Dateline Cairo: The City of Big Rocks

Any good Blog has a host of reporters around the world. And we're not just any good Blog! I have a field report from Cairo by well-known investigatory journalist Nicholas Whitaker who will be a regular contributor assuming I never ask him for permission. Nicholas is studying a broad there and I think her name is Mary. Forgive any poor grammar since, being a good editor, I have decided not to edit anything. Just raw reporting. Anyway, he's a college student so what can you expect? Following is his first-hand account of an American in Paris... only he's a Persian in Cairo and he has two hands:

By Nicholas James Whitaker (Pictured at right -- the blue shirt, not the big rock structure.)

First off allow me to begin this E-mail with what has become the standard greeting for anyone Whitaker. I must apologize profusely for the time that has elapsed since my last E-mail. In the mean time my travel companion Mary and I have been able to procure an apartment, mobile phones, and enough stares to make even a leper jealous. (The point of that joke was that a leper’s parts would be falling off and that would cause the people to stare!! Get it?? California Love to all the lepers out there….no hard feelings???).

I will leave that part until later but the gist of my apology comes from the fact that we have moved away from the vicinity of our beloved Internet Café and at this point will not be able to gain an Internet connection in our apartment until next week at the earliest.The best thing so far this week has been finding a dream of an apartment. If you are my beloved mother please skip this next part. Although we are most likely paying more than most students here, we realize it and did I mention we have a view of the Nile from every room in the apartment. The place is furnished and adorned with items that make it feel cozy and much like what a summer cottage in some really hot country would feel like if I knew what that felt like. We have 2 bedrooms on opposite sides of the apartment and air conditioning units in each room. The kitchen is small but the last time I checked, eating out requires little to no cooking. The bathroom is the second smallest room in the house and although we face the risk of constant flooding from the shower, it is a nice refuge for me from the daily grind of Ulcerative Colitis hell. My bedroom consists of two single beds, a desk, and something the French call an armoire. Due to the tall genes in my family, my legs stick out the bottom and I can only imagine what it would be like if I were actually tall.

I still have not adapted to either the time difference nor my own insomnia so sleeping accommodations are currently of little importance. Although we are encouraged to subject ourselves to as much cultural immersion as humanly possible, Mary and I have applied for what people over here are calling, Satellite television. It is very cheap and will hopefully provide us with a little refuge from the vastness of Cairo with a few horrible American movies and if we are lucky some good old fashioned Arabic Music television.

School will begin on the 5th of September and if classes are anything like the orientations we have been attending, we are all in for the longest and most redundant semester in school history. We have already attended three orientations and still have another four left. The only good news about them is that the last one will be hosted at some Red Sea resort whose name I could butcher but I would rather just retrieve it from my memory by remembering that it sounded like Gonorrhea. (No offense Andrew!!)

So far we have met many students from throughout both the U.S. and Europe. We are meeting up with representatives from Virginia, Massachusetts, D.C., Colorado, and our beloved California later tonight for what will hopefully be some kind of culturally sensitive bonding experience. The other students that we have met seem to be very good students but I have assured them not to be intimidated by my blank, empty stares and reassured them that I always bring down the class curve. I think that makes them feel better and I know this because they stop talking to me.

As I mentioned in my previous E-mails, getting around Cairo in a taxi is quite an amazing if not pants soiling experience. Although some roads are marked with lanes, nobody pays any attention to them and turnabouts are just about the most nerve-racking thing since that forest burning scene from Bambi. At the beginning of this last week Mary and I took a taxi to the airport to pick up the third and final member of our UC Davis posse. I think I had my eyes shut the whole time but I do remember at one point turning and telling Mary that I had some good news and bad news. The good news was that we were making great time and would be at the airport much faster than expected. The bad news was that the cab was beginning to smell like gasoline. Mary used her experience in dealing with crappy cars and assured me by telling me to stick my head out of the window which did absolutely nothing. Speaking of gasoline, an interesting factoid that we have picked up is that a gallon of gasoline here costs about one dollar. I thought that I would throw that in there since most people reading this E-mail reside in a state where they would likely trade their children in for a gallon or two of fuel (Kylie be quiet and just get in the car).

Anyway, the other exciting thing we did yesterday was to visit the Pyramids!! There is too much to describe but my first impression of them was their immense size. My whole life has been consumed by my quest to discover whether size truly does matter. I have been obsessed with this journey but no matter what Lavender might say, it does!! The pyramids are enormous, and not in like a “that is an enormous scoop of ice cream” enormous, I mean cones that are comprised of 2.5 million stones each weighing around 2 tons enormous. I am going to try to send some pictures along with this E-mail but in case you don’t get them please just believe me when I tell you this and stop thinking about what I am doing to one of the rocks in the picture. We could not go inside the pyramids, which was kind of disappointing, but I have been told that they consist of an infinite amount of tunnels and small rooms. I think that they only allow the first 150 people in per day but that could have been just what they tell Americans!! We also saw the Sphinx and it is truly a testament to what I could do with the proper resources and only a million or two slaves!!

