Foreign types with the hookah pipes say - Walk Like an Egyptian

my taxi driver this morning was entertaining. i flag him down and lean in the windown - "gama'at amrikia?" he nods his head and i jump in as the car behind us gets bored with waiting and leans on their horn. "shukran" i tell the taxi driver - i am always polite. he nods his head and turns his music up. and starts singing along. loudly. this only lasts for a few minutes though before he turns the music back down and starts singing his own, special little song. "bonjour papa bonjour mama!" he yells. then later "jackie chan!" this is, mind you, what i caught. totally didnt understand most of it. he is also steering the car with his knee most of the time as he gestures wildly at the other cars and motions to imaginary figures in the seat next to him.

i tell you this not because this is very unusual - while this taxi driver might have come across as a bit less mentally competant than your average egyptian, he is by no means unique among taxi drivers. ive had taxi drivers drive me to the wrong side of the city, on purpose. theyve insulted me and asked me to marry them, marry their sons. one tried to discuss pre-marital sex in america with me, and then ended the conversation with a proposition. theyve run into things and ppl and down the wrong side of the road, usually at speeds i try not to think about. but this is egypt - no one is totally sane here. i recently met a friend of a friend who was visiting egypt for a conference i (sort of) attended and she made an observation that i think will communicate the general feel of cairo fairly well. being in egypt is very much like being the only sober person at a party where every single person is on LSD. and totally hammered. if you stay at the party long enough, and partake in the entertainment, the party will begin to make more sense to you. but there's no way youll ever catch up to them - theyve had waay too much of a head start.