night we partied at the pyramids! Seriously!

This is one of the coolest things I have ever done. OK, I know I say that a lot on this blog. But honestly, it’s all true. I am continually amazed, thankful and grateful for the remarkable, wonderful – and sometimes wild and crazy – adventures I have had here in Egypt. But this is definitely a lifetime highlight.

Officially it was called Dinner in the Desert an annual ball hosted by the Cairo Rugby Club, an expat and yes rugby club here in Cairo. Unofficially, I call it one of the best and most unique parties I have ever attended in my life.


Pictures cannot capture all that I saw, felt and expereinced. But, some are attached anyway for you viewing pleasure.

Location. Location. Location.

This black tie event (open to personal interpretation), catered by the J.W. Marriott was situated at the foot of the pyramids. We had an incredible dinner with the Sphinx! This dinner would have impressed any foodie - even for a banquet dinner. We had a succulent seafood salad, filet mignon and chocolate fudge cake.

Then we were entertained by a fabulous Jazz Band orchestra, a DJ, and “Cairo’s favorite funk band Crash, Bang, Wallop.” We danced all night long - at the pyramids!

If you’re not impressed yet – you haven’t been paying attention. I said, we had a freaking huge fantastic party AT THE PYRAMIDS!

To fully appreciate this you need to know that the pyramids typically are closed at night. Yes, I said closed. Visitors are kicked out about 6 pm. Then there’s a sound and light show – yeah a laser show (without the Grateful Dead music) projected onto the pyramids most nights but that ends by 9 pm. Then they go dark. They are not illuminated all night like the Washington Monument or Eiffel Tower would be. Electricity is expensive you know. :-)

So this was truly a unique experience. We had the whole area to ourselves. And we packed the dance floor and showed we truly enjoyed and appreciated the opportunity.

It was AN INCREDIBLE AND UBELIEVABEL experience!

Swine Flu and Garbage City

There are no cases of swine flu in Egypt. There is no evidence that the flu is spread by pigs. It is a human illness spread from humans to humans. Despite all of these known facts, the Egyptian government has decided to slaughter all of the 300,000 pigs in the Egypt, just as a precaution. Despite international health officials reports the swine flu virus that has caused worldwide fear is not transmitted by pigs, and that pig slaughters do nothing to stop its spread.

I figure every news station is talking about the Swine Flu I might as well chime in too and share with you Egypt's irrational and badly planned solution to "protect" itself.

Link to news articles: http://www.egyptiangazette.net.eg/gazette/world/detail_0_0.shtml

Many see this move to slaughter the pigs as just another form of discrimination against the minority Christians who raise pigs. The majority Muslim community in Egypt does not eat port for religious reasons.

In Cairo, the vast majority of pigs are raised by the Coptic Christian community in Garbage city called the Zebaleens. The Zabaleen are employed by the city to collect the garbage; and have been doing so for almost 100 years. The estimated population of Garbage city is 60-70,000 people. They live at the foot of Mokattam Hills. They make a living by sorting the trash, mostly by hand in the first floors of their homes and selling recycled materials (paper, plastic, cardboard, glass, steel, everything) to other vendors. They use the food waste to feed livestock such as pigs and chickens that are raised in the same area – typically the roof of their homes. It is reported that the Zebaleen recycle 80-90% of what they collect – which much higher than any “modern city’s” waste management system.

If you look closely at the photo you can see the goats on the roof of the building among the piles of sorted trash.

The newspaper goes on, “The pigs will be culled in “specialized slaughter houses [read: not the current Zebaleen-run businesses]…and the pig farmers will just get the animals back as frozen meat…there may be talks about compensation later. There have already been reports of pigs being kidnapped and killed and farmers not getting anything in return - as a matter of national security.

The Egyptian government goes on to say that within two years the pigs will return, but we need first to build new farms [read: government run and controlled, and will take many more then 2 years; and allah only knows what will happen with the organic waste in the meantime]. In the meantime armed police are stationed outside some of Cairo's pig farming areas, to stop pig farmers trying to smuggle out and hide their pigs [read: save their livelihood].”

There is an active community-organizing volunteer group called The Association for the Protection of the Environment APE working in Garbage city. I hope they are working with the community on this latest insult. They offer a variety of programs including health and safety, education, income generating cottage industries such as paper and rag recycling, weaving and sewing programs for women and composting and recycling, children’s education and nutrition through nursery and afterschool programs, English-language study, health clinics. You can can support their efforts by buying some of their beautiful handmade products from their website at http://www.ape.org.eg/ If you want save on shipping costs you can place your orders with me. :-)

Stay safe and healthy!

