Getting lucky

Being in Cairo has made me reflect deeply on the privileges that are bestowed on North Americans like myself.

Poverty and homelessness – all too familiar terms in the development literature – are evident all around me, whether it is the raggedy boy who extends his hands to commuters on the Metro train or the old widow with her downcast head sitting by the side of the road. Millions of Egyptians go hungry every night, and I’ve only touched the tip of the iceberg.

The severity of the problem struck home for me yesterday night. I was sitting in an air-conditioned mall, enjoying my falafel in the Food Court. Suddenly, a boy – he did not look more than 5 or 6 years old – came up to our table and asked for food. I was dumbstruck. I stared at him, trying to search for words to describe the feelings welling up inside me – shock, horror, hurt, compassion, confusion. How could a 5-year old go on begging for food in a Food Court? It’s totally unheard of in North America. What is even more astonishing is that the mall security guards quickly caught on to what the boy was doing – along with some other homeless children – and shooed them away.

To give you a better perspective of how much food costs here: my falafel was 1.50 Egyptian Pounds, which is equivalent to around 25 cents in US Dollars. A mere 25 cents can provide a meal for someone.

What is 25 cents to a North American? There were quite a few times when I dropped quarters on the ground, and because I thought it was too much of a hassle to pick them up, I simply left them on the sidewalk. The more I think about it, the more I realize the immense inequality that exists in this world.

How to fix these problems? Like many others before me, I have yet to figure out the solution to these structural problems. But I think any solution has to start at an individual level. I gave a little boy on the Metro a package of Italian biscuits today. Even though we didn’t speak the same language, I could tell by looking into his eyes that the treat made his day.

Learning the walk

Hey everyone!

By now, I've gotten a pretty good handle on things, from work to the language.

Work at Population Council
The Population Council occupies a 4-story building in Maadi. I have a feeling that Maadi is an upscale part of town that’s catered to foreigners. For example, there are many fancy hotels and restaurants that are obviously not Egyptian.

Every day at work, I’m greeted by a doorman who already knew my name by the 2nd day of work. There is also a “butler” (I actually don’t know what to call him...maybe office boy is better?) at my workplace, whose job ranges from making and delivering Egyptian tea for all the employees to greeting visitors to our office. Though he asked me if I wanted tea, I didn’t have the heart to ask him make me some, because I have two legs and I can walk to the kitchen to make some myself…

The “weekday” here is from Sunday to Thursday, which is awesome because I’ve always wanted Fridays off! :D

Arabic lessons
Ahmed has been kind enough to offer me Arabic lessons. We had our first lesson at Hardee’s, learning how to say things like “fork” and “napkin”. I actually put my Arab words into use quite fast!

Take for instance my trip to work. I have to take the taxi from the Metro station to my workplace. As I got into the taxi, I blurted out the location of my workplace in Arabic, instead of shoving my planner with the written address in Arabic in the driver’s face. I told the driver to stop in front of the Population Council (“oh-af haina”) and asked the driver for the fare (“biqam”). Then, he showed me a bill for 10 Egyptian pounds. I retorted by saying, “Quetil!” which means, “Too much!”

In the end, the taxi driver and I compromised at 6 Egyptian pounds. Even though I’m learning Arabic, I’m still very Chinese at heart.

Touristy Things
Ahmed and I went to the Egyptian Museum the other day. I saw King Tut’s sarcophagus and lots and lots of gold-plated jewelries! Unfortunately, visitors are not allowed to take any pictures (not even without flash!) of the artifacts. Pooper. So I ended up buying books with lots of pictures at the museum shop. Postcards are coming, people!

I also went to the Nile River at night. It was quite a scene. There were lots of boats that had obnoxious music blasting non-stop. I don’t understand why they had to ruin such a perfectly serene environment with so much noise. It doesn’t make for a very romantic boat trip for the couples on board.

The night before yesterday, Iwent over to the Giza pyramids again, but this time I went to ride on those sand 4-wheel motorbikes in the desert (minus the helmet and all). The craziest things happened, but to keep the story short, I'm still alive and my limbs are still intact.

Old Cairo was my next stop. Old Cairo happens to be the location of the biggest Islamic educational institution in the Arab world. The architecture is astounding at night. I will have Facebook pictures uploaded soon.

Old Cairo’s atmosphere really reminded me of Hong Kong’s night markets. There were things being sold everywhere, from Egyptian rugs to papyrus paintings of Queen Nefertiti. There were also a lot of restaurants that extended onto the streets. I had a bowl of ice-cream, along with an insightful conversation with Ahmed about Islam (how suitable, given we were directly across a mosque).

Side note on security: Ever since coming to Cairo, I have noticed that they give foreigners a lot of slack. For example, when I visited Egyptian Museum, the guards did not question me at all, while Ahmed was questioned about why he was going there, blah blah blah. This basically happened whenever we are stopped by security. Also, there are metal detectors everywhere but they never check my bag whenever I beep (which always happens). So much for installing all those metal detectors.

