Having spent a significant amount of time in Cairo, I’ve come to love the city. At the same time, it’s not an easy city to love. Any city where the streets are ten lanes wide and crossing them is like a real life version of Frogger is going to be a challenge to appreciate.
In addition to the streets, there is the constant sound of “inshallah.” Jeffrey Fleishman gives a good sense of how “inshallah” is used in Cairo on the Babylon & Beyond blog:
Before moving to Cairo this summer, I was warned about
less-than-reliable landlords, those conveniently punctual characters
when it comes to collecting rent who are less prudent when it involves
fixing leaks, damaged roofs and other curious mishaps that can befall
an Egyptian flat. So it was with skepticism that I called my landlord,
hoping, praying that he would do something about the fridge, which
rattled a lot but never got any frostier than warm.“Someone will be right over.” Click.
I thought, “Sure they will.” Minutes later, a small cadre of men in
overalls, one carrying a tool box, knocked and filed into the kitchen
with a spooky degree of seriousness. They screwed and unscrewed, did
things with wires and said: “It is fixed. Inshallah.”Inshallah means “God willing.” Everything in Egypt runs on Inshallah. It is an Inshallah country.
I stuck my hand in and felt a slight chill. I smiled; they vanished.
That night, the fridge murmured and whined, gasped, shook and died. I
called the landlord in the morning. Something has to be done. Inshallah.
The rest of the post gives a good sense of how things work in Egypt.
Cairo is also the center of the Arabic movie industry. Have you ever wondered what it’s like to be a movie star in Egypt? Now you can find out.
Technorati Tags: middle-east, egypt, cairo, inshallah, frogger
