As far as my life, things are well. The biggest thing that I am getting used to is the hospitality. It is crazy how nice everyone is here. Especially just walking down the street, since I stand out so much :) People look at me, smile and say welcome, or ahlan wa sahlan. But, there is a downside to the hospitality as well. The people here do not know when to say no. They will give, and give, and give, and say yes, yes, yes. They will do it to the point that it hurts them. So, being a foreigner, I have to know when they are giving a lot, maybe too much and say no. Here is an example:
While my friends were here, we wanted to go to Luxor. So it is a cheap train ride, but a long one, 8-12 hours, to Luxor. I went to the train station to buy tickets for us and they had none to sell. The trains were full for the beginning of Ramadan. A tourist police officer came over to help me, and then seeing that the train was full, he said he could get me tickets anyway. He told me to come back the next day at 8pm, about an hour before the train left, to get any unsold tickets that might be around. I agreed and went back to the train station the next night to get these tickets. When I got there, I spoke with the Tourist Police again, and they said I was too early, even though I was there on time. They told me to wait 45 minutes, about 15 minutes before the 9pm train left. I waited, and then 45minutes later, they said the tickets won't be ready until 11pm. They assured me that I could get tickets that night, no matter what so, I stuck around until 11pm. When 11pm hit, the tourism police found me and gave me 4 tickets from Luxor to Cairo, for the next night... I told them that was great, but I needed tickets to get from Cairo to Luxor first, and that the next train left Cairo at 1230AM. They said it is no problem and that I should wait until 12pm and I would get the tickets I needed. I waited around and midnight came and went, then I waited some more until about 1225am. I found the tourism police again and they were still tying to get tickets. I told them that I could just go home and come back tomorrow to take another train, and that it was no big deal if I went or not to Luxor, and I could just go to Alexandria instead. They told me no, that they had tickets for me and that I would now take the 1am train to Luxor. So, patiently I waited again, and then right before 1am, they tourism police came up to me and gave me four little pieces of paper. On them was hand written, in Arabic, that supposedly said, tickets to Luxor. I laughed and asked if this was for real and would actually work on the train? They assured me that it was ok....
So, now I had makeshift round trip tickets for four people to go to Luxor on the 1am train, which ended up being 30 minutes late. So, we got on the train to Luxor at 130am, after waiting since 8pm. We then found out that the seats were not next to each other and also in different cars. This was not acceptable because, my friends, being Sorority girls who spoke no Arabic (no offense girls), and who were also looked at as pieces of American meat here, would have to sit next to Egyptian/Arab men for up to 11 hours. So the tourism police told us it was not a problem and that we could sit next to each other. I agreed and then when we got on the train, the tourism police started kicking people out of there seats and told them to sit elsewhere, even though they were already situated on the train first before it even got to Cairo. I did not like this as, now it seemed to me that an exception was being made for us, and that because of some special treatment, ordinary paying Egyptians were paying the price. This was not my intention, what so ever, and I wish they would have just told us it was not possible to take the train and not go through such a long, difficult process, just so we could piss off some sleepy Egyptians at 130 in the morning. So that being said, they don't know when to say no here, but it was a good thing that the girls were able to sit somewhat near me and each other on the way to Luxor, and only Stephanie was slightly fondled, which was bad enough and could have been worse, by the Egyptian man sitting next to her pretending to be asleep with wandering hands.
This lack of restraint to me and policies behind them are bias, especially to the favor of foreigners, and that is a synonym of the political atmosphere, in which the government caters to tourists and foreign objects, ideas, and goods, instead of promoting local peoples, customs, and goods to help the struggling economy here. This catering is breeding a slight bit of social unrest from the locals against the policies of the Mubarak regime and the U.S. presence here and I may note that if more severe policies are taken to I am curious to see if the same policies are enforced for other foreigners here, such as Europeans and mainly Russians. That will be for later.
While my friends were here, we wanted to go to Luxor. So it is a cheap train ride, but a long one, 8-12 hours, to Luxor. I went to the train station to buy tickets for us and they had none to sell. The trains were full for the beginning of Ramadan. A tourist police officer came over to help me, and then seeing that the train was full, he said he could get me tickets anyway. He told me to come back the next day at 8pm, about an hour before the train left, to get any unsold tickets that might be around. I agreed and went back to the train station the next night to get these tickets. When I got there, I spoke with the Tourist Police again, and they said I was too early, even though I was there on time. They told me to wait 45 minutes, about 15 minutes before the 9pm train left. I waited, and then 45minutes later, they said the tickets won't be ready until 11pm. They assured me that I could get tickets that night, no matter what so, I stuck around until 11pm. When 11pm hit, the tourism police found me and gave me 4 tickets from Luxor to Cairo, for the next night... I told them that was great, but I needed tickets to get from Cairo to Luxor first, and that the next train left Cairo at 1230AM. They said it is no problem and that I should wait until 12pm and I would get the tickets I needed. I waited around and midnight came and went, then I waited some more until about 1225am. I found the tourism police again and they were still tying to get tickets. I told them that I could just go home and come back tomorrow to take another train, and that it was no big deal if I went or not to Luxor, and I could just go to Alexandria instead. They told me no, that they had tickets for me and that I would now take the 1am train to Luxor. So, patiently I waited again, and then right before 1am, they tourism police came up to me and gave me four little pieces of paper. On them was hand written, in Arabic, that supposedly said, tickets to Luxor. I laughed and asked if this was for real and would actually work on the train? They assured me that it was ok....
So, now I had makeshift round trip tickets for four people to go to Luxor on the 1am train, which ended up being 30 minutes late. So, we got on the train to Luxor at 130am, after waiting since 8pm. We then found out that the seats were not next to each other and also in different cars. This was not acceptable because, my friends, being Sorority girls who spoke no Arabic (no offense girls), and who were also looked at as pieces of American meat here, would have to sit next to Egyptian/Arab men for up to 11 hours. So the tourism police told us it was not a problem and that we could sit next to each other. I agreed and then when we got on the train, the tourism police started kicking people out of there seats and told them to sit elsewhere, even though they were already situated on the train first before it even got to Cairo. I did not like this as, now it seemed to me that an exception was being made for us, and that because of some special treatment, ordinary paying Egyptians were paying the price. This was not my intention, what so ever, and I wish they would have just told us it was not possible to take the train and not go through such a long, difficult process, just so we could piss off some sleepy Egyptians at 130 in the morning. So that being said, they don't know when to say no here, but it was a good thing that the girls were able to sit somewhat near me and each other on the way to Luxor, and only Stephanie was slightly fondled, which was bad enough and could have been worse, by the Egyptian man sitting next to her pretending to be asleep with wandering hands.
This lack of restraint to me and policies behind them are bias, especially to the favor of foreigners, and that is a synonym of the political atmosphere, in which the government caters to tourists and foreign objects, ideas, and goods, instead of promoting local peoples, customs, and goods to help the struggling economy here. This catering is breeding a slight bit of social unrest from the locals against the policies of the Mubarak regime and the U.S. presence here and I may note that if more severe policies are taken to I am curious to see if the same policies are enforced for other foreigners here, such as Europeans and mainly Russians. That will be for later.
2 comments:
HA! Nice blog, I put you in my reader, so now you know you have at least one fan! Believe it or not, but I had more culture shock going from the West Coast to East Coast than I did from the US to Japan. I am sure you are the opposite lol. Good luck on that!
Hey Mikie,
Whats up man thats a crazy story that I could totally imagine from being there. Sorry i haven't written you yet, Carina keeps me on a short leash, but I'll hit you up sometime man.
~john~
Post a Comment