Lunch that day consisted of a typical Egyptian meal, full of falafel, goat cheese, vegetables, eggplant, and my new favorite word, Baba Ganoosh!! Go ahead….SAY IT AGAIN!!! The lunch was wonderful but I was reminded how much I love the way animals taste when they are cooked (sorry Rovee).

This city is truly amazing. What it lacks in good smells it more than makes up for in the number of people and pollution. One of our new Egyptian friends has told us that during the day the city of Cairo consists of around 20 million people and is only reduced to around 17 million when the others return to their homes only a few miles outside the city. Your imagination of how huge this must be cannot be overstated and I assure you that I too have no idea as to how anything can move. Even with all of this hustle and bustle, our EAP advisor has told us that most Egyptians have still not returned from vacation and that it will most certainly get twice as bad.

I feel that I have not done this most welcoming city many favors in my ranting and raving. The people here are incredibly friendly and once they realize that we are as lost as we look they are more than happy to help. Overcoming the language barrier is the most difficult task we face on a day to day basis but I promise that once our classes start I will know more than hello, welcome, please, thank you, and help!! Perhaps the most daunting cultural challenge that I have faced thus far is the inability to truly be able to trust people. This is not to say that the Egyptians cannot be trusted but rather that it is always difficult to get to know people enough to really trust them and that moving to a place where you know few if no people at all, is something that can never be overrated. Staying at hotels gives you a chance to come to the realization that people are nice to you primarily because they would like your money. Again this is not to say that Egyptians are any different than most people. What is difficult for them is that they see Americans come in to their country and most of them have money. A typical Egyptian makes between 25-50 Egyptian pounds a day. This translates into anywhere between 5 and 10 US dollars. From what they see on the American shows broadcasted on television and the people that enjoy the fruits of their labors, how could they not believe that we grow money out of our ears? They all want a piece of it and it would take an idiot to think that any human being would not treat us in such a manner. I am saying this not to chastise either Americans or Egyptians but rather to illustrate the importance of being aware of our surroundings. I am by no means a spokesperson for the cause of anyone not born with a silver spoon in their mouth but the journey thus far has given me new perspective on what poor people really live like. I think the two most popular jobs here in Cairo are washing cars and selling packs of tissue on the street. The children who sell them have mastered the art of salesmanship as their persistence is incredible but I suppose desperation can be a great incentive. The whole point of this paragraph was to state, in no such simple words, the importance of having the great friends that I have, and how lost I would be without them.

The people here are also very aware of the political climate and what is at stake in the upcoming election. As I am sure many of you have heard, this year will mark the first “democratic” elections in Egypt practically since Ramses (HAHA!!). As usual in the Middle East democracy is in quotes because although it is a good step, most people understand why the current leader, Hosni Mubarak, has opened up the elections to what has now become 9 other candidates. There is really no doubt as to who will win and that is not the interesting part. What is fascinating is talking to the people here regarding their reasons for voting for Mubarak. While most people say they will vote for him because he is the only one they feel they can truly trust, others have a different reason. Several people have told me that Egyptians are, shall we say, emotional voters. They say that many will vote for Mubarak because they would feel sorry for someone who has led for over 20 years and would worry what he would do if he lost. If he lost he would have to go home and basically not be president and that alone is enough to convince them to vote for him.
It is a fascinating dimension to these people that is often lost in all of the bad media and portrayals they receive in movies and T.V. shows.

One of the questions that I have been asked by many Egyptians here in the streets of Cairo is in regards to Americans and their religion. What is just as interesting as seeing their reactions to my analysis of the United States is their explanation of the role of Islam in the Muslim world and more specifically Egypt. Although many of you know that I have chosen not to embrace any sort of religion in my life, I have a tremendous amount of respect for those who do. Our most trusted friend here in Cairo thus far has been an Egyptian by the name of Zaki who was born here but is a Catholic. We have had many discussions with him regarding the role of both Christianity and Islam. One cannot help but be in awe of how devout so many Muslims seem to be towards their beloved religion. Many Westerners, including myself, are very critical of Islam and especially the debilitating effect it has had on Western/Middle Eastern relations. What is not noticed and what cannot be noticed by those not living here are the positive effects. For example, the amazingly low levels of crime, drunk driving, and material excess that plague many U.S. cities are practically non-existent here. This is in large part to the dedication of Muslims to their Koran and their faith. It is impossible to dismiss the way Islam has been used to direct the masses to enrich the few but the aforementioned issues are some of what makes Cairo so amazing. Just one quick example, last night we were able to walk the streets of Cairo until 2:00 in the morning and not once did we ever feel uncomfortable or unsafe. We took plenty of the dark alleys we were told not to throughout the night and especially to get home more quickly but up to this point we have felt totally safe. I don’t know how many of you have reached this part of the E-mail but for those of you who have, I consider you real troopers.

There is so much to write but I feel as if I have already said too much. I hope that all of you are doing well and enjoying the Sacramento summer. I have read that the weather is cooler there and I am looking forward to returning in the winter to temperatures unthinkable here in Cairo. I love you all and cannot possibly overstate how important you all are to me. Thank you for being you.

Much Love, Nicholas