Trying not to be a tourist

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On Sunday I met up with the rest of the interns at the Egyptian Museum after my meeting with Fauzia, the previous presidential intern at the Gerhart Center. The museum is huge and I was not able to cover it all. One of my favorite artifacts was the mask of Tutankhamun’s mummy. It was probably the first exposure I had to Egyptians when I was in elementary school, and to see it up close and personal gave me goose-bumps. Another highlight was seeing the curators wrap up a mummy and place it back into the coffin. Although the signs at the museum state that picture taking is prohibited and you should check your camera at the entrance, many of the police officers will allow you to take pictures in return for bak-sheesh (a tip). Believe me, you will recognize the police officers - they wear white uniforms and there are hundreds in the Museum and on the streets of Cairo.

Orientation starts tomorrow, so most of my sight-seeing comes to a conclusion for now. However, I would like to tell you about Cairo, its lifestyle, people, and streets. These aspect you might not notice or experience when the tourist agency buses the foreigners from one Egyptian site to another. This is important because I am not a tourist but a resident. During the work week I have started using the taxi’s by myself, communicating with the driver the few Arabic words I have learned. My conversation:

Me: Ig-gama-l-amrikiyya (American University in Cairo) midaan it-tahriir (Liberation Square).
Driver: (nods head)

Child: One pound mister, one pound.
Me: La (No).
Driver:
Me: Shimaal (Left) or Yimiin (Right) or ala tuul (Straight ahead).
Me: Hina kwayyis (Drop me off here (literal translation: here good)) Sukran
*Throw in a lot of honking and that concludes your Cairo taxi drive around the city. The honking is worse then NYC!

Things to bring to your attention: (1) The black taxi’s without any air conditioning do not have a meter. You should know what the fare usually costs. For example my ride from AUC Hostel in Zamalek to the AUC Main campus in Tahrir square should run me about LE5-6, which converts to around $1 USD (LE = Egyptian pounds). Looking like a tourist usually inflates the price to LE10-12. I have also read that during Ramadan, fares go up. (2) If you are lucky they will not negotiate the price during your ride. Or you may want to negotiate before you get in the taxi. (3) You hand them the money and walk away, because some drivers will start arguing with you. (4) There are yellow taxi cabs that have meters, air conditioning, and usually will be cheaper if you are traveling a longer distance.

The streets have a lot of debris but they tend to be maintained near the hotels and other tourist sites. The countries high use of leaded gasoline is a reason for being one of the most polluted cities in the world. Many of the cars on the streets are old European cars that cannot use unleaded oil, because of the catalytic converter installed in 1975 on American cars when public health organizations discovered the health hazard that leaded emissions create (Source: Wikipedia, where else?).

The influence of many different countries in Cairo is apparent when looking at the architecture. The city’s “capital building” was built by the Russians. All the hotels have a unique feature, the Hyatt with its rotating restaurant on the top floor, is one example. The appearance of apartment buildings is varied, depending on the part of the city. Zamalek and Garden City (locations of ex-pats and embassies) have more upscale apartment buildings. Areas on the outskirts of the city tend to have apartment buildings that are put together with whatever materials are available. These apartments are never completely finished, apparent when you see the rebar sticking out of the top of the building. The reasoning behind this is because the family keeps on adding levels to accommodate future generations. The city’s 20 million citizens is also reason for tight living conditions in portions of the city.
Most of the orientation did not pertain to the interns. They did provide three one-hour lessons of spoken Arabic of Cairo. After our first day of orientation Rowaida treated us to dinner at The Four Seasons Hotel. The following evening we met with two of last years interns for dinner. Both of them were still living in Cairo, one is teaching English at an International School and the other working in the same office in which he did his internship. The previous year’s intern in my center is still working there. It’s nice to see that they do have opportunities after this experience. Thursday hit and the interns were ready to hit the city to explore the nightlife. After all, Thursday is the start of the weekend. After walking along the Nile trying to find some place mentioned in someone’s Lonely Planet, we resorted to the very upscale, very expensive, Mojito at the Nile Hilton. The bar/club is on the roof and has amazing views of the city. After a night of ridiculous dancing we were ready to get back to our apartments and prepare for Felucca Friday. AUC rented out 5 feluccas (sailboats) loaded them up with food and beverages and we sailed the Nile for several hours, eating, mingling, and enjoying the cool breeze of the Nile.

Before starting work on Sunday several of the interns and I wanted to make one extra sightseeing trip. We decided to explore the Citadel which was the seat of the government until it moved in the 1860’s. The most noticeable part of the Citadel is one of the three mosques, the largest being the Mohamed Ali. We also wondered around the Military and Police museums. Later that night we attended a “Garden Party” at the Provost’s House where we had amazing food! I feel that all this week we have been provided with great food. Tomorrow is my first day at work!

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