Cairo, Egypt
December 2007
There is just so much to share! I hope I'll be able to paint a good enough
picture for all who read this.
I went to Egypt as a gift to myself for graduating college early. The last final exam was
Tuesday and I was on a plane on Thursday heading to Cairo.
The plane ride was 19 hours, 23 if you include the time between flights and delays. The trip almost didn't happen as my flight was cancelled due to the mass amount if snow coming in (that's New England for you), but the nice people at the airlines called me early morning to come and catch the earlier plane. This left me about a hour to get up, get ready and head out the door. Luckily I had packed everything the night before-clothes in the carry-on and two large empty suitcases to bring a bunch of sequins, beads, and rhinestones (aka costumes galore) back to sell to help pay for the trip and to add to my own personal collection :
I've never flown out of country before. I honestly have to say I now understand
why the airline industry has a worst customer service rating than the IRS. Every
plane was delayed, late or had no space to land or park at the airports. All of
the airports and airlines were severely understaffed; making it very difficult
to get a simple answer. During the first flight from Manchester NH, we were the
last plane to leave for the day (all others were cancelled). The runway was
covered in 2-3 inches of fresh white powder. They even had to de-ice the plane
with a water truck full of orange windshield de-icer. From the very first flight
it was an absolute nightmare trying to catch the other two planes. I had two
hours between each flight, but with delays, long lines, etc. it ended up being a
runner's marathon to get to each gate before last call for boarding.
For those of you who imagine vast deserts, camels, and people living in large galabeyas, let me first kick you out of this mental image. Cairo is a huge (I swear it's bigger than New Hampshire) dusty, dirty city. There is no grass, trees (except planted ones in front of hotels and tourist attractions). Everyone throws their trash on the ground and there doesn't seem to be any organized trash removal system. The Nile is similar to a glorified Connecticut River. There is a large mix of old and new- BMW's mixed with Volkswagen's of the 70's and even a few donkey carts here and there to extremely dedicated Muslims next to westernized Akon-listening youth. Though this picture is not what you may have thought, Cairo is amazing. There is so much rich culture and things to see and do you would need months to stay and see everything. And don't worry, there are still camels and horses around the pyramids.
There are no traffic laws in Cairo. It
is an absolute free-for-all. Imagine a four-lane traffic circle with about eight
lanes of taxis and drivers trying to pass all at once. It was customary to honk
your horn or flash your headlights at everyone in hopes that they would get out
of your way. Many
cars had no headlights during night. You drove so closed to
cars that many times you would have to fold your mirrors in just to get by. Most
of the cars were older models from the 70's/80's as they don't have to worry
about salt or rust. I saw many Nissan, Volkswagen, and Daewoo models. You would
be absolutely out of your mind to own an SUV in Cairo. Most of the roads are
not
even meant for two lanes of traffic and navigating parking would be nearly
impossible. No one cared about minor scratches or fender benders. I remember
parking in a car garage and the attendants just pushing cars one into another
(literally one bumper on top of another) to make more space for more vehicles.
On top of all of this craziness, there were still pieces of old Cairo. Every now
and then you would see a donkey and cart full of fresh fruit or other items
making its way down the roadways. The poor would also stand between isles of
cars and sell tissues and other novelties to drivers. I remember a young girl no
older than 8 kept following us and knocking on our window with tissues. Another
time people were selling Santa hats and masks that lit up.
Another difference is the daily hours of activity. Most people stayed up until
early a.m. and slept in until late morning. Almost every shop in Egypt never
closed its doors. I went shoe/window shopping at 2 and 3 am in the morning. It
was the perfect schedule for my insomnia!
People there are so friendly. I never felt unsafe or threatened the entire time.
Almost everyone spoke English of some sort and most of the signs were in
English. And everyone was helpful regardless if they spoke English or not. I
found information out sometimes by hand gestures, but it was the fact that
people were still willing to offer their services. I felt bad because in America
many people would not take the time or go out of their way to help non-English
speaking people.
What was funny was some of the attempts to advertise in English. Arabic is read right to left, and some of the signs were written the same ("doofaes" for "seafood" for example).
There are so many cats in the streets. Most people don't own pets as they see
them as dirty/unclean. But it was so odd not to be bothered by seagulls or birds
while eating outside at a restaurant or café. Instead, I had cats purring at my toes.
