Back door Cairo

I know it's blurred. It's a city instrinsically in a blur.

Same goes for Egyptian customs. Blur in the sense of ambiguity, not alacrity.

On account of the relative calm of school, and unavoidably flat blog post, I could bring to light shipping in and out of the civilized third world, as some of you have coined Egypt. Egypt is highly contained, foreign products purchased primarily by foreigners. Trade and commerce appear non-existent to the naked and jaded eyes of myself and my comrades here. We often joke and wonder in the midafternoon when we take the shuttle back into Zamalek, at exactly "what Egyptians do. For a living?" There are just globs of people, loitering, or, more often than not, confidently and quickly walking the streets. Everywhere. All day. And, there is no business quarter, no corporate parks. Service industries via tourism, cab driving, house cleaning, account for a decent percentage. Security as well, as military service is a requisite for all Egyptian males. Still, I can't seem to understand how the economy functions here. There are so many disconnects. So little arable land. Some manufacturing I suppose.

Off track. Back to the story. I had some medications and my iPod recharger shipped via DHL, best in the world in Third World shipping. To make a long story short, I landed the mobile number of the head of customs at Cairo International Airport ((+002) 010 14 88 718), and had an International Student Services manager at the AUC screaming on the phone this afternoon. The package, with full and accurate documentation has been sitting in the airport for four days. They thought I was smuggling drugs for commercial purposes. Packages don't come to one's doorstep. You have to work for your shipment. Practically bending regulations, twisting arms here to get a package through. When I guess you shouldn't have to. It's all in the air, no certainty or reason at times. And this happens all the time. All the time. No wonder trade is ailing. Paperwork mania.

Back to Egypt. A high percentage are below the poverty line, as is evidenced by the sprawling "slums" of uncompleted apartments on the outskirts of the city. People contract their own workers, paying in cash, to lay a new story of brick to a building. But, these buildings are never completed finished, since, a completed building would require they pay taxes. So, you evade taxes by not completing it. Makes sense...

This, is rooted in a corrupted at best bureaucracy. One the US continues to support. Mubarek is often disregarded in the US, and reading the press here, he is operating off a grimy agenda daily, with heavy censorship, strange 'disappearances' of government personnel, protests viciously toppled, and a budget shrouded in mystery. Like most world dictators, if they have something to offer, the US embraces them, fingers wrapped. If they have something we want that's another story. Sorry, sloppy foreign policy. Disregard that. I hate sloppy/black and white foreign policy...big pet peeve. Laura Bush was in Egypt in late May, heckled and criticized while attending a Women's Rights Conference, like, serious breaches in security occured not presented in US press at conference location. Egypt is a useful mediating buffer. Although it's wizening up, and is resistant in aiding the Gaza pull-out. Elections are this fall for Mubarek. The victor need not do anything where he currently sits. An area, might I add, which was shut down today. All of Tahrir Square where government offices are located. I still don't know why. Big green trucks and armored soldiers. Apparently it happens a lot. But that's Egypt.

Looking back, on a side note, apologies to comments way back when I may have neglected to reply to.