Wonder, Wander, Repeat!

“It did not even take an absolute of  24 hours of freedom to make me feel like going back to my bounds and chain myself up to what I have always known and feel the comfort. The uncertainty no more felt exciting, it was scary and bad.”

These are the actual lines I wrote about in my diary after my first day in Egypt as an intern. I have always been fascinated with the idea of a solo travel. I always had a desire to ‘explore’ places and know more about people and their culture. Although, on my first solo trip, I did not feel ready, but on the other hand, one can never be ready for a new experience.

• You speak English?

Let us start with a very realistic background. Living there was not easy, as the locals did not converse in English. I observed that one of the reasons for this was that they never really felt the need of learning English. Being a uni-lingual country, Arabic was sufficient and they never emphasized on the importance of English. Only the ones in the bureaucratic set-up had to learn it. This fact intrigued me as I realised how easily me and many of my fellow interns had assumed English to be spoken in every country. It also made me reflect on the ultimate importance given to this language and how those who cannot  articulate in English  are not really 'favoured.'

• Just Local Things

The locals are very warm and welcoming. Their need to be hospitable, to either a local or a foreigner is one of the things I really liked about the culture. It might come across as a bit intruding to a foreigner but they are very caring. Also, with regards to food, there is no distinction between vegetarian and non-vegetarian. If you are a vegetarian, like me, you will face a hard time. There are two very famous dishes, ‘Koshari’ and ‘Falafel’  which are a vegetarian’s paradise. One can also discover a varied spread of sweets and desserts.

• What Makes You Beautiful?

The fact that positively surprised me was their idea of beauty. It was not influenced by Western ideas of having a zero-size figure but they believed in having a healthy body and discouraged any practices of starving oneself for the sake of being desirable. The Egyptian local women are also very fond of makeup and have a great fashion sense. Their sense of style does not remain restricted due to their clothing.

They admire Indians quite a lot and are also huge Bollywood fans. If you are in a market, chances are that the shopkeeper will try to attract you by striking a conversation about Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan. They are also knowledgeable about the names of the states in India and surprisingly call India as ‘Hind’.

• I’ve Bin Recycling, Have You?

One would observe immense amounts of plastic being used. After having a conversation with one of the locals, I realised plastic was earlier never used but was replaced by the use of paper. Unfortunately, it started to become very expensive and hence to save money, they started using plastic. However, the utilization of plastic became extremely high and the country now faces a huge problem of waste. A once beautiful place is now turning hazardous for nature day by day. In the city of Cairo, one would see fogs of harmful gases. Although there is an increase in awareness, a lot of damage has already occurred.

• Time For Some Modelling

One of the fascinating things about the architecture is that they did not originally have the concept of ceiling fans. Their ceilings are intricately decorated and so, table fans were used which are now replaced by air conditioners. Earlier, each and every construction had some meaning and symbols drawn which were important for the owner. However nowadays, the old patterns are just followed without having any meaning  attached.

• That’s My Kind of Night

Night life in Egypt is lit up and peaceful. It is perfectly safe to take a stroll in the night and enjoy the view beside the Nile River which is again very clean and beautiful. It has a beautiful aura which is highlighted with the moonlight.

Overall, my experience was very insightful and I was able to learn about the similarities and differences between the two varied cultures. It seemed a little overwhelming initially, nevertheless it was for the best to experience living in different cultures as it helped me to broaden my perspectives and beliefs.

I would like to end with an excerpt from my last day in Egypt.

“It was not easy to manage alone but it gave me the experience of a lifetime. I learnt lessons which no college or institution has been able to teach but is very important for thriving and not just existing. I am grateful to everyone for this support.”

 

Written by:

Neha Vazirani- TYBA'19