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We found people in Egypt to be very friendly. Many knew at least a few words of English and we often heard "hallo" as we walked on the streets. One evening in a restaurant we heard the Egyptian 20-somethings at the next table singing "Happy Birthday"
(in English) to one of their members. We (the only other diners in the room) joined in and to our surprise one of the young women later presented us with two pieces of the birthday cake so that we could celebrate with them.
We saw people practicing a variety of trades that we don't often see in the US.
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Rug weaver
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Pita bakers
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Guard/local color at Karnak
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Tourist police
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| Children are very important in this culture. It was common for Ehab and other Egyptians to smile at children and pat them on the head. Men seemed very involved with their children; when we saw parents on the street, more than half the time it was the father carrying or holding the hand of the child. One father in Alexandria said hello to us and then tried hard to get his little daughter to say the same. While she was too shy to say anything, she did blow us a kiss. |
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Children and their mothers enjoying the seaside in Alexandria.
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There were also lots of young people. These are schoolchildren at Hatshepsut's Temple
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Women wore a variety of outfits, from very conservative to basically western clothes (but always with long sleeves) and a headscarf.
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Many men we saw, especially in the countryside or in the small towns, still wore the traditional galabeeyah.
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In the larger cities men were more likely to wear western clothes, though some of them also wore traditional headcoverings as well.
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<<Alexandria Amman and Jerash>>
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