I have been living in Cairo for a few years now. I live and work here. I walk the noisy streets of the capital, eat Egyptian delicious dishes such as Molokheya or Omm Ali and I imbue myself in the continuous explosion of lights and images that invade the urban landscape. I share my daily life with Egyptians and foreigners alike, most of whom maintain a curious love-hate relationship with the immense Cairo, “Al Qahira”, “The Victorious”.
“Once you drink from the Nile, you are destined to return,” says the proverb. That’s my point, Cairo, despite the dirt, the traffic, the chaos and the poverty, gets under your skin, creating a unique connection that is likely to accompany you for the rest of your days. I always wonder why is this reaction, almost chemical. I think one possible answer is that we, humans, are like this city: noisy, full of life and in continuous conflict with rules and guidelines. The way in which we empathize with the capital touches us very deep. That is why it is difficult to decipher and describe.
In these years I have met extraordinary people; the kind of people that you would like to lock up in a room of your house so they could never go (but that inevitably end up escaping through a crack in the window). Shelley, Yasmin, Berta, Itxaso, Juanba… Please, let me greet some of them – just like a provincial girl on a television program. I guess it’s those silly moments, those fits of laughter, breathing the same air in a terrace, dancing like there’s no tomorrow, feeling a little revolutionary, what gets tattooed with permanent ink on you.
But it is not only about the people, don’t fool yourself. Cairo has a lot to do. The city that one day gets on your nerves, another day fascinates you and another day gets you excited about little things you can not see anywhere else. I’m talking about things like sharing a fight with a taxi driver, a “bellydance” class, the fall of Mubarak, a beauty session or the fall of Morsi (where is Morsi?). And I have the feeling that Stella unites peopleas much as our beloved Spanish Cruzcampo.
Another thing I’m proud of noisy Cairo are the “tables of mercy; a tradition during the month of Ramadan. These communal tables are located in every corner of the capital, in almost all neighborhoods of Cairo. People collect money spent to prepare food boxes for people without economic resources. Every day, these poor people await the sunset to enjoy a hot meal and water. Isn’t it comforting to know that there are still doses of humanitylike these despite the instability of the country?
In the month of Ramadan families and friends inviteeach other, sharing moments of meditation and joy after breaking the fast. At night, the streets decorated with colorful lights are bustling with people and shops, cafes and restaurants open until the sunrise. At the end of Ramadan, as a symbol of gratitude and generosity, people give an amount of money (Zakat el Fitr) to people in need so they can enjoy with everyone else the Eid. It’s beautiful to experience all this.
Let me reveal that I am not Muslim. I mention this because I have the impression that in this polarized society in which we live, all jaws ready to flay anyone not fitting the (very subjective) standard, personal arguments are evaluated based on “who” is making them, rather than on the content of what is expressed.
Getting back to the subject that concerns us (the mysterious magic of Egypt?), something which is also necessary to know about is the paradisiacal corners where no noise or overcrowding exist such as Alexandria, Dahab, Sharm, Luxor … Where many of us go when we need to get away from noise, pollution and stress. In these places the air smells different and people seem to have put the brakes on the clock.
I will stop here. With these words I wanted to dive for a moment into deep waters, avoiding the surface about which we always talk. There is a “beyond” in Egypt that is what really is worth living.