Macho Men & Sassy Girls

Just finished up my first week in Egypt. The end of the tour was not so bad. BUT... I still wish that I could see more. I am definitely coming back. The highlight of the tour so far was Luxor and the Egyptian museum in Cairo. I wasn't able to take any pictures in the museum, which is a shame, because the artifacts are amazing. Its unbelievable how well preserved everything is. The most interesting artifacts were, of course, the mummies. One mummy had a full head of red hair... looked like a dye job gone bad. The hair was still there... but it just looked dry and dehydrated (damn... i'm glad i'm out of the spa industry). Luxor was amazing too... Everyone hypes Abu Simbel and stuff, but I think Luxor was the highlight. One could easily spend a week here, especially if you are a photographer.

Well... I'm guessing no one really cares about the touristy stuff... so I thought I might throw in a tidbit about Egyptian Culture

Macho Men - Egyptian men are a lot like Italian men... they talk a lot with their hands. Except, the Egyptians always seem to be hostile. Its weird... I see a fight every day over the stupidest things. The tour guides are the worst! They actually run around trying to cut off other tour groups! Its kinda weird... I thought my guide was a pain in the ass, but then I realized that is just the norm here. Our tour got into 3 fights at the museum with other tour groups... in just 2 hours! One french speaking tour guide even told one of our tour members to fuck off... it was hilarious... pushing, shoving, the works.

The best part about guys here is that they are totally pervvy. My Egytpian guide will in the middle of giving me a tour, and a hot Euro chick will walk by and then he starts to stare and totally loses his concentration. Its like this,

Guide: And here we have a statue of Ramses II. Ramses II was one of the most famous leaders in Egypt. He was responsible for ...

(blond girl wearing shorts walks by)

"He was responsible for... for... uhhh..."

(long pause.... extended rubber necking....long pause...)

"And here we have a statues of Ramses II."

Me: You said that already

Guide: I did?

Here is another great conversation I had with my guide:

Guide: Where you going after Cairo?

Me: Sharm el Sheik (scuba area)

Guide: Ahh... yes, many beautiful women In Sharmel Sheik. They like to make love. Make a lot of sex.

Me: Im just going scuba diving

Guide: Especially the Australians. Australians like making sex the most.

Me: I'm just diving

Guide: Wear a club okay? Protection!!!!

Me: For Diving?

Guide: NO... for AIDS!

(silence...)

Me: Okay. Whatever you say.

Language Skills - Egyptian tour guides have the craziest languauge skills. I heard tours being conducted in English, French, German, Russian, Japanese, and Mandarin. One shop owner was trying to sell me something... her english was not great, so she asked me if I spoke German, French, or some third language I forget. I've decided that Egyptians are linguistic geniuses. Nothing crazier that hearing Mandarin with a thick Arabic accent.

Favorite Pasttime - Egyptian men all enjoy guessing your nationality as you walk bye. Walk down any street in Cairo and all you here is,"Chinese? Japanese? Ni Hao? Philipino? Konichiwa? Buy my postcard... two dollars. liang kuai (YES, I heard them say it in Chinese!).

Mystery Solved - For years, I wondered how muslim women with a full burka eat! I finally spotted one woman at a restaurant and I peeked and saw her! I guess she just takes off the veil (simple huh?). She caught me peeking though, and put it back on... and her husband gave me the death stare. I ate quickly... and left.... but the mystery is solved.

Balancing Act - I dont know how they do it... but Egyptian women always carry stuff on their head. I saw one women carrying a full jug of water... which was at least 2-3 gallons in volume. I did snap this one photo of this women carrying a basket of stuff on her head. If anyone knows how they do this, please explain how this is physically possible!

Sassy Girl - In general... Egyptian people are lively and outgoing. Makes it difficult to be a tourist at times, because the store owners will literally drag you into their store. Walking through a bazaar is a lot like walking through a gauntlet. Luckily, as a single travelor, they leave me alone. I can see the frustration on the eyes of the Euro tourists though... seems like they can't even walk down the street without being hassled. Sometimes, the people are interesting and not just hyper aggressive store owners. For example, the cutest kid came up to me while I was sitting on a sidewalk and insisted that I photograph her. We went through 5-6 different poses before she found one she liked - smile, no smile, turn, no turn, wave, no wave... "sassy, no wave" was the one that we both decided was the best. Cute kid... So... although Egyptian culture can be a bit overwhelming at times, their outgoing nature definitely makes life interesting.