A Tribute to Egyptians

July 4, 2006

Egypt is not an easy place to live. Making a living is not easy. It is hot. The system seems to be against you. It does not take too many conversations with cabbies and others to get a sense of the way people are often living—and raising a family!—on a shoestring. But despite the difficulties and mind-boggling bureaucratic hassles, Egyptians go about their business with a smile.. rarely losing their tempers with each other and willing to lend a helping hand.

As an example of being willing to lend a helping hand, I can instance an event I witnessed a few days ago as I was getting off the metro. The doors for the metro were about to close, but a young man was running to get on board. He slipped through the narrowing doors, but his duffel bag did not make it. So the train started to leave with his wrist stuck in the door.. and his hand still grasping the bag—outside the train. I turned to see what would happen, but noted that a group of men inside the metro immediately came to his aid and helped open the doors so that he could get his bag inside. Which is just to say: it is a bewildering system, but people are willing to help each other out..

Today I was down at Midan Ramsses.. where the Cairo train station is located.. and I thought I would take some pictures. Although it is not as crowded as I remember it a few years back (it no longer serves as a station for services), it still is a humming center of humanity, with street vendors, taxis, and people making metro connections:

And in the midst of all this bustle has always (at least for decades) stood a monumental statue of a Ramsses. That statue, however, is now being requisitioned for the new Grand Egyptian Museum to be opened someday out in Giza. Today workmen were climbing around the statue, doing whatever you must do to prepare for to move such a thing. There are only so many small comforts afforded to the average person in Egypt.. so many glimpses of something historic and beautiful.. and it seems a shame when one of those must be taken away..