I walked outside my building. I try not to let the stares I know I’m going to encounter when I walk down the street influence what I put on in the morning.
Today I was wearing beige pants, a brown three-quarter-sleeve top, and heeled sandals. If I was in New York City I might be strutting, but here, I was painfully conscious of the fact that my butt was exposed with no jacket to cover it - although I did strategically place my laptop bag so that it was mostly covered.
Anyway, usually there are guys that hang out on the stoop of my building because there’s a little mosque (more like a large prayer room) on the ground floor. By now, I recognize most of the guys that hang out there and they know I live in the building.
This morning there was a guy I didn’t recognize wearing this strange colorful hat but otherwise normal. I saw him do a double look at me as I walked away but tried not to let it bother me.
My new tactic when I walk down the street in the morning in my work clothes is to silently sing a song in my head to distract myself. This morning I was singing the “Star Spangled Banner” in an odd burst of patriotism – or because it reminded of me of my childhood when I didn’t have to worry about creepy guys staring at me.
I got to the end of my street, bought my usual Diet Coke, and went to the main street to find a cab.
As I was waiting, I noticed the same strange guy standing almost right next to me, staring straight at a place that no woman likes to be stared at.
I glared at him, which instead seemed to encourage him because he gave me this weird grin and looked me up and down.
Thankfully, a cab pulled up, I told him where I wanted to go and I got in.
And flicked the guy off before we pulled away.
*************************************************************************************************************************
Usually, I try not to react when situations like that happen. A lot of my guy friends ask, what do you think you’re going to achieve?
But how can I not react every time and just accept it as part of the current culture in Cairo? I feel that acceptance is part of the problem.
Maybe yelling at a guy and calling him out on his behavior won’t change a whole country’s problem of sexual harassment, but lying down and excusing it won’t help either.
“People are poor, they’re sexually frustrated, they have no opportunities in life” are all reasons I’ve heard for the abnormal problem of harassment in Egypt.
But do you excuse a criminal anywhere because he’s had a hard life? No. Does it help you understand where the action is coming from? Yes.
If women never stood up for themselves in history, they would never have made the progress they have made in many countries. Yes, men need to take responsibility for their actions, but women also need to stand up for themselves and not be afraid to say: “enough is enough.”
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Monday, February 2, 2009
The First of Many
The other day I was interviewing this guy who started his own IT business. After the interview finished, he asked if he could ask me a couple questions. He was curious as to what a young American female was doing working in Cairo.
He was also a professor, which probably explained his curiosity and desire to give me advice. He advised that I should write about my experiences here, something I’ve long planned to do and somehow neglected. So here I am writing about living in Cairo.
Sometimes when I talk to my friends or family in America I feel the need to only talk about the good parts of Cairo (because there are many) and be careful about the way I talk about the bad parts of Cairo (because there are many). I guess its because I feel the need to dispel the tendency to think that I live in a pyramid and ride a camel to work.
I live in a normal apartment building on the ninth floor. I have a, well, interesting neighbor who I’m sure I’ll eventually write about. It’s a three-bedroom apartment, decent furniture, and my bedroom has a great view of downtown Cairo and the Parliament building that burned down last summer.
The hot water doesn’t always work, the electricity has gone out once or twice for a period of time, getting Internet the first time was a hassle, I’ve never had a problem with my television (it has satellite! And six English channels!), I’m not a huge fan of my landlord but he stays out of our way and there is a mosque in the building which means I hear the call to prayer anytime I’m home. Thankfully they got a new mu’azzin, the guy that does the call to prayer, who has a better voice to make this more tolerable.
The great part is, my apartment is like ten times bigger than my apartment last year so I feel like I’m doing pretty well.
While I don’t ride a camel to work, I do usually take taxis, which sometimes are so old that they make me feel like a camel would be safer. The Egyptian government had to actually pass a law to try and phase out cabs that were older than 20 years.
There are certain parts of life that are the same no matter what country you live in, such as office politics. While the British television show “The Office” and the American version are completely different, the fact is that politics play a large role in office life. I can confidently report that this fact of life does not change if you go to Egypt.
