Hello from Cairo!
It's 6:30 PM local time on Friday. Our plane landed about 12:30 AM this
morning. Some quick advice: if you ever visit Egypt, read up in advance! At
the airport everything went very smoothly; the baggage claim was not the
ordeal that our reading had made it out to be, and we were not assailed by
taxi drivers grabbing our bags out of our hands. But this might be because we
knew to be on guard against such tactics. As we waited for Zareena to show up,
we were asked left and right if we needed a taxi, and three different airport
employees were persistent in trying to help us phone our friend or arrange a
taxi. Egyptians pride themselves on good hospitality to the extent that they
can come off as pushy. It was all very friendly, but we knew better than to
say "thanks" for their attempts to help, as this very often signals to them
that you are agreeing to pay them for their services.
Zareena showed up and argued with three different cab drivers over a fair
fare (you must haggle for absolutely every single transaction in Egypt, and
Zareena seems to be a pro already) until a fourth driver overheard her terms
and came up with an acceptable offer. As Zareena explains, the difference was
pretty insignificant (the 15 minute cab ride cost around a dollar), but if the
driver thinks he can get away with charging extra right off the bat, then
he'll try to charge even more once you've reached your destination. To an
American budget, it's not so much about the money; more about the principle,
and establishing up front that you're not someone who can be taken advantage
of. (While tourists are especially victimized by this kind of treatment, it's
apparently prevalent in all of Egyptian society. Prices are almost never
posted for anything, because everything, including museum admissions, is up
for bargaining!)
The cab ride was quite an experience. They really don't use headlights over
here. Good thing Cairo is very well lit! There really aren't any lanes, and
red lights are completely ignored, so everyone just flashes their lights and
honks their horns to alert others that they're coming or passing. Outside our
window is a constant parade of honking cars, even at 3 in the morning. Never
have I seen this kind of traffic at absolutely all hours of the night. It's no
surprise then that Cairo is the most densely populated area on earth,
exceeding even Manhattan. Thankfully, all the horn honking is very short beeps
(it's not intended to be obnoxious, but helpful), so we had no problem falling
asleep to it once we settled in.
We slept in until 1 PM (oops) and went to the Pharonic Village, an attempt
to recreate what life was like in Ancient Egypt. A little antiseptic, but a
good way to start since it involved a lot of sitting down and guided tours.
Plus lunch on a little cruise a ways down the Nile. High rises line the river
as far as the eye can see, and right next to them, on the water's edge, are
tiny homes where families do subsistence farming. Very strange to see them
working their fields almost in the shadow of 20 story apartment buildings.
So far, everyone is very friendly to us, especially when they learn we are
Americans. And then they're just ecstatic to learn that we learned a
smattering of Arabic (hello, thank you... that's about it). Zareena says that
in her experience, Egyptians love American people but dislike American
government. So if we avoid discussing politics, we should be just fine.
We're resting now before we go out for dinner. The day was very pleasant in
the high 60s, but nightfall brings a chill in the air. This is a very dusty
city and the dust hangs in the air to combine with the smog, so streetlights
always seems to have a yellow glow around them. The mixture of beauty and
ugliness is quite striking, but I have only seen very little of this enormous
city. Tomorrow I think we might go to the Egyptian Museum and see King Tut's
treasures. Hope you're all doing well!
Salaams from El-Qahira! Today (Saturday. I have to keep reminding myself
that) we were going to go to the Egyptian Museum but it was such a nice day
we decided to spend some time outside. We went to the largest phallic symbol
in Cairo. It's a big old tower called Cairo Tower and it has a revolving
restaurant at the top (which we didn't eat at). But we did make it to the top
and walked around (me too! no phobic attacks!) It was a clear day and we could
see all the way to the pyramids.
After the tower we went to downtown Cairo. Zareena is worried about the
quality of the tour guides at the Museum so she's looking for an Egyptologist
for us. We spent some time in one travel agency and got see Zareena grill the
potential Egyptologist. I think Zareena must have been trained by the KGB
because she had ways to make this woman talk. Jeremy casually mentioned that
he was thirsty in English and we were immediately given pepsis.
Then we went to this other travel place where Zareena's friends with the
owners to see about day trips we could take. After having water, tea, and coke
the owner decided to take us out to dinner along with two other Americans,
both of whom are Fulbright scholars. Joseph is an archaeologist from Detroit
(he asked me if I've ever eaten at La Shish because it's the
best) and Murad is writing his third novel. He just graduated from Harvard
Law and his first novel should be coming out soon. Amazingly enough, Jeremy
had just heard him read an essay on NPR. It was a delicious meal of koshri
which is pasta, rice, and lentils. I can't believe how hospitable and poetic
these people are. Jeremy and I have heard several times now that our presence
has "lit up Egypt" and the constant food and beverage pushing is unbelievable.
Once these people are introduced to you as a friend of a friend they
completely bend over backwards to try to make you feel welcome.
Tonight Jer and I are going to go window shopping next door at the Four
Seasons. We want to buy all this stuff (kind of unusual for us) and we don't
know how we'll bring it all home.
Tomorrow we'll go to the Egypt Museum with our Egyptologist and see King
Tut's treasures. On Monday we'll visit a few mosques and go the Khan al
Khalili Bazaar. On Tuesday we'll do the pyramids. When will we find time to
buy the inflatable camels?
