egypt: epilogue
i loved what the egyptians of old achieved: i hate what the egyptians of today have become. this is the uneasy compromise that dominates my conclusion about what was once the land of omnipotent rulers and visionary architects but is now the home of greedy cabbies and misogynistic gropers.put simply, you have to go. you have to see the pyramids rising out of the dusty giza plain, utterly dominating everything that attempted to follow them in the choking anarchy of cairo, the colossal statues of ramses and his sucessors, the stunning monuments to love, victory, and sheer egotism. and yet you do this all the time holding your nose at everything else around you: there is no charm in modern egypt, just dirt and lust.
i smoked shisha in the dingy coffee shops, ate kebabs in cafes with bloody haunches swinging from hooks in front of me. i delved under the surface as much as i have elsewhere, yet found none of the casual delights that you can normally hope to stumble across, the inquisitive conversations, or shy mouths involuntarily smiling at a stranger.
this was my first trip around an islamic, woman barren, country, and maybe my reaction says more about me than egypt: sadly, i can't help but find it tragic that the land of the sphinx, of nefertiti and cleopatra, has become yet another country of veiled women and shouting imans.
posted by bicrom @ 3:17 pm