Another side note on getting past security: Whenever Ahmed gets questioned by authorities, he responds by stating that he’s an employee of this huge GSM company in Egypt. Immediately, the guards let him pass (and ask him to do them a favor related to cell phones). It’s so neat to see what you learn inside the classroom (for example, “wasta”) in action.

Cairo time!

I arrived in Cairo on Monday, and words cannot describe the cacophony of sights and sounds that I have experienced in this city.

I had the craziest 5 days of my life, starting with where I'm living.

1) My new home

The local AIESECer has arranged for me to stay at an apartment in Dokki. I was initially surprised to find soldiers with rifles patrolling my street. But the enhanced security made sense when I realized that my apartment building is right beside the Syrian Embassy and a huge-ass palace that belongs to some important Egyptian. Have yet to investigate this palace.

I had to be stealth when I took this picture, because people aren't supposed to take pictures of the soldiers.

This is the palace, taken from my balcony. You can barely see it behind all the trees.

2) Animals

Homeless cats are everywhere. I was surprised to find a cat in front of my door one day, meowing for food. There are also quite a few homeless dogs too, though they don't look as friendly or cute (maybe they're rabid?) as the cats.

Cars have to share roads with donkeys, horses, and camels. I'm surprised that I haven't seen road-kill in Cairo yet...

Typical road in Cairo.

3) Cars

Hands down to Cairo's drivers. They know how to navigate non-existent lanes (seriously...there is no concept of traffic lanes in Cairo) and dodge other cars at breakneck speed. And they don't use headlights at night either, except to signal to other cars when they want to pass them.

I'm glad I'm still alive after having had 5 car rides, with one being 12-hours long.

4) Pedestrians

There is no such thing as sidewalks or crosswalks for pedestrians. I don't even know if the term "pedestrian" exists in the Cairo city planner's vocabulary, because they obviously didn't plan for people to walk around the city!

Basically this forces everyone to be a jay-walker.

5) Public transportation

I go to work using the Metro. It totally reminds me of Hong Kong. Commuters are packed sardines, except with no AC which makes for a very stifling and sweaty experience. You feel marinated in sweat by the time you get out of the train. But I'm glad for one thing: the train always has a couple of sections reserved for women. A male Egyptian friend told me that he was caught in the women's section one time (for a legit reason) and was fined 100 Egyptian pounds for his infraction. They take gender segregation seriously here.


6) Being stared at

Totally not creeped out by both men and women who stare at me wherever I go, from the Metro all the way to the Syrian soldiers outside my house. So I have toned down my dress code from grab-the-nearest-shirt-and-shorts to dressing super modest. By modest I mean no showing skin, even your arms.

Okay...so I broke that rule a couple of times (it's freakin 40 degreees here in Cairo!). But I guess it wouldn't really matter because people are still going to stare at me for being Asian. I can kind of understand their curiosity. I haven't seen a single Asian since Monday, which is making me have these Asian withdrawal symptoms, like sudden cravings for kimchi ramen or sushi. WHERE ARE ALL MY AZN FRDS?!


7) Touristy things

I was able to watch the stars and bask in the glory of the Pyramids of Giza at night till morn. It was quite an experience, thanks to my roommate who knew a friend who knew somebody who owned this rooftop that I got to spend the night on (I slept on that roof staring at pyramids my 2nd night in Cairo). I caught a fever the day after.

Nonetheless, I was a trooper and I battled it out by sleeping 14 hours straight (Maas is right...sleep does miracles). The following day, I went on a road trip to Saint Katherine, where Mount Sinai is located (remember Moses and his 10 Commandments?) . We got to Saint Katherine after a harrowing 6-hour drive through highways that were not lit (it was really scary...I felt like we were going to drive off the road any minute).

We arrived at the bottom of Mount Sinai at around midnight. A young lad by the name of Jimmy was our personal guide for going up the mountain. On the way up, we saw Australians, Russians, nuns from the local monastery, and a whole slew of other religious climbers and local Bedouins and their camels. We reached the top of Mount Sinai after 4 hours of climbing in the dark.

The whole experience was worth it. I saw the Milky Way for the first time, and made a wish to a shooting star. I saw the sunrise from the summit, which was an absolutely amazing scene.

View from the top of Mount Sinai.

On the way down from the summit.

Me chilling on the rooftop with pyramids behind me.

I will have better resolution pictures uploaded to Facebook as soon as I find internet that takes less than an hour to upload one picture.

That's it for now! I'll be going to Alexandria sometime next week, along with Saint Paul's monastery by the Red Sea.

XOXO,
Esther

6 days till I get on that plane!

Dear all,

This is where I will be sharing my experiences in Cairo, Egypt and Nahalal, Israel with you! As you may have read from my previous post, I am going to be an intern at the Population Council in Cairo. In Nahalal, I will be studying the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at the Galilee International Management Institute.

Besides doing the above, I will be hanging out with cool AIESECers at the American University in Cairo, perhaps do some pyramid climbing (is that legal?), or even ride a camel!


If you want me to send you cool holographic postcards and other tacky souvenirs that I can get my hands on, enter your information here.

In the meantime, I am trying to keep myself upbeat with the 20-page research paper still looming in the horizon...