Like everyone else, people at the ICBIE have been watching the exciting developments in North Africa, but as always, we go a little deeper into the subject, favoring an active role to passive observation. As the ICBIE Honorary President, I decided to make a bold move and travel to Egypt, to witness this historical moment firsthand. I was answering an appeal from Egyptian students who campaigned on facebook, asking people to come to Egypt, because if the tourist industry didn’t bounce back, their economy would collapse, irrevocably compromising their revolution. I recruited a couple other ICBIE supporters: Steve from Lahn artists in Kaltenholzhausen and my colleague Lars at the American Overseas School of Rome unflinchingly jumped at the opportunity. We boarded an EgyptAir flight last Wednesday, and that evening we were on the streets of downtown Cairo.
From the very first moment, we were enthusiastically greeted by everyone, mainly because we really stood out, the only foreigners around. Even the hundreds of journalists who had covered the revolution had departed for Libya. It took several hours to wander the length of Tahrir Square, because every ten feet we were accosted by people of all ages and all walks of life, who were eager to tell their stories and welcome us to New Egypt, while they snapped photos of us, in big, jubilant group pictures. By the end of the evening, it was clear that we were in a very special place at just the right time.
The next morning, we were at the Egyptian museum at 9 AM. There were a few young Egyptian visitors along with us, but otherwise the place was deserted. In the rooms on the upper floor that contain the King Tutankhamen treasures, I was able to silently contemplate, undisturbed, when normally hordes of tourists would be filing through, pushing and shoving. The tanks and smiling soldiers guarding the entrance, and the giant burned out building, Mubarak’s NDP headquarters, right next to the museum, only heightened the emotions. As we left the museum, we were approached by a group of young people working for a big tourist agency. Because there was no work, they had decided to video interview the first, rare tourists, so they could use their testimonials in their promotion campaign. In their interviews and the conversations that ensued, they showed their clear focus, their cosmopolitan savvy and their irrepressible optimism, as well as a pragmatic awareness of the dire challenges that lie ahead. Surprisingly, the women were the most outgoing and had the best command of English and Italian, so they did most of the talking. We started to make a list of the worn stereotypes of the Muslim world that were being shattered in rapid succession.
In the afternoon, we visited the Islamic quarter and there we received the same kind of assiduous and totally friendly attention. A college student took us on a tour of the hidden back streets and to a stupendous little restaurant, before he cleverly accompanied us to a few shops, hoping to make a commission (and he wasn’t completely disappointed.) The following morning, we were driven to the pyramids, both in Giza and Saqqara, and there, too, we only saw two other Europeans, and the official government guards were always trying to entice us into forbidden areas and to photograph inside tombs, where it is not permitted. It took us awhile to understand that they were just trying to increase their tip, because they depend on that income to support their families. The trip from the city center takes about an hour, and for the entire time, you pass through the terrifyingly poor periphery of the city, with endless rows of identical, nearly window-less housing blocks. But on the streets, there were plenty of happy faces and throngs of children dancing about, just like in Bahia!
We got back from the pyramids just in time for the big demonstration in Tahrir Square, celebrating one full month since the beginning of the uprising on January 25th. Once again, we immersed ourselves in the crowd, and the same barrage of encounters, discussions and photo ceremonies began. Instead of feeling like intruders, we were often protagonists, at the center of attention, also because we had Katya, a beautiful Russian girl who we met at our hotel, with us.
The gathering represented all Egyptians, and I was lucky enough to get close to one central event. A Coptic priest was walking through the square, arm in arm with two Muslim Imams. Too bad the kid moved his red flag and covered the priest’s face, just as I snapped the picture!
As I was contemplating the total absence of religious tension, an elderly woman in a full black chador, clinging to two excited little girls who were probably her granddaughters, walked straight up to me with smiling eyes and embraced me, saying the ritual “Welcome!” There were whole groups of students waving old, pre-Qaddafi flags and bearing posters with his face covered by a large yellow X.
After all the excitement, we decided to do the one politically incorrect thing that we couldn’t avoid any longer, and we went across the square to the Semiramis Hotel, a five-star monument right on the Nile, to order our first alcoholic drinks. We were the only people in the large, elegant bar, and before long Steve had made friends with the general manager, Mr. Ahmed El Gindi, who invited us to his table. For the rest of the evening, we listened to his stories (which came from a very different angle, but which, finally, revealed the same excitement, sense of extraordinary achievement and trepidation for the future), while he thanked us for coming to his country at this difficult moment. He took us up to the top floor, to look out on the city from the balconies of the Pharaoh’s Suite
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In three intense days, we were able to get a good feel of the New Egypt, and it is absolutely wonderful. This revolution is even better than I could have imagined, and the Egyptian people deeply impressed me, with their unity and their iron determination. I will never forget their hospitality, and the openness with which they shared their experiences and their hopes with me. If their struggle has touched you, I hope you will make plans to visit their country as soon as possible!
Roy Zimmerman
03 de março de 2011, 18:55 06Thu, 03 Mar 2011 18:55:43 +000043.
Nice job, Roy! Five stars!