I was wondering about Cairo and its many areas. Are there some areas that certain kinds of Egyptians would never go etc. ? And are there some infamous places where people are known to be this kind or that kind?
For example I have heard that Down Town is full of unemployed gigolos... One Egyptian friend (born and raised in Cairo) who lives in Mohandseen has never been to Talaat Harb Street because "it is not my type of neighborhood", even though Down Town is just across the bridge from Mohandseen.
What is the local attitude towards certain areas?
Posts: 2184 | Registered: Oct 2005
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I'm interested, too. I just don't know anything about this, so I can't contribute.
Posts: 8794 | From: 01-20-09 The End of an Error | Registered: Dec 2004
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But in downtown, you have some consulates, some cultural centers and so on, so everyone has to go this area! Even the AUC stands there! My fiance hates downtown too, but he has to go there once a week. About the Egyptian gigolos, I quite disagree. Well, actually, I have lived quite a long time downtown, because I was living there, and never faced any gigolo. Many tourist chasers, yes, who try to sell some "very rare" papyrus, but that's it. In Egypt, from what I've seen, poor and rich people live together, you can't really say "that's a poor area", because inside you will also find rich people. Like, I was living in a very rich area, and just in front of my building, there were all these poor famiies living almost under a tent.
Some areas do have a bad reputation though.
Posts: 531 | Registered: Jan 2006
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Is where I get a number of my articles from. Then I have two differernt databases Jstor and ProjectMuse. Go down to your local university and see if they have access to these databases. Immensely useful.
quote:Originally posted by Anthropos: Thank you sonomod,
Those links are great!
Here is an article about Cairo Slums Quite interesting
Holy buckets, I think this is one of those articles I was trying to find at anthro.net. European Universities make this kind of data public while American unversitie's make you pay for it!
Yeah its been a trend since Anwar Sadat's time to move impoverished people from some very sought after real estate to huge public housing estates. The move effectively destroys generations of relationships, 70% of the neighborhood specific trade and trade relationships are destroyed. Basically moves these dislocated people out of traditional Cairne lifestyles and rips Egypt of its culture.
Very ticked off about it.
And this is one of the biggest tactics that Sadat had transplanted from the west, and it wasn't even suggested to him. Believe me it wasn't our idea. He just went out and found the most destructive socail policy around and enforced it.
Posts: 59 | Registered: Mar 2006
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In that article on Cairo slums - they say that in certain types of slums (they name El Maadisa) illiterate females of total population age 10+ are 65.9%!
I am having trouble just imagining this, yet alone believing it, but I guess it is unfortunately true.
Posts: 2184 | Registered: Oct 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Anthropos: In that article on Cairo slums - they say that in certain types of slums (they name El Maadisa) illiterate females of total population age 10+ are 65.9%!
I am having trouble just imagining this, yet alone believing it, but I guess it is unfortunately true.
Cairnes are lerry of government officials, even NGO employees. So their numbers could definately be off.
And sometimes western governments through NGO surveys justify their foreign policy with Egypt through these studies.
Thats why its called the "Shadow Government". Like Egypt can't solve its own problems without the West doing it for them.
On the contrary, I find its the opposite.
If we get out and leave government and social services to the Egyptians, Egypt will improve.
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