[my entries are a little delayed due to an internet outage in Egypt, see the following for details http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iRQi2agl1ORyqre-b3ZTP83Zt_EwD8UH80D80]. Also, the pictures will have to wait.
Well, let’s start with a few simple lessons
1) Don’t drink the tap water. Natives don’t do it, and I don’t either. So I’ve taken to chugging 1.5 liter bottles and cutting out the middleman of the glass. PS: I pay 1.70 pounds for 1.5 liters of familiar brands. Americans: You’re getting RIPPED OFF.
2) If someone on the street is being unusually nice to you, they probably want you to buy something, so don’t trust too much.
3) Don’t get conned. JUST SAY NO. FIRMLY. And perhaps run away.
Well, you see, one day we went to campus to do registration stuff, more of the aforementioned logistics. Then I went out in pursuit of lunch with Jules, Courtney and their 2 roommates Emily and Tina and Ryan from William and Mary. Lately we’ve been wandering around into what I call “real Cairo,” not Zamalek, not the AUC compound, but parts of the city where there are no “McFood” places, almost no women and certainly no other foreigners in sight. Today a guy started talking to some members of the group, and then someone (cough cough, Megan) let slip we were looking for food. So he wants to take us to a “traditional food” restaurant, and we know better. It was everything they told us NOT to do in Orientation, was to follow a stranger, but hey, we’re in a group, there’s a guy with us, whatever. He said “why are you hesitating, I don’t want anything from you?” LIE. We get roped into following for a while to a restaurant, sat down, and he (Solomon) sat down with us. And ordered for us, and stayed the entire time. So we ate falafel, and it was good. And he kept staying. Tina, whose parents are Egyptian had heard him say something about a papyrus shop, and understood a little exactly where this was going: we end up buying a stranger lunch and then we go to his papyrus shop to buy things, and our buddy Solomon gets a kickback from the restaurant for taking us there. . So we keep repeating “we’re late, we’re late for class.” After lunch, which was cheap and delicious anyway, we finally try to break from his company, and when he realizes we’re not coming to the papyrus shop, he started getting mad, and said “bloody Egyptian” (referring to Tina) under his breath. But it at least ended OK. . Stupid Americans got conned. But it could have been much worse. Lessons learned.
4) Don’t drink out of the metal cups. They probably don’t wash them. Check all other cups. In general, we probably don’t want to know what we’re eating or how it’s prepared most of the time, but there again it hasn’t killed us, only made me stronger. All I know is I’m eating very unhealthily and need to find a way to have a balanced diet in this country ASAP.
5) Don’t let the men get to you. Especially when wandering through “Real Cairo,” the comments come frequently. Most of the time I can’t understand what they’re saying, but I can certainly see that the men of Misr probably need “Cairo-practors” (a shout-out to my little cousin Christina who suggested the joke) from the whiplash of staring at every woman, and especially white/foreign woman in sight. I’ll probably write more on this later, but I’ve learned thus far that you have to approach this irritating aspect of Egyptian culture with a sense of humor and an attitude of “that’s their problem,” and go about your day with caution and modesty. I know it’s not personal, it’s just that men are pigs J. One guy the other day shouted “I Love You,” which was rather sweet sexual harassment, all in all. Needless to say, we didn’t return the affection.
6) Don’t stop looking out for the next lesson of what not to do. Also, don’t ignore your better judgment.
Ta ta for now,
Luuraaa
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