Egypt
Pic by MiralKhan on Devian Art
P.S. This post is too long, sorry for that. Keep in mind my observations happened in 3-4 days & I only saw 1% of Egypt so forgive my narrow perspective and enjoy.
Gaza, October 29, I will start this blog post
about Egypt by a tweet I replied with to a question that was directed to me
about Egypt. "Egypt was a million explosive things hidden underneath a weaved
blanket of so many overwhelming emotions.
It was like leaving the love of your life to go meet a long lost
lover."
“(Egypt) is a great place for contrasts:
splendid things gleam in the dust.”
― Gustave Flaubert, Flaubert in Egypt: A
Sensibility on Tour
It was like an out-of-body experience. Leaving
Gaza was pretty easy, yes I had to wait for 4-5 hours but I actually crossed
the Palestinian and Egyptian border and was ready to jump onto the cab ride to
Cairo that usually takes 4-5 hours, unlike many guys whom I witnessed being
asked to head back to Gaza for different reasons. The mission-impossible is a
mission-accomplished now.
At first we passed through Egyptian Rafah, an
identical twin to the Palestinian Rafah. The houses, the shops, the people and
the sand. Everything is alike. I felt like we were still in Gaza. Then, we
passed through Al Arish, it has the Gaza vibe until you start witnessing the
very tall, fancy, schmancy and huge hotels and sports clubs. Then comes Sinai desert. Miles and miles of
endless luscious silky sand that you feel like diving in or covering your body
with. Then you pass through different areas until you
reach "Ismailia". It immediately brought back flashbacks of
"Deir El Balah" in Gaza. Tall and arrogant palm trees. Allot of
planted lands. A few pedestrians walking by.
I was captivated and taken aback with
everything my eyes are trying to absorb and fathom to the extent that I decided
not to take pictures. I wanted to take photographic memories with my eyes
instead, and then come here and describe what I saw and felt instead of sharing
pictures.
Then, reality starts kicking in. "I am out
of Gaza", I murmured to myself. I was overwhelmed with so many feelings. I
felt triumph for making it to Egypt after defying all the odds and realities that
were telling me how impossible reaching Egypt or NYC will be. But at the same
time something weird was happening, I felt like a drug addict, like Gaza was
slowly withdrawing from my system. I instantly got sad and felt like air is
abandoning my body. Then I felt like a fish, a fish that was taken out of
water, it was nice sneak-peaking outside the tank, but I wanted to return to
Gaza right there and then.
"Omar, you are on a mission, remember?!
Hang in there. You are doing this for yourself and for numerous other Gazan
girls and guys who will be in your shoes one day", I tried desperately to
inject some sense into myself. I calmed down.
We passed through streets of an area that had
only huge factories. Huge companies, huge factories and huge smokestacks
gushing thick grey pieces of smoke that looks like a staying-still pieces of
fluffy cotton candy. I got sad. I remembered the area in Gaza that is filled
with factories, factories that no longer work because of the Israeli
bombardment and\or siege. It hit me right there and then, an indubitable
fact: Egypt is a country, a huge country, Gaza isn’t a country and its very
tiny in comparison to Egypt.
More time was passing and I never wasted a
minute. I observed and absorbed everything in the scope of my human abilities.
I then reached a point of observing things while my mind is wandering on a
black horse.
We started reaching Cairo and I felt a tingle
in my throat and a jingle in my heart. It was getting dark. My dear
"SUN" was accompanying me all the way until she got tired and decided
to go sleep; she was wearing such a recherché orange glowing dress. Sunset in
Egypt was beautiful, I know sunsets everywhere are alike, but I have to admit
that the sunset in Gaza is much more beautiful, tender, rich, and the colors
are more harmonious.
Darkness didn’t stop Cairo from preserving its
assiduousness. Big banners, flashy lights everywhere, wide streets and vibrant
colorful vibes that penetrates the darkness of the night. The only difference
between day and night in Egypt is the sun. The atmosphere doesn’t change much.
Oh, and the weather becomes amazing at night. The Nile was very flirtatious,
sexy and arrogant. Many loud vessels (of different shapes and sizes) were
cruising around in the Nile but the most beautiful scene was how the
surrounding lights were reflecting on the Nile's surface creating a 3rd
dimensional painting.
