Toilets, Taxis and Tacky Resorts

Well I think it's about time to update since I've been here for a full two weeks. Orientation is over, I've yet to be killed by a taxi (but there have been a couple close calls), I've seen the Pyramids of Giza and Sakkana and I've only gotten sick once. Oh, I've also been ripped off at least 20 times. I have to remind myself that I only blend in when my mouth is closed.

Here's a link to some of my better photos so far: http://picasaweb.google.com/KFarzaneh/Egypt828071233PM

I think that I've progressed quite far compared to when I first got here, especially when it comes to taxis. I've come to learn a few rules:

1) You don't try to bargain the price down before you get in to the taxi- you just have to know it and then pay when you get to your destination. If you try and bargain most likely you'll be ripped off. For example it's 5 pounds from the AUC campus to the Zamalek dorms.
2) As a guy you must sit in the front seat, especially if you're alone. That is unless you want to be mistaken for being gay and then felt up (this happened to a friend- not me, thank God).
3) When the taxi driver yells at you and calls you a dog/donkey for not giving him enough money ignore him and walk away. Smile at him smugly if you want to be an ass.
Being in a taxi is an experience. There are no lanes, stoplights or traffic signs (well there are but no ones uses them). It's like a big school of fish that goes this way and that and individual fish communicate using the horn. The horn is the single most used item in Egypt. I think most of the taxi drivers have had theirs modified for easier use and increased volume. Every move requires some sort of signal using a horn- one honk, two honks, a long honk, a short one followed by a long one and the list goes on. Although headache inducing it's also very entertaining.

One thing I have yet to figure out are the toilets. I mean they work and for the most part are well stocked with toilet paper. That's not the issue. What gets to me is the bidet (small hose that's used to spray you-know-where after you-know-what with water). Specifically the ones that are fixed inside the toilet. As in right inside... in the middle.... sticking up... where stuff- well, you get the picture. I enjoy using a bidet, it makes sense, however I'm not really sure about these ones. It just can't be hygienic and I can't get myself to use them. I'll give it another two weeks before I decide what I think, I don't want to be too hasty in my final judgment.

The city itself is amazing. It's actually quite small- about half the size of Paris but with at least 5 times as many people. The current population estimates vary anywhere between 15 and 19 million making it one of the largest in the world. Thousands of people move here every week and the city is expanding quite quickly although more so horizontally than vertically. There aren't too many large skyscrapers but lots of 5 to 20 floor apartment buildings. In terms of development it is nowhere near a city like Shanghai (I'm comparing the city centers) and definitely seems to be more polluted. It's very crowded- I think more so than any city I've seen, including Shanghai. Crossing the street is kind of like the game Frogger except everyone makes their own lanes and you trust that the drivers see you. The food is good and cheap- unless you get ripped off (there's more on that later). Kofta, Fuul, and Shwarma are the main dishes. Zeke tried water buffalo the other day and said it was pretty tasty so I'll have to check it out. The mango juice is unbelievable, incredibly chunky and sweet, it feels as though you're sucking it right out of the mango. Fatir, a light yet fluffy crepe is equally delicious especially with some honey or sugar.

Campus is directly in downtown which I'm very glad about because it's moving to a brand new 500 million dollar location 40 minutes outside of the center next year. I think the experience of being in downtown is much better. The city is there and in your face. Of course, it's also very hot and the pollution adds quite a bit of humidity that probably wouldn't be there. We go through bottles of water like nothing as it's pretty easy to get dehydrated.

Something interesting more than a few of us have noticed here are that there a many men who have big black bruises on their foreheads. We found out later that this is a sign of religiosity and of a fervent prayer. Along those lines, I think we have all been surprised at the number of women who cover themselves. I would estimate that at least 90% of women (outside the AUC campus) are covered with at least a hijab and a surprising percentage of those are completely covered.

This last weekend, on Friday and Saturday all 375 or so international students went for an off-campus orientation to Ein Sukhna on the Red Sea coast. It's about an hour and a half east from Cairo. The resort itself seems to come out of nowhere- right in the middle of rocky desert it appears: a huge development projects with a few hundred condominiums and two huge hotels. It must have cost at least a few hundred million dollars to develop. It was also one the tackiest and kitsch places I've seen. It was decorated with 19th century paintings of Egyptian scenes and all the hotel employees wore "authentic" (authentic in the sense that Disney's Alladin is authentic) clothing. If anything epitomizes the idea of Orientalism, this was it. It catered exactly to the Western image of the Middle East, as does most of the tourism industry here, sadly enough. It was very frustrating. At the "Oriental Night" put on by the resort a belly dancer that wasn't really belly dancing and a whirling dervish that wasn't really a whirling dervish attempted to entertain us. It was all pretty depressing but obviously most people enjoy it. The Red Sea itself was very nice. Incredibly warm, turquoise and salty, you could walk out six or seven hundred feet and still stand in the wave-less water which was pretty eerie. It kind of felt like a huge sand bottomed pool with absolutely nothing in it. I think I enjoyed the pool more- at least it wasn't salty and it did have a waterfall. I hope to see the better side of the Red Sea later in the year when we go scuba diving and snorkeling at some of the best locations in the world. I think the beach here had been developed into nothingness- the only fish were translucent and the size of my finger. Check out the pictures in the link above.

We came back to Cairo Saturday night and immediately a group of 5 of us decided to go out to dinner. We picked the same restaurant where Zeke had gotten hawoashi (water buffalo) and were told to sit down at the back. The waiter came back and told us there were a series of meals we could order from that would come with rice, salad and bread. Three of us ordered the kofta and two others the shwarma plate. Stupidly we did not ask the price. The waiter came over a little while later and to ask if we were American and we replied "yes". He smiled and walked away. The food finally came and our kofta plate was smothered in mayonnaise and barbecue sauce. It was filthy but we thought that they were trying to be nice and cater to their idea of American taste. Needless to say we finished the meal (we were very hungry) and went up to the register to pay. "65 pounds" he told us. "What?", sandwiches at a place like this are never more than 5 pounds and even if we had gotten some rice and salad theres no way it would have all added up to this much. The conversion rate is 5.7 pounds to the dollar so its not technically that expensive but still- there's no reason it should be that much. But wait, he wasn't finished, "65 pounds per meal". "Oh... Shit", we responded. We'd been had, and badly at that. There was nothing we could do, we were told later we should have paid what we thought and walked out and threatened them with the police but we didn't think of this at the time. We were furious and annoyed to put it lightly. We paid and got out of the place quickly. Fifteen minutes later, Zeke and I were outside AUC trying to hail a cab to get back to the dorms when we see some of the Egyptians who help out international students throughout orientation. We went up to them and asked them what to do in that type of situation, we didn't want it happening again and we had learned our lesson. One of them responded to my question with a question. "Where was this place?" I answered, "just down the street a block or two". "Okay let's go". They were going to try and get our money back. We walked back with them and waited a few stores down. They were in there for a good 20 minutes. They walked out with 75 pounds in hand- 15 pounds for each of us. We had still been ripped off, but this was at least some compensation. Revenge (err... 25% revenge) is sweet.

Next up... the Pyramids!