"America?! Yes We Can!" Part 4
Trip Start
Mar 16, 2009
1
36
47
Trip End
Jul 22, 2009
Cairo,
Egypt
Sunday, June 7, 2009
When we got back to the hotel around 5:45, much earlier than had we gone with the group, I had a chance to read Barack's speech. I thought it was overall excellent. The contrast between the way he lays out America's relationship with Islam and the way George Bush did it cannot be starker. It really can't. To go back and talk about our history back to John Adams I felt was a terrific way to start. I thought that the themes he chose to highlight and the major issues he sought to address were all apt and good choices. The order with which he addressed them as well involved solid choices. A part of me thinks he should have led with the Palestinian/Israeli conflict, but I recognize that as the American president he had to lead with our security concerns. To end with three quotes from the three holy books I also thought was brilliant. The theme of unity was refreshing and important.
I did think the speech had some flaws though. Or perhaps not the speech itself, for it was merely a speech and not a "plan," though some are saying that was the big problem with it. I asked the guy at the front desk of the hotel what he thought about the speech and got the first negative response on Obama, whichwas actually more neutral than negative. The guy essentially said "Well, I like him, but I don't think he is going to do anything." The guy was very interested that I cared what he thought, and he really wanted to know what my perspective was as well.
I think Obama's speech ultimately played so well in the Arab street because he acknowledged blatantly a lot of things that so many American politicians seem to refuse to acknowledge. He used the word "occupation" to describe the situation in the West Bank. He called the situation "intolerable." He admited that the handling of Iraq was riddled with mistakes, and came close to fully implying that the whole thing was a mistake (he essentially said that). He called out Arab governments. He pledged to work to change the prejudiced culture of America and he showed more respect than perhaps any president before to a religion that Americans in so many ways unfairly mistrust. He admitted that Iran does have a right to use nuclear power for peaceful means, if not a weapon. And he didn't mention terrorists or Islamofacists or any of the various mumbo jumbo of the Bush years. His argument with respect to the thankfully not mentioned "war on terror" was more or less flawless I believe. He also was able to discuss Arab and Palestinian responsabiity but not in a demeaning way that ignores Israeli responsability. That was absolutely crucial as a branch to the Israelis as well.
But as excited as people are, and as excited as people should be, in my opinion, by the change in tone of the speech, the change in policy will have to reflect that tone for real change in the region to occur. And that is the big question: will the policy credibly allign with the tone? I picked up the Egypt Daily in English today and that is what, for instance, Hamas leaders were saying. Obama can call the Israeli occupation intolerable, but will he use his leverage as president of the country that finances the Israeli army to end it?
What Obama offered that was incredibly refreshing was a degree of recognition that outpaces those before him, as well as an articulate argument for why solving the problems of the Middle East is in all of our interests, not just those of American empire, not just those of Authoritarian dictatorships, and not just those ot the Israelis or of the Palestinians.
But what Obama did not do is lay out what tangible steps he would take to ensure action even when his sound arguments fall short. As one Arab writer I read put it, to paraphrase, "He still has not done enough to explain why the ties to Israel are unbreakable." Jon Favereu or Rahm Emanual or Barack himself would probably argue that his description of the plight of the Jewish people and the U.S.'s relationship as a protector of the Jewish dream were enough, but as some have pointed out, while he did call the Palestinian situation intolerable, he stopped short of a full discussion of the atrocities committed against the Palestinians. While these are not on the scale of the Holocaust, to the Arab street what is happening right now in Gaza and what happens on a regular basis with reprisal raids and blockades might as well be just as bad.
So, if America's ties to Israel are unbreakable, can he or will he actually force Israel to act to end that which is intolerable? Will Israel ever learn on it's own that building illegal settlements and occupying the West Bank doesn't enhance it's security, but rather has held a people hostage for over 40 years and bred more and more hatred? The history of American involvement in the conflict has been to speak semi even handedly and then act with one hand behind its back.
His point about Arab regimes is both realistic and idealistic at the same time, and it sits some ways in contrast to his approach to Israel. He argues that he US does not have the leverage to impose its will on other nations or create artificial new democracies. And yet he expresses a faith, and that's all it seems to be, that the will of the people can ultimately overcome. The Arab street can rejoice in hearing their authoritarians called out...but the will of the people has not overcome for 28 years in Egpyt...
So what ultimately will Obama do? Will he threaten to cut the aid budgets to either Israel or Egypt if they do not get their acts together?
On other fronts, will he actually meet Iran without preconditions? Will he put tangible pressure on Israel to avoid a conflict with Iran?
