¡Salud y Saludos!

I often write about my struggles on ‘fitting in.’ As I’ve commented in the past, my ethnic heritage, nationality, and appearance sometimes seem to clash to the skeptical eye ... rather than mesh into one cohesive self. I say this because of my past experiences of traveling abroad—when all possible adjectives have been used to describe who I am. Take a trip I once took to Russia where, to the armed guards at the airport, I looked Chechen; but they could tell my name was Middle-Eastern; I had mentioned I was Hispanic when they took me away from the large crowds for the subsequent lengthy interrogation; but yet knew I was a U.S. passport-holding American. They were a bit confused by all this, to say the least!

Now move forward to just a couple of months ago. I took a trip where, for the first time since I can remember, I felt like I really fit in somewhere (in some ways). I wasn’t constantly stopped by police; I wasn’t made to feel like I was unwelcomed to a business; I didn’t feel like I was being scrutinized.

“Welcome to Egypt,” I kept hearing over and over as I exited Cairo’s airport and entered the chaos of this city of more than 15-million residents. Hard to believe this metropolis’ population is nearly double that of North Carolina’s. And it shows in the madness. I’ve never seen such crazy driving and filth in a city before. But in talking to some visitors and students living in this mayhem, they say it’s easy to get used to—even offering a certain charm. I suppose the same can be said about New York. I, however, prefer the charm that the more subdued Raleigh and its surroundings offer me.

But one thing that North Carolina and its capital hasn’t always offered is a feeling of acceptance (now, I should point out that incidents leading me to make this statement are, luckily, few and very far between). But it’s funny how when I returned from Egypt, the first thing I commented on was just how friendly and welcoming everyone was—even after they learned I was American by birth. The Arab culture in general is a very hospitable one. You don’t go anywhere without being invited for tea. The cab driver who initially turned his back on me when I offered to pay a very very low fare (as compared to what I assume he’s used to getting from Americans) ended up inviting me to tea in the course of our travels. Egyptians regularly walked up to me speaking Arabic. I only wish I could have responded back. My appearance certainly opened doors for me. My spoken communication, however, closed many of those doors. You could see their surprise, at times, as they looked at me puzzled after approaching and addressing me in Egyptian...forcing me to reply, “Sorry, I don’t speak any Arabic.”

While English is quite limited in the masses of the uneducated—and sadly, there are many ... particularly in the more rural areas—I tried to get by as best I could. Overall, while it was a remarkable and eye-opening experience on cultural differences, I still came away feeling like it was far too ‘foreign’ of a land for me. The differences are great. At every turn—once it was clear I was a tourist—I had to constantly be on guard from exorbitant prices that were quoted left and right for any item on sale. And while the outward appearances reflected a truly welcoming attitude, I can’t help but question whether their outward appearances match their deeper feelings about me and my background/nationality/etc. Whether there was any degree of hypocrisy or not remains unclear. But at this point, perhaps that’s a moot point.

Oh, and in case you were wondering why I decided to pay a visit to the Land of Pharaohs ... it just happened to be the destination I could get the ‘biggest-bang-for-my-mile’ in terms of using up a stash of frequent flyer points.

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Last Modified: January 30, 2006