Egyptians love a good scam, and this is something that takes a lot of getting used to from a foreigner's perspective. If you let your guard down you'll lose the shirt off your back and yet somehow walk away thinking you've been done a great favor. It's only when you get home and take stock of the encounter that you suddenly slap your hand to your forehead and cry out in shame and consternation, "Well I'll be damned! Duped again!"
This is not an isolated Egyptian phenomenon, of course. Scammers exist in every country. But unlike other places, there are several characteristics that are unique to Egypt scamming.
1. Scamming is an omnipresent fact of life.
No matter where you go and no matter what you do, someone is going to try and rip you off. Taking a taxi? Expect them to ask for too much. Want to buy a pack of cigarettes? Chances are they'll try and tack on a few extra pounds. Ask someone for directions? It is quite likely that, if they offer to show you to where you're going, they will actually take you in an entirely different direction regardless of the urgency of your mission of the actual direction of your destination
[NOTE: I have experienced this personally. I was on my way to a doctor's appointment downtown to be treated for an eye infection, and a nice, friendly man offered to show me the way. I followed him blindly - literally, my eye infection was so bad I could barely see where he was going - only to find that he was leading me to his perfume shop! He managed to keep me there for about three minutes and force me to smell about five different perfumes before I finally stormed out in righteous indignation, yelling about the fact that I was going to see the damn doctor and that I was ashamed that he would try to take advantage of me when I was in pain! I am guessing he did not take my little moral admonishment to heart, but it made me feel better. END NOTE]
The above anecdote leads us to the second unique characteristic of Egyptian scamming, though:
2. The people doing the scamming mean absolutely no harm, and see nothing wrong with what they are doing.
If someone has lots of money, and another person has very little money, then why wouldn't the second person try to take some of it? It only makes sense, and it is certainly not personal. As it is, someone told the entire developing world that Americans are endless founts of wealth, which means, to this developing world, that they can take money from us without actually causing any harm. So if the person being duped does not stand to lose anything, and the person doing the duping stands to gain everything - well, isn't duping the sensible course of action?
This, then, leads to our third characteristic, and the topic that inspired this blog post:
3. Egyptian scamming is, more than anything, an inside joke of sorts - and if you see through that joke the "scammers" are usually more than willing to share the laugh with you.
I think that Egyptians like to see what they can get away with, sort of like when you play a practical joke on your friends and being caught can be half the fun. Underneath it all they're trying not to crack up, and if you catch them in the act, for the most part, they love it (obviously there are numerous exceptions, but we're going with the trend that most Egyptians are friendly and jolly, even if they are not always well-intentioned).
Case in point: tonight. I went to Khan al-Khalili, the big souk in al-Azhar, with two friends to find some Christmas presents for people back home. Khan is a scammer's paradise of course - foreigners with big juicy wallets, limited time, and little knowledge of local quality and prices looking for gifts for everyone they know. What could be better? You have to bargain hard to get things for what they're worth, and even then it can be tough, as vendors know that if you and your friends don't want Article A the little Japanese couple behind you might just snap it up for triple the price.
But avoiding being ripped off in a place like Khan al-Khalili is not such an unheard-of accomplishment, because you are expecting people to rip you off there. I mean, if you live next to a highway you're going to look for cars when you cross the road. It's the other places - the places you don't expect a scam - where you really have to watch out.
After spending several hours in the Khan my friend and I sat down for some dinner at a cafe/restaurant across the street. They had a huge cone of shwarma sizzling out front and we both had a hankering for a lamb sandwich. We walked up to the host's podium and asked for a menu - however, when we looked at the menu (which was written in English), something seemed wrong. The shwarma was 12 pounds! Though this is the equivalent of maybe $2.50, the fact of the matter is, it was way too much for a simple shwarma sandwich. That was when I noticed that the menus were separated into two piles, and the host had grabbed our menu from the pile on the right. I had my first twinge of suspicion. Since my friend was looking at the menu and it would be perfectly reasonable for me to want my own, I went to grab one from the pile on the left
"Oh no no!" cried the host. "Here." He grabbed a right-hand menu and gestured it toward me.
