Today was our first real day of being ‘tourists’, so me and the beau headed over to Giza to see the Pyramids! Yipee! He’s a bit of a history buff and so found it all a little overexciting, bless! There’s so much to see, three main pyramids, secondary tombs, temples and a million traders selling a million and one things you would never need! Maybe that’s just my inner Egyptian coming out though. There’s a sort of self built platform a little way away from the pyramids and that’s the place to take the photos. When we were there this little man came up to me and said “ You have photo, I am arab” You have to pay for these things but he was kind if cute!
One of the things that really upsets me in Cairo is the poverty. It’s a great city if you have enough money (and by British standard you don’t need much) but its horrendous if you don’t. If you take the back exit at the pyramids it brings you right out in to the Giza slums. As I waited for the car to come round the block a little girl of about 5 or 6 came and stood by me and didn’t say anything, just motioned for money for food. (It’s a very generic hand gesture in Cairo) It breaks my heart to see little girls begging on the street like that when education out here is free. She will grow up to beg, as her mother has taught her, and can only ever expect to be a beggar. Then as the car pulls away they stand and tap on the windows. It makes me want to take my TEFL and start a school for women. As Caitlin Morain would say, it made me want to stand on a chair and shout ‘ I am a strident feminist!”
That too however is a story for another day! So I will leave you with this little gem.... am the only person who thinks this is a little ironic?!
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