Random Observations on Cairo
Trip Start
Sep 07, 2008
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97
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Trip End
Dec 09, 2008
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Cairo,
Egypt
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
- Arabic is read right to left, so when you do a Google search on this computer, the results come up flush RIGHT rather than flush left. The newspapers are also folded on the right and open on the left.
- And oh dear you've got to see this keyboard. It's a toggle system like the Greek keyboard, but the Arabic letters labeled below each English letter are completely different.
- Said says, "Egyptians love their smoke. Smoke everywhere." Cairo is full of car exhaust, and everyone smokes cigarrettes indoors and out. The smog is so bad that the apartment buildings are a dun brown color, but after looking at white Greek marble for so long, I get the impression that the buildings here used to be white but they've been stained to the color of the desert sand by the smog and crud.
- There is trash on the ground everywhere. I know that we generate just as much trash in the States, we just don't see it. There are drastically fewer stray cats and dogs on the streets of Cairo, though, so there are not nearly as many poopy "landmines" as Gramma called them on the sidewalks. Just some camel and horse manure near the pyramids.
- Erm, continuing with the poopy theme... there is an injunction somewhere in the Quran or Hadith against toilet paper. Thank goodness that Dutch, who has been to Egypt before, warned me to pack a few rolls and bring them along on all excursions in Cairo. Most of the toilets seem to be equipped with a bidet-type device for the Muslim faithful, which I'm in favor of, but I can't figure out how to work it. So we just fill our purses with American toilet paper.
- The nonverbal "bubble" of personal space is much smaller in Egypt. People stand much closer to you in interpersonal conversations than they do in the States. And everywhere we see same-sex friends walking arm-in-arm. I wish we had that custom.
- Cairenes smile at strangers much more often than Athenians do. People on the street call out warmly, "Welcome to Egypt!" and younger people in particular seem to get a kick out of practicing their English speaking with us. Sometimes due to political sensitivity, we're afraid to mention that we're Americans, but we've never encountered anyone who was unfriendly to us because we're from the States. The guidebook said that the people of Cairo have found the perfect way to survive in a city seething with twelve million people... they're genuinely nice to each other and to us.
![[11] Camel and Pyramids](http://images.travelpod.com/users/el_condor/thumbnail.asia_2005.1143747660.picture_032.jpg)
Comments
Thank you!
You're great, I love hearing those 'little things'. Local culture and atmosphere are so much more than just looking at artwork, they're everywhere you are if you just care to look and notice.
-DianeS