The land of....something
Over the weekend, I experienced a lot of firsts but perhaps the most
memorable was riding an irate camel named Michael Jackson around the
pyramids at Giza. Michael Jackson was definitely not pleased that I was
riding on his back. Every couple of minutes he would release a grunt
that sounded something like a wookie trying to cough up a hairball. I
was a little grumpy from not having enough water in the desert around
the pyramids, so I understood Mr. Jackson’s frustrations.
Last Thursday, I flew to Cairo with a small group of kids from the math program. We spent 3 full days in the city of 20 million, flew out at 3 am Monday morning, arrived in Budapest at 6am and went to class at 8, 10, or 12. I was one of the lucky ones who had class at noon.
The people in Egypt were ridiculous. Our group generated a lot of attention and hence, a lot of harassment. Apparently, white women are stereotyped as being easy and so any Egyptian male who was not trying to sell us some overpriced trinket would yell or whistle or proposition the girls in our group. At one point, a 9 or 10 year old boy followed us for half a block trying to garner their attention. As for the men who were trying to sell something, they were constantly yelling memorized phrases like “welcome to Egypt, my friends.” Apparently, we had a lot of friends in Cairo. So in any given block that we traversed, there would be a minimum of 6 catcalls and 15 welcome-my-friend’s.
The only things better than riding camels are the taxis. Traffic laws are either not obeyed or non-existent. If you’re trying to cross the street, you can’t wait for a pedestrian crossing light to turn green. You have to walk into the middle of the street and play an all too real game of frogger. Drivers make the assumption that you will be able to get out of the way in time regardless of how fast or close they are to hitting you. Some of my friends took a taxi and told us that a man was trying to cross a 4 lane highway on foot while their taxi barreled toward him at 60 mph without letting off the gas. At the last second, the man moved out of the way and the taxi actually grazed his clothing. Further, the drivers don’t use their rearview mirrors or lights at night. Instead they honk their horn in order to let the other drivers know where they are. Cairo drivers use sound as opposed to sight in order to navigate the roads.
Even though it was a good time (especially the sheesha), I was glad to be back in Budapest. This weekend will probably be fairly low key, except for a potential excursion back to the Music Factory in the industrial/prostitution sector to see Punkreas, a Slovakian punk band.
It's very difficult not to look awkward on a camel.
The cabbie really liked Jimmy Carter for some reason.
Two real doods.
In the mosque.
Floating down the Nile in a felucca.
Last Thursday, I flew to Cairo with a small group of kids from the math program. We spent 3 full days in the city of 20 million, flew out at 3 am Monday morning, arrived in Budapest at 6am and went to class at 8, 10, or 12. I was one of the lucky ones who had class at noon.
The people in Egypt were ridiculous. Our group generated a lot of attention and hence, a lot of harassment. Apparently, white women are stereotyped as being easy and so any Egyptian male who was not trying to sell us some overpriced trinket would yell or whistle or proposition the girls in our group. At one point, a 9 or 10 year old boy followed us for half a block trying to garner their attention. As for the men who were trying to sell something, they were constantly yelling memorized phrases like “welcome to Egypt, my friends.” Apparently, we had a lot of friends in Cairo. So in any given block that we traversed, there would be a minimum of 6 catcalls and 15 welcome-my-friend’s.
The only things better than riding camels are the taxis. Traffic laws are either not obeyed or non-existent. If you’re trying to cross the street, you can’t wait for a pedestrian crossing light to turn green. You have to walk into the middle of the street and play an all too real game of frogger. Drivers make the assumption that you will be able to get out of the way in time regardless of how fast or close they are to hitting you. Some of my friends took a taxi and told us that a man was trying to cross a 4 lane highway on foot while their taxi barreled toward him at 60 mph without letting off the gas. At the last second, the man moved out of the way and the taxi actually grazed his clothing. Further, the drivers don’t use their rearview mirrors or lights at night. Instead they honk their horn in order to let the other drivers know where they are. Cairo drivers use sound as opposed to sight in order to navigate the roads.
Even though it was a good time (especially the sheesha), I was glad to be back in Budapest. This weekend will probably be fairly low key, except for a potential excursion back to the Music Factory in the industrial/prostitution sector to see Punkreas, a Slovakian punk band.
It's very difficult not to look awkward on a camel.
The cabbie really liked Jimmy Carter for some reason.
Two real doods.
In the mosque.
Floating down the Nile in a felucca.