The Iranian nuclear situation, however, reflects why it is still possible to remain skeptical of Obama with respect to Israel...there was no mention of Israel's illegitamite nuclear powerm or that it was in fact the first Middle Eastern country to proliferate years ago. This omission reflects that "unbreakable" bond with Israel, and we've seen what that leads to in the past: Israel doing whatever it wants and us...well...not breaking with it.
So I do think it was a brilliant speech because Obama has such skill for laying out an argument clearly and for demonstrating a vision that supports his argument. The question is: does Obama believe his argument enough and to what end is he willing to go to ensure that his argument is a reality?
It's not really a new thought to me, but my conversation with Khalid on that first night reinforced my belief that "solving" the Palestinian/Israeli conflict would have amore dramatic effect on the region and on the world than any of the, I believe it was 6 issues discussed. Because ultimately that conflict becomes anexcuse for all problems. Why should you kill Americans? Because they support the Israelis and the Israelis kill people. Why should there be authoritarian goverments? Because there must be stability and there is no peace. Why should Iran have a Nuclear bomb? Because Israel has one for protection. Why should Israel man its checkpoints? Because the Palestinians ar fighting? Why should there be a blockade in Gaza? Because the Palestinians have too many weapons? Why should the Palestinians have so many weapons? To defeat the blockade of course!
It's all a mess. Obama recognized that it's a mess with responsabilities on all sides. If Obama treats it like a mess with responsabilities on all sides in his actions like he has with his words...well then we might just get there.
Anyway...people in Egypt overall seem to really excited about what was said and really excited about the prospects for moving forward. Being American is no longer a bad thing, and it really has just about everything to do with one man. That's pretty darned incredible.
Anyway, back to Egypt, after my conversation with the guy in the hotel we had to decide whether to go to dinner on the Nile or to eat dinner out by the rooftop pool...which is when we were all sitting around and I learned one of the more annoying things about our tour. Everyone was put into Lucy and Ricky style rooms...or something even weirder. The Newlyweds Leslie and Ben were in a strange room ith a long corridor and 4 single beds... Ashley and Briana, two single girls, on the other hand, were give a room with one king sized bed. Seriously Khalid?
We went to dinner on the Nile with the same group from the boat. It was a great Western style restaurant called El Kabagi, complete with huge fans and mist machines, making it so wonderfully cool. The beer was nice and cold and they served it in cold glasses. It was a little farther walk than I expected, so when I got there nothing could have tasted better than a nice ice cold beer. I had a steak sandwich and was content. We pledged to go back the next night and Jssica practically reserved a table with our waiter Muhammad. It also turned out that the whole menu was 20% off, meaning that while it was a bit more expensive, it was still very reasonable.
So the next morning we were getting up and leaving the hotel at 6:30 so that we could cross the Nile and take donkeys to the Valley of the Kings. In Petra they offer you donkey rides everywhere because the place is enormous. The donkeys save a lot of time and effort. I wasn't sure how big the Valley of the Kings was, but I thought that was the kind of ride we wee taking...
I was wrong. I was wrong and very unhappy. Riding a donkey, like riding a camel, was for me, not fun. The lack of stirrups makes it pretty awful, and walking on a horse is just is never that good. William, my donkey, liked to stay at the back, no matter how many times I said "hop hop habibi" (giddyup my sweetheart), and was often behind Jessica's Jamaica, and Kristen's, no joke, Bob Marley.
But all of that would have been tolerable had we used the donkeys to take some route to the valley of the kings that was beautiful or that saved us time and effort or something like that. Instead we got off our boat on the othr side of the Nile, hopped on the donkeys, and walked on the road to the Valley of the Kings, passed by countless tour buses and tour groups who woke up later and got to the tombs first, and didn't get sore bottoms in the process. Riding an ass is not good for your ass. As one intersection Joe's cab drove by. I called out to him, "Hey Joe" and he leaned out, waved and called back "My brother!" I really wanted to be in his air conditioned cab.
Khalid did not ride a donkey...he rode a bike...a road bike...because we were on the road.
I would have gladly accepted another 45 minutes of sleep and an air conditioned van over an hour donkey ride to the Valley of the Kings. When we got there the place was packed...even the crazy Columbian/Aussie group had beaten us there. Petra is very expansive, but impressively the valley of the kings is tiny. There are 30 tombs packed in a very tight area and intricately layered. No need to ride a donkey places to save time and energy...actually riding the donkey wastes time and zaps energy in the heat...
