Rags: For some reason we started out touring Manshiyet Nasr, one of the districts where the zebelin or trash collectors reside. It’s an area that you won’t find in Lonely Planet and one I’ve been fascinated with since I read about it in Cairo the City Victorious (which I highly recommend). The zebelin are essentially Cairo’s recycling program. They sift through the garbage for scraps that are re-usable or can be bought as scraps, i.e. metal, rubber, cloth. They do a better job than previous government-sponsored attempts at recycling. Of course, it’s not like any recycling center in the US. The zebelin live with their work. It’s an area crowded with ramshackle housing, animals (dogs, cats, goats, rats), and people (selling tawmayya, smoking shisha, kids playing barefoot) and of categorized piles of rubbish. Here you got your rubber tubing, here you got your metal scraps, here you have your cotton. Yun and I, being spoiled Americans used to our trash taken far from where we live, paved streets, and basic sanitation, assumed that the zebelin are struggling to make a life. Some Cairenes tell a different story. They say that some of the zebelin are actually very rich and choose to live the way they do. That areas like Manshiyet Nasr may look destitute, but the people there are quite satisfied. Because of the lack of sanitation, their bodies and immune systems are actually stronger. A spoiled child from Zamalek might not survive in Manshiyet Nasr, but a child from Manshiyet Nasr can survive anywhere. It’s something to chew on. From there we strolled through City of the Dead which is an old cemetery where people have constructed house-like tombs for their departed. The fascinating part of this site is that real live people live there, too. The caretakers who are paid to care for the tombs also set up homes in the tombs. It’s not bustling like the rest of Cairo; it’s quite peaceful and there’s even plenty of greenery.
Riches: After that we spent a few hours in the Egyptian Museum. It’s like a “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous of Ancient Egypt.” All of the treasures and statues and mummies that used to be in the pyramids or old tombs are now in the Egyptian Museum. Or the Luxor Museum. Or the British National Museum. You get the point. Thousands of years of history are packed into the Egyptian Museum, so it’s daunting. I like looking at the canopic jars, jewelry, and animal mummies myself. From the Egyptian Museum we snuck into the Cairo Marriott’s pool for a very refreshing dip. It felt so good that I may have to do it again!
We ended the day on a high note! After watching Asmahan’s show on the Maxim boat, which is the same campy show I saw back in 2004 but with different props and costumes, we went on a little party boat in the Nile. There was awesome music blaring from the boat’s stereo and the people got up and danced! There was this little girl who couldn’t have been older than five who’s dancing rocked my world. She had great rhythm and technique! (Yes of course I videoed it). Also the young ladies and men got up and danced a storm! In case you didn’t know, Belly Dance is called “Raqs Baladi” in Egypt which means “Dance of my people.” (“Belly Dance” is a misnomer. Ask me more about that when I see you next). It’s the people’s dance, a folk dance, and everyone can do it, not just by women and not just for men. Yun and I got up too and danced and had a blast! It was the most fun I had had so far! I tell you what, the working class entertainment is the most fun!
No comments:
Post a Comment