Now, it’s back to work for me. Unfortunately needing to work and make money is also not something that changes if you come to Egypt.
He was also a professor, which probably explained his curiosity and desire to give me advice. He advised that I should write about my experiences here, something I’ve long planned to do and somehow neglected. So here I am writing about living in Cairo.
Sometimes when I talk to my friends or family in America I feel the need to only talk about the good parts of Cairo (because there are many) and be careful about the way I talk about the bad parts of Cairo (because there are many). I guess its because I feel the need to dispel the tendency to think that I live in a pyramid and ride a camel to work.
I live in a normal apartment building on the ninth floor. I have a, well, interesting neighbor who I’m sure I’ll eventually write about. It’s a three-bedroom apartment, decent furniture, and my bedroom has a great view of downtown Cairo and the Parliament building that burned down last summer.
The hot water doesn’t always work, the electricity has gone out once or twice for a period of time, getting Internet the first time was a hassle, I’ve never had a problem with my television (it has satellite! And six English channels!), I’m not a huge fan of my landlord but he stays out of our way and there is a mosque in the building which means I hear the call to prayer anytime I’m home. Thankfully they got a new mu’azzin, the guy that does the call to prayer, who has a better voice to make this more tolerable.
The great part is, my apartment is like ten times bigger than my apartment last year so I feel like I’m doing pretty well.
While I don’t ride a camel to work, I do usually take taxis, which sometimes are so old that they make me feel like a camel would be safer. The Egyptian government had to actually pass a law to try and phase out cabs that were older than 20 years.
There are certain parts of life that are the same no matter what country you live in, such as office politics. While the British television show “The Office” and the American version are completely different, the fact is that politics play a large role in office life. I can confidently report that this fact of life does not change if you go to Egypt.
Now, it’s back to work for me. Unfortunately needing to work and make money is also not something that changes if you come to Egypt.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
The Party of God.
Two things motivate me to write: deadlines and ideas of which I disagree.
Today, I was on Facebook and was curious why people are supporting John McCain and Sarah Palin, so I clicked on the link to a group called “1,000,000 Strong for McCain/Palin '08 (Official Group)” that one of my Facebook friends had recently joined. I read a few of the wall posts and clicked on the one of the discussion board topics regarding people’s reasons for being a Republican.
Obviously I disagree with most of their reasons, but I’m going to harp on one in particular.
The Republican Party has been successful in promoting itself as the party of religion, particularly Christianity. Many conservative Christians feel compelled to vote Republican because of the party’s stance on issues like gay marriage and abortion. People believe this image because of their politicking (see previous post).
The party of God? Sorry G.O.P., Hezballah beat you to that slogan.
Many of the posts that I read dealt with welfare and how Democrats want to “allow people to be lazy and live off of welfare.”
From my many years of Sunday school classes, I seem to remember something in the Bible about helping those who cannot help themselves. Jesus also told his followers to help the beggars, the sick, the hungry, and the weak because God is in all of us, and thus helping others is serving God.
Oh no, that was part of my divine revelation I had the other night. Damn, I get those confused…
I wish a Christian Republican could explain to me how they belong to the party that advocates cutting spending on social program and helping the most destitute Americans. All economic policies aside (and I generally believe in more conservative economic policy) how can you be a Christian and believe in helping others and cry socialism as the reason government shouldn’t be responsible for helping its citizens?
I suppose what it means is that Christians think the very slim possibility of gays being able to be married, and some women choosing to have an abortion is more important that creating programs that help the poor and the needy.
The American government has the resources to people pay for college or vocational training, provide young soon-to-be mothers with the choice to have their babies, people with disabilities the support they need, and those with drug addictions programs to get them off their addictions and off the street.
Government exists to keep our population safe. This type of support is as important to keeping our country safe and stable as a military to protect our borders.
