A true story from the book of life

My dear friend Mohaly posted this article yesterday about a guy who always referred to himself as the poor people's representative and Mohaly as the rich man’s representative, and my interpretation for the guy’s problem was that he suffered from an inferiority complex.
I know that most probably that guy doesn’t read my blog, but I know that Mohaly does, so this one’s for you Mohaly.
This is a real story about a common person who belonged to the same social level as the guy who bothered Mohaly, and even worse. There’s no exaggeration and no imagination in this story, every single word is real.
“In the same building where I lived in Egypt, there was a poor lady who used to be the door keepers wife before he died and left her two children, a girl and an infant boy. She used to work as a house cleaner for the other residents and do shopping for them in order to feed her kids. The owner of the building allowed her to keep living in the laundry room (the roof room) even after we had a new door keeper.
Our main character is the older girl; her story begins after she left school. She joined a 2 year institution (Telecommunication technologies institution, aka Ma3had laselky), and after two years she came out to the real world with nothing but a pretty face. Her dream was to work as an air stewardess, and her mother asked my father to try and find her a job with Egypt air. My father knew KLM’s regional manager who was a relative of ours and asked him if he can help that poor girl and the man said that he couldn’t make any recommendations for her because of his position and reputation but he promised that at least he could get her an interview. She went to the interview and she failed. The interviewers told her that she was too fat, had no languages and no computer skills; simply she was good for nothing that they can offer.
She didn’t break down and she decided to carry on with her life. She worked as a shop assistant and applied for English and computer courses. After a couple of years she left the shop and worked as a typist and then we heard that she was taking French and Italian courses afterwards (and she was on diet ever since that interview).
One day her mother came knocking on our door to tell us that she got a job as an air stewardess for domestic flights with Egypt air, my mom congratulated her for she at last got what she wanted. The girl spent all her money on further education, and her family. They started to look different and the girl became really beautiful. After a while she started getting marriage proposals. Most of the families offered to receive the guest at their homes because they all loved the girl but she refused and insisted on receiving the guest in their single laundry room on the roof, and all the men left and never returned.
She worked long enough to have enough money to rent a place of her own, and she took her mother and left. I started to work away from Egypt and I totally forgot about her until one time when I was returning home from Algeria when I met her at the airport, she was talking over the phone in perfect English (actually she had an accent, but not a very bad one) interrupted by whole verses of French, she didn’t look much different than before other than losing weight and looking like movie stars, I just noticed that she was wearing KLM’s uniform.”

Shanab el Nag3awy

I heard the last bit of it on the radio at the six news, but then when I was in the office I found the article in the breaking news section.
I know that it's a matter of pride among upper Egyptians, and wars between families can start because of this, but I never thought that it'd make it to the Australian radio, and the news websites!!!
here's the whole story:

WHEN an elder was kidnapped in a clan dispute in conservative southern Egypt, the Al-Arab family's worst fears were soon realised - they received a package containing his moustache, local media reported.The man himself was returned uninjured, but the use of the new shaving tactic sent shockwaves through the town of Mahrusa, near Luxor 650 kilometres south of Cairo, where a man's honour is measured by the size of his moustache, the Al-Gomhuria daily said. The conflict that started with a coffee shop brawl swiftly spiralled out of control, with the Al-Arab carrying out a humiliating reprisal shave on a leading member of the Fallaheen family, followed by all-out battles with sticks and clubs. Police and community leaders then intervened, restoring a relative calm to the town, the paper said, with those worst hit by the conflict set to remain indoors for the coming weeks pending the regrowth of their manliness.

Egypt:Go Only If You Have No Other Place To Go

These are not my words, this is the opinion of many people who've been in Egypt and wrote their honest reviews on various travel review websites. Although most of the reviews were nice and recommending Egypt for other travellers, but the number of people who had troubles in Egypt is alarming, and if the authorities in Egypt need to keep tourism as one of the few sources of income, they must start solving these problems with a serious approach.
The main complaints can be summarized as follows:

• Rubbish and shocking amounts of dirt and smell
• beggars
• traffic and driving habits
• People are nosy and annoying
• Tips
• Food and water(it made me sick although I had been away for one year before I came back to Egypt)
• Abused by Taxi drivers
• Impossible to visit if you're disabled
• Black people were made fun of and called Negros!!!(We're not white after all)
• Service was never good even in 5 star hotels

This is what was wrote in The Sunday Herald Sun and was published in the travel section in Australia's news network about Egypt.