The variety of economic status was surely present in the area. You could see a
BMW with one person right next to a donkey cart full of kids on the same road.
At night you would see both men and women (and with young children) sleeping on the
bridges crossing the Nile, in the tunnels underground to the markets, in the
streets, etc. It was so sad. Many people gave money to these people (it's also
part of the Muslim religion to give 2-3% of their earnings to the poor). I
definitely gave a lot. Even food scraps were given away from restaurants to
these people. I gave fruit and some of my clothes to the little girl who lived
with her father in a single room on a rug at the entrance of my flat.
If you think you can go to Cairo (not on a tour and on your own) and expect to
run on a schedule like in the States, you are wrong. I had planned to do 3-4
places a day. I was lucky to get to two. Life is much more laid back. You have
shay (tea) and shisha (hooka/waterpipe) before anything. It was amazing the
amount of tobacco consumed. Almost everyone I talked to smoked at least 2 packs
a day. Add in 3-4 shishas and that's a lot of tobacco. You could get Shay and
Shisha almost anywhere. I would go into larger dance costumers and they would
offer shay and shisha while I looked. You had a choice of flavored pucks or
"real" tobacco. I love the flavored shishas-apple, watermelon, strawberry,
beachwood, etc. I hate cigarettes and tobacco but I love tea and shisha. I drank
at least 10 cups of tea everyday while I was there. Now that I'm home, I can go
a day without any and still consume massive amounts of tea.
My trip was also during the biggest feast of the year (Muslims celebrate a 4 day holiday in
December).
FRIDAY
Like I said earlier, my flight from Manchester, NH or Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
was icy and a bit nerve racking. Philadelphia to Rome, Italy was long, but there
were so many large mountains to at and nice people on the plane, it
was pleasant. I almost missed my Rome to Cairo flight because the plane was
extremely late and when I got to the ticket counter, they sent me to the wrong
gate and without a boarding pass. I've never seen such large airports in my
life. At some, you had to take a 10-15 minute shuttle bus to the other side.
I finally got to Cairo Airport (only an hour late) and had to exchange money
(current exchange rate is $1 U.S. Dollar equals $5.52 Egyptian pounds), buy a
Visa ($15), find my luggage, go through customs and find my guide. Well, they
lost my luggage, and it took me 3 hours to get through customs and lost baggage claim
and find my guide. LOL if you go to Egypt don't expect international calling
cards to work in the public phones, they take their own cards you have to
purchase of course conveniently outside the airport. This made it very difficult
to call my guide. I was fortunate enough that the lost baggage clerk let me use
his cell phone.
In the airport there were just masses of people. Many holding paper with tour
groups people's names, others offering assistance with baggage (so they could
get a little bakeesh, or tip), offering taxis, and even in the bathroom to
hand you paper towels to dry your hands.
My guides were Ahmed and Karem, father and son. They were a lot of fun,
extremely helpful, and made me feel like home the entire time. Ahmed took me to
all of the markets (He's a great bargainer as he is very well known in
the Khan
El Khaili) and to the touristy areas while Karem (who just happened to be my age
and a college accounting major too) showed me around and brought me places at
night.
I stayed in a flat rather than a hotel located 15 minutes from the pyramids. I
took some pictures from my back window which I had a view of the tip of the
largest one. The flat was adorned with beautiful furniture and
curtains.
However, in America it would probably be considered unsafe as old wires stuck
out of the walls and the elevator to the flat didn't have a door that closed-you
literally saw the wall moving as you used it. I lived on the 5th floor and the
elevator only went to the 6th or 4th. Most of the flats were like this. You
could not own a house or land in Cairo, there is just no space. The flat had a
deck that brought you out into the front of the street and allowed one to just
stare at the insane traffic and marketplace below. It was hard getting used to
the noise of every night, I couldn't sleep well. I couldn't find a single second of
peace; every moment was filled with music and horns.
December is the best time to go weather-wise. It was 40-60 degrees everyday (no bugs!) LOL everyone thought I was insane at night because I didn't wear a jacket. I told them at home we had 40 inches of snow and temperatures close to 0 and that this was like the tropics to me. I couldn't imagine coming during the summer months.
