A Canadian Girl in Cairo: Marriage Proposals and CEGs

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Marriage Proposals and CEGs

I don't want this blog to be about work, but you all know how much I love teaching and love being around the kids. So this is a post about my day since it was crazy and exhausting, with the usual Egyptian flair to it!

Today was Sports Day for elementary. It was a lot of fun, but i have never had so many kids cry! I did not organise the day, so perhaps the organisers can take credit for the tears. But it was full on lay on the floor and cry like a baby day. By the end of it, that's all I wanted to do! And it was bloody hot again, so everyone had a hard time.

Next, parent teacher interviews. Egyptian parents are VERY overprotective and very involved in their children's education. I have 18 children and they ALL complete their homework every week. ALL of them. I have never had that once in the last 2 years of teaching! At least they are over and parents and kids are happy! (hamd el eh la- thank god).

Next, the ride home. We find a taxi since our bus took the load of people home earlier. The road is bumper to bumper, and it takes 1.5 hours to get home (usually 45 minutes). I guess I am getting used to the traffic since the 7 cars across 4 lanes didn't bother me! I only cringed once when I thought we were going to get sideswiped- I used to just cringe all the time...But of course a few things happened (oh this morning, I saw 2 camels in the back of a truck). A motorcycle wizzed past us at 110 km/h with no helmets on and the girl riding sidesaddle (it must not be modest to straddle a guy on a motorcycle) with 5 inch stiletto heels on!

After our near miss accident (and believe me, these are a dime a dozen) the driver decided to start talking. After many translations from the Egyptian teachers in the car, he tells me and the American that he loves Americans and Canadians and they are number 1. He wants an American wife because he is very rich and looks at me. I say I am a Canadian. Then I get the whole spiel of you are beautiful and kind and you have beautiful eyes. Will you marry me? Yes CEG (CEG= creepy Egyptian guy), I want to marry you, who drives a taxi and smells and doesn't speak English ...us Canadian girls don't fall for that! Thankfully we had pulled up to our drop off place and I could make a run for it...

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Information About Cairo

The Lonely Planet says: “The crowds on a Cairo footpath make Manhattan look like a ghost town; your life will flash before your eyes each time you venture across the street, and your snot will run black with the smog”. All true!

The Lonely Planet also says: “This city has an energy, palpable even at 3 in the morning, like no other. It’s the product of 20 million people simultaneously crushing the city’s infrastructure under their collective weight and lifting the city’s spirit up with their uncommon graciousness and humour”. Again, all true (try finding water in any tap in my flat around 6 pm during Ramadan- EVERYONE is using water to cook!)

“So blow your nose, crack a joke and learn to look through the dirt the see the city’s true colours. If you love Cairo, it will love you back”. So far, so good!

The ancient Roman city of Babylon is where Cairo started. The core foundations were started in 969 AD by the Fatimids, who conquered the old city and began a new one. They named it Al- Qahira after the planet Mars (the Europeans butchered the name and it became Cairo). There are many buildings that still exist that were built in that time, and in times before that. Cairo is considered the Mother of the World, as it survived dynasties and Pharaohs whims as the city grew larger than its walls. The effects of each ruler can be seen in certain areas of the city. Cairo continues to grow today, with suburbs now reaching the pyramids. The estimated population for Cairo is 20 million people!