The Red Sea was quiet, giving us some peaceful time to reflect. Tourists are very important to the Egyptian economy. American tourism has been low in recent years. We had a happy reception everywhere we went. Egyptians who only knew a few words of English would ask where we are from, and then give us a big thumbs up and smile, saying "Hi Ho Silver!" Others with more knowledge of English would say "we love Americans. Why no Americans come to Egypt?" Our resturaunt manager used to work in Sharm El Sheikh and til a plane crashed; then all the tourists left, and he had to find a different job. He told us he knows the media tells Americans Egypt is dangerous. "We are just like you." He works, takes care of his family, tries to have some time for fun. (He doesn't have a travel monkey though. I asked.)
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| Reflecting in Porto Sokhna |
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| Quiet Beach Town |
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| Porto Sokhna |
There is a lot of poverty in Egypt. People live in so many places that look abandoned. Everything is coated with a layer of sand or dirt. There is one section of Cairo that is for all the trash of 20 million people/200 square miles. The trash collectors and their families live in the trash area. And there is trash everywhere. Trash collecting is an endless, and I imagine thankless job. I don't think I'd want to be a trash collectors in Egypt, though they do get to ride in the back of the pickups.
There are thousands of unfinished buildings. Our guide Abdul said they are unfinished because that way the owners don't have to pay taxes. The poverty and tourism has created many people that work for tips. Navigating these social interactions has a learning curve. Daddy says don't look at people or talk to them. This is hard for Mommy, who is interested in people. If you have a guide, they keep you from experiencing most of this, but when you are out on your own, it takes a couple of experiences to really understand that the only thing free is selfies the Egyptians want to take with you.
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| Egypt |
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| Egypt |
Pets are only for rich people, but stray dogs and cats are literally everywhere. Our guide Abdul had some fun with me and a stray puppy. These puppies were lucky, because they lived close to a wonderful resturaunt!
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| Playing with the Puppy |
Egyptians may not agree with their government all the time, but they are proud of their history and country. The court system in America is so foreign, it seems silly to them. They appreciate the checks and balances offered by Congress to the president. (I had to ask Mommy who Congress was.) They are also proud of the Nile, and how it supplies all of their water.
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| The Nile |
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| The Nile |
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| Beautiful Bank Engravings |
Tourism is so important that people who go to university to be a lawyer quit their jobs to be tour guides because it pays better than beginning law jobs!
Egyptian men are so affectionate with each other! Hugs, kisses, and arms around shoulders are common. Egyptian men are not supposed to touch women.
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| Nathan and Omar |
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| One Nile Dinner Driver |
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| Abdul and Nathan |
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| Abdul and Kris |
Cairo is a little different, because it's so diverse, and there is some western influence. The teenagers love to get selfies with Americans! The girls especially loved selfies with Daddy, and the boys liked to put their arms around Mommy for selfies.
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| Selfie! |
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| Photos with the American Girl! |
There is so much security. Just to get into the Egyptian museum, there are three security gates. At gas stations, attendants scan the cars for explosives. Tourist Police are everywhere. Our resort had guards everywhere, but usually they just napped. One drew Mommy a picture. On the back of a list of guest names.
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| From the Security Guard |
There are so many more men than women out and about. Business is more often conducted by men, though Cairo is changing. Our guide Abdul said his wife stays home with his five children. He's from the country, but he and his wife live in Cairo now, to give his kids a better life. It's hard for them to be away from family. He talked about his wife wearing a burka. Not with possessiveness, but respect and pride. "No one else sees my wife except me." He is paying for all of his children to go to private school. Another guide we had, named Kareem, was younger. His wife also usually works, but is home with their second baby who is one month. He said the younger generation only wants one or two children, not five to seven. "two is good, more is not good." In Egypt, it is said the women are in charge. The men earn the money, and the wives spend it. It is often said the women talk a lot, this is met with laughter, and Mommy or Daddy will say it is that way in America too.
Mommy read me a short history of Egyptian women. Egypt had almost always been very progressive in their beliefs about women; all the way up until the 1960's, when a new president took over, and said women were meant to be in the home. Unemployment for women quickly went from 5% to 40%! There are women working to regain their status, but it is hard at times. Mommy read me stories about women motorcyclists who are really shaking things up. Mommy asked our guide about them; our guide said these ladies ride through Cairo every Friday night.
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| Embracing Feminine and Masculine |
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| Hatshepsut, the female Pharaoh |
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| Some of the Women |
There is an extreme value of family in Egypt. We had many conversations about family, but one that stood out was with our driver Kareem. He got his degree in IT, but in Egypt, that is not a high paying field. He chose to do tourism instead, so he could get married and have children. Tourism pays much better than IT.
There is a mix of a fast pace and slow pace in Egypt. People drive fast and walk fast. But if you are eating, it is leisurely and the check comes much later. When we went to ride quads, we were dropped off, and then invited to look at the mountain and drink tea. For a really long time. It was lovely, but so different than the churn of go go go in the city.
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| Egyptian Hospitality, drinking tea, enjoying the beauty |
I think, to sum it up, Egypt is a series of contradictions. I think what Mommy, Daddy, and I love best, though, are the people. Contradictions there too; the melodic Arabic interspersed with harshness, the lovely warm hospitality along side the desperate need for money to survive. But it's the hearts and souls of people that are open and friendly and welcoming that really make Egypt the beautiful place that it is.