Karem brought me to meet his father in the Khan El Kahili. The sight itself is
something you have to see in your lifetime. I doubt that something like this
exists anywhere else. The entrance to the market looks like a back alley way,
but once you enter it's like an underground scene. On these tiny little streets
not even big enough for a small car to get through are these small shops full of
everything you could possibly imagine. Most had glass windows filled with
papyrus, trinkets, shisa's, cheap amateur dance costumes, jewelry, fabrics, and
touristy items. The streets never ended. There were even little districts such
as the gold district, silver district, etc. etc. It was amazing. Every item
price was negotionable and if you looked foreign, you would pay more unless you
had excellent bargaining skills. Many people also only looked at the bottom
level of stores, but the best items were hidden on the second, third, or even
fifth floors of the market. For dance costumes, the cheap touristy ones would
be on the ground level and if you asked for the professional lines, you would be
brought up to another level to gaze at a dancer's dream of selection.
We went to this tiny café in the mouth of the market. Wooden chairs and shisha's
lined the stone building. Inside was small band consisting of tabla, keyboard, oud, zills,
and a woman singing. She had the most beautiful voice. She was dressed from head
to toe in black but her makeup was beautiful and her voice reminded me of Warda.
Her voice made me all giddy and excited about finally being immersed into the
music. The man playing a set of very large zills/sagat was very entertaining. As he played he
was like a bobble head toy. On top of moving so much, he was smoking cigarettes
while playing! Talk about talent! He kept the cigarette between his left ring
and middle finger and took a puff here and there without missing a single beat!
I sat next to these older women again fully adorned with head-to-toe coverings
and beautiful makeup. They bought me tea and shisha and were just so welcoming.
They couldn't speak English and I hadn't perfected my Arabic but we still had a
blast making hand gestures and listening to live music. In front of me this
little girl no older than 3 or 4 was smoking her first shisha. Her mother was
trying to show her how to inhale. The little girl instead blew into the water pipe.
The singer was getting a bunch of bakeesh (tips) during and between songs. Two
larger men got up and started mimicking dancers and They were really good! They
had the arm gestures down, hip circles, lifts and drops, and even shimmies! I
wanted to get up and shower them in tips!
After the restaurant we took a quick introductory tour of the market. There is
just so much to see and look at. It would take you days to look at everything.
Ahmed explained to me to be careful what I buy as much of the items now are made
in China rather than Egypt. He said many people are upset with China because
they are taking away many jobs from the Egyptian people and most of the tourist
souvenirs aren't even from Egypt anymore. Sounds familiar, doesn't it?
We went to
Mahmoud Abd El Ghaffar (Reda's Store) dance shop first. This isn't a dance shop,
it is a marble palace of four or five floors of dance goodies. Again the
touristy cheap costumes were down on the first floor, and as you went up the
staircases, your mouth watered more and more. All of his costumes were
beautiful, but not large enough. I knew this would be a problem anywhere I go, but
even just looking at the mass of costumes was great. Every wall had closets full
of costumes while the center of the rooms were full of tables of hip scarves, bedlahs, skirts and
veils, and assuit. I bought two candelabras, and dance shoes in gold and silver
there. I just wanted to pitch a tent in the corner and call this place home.
Then we went to Yasser's. Yasser is where I've bought all of my costumes I
didn't make. I was really excited to see everything. I spent at least 3 hours in
his tiny shop opening and looking at designs. However I was so sad to hear that
I couldn't take any with me because hey only does made to order now. All of the
costumes I saw were already someone else's. I made a mental note of all of
the designs I loved and decided to bring back goodies from stores that do not do custom
orders (his email is
yasserbelly@hotmail.com if you want your own). It was also during the
holidays/big four day feast and many of the manufacturers were closed=no quick
custom orders. :(
There are so many little dance costumes boutiques and many good unknown places
that had beautiful costumes. This is where I got the best pieces and the best
deals.
Ahmed did all of the bargaining (he also gets a small commission at certain places but he can get a better deal I ever could) and I ended up with some beautiful pieces. Almost everywhere we went we were offered shay (tea), cola, and shisha while we looked around.
I bought a lot of silver jewelry and
some custom pieces at a tiny little shop called Jordi. I had two silver
cartouches made up with my name and my boyfriend's sister's name on them for $9.
You could easily spend a ton of money just on jewelry.
