Saturday, October 24, 2009

Egyptian Culture (and other ramblings)


I thought it was about time for a comparison of the similarities/differences between Egyptian and American culture (and just in time for me to leave for Turkey!).

-“Egyptian time” – In Egypt (like many other countries of the world), you can say a specific time, but don’t expect people to begin showing up until at least a half hour later…if not longer. (Egyptian time comes in handy when you try to explain why the bus is a good two hours late. Yes this has happened.)
-Women – Egyptian women tend to spend most of their time in the home and don’t venture outside as often as the men. In addition, it is improper for me (and other women) to make eye contact with strange men on the street. This took a lot of getting used to at first.
-Traffic in Cairo is insane. There are no good ways to describe it, other than chaos. (By the way, I’m much more likely to get hit by a car here in Cairo than anything else that might happen to me.)
-The weekend is Friday/Saturday instead of Saturday/Sunday. People here go to church or to the mosque on Fridays and I have classes on Sundays.
-Egyptians are very generous and hospitable. On more than one occasion, I have been invited in off the street for tea or a meal and invited to engagement parties or weddings…
-Egyptian food is amazing! I love all of it and am excited to try to recreate some of what I’ve learned in cooking class for everyone when I return.
-Arabic is hard. But, learning Arabic has given me greater appreciation for what my refugee students are going through as they are trying to learn English.
-Plumbing and Electricity are definitely blessings. My flat has had plenty of problems with these two things, including losing electricity for almost 24 hours. I don’t know how my host family lives in the summer without air conditioning.
-Belly dancing is looked down upon in some forms; however, most Egyptians (men and women) know how and are quite good. I, on the other hand, need lots more practice.
-Ethnicities and backgrounds are quite varied in Cairo. For example, there is a significant refugee population (Sudanese, Eritrean, Somalian…), some of which I teach (soon to be taught) every Tuesday. They are beautiful people – all of which hope to be able to return to their homeland someday.
-I’ve never appreciated the various forms of precipitation so much. Every once it a while, it will feel like it’s going to rain, but it never does. I’m looking forward to lots of rain (inshahallah) in the spring.
-I’ve also missed the fall colors…trees in Cairo don’t change colors quite the same way that they do in Iowa.
-The pollution in Cairo is incredible – there are days that a thick smog descends over the whole city (like a fog). Statistics say that living in Cairo is equivalent to smoking a pack of cigarettes a day…


It’s hard to believe that I have very little time left in Cairo before Travel Component begins. Don’t get me wrong. I’m very excited about traveling through the Middle East and meeting even more new people, but I will definitely miss Agouza and the Egyptians that I’ve met here. I know I’ll have a few days left when we return from travel to be able to say goodbye to everyone I’ve met, but I don’t think it’s long enough – especially when we’ll have to be writing papers during that time, too…

I’ve had even more deep conversations with a broad variety of the MESPers, and I’ve realized that I’m not as alone in many of my struggles than I had thought that I was. Many of us are thinking about the bigger questions – What do I do after I graduate? What are my greatest fears? How do I follow a Middle Eastern Jesus (as opposed to a Western one)? What are the causes of Middle Eastern developmental issues? Is religion the biggest obstacle to minority and women’s rights? (The last two questions are essays for the Peoples and Cultures class.)

Most of the time I can’t believe that I’ve only known these people for less than two months…. We’ve done a wonderful job of living together as a community (in my opinion) and the question now becomes – How will I adjust back to life in the States without all of them?

On another note, people should read the book Taxi by Khaled Khamissi (I believe that’s how his last name is spelled). It’s a fictional collection of stories that have been told by taxi drivers throughout the city. I haven’t read the whole thing yet, just bits and pieces, but in my opinion, it gives a better insight into the lives of the Cairo population.

This weekend won’t be too exciting for me. I have 3 papers due on Monday and an oral/written Arabic final on Sunday. Needless to say, most of the weekend will be spent in my flat working out my opinions on development, human rights, and Muslim/Christian relations. Hopefully I’ll be more coherent and write better than I think I will. I can already tell that I’m out of practice with writing papers…

Tonight I’m watching an episode of Supernatural (Abby says so). The two of us are using it as motivation to get farther on our papers.

What I’m Currently Reading: The Body and the Blood: The Middle East’s Vanishing Christians and the Possibility for Peace by Charles M. Sennott

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