A new day has come. Sun started slowly pouring
light and pumping it into Cairo. I was in awe. Cairo turns into a beehive in
the morning, traffic in a constant rush-hour, people riding cars or walking to
work\school\university, you can just feel how energetic the atmosphere around
you is.
Cairo has many bridges; it’s a clever way to
connect different roads and areas. Bridges is a new experience for me; it just
goes to show how big of a city Cairo is.
Have you ever been spoken to by buildings? I am
not peddling minutiae here, I am serious. I don’t know if people notice that,
but the buildings in Cairo are so corpulent and they ooze a freedom that is
crowned by independence. Buildings in Egypt asseverate a very obvious fact:
Egypt is an independent, strong and solid country. Governmental buildings are colossal. Museums
are huge. Malls are huge. Companies are huge. Shops are huge. Streets are huge.
Supermarkets are huge. Everything is just humongous. In a way, I wish we had
this confidence in Gaza, but I wouldn’t deny that this made me miss how cozy
and warm Gaza is, with its small streets and small buildings.
I passed through "Abdeen", its very
Egyptian and vivid. Shops, people walking, cars and busy streets. I stayed at
"Zamalek", I have to say that its one of Egypt's most charming and
classy neighborhoods, and its so quiet. The streets are beautiful, trees are
everywhere. You can easily find shops, bakeries, restaurants, pharmacies,
hotels and every other thing you are looking for. Zamalek has a special vibe of
its own. My only problem with Zamalek was how similar its streets are.
I also
passed through "Al-Ma'adi", a very upscale Egyptian neighborhood that
is very classy and charming also. Although its very similar to Zamalek, it
still has its own vibe.
Cairo's downtown is unbelievable and
impeccable. It’s the perfect marriage of local stores and international brands.
You will find everything you are looking for. The famous "Madbooli"
bookstore is located in the heart of Cairo's downtown, it’s a great place for
people who likes to treasure-hunt Arabic books. Streets and streets of all
kinds of shops, boutiques, restaurants, banks, bakeries, pharmacies, shoes
stores and much much much more. It reminded me of Beirut's downtown and Gaza's
downtown too. People were walking in every direction you can think of. An
aspiring artist was displaying his work on the street, they were truly
impressive.
You would think that the weather in Cairo would
be atrocious, on the contrary, it wasn’t very different from Gaza, very hot in
the day and easy breezy in the night. I didn’t notice a difference and I wasn’t
bothered at all.
The most interesting street was the street that
homed "The Cultural Wheel" or "Sa2yet El Sawi". When we
passed next to it my heart jumped out of my chest and I flashed a huge smile. I
turned into a 5-year old who was approaching a candy store. It looked so big
from the outside, and so sexy. I didn’t have time to get in there but passing
next to it alone flew me to cloud nine. I was high on ecstasy. But I wasn’t
even prepared to what was about to happen.
Have you heard of "Diwan" bookstore
in Egypt? I am sure many of you know it. I knew it too but I forgot all about
it until the awesome cab driver blurted, "I heard you were looking for
English books and got disappointed when you didn’t find any at Madbooli's.
Would you like to check Diwan bookstore?". I was electrocuted with emotions.
At first, I was disappointed with myself for forgetting about Diwan bookstore
but then I remembered that everything was happening too fast. Then, I was
jumping with excitement. I found myself saying to the cab drive: "YES,
YES, YES". I proved to the world that just like Herbal Essence Shampoo can
give you an orgasmic shower (per to their advertisement), bookstores can make
you sound like you were having an orgasm. I would have turned to a red tomato
of embarrassment but I was nonchalant, I was too excited for "Diwan"
bookstore.
"OMG, I died and was sent to heaven",
"No wait, its like a candy store", "hallelujah", " I
am in love", I kept murmuring things to myself. My only regret was that I
had not much time to look around and boy I wanted to spend half of my life
there. I started sifting through the aisles and bookshelves while I overwhelm
the poor employee there with a thousand question about a thousand books at the
same time. It was an unforgettable hour.
I found so many books, some I read and others
were on my wishlist. I discovered many new authors and amazing new books. I
tried to process everything I was seeing. I bought a few books and exited
leaving my heart there. I will definitely be visiting them the next time I am
in Cairo.
