The Passion for Egypt? I get it now
For my entire life, I’ve been seeing the passionate love amongst those in my community about Egypt, I didn’t understand it.
I get it now.
A few weeks ago I finished watching the movie from 2010 “BitterSweet (Assal Eswed)” on Netflix after being told it’s Egypt’s timeless film. For those who haven’t seen the film, it’s about an Egyptian American (Masry) who is returning to Egypt for the first time in 20 years. Masry comes in like most of us do, a giant checklist of foods/places to visit but comes with challenges along the way of his trip. His Arabic is proficient but it’s clear he’s a tourist so he gets the classic rip-off currency exchanges and price gauging. The rules that those in charge abide by occasionally come so strictly that in some instances it just makes no sense to Masry. He witnesses corruption here but not there where he gets yelled at for trying to bribe a government official after previously being successful to do so. With all these issues and more, for most of the film Masry has an American superiority complex where he believes Egypt is beneath him because of the magical powers of his American passport.
In many aspects I related to Masry, his struggles and perception of Egypt came 11 years ago yet I still relate. I saw Egypt as a failing country, a country that saw a massive exodus years ago but tried to change through the revolution which ended up just switching from dictator to dictator with little hope of democracy ever coming to the country. A country that I can just take advantage of my purchasing power of the American currency and live like a king and go back to the superior United States when I’m done.
The last time I was in Egypt was December 2015 — Jan 2016, post-revolution and the post-Russian plane crash, tourism was dead in the country. I came on a church trip and spent the majority of the trip attending to the poorest areas of the country but to my ignorance, I felt the rest of the country was poor like those in the Zabaleen (garbage collectors) except for Sharm. The country was riddled with pollution and the driving was a disaster. Garbage on the roads and navigating throughout the city felt like an endless journey in hell. I knew President Sisi was popular then, but I didn’t believe he could fix the country.
Upon arrival to Cairo, I notice that the pollution seems to have improved since 2016 but still has much to improve. I still witnessed the frustrations of the customs check that gave my family headache and a fee to pay because of the amount of technology we had on us. Nonetheless, our hotel was near the Nile, we come onto the brand new highway infrastructure which had me in awe. Miles better than anything I saw in 2016. Although the driving is still reckless, at least there’s more room!
I went to the City Stars Mall and Festival City Mall and was very impressed with how modernized it was, I must say though the obsession over American fashion brands was extremely apparent. The local downtown restaurants had delicious food and I noticed there the mask mandate Egypt had seemed to have some effect. Most Egyptians I saw walking around had a mask on them and a large majority of businesses I saw their employees all wore masks. I was even temperature checked at the malls and other major public areas. For a country that makes getting tested almost impossible (PCR test is 190 dollars!!), it does seem like many take it seriously.
Aside from the infrastructure, the people were more than gracious to deal with. What impressed me a lot was how hyper-aware everyone is. (maybe because of the driving 😉) What’s been the common experience throughout the trip is you can ask a random person on the street what you’re looking for and it’s very likely they know what you’re looking for (no matter how close or far it was) and are even excited to help as well. You never really get a sense of the “you’re not worth my time” attitude.
After a few days in Cairo, we drive down to El Gouna (first time going). Along the ride I was amazed to see the development of the new capital, it’s massive! Was told there’s even going to be a fast train to transport you through the major cities. The new apartment complexes look many times more modern than what you normally see in Cairo. I saw the works of Monte Galala along the drive and it was stunning (inspired by Santorini in Greece). Then we arrive at El Gouna….
WOW! This town is GORGEOUS. The view of the Red Sea is priceless, the villas and apartment complexes kill almost anything you can see in coastal states. The driving infrastructure is highly efficient, Tok toks (micro taxis) are literally everywhere and can take you anywhere in Gouna for 20 pounds ($1.27). The town uses roundabouts instead of intersections which creates an efficient flow of traffic, nice! Pretty much everyone speaks proficient English as expected given it’s a very touristy area and again can’t say it enough, there’s an immense amount of graciousness in the people. There are restaurants of many cuisines and class tier (casual to fine-dining) to be found. I can go on and on about Gouna, honestly, I could spend months or even live there.
Many would tell me that El Gouna is just a bubble and it’s not indicative of the rest of the country, while yes I would agree with that, however, I see it as this… A toktok driver told my parents that El Gouna practically saved Egypt (mind you this town was made 17 years ago), it gave job opportunity to the locals and it’s a refresh of what could be in Egypt. I want to emphasize what could be. What I saw was an efficient, civilized, economically prosperous town and I truly believe this is the first of many for Egypt. Sawiris’s Orascom Development (the development company behind El Gouna) is already building more towns, numerous other new developments are happening across the country (Egypt is only using about 7% of its land!).
There’s a mass effort to modernize Egypt, it will take decades maybe even generations, but it’s happening. I’ve heard stories from folks who were able to go to a 4-year university for affordable money because of government efforts. Low-income housing is being developed to move Egypt’s poor to sustainable and clean areas. Solar and Wind investments are seen throughout the country. New forms of transportation (fast train) are being developed to give an opportunity to those far from it. Companies are coming in, investing in Egyptian talent. Local entrepreneurship is thriving from upper to lower Egypt. A lot is changing. I haven’t seen it all, but I have seen a lot different than from 5 years ago.
Not trying to make this some Egyptian propaganda piece, the country still has a lot of problems I very much understand that. But with the recent event in the United States, it’s very clear we have a lot of problems as well. The States is going through rises of domestic terrorism, government lobbying against the peoples’ interests, a corrupt financial system, gridlocked politics, etc., etc. If one wants to look you can find problems in any country.
At the ending of the film, Masry yells at Hilal for not seeing how living in Egypt brings everyone full of misery. Hilal responds by saying Egypt is not the best of countries but it certainly isn’t the worst of. That Egyptians have a concept of thanking God and being empathetic to one another’s situations/sufferings but having unshaken faith that things will get better. He says Egypt may not have the great aspects of America but it may one day. This was 11 years ago, ironically a year before the revolution.
To our community that has been defending our country day and night with the utmost of passion and love, I get it and I’m a believer now.
Just like Masry from Bittersweet, I’m on the plane and I already wanna go back.
