This is a men’s world!

Women.
They have been stripped off more liberties since the revolution; harassment has become viral as the police is just not around. In a hive of 18 million people, Cairo has become obstreperous. Yet, I do not wish to fan the flames of sexual harassment today, I just have one tableau, taken from a personal experience.

As I walk home, I have the daily pleasure to walk past a bunch of workers. On one particular occasion, a couple of them felt it would smitten me to cat call me across the street, the blond westerner wearing a skirt. As I ignored and gave my nasty stare, I walked past a lady fully covered who witnessed the scene. She tutted loudly, at me, not them.

And who could blame her, she most likely is also harassed in her attire, so it’s only fair I get it too! Whatever the reasons behind the fact that she is covered, she probably thinks that I deserve it. Since your parents and beliefs shape your perception of life, if all you have ever known is one certain way, it takes a lot to be able to think outside the box. Before my experience of the Muslim world, I also had a lot of unfounded opinions about women in the Arab world.
So I looked at her and smiled and waved, not to wave her away, but to fan towards her a new idea, that we may be different in many ways, but undergo the same problems and could stand together after all.

Women, as in any society, are a paramount factor to a country’s development.

The students I teach are part of my Egyptian connection, they are proud of their country, however the troubles and often check on “how I feel about Egypt”. The patriotism is beautiful to witness and the best moments are when they explain to me, in my language, how they feel about France and yet how proud they are to be Egyptians! Our latest project was to build a chronology of the feminine condition in both France and Egypt in terms of legal rights. I was curious to find out how much they knew about my country and theirs. After much reading and research, this is the outcome (their choices for the pictures too).

 

Obviously, already prior to our search, we all understood that French women lead a different life compared to the Egyptian women. There are several layers to the feminine identity here. The fact that France is a secular country and Egypt isn’t has a lot of impact on the latter.

Indeed, religion plays a big role on what is allowed or accepted here. The constitution, today more than ever, is rather unclear as for what women can legally do or can’t.

Marriage as a virgin is an expectation, bearing children and raising them will come under your responsibilities, as well as chores. You may divorce, yet it is much harder, depending on the traditional values of your potential second husband. You may cover yourself once married, should it be your husband’s wish. It is unheard of to be the one working and mutually agree with your husband that he will be the one watching your children.

Without denouncing but the mere hope to explain the current situation, it does feel that my culture is far from this. The French, we have the reputation to strike and demonstrate for anything, it is indeed a national sport (I am a big supporter of it!). We have, throughout history, fought for more rights, more recognition and the discrepancies nowadays, considering the parallel made above, are minute. The chronology made by the grade 11 highlighted it.

 

And there are women fighting against it here in Egypt, voicing their opinions, taking a stand and I hope they reach their goals.

Paradoxically, despite all this, the status of women, within their families is inspiring here. As much as one cannot deny the lack of rights and equality between genders, Egyptian mothers are deservedly recognised. The status as a mother innately offers you a level of respect, since children, as it was the case in the old Constantinople, are loved and cherished too. You may agree or not on the amount of love and care, yet everybody, from the young man to the elder person, LOVES kids!

Facial expressions light up and hands are all over your baby before you know it, and that is beautiful! I miss it when I travel in Europe and often feel like calling out people in shops and ask them why they aren’t telling me my children are beautiful and if they can touch their faces! One thing is sure, if you are identified as a mother in Cairo, you will not reap the same amount of disgraceful looks as you would alone.

 

 

Eventful Egypt!

Firstly, the local and national news have changed over the past few weeks. 

The curfew has been lifted, as well as the state of emergency which welcomed us on the 14^th of August.  Never mind, the media are still fully dedicated in making this country sound like a civil war! I shall never forget that everlasting burning building broadcasted on the 15^th of August, for several hours straight on BBC, quoted as “live from Cairo!”, yet we were fine and settling.

Town is pretty bad, some children were abducted near us and a student of our community was the victim of our current uncertain and dangerous times. No, things aren’t great, and the embodiment of this statement will be the monument proudly erected yesterday and what is left of it today.

From a local point of view, in our suburb, life remains the same, curfew or not. We are far from daily protests, thankfully.

 
 

On the other hand, in the midst of all this, Egypt has an incredible repertoire of options for you to occupy your week end.
Saqqara, the most ancient man made building and still standing, revealed itself very interesting! The hieroglyphics were particularly vibrant and the site itself, on the border with the Sahara is breath taking!

 

The last and latest recent highlight is Hurgada.

Despite its current upheaval, in how many cities can you drive a few hours, mid november and embrace the Red Sea and its wonderful aquatic life?

Safe you are indeed!