SATURDAY
I spent another day in the Khan el Khaili. Many of the stores would be closing
after Tuesday because of the holiday. I tried an Egyptian pancake and found a
new food love. It was like a fried dough pizza filled with bananas, syrup, and
honey. It was so good I think I one almost every day. Ahmed said the place
was really famous in the guidebooks. It was so entertaining because by the end
of my stay the waiters knew me by name. In Arab/Islamic culture (and Spanish),
Amity means "friend". When I said my name some people were like, "yes I know you
are friendly, but what is your name?"
It took me a few days to really
eat
anything in fear of getting sick and ruining my trip. However, the food is so
good I couldn't resist. However, the food may have been considered bland to a
lot of American food. They use a lot of lamb and chicken, cow, rice, nuts, and
paste-like mixtures.
It was very frustrating trying to find large-top costumes. I'm a very modest
person and in Egypt the current style is lots of skin-whether it is on the top,
short skirts, or through see-through netting strategically placed. However, I
found three shops that were my absolute favorite and went to each one of them at
least three times during my trip. At each one of these I bought at least three
costumes. I also took pictures of their costumes and business card if I ever
decide I need another (and for anyone else who reads this).
Dance shows in Egypt are very expensive to watch. They are at the top hotels and
are always backed with live singers, a full orchestra, and great food. It cost
over $250 Egyptian pounds per person to see Randa Kamal, one of
my favorite dancers on the
Nile Maxim Boat. The boat was packed and was also full of some big names as Raqia Hassan's whole teacher training seminar was there (Aunt Rocky, Atef and
Magda, and many more). There was a buffet (western food), and live
entertainment. I though it was funny because the first act was two women singing
Spanish and American songs. Then a whirling dervish came out and spun for about
20-30 minutes. He was even spinning while posing for
pictures with tourists.
Randa did about a 45 minute set with two costume changes. Her movements are so sharp and precise. For everyone who asked, I'm pretty sure her shimmies are knee-driven but with more of a loose feeling and actually not bent as much as we do in America. I loved her facial expressions and connection with the music. She is definitely one of my favorite dancers. We weren't allowed to take pictures but I took some poor quality ones here and there from under the tablecloth.
SUNDAY
Raqia Hassan was my very first taste of dance in Cairo. Entering Raqia's flat I
saw a gold name plate on her neighbor's door: Eman Zaki. Drool. I didn't even
dare think to knock on the door and look at her costumes. Raqia's flat was
gorgeous and full of people. Her home is always busy as she's very famous and
well known in Cairo. The day before was the last day of her teacher's training
seminar. She said she had over 80 people in the workshop and that
was too many for her. She had two dogs that I absolutely loved-especially her
black Chihuahua. It made me miss mine. We sat and had tea for about half and an
hour as people came in and out. Her cell phone and home phone rang off non-stop. Raqia is definitely a very, very, busy woman. We started the lesson which is of
course straight choreography. When you take lessons in Egypt, expect lots of
choreography fast. But I don't mind because in each person's choreography is
their own style and technique built in.
Raqia would give me three or four steps, leave for ten minutes, and then come back and
check in. This was something I had a hard time getting used to. I'm used to
choking on choreography, absorbing the movements in order, and then perfecting the steps
on my own time. She wouldn't go ahead until I had each piece perfect. I spent
about half the two-hour private lesson on one move. It
was very frustrating because it was of course a very sharp movement on my bad
hip.
I repeated this movement over and over again until I progressively got worse and
worse. It was a movement I had done many, many times, but with my knees bent.
That is one thing I really noticed right off. They do not bend their knees in
every movement. They keep their knees almost hyper-extended and shimmies are
from the knee. So on top of a bum hip I was trying to break a bad habit of
bending my knees for the past 7 years. We got through 1 minute of Gamil Gamil. At the end of this lesson I was
questioning everything I knew and if I could handle lessons here. Either way I
pushed through it and scheduled another 2-hour lesson on Friday. Raqia is
probably one of the most expensive (I think it was around $300 for 4 hours) teacher in
Cairo, but her 2 hour lessons are actually 4 hours. I also met many dancers from
around the world just sitting on her couch. After the lesson she gave me some of
this wonderful soup and the best sweet potato I have ever had.
