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A Typical Conversation with our Friendly Doorman
I answer the doorbell to find our bawwab (doorman) Hassan, a smiling man with gray streaks in his black hair. He nods hello and speaks a few, unintelligible words in Arabic. I nod and show my friendliest smile. This is usually the best response. It is polite, natural, and works nicely for a whole host of situations. Unfortunately, he didn’t stop by to wish me good morning or mention how entertaining the football (soccer) game was last night.
He waits, and I realize that he has asked me a question. Shoot. I stammer, “Uhh…” and stare intently at the paper in his hand, as though intelligently comprehending what it read. I kept staring, even after I had realized there was not a single word in English there.
He repeats the question with a smile and holds out the paper to me, pointing. This time I understood some number words. “Oh! Um, is this a bill? Should I…” I trail off. He has not learned any English words since I last tried this immersion method on him, which was yesterday. I resist the urge to talk slower and louder. That is often what well-meaning Arabs will do to me. Besides making me feel like a special ed. student with hearing problems, gibberish is still gibberish, no matter how carefully it is pronounced!
There’s a short, awkward pause, and then he throws back his head and chuckles gleefully, as though I had just delivered the punch line to a hilarious joke. It must have been the expression of terror on my face. I join in nervously, trying not to appear as helpless as I felt. Should I go get my phrase book, and look up the words for “I have no idea what you’re talking about and I feel like an idiot”? I’m in his country, after all.
Out on the street, a driver honks, and inexplicably I turn toward the sound. I feel the desert, oven-like air flowing past me into our apartment, and absent-mindedly wonder if it will be only mildly scorching hot today, or unbearably so, our two weather options for this time of year.
Hassan is still patiently waiting. I have the vague idea that I should hand him money, an all too common feeling in the land where tips are expected for the slightest of services. But I know we pay the bawwab only at the end of the month.
Is that a twinkle in his eye? Is this amusing to him? Suddenly… “Ahhh!” he says with his index finger pointing up, the international gesture for “I have a wonderful idea!” As he pulls his 21st century cell phone from a pocket in his long, dusty robe that looks remarkably close to how I’ve pictured Jesus dressed, it happily occurs to me that we haven’t paid our electricity yet for last month, and this has to be what he needs. He deftly punches out numbers on the keypad and turns it to show me: “93.”
“Gineeh?” I ask, suddenly proud that I was able to recall the word for an Egyptian pound, equivalent to $0.18.
He nods with a pleased expression. That one word that I am able to conjure up brings us into the realm of a real, human-to-human interaction. The satisfaction I feel in this small accomplishment is immense. I count out the money with accuracy and appropriately end with Shukran (thank you) and Ma salama (goodbye), beginning to feel downright impressed with myself. A coping mechanism I’ve developed, probably, which helps me focus on my tiny successes and blocks out the many painful moments when I’ve utterly embarrassed myself. Like the day I told the taxi driver to take me to Road Solid, instead of Road 200. But that’s another story…
The Pyramids
Let's just get this pyramid talk out of the way so we can get on to more exciting stuff....
I respect the fact that it has probably been your lifelong dream to witness the Giza Pyramids firsthand.
But I say don't bother.
Instead, just type, "pyramids wikipedia" into Google and see what you can learn that way. It's less expensive, you won't get sunburned, and maybe you'll even continue to think of them as mystical or otherworldly.
It's not that pyramids aren't impressive feats of humankind. It's just that they're surrounded by the kind of humans who aren't nearly as impressive.
Not only were we continually harassed by men who wanted us to ride their donkeys, horses, and camels ("I give you good deeel. $500!), we were also forced to pay money to several tour guides--not to give us actual tours, but simply to have them leave us alone so we could contemplate the pyramids in relative peace.
Apparently, things haven't changed a bit since Mark Twain's visit in 1869....
"We suffered torture no pen can describe from the hungry appeals for bucksheesh [tips] that gleamed from Arab eyes and poured incessantly from Arab lips. Why try to call up the traditions of vanished Egyptian grandeur; why try to fancy Egypt following dead Rameses to his tomb in the Pyramid, or the long multitude of Israel departing over the desert yonder? Why try to think at all? The thing was impossible. One must bring his meditations cut and dried, or else cut and dry them afterward."
I hope you can appreciate the satirical nature of Twain’s work here. Neither he nor I intend to portray every Egyptian as a money-hungry scam artist. In fact, even on this day, our friendly and honest taxi driver Hasan chartered us around for 6 hours in the burning heat and only asked for $11, because he said that he liked us. *
I didn’t have terribly high expectations for the pyramids. I figured they would be there. Turns out they were there, just as I had assumed, only slightly smaller.
But the most shocking part was the strange sense of familiarity I felt upon seeing the pyramids for the first time. It was as if I had been there before. And I had—on YouTube, on Google Earth, and in a million PBS documentaries.
And honestly, it wouldn’t have been all that bad if that were the only way I had ever seen them.
Bill and Missy's Cairo Flat
We have officially moved the four suitcases that currently constitute our belongings into our new Cairo apartment. Our accommodation is a furnished, 2-bedroom unit on the ground floor of a small building in Maadi Degla, which is a quiet suburban (!yay!) neighborhood a good deal south of the city center.
Our neighborhood seems to be comfortable and somewhat isolated from the craziness of Cairo life. Not that it can be compared in any way to, say, Overland Park. But living here gives us the chance to experience, at least initially, something other than "Cairo in your face," as one chap so eloquently put it today.
