After five years of taking one hour to reach work, after getting back ache, occasional cramps from the permanent stops driving in the unbelievably crowded Egyptian streets.
Fighting with all the garages in the area of garden city, paying more than a government employee monthly salary just to park my car, besides having my car driven by anyone in the street to find a parking, getting parking tickets, and paying minimum 10 LE daily on parking.
I took the bold decision, not to take my car to work again. I discovered that whenever I am away from Cairo not driving my back gets better, my mood is much better. I am not as stressed out as always I am not so aggressive; I am more tolerant to everything and everyone.
I decided to go back to using the glories Egyptian transportations. At the beginning it was scary for me. I have been driving since I was eighteen this means almost ten years now.
The last time I took the metro I was 17 years old. I was afraid to let go of my car with my music and my center lock, keeping all the beggars and the bad sense of music away from me, in addition to keeping the famous Egyptian streets harassments away.
But a decision was made, in the beginning I decided that I will treat myself as a lady. That’s what I deserve of course. I deserve to have my own private driver. I deserve to take a taxi.
The question is which taxi? White? Black? Yellow?
White taxi with a fixed meter which is nice but expensive.
Black with no meter, but with a big chance of having a fight and being called names if the driver was not satisfied with the faire, which is normally the case in general and with female passengers in particular.
Yellow is the one that you call to arrange to pick you up and usually you will be put on the waiting list.
So I made my mind, I am taking the white taxi. It was ok for a while but then I realized that I am still stressed. I still get to work after an hour. I usually hate the way the driver drives and would rather be in charge. I hate the bad music and being forced to listen to Quran when I just want to read the newspaper.
Another bold decision was taken; I will take a taxi to the metro station then continue by metro.
I tried it for a while it was ok but still I paid 5 LE for couple of meters I was not the lady but I was not paying too much, still I felt that I can do better than that.
Gradually I decided to walk to the Giza metro station.
Now I get dressed according to the Egyptian street codes nothing too tights nothing too open. Wearing long sleeves and the whole conservative package you name it wide pans and the whole nine yards.
Nevertheless our beloved new generations, highschool kids who I am older than by minimum 15 years can not get enough from their creative comments and words to me.
As any Egyptian female I act as if they are speaking in Chinese so I do not have 1200 fights before I go to work which will defy the initial purpose of abandoning my nice air-conditioned car.
By time, I discovered by time my new and worst enemy which was not the harassment in the street which became like my own personal pet. Sometimes I would think if there have been new harassment terminologies or its same old same old word “batal” which mean “champion” or “Asad” which means “lion” this one I particularly like because lio is my sign. Or the religious ones like “How dare you walk in the street wearing that”
Going back to my real enemy which is not time that’s the eternal enemy.I am speaking about the ancient holy habit of spiting in the street. That’s my real nightmare. I feel that I am in horror movie and that I am going to walk into the slim of Egyptian spit,it is following e wherever I go, on the pavement under the pavement.
OH No, I can hear one of them making that horrible sound getting ready to spit. I want to do anything not to hear it. I want to vomit , how disgusting and irritating.
Nooooooo,I can not take it, I want people to stop spitting in the street but I do not know how to stop them? I do not know what to do?
Start a campaign against spiting on facebook? Advocate for putting spiting on the Human Rights Watch agenda as one of Human Rights violations? Assassinating anyone who spits in the street?
If you know the answer please write me, e-mail me, send me an sms , call me.
To be continued…………………………
Egyptian Citizen