An APE worker.

An Improper Woman

Well, we all knew that!

Come on. I work for a women’s college that should’ve been your first clue. But if not, talk with my parents or grandparents, they will tell you any proper woman would have been married and filling their hearts with fat, happy grandchildren by now. Or ask any of my former boy friends or girl friends. I’m sure they could tell you a tale or two.

Egyptians, however, are just learning what type of improper American woman I am.

As you all know some fabulous friends visited me here in Cairo recently, Mr. Mark and Mrs. Anne Kennedy (See previous post: Nile Jule). Well on the 2nd night of their visit, we were woken by a call at 1:30 am by CEO Junior who is the so-called manager of the “guest house” where I live. I was informed that, “It is against Egypt’s policy and the policy of this house to have male guests stay in the apartment with female residents.”

Um. Excuse me? You are calling me in the middle of the night to tell me what?! As I try to rub the sleep out of my eyes and brain, he informs me that the security men downstairs have told him that a man entered my apartment a few hours ago and has not left yet. He repeats his “policy” statement and expounds on proper behavior for a woman.

Um. OK. There is no doubt in my mind that this strict Muslim man expected me to apologize profusely and say it would never happen again.

But, um, yeah. That ain’t my style - especially when you wake me up and insult me. Over the next 20 minutes I proceed to tell him exactly what I thought about him calling me an “improper woman.”

It went something like this:
You have the nerve to call me in the middle of the night and accuse me of going against Egypt?! You have no idea who this man even is! Maybe he’s my brother (he’s not); maybe he’s family (he is - in the American definition that friends are like family). You just call me and accuse me of going against guest policies that you never informed me of. I have lived in filthy Mokattam for 5 months and now in the middle of the night you want to discuss polices! I want a written copy of these house policies.

Oh Miss Julie you are acting very defensive. If this person is your brother it is no problem.

SORRY. You don’t get off that easy, you woke me up man – I HATE being woken up - and accused me of immoral behavior – which I am not even participating in (or enjoying) at the moment. SO, if you think I’m acting defensive you have misunderstood me. - I’m pissed off!

I continued:
I have done nothing wrong. Nor am I ashamed of any of my behavior. And it’s none of your or anyone else’s damn business who is in my apartment at any hour – DAMN IT. Don’t you watch Desperate Housewives and Sex in the City?! If not you must be the only Egyptian to miss this educational TV. Cause let me tell you, everyone else here seems to think all of us foreigners will sleep with anyone regardless of what they say or do, or even their lack of basic hygiene.

Yeah. I’m sure a “proper woman” would never have spoken to anyone in that way. But alas, it is clear I am not such a woman.

It did not go well for CEO Junior that night. Nor the next morning when I called CEO Senior and told him everything. The final response, “No problem Miss Julie your friends are welcome to stay as long as you like. Please enjoy your holiday.”

There are no “morality police” in Egypt like there are in other Arab countries. (See these links about Saudi Arabian religious police http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/1874471.stm or http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2231296/posts ) But clearly some people like to take it upon themselves to fill this role. I have had friends harassed at hotels when men and women share a room – regardless of the known, unknown or suspected sleeping arrangements, or martial status. Egyptians must always travel with their marriage certificate. I have heard of brides and grooms being turned away from their hotel room on their wedding night – still dressed in their wedding clothes – for not having the proper documentation that says they can share a room.

And yet, these “police” have no problem with women – Egyptian and foreigners – being glared at, taunted and harassed constantly on the street.

My reaction to CEO Junior may seem harsh to some. But a woman - or more specifically this woman - can only take so much of this hypocrisy. This is a culture that supports a man having 4 wives and you still want to monitor the comings and goings of guests in my apartment?! Well, get your notebooks ready. I'll give you something to talk about.

So hell yeah, I will relish in the joys of being a proud and “Improper Woman.” I am thankful that I can be and will continue to be such a woman for all those who cannot.

An Independent Woman

I bet some of you thought, “Wow! What an independent (and crazy) woman Julie is to be moving off to the Middle East by herself.”

I know I thought that – probably even a bit too arrogantly. But since I arrived here I have felt anything but independent – really.

