Impressions of Egypt

I had mentioned in my first blog entry that I would take you back to my first impressions. Well, here is a list of things that I have seen from my time here thus far that I have found to be interesting, head shaking, or at times, downright mind blowing.

Women veiled from head to toe in black, and I mean they are covered even with gloves and the only thing you see are slits in their head covering. Imagine this in 100 degree weather. There are also women who wear headscarves with skin tight clothing below their neck.

Dingy brown buildings everywhere from years of pollution. (Once) magnificent villas in crumbling disrepair that tells of a very different era. There is one that sits right across from our living room window.

People walking on the side or median of freeways with cars flying beside them. The really freaky thing is that these people will sometimes cross the freeway. Also, people walking in the middle of the desert where no life seems to exist. What I’d like to know is how do they get to their destination before passing out from heat and exhaustion.

Pedestrians never using sidewalks. Most people just walk on the street right beside the moving cars. I have since realized why. The sidewalks are in really bad shape. The pavement is uneven, often cracked and torn up from neglect. They are also so high off the ground, at least a foot off the street. It makes you wonder why they even bother putting in sidewalks.

Donkey carts and herds of sheep and other animals on the streets in residential as well as business areas. I always wonder where these animals are kept at night. Most people live in apartments, so where do the animals go? The outskirts of the city consists of the barren desert, so they can’t possibly live out there.

Potholes the size of craters and speed bumps the size of small hills. You truly have to be alert when driving or your tires can get mangled in no time. And you could be four wheeling when you least expect it.

Policemen and military personnel with machine guns everywhere you look in the streets. Quite alarming when I first arrived. Now they are just part of the landscape. There are also security guards who are often napping in front of apartment buildings. And traffic police posted on street corners who do nothing but eat their bread and beans.

Narrow residential streets with cars parked on both sides of the street. And when you find a wider street, there will be cars double or triple parked. So you are often driving in streets that are just wide enough for your car to pass (although we frequently have to turn our side mirrors in so they do not get damaged).

This is certainly not an exhaustive list of what used to be unfamiliar sights to us. It’s an adventure to go outside our apartment everyday. Everything that we experience here has given new meaning to how differently we live in the world.

Ramadan Kareem (Happy Ramadan)

The holiest month in the Muslim world is Ramadan. And it has arrived. Egypt is a country composed of 90% Muslim, so life is interestingly different at this time.

Ramadan means many things. Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset for approximately 30 days. Fasting during the month of Ramadan is one of the five pillars of faith in Islam. Fasting means abstention from food, drink (of every kind, even water), smoking, and sexual relations. It seems unfathomable that Egyptians could give up smoking since the majority of them partake in the habit. And it seems even more unimaginable to not even drink one drop of water, especially given the heat in Egypt. But thankfully, the weather has been much cooler since the day before Ramadan. Just a coincidence, you think?

Ramadan also brings an air of festivities in Egypt. It is a time of reflection and gathering with family and friends. It is traditional that Muslims will break their fast (called an Iftar) at sunset with friends and/or family. So there are invitations for the Iftar, much like our Thanksgiving and Christmas. And there are lighted lanterns (fanous - like the one in the picture below) and colored lights hung outside homes.


We had great fun last night, the first night of Ramadan, driving around looking at the various fanous around our neighborhood. Hannah was, of course, excited to see them. She even mentioned to me yesterday morning that she wanted to "do" Ramadan, to which I asked what does that mean, and she replied that she wanted to "not eat or drink like the Muslims." I told her she was too young to fast but that we would have fuul which is a bean dish that Egyptians eat at a meal before sunrise (called a Suhoor) which supposedly fills their tummies up until the Iftar. I say supposedly because we had fuul at noon and I was hungry no less than three hours later. I tell you, these Muslims have incredible stamina.

Ramadan is also a time of charity. There are tents set up randomly throughout the streets by wealthy families, companies, or churches for the exclusive purpose of feeding the poor. This is done throughout this month every night at sunset. Not a bad idea for us to adopt in the West, don't you think?

Prior to Ramadan, we were told by many sources that traffic gets absolutely psychotic from 1 to 5 in the afternoon when ravenous drivers are racing home to get ready for their iftar. I was even warned by our maid, Mona, an Egyptian Muslim, to stay off the streets between those times to prevent bodily injury. Believe me, I didn't mess around, I listened to her. Sure enough, traffic outside our windows was crazy during those times. And then at around 6 (time for iftar), the streets were eerily quiet. So to all those who claim that the traffic in Cairo never lets up -- ha! they obviously don't know everything about Egypt!

This Is Cairo, Part I

Scenes of everyday life in Cairo.
(You can enlarge the photos by clicking on the picture itself)


Man dressed in traditional long robe (galabeya) and head scarf on a small motorized bike. There are many more scenes like this of the old mixing with the new. People in Egypt are dressed in traditional as well as modern clothing. I was told that men who wear galabeyas do not generally occupy high-paying jobs. The only exception to this is that many Muslim men will wear their galabeyas to the mosque on Fridays, which is deemed their holy day.


Garbage, garbage, everywhere. This is typical of the streets in Cairo. Even in Maadi, where we live, which is considered to be one of the nicest suburbs. It's no wonder since we routinely see people littering on the streets...sad.


That's a donkey cart carrying watermelons to the market. Donkey carts are everpresent here. It is a common sight to see a Mercedes driving along side of a donkey cart.


Yes, that is the back of a Chevrolet truck which are everywhere on the roads.


People carrying "things" on their head. Sometimes things consist of a tray of fresh bread, large bags of "stuff", and who knows what else. Very cool, need to practice this at home.