Maalish

My biggest concern before coming to Egypt with DukeEngage was that I wouldn’t be able to handle the bureaucratic red tape strung all over anything you want to get done in developing countries, particularly in the service sector. My next biggest concern was that I would be able to handle it. I figured my anal-retentive personality type would get the best of me in the end and I would be irrevocably frustrated with the small, unforeseeable obstacles that proved to be insurmountable. But the flipside, which may almost be worse, is that I would be completely unfazed by the roadblocks that not only obstruct me, but are also a representative symptom of a disease-ridden system, and that I would become jaded to the zeal that would have been the root of my former frustrations. That, I thought, might be a more permanent effect, and the idea of it didn’t sit well with me, to say the least.

There’s an important word in Egyptian Arabic called ‘maalish,’ and it means some combination of ‘Excuse me,’ ‘I’m sorry,’ and mostly ‘It’s okay.’ There is no English equivalent. Someone’s crying and you’re trying to make them feel better- maalish. You bump into someone in the street- maalish. Something stops your work from going according to plans- maalish; just say maalish and move on. It’s an ‘Hakuna Matata’ of sorts and it’s quite descriptive of the Egyptian mentality. On a somewhat tangential note, I think that’s one of the reasons I love Egyptians. They’re hilarious. They seem to carry such a light-hearted, carefree frame of mind and they are so flexible and accommodating that they are fantastic to be around and make friends with. However, when it comes to getting things done, it’s that exact type of thinking that makes work difficult in Egypt.

Granted, you have to be flexible to function here or Cairo will eat you alive, and that’s been surprisingly easy for me and I think most of us to adjust to. I often hear people in our group say, “ah, it’s Egypt. Maalish.” Yet I can’t help but thinking that being so forgiving is irresponsible and, quite frankly, a little condescending. One can’t be completely rigid, but I think an actual asset Americans bring to the table here is that indignant sense of entitlement to efficiency. Because the truth, pompous as it sounds, is that we often get it. The Sudanese are infamous for being late. We simply told our class that we will begin on time and now all of our students are in the room before we walk in. Part of me wants to argue that the culture and socioeconomic situation of Egypt make it so that the country and it’s people can only do so much; the other part of me is asking, who the hell do you think you are not to demand more? 

My First Reflections on Cairo (The Victorious)

Hello all! This is my first blog post even though we’ve been here for almost four days now, and while I know this means I’ve probably already forgotten quite a few noteworthy things and will not include everything in one post that I would have in four, I just needed some time to get my bearings. Egypt hits you all at once, and the idea is something akin to taking a picture of a beautiful object moving fast by you. I’d rather experience the moment without a lens first.

 Still, there is no depth to an experience without reflection. The moment I stepped out of the airport, I immediately thought of Pakistan. There’s something about that odd combination of the smell of rotten eggs, petroleum, and dust that makes me nostalgic for the country I spent very few years in. Ah, but I won’t spend much time on our first introduction to the city. The other blogs do a great job of it and I’d highly recommend reading them. Military holding guns as casually as their soviet-era walky-talkies (fingers carelessly resting on the triggers), officers following us home from the airport for our “security” because they really have nothing better to do, areas with blocks and blocks of unfinished yet fully occupied apartment complexes because if they are not finished they technically do not exist and thus do not obligate taxes, and pyramids. No seriously, the pyramids, they’re right there. We haven’t visited them yet, but next time you’re casually driving down one of the bigger highways of Cairo (or getting driven, you won’t be able to drive here), you will glance up and there will be the pyramids. Not far off halfway into the Sahara or anything. Google map it. In fact, Google map Cairo. Remember in those cartoons when some lovable character would almost be dying of thirst in the middle of the desert and just in the nick of time would chance upon a surprisingly lush oasis? That’s Cairo. Palm trees and all. There is no gradual transition. One of the organizations some of our group will be working with is in the desert (also where the suburbs are. I suppose I should know that the suburbs of a desert-locked city would naturally be desert, but did you think about that? OK then). As we drove out of the city, there was literally a line of palm trees marking the boundary between city and sand dunes. Never have I seen such a stark scenic contrast.

 Last night, we were invited by some friends we have in the area (yeah, we have friends in Cairo. No big deal.) to a concert by a pretty famous and popular Arabic band called Al Wast Al Balad, which translates to The Center of the City. The music was great in itself, but it was really interesting to see college-aged women in hijabs dancing wildly, relatively speaking of course, to a pop band. And I know with that comment I risk sounding like an ignorant American that thinks women who cover their hair are not entitled to enjoy themselves, but that’s really not what I’m getting at. Cairo seems to have this fascinating combination of modernity and tradition, liberality and conservatism, advancement and antiquity. I feel like I can’t say much after four days, but I’m really interested in taking a closer look at these dichotomies.

 Oh goodness, I did exactly what I didn’t want to do, and that’s write a giant blog post that mentioned everything but today, which is the day I’m actually really excited to talk about. Well, I know no one reads super long posts, and it really feels like a different subject entirely, so I’ll just go ahead and start it on a new post.

 Thanks for reading, and if you’re interested, please definitely check back periodically to see what my colleagues and I have been up to. Ma’Salaama!