CROSSING Cairo's busy main roads gives new meaning to the term "walk like an Egyptian".
It is less a belly dance than a dance with death.
People take no notice of traffic lights.
Getting from our hotel overlooking the Nile to Cairo's Talaat Harb Square involved taking our lives into our hands.
We followed advice to attach ourselves to a local, some of whom hold their hands up like policemen to stop the cars, which surprisingly obey. No sign of road rage here.
The first time I tried it I gave up and hailed a taxi. The one Cairo driver who did not speak English stopped passing pedestrians, one of whom spoke French but not English, to ask them to translate.
He dropped us about a kilometre away after a hilarious ride in which we pretended to use seat belts as police drove past. The driver blew me a kiss as we leaped out, about 12 lanes of traffic closer to our destination than before we hailed him.
At least he did not propose to me – possibly because of the language barrier. But he charged about $10 for the trip, about three times the usual price.
So we began our walking tour. As we turned one corner, a man rushed up behind us.
"If you turn left at the next corner you'll be in the right area. Where are you from?" he said in a friendly manner.
"Oh Australia. Come into my house, please. My wife is from Perth. Please accept some Egyptian hospitality. What would you like to drink?"
We were then ushered into a room upstairs where we were shown a range of home-made oils (from flowers from his father's farm in the country) and small decorative bottles. And $40 later we left with our parcels. I hope the rose oil really is good for insomnia.
Egypt and scams have become synonymous. Visitors need to be wary.
The Egyptian Government and tourism authorities take this seriously and there are large fines and sometimes jail sentences for offenders.
But that did not stop a tourism policeman at a temple on the Nile asking for "baksheesh" – a tip – after he took a photo of my son and me.
Baksheesh, which in Arabic can mean alms, also calls for a wary approach.
On our Nile cruise we were told to put a tip in an envelope and leave it with reception at trip's end. Of course, that did not stop the housekeeper, who folded our towels to make wonderful animals, from expecting another handout.
At an alabaster factory on the West Bank, young, handsome staff pressed alabaster good luck scarab beetles into our hands and we paid outrageous prices for pottery "exactly" like that found in Tutankhamen's tomb.
Amani Talaat Kamel, our guide in Cairo, said tips should be given only to people who serve you.
"It is bad for Egypt's reputation, but some people make their living out of it," she said. "In the 1970s and '80s, some even made fortunes out of it. Some guests encourage them, so they will keep doing it."
She said scammers usually asked tourists if they had a guide before they quote inflated prices for souvenirs.
"We tell shopkeepers that if they leave the guests alone, they will probably spend more," Kamel said.
Watch shopkeepers and money-changers carefully. Count your changed money before you leave and use reputable changers – there are banks in the bigger hotels.
Before a short horse and carriage ride through the medieval town of Esna on the Nile, our driver asked for five Egyptian pounds (about $1). But at the end we were told: "No, five Euros."
It is best to use a guide to negotiate the payment for camel riding at the pyramids, where drivers are known to charge exorbitant prices.
But genuine tipping usually brings polite gratitude. One tourist went horse riding through the pyramids and was so happy with his experience he gave the horseman a large tip.
The horseman asked him not to tell his boss, then gave some money back, admitting he had not taken the tourist to one of the places promised.

If you think that they wrote this because they hate Egypt, Arabs and Muslims as people in Cairo prefer to say when being criticized, please refer to the travel reviews about Saudi Arabia and Iran, they found something nice and decent to write about two of the most non touristic countries in the world, not to mention Dubai and Tunisia.

And then read the reviews of individuals who visited Egypt and wrote about their experience afterwards. I chose this one, but you can read the rest if you have the time.

