© 2012 Yozzer Hughes
Contemporary Egyptian life varies from the bustling fast-paced streets of Cairo to the serene villages where time stands relatively still. To quote a tour guide from Cairo: "Cairo has three speeds of living fast, faster and dead. Traffic lights all
mean go and pedestrians should beware at all times..." Cairo is what it is, the capital of Egypt and as capitals go it is large and bustling. The further south you travel, the less people worry about deadlines and rushing around. A bazaar
shop owner once said to me "Time here does not exist. What day is it? I may go home I may stay
here, wherever the wind blows me.". This seems to be the situation the more south you travel
into Upper Egypt. The Egyptians have a saying that one minute of their time is equivalent to 10 real
minutes, so if you hear the phrase ‘Egyptian Minute’, be prepared for a short wait.
Typical Egyptian life in the cities are more or less like cities around the world, full of people and
smoke and tall buildings and no time. There are places that resemble the small settlings in other
parts of Egypt surrounding these cities. Life and the quality of it depends on the amount of money
you have in a city and in a place such as Cairo it is quintessential to survival.
That does not mean the quantity of money measures the person. In fact many of the people I have
met are decent people. I does not matter which home you are invited into, you will always be more
than welcome (in the truest sense of that phrase) and will be treated as a special guest.
To sum up Egyptian life is similar to what people are used to elsewhere in the world, go to work,
have kids etc. This is the contradictory part; they do all these things in a slightly different way.
Sounds strange, you'll see what I mean when you get there. I highly recommend you try it, you never know you might like it.
here, wherever the wind blows me.". This seems to be the situation the more south you travel
into Upper Egypt. The Egyptians have a saying that one minute of their time is equivalent to 10 real
minutes, so if you hear the phrase ‘Egyptian Minute’, be prepared for a short wait.
Typical Egyptian life in the cities are more or less like cities around the world, full of people and
smoke and tall buildings and no time. There are places that resemble the small settlings in other
parts of Egypt surrounding these cities. Life and the quality of it depends on the amount of money
you have in a city and in a place such as Cairo it is quintessential to survival.
That does not mean the quantity of money measures the person. In fact many of the people I have
met are decent people. I does not matter which home you are invited into, you will always be more
than welcome (in the truest sense of that phrase) and will be treated as a special guest.
To sum up Egyptian life is similar to what people are used to elsewhere in the world, go to work,
have kids etc. This is the contradictory part; they do all these things in a slightly different way.
Sounds strange, you'll see what I mean when you get there. I highly recommend you try it, you never know you might like it.