Long live Ameryka!
When haggled into a touristic perfume shop...what does one do?
I entered a mosque near Ta'alat Haarb, which was great...but of course there was the kind gentleman who was explaining the history of the mosque, and that he has a sister in Minnesota (I stopped counting how many times I've heard that) and wants to show me his shop.
Alright. It's a big perfume shop, lots of German tourists already inside (there's another thing, all the taxi drivers think I'm German. "Allemania?!?!" every time I hop in a cab). He excitedly displays photos of his father with Muhammed Ali striking a pugilistic pose. Their validity is, well...Then he shows me "letters from his friends" stored in a binder. These letters are primarily from various banks in the US, seeking to straighten out with this perfume shop some credit card transaction made by one of their clients gone awry. I didn't want to burst his prideful bubble.
And I can't bear the pungent aromas of this shop. He proceeds to flip through a tour book with pictures of his "sisters" picking the flowers used in the perfumes. I tell him I have to go. Go and study. He explains his desire to chat is out of "Bedouin hospitality" but his partner in crime is similarly luring the Germans in box sets of perfume.
I manage to convince him I'll return some day. He then requests I take his picture. The product is above. I notified him of the fact he would be on the internet as of this evening. I don't know he understood.
But I quickly left. Out the door I hear "Long live Ameryka! Ameryka forever!"
How to translate this (figuratively, conversation was in English), I don't know, do you?
And, random question to the HHS people...when's the last real day before exams? Exam schedule?
posted by Sasha @ 21:35
4 Comments:
Monday is the last day of classes. Tuesday is science and english I think. Wednesday is math and history. Thursday is business/make-up. That's all. So close yet so far...
-Eric
Awesome.
Thank you Eric
You've mentioned Germans, what other countries are you seeing lots of tourists from? Any place we wouldn't expect? Also, what are the opinions on Iraq and the US? big question I know, but your initial response would interesting. Dad.
Many, many British tourist. Very few Americans to be honest. Very few Asian tourists as well. The greatest tourist populations from what I've seen appear, again, Brits, Germans, Italians, and then Pakistanis.
Taxi drivers and others are always quick to praise America in what English they know. But how geniuine they are in these statements is up for speculation. The Egyptian public is definitely not oogling over American popstars and fastfood. There is a distancing in that regard...as they have built a self-contained culture often repellent to the West.
Iraq is something of an unbelievable tragedy. People are clearly not thrilled about the current predicament of the nation, but had no particular love for Hussein.
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