Behind mass media: the real Egyptian daily life

  It was 2 a.m., airport Alexandria. when we got out of the plane, the humid air hit us like we walked into a thick blanket. We knew that the curfew was until sunrise, so would it be possible for us to leave the airport? We were feeling a bit nervous but also curious how the situation would be. The taxi driver that approached us, said “driving you to the city? No problem! Curfew, yes, but you have passports Germany. No problem!” And with 160 km/h he drove us to Alexandria city center. During the trip nothing but emptiness, apart from an isolated settlement here and there and two military posts. No checkups whatsoever. In the city, boys used the quietness on the street for a few games of street soccer. Women in burqa sitting before their houses. It was a picture that can be seen in any other city.

The next few days we had our car business to arrange: go to the shipper, get a customs broker (the sjacheraar type again), get all the administration in place, go to immigration and get Egyption license plates.
Being in the city showed us that the daily lives of the Egyptians mostly go by as before the conflicts. Of course most fighting and violence does not take place in Alexandria, but still there are very little signs that this is a country in conflict. People stroll along the beach, go to work, sit in cafes smoking nargileh, enjoy time with friends. There is petrol available at gas stations. Public transportation, bread and water is available and cheap.

The curfew isn’t that strict as we thought. The first night, as we were having a bite to eat on the street, we rushed home at 6:50 p.m. There were still many people on the street, so the question rose ‘how are these people going to be home on time?!’ We learned that the majority is at home, but there are still some people allowed on the street. The few cars that drive around are allowed on the street, but are being checked at checkpoints. No ghost town situations here.

This in sharp contract to what mass media are telling us in Europe as well as in the Egyptian media. I am not saying that the messages that are told in the European media are biased, but definitely only show a narrow selection of what goes on in this country, a selection with images of violence, terrorism and policital chess playing. The other side, the quiet and safe side, is left out.
Also here in Egypt there is populists media in abundance. The Muslim Brotherhood (MB) are consistently being displayed as terrorists, the military as altruistic protectors of the people. For example Nile TV carries the banner ‘Egypt Fights Terrorists’. They only show the most violent images, but don’t mention source, place or date. It is a constant flow of loaded accusations to the MB party. They indicate people with weapons in red circles on the screen, saying that this these are MB terrorists. The anti-MB sentiments grow stronger, and some men with beards are even shaving it off, even if they are not actively participating in the conflict.

It is heartbreaking to hear stories from people working in the tourist sector around Gizeh, the Red Sea and Luxor. 40% of the families in those regions depend on tourism and have hardly any alternatives. Tourism rates have dropped to about 15% of pre-conflict levels.
We have met several local people from Alexandria and Cairo, who convinced us that it is safe to go to the touristic areas. So we have decided to go to Gizeh after all and see the pyramids with the upside: it is completely empty and we’ll practically be the only visitors there!

In the next blog we’ll share some interesting insights we got from talking to some locals. We are happy and relieved though, to be able to write to you that we are safe & sound here. We won’t take any uninformed decisions to make sure that is stays that way!