Lightbulb!
I checked the price, and there is was: shwarma sandwich, 12 EP. I raised my eyebrow at the host and said loudly to my friend (who was marveling at the cost), "I see what's going on here - this is the English price."
It is not uncommon for things in Egypt to have two separate prices: Egyptian prices and foreigner prices. It's actually codified in some places, like museums and national monuments, where locals sometimes pay half as much as tourists. It is supposed to make it easier for Egyptians to learn about their own history, but I think it's more a convenient and easily-justifiable way to make a couple extra pounds off rich foreigners.
And if you think about it, they've got every right to do this! I mean, why not, if you can get away with it? But this is my point, and the purpose of this story: now that I've lived here for four months, I think it's about darn time I qualified for Egyptian shwarma prices!
So I grabbed the other menu.
"No no!" said the waiter. "This in Arabic!"
"Ah ha!" I cried triumphantly. "I SPEAK Arabic!"
Flipping open the menu I ran my finger down to the shwarma, and with the self-satisfied voice of victory declared: "Shwarma laham - TISA GINEHAT!" (9 EP)
And with that, the host knew I was on to him.
And he cracked up! "You speak Arabic?" he asked, huge smile on his wide face. "Very good, very good! You speak Arabic!"
"Yes, I speak Arabic" I responded (in Arabic as well). "And I would like a shwarma sandwich, for nine pounds!"
So my friend and I ate our sandwiches and drank our tea (the tea now being two pounds, instead of the five we had originally been told), and the host smiled and laughed with us throughout the entire meal. All it took was a little knowledge of letters and numbers, and we went from being the butt of the joke to the co-conspirators! I know it might not seem like that big a deal - after all, we saved maybe 15 pounds total, which is only about three dollars between the two of us. But don't you see? in reality, it was so much more than that.
Because in the end, the taste of uncompromised dignity is the sweetest meal of all.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Dear Blogosphere,
After a month-long period of neglect I return to my poor little blog, in order to assure you all:
Why YES, I AM still alive!
I apologize to all those far and wide for my disappearance, but Cairo’s gotten tricky in the last few months. I was devoting so much energy to struggling through life that the idea of reliving that struggle in blog form was just too exhausting! But I’m ready to pick up the narrative again and pound out a few paragraphs on what’s been going on.
For now, I will interrupt the already-interrupted tale of First Eid Break, and give an update on more recent matters.
Cairo has cooled down in the past few weeks, which is lovely. I never realized how closely linked my mood is to the weather! I have noticed a direct negative correlation: Temperature goes up, Carolyn’s mood plummets. But (alhumdilallah!) temperature does DOWN…Carolyn’s mood flies up to the sky! So regardless of any other stress in my life, that, at least, is one inarguably positive thing.
Unfortunately, that is just about the only inarguably positive thing…oh, but no need to be a Debbie Downer! I’ll summarize the problems quickly and then move on to pleasanter matters.
First, AUC is not exactly living up to my standards as an international university. The students make me cringe: they come into class late, talk back to the professors (Mama and Papa, thank you for raising me to respect my elders. I could never imagine speaking to a teacher like that!), and complain ceaselessly about the work load – which ironically, leads to my next complaint.
Perhaps I’m just not used to the teaching method here, but the preferred tactic is to assign an overwhelming amount of reading and then regurgitate it in class, because all the professors have long given up hope that the students are actually going to read any of it. For Autumn and I, who do read it, this means that class is generally (not always, but generally) a waste of our time. It also means that the professors, who know by now that we are two of the few who actually do the work, expect us to share notes with those who do not! This is a request that we have learned to politely refuse. Luckily the professors seem to understand our protest.
Cairo itself becomes a little wearing on the nerves as well. I have never been a city girl. Luckily, our neighborhood is one of the more aesthetically pleasing parts of Egypt – we’ve got our fair share of trees, and the buildings and roads are all pretty well maintained. So I count my blessings there. I’ll be happy to get back to my house on White Clay Drive, though. To go from living on the fringe of a national park, to the center of one of the most crowded cities in the world – haha, talk about a shock to the nerves!
