Stay true to the dreams of thy youth

My experience working at Egypt Today and Business Today Egypt magazines has been quite a good learning experience in the short time that I have been there. I was officially hired as a copyeditor in February after I passed their copyediting test, which was essentially scrutinizing and marking up a very poorly written article. The nice part about the position is that it only requires me to work at the end of the month, roughly from the 20th until the 28th.

The production period for our May editions just ended yesterday evening. In a period of eight days straight I put in roughly 60 hours reading, writing, proofreading, and copyediting both of our magazines. One benefit is that the company loves me. I went from being the new guy a month ago, to the number two copyediting position in one month - essentially a promotion, not in pay, but as to my position on the credits page of both papers.

Long story short, the only major drawback of the company is that they are ungodly slow at paying their proofreaders. Because of their lack of hurry, this last week, I was... let's just say, a little strapped for cash. (I've happily depleted my savings over the last 8 months of travel... a much more exciting way to impoverish yourself than buying a new car) One wonderful thing about Egypt, however, is that you can live off of almost nothing.

Over a five-day period, I managed to live off of 20 pounds, roughly 4 dollars. This included eating two meals a day, traveling 20 km across town to get to work, as well as a sheesha now and then. Looking back a week later (after thankfully getting paid a substantial paycheck), I already feel like I learned a lot. Being here in Egypt has been the first time in my life I've ever truly been living paycheck to paycheck, and in the short time here it has really transformed my view of poverty. I've developed a strong sympathy and empathy for those who truly do live day by day wondering if they will have enough money to buy food for the children or to pay next month's medical bill. I do realize how incredibly blessed I have been in my life to have so many opportunities and to not have to worry day by day about money. Even during this time in Egypt, in the back of my mind I've always known that I have my parents, or grandparents, or brother, or friends, or someone else who would gladly help me out in my need. The majority of poor people don't have this safety net.

This last week, I also learned quite a bit about friendship in Egypt. One of my best friends here realized that I was low on cash for the week, and was unbelievably sincere and generous and willing to give anything he had to help me out. Daily he would ask me if I ate, if I was hungry, thirsty, wanted ice cream, needed anything, etc etc etc. The selfless generosity of friends here truly amazes me.

This generous and sharing spirit is so common among Egyptians. Countless times I've had people buy me tea, sheesha, meals and bus rides - both friends and strangers alike. When I had problems finding a new apartment, within an hour, three different friends offered their apartments to me for as long as I needed. It is such a refreshing experience to have people giving and giving with no expectation of anything in return. It is a far cry from my experience with a lot of the countries in Asia; truly refreshing.

Yesterday was my last day working at the magazine, although they offered me an assistant editor position if I wanted to stay. I arrived at work at 9 in the morning, and around 4 pm we had a meeting discussing what we had to finish. Casually my boss said, "Let's work really hard, and we should be out of here by ten." I had to clean my ears thinking I heard wrong... We ended up leaving at 9 pm, which was nice actually because it meant no more work over the weekend (weekends start here on Friday). Making my way back home, I was absolutely exhausted. When I got within four blocks of my house I heard Arabic music absolutely blaring... and remembered that my landlord was having a public street wedding for his daughter... right in front of my apartment.

I asked him "Il farah khalas as-saea kem?" "What time does the wedding end?" "Is-Subh" "The morning." he replies with a big smile...

It didn't matter, I slept like a baby.

Other big news, I'm confirmed for studying Arab Studies in Georgetown's Foreign Service school this fall. Because of that and a few other factors, I'll be making my bittersweet return to the United States May 9th. I have to be honest; a Chipotle burrito sure is going to taste good...

I love how things work in Egypt.

For the past month, Battal Ahmed Abd al-Azziz Street, near my home, has had two enormous billboards featuring the face of Shakira and advertising her Cairo concert for the end of March. Each day as I pass those signs on my way to work, I stare longingly into her eyes and wish I could see her perform. Not only do I think Shakira's music is actually really good, she‘s not half-bad to look at either.

After asking around for ticket prices, I sadly decide that I won’t be able to go. Ranging from $80 to $100, I realize I could eat beans and falafel in Cairo for a year at that price…

Fortunately, my Egyptian friends also like Shakira... so they did what Egyptians do best, work their connections. Wednesday evening I get a call from my good friend, "Meet me at the Kiosk in Agouza in 20 minutes. We're hopefully going to Shakira!!" "Do we have tickets?" "No, not exactly." "Okay, see you there."

I throw on some clothes, grab a falafel on the way to the meeting point... and the crazy night begins. My friend Mido has two cousins whose step-father is a member of the Egyptian Parliament. We meet him and his family, and slowly make our way to Giza where the concert is being held. When we are just about there, we pull over at a different house and meet another member of Parliament, whose constituency includes Giza and the pyramid's area. After some quick introductions, we work our way to the base of the famous Giza pyramids, where our Parliamentary friends assure us a smooth entry into the concert. All five of us youngsters (Can I still call myself that?) hop into the car with our security escort (after all, we are guests of the Parliament)who drives us past the long queue of cars, to the private parking lot.

The concert has already started, Shakira's incredible voice bellowing away... but the line to get in is still surprisingly long. No problem, our security escort and new best friend casually pushes his way to the front of the line with us in tow ensuring that we aren't hampered by such trivial things as lines, ticket checks and burly Egyptian bouncers.

But this wasn't just any section of the concert, this was the VIP section. Free open bar, couches overflowing with pillows, an elevated view of the stage, and random Egyptian actors and singers, only one of which I recognize. Not bad for not having tickets!
Shakira’s throaty voice bellows away for hours, an incredible performance framed by the pyramids in the background. Her incredible dance moves flow so effortlessly as she sings away in a mixture of English, Spanish, and Arabic (After all, she is part Lebanese). The crowd erupts with pleasure when she performs a song by famous Egyptian singer Om Kalsoum, and then breaks into “Hips don’t Lie.”

The show ends at 12:30 am, surprisingly early for this city which never sleeps. We pile back in the car, weave our way between the pyramids, and slowly drive our way back towards the Nile. The night’s still young. Not a bad night. It could have only been better if I'd gotten Shakira's phone number...