“The Mother of the World”

For a 21 year old kid I would say I have been very blessed in my life when it comes to travel. I have had the opportunity to visit five countries (six on Saturday InShaAllah) on 3 different continents. I have seen a number of beautiful things and among them many beautiful cities. In simple terms, Cairo is not a beautiful city. It’s hot, dusty, polluted, loud and overcrowded. The beauty in Cairo lies in what can only be described as the ‘human disaster.’

Let’s face it, humanity is a disaster. We spread like a virus from the most beautiful landscapes to the most barren. We build massive monuments to God’s and prophets who preach peace and harmony and then fight massive and deadly wars in their name. We write books speaking of the evils of our enemies and then sit down with a cup of tea and discuss the day’s events with them. We fight. We love. We lie. We repent. We steal. We give. Cairo embodies this beautiful disaster perfectly.

The only thing to be expected in Cairo is the unexpected. It is a city built of paradoxes. From being preached to about the virtues of Islam by a drunk man on Eid to being hit on (and I mean serious flirting) by a group of girls in full Hijabs, Cairo is ridiculous.

I don’t want to seem like I’m down on the city or something because trust me I’m not. For every time someone tried to scam me someone else gave me a free cup of tea. For every demand of bakhsheesh from a security guard or police officer another was there to give me directions (or literally walk me half way across the city to my destination) and then deny any form of repayment because it was his duty.  I once ordered a cup of tea on the October bridge over the Nile ( the bridge is actually a four lane highway with a 4 foot sidewalk 50 feet over the river, but because it’s Cairo it is also a place to sit down and have a tea) and when I went to pay the waiter told me it was LE 20. Now at this point I had drank my fair share of Tea in Cairo and I knew the asking price was no more than LE 2 ½. The debate turned into a full blown argument to the point that the waiter started poking me in the chest.

I’ll make a side note here that has nothing to do with the story but I think it’s funny. When I speak Arabic and get angry, I do two distinctive things. First, I start speaking with what I can only describe as a New York accent, which I guess is my way of trying to be aggressive or stern. Secondly, because I don’t know that many swear words in Arabic I swear in English. So here I am on the bridge arguing with this guy (over what accounts to maybe 3 bucks) in my New York accented Arabic with the occasional swear word. Right when things were starting to get real heated though, a random guy walked up and handed the guy a LE 20 note and walked away. Another example of the paradox that is Cairo.

Egyptians call Cairo the “Mother of the World.” In many ways I think I agree with this term. Cairo represents everything in the world. All the good. All the bad. It may not always be pretty but I assure you it is always fascinating.

Here’s to the human disaster and to Cairo, the city victorious.