By

Here are a few more cultural differences I wanted to touch on that didn’t make it in last time.

First, it seems like there’s never enough small bills and change. Everyone rounds to the nearest 50 pasteres (that’s like their cents), and some places will not even make change for you if the difference seems negligable enough: “This water is 3 LE. Oh you have 5? Ok, that works too.” There was one official government gardens here in Cairo that cost 5 LE just to get into and walk around, but my smallest bill was a 20, and they literally did not have the change for it. I just don’t think that really happens to me in America, besides maybe not having a penny or two.

Speaking of the government, as I mentioned previously, there are police everywhere. The ones in white uniforms are either traffic police, or tourist/antiquities police, ensuring that no one does any grave robbing. The police in black uniforms appear to be national police, and are seen in front of government buildings and embassies. While some of them go unarmed, a lot also have some firepower. A majority of the white uniforms carry AK-47’s and a minority carry MP5’s. For what they do, this seems totally overboard. The black uniforms have much more diversity: I’ve seen them weilding 9mm pistols, pump-action shotguns, and even one with a Sten gun. It’s a little intimidating.

However, their security on the whole is very lax. There are metal detectors everywhere: places like museums, hotels, and banks have them just to get in the front door. The funny part though, is that with the single exception of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo (they really don’t want people taking pictures in there), I have just been waved through even when my camera or phone sets it off. Most of the time the guards seem like they just don’t care and would rather some metal get inside the building than have to get up out of their chair.

Coming into the country was also interesting, as they did screenings for fever with a camera that had an IR filter. I presumed this was for swine flu, as the only reported cases of it in Egypt have been foreigners (including a couple students at the American University in Cairo, which, by the way, is very conveniently located downtown). I later met an American woman at my hostel who was sent by the CDC to investigate. I guess a public health major could lead to some interesting jobs…

Oh yeah, and KFC is way more popular here than it has any right to be.