MONDAY
Monday we went to the Khan El Kahili to pick of a few final items. I wanted to bring
back a shisha for my boyfriend for Christmas. Ahmed told me not to buy one of
the cheap ones in the market (about $15 U.S.) as they are meant to be decorative
and not actually used. He's been smoking shisha all of his life so I'm sure he
knows what he's talking about. We went to this tiny shisha shop next to a
mosque. I picked out every single piece for a custom shisha. Ahmed showed me all
of the tricks and things to know when picking out parts in the future for
replacement. The shisha ended up being 3 feet talk, red, with leather and silver
pieces. It was very expensive for Egyptian terms, but in America it was very
cheap for such high quality. It cost about $53 U.S. Dollars
Ahmed brought me to the gold and silver markets to look at jewelry. Everything
was gorgeous, unique, and wanted to come home with me. But I resisted and went
to the stone market. There are wholesalers everywhere. I bought a huge bag of
variety jewelry to bring back for gifts.
I promised a friend that I would bring back a shamadan and I wanted one too. It
was nice to actually go somewhere and touch it. The ones online look flimsy. I
found my favorite ones at Mahmoud's Al- Wikelah's (Reda's Store) a.k.a the
marble palace of costumes. None are perfectly shaped, but they came apart easily
for transportation. I bought two gold ones, and two new pairs of gold and silver
dance slippers.
I was interviewed by some group who wanted tourists opinions on the Khan for advertising purposes. Ahmed had to translate for me and I replied in English for the camera crew. So who knows, you might see me on an ad for Cairo.
Karem picked me up from the market. All of the touristy places close at 4 or 5pm
which I think is odd for a city that doesn't sleeps. This leaves a gap
on what to do between 5 and 9 when the night life kicks up. So Karem, me, and
his friend Ally went to play pool and go bowling….on the Nile! The billiard and
bowling alley was on a barge on the Nile. We went to play pool first. The
gentleman running the billiard saw me and was immediately like, "ah, American!"
and went to change the music…to Eminem, 50 Cent, and Akon. He said "This is what
plays in America, right?" I was like oh brother in my head. I said yes it is
very popular in America, but I like other types of music including Arab Pop. Either way, he
continued to play rap and it kind of blew the whole playing pool on Nile down.
Anywhere you go in Cairo, you can listen to American music and many young people
idolized these figures as in America. Ally wanted to be just like Akon.
We went bowling next and it was fun. But as a bowling nerd, I immediately
noticed that the lanes were shorter. They had the same program for
scorekeeping at home, which I thought was funny. The Nile was in view through
the giant window. It wasn't by any means dance related or a tourist item, but it
was fun.
We took a Felucca (small boat/party
barge) down the Nile. Music was blasting very loud and the same three or four Arabic
pop songs played over and over again. The Felucca next to us was loading up a wedding party. I saw
at least one wedding almost every night I was there. The brides had beautiful
white dresses (another area of stores that were to die for) and the grooms wore
the normal suits. Weddings were always at 11pm or even during the early morning
hours unlike in America. The whole wedding party stayed up and celebrated. Cars
were decorated and every time we saw these vehicles, everyone would honk (on top
of their normal honking speed) until the car was out of sight. Our felucca was
covered in disco lights and went a short distance down the Nile. The Nile in
fact becomes very small in areas like a tiny river. But the boat went far
enough to gaze at the city, enjoy the night, and listen to some fun music.
I hadn't been too adventurous about trying new foods in fear of getting sick
and ruining my trip. I didn't eat hardly anything the first few days. I loved my
Egyptian pancakes, fellahin, and breads, but after a few days my appetite was finally catching
up. Pizza Hut was in sight and although I can't eat pizza (everyone loves pizza
in Egypt) I can eat the wonderful greasy breadsticks. When I got them however
they were freshly made and had no seasoning. No microwave food! I was thoroughly
impressed at this notion that fast food was fresh AND tasty!
TUESDAY
Tuesday morning started off bad. I thought I had lost my promise ring from my
boyfriend I've had
for four years (I had lost it over a dam before and that was enough anxiety for
me). My guide reassured me and innocently said that we could see if they could
make another one in the silver market (lol). Luckily later that day I found it stuck to a pulled thread on my pillowcase.