I spent a year in the Sinai (Egypt) and made numerous trips to Cairo. While being able to say that you have seen the Pyramids in person ~ always give you something to talk about; it truly is not worth the trip, unless you have nowhere else to go.A visit there is good for maybe 3 days. But one must be very aware of the economic situation there to understand what is going on when your American or western butt gets off the plane. The economy there is pathetic. Life for the typical Sediki on the street is one of survival. They see Americans ~ then it's payday. This is not to suggest that folks there are not good people ~ because as a whole Egyptians and Arabs in general are a warm gracious people. But when it comes to feeding yourself and/or your family ~ you do what you have to do.With that said, be prepared to tip, tip, tip, and tip large as this is many of those folks sole means of support. They are understandably pushy about it for reason listed above. Now for the place. Yes it's nice to see the Pyramids and also to say that you have seen the Nile (just don't step toe in it). The place is terribly crowded and travel by taxi is a nerve-wreaking experience. Good luck finding side-mirrors on the cars. There are frequent bumping and grinding on the streets. I suggest a mild sedative to travel in this place. Hell, even better just get plastered so you won't know if your time comes. Sediki is in a hurry to see Allah ~ but I wasn't necessarily in a hurry to see my maker (think I'd go to the bad place anyway).The place is filthy. I had never seen such filth since being in NYC and Philly. Don't eat ANYTHING that you don't prepare yourself. I know there are dishes that might be a delicacy; but beware. I can't spell qalimara (squid) ~ it was delicious; but boy did I pay for it and pay for it and pay for it. I lost 15 lbs.....that's the upside. I ate this at the International-something hotel right off the river in the nice part of Cairo. Still became sick as a dog. Do yourself a favor, bring peanut butter, jelly and bread. Or go on a diet.Don't go in the summer. The heat and believe it or not humidity is oppressive. The winter months are awesome. Overall, I would say not to go there; unless you are a world traveler and have seen everything else. Buy postcards of the pyramids. Otherwise, it's nothing but a huge, filthy, crowded mess of humanity. As for me, on a vacation I avoid humanity as much as possible.I hesitantly recommend this place.

Again this is only one of the few people who didn't like it, but Egypt must take all these complaints seriously and try to solve the problems before all hope was lost.

Sabah el kheir ya Masr (IV)

This photo seems to be following me everywhere I go.
The first time I've seen that photo was during a safety management induction I had to go through when I first arrived in Australia. The instructor was talking about fatal incidents and unsafe procedures when that picture popped up on the screen. Everybody started laughing except for me because I had that deep feeling that this one was taken in Egypt, and I was waiting for the guy to say it, but fortunately he didn't. Then I started receiving this photo frequently in my email. I still don't know for sure if this photo was taken in Egypt but I still get that same feeling every time I see it.Don't blame the guys, it's"akl el 3eish", blame the authorities, which until this moment don't have a common safety procedures to ensure the safety of the labourer.It's simple, if I'm an employer and I'm not forced to insure people working for me, don't have to provide adequate tools(by law), in an over populated country, and one of my employees who earns a couple of hundred pounds a month refuses to do a job, I'll just kick him out and employ 10 instead of him and getting paid half of what he does. That's why people don't complain, there's nothing to back them up, and no unions to complain to. El nas dy ghalaba mesh 3adeemy el e7sas.

