Wednesday, February 16, 2011

    To Egypt....

    I've been to Egypt twice. Each time I took notes so I could blog about
    the trips but never got to it. Now I kinda have to do it...
    My last trip to Cairo was just last October. To get there I had to go
    through Rafiq Hariri airport in Beirut. Why should I start there?
    Well, it's because of this idiot who was sitting behind me at airport
    cafeteria. I was sipping an overpriced Almaza when I hear someone
    loudly ordering Foie Gras. I was so tempted to turn around and see
    what the biggest douche on earth looks like, but I opted to leave it
    to my imagination. I didn't want to risk recognizing him and having to
    talk to him over airport cafeteria foie gras. 90 seconds later, douche
    yells at waitress, "What happened to the Foie Gras I ordered?" You
    see, the people at the end of the bar didn't get to hear him the first
    time around. Finally, there are many globally recognized ways of
    asking for the bill. Most of them are silent and involve hand signals
    that look like air signatures. In case of douche, it's a very loud
    "Here's a $100 bill to pay for the Foie Gras I had." I never saw his
    face, but I'm pretty sure he had a goatee.
    During the revolution, Egyptian TV was accused of blatant propaganda.
    It must have been the panic of the regime that led to that because
    back in October the propaganda was a lot more subtle. As you board
    Egypt Air and take a look at the flight map you'll find something
    striking about Libyan-Egyptian border. You can easily see where one
    country ends and the second starts because as we all know Egypt is a
    vast expanse of Green while Libya is where the Sahara starts. I know
    you've seen pictures of sand around the pyramids in Giza, well these
    were taken before Mubarak's agricultural policies were implemented.
    Today, the Sphinx sports a full head of green Hair.
    There was someone sitting in my seat, but before I expressed myself
    there were passengers within a 5 row radius telling the guy that he
    should move over because he's in the wrong seat. This is a bit scary
    because even before they enjoyed freedom of speech, an average
    Egyptian would go through my average daily quota of words before
    breakfast. So I can't fathom what things are like today.
    The traveler's prayer, which apparently is common ritual on Arab
    airlines, is supposed to put your mind at ease; but personally I'd
    rather see the captain blow through a breathalyser. The flight was
    sponsored by Talaat Mustapha, isn't he the corrupt father of that
    convicted killer? Not very reassuring, but I arrived in Egypt. Spent 3
    days. Loved every moment. The End.

    1 comment:

    I Emilie :) said...

    Loved every word... very nice!