Angela Lilleystone's Cairo (Egypt) Essay

[Picture of bazaar in Cairo/Egypt]

Imagine yourself at Cairo Airport. You just stepped off a plane, after nine hours of travel in a hot plane, hoping to catch the connecting flight that is to take you closer to home. From the Egypt Air's loudspeaker you hear the following announcement: "Flight 104 to Heathrow, London scheduled to depart at 5 o clock, is experiencing an 18 hour delay."
A hotel room has been reserved for the travelers among us whose final destination is elsewhere. Since none of us have visas for Egypt we are not to leave the international terminal, which is guarded by armed security personnel. Refreshed by air-conditioning and complimentary lemonade you consider your options. Your wallet contains $20. How you are going to spend the time?
It was then that it hit me: I was in Cairo! How much had I heard about the pyramids and the Sphinx, from which I was now separated perhaps by only a few miles! I could, of course, have resigned myself to the prescribed role of the stranded Egypt Air passenger and spent the evening in the airport restaurant. Instead I made my way back to the international terminal. I will not bore you with the details of how I got a two day visa, free to visit Cairo. It now was 4 o clock and I was a stranded passenger no more.
Once on the street I noticed a sign. It announced a 5:00 p.m. bus tour to the Sphinx for $29. Not only was this more money then I had, but I also dreaded the idea of joining a tourist group. This was only reinforced by reading another announcement on the sign: "Light show after sunset!" Surely this tour seemed to aim at obscuring the very Sphinx it claimed to show. Or perhaps I needed to see it that way back then, since I could not afford the trip.
I felt little regret when I left the airport and waived for a cab. But where was I to go? The cab driver, eager to help me to a pleasurable experience of Cairo, suggested I should see the Hilton Hotel and its exquisite jewelry stores. I decided to avoid the beaten track and asked him instead to take me to the oldest part of the city. Soon we left the sleek high risers of modern Cairo behind.
I asked the cab to stop when I saw an old citadel. Up on a hill it towered over everything around and under it. I paid the cabby and started walking, taking in the sights, sounds and smells. The city was clad in the color of the neighboring desert that seemed to have taken possession of Cairo by covering every building with a fine layer of its dark yellow sand. The sun was setting, casting deep purple shadows in the streets.
When I turned the corner, a street lined with stores and restaurants stretched out before me. Every store front was closed and dark with the exception of a little restaurant. I looked around disappointed and afraid it might be too late to see anything. I took a seat at one of the small tables and ordered a mint tea. I was all by myself and started feeling slightly anxious for I had no idea where I was and what would happen next.
All of a sudden, like fireworks exploding, there was noisy and lively activity all around me: stores opened, lights went on, tables and chairs appeared on the side walks -- everything seemed to happen at once! Moments later the delicious smell of kebab was wafting through the air and reminded me of how hungry I had become! Locals started filling into the restaurants, chatting, laughing and shouting out their orders. This turned out to be the beginning of a most memorable evening. Now, that the city had come to life and strengthened by a good meal, I started exploring the surrounding bazaar.
There was the overwhelming aroma of streets lined with open bags of exotic, colorful spices. I heard the monotonous sounds of coppersmiths shaping their metal work in spacious, sparsely lit catacombs. I met several Egyptians, eager to introduce me to their families and proudly showing me the stores they owned. One of those stores was a perfume store, about 5 by 8 feet in size, lined with shelves to the top, selling hundreds of different perfumes. The next morning, after boarding the plane to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, I was still filled with those memories. Cairo had taken my heart by storm.

Planning to eventually return to Cairo, it was a few years ago that I bought my first travel guide to Egypt and this is what I found: "Islamic Cairo: The Khan is one of the largest bazaars in the Middle East, if not the world.... The bazaar began as a caravanserai, build in 1382...."

"Mosque of Sayyida al Hussein...One of the most sacred places of Muslim worship in Cairo ... this mosque ... next to the bazaar... is revered as the final resting place of the ... grandson of the Prophet.... The best time to visit it is during Ramadan... "

"Ramadan: ... faithful Muslims fast from dawn to sunset ...The feteer or breaking of the fast occurs the moment the sun has set. Try to attend a feteer. The square in front of the mosque comes alive with festive celebrations when all the restaurants lay out their food." (Wayne, 43, 100, 102)
What had started as an adventure now boiled down to this: unknowingly I had done the very thing the travel expert recommended. This had a curious effect, for now the story of my Cairo visit could potentially change: "During my stop over in Cairo I went to Khan el Khalili. It was during Ramadan -- perfect time should you ever go!"
I also felt in danger, wondering if my reading and the labeling of my authentic experience somehow might diminish it. Because now I became aware of what I had not seen, which were among other sights several historically important mosques that I had passed in utter ignorance. I had picked up a book and never again could Cairo be the innocent and sensual experience it had been. In a way, Cairo will now be a symbolic package, obscured to me by my awareness and knowledge.
In the future there will, however, be one way of how I can lay claim to experiencing Cairo in an authentic way once more: I will take a bus tour to the Sphinx. I have heard the light show is magnificent and I will be sure to have $29 next time I go.

Sources:
Wayne, Scott. Egypt & the Sudan, a travel survival kit, 1st edition, Victoria, Australia: Lonely Planet Publications, November 1987.

alilley [at] cs.umb.edu