Either way, today was the day to stare at giant piles of stone placed by mankind
in the form of something amazing-the Pyramids! I could see the largest one from
my flat everyday. Getting to the site of the pyramids was actually pretty strict. They had
the better security entering the pyramids than at the airport. Every car was
searched-trunks open, side panels and under seats checked, bags checked, metal
detectors, etc.
We parked at the top of the paved road leading to the pyramids. In pictures,
there always seems like there is a large, vast, Sahara Desert that one would
have to trek through to get close to the pyramids. Nope, there is a paved road
within walking distance. There was a small desert around the three large tombs,
but your main view was the top of the city. Unfortunately it reminded me of a
tourist trap. Camel/horse poo and trash was everywhere in the sand. You couldn't
walk anywhere without someone offering cheap papyrus, postcards, or water. I was
so sad.
back at the pharaoh of the time and had to eventually
give up after 80 years of minor scratches into the sides. The smaller tombs were
actually more interesting inside that the larger pyramids. They rotate which
pyramids are open each day to one or two to reduce wear. The largest pyramid was
open and cost a little extra to enter. No cameras were allowed inside. The
decent down included climbing down a narrow wooden slide pegged with metal
rungs. You passed people coming back out shoulder to shoulder. You had to duck
down and keep your weight back on your heels to be the slightest bit
comfortable. I've never sweat so bad and fast in my life. The air was so hot and
felt thin. Breathing was difficult. When I got to the center chamber I literally
stayed long enough to look, absorb the feeling and ran back to the entrance.
Only one path was open to the public, but you could peer into the other tunnels
through the gates. When I got out, I was drenched in sweat. The smaller tombs were cool, uncrowded and seemed
to have more detail. I went into a queen's tomb and the statues were beautifully
carved straight out of the stone wall. I can't imagine the time and skill it
took to do such (and for the poor soul who may have messed it up and had to
start all over again). 
I had heard from others that the area was plagued with graffiti of visitors over the past thousand years and it was evident. It was very depressing to see such inside the tombs and on the outside of the pyramids. I read in one of the guidebooks that climbing to the top of the pyramids and carving your name was a very popular thing to do in the early 1900's. Luckily today there are guards that help keep many off the pyramids and prevent more erosion.
And yes, I rode a camel. At the pyramids there are many horses and camels. The
guides sold us on that you need a camel or horse to travel around the pyramids
in their entirety. They are of course the "taxi" of the desert. I didn't take
one for this reason because the whole site was easily walkable by foot. But
who
doesn't want to ride a camel at the pyramids? It was just like
riding a horse, except it is a much taller, rougher ride. The camel was fun and
now I can say I rode a camel at the Pyramids in Egypt. I checked that off my
list to-do before I die.
The Sphinx is actually a lot smaller in real life. Its paws are about as tall as
a human and is located directly below (walking distance) the pyramids. I have
always loved the Sphinx and I think it's what originally sparked my interest
with Egypt because of Ralph Waldo Emerson's poem "The Sphinx." If you
are an English/Poem buff, here's a link: http://poetry.eserver.org/Emerson(Sphinx).html
After the pyramids I visited Atef and Magda Faraq, which happened to live the
next street over from where I was living. I met Atef a few years ago when Alia
brought him to Vermont. I loved him and have always loved the Reda Troupe. I
couldn't believe he actually remembered me. Atef and Magda are the warmest
people you'll ever meet. I took private lessons with Magda for two hours. I
asked her to help me with my arms. She taught me an upper body-intensive drum
solo the first hour and then an oriental routine to Aziza the next.
I didn't
feel as lost as with Raqia, but I'm assuming that's
because it wasn't my first
time learning their (Reda) dance style/influence. Magda was great at correcting
me. She really focused on making me straighten out my knees, create larger knee-driven
shimmies, bigger movements, and to hold my hands more out to the side rather
than forward. I took the two choreographies home and
set up another two hour
lesson with her for later that week. I didn't feel overwhelmed or like I
couldn't perfect what I had learned.
Tuesday was the beginning of a four day feast for Muslims.
Today my guide fasted
(no food or water) until 5 p.m. and most everyone will be up all night and
celebrate
until time to pray early a.m. (5 or 6 am?). I was invited to celebrate
with everyone in the streets, but I was so tired and felt kind of sick that I
decided to call it an early night and
play with all of the new costumes.
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