Today, I was on Facebook and was curious why people are supporting John McCain and Sarah Palin, so I clicked on the link to a group called “1,000,000 Strong for McCain/Palin '08 (Official Group)” that one of my Facebook friends had recently joined. I read a few of the wall posts and clicked on the one of the discussion board topics regarding people’s reasons for being a Republican.
Obviously I disagree with most of their reasons, but I’m going to harp on one in particular.
The Republican Party has been successful in promoting itself as the party of religion, particularly Christianity. Many conservative Christians feel compelled to vote Republican because of the party’s stance on issues like gay marriage and abortion. People believe this image because of their politicking (see previous post).
The party of God? Sorry G.O.P., Hezballah beat you to that slogan.
Many of the posts that I read dealt with welfare and how Democrats want to “allow people to be lazy and live off of welfare.”
From my many years of Sunday school classes, I seem to remember something in the Bible about helping those who cannot help themselves. Jesus also told his followers to help the beggars, the sick, the hungry, and the weak because God is in all of us, and thus helping others is serving God.
Oh no, that was part of my divine revelation I had the other night. Damn, I get those confused…
I wish a Christian Republican could explain to me how they belong to the party that advocates cutting spending on social program and helping the most destitute Americans. All economic policies aside (and I generally believe in more conservative economic policy) how can you be a Christian and believe in helping others and cry socialism as the reason government shouldn’t be responsible for helping its citizens?
I suppose what it means is that Christians think the very slim possibility of gays being able to be married, and some women choosing to have an abortion is more important that creating programs that help the poor and the needy.
The American government has the resources to people pay for college or vocational training, provide young soon-to-be mothers with the choice to have their babies, people with disabilities the support they need, and those with drug addictions programs to get them off their addictions and off the street.
Government exists to keep our population safe. This type of support is as important to keeping our country safe and stable as a military to protect our borders.
Liberal Media Bias
Statement 1: Fox News has the highest amount of viewers out of any major news network.
Statement 2: Republicans are criticized more than Democrats in the media.
One of these statements is an example of a fact, and one of these statements is an example of an opinion, or bias. Do you know which is which?
Sarah Palin’s statement during her acceptance speech and Republicans reaction to it, regarding catering to the media is characteristic of the way Republicans view the media.
When you were a child, did you ever cry a little more than necessary at a scrape or bruise to get attention? Have you ever slightly exaggerated a story to get more attention from an audience?
If you have, than you understand this Republican tactic: cry a little louder than necessary anytime anyone in the media says something even potentially derogatory about you.
Remember wanting to stay home from school, and your parents not really believing that you were sick? But if you kept complaining about your stomach hurting or feigning a sore throat long enough they might relent?
The Republican strategy regarding media is very similar: keep complaining and then people will begin to believe you.
Truly, it’s a great tactic and certainly seems to be working.
Trying to keep an objective mind when reporting or writing about a news story is a difficult thing to do, and every journalist or reporter regardless of their background will go into a story with a bias. Every time you read a newspaper article or watch a news program, know that there is the possibility the person has an agenda; critical thinking wasn’t a skill to be lost in third grade.
Are you one of those people who think there’s an inherent liberal bias in the media? If so, than you might be the type of parent to believe their sickness-feigning child every single time.
Statement 2: Republicans are criticized more than Democrats in the media.
One of these statements is an example of a fact, and one of these statements is an example of an opinion, or bias. Do you know which is which?
Sarah Palin’s statement during her acceptance speech and Republicans reaction to it, regarding catering to the media is characteristic of the way Republicans view the media.
When you were a child, did you ever cry a little more than necessary at a scrape or bruise to get attention? Have you ever slightly exaggerated a story to get more attention from an audience?
If you have, than you understand this Republican tactic: cry a little louder than necessary anytime anyone in the media says something even potentially derogatory about you.
Remember wanting to stay home from school, and your parents not really believing that you were sick? But if you kept complaining about your stomach hurting or feigning a sore throat long enough they might relent?
The Republican strategy regarding media is very similar: keep complaining and then people will begin to believe you.
Truly, it’s a great tactic and certainly seems to be working.
