Egyptian Birthdays: In Egypt there is no 1-for-1

March 14, 2012, 2:30pm, American University in Cairo, Cairo, Egypt

Yesterday was a blast, one of the most fun birthdays ever, mainly because we were busy the entire time. I was incredibly hungover and had only gotten 4 hours of sleep, but had to be on my ‘A’ game for our first meeting with the Egyptian Businessmen Association. Our Professor asked me to be the cameraman, which I decided to have a bit of fun with. The meeting was interesting, it seems like a lot of businesses in Egypt want to implement CSR initiatives but with the current financial situation have to focus on just staying afloat.

We were running late to our next meeting so we had an improvised lunch at KFC. The chicken there was actually just as good if not better than the KFC in the states. Full and covered with grease, we headed to the Cairo Stock Exchange. The exchange is much smaller than the NYSE, but is growing. The trading room is quite small and is only open from 10:30am – 2:30pm, five days a week. I asked if they were accepting applications. We then headed back to the hotel to get cleaned up for Khan el-Khalili.

The drive to the souk was not too bad, we were all a bit tired from the day. As we drove by the shops you could see the eyes of the store owners light up when they saw a bus full of white people, clearly ready to spend money. Our tour guide Ishmael took us on a brief tour of Islamic architecture in the area and then we headed to dinner.

Dinner was incredible, tables full of every type of Egyptian dish one could imagine. We stuffed ourselves silly. I was trying to calculate how much weight I had gained when I started hearing a small band start playing happy birthday.

I have never in my life been sung happy birthday more times (and in more languages) than last night. I believe the total was five times. I gave a brief speech about how much I disliked everyone and then we headed out to the shops.

Sam is a master negotiator and was a great help to me. I was looking for a necklace, Egyptian flags, and a couple of shirts. After continuous harassment, we eventually found a guy who had the flags and shirts. We picked out what we wanted and the haggling began. He quoted us the “special egyptian price” of 450 egyptian pounds. I had no idea what any of this was worth and let Sam take over. Over the course of 15 minutes, and after what sounded like a heated argument, the store owner came and found us in a different store, bag in hand. He said he agreed to our price of 100 pounds and asked for the money. Sam agreed and started looking in the bag, which visibly irritated the shop owner. As it turns out, the owner took out one of the flags and was trying to pull a fast one. He quickly mentioned how he “forgot” it and ran back to the store to grab another flag. We paid him and headed to the bus. I pulled out my wallet to pay Sam for the souvenirs, but he refused, saying “I have been trying to get you a birthday present all day but you have been with me”.

I kept trying to pay him, telling him I would get him back one way or another, to which he angrily said “In Egypt, there is no 1 for 1”.

We returned to the hotel around 11:45pm and got a group together to head out to a local upscale lounge for drinks. The lounge was hidden in a run-down building on the second floor. As us seven white kids and one Egyptian showed up, there was a look of confusion and unpleasantness on the face of the doorman. After a conversation, they let us inside. We went to sit down at a table, at which time we were told that this bar, full of people, was now in fact closed. We were looking around confused as to why the bar had just closed right then, and apparently only for us. We decided to not cause an international incident and walked down the road to our go-to bar, Deals.

We hung out there for a few hours having drinks, taking shots, and discussing politics and religion. I had a great conversation with one of my Muslim classmates who married a Catholic Puerto Rican girl. We had a great discussion about interfaith relationships, standards, and families. He gave me some great advice, then we closed our tabs and walked home. (One of our friends had a discrepancy about the bill, which ended up getting us a couple free shots that we gladly consumed). I got to bed around 3:00am, knowing full well that the next morning was coming way too soon.

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.