One visible woman in Cairo...

Maybe some lighter discussion today? We'll see how this entry turns out.

First, I should mention that one of my biggest concerns about this trip was my inability to deal with sexual harassment and discrimination. Egyptian men are fairly notorious for their treatment of women. For new readers and those who don't remember, I took a trip to India last Easter and got some very unwelcome attention that left me spitting mad for about a week after my return to Kenya. A few of my friends were concerned that I'd have the same reaction to Cairo, which made me worry as well.

I wrote a lot about my experiences as a white American in Kenya, but there isn't nearly as much to say on the subject in Egypt. There isn't a standard Egyptian appearance, really, so I've actually been taken for an Egyptian on a couple of occasions. My blue eyes are the only thing that conclusively sets me apart from a brown-haired, light-skinned Egyptian.

This doesn't mean I blend in, however. Being female feels like the Cairene equivalent of being white in Nairobi. I'm going to try to discuss this without launching into a rant about how much I dislike this particular element of Egyptian culture, because I understand that it's what the Romans do here in Rome, cultural relativist stuff, blah blah blah.

First of all, women are always the minority in public spaces (the university being an exception, of course). At times, I realize I haven't seen an Egyptian girl for hours. Women are the invisible half of the population. Many of them work before marriage, and a few work afterward, but most girls become housewives in their 20s and don't really enter public space anymore. Men pray in mosques, but women pray in their homes. There are shisha/coffee/backgammon cafes where women just don't go. I've never seen a woman in a restaurant or a movie theater without a man by her side. The growing professional class is certainly challenging these practices. I have two American professors and three Egyptian professors at AUC, and the Egyptian professors are all women. Professional women do exist, but there don't seem to be too many.

I can't offer a definitive explanation as to why there are so few professional women, but I can discuss my own experiences. I should mention that I've become a fairly brave traveler over the last couple of years, and I've gotten used to meeting strangers and making new friends. Here, however, my female friends and I are often totally ignored if we're with male friends. Taxi drivers, waiters, and people on the street will always talk to the men in the party before a woman. This can be annoying as all hell, particularly because we're often in charge of the expedition and are sometimes better at communicating. Women just aren't considered equal to men in this society. Being the friendly person I am, I still manage to make new friends, but I can't help wondering what Egyptians think about me being the spokesman of our group (which includes several men).

Anyway, in a city of invisible women, my female friends and I attract a lot of attention walking down a street. A LOT. It's a lot of stares, like in Nairobi, some of the catcalls and singing I heard in Mumbai, people taking pictures of us on their cell phones, and the occasional lude comment or spontaneous "I love you, you're beautiful." Only once has someone tried to follow me and touch me (it happened in Khan el'Khalili, actually, in a very crowded area of the market. I shouted at him and shoved him into the crowd moving in the opposite direction. It felt damn good).

Although these things do qualify as harassment, I don't feel particularly threatened. Of course I'm being cautious and never walk more than a block or two alone, but I doubt I'm at much of a risk. Muslim men are really very conservative. I went out to a few clubs on Thursday night and had no one bother me (though that's partly thanks to male Egyptian friends who were along). We girls get attention because we're adult women walking on streets, going to the movies, and eating in restaurants without men. This has little to do with our skin color or the fact that our hair is uncovered (which, by the way, isn't all that unusual for Egyptian women). It's just unusual to see women here, and catcalls are the standard reaction for men. I ignore them, and I keep moving.

Anyway, just some thoughts. I'm trying to maintain respect for cultural practices, but it's still exhilarating to break down some of these barriers, go places without boys, shove the creep in the market, or successfully barter with a taxi driver who tries to overcharge my male friends. It's the little things sometimes.

By the way, thanks to all the wonderful boys back home for being who you are.

This weekend was fairly quiet - today I spent a few hours exploring the first quarter of the Egyptian museum, which is PACKED with amazing things. I did see King Tutankhamun's exhibit, which was more impressive than I ever dreamed. Tourist attractions are generally worthwhile, even if I secretly don't want them to be. I'm starting another crazy week of school tomorrow. There are lots of plans floating around for next weekend, so we'll see where I end up. Sunset over the Black Desert, to end the day.

Bahariya Oasis and thoughts on this whole messy state of things

Two days later, the bombing has blown over completely. There were none of the security updates I expected. I did get a note from AU Abroad yesterday that said they had checked up on us with AUC. Good to know, I guess. No heightened security, which I'm somewhat thankful for.