Trying to keep an objective mind when reporting or writing about a news story is a difficult thing to do, and every journalist or reporter regardless of their background will go into a story with a bias. Every time you read a newspaper article or watch a news program, know that there is the possibility the person has an agenda; critical thinking wasn’t a skill to be lost in third grade.
Are you one of those people who think there’s an inherent liberal bias in the media? If so, than you might be the type of parent to believe their sickness-feigning child every single time.
I am a conservative.
Have you ever interviewed for a job before and not gotten it?
The reason people do not get job offers is because they’re not qualified or there is someone more qualified who also applied (or of course they have some family connection). The problem with politics is that unqualified people are allowed to run, as per the system of our democracy. Democracy assumes that the people of the country, state or town are an accurate vetting process normally given to company executives who know what is best for their company.
Do you know what’s best for our country?
We currently hold rank as the most powerful country in the world, but that position is slipping more quickly than most Americans dare to realize. The American dream is fading behind airport security, fences between us and our neighbors, political speeches infected with hatred, national debates about issues that won’t be decided by politicians, racism, sexism, fear and ignorance.
Our country doesn’t just need a change. Our country needs a revolution in the way we think about our country and from this will follow a transformation.
Conservative, as a political term, generally means a return or conservation of values. I am a conservative then. I am a conservative because I advocate a return to the beliefs that founded this country, a time where the people who led our nation were not just men with money, but were men of science, philosophy, religion, writing and most of all free and independent thinking.
The reason I am a Democrat is because the Democratic Party attracts intellectuals. It attracts people who have the ability to think beyond the present time and look to a brighter future. It is no surprise that the presidential candidate who first advocated “Change We Can Believe In” was a Democrat. No Republican would ever come up with something so simple and necessary.
We don’t need an ordinary American to lead this country. We need Americans to do their jobs as citizens and be educated about the political situation because their choices have the ability to affect not only their own country but the world.
We need something new. Something fresh. Something that will shake the very foundation of our society to bring us back to a place where learning and intelligence were valued rather than feared.
When it comes to intellect and religion, I believe that you can have your cake and eat it too. You can be progressive and have faith. You can believe in lower taxes on the middle class and life for an unborn child.
You can also believe that something different from the ordinary is the right path for our country.
The reason people do not get job offers is because they’re not qualified or there is someone more qualified who also applied (or of course they have some family connection). The problem with politics is that unqualified people are allowed to run, as per the system of our democracy. Democracy assumes that the people of the country, state or town are an accurate vetting process normally given to company executives who know what is best for their company.
Do you know what’s best for our country?
We currently hold rank as the most powerful country in the world, but that position is slipping more quickly than most Americans dare to realize. The American dream is fading behind airport security, fences between us and our neighbors, political speeches infected with hatred, national debates about issues that won’t be decided by politicians, racism, sexism, fear and ignorance.
Our country doesn’t just need a change. Our country needs a revolution in the way we think about our country and from this will follow a transformation.
Conservative, as a political term, generally means a return or conservation of values. I am a conservative then. I am a conservative because I advocate a return to the beliefs that founded this country, a time where the people who led our nation were not just men with money, but were men of science, philosophy, religion, writing and most of all free and independent thinking.
The reason I am a Democrat is because the Democratic Party attracts intellectuals. It attracts people who have the ability to think beyond the present time and look to a brighter future. It is no surprise that the presidential candidate who first advocated “Change We Can Believe In” was a Democrat. No Republican would ever come up with something so simple and necessary.
We don’t need an ordinary American to lead this country. We need Americans to do their jobs as citizens and be educated about the political situation because their choices have the ability to affect not only their own country but the world.
We need something new. Something fresh. Something that will shake the very foundation of our society to bring us back to a place where learning and intelligence were valued rather than feared.
When it comes to intellect and religion, I believe that you can have your cake and eat it too. You can be progressive and have faith. You can believe in lower taxes on the middle class and life for an unborn child.
You can also believe that something different from the ordinary is the right path for our country.
If you like McCain, than maybe you shouldn't.
This will be a rant.