If you are planning to visit Cairo soon and you
are a reading geek like me, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE check Diwan bookstore, here is
their website:
http://www.diwanegypt.com/
We passed through a cozy restaurant called
"Maison Thomas" which basically specializes in Pizza. The name might
sound British but the ambiance was definitely Italian. Its like you were
strolling through Venice.
I happened to pass through Tahrir Sq. so many
times and every time it happens I turn into a superman. I become happy, and
confident and free. It looks and feels so familiar and it illustrates hard
work. I became friends with Tahrir Sq. but I definitely need to spend some time
there next time. "El Midan" and "El Tahrir" people call it
there and I found myself talking about it like an Egyptian, I even was bragging
about it giving the sense that my father owned it (LOL).
I met two cab drivers during this short trip.
Abo yousef, such a gentleman, he was very respectful and very well awared of
everything in Egypt. He was the perfect blend of a modern man yet he was very
keen on holding onto his roots. He even became more amazing when he knew I was
Palestinian. He liked how I spoke the Egyptian dialect so well but he said I
don’t look like an Egyptian (the story of my life, people think I am a
foreigner when I am in Gaza, even in Egypt I can't fake being an Arab). Abo
yousef was very spontaneous and he feared god in a very respectful way, he was
very funny and entertaining. But he kinda lost me when he wanted to impress me
but putting on some new trendy cheap music that everyone is listening to in the
streets, especially youngsters.
Abu Gooda, he was great, but I didn’t get to
spend as much time as I did with Abo Yousef. But Abu Gooda was also very
respectful and kind and helpful and he was the one who suggested Diwan
bookstores and immediately became my favorite (I know I am biased).
Egyptians. Ah, I don’t know how to express my
love and respect to Egyptians. I didn’t meet a single rude Egyptian (aside from
the window 6 girl at the US Embassy in Cairo). Everyone was sweet, kind,
respectful, helpful, smiley, considerate and caring. They even took their
sweetness up a notch whenever they knew I was Palestinian. They truly love
Palestine and Palestinians with all their heart. I admit, Cairo intimidated me
with how big it is but I never felt like I was a stranger because people were
so warm there.
Egyptians walked with confidence, like a nation
that ignited a revolution, a revolution that changed the whole Arab world. I
loved watching how confident and free Egyptians are. They speak freely –whether
pro or against Mubarak or Morsi or any other political party or politicians-,
they walk freely and they express themselves in an amazingly emancipated way
that left me in awe.
I love watching graffiti but I have to say that
Egyptians took graffiti into a whole new level. I saw endless kinds of graffiti
holding so many different and sometimes contrasting messages. Most of the
graffiti was against Mubarak's toppled regime and the new Ikhwan regime.
Graffiti work was so bold and brave. Some Graffiti work was against the police
and was placed on the walls of the military police headquarters. Some Graffiti
work was hilarious with the painted characters and funny messages, this left me
cachinnating heartily. Also many Graffiti had some heartfelt messages about the
martyrs of the Egyptian revolution.
Poverty is an epidemic that is eroding Egypt's
lowest class and its very visible even in Egypt's upscale and upper class areas
and neighborhoods. But, in contrary to what we hear on TV, I noticed all three
classes in Egypt: Upper, middle and lower. Unlike Gaza, which is slowly
becoming a two-classed impoverished coastal enclave with only the upper and
lower classes being obviously visible recently.
I haven’t
had local Egyptian food this time but I did before and I have to say I am
addicted to the Egyptian Kushari. It’s a very simple yet delicious meal that
leaves you very full, satisfied and pleasured.
I also noticed how modernized and westernized
Cairo is becoming but I am not worried because I believe Egyptians are very glued
to their roots, or so I would like to believe. I think the revolution played a
role in bringing Egyptians closer to Egypt.
After living the Egyptian revolution through TV
and Twitter, I considered myself half Egyptian and I felt like I was a part o the
revolution. I wasn’t at tahrir sq. but my soul was definitely there. I was
glued to the TV, I didn’t sleep, I tweeted like a mad person and I genuinely
cared. I mourned the Egyptian martyrs, I rejoiced the victories and I even thought
of Egypt as an Egyptian. But in Egypt I became more Palestinian. I envied Egypt
and I wished that one day I get to have an independent free country that is
strong as Egypt. Egyptians' love for Palestine also kept the flame of Palestine
very well lit inside of me. I felt a responsibility because I was representing
my people.