I believe most travel bans against Egypt have been lifted and that has helped a little I suppose. The diving experience, first learnt in Dahab, is absolutely amazing!
Not only does it provide you with a great sense of peace and satisfaction, but also the social side of it, from an awesome buddy to friends and meeting new people, great laughs and relaxation!

Physically, there is something about the neutral buoyancy feeling! Being able to control your buoyancy with your breathing, which we daily take for granted and hardly ever focus on. 

 

The weightlessness, quiet and comforting feeling is truly addictive and I am completely hooked! 

In addition, this time the diving site was from the boat, and it widens your options. Morays, rays, lion and scorpion fish welcomed us, along with dolphins and their offspring... The rocking movement of the sea was perfect and I was rocked to bed once back in Cairo, on the night of our return.

Hurgada is an interesting place, with a different feel and worth visiting. 
Dahab felt more untouched, whereas the flashy multi colour electric palm trees of Hurgada made me feel like in a pimped up version of Cairo.

 

In a nutshell, things are what they are and it is fine.
Life as an expat in Cairo is definitely the most active I have had in my few travels.
All things are difficult before they are easy, and right now, it is just fine for us Cairenes!

Nostanbulgia !

 

After welcoming visitors here in Cairo, having visited incredible places and remembering why Cairo is worth visiting, some remaining thoughts are still crowding my Egyptian sky. One should always seek the silver lining and I believe I have exposed many of Cairo. I feel fortunate to be here and love discovering it, yet some things are just not working today and there isn’t enough silver to shine it out yet.

I kept on reflecting on my meeting with the Riddler and kept on asking myself what would he think? Having seen Egypt at its climax, 4000 years ago, he witnessed the civilisation and the wonders the Egyptian people built. It wasn’t a perfect civilisation of course, but this world wonder was built  in the belief that participating in erecting pyramids would guarantee your afterlife.

To consolidate a topic on town, I asked my students to create a brochure in order to “conquer” the tourists again and convince them to come back to Cairo. They did an amazing job and most of them talked about the pyramids, the Sphinx and the museum, which encapsulate the Egyptian culture as it is nowadays. My opinion is that it doesn’t reflect on Egypt today, they are relics of a vanished culture. Cairo today is troubled, politically, financially, religiously, and environmentally: It is nothing like what it was then and the unfortunate current circumstances will not help.

We are off Monday and Tuesday. Yeah, extra days and week end, well no, not really! Morsi will be judged and town is not quite the place where to go, as protests will probably erupt. Yes, you get use of hearing about protests, and yes, it is safe where we are. However, once you, yourself, are in a taxi to El Khalili to discover the souk and the places around, and you are stuck in traffic, surrounded by protesters, there are several thoughts rushing through your head: “Putain, my Buls are here, what if they start tapping on the car and scare them”, “my parents are here and witnessing it, so much for reassuring” and lastly “I am not prepared to see this again and say that it’s fine, it’s just the way it is”.

This is the reality here, it is beyond us and “no matter how bad things are, you can always make things worse”, so you just duck down and wait.

When I lived in France or England, I would rarely get phone calls from random guys who, I assume, try their luck at calling, hoping you would pick up, listen to them and marry them! It has happened and never bothered me, I would go back to my life and laugh about it. 

Here, I have had a few of those and on one particular occasion, whilst I was alone with the Buls, I was called 52 times by some young boys, at night, just for fun I suppose, to hear some woman’s voice. I was the jackpot, because I was foreign. I can not claim that I went back to bed at 2.00 am and slept. My mind became paranoid, and Morpheus' arms didn't see me for another few hours.

We go back to that time when I talked about refining my “I’ll shoot you if you dare to do more than stare” look. I have used it, unfortunately quite often. These men, and there are A LOT of young men, who devour you with their eyes as a starving animal would. Their big brothers or dads honk the horn or grab at women and they will grow up to do just the same! Is it a lack of outlets, it being sports, communication with the other half of the population? I do not have the answers...

Evidently, this is not a generalisation, there are some wonderful young men, but harassment is a fact here.

No, not a positive entry! It isn’t full of promises. It is what it is, and some days you handle it better than others. 

I should insist on the great moments that happened over the past few weeks, and insist on the many wonderful people we have met here. I should have talked about my wonderful friend Marwa, who took us with her beautiful girl to see the Sufi Dance, in El Khalili: a colourful whirling dancing to the most musical tunes. I should tell you about the people we met that evening, as we walked up the streets.

And I will, just not this time. Instead, I recall more the arguments seen between random people in shops or on the streets, that make me uneasy, even if here, raising your voice doesn’t mean anything... 

I do not regret coming here and I still feel fortunate to be here, I just wish Egypt was better already for the sake of its people. Also selfishly, I wish it would make me fall in love with it the way Istanbul conquered my heart. 

It is a two way thing of course, and I will keep working on it.