And the dust shows no signs of subsiding – meaning I am forced to wear my glasses almost every day. Glasses are great for some people, but for me, they are like a time-traveling-transporter back to my days as a chubby-faced sixth grader, with braces and tortoise-shell spectacles. And a propensity for wearing the most garish and awful shades of orange…WHY didn’t anyone tell me that was a bad idea?? So as you might imagine, I’m looking forward to wearing contacts again when I head home.
Well, I suppose there’s more, but I’m tired of complaining. Egypt is what it is, and I am so grateful that I was able to come here. I am learning so much about the world and even more about myself. Much of it is uncomfortable and unpleasant – who ever said Soul Growth is easy? – but I wouldn’t have been able to accomplish it anywhere else. So alhumdilallah! Kul tamam (it’s all good.)
Plus it’s given me an (almost unhealthy) appreciation of America. At one particularly low point I even had the Youtube link to the song, “Proud to be an American” on my facebook “about me.” Have you heard that song? It is possibly the most obnoxious America-song in the entire history of America-songs. Which is probably why I loved it.
Oh a nice note, though, I am feeling more cheerful today than I have in weeks - because I do believe I finally figured out my spring schedule! I register tomorrow and I don’t want to jinx it, but if all goes well I’ll graduate in time, Honors Degree in hand.
I’m looking forward to graduation. I’m ready for the real world.
We are right on the cusp of another Eid Break, which again might be extended due to swinish reasons. It won’t affect the end of the semester though, and that’s all that matters to me! I’ve got a plane ticket leavin’ Thursday morn’ (of December 17th), and so long as I’m on that plane all will be well in my world. I am sure once I’m gone I will miss Egypt desperately, in my characteristic Carolyn fashion. My ability to cultivate nostalgia even for the most unpleasant of things is fearsome to behold!
As for Eid, I’m not so sure what I’ll be up to yet. I’ve got three 15 – 20 page papers to bang out, so I’ll take advantage of the downtime for that, but I don’t intend on doing anything quite so ambitious as the last break (which I still have to finish documenting. Again, so sorry). A trip down to Dahab might be in order, and there are some sights I’d still like to see around Cairo – Coptic Museum, Citadel (I’ve been there, but I want to see it again), Azhar Mosque, Islamic Cairo, Cairo Tower – haha, now that I’m listing it out there’s more to see than I had realized!
Thanks, Blog! Who’d have known you’d be so handy for vacation planning? Maybe I should write on you more often.
But for now, I’m going to sign off, with the promise that I will try my darndest to write more often (isn’t that always the promise? Ah well, never said I was a woman of my word…in fact, there is large evidence to the contrary.) I hope all you readers out there are well and happy, and appreciating our beautiful country as much as you should be! Unless you are in another country. In which case, I hope it’s nice too. Though don’t pretend it could ever come anywhere near America.
Unless it’s Norway. Damn, I love Norway.
Fondest regards,
Carolyn, the ever-negligent bloggist
After a month-long period of neglect I return to my poor little blog, in order to assure you all:
Why YES, I AM still alive!
I apologize to all those far and wide for my disappearance, but Cairo’s gotten tricky in the last few months. I was devoting so much energy to struggling through life that the idea of reliving that struggle in blog form was just too exhausting! But I’m ready to pick up the narrative again and pound out a few paragraphs on what’s been going on.
For now, I will interrupt the already-interrupted tale of First Eid Break, and give an update on more recent matters.
Cairo has cooled down in the past few weeks, which is lovely. I never realized how closely linked my mood is to the weather! I have noticed a direct negative correlation: Temperature goes up, Carolyn’s mood plummets. But (alhumdilallah!) temperature does DOWN…Carolyn’s mood flies up to the sky! So regardless of any other stress in my life, that, at least, is one inarguably positive thing.
Unfortunately, that is just about the only inarguably positive thing…oh, but no need to be a Debbie Downer! I’ll summarize the problems quickly and then move on to pleasanter matters.