When we were going in it occurred to me for the first time that maybe if I gave Khalid our student id cards he could buy our tickets for cheaper. I told him if he wanted to do that he could keep the extra money (since we just got lucky more or less that the student thing works in Egypt), but he insisted "no it's your money." He also told me about 8 times how I shouldhave been doing that with every site since the Cairo Museum...but it had just never occured to either Kristen or I, since at most of the sites Khalid gives you your ticket before you've even got your bearings... I was just a little frustrated to be reminded so many times of how I had stupidly not saved my money....
Khalid then asked about the money that was gone. I was going to just let it ride, but I told him that we'd added everything and looked everywhere and there was simply no way to account for it. I hope that everyone doesn't get fired, though I actually sort of think that Khalid won't say anything to GAP, which is and isn't frustrating. In the end, I really hope that it was just a mistake made by one bad apple, and that luckily there isn't horrific retribution. But at the same time, I think Khalid should have at least pretended he were somewhat on my side and understood me to not be a lying cheat...which is practically how he treated me.
We went into three tombs at the Valley of the Kings, one from each of the dynasties, the 18th, 19th, and 20th dynasties buried there. Everyone who goes into the valley of the kings is allowed to visit three tombs and each year there are 12 tombs open on a rotating basis for preservation purposes. Khalid told us the best tombs were closed...thanks...
The three we went in were all pretty cool. There's really nothing in there except the sarcophagus, every other treasure that was or wasn't found has been removed, but it's cool to see the narly perfectly preserve painted walls. Just about anything exposed to the elements has since faded, but inside the tobs you can see hieroglyphics and paintings with all their color and glory.
Kristen and I couldn't go to the valley of the kings and not go in King Tut's tomb...which was...you guessed it...not included. Thank goodness for the student card. It's in some ways the worst tomb. Ok, it is the worst tomb, because he didn't have time to build one. But, his stone sarcophagus is in there inside th stone box, and his mummy is there, since Howard Carter broke it's neck while removing its famous mask. Creepy but cool. Quick, but necessary.
I was not taking that donkey any further, out of anger and principle, and I refused to get on mine on the way to the alabaster workshop we were going before heading to our trip's final temple. I walked with William for a bit, but I was falling behind so William was taken over by one of the nice donkey guides. I walked and ran a bit, keeping the group in sight. If I wasn't going to ride in style, why not get excercise? But I knew at some point I'd hitch a ride, and a cab driver came by and picked me up and gave me a fre ride (he was taking around this girl from Zimbabawe) about a mile to the intersection where I caught up with Khalid on his bike. From there I got directions and walked in the bazillion degree heat. I got to the alabaster workshop, which was air conditioned, about 20 minutes before the group giving me plenty of time to read the Egypt Post english language paper. While I read that paper one of the workers on break read his Arabic paper on Obama as well. He had watched the speech. He liked it.
Kristen and I didn't buy anything at the work shop...unlike the papyrus factory.
We had one more temple to visit which Khalid said was a 15 + minute donkey ride away, so I got a bit of a head start. What I really had wanted was a motorbike ride, not a cab ride...I got my chance. I didn't quite know how far away the temple was but I was tired when this guy, in front of all his buddies, offered to take me there fo 5 pounds, less than a dollar. I thought, what the heck, another fun bike ride, but of course i only had a 100 pound note. He said he could change it though and started scrambling for 95 pounds, his friends laughing hysterically that I had taken him up on the offer and at the predicament of finding change... Finally he came back with 90 pounds, claiming he'd gve me 5 at the other end, but I told him no, he had to give me all my change back right then and there or I was walking. This led to a long argument, his friends laughing at both of us, but many showing support for me, saying in English "No, you pay him now!" Finally one walked over nd put a 5 pound note in my hand "He doesn't have change...go...thank you." It turned out it wasn't a long ride, but it was fun. I would have gone for a longer ride if the change thing hadn't taken so long.
That last temple, whose name escapes me, is one of the hottest places on earth, literally, according to the Lonely planet guide book. There is a little trolley that takes you up about 300 yards closer to the temple than the entrance.
Rather than get into the seats in back, the driver told me to sit up front with him and offered to let me drive... Then he asked me if I wanted a smoke...I told him no thanks...then he got to his real point, "You want Hashish?" Apparently all white people are in the hashish market...
We got back to the hotel around 1:00pm and Victor, Jessica, Alice, Kristen and I went back to Chez Omar, it was good.
