2009: Egypt and Beyond!
Back from Egypt! Hopefully a more detailed update will come later, but I had a lovely time and learned bits and pieces of Egyptian Arabic. ("Anna mabsuta" is "I'm happy"; "shukrun owie" is "Thanks very much!"; and "maalish" is the frequent refrain akin to "C'est la vie.") I also rode a camel, was mobbed by Sudanese refugee children who wanted to braid my hair, and survived Egyptian traffic (think MarioKart, where everyone's going in the same direction, but trying to get there first).
The two strongest impressions I have were of great hospitality and dignity despite deep poverty. When entering tourist sites, our driver would say we were Australian, but we would tell people we were American if they asked, which usually got a smile and "Obama!" Even in the poorest places we went, children and even adults would wave and say, "Hallo," and they wore well-cared-for clothes, even if they lived (literally) above a trash heap.
Surprisingly (or not, perhaps), we didn't hear much news while there. We certainly saw police and military on the streets, guarding entrances to even podunk tourist sites and mobilizing near possible demonstrations, but their presence was not as heavy as this NY Times article suggests. Though it does not surprise me, I had not known about the scapegoating of Jews that the government is ramping up to try to deflect anger from its people for tacitly allowing Israel's invasion of Gaza. Because Hamas and the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood opposition party are related, Egypt's government is probably hoping that Israel will decimate Hamas before it is forced into a truce on Gaza. I hope that resolution will come as soon as possible, as there have been awful atrocities even during these few weeks, on top of a cutting off of many supplies necessary for basic survival. Although I don't agree with all of Khalidi's assertions, this op-ed adds some interesting details about the situation.
Hopefully I'll also be able to post about 2008 wrap-up and 2009 goals soon! My immediate task is wrapping up a few more grad school apps. :) Hope you're all well and looking forward to a wonderful 2009!
The two strongest impressions I have were of great hospitality and dignity despite deep poverty. When entering tourist sites, our driver would say we were Australian, but we would tell people we were American if they asked, which usually got a smile and "Obama!" Even in the poorest places we went, children and even adults would wave and say, "Hallo," and they wore well-cared-for clothes, even if they lived (literally) above a trash heap.
Surprisingly (or not, perhaps), we didn't hear much news while there. We certainly saw police and military on the streets, guarding entrances to even podunk tourist sites and mobilizing near possible demonstrations, but their presence was not as heavy as this NY Times article suggests. Though it does not surprise me, I had not known about the scapegoating of Jews that the government is ramping up to try to deflect anger from its people for tacitly allowing Israel's invasion of Gaza. Because Hamas and the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood opposition party are related, Egypt's government is probably hoping that Israel will decimate Hamas before it is forced into a truce on Gaza. I hope that resolution will come as soon as possible, as there have been awful atrocities even during these few weeks, on top of a cutting off of many supplies necessary for basic survival. Although I don't agree with all of Khalidi's assertions, this op-ed adds some interesting details about the situation.
Hopefully I'll also be able to post about 2008 wrap-up and 2009 goals soon! My immediate task is wrapping up a few more grad school apps. :) Hope you're all well and looking forward to a wonderful 2009!