Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous

Tonight our group went on an adventure to CityStars, a mall in Cairo. Actually, mall is an understatement - this place is a palace of consumerism. It truly put Mall of America to shame. It's at least 6 stories tall, with 2 movie theaters, an arcade and bowling alley, a roller coaster, and tons upon tons of stores... and they may still be expanding. Not having been to any place this fancy-schmancy and Western in a while, I was truly overwhelmed, and for the first time in a while I had an urge to really shop. Luckily for my wallet, our plan was to see Toy Story 3 and eat dinner, so I really didn't have any time to try on clothes. The theater was gorgeous (like the rest of the mall), but we discovered that one part about it was truly typical of Egyptian disorganization. We bought tickets for our movie, which were more expensive because it was in 3D, and then went to get dinner. When we returned later and entered the theater, we discovered that you had to buy your own 3D glasses at the front, which the theater employee hadn't told us. So we went back (fighting against the hordes of people trying to enter the theater along the way), bought our glasses (which I now have for all future 3D viewing experiences), and re-entered the theater. The movie was hysterical, but at one point the toys are played with by toddlers in a nursery who attack, hit, bit, and otherwise traumatize the toys... all we could think of was our work at Ana al-Misri. I've never felt more empathetic towards an animated piece of plastic.

Another oddity about the mall was that it was filled with these propaganda-ish signs, advertising the "new Egypt" and the "updated exotic" ... aka CityStars. Honestly, I've never felt less like I was in the Middle East than today (except maybe on the 4th of July). My view of Egypt is hot and dusty and crowded and crazy, full of people smoking and cars honking wildly, not this overly pristine smoke-free castle. In addition, the people I've met in Cairo (my students and the kids at Ana al-Misri), were nothing like the people pictured in these ads, who actually looked white. Not to mention that some of the clothes I looked at in a store were priced in Euros. Overall the experience was interesting and fun, but it was a bit of a shock to see things priced by western standards again. As much as I enjoyed tonight, it didn't feel like being in Egypt, and I think I prefer last night's outing - a faluka ride on the Nile with music (ranging from the popular, Amr Diab's hit "Habibi Ya Noor el-Ain," to the classic, "A Whole New World," to the ragingly politically incorrect, "Arab Money"). Much cheaper, much chiller, and much more genuine.