I slept and worked on the blog all afternoon before another terrific meal at El Kabagy. This time I got Fettuchine Alfredo.
We had two beers left from the Felucca ride keeping cold in my fridge, so Victor and I shared them on the roof top deck in the cool desert air. It was Victor's first time out of the USA, and I think and hope a very eye-opening experience for him. We talked about what we'd seen, what was going on, and what we'd learned.
This morning we flew back early to Cairo and bid farewells to everyone but Victor and Jessica. Kristen booked us at the Pharaohs Palace hotel which she found online, which is right downtown. halid had a bus ready to take people back to the Santana hotel, where we had stayed the first night, for people who had extended their stay through GAP. Only Ashley was going back from the airport, Victor and Jessica were going to leave their stuff in our hotel room and walk around with us. Khalid made some deal where we'd pay the driver 20 pounds for a detour to our hotel...only the driver had no idea how to get there...
When we finally go there, it was 6 flights of grimy grimy stairs, I was getting preety scared. But then on the top floor there is a really nice open air but covered courtyard (where I sit typing) and nice clean rooms with air conditioning. It is actually quite nice.
We decided to hop a cab to Coptic Cairo and in true thrid world fashion the cab driver had no idea where he was going. The result was a long long trip through many seedy parts of town, but I kind of liked seeing the non touristy sections. We had lunch in Coptic Cairo and then explored many of the 11th century churches in the area, which were pretty but were funny, in part because they were still working churches with signs of modernity mixed in, such as vacuum cleaners and flat screen TVs. We saw a baptism happening outside one church.
On the way out we passed one guy who asked me where I was from. I said America. "America!" he responded "Yes We Can!" I don't think there was a single person on the street today who found out I was American and did not cheer Obama. I was thrilled, Jessica kind of pissed.
We went up to the Citadel to look at the complex of mosques, including the impressive Muhmad Ali Mosque. That's really where Kristen simply lost it with respect to Egyptian tipping culture. When we entered one mosque a woman wrapped a scarf around Jessica's waist, for reasons I don' know, and then a guy told me the name of the mosque. I was fiddling with my pockets and accidently pulled out some money...prompting him to immediately ask for a tip. There was no entrance fee. But any last bit of hel given to you or information given to you leads to a demand of a tip. Victor started talking to a guy in Coptic Cairo who essentially said "That church is that way, that church is that way." The guy was a cop with a gun and when we got back he demanded a tip...how do you say no to a guy with a gun?
The tipping culture is really why Jessica, I suspect, is so convinced the Obama thing has little to do with Obama himself and is all just a rouse. I really really don't think that's the case. Actually I know it isn't. Is it a bit of a ruse, of course, but people do love the guy, his speech was very well received, the papers reported that Cairo was practically empty and people were glued to their television screens and if you ask people they all watched it. They like him, and they are very very hopeful.
On the way down from the Citadel I had a bit of a disaster. I tripped and tore a flop flop, rendering it more or less useless. Very very frustrating. But I didn't want to go all the way back to the hotel, so I just insisted we got straight to the Al Azhar Mosque, which is pretty much the most famous in the world and Al Azhar is a major, if not the major, center of Sunni Islamic thought.
The cab driver was a jerk, pissed that we weren't giving him more money, nd dropped us off about 300 yards away from the Mosque, which we didn't realize, but it worked out ok...there was a cobbler who perfectly fixed my sandal in about 5 minutes for me, which was awesome. He asked for 2 pounds, I gave him 5.
Al Azhar was interesting to say the least. Kristen and Jessica hated it, because they were forced to wear full length robes with this little hood. They were both dressed conservatively, pants, Kristen even had long sleeves. Jessica had brought a scarf to cover her hair. But no, they had to put on this full suit in the 100 degree heat...they were not pleased.
Inside there were more people sleeping than praying in the main room. There were also guy on cell phones right in one of the most important mosques in the world. There were no women in the main room, they were all segregated. There were a number of people studying as well, to be fair. But it was bizarre to just see a bunch of men sitting or laying on the carpet sleeping... It was unimpressiv to say the least. What is going on at Al-Azhar? That's something to ponder.
We went to a huge market near Al Azhar and were stuck for a long long time...It was a crazy bazaar. By the end I was beyond exhusted, the Kristen and I opted to not go to the Pyramids sound and light show and went back to the hotel... Victor and Jessica got back around 10:30, just in time to pick up their bags and head to the airport for their 1:30 flight.... More goodbyes, but at least this time they live in the same country.
Off to Istanbul tomorrow. Should be interesting. --Jimmy
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