Thoughts and impressions from Cairo, summer of 2003

I’ve done it again. I am in Cairo, in the middle of the heat of the summer. Last year I decided never again to come to town this time of the year, and here I am. All alone, with my stomach going crazy and the Cairo cough in full bloom.

The drive from the airport to the hotel was a bit unusual. The traffic is always chaotic, but I am usually not afraid. This time I had a crazy driver. I believe he suffered from Tourettes syndrome. He jumped and danced and twisted in his seat all the time, and arranged his hands on the steering wheel in intricate patterns. The roads are quite empty in the middle of the night, so he drove fast. The car had no mirrors, and he didn’t really like to turn his head. While dancing in his seat, he changed lanes back and forth and at the same time he studied his hands closely. Luckily, there were only a couple of times that there actually was a car there when he changed lanes.

I had forgotten how difficult it is to ride in an elevator in Egypt. It requires uniformed expertise. I hate it: the moment I head for the lift at the hotel, a uniformed lift- man comes running and pushes the button. When the lift comes, he slides in through the door and asks which floor I want, and then he pushes the correct button. And there I am, stuck in a tiny little lift, with a man who has absolutely nothing to do there, except stare at me with eager eyes. I feel like I have gained a big personal victory every time I manage to sneak into the lift all alone.

Egyptian children are very curious. Foreigners are so exciting, and the kids come running to look at you wherever you go. Most of them can say at least 2 sentences in English: “Hellowhatsyourname?” And “Welcome to Egybt”. By then, they have exhausted all their English vocabulary, and continue on in Arabic. Luckily I speak Arabic well enough to appear to be only a minor idiot when answering them.

 This time I have found a swimming pool in Cairo. It is located at Semiramis, one of the fancy hotels in town. I had some problems figuring out what to wear at the pool. I sat under a huge towel that covered me from the shoulders to the knees for about an hour, studying the other guests carefully, before I settled on a comfortable alternative. Two blond ladies wore bikinis, but other than that it seemed that the current pool fashion was veil and abaya (long coat). For the men it is completely different, of course, they wear comfortable swimming suits and tiny little shorts. I was rather stressed by having so many veils around me, but settled for t-shirt and bare legs in the end.

 The street fashion has changed considerably since I first arrived in Egypt 6-7 years ago. That time I came directly from Palestine, and I didn’t really feel that the Palestinian ladies were very elegantly dressed. They all seemed to wear grey coats and white veils. The Egyptian ladies, on the other hand, seemed elegant and well dressed. They had dresses in all different colours, and veils with matching colours. Now the coat fashion seems to have arrived in Egypt as well. In the shops you will find a wide selection of coats and veils, and even matching face masks, both for everyday use and for parties. There are more and more fully veiled ladies in the streets, although it will take some time before they will be a majority.

 There is an incredible number of taxis in Cairo with competition for the customers. The drivers are eager to offer their services. They will drive up next to you as you are walking along, thinking about everything other than “Now I would really like to go for a drive in a taxi”. They honk the horn, then they honk one more time. Then once more just to make sure you heard them, and often times even stop the car to grab your attention. At the same time that he honks, the driver shouts out of the window “Taxi, very cheap”. If you still make no sign of wanting to get in, the taxi will drive slowly next to you as you walk on, so that you surely must realize that there is an available taxi right next to you. If that doesn’t help, the driver admits his defeat. He speeds up and drives away with his head turned backwards to check that you didn’t change your mind at the last minute, and wanted to take a taxi ride after all.

If you are planning to go by taxi, it is a good idea to expect that it will take a little longer time to get to your destination than it could do in optimal conditions. The taxi cars are old wrecks and their tyres puncture all the time. When that happens, the driver will tell you in Arabic that you must “just wait a moment, I’ll change the tyre”. This goes surprisingly fast, and it is fun to be lifted up and down in the car. The driver might also pick up more passengers on the way, and even though they are going more or less to the same area as you, it takes some extra time.

 The Egyptians love to say that if you drink water from the Nile, you will return to Egypt. I must have drunk litres and litres, because before I know what’s happened, I find myself in the line at the immigration and pass port control at the Cairo airport. I have lost track of how many times I have been to Egypt, but I do know that during this last year alone, I’ve been here 3 times. And there will be more times to come!