First, AUC is not exactly living up to my standards as an international university. The students make me cringe: they come into class late, talk back to the professors (Mama and Papa, thank you for raising me to respect my elders. I could never imagine speaking to a teacher like that!), and complain ceaselessly about the work load – which ironically, leads to my next complaint.
Perhaps I’m just not used to the teaching method here, but the preferred tactic is to assign an overwhelming amount of reading and then regurgitate it in class, because all the professors have long given up hope that the students are actually going to read any of it. For Autumn and I, who do read it, this means that class is generally (not always, but generally) a waste of our time. It also means that the professors, who know by now that we are two of the few who actually do the work, expect us to share notes with those who do not! This is a request that we have learned to politely refuse. Luckily the professors seem to understand our protest.
Cairo itself becomes a little wearing on the nerves as well. I have never been a city girl. Luckily, our neighborhood is one of the more aesthetically pleasing parts of Egypt – we’ve got our fair share of trees, and the buildings and roads are all pretty well maintained. So I count my blessings there. I’ll be happy to get back to my house on White Clay Drive, though. To go from living on the fringe of a national park, to the center of one of the most crowded cities in the world – haha, talk about a shock to the nerves!
And the dust shows no signs of subsiding – meaning I am forced to wear my glasses almost every day. Glasses are great for some people, but for me, they are like a time-traveling-transporter back to my days as a chubby-faced sixth grader, with braces and tortoise-shell spectacles. And a propensity for wearing the most garish and awful shades of orange…WHY didn’t anyone tell me that was a bad idea?? So as you might imagine, I’m looking forward to wearing contacts again when I head home.
Well, I suppose there’s more, but I’m tired of complaining. Egypt is what it is, and I am so grateful that I was able to come here. I am learning so much about the world and even more about myself. Much of it is uncomfortable and unpleasant – who ever said Soul Growth is easy? – but I wouldn’t have been able to accomplish it anywhere else. So alhumdilallah! Kul tamam (it’s all good.)
Plus it’s given me an (almost unhealthy) appreciation of America. At one particularly low point I even had the Youtube link to the song, “Proud to be an American” on my facebook “about me.” Have you heard that song? It is possibly the most obnoxious America-song in the entire history of America-songs. Which is probably why I loved it.
Oh a nice note, though, I am feeling more cheerful today than I have in weeks - because I do believe I finally figured out my spring schedule! I register tomorrow and I don’t want to jinx it, but if all goes well I’ll graduate in time, Honors Degree in hand.
I’m looking forward to graduation. I’m ready for the real world.
We are right on the cusp of another Eid Break, which again might be extended due to swinish reasons. It won’t affect the end of the semester though, and that’s all that matters to me! I’ve got a plane ticket leavin’ Thursday morn’ (of December 17th), and so long as I’m on that plane all will be well in my world. I am sure once I’m gone I will miss Egypt desperately, in my characteristic Carolyn fashion. My ability to cultivate nostalgia even for the most unpleasant of things is fearsome to behold!
As for Eid, I’m not so sure what I’ll be up to yet. I’ve got three 15 – 20 page papers to bang out, so I’ll take advantage of the downtime for that, but I don’t intend on doing anything quite so ambitious as the last break (which I still have to finish documenting. Again, so sorry). A trip down to Dahab might be in order, and there are some sights I’d still like to see around Cairo – Coptic Museum, Citadel (I’ve been there, but I want to see it again), Azhar Mosque, Islamic Cairo, Cairo Tower – haha, now that I’m listing it out there’s more to see than I had realized!
Thanks, Blog! Who’d have known you’d be so handy for vacation planning? Maybe I should write on you more often.
But for now, I’m going to sign off, with the promise that I will try my darndest to write more often (isn’t that always the promise? Ah well, never said I was a woman of my word…in fact, there is large evidence to the contrary.) I hope all you readers out there are well and happy, and appreciating our beautiful country as much as you should be! Unless you are in another country. In which case, I hope it’s nice too. Though don’t pretend it could ever come anywhere near America.
Unless it’s Norway. Damn, I love Norway.
Fondest regards,
Carolyn, the ever-negligent bloggist
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