There are two advantages to being an Egyptian woman, as opposed to an Egyptian man:
- No compulsory military service. I can think of nothing that I would not do to avoid that, short of self-mutilation. I’ve heard some good tales regarding avoiding conscription from the men of my acquaintance: alleging homosexuality; purchasing African passports; sham-marrying a non-Arab; and self-exile from Egypt until the age of thirty. I’m really glad I don’t have to do any of that.
- The ability to wear skirts. I try, as much as possible, to wear skirts full-time throughout the summer (from May to October), and so do my female friends. It’s effing hot and I appreciate the extra ventilation (although not the increased area of skin available to collect pollution and to stick to filthy seats). In fact, I’m fairly smug about it. It’s not often that there are advantages to womanhood here. Mystic Mo pointed out, however, that men can wear the galabeya if they wish to ventilate. But that’s NOT the same, because there are many places a man cannot go, or will not be treated with respect at, in a galabeya. Moreover, a lot of them are totally see-through and if you have to wear something underneath then it confers no aeration. So, yeah. Whoo-hoo. Now, if someone can direct me to where one can purchase more skirts of Egypt-appropriate length, I’d be grateful.
E and I are going to Italy next month. It ought to be interesting, is all. Our personalities are probably not set up for travel companionship. We agreed about our trip aims beforehand:
- Food. Copious food.
- Culture and history.
We’ve discarded: hooking up with hot Italian men (I am turned off by European accents and she has a boyfriend); beaches (a person who grew up on Egyptian beaches cannot be expected to adjust to the indifferent weather and rocky shores that an Italian beach offers, apparently); and shopping. Well, I’ll try and fit some shopping in but I’ve kind of lost interest in keeping up with trends, due to lack of affordability and disapproval of current fashions (those empire-waisted/tunic things are unflattering to most), and she lives in Dubai, and so is set for consumerism. Some other ground rules have been established: I get plenty of breaks from walking, and she needs to do something about her teeth at night.
Nothing much else is new. I can’t believe anyone’s even hanging around for this much.
forsoothsayer
Unnecessary and not very diverting musings 
ramy
June 25, 2008
may sound bizarre but i was pleasantly tickled by the following “at” in your sentence ” … there are many places a man cannot go, or will not be treated with respect at, in a galabeya.” something about that “at”. or maybe it’s just me.my cousin, poor bastard, dislocated his shoulder deliberately on the day of his military medical examination which is apparently grounds for exemption. he had a cocktail of vodka, benzo’s and some painkillers. not sure he was better off though. just wondering, are you a hoarder?ps i did read all the way to the end and you’re on my feed. which is kinda of a geeky compliment!
Forsoothsayer
June 25, 2008
i thought long and hard about that “at”. still not sure is right. people, weigh in. a hoarder of what?
ramy
June 25, 2008
i don’t mind much if it is grammatically correct. that little “at” says more about you to me than much of the entry. it feels deliberately, carefully … what’s the word … gingerly, tenderly, thoughtfully … placed. you could have just restructured the sentence and skirted around it. but it’s interesting how language conjures up these little oddities: “… at, in …” you _cared_ for this little preposition! you stuck with it.i don’t think it is correct though but i’m not an expert on the matter at (in?) hand :-Phoarder. of memories, of encounters, of objects. food. and also, do you like fire? just random questions you don’t have to answer.
Forsoothsayer
June 26, 2008
thanks for your careful consideration of my oddities! no, i don’t hoard much. i do love fire tho.
ascendotuum
June 26, 2008
I would have written an ‘at’ there, no question.Then again, I can’t argue for its right to exist at that place in the sentence based on sound grammatical rules. It just feels like it can belong there.
Safiya Outlines
June 27, 2008
I am leaving the ‘at’ alone and unmolested.However, I know an Egyptian who did their miltary service, got bored after about a month and so approached their company commander and said that they’d give their offspring free maths tuition in return for being allowed to stay at home. Deal.However the Egyptian army sounds a bit soft compared to the British one. I heard how on night duty, the Egyptian conscripts would sit down with a blanket and not get into trouble, if you do that in the U.K, you get sent to Army jail for a few weeks.I know someone from another Arab country who is facing the prospect of having to eventually pay a wodge of cash to avoid their service and they are not at all happy about it.P.S hope you have a nice time in Italy.
Anonymous
June 27, 2008
To all Egyptians on the blogsphere:Please never discuss anything related to the Egyptian army with foreigners. Major General Saad Al-Din Al-Shazly the chief of staff of the war of honour in 1973; the humilator of Israel and its dog Ariel Sharon said on his website that no Arab country is immune against what happened to Iraq at the hands of Americans and Iranians to secure the bastard illegitimate terrorist zionist entity aka Israel.
Nizo
June 28, 2008
شو إيطاليا هاي، ما بشتريها بقشرة بصلة.. أنزليلك شي نزله على لبنان.. روحي شوفي زحلة بلد الرجال ، كل واحد أحلى من الثاني..بس خذي محارم معك مشان لما تشط ريالتك..
Forsoothsayer
June 29, 2008
anon: seriously??nizo: i will go to lebanon soon…but i’m not going to italy for the reggala 🙂
F
July 5, 2008
I am pro-skirts, yes they are sexy and they make a difference in our world :)As for being turned off by European accent, well I disagree, the Italian accent is good for you, I wish I had one, I actually faked it once with a girl hehe…Italian beaches, well I understand being from Egypt also but there is an advantage to italian beaches that you might not understand 🙂
Anonymous
July 6, 2008
The mandatory military service in Egypt is not that bad, and although I would acknowledge that some indeed would go to great lengths to avoid it, anyone who does that is merely a wimp (to put it very politely). At least in my book they are.
Mo-ha-med
July 6, 2008
Not sure I’d have kept the “at” – by the same token, should you not have added “to” in many places a man cannot go TO? Oh well. No language expert I am. In any event, I find Ramy’s attempts at e-flirting very endearing.:)Re: military service: I tried to get out of it at the time, spoke to everyone I could – and still didn’t manage to get out of it..Until the army decided that everyone born on my year was deemed too young to serve (being 2 years younger on average than the rest of the crop).I find it unfair that only males with a male sibling be conscripted anyway. I think everyone should be drafted – and preferably for civil service rather than military: be sent to the South to teach illiterate adults or something. That would be so much more useful..Have fun in Italy!! Whereabouts will you be?