Advertisement
Published: December 7th 2005
Edit Blog Post
Pyramids fan club
One of the many groups of schoolgirls that mobbed us at the Pyramids. (Photo courtesy of Steve Dunn)
So many people have written about the Pyramids that it seems highly unlikely a mere mortal like me can add anything noteworthy. But maa'lesh...
"Good brice"
The hassle and hustle at the Pyramids is the stuff of legend, so I was fully prepared to be hounded within an inch of my life. My British flatmate (yes, I'm picking up new English phrases) and I took a bus from downtown out to the Giza plateau, and as the Pyramids came into view, looming over the hazy horizon, a few touts got on the bus and tried to sell us camel and horse rides, but it wasn't high pressure at all.
After a chaotic scene buying tickets to get into the main plateau area, we immediately drew the attention of various scammers, camel and horse owners, trinket sellers, and so on. Arabic does not have the "p" sound, so the pitch went something like this:
Hustler: "Hello meester. Where you from?"
Foreigner: "I'm ."
Hustler: " number one. Want camel ride? Good brice -- 30 bounds."
Whereupon we'd walk off and the price would suddenly drop, and keep dropping the further we walked away. It became interesting to let the hustlers try to guess our nationalities; I was pegged as Russian, Italian, and German (?!) by various people.
"We love America!"
But all in all, as long as you kept your wits about you, the hassle was harmless (I experienced far worse in Morocco). In fact, the "hassle" I experienced at Giza was of a different, completely unexpected sort: schoolgirls. Maybe it was the sunglasses I was wearing, but wave upon wave of school groups mobbed around and clamored for attention. My British companion observed with amusement "you get all the girls, I get all the camel drivers." Most likely, it was a chance for these kids to interact with a foreigner (particularly male) away from adult supervision.
One group of girls, probably 12-14 years old, particularly sticks in my mind. They all spoke English quite well, and I thought they were going to go out of their minds when I told them I was American. "AH! What movies do you like? Who is your favorite actor? We love America!" they said excitedly. They were also huge fans of the TV series "Friends". I can only imagine (and hope) that they don't fully understand all of the jokes and innuendoes in that show, and actually like the show for the image it presents -- young professionals living in a spacious, clean and modern apartment in New York City. The worldwide reach of America's mass media is truly frightening...
Another group of schoolboys discussed the usual things guys talk about the world over: cars, soccer (football), and girls. They were impressed that I had my own car, and even more impressed that I knew the name of some Egyptian soccer teams. For approximately the thousandth time this trip I answered the question "are you married?" One of the boys (I say "boy", but he was probably 15 or so) tried to give me a 25-piaster note as a present (about 5 cents worth). No way was I going to accept money from kids, particularly as a "rich" Westerner! But to refuse a gift in Arab culture is equally bad. So I came upon the idea of writing a message to them on the note instead: "To my Egyptian friends -- Greetings from America -- Chris." They crowded around me and watched attentively as I wrote every word.
Many of these kids expressed a strong desire to go to America, and I can't help but think that many of these same kids will grow up to be less enthusiastic about America, particularly after they become more politically aware. I honestly believe that a lot of the youth admires America, but something changes by the time they reach adulthood. I'll leave it to you to draw your own conclusions as to what might cause those changes in their perceptions.
The Pyramids
Enough rambling; I suppose I should actually talk about the Pyramids and Sphinx. The Pyramids, in short, are huge, and the whole scene is surreal (and chaotic). I grew up looking at pictures of the Pyramids and dreaming of one day seeing them, and now that they were right in front of me I couldn't quite believe it. Looking off into the distance at Cairo and the desert, I found myself looking back over my shoulder to make sure they were still there.
What is left of the Pyramids is actually the skeleton; they used to be covered in smooth limestone, so they would have actually looked like gleaming, smooth-white crystals out in the middle of the desert. Now, however, Cairo sprawl has encroached on one side, and the limestone covering is long gone (except at the top of one of the pyramids) so you must use your imagination to picture what the whole area must have looked like over 4,000 years ago.
We did not go into any of the pyramids; the Egyptian government, in a bid to help their preservation, has limited entry to about 300 people a day, and the tickets sell out very quickly. Maa'lesh. We also did not take up any of the offers to ride camels or horses, preferring to walk instead. We also did not take up offers (scams?) to allow us to climb the pyramids, which is supposedly strictly forbidden. Saying "I believe in the preservation of the pyramids" (in Arabic nonetheless) stopped those hustlers cold...
The Sphinx is looking like it has seen better days, and to be honest, it was much smaller than I had imagined. Still, like the pyramids, I found it hard to believe it was right there in front of me.
Our trip to the pyramids was last Friday, December 2, and part one of my introduction to all things Pharaonic. Saturday, December 3, was part two, when I went to the Egyptian Museum. To be continued...
Advertisement
Tot: 0.157s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 5; qc: 44; dbt: 0.1131s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Jon
non-member comment
Schoolgirls, eh? I underestimated the worth of Egypt beyond the obvious historical value. I wonder: do people speak well of the US hoping you'll give them money or something? Is it possible, once out of earshot, they all curse you and your country? Or, is it possible, Bush and our media have lied to us and the whole world doesn't actually hate us?