Sick phrases from the Egyptian movies

Here's a list of phrases, scenes, and actions repeated on almost all Egyptian movie.
1)E7na 3amalna elly 3alena wel ba2y 3ala rabbena
2)We ba3den ma3ak ya sy baba?(from Yasmine)
3)Sallem nafsak el beit kollo mo7asar
4)Sallem nafsak ladrab fel malyan
5)Sallem nafsak ya 7assan, 7otto fel takhsheeba ya 3askary(it's only in the Egyptian movies that the officers know the criminal's name and forget their soldiers' name)
6) Etnein 3aseer(always the orange drink, sometimes the waiter doesn't wait for the order and brings the orange drink straight away. Why don't they ask for tea or coffee? at least no further questions would be asked. But for juice, the next question would've been which juice do you want? but it's only in Egyptian movies that juice only means one thing, the orange drink).
7) Etnein ghada(same as 6, the restaurant has only one item on the menu).
8) A7maaaaaad,........Monaaaaaaa
9) wara el 3arabeyya elly henak dy yasta
10) action: same screaming tyres sound on all pursuits(and in all pursuits, the speed doesn't exceed 40 km/h)
11) Starting up a car's engine, always the same sound(three ignition strokes and a high rev) for all cars no matter if it was a seat or a Volvo.
12) before they come to a stop all cars produce the same sound (one high rev) that every body has heard a thousand times.
13) When people get shot, they don't bleed.
14) If they bleed, they bleed red ink(Mercurochrome)
15) Bullets go through shirts without tearing them.
16) A son will shake hands with his mother
17) spoiled kids always go to the same night club(anybody knows where is this night club?)
18) Actors will have to hold cigarette packs and drinks awkwardly so that the brand doesn't show.
19) Nadia el Gendy will only act in action movies, where her dresses are torn into pieces revealing her legs first, and then her bra. When she gets home exhausted from the pursuit, she always takes a shower then makes love to her husband(or the murderer who saw her showering and wanted to sleep with her before he kills her).
20) all car horns have the same sound, and all door bells are Canary birds.
21) nobody will ever know your voice over the phone if you put your handkerchief over the speaker.
22) Fa3el el kheir was always a gang member that even actors should've known after years of receiving calls from fa3el el kheir that they shouldn't believe him.

23) The role played by Farid Shawky is always determined by the shape of his eye brows. If he raises one brow higher than the other, he's the bad guy. If he raises both, then he's an innocent being wrongfully accused of a murder. If he doesn't raise any then he's the lawyer or the prosecuting attorney.

24) Movie people only went to casino el warda el beida

25) You know if a person is dead by lifting their arm up and drop it. If it drops to his side then he's dead(If he was sleeping his arm will stay sticking up in the air).

26) Doc: Ezzay batalna ennaharda?

patient: el fadl yerga3 le rabbena we leek ya doctor.

The Egyptian Flag

Egyptian flag(1984 - present)

Colour symbolism:
The red color refers to the period before 1952 Revolution which brought a group of army officers to power after deposing King Farouk, then King of Egypt. This was a period characterized by the struggle against the British occupation of the country. The white symbolizes the advent of the 1952 Revolution which ended the monarchy without bloodshed. The color black symbolizes the end of the oppression of the people of Egypt at the hands of the Monarchy and British colonialism.
The Emblem:
The symbol placed in the middle of the Egyptian flag is the eagle of Salah el din(Salah al-Din Yusuf) (1138-1193) who was the first Ayubid Sultan. He ruled over Egypt, Hejaz, Syria and Mesopotamia. He captured Jerusalem to the Latins in 1187 and signed with them a peace treaty in 1192.The use of the Salah el din eagle on Arab flags is modern, however.
Some flags seen in Cairo has the shield on the emblem as gold, white, gold; or red, white, black; or light gold hatching, white, dark gold hatching; or white, white, white with two gold vertical lines to divide the three parts.
The inscription on the ribbon is Jumhuriyat Misr al-Arabiya (Arab Republic of Egypt).
Even thou both the inscription of the former coat of arms Al-Jumhuriya (Al-Arabiya Al-Misriya) and Jumhuriyat Misr Al-Arabiya are translated to the same "Arab Republic of Egypt", there is a big internal political difference between the two. In the first (old) way - the Republic is first Arabic and then Egyptian, in the newer version it is first Egyptian and then Arabic.

Terminology & Etiquette in Egyptian Flag display:
- Hoist - the act or function of raising the Egyptian flag, as on a rope
- Half Staff or Half Mast - the Egyptian flag is hoisted to half of the potential height of the flag pole to denote grief and mourning, performed by first raising the Egyptian flag to the top, then lowering the Egyptian Flag halfway
- Distress - denoted by flying the Egyptian flag upside-down
- Manner of hoisting - The Egyptian flag should be hoisted briskly and lowered ceremoniously
- No disrespect should be shown to the Egyptian flag
- The Egyptian flag should never be fastened, displayed, used, or stored in such a manner as to permit the Flag to be easily torn, soiled, or damaged in any way
- The Egyptian flag should never have placed upon it, nor on any part of it, nor attached to it any mark, insignia, letter, word, figure, design, picture, or drawing on the flag of any nature
- The Egyptian flag should be hoisted first and lowered last(on Egyptian land)
- International Flag relating to Egyptian Flag usage forbids the display of the flag of one nation above that of another nation in time of peace
Penal Provisions for Contempt of the Flag:
Abusing the flag in any way is a criminal offense and is punishable under law as it implies contempt of the power of the state. Penal provisions also govern abuse of foreign flags or national emblems of other countries.

