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Published: January 7th 2009
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I don’t know whether it was me always trying to look at the positives of situations or due to the social circles I run-in, but I have failed to described, in this blog, a encompassing picture of Cairo. I feel that many people who visit Cairo or the region tend to focus on the negative aspects such as pollution, filth, traffic, poverty, and terrorism. Or they only come to see the main attraction. And since these are the dominate views, in some way, I wanted to highlight the aspects that make Cairo and Egypt wonderful in my blog. However, due to a comment I encountered today, I wanted to shed light on the current situation in Egypt. The following conclusions have been made from personal observations and discussions with Egyptian natives.
I’ve described to some people the two worlds that I participate in - the AUC community and the Cairo community. The AUC community is filled with English-speaking, affluent, intelligent, wealthy individuals, while the Cairo community, for the most part, lives in poverty. In the previous posts, I have been raving about the grand dinners we have at five-star hotels, in addition to invitations to private events such as Obama’s
victory celebrations at the Grand Hyatt, book signing event by world-renowned author Alaa Al Aswany, or film releases at the French Cultural Center in Cairo - all of which I’m not used to in the States. I feel that my interactions with the Cairo community have been limited to taxi drivers, store workers, and waiters at restaurants. However, I cannot discuss with these Cairiens what their opinions are on certain issues because of the language barrier.
Everyday, I admit the many privileges I have. Although conscious of my privilege in the States, Cairo amplifies my privileges one-hundred times. The city is over populated and cannot support so many people - every nine months the country gains 1 million more people. There are several “squatter settlements” that have formed outside of the city. Due to the lack of housing, those without a house have created “homes” out of scrap materials in these settlements. People are living in close quarters where diseases and bacteria can spread quickly and create many health problems.
It’s also difficult to employ so many people and as a result, the unemployment rate is 10-12%. I believe the public and private sector feels they have a
Cairo: Hustle & Bustle
Although the pic is blury, I like it. It shows the busy streets near the Ramses train station. responsibility to increase the amount of positions at their company/organization. I have come to this conclusion because there are several employees working a particular position that only requires one/two person(s). For instance, in the hostel where I live, there are two people that work the front desk, two security guards outside the entrance (who require AUC students to sign in), one security guard at the entrance (who checks the students bags for restricted items, mainly alcohol) and then two to four more security guards in the lobby. Everywhere in Cairo, you will find Tourist Police: probably one or two on every other corner in the downtown and Zamalek areas. Another example would be at the duty free shop. There is one employee who writes down the items you would like to purchase. Once you have completed your list, you take the list to another employee who checks your passport and prints out receipts for the items. You go to another man who makes you sign the receipts and stamps your passport (indicating that you have used your duty free allotment). After this station you go to another employee to finally pay for the items you would like to purchase, but
then you have to go back to the first employee to collect your items. Just as soon as you think you've completed your checkout, there is one more employee at another station, who bags your items. Although this situation may sound ridiculous, I have become numb to such protocol.
Egypt is a classist society. It seems that you are born into your class and there is very little room to move up or down in society. It's common for people/families to have (vehicle) drivers, housemaids, and offices to have office assistants. To this day, I find it very difficult to have the office assistant make me a cup of tea/coffee and deliver it to my office. In one discussion with a co-worker, she mentioned the polarization of classes in Egypt. She attributes this polarization to the corrupt government and thinks the middle class will vanish soon unless there is an intervention of some sort. Another discussion I had with my Arabic language instructor, focused on the lack of power to create change in the governing of the country by the Egyptian people. The President has been ruling for 27 years, and my instructor drew attention to the fact that
citizens 35 years of age and younger have/are growing up knowing only this form of governance. It is more than likely that the current President's son will take over Egypt once the President steps down (Egypt supposedly practices democracy). The Yacoubian Building by Alaa Al Aswany is a good book that describes the corruption of government and its leaders in Egypt.
Finally, to tie this to the beginning, the comment that elicited this post focused on the interns pay. Yes, compared to US standards we are extremely underpaid. However, the internship program provides us with a beautiful apartment and covers utilities, internet and general maintenance. Therefore, our only main expense is food, which our salary easily covers (unless you eat out at more up-scale restaurants each day). Compared to the custodial workers at the university, we receive double their monthly wage. However, the custodial workers must pay for rent and other expenses. I hope that the intern who made this comment will realize that we are privileged and fortunate, because there are many people in the city and country that do not have a suitable shelter or even a house, food to eat everyday, and the many opportunities that
we have. Also, once our internship will be over, we will most likely head back to America where we will have bigger and better opportunities, but I'm not sure if I can say the same for most Egyptians.
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