Getting to Work and Tahrir Square

March 13, 2012, 6:15pm, Marriott Zamalek, Cairo, Egypt

I am in love with this city. Cairo has been an incredible experience thus far, even though it’s only been a little more than a few days. I arrived Saturday afternoon, settled in, and met with Renee and Allison at the outdoors restaurant for a snack and a cocktail (the Long Island Ice Teas are pretty coke heavy). We hung out and chatted with some classmates as they arrived, then I went back to the room to nap.

I woke up around dinner time (9pm) and headed down to the lobby to meet with the rest of the group. We went to Abu Saaid (Lara I know you’ll correct the spelling) which is one of the nicest restaurants in Zemalek. We had a ton of traditional Egyptian food and enjoyed the old style Cairo motif.

Sunday was a very full day. We started at the ECRC in Mohandeseen and met with the organization that helped set up the course. We had lunch and then met with our client to learn more about their needs and challenges regarding CSR in Egypt. We’re working with a regional bank that has experienced slowed growth since the revolution and is looking to find creative ways to have CSR create value.

Monday was a fascinating day. We went to see the zebellin who gather and sort the trash in Cairo, and live in the hills around the city in an area called Mokattam. Their town is run down and covered with trash, and the people are extremely poor and uneducated. The school we visited is in the middle of the village, and is a joint effort between Proctor & Gamble and other local NGOs. There is a large problem in counterfeit shampoo in Egypt, so P&G found a way to abate this while making a social impact. The school they help fund trains boys to buy used P&G bottles from the sorters and bring them back to be shredded. They are paid 100% profit on what they bring in, which gives them an incentive to come to the school. They also learn basic reading/writing/arithmetic/computer skills which train them for secondary school after they reach a certain point. The kids were very nice and seemed very happy, their choir sang a few songs for us then we all took some pictures together.

We then returned to the hotel and got some work done on our case study, and had planned to meet with the group later at the Cairo Museum by Tahrir Square. Samer had his car and offered to take us on a tour of Tahrir and to eat some Koshari at one of Lara’s favorite places. We prepared ourselves and hopped in the car.

The square was incredibly alive. If you didn’t know where you were, you would assume it was the same as any other square in any other city. Businesses were open, people littered the sidewalks, and traffic was busy. We got less strange looks in Tahrir than we did in Zamalek, which was strangely calming. The street art there was incredible, some of the most beautiful and haunting pictures I have ever seen. It’s difficult to not feel a swell of optimism in your chest as you look around the square. The feeling is indescribable. We made it to Koshari Tahrir and had a massive bowl. Sam helped us with the hot sauce and garlic sauce to make a perfect mixture. From there, we headed to the museum, still reeling from the experience of the square.

After the museum, night had fallen. We decided to ride back with Sam, which meant walking back through Tahrir. The square at night was not much different than in the day. Protesters were still camped out in the middle circle but were peaceful and would smile when they saw us. Some looked confused, as to why a white guy was walking around this place that was clearly not for foreigners. The oddest part of this experience was the clear lack of any police/military throughout the square. Civilians were actually directing traffic.

After we returned home, a few of us decided to head down to the casino to grab some drinks and lose some money until midnight, to celebrate my birthday. I won money on slots, then lost it all on roulette, then broke even on the slots again and called it a night. From there, most people went back to their rooms. Casey and I decided to continue the party and go to Harry’s Pub, where there was a reggae band playing and people dancing. We had some drinks, a few shots, and made it to bed by 4:00am.

I’m feeling the repercussions of that today.