History:
Muhammad Ali Dynasty (1805-1922)
To signify his autonomy from the Ottoman porte, and his own grandiose ambitions of challenging the Sultan for control of the Ottoman Empire itself, Muhammed Ali introduced a flag highly reminiscent of the Ottoman flag, with three white crescents and three stars on a red field. It has been suggested that this was to symbolize the victory of his armies in 3 continents (Africa, Asia, and Europe), or his own sovereignty over Egypt, Nubia, and Sudan.
After theUrabi revolt in 1882, British forces occupied the country, igniting ever greater nationalist resentment. This reached a peak in the Revolution of 1919, when both the red Muhammad Ali flag, and a special green banner bearing a crescent and cross (to show that both Muslims and Christians supported the nationalist movement against British occupation) were seen in the streets.
Kingdom of Egypt (1922-1952)
The first official national flag of modern Egypt was adopted by a Royal Decree in 1923, after Britain formally recognized Egyptian independence in 1922. It consisted of a white crescent with three white stars on a green background.
The three stars supposedly represented either the three parts comprising the Kingdom (Egypt, Nubia and Sudan), or the three religious communities of Egypt: Muslims, Christians and Jews.
Republic of Egypt (1952-1958)
Following the 1952 Revolution, the republic initially kept the green flag with the crescent and three stars of the kingdom but later replaced it with a red-white-black horizontal tricolour like today, but with a different style of eagle emblem in the white stripe, bearing a shield of the crescent and stars. It has since seen only changes to the central emblem: under the United Arab Republic (1958-1971), the white stripe contained two green stars; in 1972-1984, a Golden Hawk of Quraish; and since 1984, the Eagle of Saladin with a superimposed shield, and a scroll bearing the country's name in Arabic.
Egypt as United Arab Republic (1958-1972)
In 1958, a Presidential Decree established a new flag for the United Arab Republic which comprised a merger of Syria and Egypt.
Egypt continued to use this flag until January 1, 1972, although the short-lived union saw its dissolution in 1961.
Republic of Egypt (1972-1984)
In 1972, when Egypt joined the Federation of Arab Republics, the Law was amended to change the flag. The stars were removed from the flag and replaced by a golden hawk (the "Hawk of Qureish"), holding a scroll with the Arabic name of the Federation.
The change in 1984, in addition to restoring the Eagle of Saladin, restored the top red stripe to the same red used in the United Arab Republic flag. The flag of 1972 had lightened the red color slightly.

Other Flags:
Army flag

Navy

Air Force

Sabah el kheir ya Masr (III)

Eh elly 7asel fel balad?

el nas khalas ma3andahash ayy tamyeez?

I have a few comments on the photo:

1. Where is the decency or even the common sense in what he's doing? the guy is literally on a public road.
2. When will there be any restriction about the usage of fresh water resources? not only this but also the disposal of rubbish, dead animals,human and industrial wastes into fresh water canals.
3. Even the donkey knows better than humans and would never tread into that water.
4. What is that structure built inside the water? where's the irrigation ministry standing from all that misuse for the only source for fresh water that Egypt depends upon?
5. And last, aaaaah ya balad men gher rayyes, haty el 3esh wel 7alawa ya fatty

ps: Ma3lesh ya Mohaly, I already had it ready before I slept last night.