I am continually shocked at how many different people I need to rely on to get anything done here. At times it’s maddening. I just want to do whatever it is by myself and get it over with – but I can’t. I honestly can’t do everything I need and want to do alone. And that is really hard for me to admit and accept. It is something that I struggle with daily here. I try to see it as a growth experience, and clearly one I need to learn because it just keeps coming up. But I will honestly admit I’m an impatient student at times.

A really good example of this came up when I was planning for a long weekend away. I just wanted to get out of the city and see something new. It started with talking with my Arabic speaking coworker, who then volunteered to call her travel agent friend to get me the best hotel deal on this holiday weekend. It took about 3-4 calls between the two and in turn the hotel of their choice to get me an $80/night room for $45.

I then had to call a friendly driver I know and ask him to go to the train station and buy me a train ticket and to arrange to pick me up the morning of my departure. Train tickets must be purchased in advance in person at the train station, only. It’s much easier to hire someone who knows what their doing and where they are going then to get a taxi there and back myself.

I then had to arrange for another taxi to take me to the above mentioned travel agent to pick up the hotel “voucher.” The voucher is this handwritten piece of paper that says I have paid the travel agent the agreed upon price and guarantees me a room when I arrive at the hotel. These vouchers are required. VERY few hotels accept online reservation; and everyone prefers cash.

Since I was dealing with a new taxi driver with limited English and my Arabic is still lacking, I then had to enlist a neighbor to translate and help direct the driver to a location where I had never been before. And just for good measure the helpful apartment building security guard looked on and chimed in as he saw fit regarding directions - in Arabic-only of course.

At the travel agency there were two men both named Mohamed awaiting my arrival – late of course. Believe it or not I haven’t been on time for anything since I got here which is SO unlike me. But the Egyptian time warp story is for another day. So these two businessmen could not complete one task without the other - it was a little like Laurel and Hardy. “Pass me the phone, no the other phone that is actually closer to me then you. I can’t find the number dial this number for me. I have a pen but where is the voucher receipts?” It was weird. They of course called back the hotel again to finalize everything. They gave me a story about, “Oh you’re late. Not sure we can guarantee that same rate anymore, blah, blah, blah.” They did.

I count 8 people and I still haven’t gone anywhere yet!

It's exhausting. Oh, and I can’t forget the call to the coworker’s family who lives in this new location who will be my “tour guide” upon arrival. That’s 9!

Admittedly, and thankfully not all outings are this complex but this is a pretty typical experience.

I am truly grateful for all those that help me every day. Really I am. I could not get things done without them. And some of these helpers have become good friends, likeShaimaa and Hamdy (who you’ve heard a lot about).

But some days I long for the ability to just hop in my own car and just go.

Welcome Spring - Alexandria

Despite never being in Alexandria before, my first visit felt nostalgic.

Alex is a short 2.5 hour train ride north. It is a much smaller city than Cairo, only about 3 million people. I found it more manageable as it appears to be planned on a basic grid-system. It’s cleaner and quieter. And it hugs the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. It reminded me of so many coastal cities I have lived before – Boston, San Diego, Honolulu, Portland, Old Orchard Beach.

I shake my head every time I try to figure out how the heck I end up in one of the biggest cities in the world in the middle of the desert. ??? And yet here I am, making the best of my crazy life.

I had a nice visit in Alex. Thankfully, I had a local guide to show me around to the sites, the cafes, and the local fish restaurants - where they cook everything in the street. I thought their citadel looked an awful lot like Castle Island in South Boston.















I was there for the first day of Spring which is a national holiday here. The beaches and boardwalks and parks were PACKED on this day and except for the clothing it look a lot like San Diego or OOB on the first warm day of the season. The streets are full of cruising cars and everyone is joyous and festive.

The only difference is the sunbather’s costumes. Muslim women will sit on the beach fully dressed, head scarf and all; if they swim at all they will do so also fully dressed or wear a bathing suit that looks like a full-length diver’s wetsuit. Men wear whatever they want, of course.

At these city beaches it was almost exclusively Egyptians. Not wanting to be the only foreigner in a “normal” bathing suit, I chose not to swim. I get too much unwanted attention as it is - no need to add more skin to the equation. But no worries.

Instead, I learned that they don’t really like swimmers at 1 am. It’s “forbidden” apparently. But in Egypt a little baksheesh – tipping – goes a long way; and I blissfully frolicked in the Mediterranean Sea in the cover of darkness, and under the glaring eyes of only one security guard instead of hundreds.

It was chilly but TOTALLY worth it.