Let me get started by saying Egypt is great and i LOVE IT..10% was clean and organized but i'm gonna talk about the other 90% of the country now.
WOW! Poor Egypt, its people treat it like ****!...IF Egypt was a person she would ask "WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME?"
The Garbage, all over, people just throw their garbage and litter in the street without even thinking twice...and people around them don't say a word about it.
When i asked a few people why they do this, they said "you must be from out of town" i said "NO, I'm Egyptian, aren't you, why do you do this to your country?" They had no answer.
The beautiful Medeterraean sea, in Alexandria, i feel bad for it, You can see what the Governer of ALEX now head of all governers in egypt has done to the city, he realy tried to do alot, but still people just have no respect for their surroundings..Sidi Bishr beach was done up nicely but on the beach itself there was garbage everwhere. If you want to goto a nice beach in Alex, you have to goto MONTAZA..Anywhere nice in Egypt it seems you have to goto a PRIVATE place, because 90% of the public treat other places like ****!
It was nice how they expanded the cournish road to 4 lanes now, BUT the crossing tunnels are too far apart, so every day people are crossing 8 lanes of highspeed traffic, daily people die on the cournishe..
And don't get me started on the Rail-Way station, it was disgusting, specially when riding from Alex and going into Cairo,i couldn't believe the garbage, i even said "are we entering Cairo or a DUMP" people got offended, but you know what, they act offended and like they care, but their actions sure don't show that!!
The driving is rediculous, people just have NO RESPECT for traffic laws, the RED LIGHT means nothing to them, they have to have a police at every light so people may obey. and the sad thing is that the police at the light are just young kids from the country side who get no respect from the public to begin with, and THEY HATE THEIR JOB they are moganadeen, as in the Army and are forced to do this job Even the OFFICERS aren't paid well at all, so therefore they accept bribes and never do their job to the fullest, but you can't blame them, they need to feed their families!
Why can't people there even stand in line? i can't believe such a simple thing is hard to do, i went to buy some sandwiches, and people were all over trying to pay, i asked where the line was and ofcourse they said "you must not be from here"
I was walking on the Nile cournishe in Cairo and eating Corn, after i finished i asked a man selling something on the side if he had a wastebasket for me to throw the stem in, he said "the nile, throw it in the nile" i said "NO THANKS, i'm egyptian i don't polutte my NILE" ofcourse he thought i was crazy, but this just shows you how much people don't care or are so unaware ....
My aunt heads Nile TV, and i tried to talk to her about some of these things and she just told me thats EGYPT and thats how it is! While at the TV building goverment owned television ofcourse i met an Anchor from BBC news his name was Robert Buttler, he was there training Egyptian news people, he is retired as a TV anchor and is now a consultant. Him and I and my Aunt went to lunch and discussed a few things about Egypt, he was a great guy,and he said Egypt needed people such as myself to try and make a change... if your reading this Robert, it was a pleaure meeting you.
I ask myself What Happened? and the answer lies in GAMAL ABD-ELNASER, that man had good intentions but he DESTROYED our economy and led us to many fruitless wars where thouands of Egyptians were killed for NOTHING! the THAWRA (revolution) was the downfall of Egypt, you may say King Farouk was a bad man but NO, he wan't good but he wasn't Bad either, during his time Egypt was clean, and fashionable and a cosmopolitan place, just look at the movies from the 1940's and you will see how beautiful and different Egypt was then, and how the people even talked and acted different! My grandmother told me during Farouk, the Rich gave alot to the poor, and everyone took care of one another for the benefit of the country! I'm sure many of you wont' agree with me about Gamal Abd Elnasser but hey, LOOK AT THE FACTS!
I asked a taxi driver in Alex, why do people treat Egypt like this he had a great answer he said "look at us, look at me, this 1965 piece of **** taxi to buy is LE35,000, $5,000 , i couldn't beleive it, a car like that shouldn't be worth more than $200, he told me how bad the economy was, and how the goverment just takes bribes and does'nt care about the LOWER class of the population, he said look at how we live, then he said "IF EGYPT WAS ON FIRE I WOULDN'T PEE ON IT TO SAVE IT"...i kind of got his point, the goverment has abandoned its people, they make everything so complicated and hard on the poor people.. and the people have no love for their country because of that!
I couldn't believe how many women now dawn the HIJAB, it was never like this before, i'm muslim but i think Hijab is a choice not a solid part of Islam..Now most of the women are wearing the Hijab, and they are mostly wearing it because of social pressure not because of Religious beliefs..Remmber the beautiful Egyptian classy women such as Om Kalthoum and so on, they didn't dawn the hijab and they were well respected and loved by all...Listen if your gonna wear the HIJAB but tight jeans and makeup then WHY?
I am not just gonna sit back and critisize Egypt while i'm living it up in the USA, i'm gonna try and make a change, all the good minds are leaving EGYPT, we need to go back and make a change..I'm going to try and save some money here and in 5 years go back and make a change!! WHY? Because i LOVE MY COUNTRY! The Egyptian people have such good hearts...dirty, clean, rich or poor they have GOOD HEARTS!
Now, there were also beautiful places in Egypt, such as Sharm El Sheikh, beautiful and clean, i had a great time there, also in ALEX there were very nice and clean places, they cleaned up alot, and in cairo as well...What i'm trying to say i guess is Egypt is UGLY and BEAUTIFUL at the same time!! To go somewhere nice, you had to pay or have a membership it seemed like, and you had to pay alot, some of the nice clubs cost me LE150 just to get in, such as the HardRock and Pacha in Sharm El Sheikh..
With a name like Smuckers Member # 10289
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I actually agree a lot with you Tarek, there is so much potential in Egypt if only it were more embraced. I liked what you wrote btw.
????? Member # 12336
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Think you have to visit Egypt more to know how Egypt is really like. At the end, maybe you won`t like it at all, because it is so much different as your own life. Egypt, you love or you hate it.There is no middleway. But, as a American with Egyptian roots, I think you HAVE to know more about living in Egypt...Don`t go to places where tourists come. Get to know the real life....
cbrbddd Member # 3891
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Thanks for posting that, Tarek. It is very interesting what you are saying about Egypt. I'm going to read more on your blog.
FairyDust Member # 7138
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Somehow I got into the Hard Rock for free, and it was on New Year's Eve. I can't believe they made you pay. They tried that with me, but I said I just wanted to eat at the bar, but then I met some Americans and ended up staying 'til one.
Tarek, I check on your blog from time to time and read it before.
Well done job. But one question: Are you still in to make a change to your country?
Ofocourse i wanna make a change! but i have to go back to Egypt with enough money to support myself..i'm thinking 5 years God Willig
Sideshow Member # 12599
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cemilou Member # 9227
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Hi Tarek,
I didn't know Ur blog, I've just had a look and I like Ur way of thinking. : ) I live in Egypt for almost a year and I feel really sorry for this country. If people cared a little bit more, this country would be amazing! It's such a great country, it's a shame that nobody does anything to make things better... First of all, means should be given to educate people. If we want to reduce extremism, we should give to people the possibility to think by their own! Education makes free. Emi
citizen Member # 1344
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Tarek, it's a mistake to think the past was all glorious and perfect. I'll give you one little statistic I know. Literacy in the 1930's in Egypt was 2% for women and 15% for men. That gives you an idea of hte levels of poverty and deprivation. The population has exploded and the poor have moved into the city, but it was only a very privileged few that led the life you imagine to have been so wonderful.
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I liked what you wrote btw.