Egyptian Flag

I'll have to write this in arabic.
3ashan rabbena amar bel satr. refer to the previous post, we karen el protocol dah ma3a el 3alam el masry fo2 ayy geha 7okoomeyya aww madrasa. Begad 3alam a7kar we af2ar el belad fel denya materdash te3alla2o, 3alam adeem, me2atta3, bahtan khales, hazeel wa mo7tader eza gaz al kawl.
El 3alam el masry mesh haykoon a7san men el dawla nafsaha, bal howa daleel 3ala 7al el dawla allazy yad3o lel ratha2. dablan zay 3azeemet we eradet el nas. kal7an zay woshoosh el nas el ta3bana. me2atta3 lel tazkeer befa2r el nas.
Ana akheeran fehemt ma3na el alwan elly 3al 3alam el masry:
a7mar: dam el nas el ghalaba elly beyroo7 hadar fel 7awades, wel mostashfayat, we men el mobeedat el mosartena, wel 3eesh elly ma3mool men el am7 el molawwath, we men el 3elag elly beye2tel el nas, wel 3abbarat, wel otorat.......
Abyad:
oloob el nas el do3afa, we 3o2olhom kaman....
eswed:
lon el 7ader, el 3eesha welly 3ayshenha, wel mosta2bal elly ashad sawadan men al 7ader al aswad.
el sa2r:
menawwar zay el shams, el sa2r elly barek fo2 nafasna men zaman, e7na nekbar we nsheekh wenmoot we howwa zayy el sa2r, zay tamatheel el fara3na. fee a7san 7al. sa2r a3ed fo2 nafasna, yeteer 3ashan yestad el nas we yakolhom. kollo karama we 3ezza, bass bey3eesh 3ala dam el bany admeen. tab3an maho sa2r ba2a.
Wel sa2r dah mawke3o fel 3alam fel 7etta el beida, la2enno howwa elly faddaha benafso 3ashan ye3raf ye3eesh fel nadafa we ye3raf yesaytar 3al nas. we ba3den howwa la yantamy lel mante2a el soda. el sawad el a3zam, la2 dakoll 7ayato beida, 3eesha beida we mosta2bal abyad, we balad beida khales, maho shattab 3ally feeha.
Ana 3andy soora lel 3alam el masry, wa7ed 7attaha fee website we faker en heyya funny. ana lamma shoftaha ma2dertesh atakhayyal en dah 3alam balady, we ma2darsh kaman a7ottaha hena. 3omooman ana delwa2ty 3alam balady ba2a azra2.

aah ya balad men gher rayyes.

Sabah el kheir ya Masr (II)

I wonder if edaret el takafol el egtema3y recieved any blind students at all.

Passport to visit the world

Is that a passport to leave hell and go visit the world?
I just remembered a verse in a song that said,"el dakhel 3andena maf2ood wel khareg men hena mawlood"

Egyptian English (Egyptian B te2eela)

I was always amazed how Egyptians are so innovative in everything including languages. The problem is that Egyptians can pronounce both B's but always in the wrong place(ie, p like poy and b like beoble) and some people just can't so they invented the heavy b and the light b.
I always had problems with this, as I was never taught the difference in school.
When I was working in Algeria, I had a call from one of our accountants who asked me to give him the name of the bank he was going to. It was bnp paribas!!, I told him the name and he wanted to write it down, and so I had to spell the name for him. I tried the b heavy and light but it was me who got confused so he asked me to tell him the position of the..........3asaya!!!!.
He actually asked me, el b omm 3asaya fo2 walla 3asaya ta7t, I started giving him the 3asaya positions for the whole name and at the end he just said"dah eh el esm el menayyel dah? yetnete2 ezzay dah?.
Second thing that amazed me was the F&V. People think that Egyptians can't pronounce the V. Well actually they can, only in three words that don't contain any V's; ViVa(FIFA), caVeteria, and maVia, everything else is pronounced in F.
Third, Egyptians are very bad in English grammar for a main reason which is that they think in their own language, Arabic which is totally different than English. I actually heard someone saying,"I'm gonna drink a cigarette", which is just a translation of his thoughts into English.
Fourth, the first thing I was told in school was to listen, listen to the teacher, listen to the news, listen to the actors in movies, and actually that was the best way that worked for everyone and is always recommended to anyone who tries to learn English.

Looking for nostalgia in a glass of juice

I found this article about life in Egypt from common people's point of view through an interview with a worker in a sugarcane juice shop and people stopping by for a glass of juice.