Egypt had many things in common with Gaza but
perhaps one of them was the huge number of foreigners who are living in or
visiting the country. The only difference is that Egypt even had allot of Arab
nationalities either vacationing or studying or staying there because of
journalism. I was impressed to see how
easy everyone was acting, they were acting like they were at home and I am not
surprised because I had the same feeling.
We hear allot about how unsafe Egypt, Cairo,
Sinai and El Arish are but I found the contrary. Egypt was so very safe and
peaceful that helps you be at peace. The country is very safe and the people
are so warm, friendly, kind and helpful that you rarely feel alarmed.
I fell in love with Egypt, and it helped me
love Palestine even more.
I saw so many international and Arabic cities
in Cairo. It had the dynamicity of New York, the vivid nightlife of Lebanon,
the charming and cozy atmosphere of Venice, the shopping splurge of Paris and
much more. Cairo has many sides to it, which basically suites everyone no
matter what his\her taste is.
I didn’t experience any power outages during my
stay in Cairo but what I witnessed is the fuel crisis that was majorly
affecting everyone. I saw endless lines of cars waiting anxiously infront of
fuel stations dreaming of a chance to fill their tanks, a scene that isn’t strange
to me since I see it allot here in Gaza.
Egypt isn’t perfect. I think of it as a paragon
of beauty. Yes, there is many downsides but I think the positives over power
the negatives of Egypt, or so I would like to believe. Perhaps a few of the observed
negatives are:
1-
How expensive Egypt has became. I mean the prices are skyrocketing.
Everything is very overly priced to an extent that left me in mere shock.
2-
How cab drivers and some shop owners tend to exaggerate or increase the
price of stuff just because you are a foreigner.
3-
The smothering traffic that leaves you tired and angry.
4-
The widely spread beggars across Egypt. They will stay after you till a
miracle shows up and rescues you.
5-
Some streets are dirty, which is a shame because most of the streets are
clean and awesome.
And one of Cairo's biggest advantage or upside
is how they master customer service. If you are paying money then they will
make sure you are highly respected and you will get the best service out there
no matter what they have to do to achieve that. I was jealous of that. I wished
Gaza could learn a bit from them when it comes to customer service. They master
public relations also, something that Gaza doesn’t master at all.
Every Palestinian will tell you: "we don’t
live in Palestine, Palestine lives in us". Palestine is inherent. But
Egypt is inherent too in a way. It leaves things inside you when you leave it,
a residue of pure passion and nostalgia. Palestine is my homeland that lives
inside me, Egypt too left a print or an impression inside me.
Hate it or love it, hate to love it or love to
hate it, you can't deny that Egypt is a country that has a large magnitude. The
oldest and biggest civilization and the most interesting history. If you don’t feel
a positive eeriness when you are in Egypt, I feel like you would be
disrespecting the greatness of Egypt.
I miss Egypt so much. I can't wait to head back
to Cairo this week, and I will do everything in my power to return to Zamalek
neighborhood because I truly miss it. I hope I get to meet my friends there
this time because last time I had no time to do that which left me depressed
and left them sad.
"Egypt is the mother of the world",
an expression that is very correct. If you happened to be puzzled about why
that might be, here is a few reasons: Egypt is the first country to use
alphabets to write. Long texts were written in Egypt since the first
intermediate period that is between the old and middle Kingdoms. In Egypt the
first building using stones was built, that is the step pyramid in Sakara. The
famous Pythagoras theory of a right angled triangle was used by the architect
of Cheops at the ceilings of the funerary chamber at the Cheops pyramid more
than 2 thousand years before Pythagoras was born. Astronomy, chemistry, fine architecture, art,
religion, jewelry, carpentry, mathematics, perfumes, needles for sewing,
carving stones, first folding bed for camping - it belongs to Tut Ankh Amun-,
first folding chair for the beach of the same King, first condom of him too,
first paper to write that is the papyrus paper, first eye makeup, shaving
tools, beds and chairs like modern ones, all these and more are Egyptian
inventions.
I was asking myself If I was perplexed by a
paradox of falling in love with Egypt while breathing Palestine. The answer
was: NO. Palestine is my love and passion but Egypt is a country that I love
and respect too. Nothing is wrong with that.
Dear Egypt, I am coming back soon. I hope you
missed me as much as I missed you and your piquant taste.
Love,
Omar from Gaza