The Nile and Door Knobs
Bill has done a nice job in the previous post of updating you on our life the last few days. We have almost been in Cairo one week! Seems like much longer. That has to be due to the fact that every little piece of life seems vastly different from life in the U.S., and so we seem much further removed from our Kansas City existence. Of course there are the obvious differences, like the fact that we're living in Zamalek, a neighborhood on an island in the middle of the Nile River. We're not in Kansas anymore, Toto! This first picture shows the view from one of the bridges connecting Zamalek to another part of Cairo. Zamalek is on the right. We often walk through here on our way to the Metro
. It is most beautiful at night. Here's another view from the same bridge. I still can't over the fact that I'm looking at the Nile, the influential river I read about in my elementary history books that has sustained life along its banks in this desert land for thousands of years. If you saw the video we posted of our landing in Cairo, you viewed the stark contrast between white desert sand and fertile, green land on either side of the river, making up the Nile River Valley. It is incredible.
Tomorrow we move into our apartment that kind folks here have assisted us in obtaining, which is in a different part of the city altogeth
er. But for the last week, I've sure enjoyed Zamalek.
But even little things about life here are different. Here's just one example. Did you know that door knobs in Egypt have attitude? They have decided to confuse poor Americans who only have room in their worldview for one kind of door knob. So far I have learned that many door knobs here do not turn. Instead, you press a button on top of the knob, which then makes the door pop open. Here's a picture to prove it. And the first dozen times you grasp the knob, intending to exit the room, you'll look like a fool as you twist and grunt, until you remember to just push the button... and the door will pop open, laughing at you all the while.
Bill and Missy find a flat, eat street food, etc
Dear Blog Reader:
My apologies for not updating you more frequently or creatively on our new life here in Cairo. I promise that soon you will see many alluring Egyptian pictures and videos, and witness many spellbinding Egyptian stories that will undoubtedly spice up our humble weblog.
But the truth is that we have been occupied with far more mundane matters than scaling pyramids, uncovering mummies, or bathing in the Nile. In fact, the most tourist-filled activity we have endured was our arrival at the airport, when we had to choose from the dozens of taxis, each of which immediately offered us the "best deal in Egypt."
Although we have not seen the Pyramids or the Great Sphinx....
For the past week we have been staying at a small guest house run by the Anglican church here in Cairo. Its guests are primarily American sight-seers, students, and other do-gooders, here on both a temporary and short-term basis. This is both good and bad. On the one hand, learning Cairene culture with other American Christians has helped ease our initial transition; on the other hand, these same people often assume that they know everything there is to know, and very frequently feel led to inform you of this knowledge.
We are learning to eat Egyptian street food on the cheap. With a mere 18 cents you can purchase a fuul sandwich, the filling of which is strangely reminiscent of Taco Bell's refried beans, (if you absolutely must have a Western comparison). If you are willing to spend a few more cents (literally), you can exchange your sandwich's refried beans for a sort of felafel patty, which is referred to in Egypt as tamiya (think Captain D's hushpuppies, except green). But so far, my favorite dish has been koshari, which is a conglomeration of lentils, chick peas, macaroni, fried onions, and rice (you'll just have to use your imagination for this one--even after eating this dish, I still had to consult wikipedia to check and see what I had just consumed). Many serious food critics say that Egypt isn't known for its food, but don't tell that to Melissa and I--we are doing quite fine with our green hushpuppies and bean burritos.
Things are also beginning to make sense regarding our jobs, volunteer positions, and Arabic classes. We plan to begin studying Egyptian Arabic at the Episcopal Training Center this Sunday, although we may only have time for 6 hours per week. A majority of the rest of my time will be spent volunteering at the Arab West Report, a small online publication that translates and summarizes Egyptian Arabic news reports, with the goal of building bridges and improving relationships between local Christians and Muslims. Melissa also plans to teach English at the same center as our Arabic studies. In addition, I also plan to teach a class or two. Other options exist; but at the moment we are more concerned with finding affordable housing and learning how to safely cross the street like an Egyptian.
The best news of all is that we have potentially found an affordable short-term housing option. It is a furnished flat located in Maadi, an area which will undoubtedly provide comfortable lodging, but which also comes with unflattering label of "Little America." (Please keep in mind that some Egyptians cannot help but resent the posh lifestyle of expatriate Americans, as minimum wage in Egypt is a mere 35 pounds per month, which is how much you would spend on a single value meal at McDonalds.) To be honest though, we did not so much find this apartment as much as it was found for us by the incredibly helpful people at ETC. Our own search continually seemed to continually result in an incredibly suave, yet unconvincing, real estate broker solemnly shaking his upturned head and declaring that he could not find us an apartment for this price "anywhere in the entire land of Egypt."
So in summary, things are, in some sense, falling into place quite nicely for Bill and Missy here in Egypt. We are constantly overwhelmed at how much we have to learn and relearn. However, this feeling of complete ignorance is one that is extremely addicting. Around each new corner lies a place we have never been, filled with people who are undoubtedly among the friendliest in the world. I hope to show, rather than merely tell you, all about them in the coming days.
Abu Dhabi Airport and Landing in Cairo
Friends and Family,
We have arrived safely in Cairo and we're getting settled in! We promise to write more later, but for now, here are a couple videos to enjoy! The first is a piece that Bill edited to show our descent into Cairo, which was an incredible sight! You can see the Nile and the sprawling city. Next is the inside of the colorful airport in Abu Dhabi where we waited on a 14.5 hour layover. You may have to pause the videos at the beginning so they can load. Also, look for the full screen button in the bottom right corner. Hope this gives you a glimpse into our journey...
To be continued...
Landing in Cairo on the Airbus A330 from William Gallo on Vimeo.
Untitled from William Gallo on Vimeo.
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