I suppose I'm somewhat confused, also. There were a number of reasons for the story to disappear from the headlines. It was a small bombing. Ten times that many people die in Iraq and Afghanistan each day. The Oscars were broadcast the same evening. This struck fairly close to home for me, though. It's easy for me to write a casual blog post saying I haven't died, but what happened on Sunday did scare me, and significantly more than the violence in Kenya last spring. It's frightening how random the attack was. It's frightening that it happened somewhere I've visited multiple times, as recently as last week. It's frightening that the victims were young foreigners. Obviously the situation in Kenya was much more serious, but I feel less safe here, now.

This does not mean I'm remotely interested in coming home. I knew the risks associated with coming here. AU made me sign a waiver acknowledging these risks. My parents did not happily let me come. I very much want to be here, and I think it's important that all my wonderful, loving, concerned friends and family members hear me say that. It's now on the internet, so it must be true.

I'm here because I'm interested in understanding why these things happen. Despite my reputation as a crunchy hippie, I don't think a rousing chorus of "Give Peace A Chance" is any kind of answer. These conflicts are about economics, land, and environment, just like they are in most of the developing world. For me, the most frustrating but fascinating challenge in traveling is the attempt to understand another person's conceptualizations of money, community, and resources. I'd like to figure out how those differences can inspire three Egyptians to plant a couple of bombs in a tourist district.

Massive inequality is a fact of life in this country. I go to school with Egypt's rich and famous. I've never seen as much Prada in my life as I see on that campus every day. They film the Egyptian equivalent of "The O.C." on our campus. Not kidding. They were doing it yesterday. On the drive through New Cairo on the way to campus, the bus passes miles of new developments made up of massive luxury homes. On the ride to school we see all of the low-wage laborers piled into buses and trucks on their way to the construction sites, where they build these big ugly houses and water the desert until grass comes up. On the ride home after class, we see the laborers piling back into buses and trucks to go home to the slums of Cairo.

Statistics. Bear with me, because they're interesting. Egypt's GNP per capita is around $4000. My economics professor asked our class what percentage of Egyptians we thought live on less than $10 per day (=$3650 per year). My Egyptian classmates ventured guesses of 40%, 60%, and 70%. I apparently go to school with people living in bubbles. 97.5% of Egyptians live on less than $10 per day, and are thus below the average income. We don't even need to talk about people living on $1 or $2 per day. This is why people try to blow up tourists.

Mind-boggling. It's hard not to hate AUC students sometimes. I'll talk about that another day. And yes, for those who are wondering, I am currently at a low point on the culture shock progression.

On a much lighter note, for anyone who has persevered and made it this far: Bahariya Oasis! A four hour drive southwest of Cairo in the Black Desert (so called for the limestone that turns black when it oxidizes), and quite nice. View from the bus. For three hours.

The tombs and temples there range from 700 BCE to 600 CE or so. Spankin' new as Egyptian stuff goes. I sneakily took some photos inside the tombs where photos aren't allowed. No flash, no harm done. They aren't as nice as the tombs in the Nile Valley, since these were built in very rural areas.

Oases are not as cool as movies suggest. They're depressions in the desert where water is able to bubble through the (thinner) limestone to the surface, so people could use the water for farming and... living. But for the most part, oases are still desert. This is a green part of the oasis where they grow date palms.

So they can harvest these delicious things. Dania, I thought of you! Dates wrapped around almonds are Bahariya's specialty.

Geography lesson! Outside the Nile Valley is desert. Very very dry desert. It's not particularly sandy, except in fields of sand dunes (which are rare). Mostly it's just limestone rock with a bit of sand. Here are some lovely dunes though.

More light-hearted blog next time, maybe. There are a lot of good things to say about this place, too. I promise.

Sometimes I think I should choose quieter places to study abroad...

But these places are so much more interesting...

There was a bombing a little over an hour ago in Khan El'Khalili, a market and tourist destination downtown. I'm obviously safe (I've been sitting in sweatpants doing homework for the past 3 hours), and I've checked in with friends who were headed downtown this evening. The Residence Directors came around knocking on doors a few minutes ago, so they're checking up on all the students. I expect we'll be getting security briefings this evening and tomorrow.

There isn't a lot of information out yet, and I don't know anything more than BBC tells me. The bombs went off near the Hussein Mosque, which is a very central part of the market. Reports say a tourist was killed and a number of others injured. It was French and German tourists in the vicinity.

Here are some pictures of the mosque, the cafes directly in front of it (where I gather the bombs were detonated), and the market. Obviously a bustling place, and one of Cairo's biggest tourist destinations. This is bad bad bad news for everyone involved. I was really hoping not to go on lockdown this semester... ugh. At least I visited the place last weekend.... I somehow think I won't be going back anytime soon.