Constructing Kasun, Educator

I hesitate to write this post, but I think it’s a necessary one in light of my experience here.  I’ll attempt to describe the way Egyptians see the world.  The title of the program I’m participating is, after all, “Egypt Through Egyptian Eyes.” 

Before proceeding, I remind the reader that while my Egyptian group leaders are doing everything they can to convey Egypt from their perspective, I can only understand as much as my own background allows me.  So while I try to convey the thoughts of Egyptians, this post ends up being more about me and my ability to gather insights and my inability to perceive things.  My world here has been limited to the highlights of Egyptian tourism, a few highly impressive academics and my limited observations in the streets.  And, obviously, I will be making several generalizations which simply do not apply to all Egyptians.

Probably the central focus for all Egyptians, regardless of social class, is the family.  The nuclear family does what it can to stay glued together, even after marriage.  It’s common for a child to get married and move into an apartment next to his parents’, for instance.  The family is being challenged, today, however, by divorce.  Our tour guide says that about 30% of marriages are now ending in divorce.  I guess this comes from a few factors.  One problem is that meeting material needs in this country is fairly difficult.  Even for people who are doing well, their travel time in the highly congested city of Cairo (where most people in Egypt live), takes its toll on a person’s well-being.  We’ve spent an hour and a half trying to make it from the airport to our hotel, which without traffic can take only 15 minutes.  Another problem is the westernization of the culture.  Now that modern goods and modern notions streaming through satellite images have been introduced, it’s hard for people not to imagine a different lifestyle from the traditional one Egyptians had for so long.

But back to the family…  Friday is the first weekend day for Egyptians here.  It is solidly respected as the day that the family must be together, spending time and eating.  Egyptians for the most part seem to enjoy this custom, and I think it maintains the social fabric.

One of our speakers is the child of Iraqi parents who grew up in New York.  He has taught at the American University of Cairo and documents people’s lives in Egypt, often for the use of human rights publications.  He said he has chosen to live in Egypt because of the warmth of the people, their generosity, and their wit.  No doubt Egyptians tend to be very funny.  I asked for a bottle of water yesterday at a small café, and the young man behind the cash register deadpanned a solid, “no.”  After all of three seconds he smiled widely and said, “Yes, I’ll even buy it for you!”  He didn’t buy me the water, but he sure pulled my leg.  I’ve also noticed how kind and hospitable Egyptians are.  I see them spending time seated in cafes, talking and joking with each other for hours on end.  This tends to occur mostly among men, but sometimes women are involved as well.

I get the sense that Egyptians, unlike many Americans, are expert at enjoying the present moment.  The wide, wide smile that Egyptians have seems to reveal a zest for life right now.  I personally find myself waiting to save my energy in some of the things I do in life, while I sense that Egyptians find a way to be more fully present.

***

This last part may be a bit confusing.  In southern Egypt and northern Sudan (they border each other), a group of people called the Nubians live.  Not all people in these regions are Nubian, but many of them are.  They are culturally distinct from other Egyptians, and I feel I need to add this information to both demonstrate that people here are not all one culture as well as to show my ignorance and lack of understanding.

The Nubians resisted conquer from the pharaohs and maintained many of their unique cultural practices throughout Egyptian history.  Currently, unlike most Egyptians who live in some of the most densely parts of the world, they live in desert villages nears the Nile in southern Egypt.  The construction is largely beautifully painted adobe in shades of slightly purpled light blue and gold with burnt red trim.  There is decorative painting on their walls, and they live several families to each compound with a center area, almost a sort of open-air atrium.  So far, I had the sense that Nubians were fairly well-accepted in Egypt, despite the fact that they choose to settle their disputes with their own methods and operate in many ways outside Egyptian society. 

Last night, we ate at a Nubian house (which opens itself to tourists).  We were fed delicious okra and tomato dishes, breaded and fried beef, baba ganouj, chicken, rice, among other things.  We sat on wool woven rugs on the sand and small cushions.  After dinner, a few of us were discussing how well the Nubians were accepted.  I guessed that they mixed fairly well with Egyptians.  Not so, one of my colleagues explained.  He said he was talking with another  man in a public place and said, “Oh, that guy over there is Egyptian.”  The response was something to the effect of, “Oh, no, he’s black.  A Nubian.  I’m Egyptian.”  Physically, Nubians tend to have darker skin than most Egyptians, true, but they are still Egyptian.  I was surprised to be so quickly disabused of my misunderstanding.

Following the dinner, we were allowed to sit in on the beginning of a Nubian wedding in the same village where we ate.  This was a real wedding, not put on for tourists—though they do sometimes allow tourists to witness their event both as testimony to their hospitality, and, I suspect some sort of payment, though I don’t know that for sure.  A seven-member band played the same song with several variations for over an hour while we were there, African drums and keyboards providing all the music to the lead singer and the two men providing back-up vocals.  A flock of about 20 or 30 young boys moved rhythmically to the music while we sat atop mats nearby and watched.  Most of the men wore the customary long robes  and the few women we spotted were largely covered.  We sat inside an adobe walled area the size of a third of a basketball court, outdoors, where the kids danced across the dirt.  The boys smiled a lot at us, and some of our group members snapped up their pictures.  I felt a little odd being one of the few women out publicly, and I worried about my skirt, which reached just beneath my knees, as being too revealing, though there was nothing I could do once I was there.  I enjoyed the music but had to leave with the group at about 1:45 am, as they were too tired to stay for the rest.  We hadn’t seen the bride or groom yet.  I would have liked to have stayed all night to have witnessed it. 

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 18th, 2007 at 10:43 am and is filed under Egypt, education. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.