Egypt Final Thoughts

Monday April 4^th

In the spirit of 'least we forget' I'd like to comment on a few things I learned or observed here in Egypt that might be of interest to you, but more importantly, if I don't write them down, I'll forget them. So, here I go in no particular order:

I am surprised at how many animals are still working in big cities like Cairo. I understand in rural areas or villages, but to watch them labouring with their loads through the cities streets with the noise, smells and pollution is amazing and sad. Truly two different worlds.

I am also pleasantly surprised by how friendly all the people have been in the Middle East. I think the message we get from our western media and our governments about Arabs and Muslims is very biased. Every time there is a problem in the Middle East someone sticks a camera in the face of some upset people and they yell, rant and act crazy. I think that is usually a small group of people acting up for the camera. But what is happening just out of the view of the camera? Admittedly there are Muslim radicals or fanatics, but there just as many Christians or Jews like that in other lands (can you say the Bible belt). The people over here are very friendly and interested in tourists. They always ask where you are from (“Canada”, “ah Canada Dry!”), and they always say “Welcome”. I never felt unwelcome or uncomfortable. They look at you, because we look or dress different but they smile at you. This is not a message that I ever get from our media. In my, admittedly limited, experience, these people are generally happy, family orientated people who seem content with their lives. They seem to be hard workers and do what they have to do to make their lives work. The only ones that bothered me were the pushy hawkers, but that was partly understandable because there were so few tourists. Enough.

Sam told us not to judge his country too quickly for things, because there is always a reason for things. For example, he said you've been in houses of Egyptian people and have noticed that they are clean and tidy, so why are the city streets and open places dirty and full of litter? Well, turns out the government put in litter boxes around the city and charged an extra tax to everyone for setting them up and emptying them. However, they were rarely emptied even though the taxes were always collected. So, the people throw things on the ground as a protest.

Another example: He asked us if we noticed that lots of buildings look unfinished. The top floor often has metal rods sticking up out of it like they are still building up. But if you look closer people have moved in already and are living there. Reason? It used to be that you only started paying taxes on the completed house, so if it didn't look complete.... Plus, that way if the family grew they could add another floor. The government caught on, and made them pay anyway. Sam said, so we had a revolution! (It was one of many reasons that the people wanted to get rid of Mubarek.

When walking around the Egyptian cities I visited I noticed that very few people used the sidewalks and seemed to prefer walking on the street and taking their lives into their own hands. Sam explained that people don't like the ups and downs of the high steps of the sidewalks, and that they are often cluttered with stuff from shops, parked vehicles, trees and whatever. He said walking on the street was more fun and that way you felt part of it.

Three things for driving in Egypt: good brakes, good horn and good luck. My Nubian cab driver friend called the horns 'Cairo music'.

The reason we landed in a farmer's field after ballooning, was because the government charges the balloon pilots 500 Egyptian pounds if they land in the desert anywhere near the Valley of the Kings. So they land in the farmers' fields and pay them a lot less.

Sam and I had an interesting talk about homosexuality. It came about because some woman, when writing up his evaluation for Intrepid, said that she thought he was gay. He was very upset by this. He said that everywhere you look in nature there are males and females for reproduction, even animals or plants that can reproduce themselves have both sets of parts. The Koran expressly forbids it. Therefore, he said, it goes against nature's system, the Muslim faith, family wishes and values and society as a whole. Therefore, he said, people need to choose hetro sexuality, why would you choose to upset all those people? I told him that I thought it was a phsyiological difference and not a choice. We agreed to disagree. I asked what happened if people found out about someone being gay. He told me they would be charged and sent to prison.