Give me one good, logical, well thought out reason why any sane American who wants our country to flourish, have jobs for the next generation, provide healthcare for the poor and sick, revitalize people’s belief in the American system, not be completely oil dependent, hold our place in the world as a superpower and not destroy the environment for future generations should vote for John McCain. Go on, I dare you.
I don't agree with Obama on every issue and of course it would make me more comfortable if he had more foreign policy experience, but another four years of someone even remotely like Bush?
My issue with John McCain is that he is short-sighted and out of touch with the realities of Americans. To have an economic advisor who thinks that the problems of the American economy are imaginary and that Americans need to stop "whining" is a disgrace. To complain that you don't get media attention and then run inappropriate and unseemly ads about your opponent that have nothing to do with the issues facing the country, is shameful. To go to Iraq and confuse the differences between Sunni and Shi’i is down right embarrassing. McCain, you should go to church and thank God that the media ignores you, because if they gave you the attention you want you wouldn’t have a prayers chance of winning this election.
The reason Obama doesn't have a substantial lead is because he refuses to run negative ads that attack McCain's character and because Americans respond to negative comments.
Is Obama a saviour? Of course not. As a Christian, I believe that title is bestowed upon someone who lived over 2000 years ago. Is he the best chance for our country's future? Given the options, I believe he is. Obama is not perfect, but he is inspiring and he does promote innovation--look at his fundraising operation. It’s not just Obama that I'm voting for, I'm voting for the types of people will be attracted to his administration.
Democrats are not blameless either. I've heard Democrats say they won't vote for him because he's black. Would I have liked to see a female president? Yes, we're long overdue. But let the past be the past and let’s move forward—complaining about sexism in the media is not going to change the facts.
You don't have to like Obama. You don't even have to agree with him. You just have to vote for him—and not vote for McCain.
Give me one good, logical, well thought out reason why any sane American who wants our country to flourish, have jobs for the next generation, provide healthcare for the poor and sick, revitalize people’s belief in the American system, not be completely oil dependent, hold our place in the world as a superpower and not destroy the environment for future generations should vote for John McCain. Go on, I dare you.
I don't agree with Obama on every issue and of course it would make me more comfortable if he had more foreign policy experience, but another four years of someone even remotely like Bush?
My issue with John McCain is that he is short-sighted and out of touch with the realities of Americans. To have an economic advisor who thinks that the problems of the American economy are imaginary and that Americans need to stop "whining" is a disgrace. To complain that you don't get media attention and then run inappropriate and unseemly ads about your opponent that have nothing to do with the issues facing the country, is shameful. To go to Iraq and confuse the differences between Sunni and Shi’i is down right embarrassing. McCain, you should go to church and thank God that the media ignores you, because if they gave you the attention you want you wouldn’t have a prayers chance of winning this election.
The reason Obama doesn't have a substantial lead is because he refuses to run negative ads that attack McCain's character and because Americans respond to negative comments.
Is Obama a saviour? Of course not. As a Christian, I believe that title is bestowed upon someone who lived over 2000 years ago. Is he the best chance for our country's future? Given the options, I believe he is. Obama is not perfect, but he is inspiring and he does promote innovation--look at his fundraising operation. It’s not just Obama that I'm voting for, I'm voting for the types of people will be attracted to his administration.
Democrats are not blameless either. I've heard Democrats say they won't vote for him because he's black. Would I have liked to see a female president? Yes, we're long overdue. But let the past be the past and let’s move forward—complaining about sexism in the media is not going to change the facts.
You don't have to like Obama. You don't even have to agree with him. You just have to vote for him—and not vote for McCain.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
The first of many posts.
This afternoon I finished work and began walking down the street to get a cab. This was one of the first days that felt pleasant during the day. Its very frustrating looking outside the window and seeing what looks like a beautiful day, but knowing that if I step outside it will be to hot to tolerate for long. Sometimes I’ll stay inside all day just to avoid the sun. When I go to work I leave early enough that the heat isn’t too bad and leave when the sun has started going down.
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