Cairo's Communities

Cairo is filled with people. With a constantly rising influx of people from rural areas, the significant birth rate that has government hospitals stretched to the limits as well as the relatively young population, Cairo is literally brimming with life. However, Cairo is home not only to native Egyptians, but small communities of foreigners have also established themselves in different parts of Cairo. I'm not talking about the western expats that have set a foothold in the affluent areas of Cairo manning skyward positions in the petroleum industry or the small and dwindling Greek community which have had a noticeable impact on how Cairo has evolved through times. I'm talking about the relatively young communities.

One of these communities for example is the Chinese door-to-door traders that have set up shop in Nasr City. Usually in couples, it would not be strange to see them move from building to building marketing their wares to housewives in the evening, or even to coffee shop patrons on the sidewalks of the Sixth District. Some have even managed to set up stalls in small markets, such as those found in sporting clubs. The Indonesian and Malaysian community have also taken up Nasr City as their home, ranging from students studying in Al-Azhar University to full-fledged families running small restaurants catering to their community's social and nutritional needs. The Sudanese community in Kilo Arba' We Nos are also another example, but with a far sadder story, having come here to escape persecution in Sudan only to find an unwelcoming environment in the poorest districts of Cairo. Wherever you look, you are bound to find people from different parts of the world living in Cairo, some managing well, others not so much so.

Maadi is notorious for its western expat community, with Americans, and Europeans littering the narrow streets, shops and restaurants of this old district. This has also managed to step up security in the area, but I am not sure whether the methods they employ is really that effective or not. With barricades forcing one to take turns they really didn't want to take, or menacing looks from officers if you fit a certain profile, it has certainly made Maadi a not-so-comfortable area to be in if you're not from around there, or at least familiar with it. However, one of the reasons I frequent Maadi a lot, is because of the wonderful dining that could be obtained there, and the different communities they represent. One of my favorite places to dine is Seoul BBQ on Street 263. With simple decor, this family-run restaurant could give you a small window to peek through at the Korean community in Maadi. With mainly Korean patrons frequenting the place, it is quite a sight. With their children running around the place, along with noisy chatter and laughter filling the restaurant, you'd be in for quite an experience, especially when the food arrives. A charcoal grill in the middle of the table is where the meat is grilled; thus allowing you to enjoy the aroma before you even set your chopsticks into it.

A large range of well-seasoned side dishes (banchan)  are always served with the meal at Seoul BBQ (shown here), often with a few surprises if you are not already familiar with Korean cuisine.

Cairo has never really had a native community per se. Situated at the crossroads of the Old World, it has been home to numerous communities, all throughout history. From the Greeks during the Ptolemaic dynasty to the Arabs of the Fatimid Caliphate, as well as the numerous occupations of more recent history such as that of the French and British; all of which have shaped Cairo and it's communities though the ages. Cairo's communities today are not necessarily as a result of its history; but rather a result of its nature.

I'll take one wedding, an apartment and two rings to go, please.

Six o'clock on a Tuesday morning, I rushed to the bathroom to perform my daily morning ritual of preparing for work hoping to break my usual bedsheets to car seat record (which I usually fail miserably at). Halfway through my toothbrush/shower scrub combo, I realized it was my day off from work. Returning to my bedroom half-groomed, I decided I should accompany one of my friends to work, and perhaps learn a thing or two from him.

As a freelance interior designer, he doesn't really have office working hours or grumpy bosses to deal with, so I called him up, and he agreed to pick me up on his way. We weaved through the narrow and notorious Cairo streets, stopping at outlets providing everything from floor tiles to bathroom fixtures. Although the products were well known brands, everything seemed a lot cheaper than I expected. This was especially evident at the tile market in Al-Muhajereen, a run down block situated in the bowels of Ain Shams. The shops were a lot more beat-up though than their pricey counterparts.

 A newly-wed couple hold hands at a post-traditional wedding in Cairo.

Most of my friend's customers seemed to fit the profile of the aspiring young graduate, trying to spend as little as possible of his parent's hard-earned money in renovating and furnishing the apartment his parents also bought a while back. All of this was, of course, to satisfy the conditions and terms his future in-laws have placed in order for him to marry their prized daughter.

It is already well known that in Egypt's middle class and upper middle-class that an apartment is the key to winning a girl's hand in marriage. This obviously doesn't make things easy, considering Cairo's horrendously expensive real estate prices which rarely ever seem to drop, even as the rest of world's real estate markets plunge around it. Apartment prices range between 100,000 Egyptian pounds in places like El-Marg, up to millions of pounds in more affluent districts such as Maadi. This makes the average price of an apartment in Cairo much more expensive than the current average price of one in Dubai!

Custom ceiling and lighting designs being implemented by workers in an apartment in El-Tagamo' Al-Khames, on the outskirts of Cairo.

I drifted back out of my daydream as my friend switched off the car's air-conditioning and turned off the car's engine. The blazing heat of the summer sun hit me hard as we stepped out onto a Nasr City pavement in front of a fairly new apartment building. He told me that we would go in to observe how the work was going on in an apartment he was preparing for a young man who previously insisted that it shouldn't cost more than 50,000 pounds to have the apartment ready. We stepped into the apartment which was fairly average in size, with two bedrooms,  a living room, a kitchen and a bathroom. The floor was covered in rubble, sand, and piles of wet cement. It looked like something out of a post-apocalyptic thriller, with men in torn and dusty clothes scattering about doing various jobs. I asked how much has been spent so far , and he told me 'believe it or not, 20,000 pounds'.

My eyes were wide as he explained how much the electricity cables and sockets, plumbing and general building materials cost along with the wages paid to the workers. I thought all that stuff came with the apartment in the first place. He told me I was old-fashioned, because that's not how it is anymore.

 A panoramic shot of the 7th District at the south end of Nasr City.

Returning home just before sunset, I looked back at the day and wondered whether there could possibly be a compromise between tradition and basic practicality. Considering how some newly-married men and women end up living with their in-laws (siblings and grandparents possibly included), I concluded that often with the measure of compromise, there is a measure of sacrifice.