First Impressions: Misr (Egypt)

It’s strange to realize that I’ve only been in Egypt for a week and a half, and even stranger to think that I’ve only been gone 3 weeks. Not only have our days been packed to the fullest, but every day’s experiences are newer than the previous ones and it just doesn’t seem possible that I’ve crammed this much in to less than a month’s travels. I am going to be completely exhausted after 5 months of this!

When I flew with my group to Egypt, it was, in my mind, the real start to our adventures—classes began in earnest, we were finally able to unpack our suitcases, and most importantly, we were entering a culture and a country that was unfamiliar to (almost—1 exception) all of us.

When I’ve spoken to friends here on the trip, or people “back home”, I’ve tried to explain my mental adjustment here in Egypt. I really hoped that my reading project this summer would have prepared me more for the difference in culture I experienced within minutes of exiting the plane at the Cairo Airport, but the truth is, I was not prepared.

I can’t believe that, even as someone who has studied Egypt on several occasions from the social science perspective, during my mental preparations I either forgot or ignored the fact that Egypt is still considered a third world country. I feel dumb admitting this, but I guess my mental picture of Cairo—a city you hear about on the news all the time (even pre-Revolution)—was more of an Arabic-speaking NYC, or Madrid, or even Rome (you know, because of all the ruins?). Ha. Riiiight.

Not even close. Cairo is complete chaos. For you statistics-oriented people: the population density within city limits is officially 44,521 people per square mile (7 million people total). Within the larger metro area there are nearly 20 million people. Why is it so packed? Because Cairo, like all major cities in Egypt, is in the fertile Nile Valley, dwarfed by high desert on both sides. Many of those 18 million people have cars, and they go out in such numbers that there are almost always traffic jams, which means all those cars are almost always running. Oh, and that bit about being surrounded by high deserts means that all that air pollution stays there in the valley, making Cairo the third most-polluted city in the world, after Mexico City and Calcutta. Yay!

I really don’t mind the crazy traffic (seriously, insane) or even having to cross streets between cars that only consider not hitting you (which they signal with a honk—how lovely), but what I do mind most and what I had the hardest time adjusting to is the TRASH piled up EVERYWHERE. We’re staying in the AUC dorms in one of the nicest areas of the city—Zamalek—and there’s still trash EVERYWHERE. We’re talking so much trash piled up on the sidewalks that we have to walk in the street half the time. And did I mention that the streets are a wee bit dangerous and crowded too?

It’s really sad, actually. I hoped to come to Egypt and just be blown away by the beauty and the history on a daily basis, but honestly, most of the time, I’m watching my feet to make sure I don’t step in something.

They do have a garbage system. That was one of the first and biggest questions we had for our guide during our tour of the city last week. For generations, Cairo has depended on the work of the Zebediin people, (literally, trash people) who live in the slums (with 2 million of their closest friends) and have individual or family contracts with buildings downtown to take their trash away daily or weekly. Now, where do they take it? To their homes, of course, where they sort through all of it and pick out anything of worth to sell for profit. Apparently, they’ve received international “green” awards for their excellent work in recycling, but I’m sure they won’t get hygiene awards any time soon.

Of course, another big culture shock factor we’ve had to deal with is the harassment we all (even the guys) get on an extremely regular basis. According to our program leader in Egypt, Sherif, even Egyptian women are harassed (regardless of whether they wear the veil or not) when they’re out in the city. The best analogy I can come up with to explain this phenomenon is that it’s like a bunch of sexually charged adolescent boys one-upping each other without hardly any social constraints or consequences. It’s absolutely abhorrent, and honestly, annoying.

So far, I’ve been impressed with my classmates in the modest-dress department, but it doesn’t really matter how much you cover up—you’re still going to get looks and honks and over-the-top comments. The best route is to ignore them. This is not so easy for many of my Minnesota-raised peers, who are used to at least looking everyone in the eye as they pass them on the street, if not greet them too.  It’s not that difficult for me. I just think of what my parents say about skiing in trees: look at the spaces between them, not the trees themselves. This is particularly useful to keep in mind when you go to a market, especially Khan al-Khalili: the biggest market in Cairo.

Going into my experience at Khal al-Khalili, I didn’t want to have the same overwhelming feeling of unpreparedness and discomfort that I felt the first few days in Cairo, so I planned for the worst. I was certain that it would be chaotic beyond anything I’d ever seen or experienced, that I would have to physically protect both my body and wallet at all times, that I would get separated from my group due to crowds, and that I would definitely get ripped off on everything I decided to buy.

The moral of this story is: always expect the worst. Then, when it’s not that bad, you are pleasantly surprised. That’s exactly what occurred for me at Khan al-Khalili, and I had a fabulous time. It was far less chaotic than the Expo center at the Wisconsin State Fair, which is definitely the most concentrated “shopping” experience I’ve had; I never felt physically threatened nor overly suspicious about pickpockets (I did keep my purse in front of me—that’s just smart); our little group of four stayed together, helping each other bargain or walk away from “deals”; and I was pretty damn good at bartering, if I do say so myself. Watch out. I’m going to come back from this program and all you’ll hear me talk about is, “You like these earrings? I talked him down from 45 Egyptian pounds to 15!” Hopefully I’ll remember not to barter at Starbucks or the mall…

Speaking of money, we’re gonna have a really hard time transitioning to the Chinese and Korean economies at the end of our trip, because we’re already used to the super low prices in Egypt after only 10 days. Just to give you an idea, 6 Egyptian Pounds (E.P.) = $1, and we regularly get full meals for 6 EP or less. (In Luxor, we got huge falafel-filled pitas for just 1 EP each). Even still, the Egyptian population is starving. The average annual income is $6000, but for people in the slums of Cairo (which is often better-off than those in the southern villages), $500 - 1000 is considered high.

I’ve always had a really difficult time trying to understand what living under the poverty line ($2/day now, according to the UN) actually means. In the U.S., finding one meal for that amount of money is hard, not accounting for multiple meals a day or several mouths to feed. In countries like Egypt, where the poverty line translates to 12 EP, there are still over 16 million people trying to survive on despicable salaries. Some crazy econ facts:

• Public schoolteachers in Egypt are on strike right now because their current wages earn them $125/month ($200 according to the gov’t, but they don’t follow through) if they’ve worked for 20 years or more and much less if they’re newer.
• Rent prices are ridiculously high if you’re new to an apartment. However, if your grandparents started renting an apartment in the 1950s, you can pay that 1950 amount as long as the property stays in the family, so people not only stay put, but they fight between relatives for small studio and 1-room apartments. 
• What resource does Egypt have in so much abundance that it doesn’t even know what to do with? Sand. What can you make with sand? Concrete and glass. Yet, because their sand is too finely ground for these industrial processes, Egypt imports $750 million-worth of Australian sand annually.   
•  Egypt tripled its agricultural production in the last 60 years, but it isn’t enough to keep up with its growing population, despite the low 2% growth rate. It also doesn’t help that with urbanization, people are building more on fertile land, which obviously limits the crops you can grow. Family planning isn’t the issue—fertility rate is 3 kids/woman—you just can’t get rid of the huge (Egyptian-style) baby boomer population born 1970-1990 before the growth rate slowed.

But there are several amazing things about Egypt, too. For one, my group makes this place great on a daily basis.

I'm sorry there aren't any photos in this post. I'll upload a ton soon!