Our Last Trip to EgyptSeveral years' ago my husband, myself and our three sons were in Israel.
My husband and sons decided they wished to see where there mum had
lived as a youngster. I had been warned by other ex Alexandrians and
Cairenes of what I would find, so I was not too excited about returning
there. My family insisted, so we flew to Cairo. Cairo airport was MY
first culture shock!! The drive to Cairo MY second.. and so on!!
As for my husband and sons, although they were all seasoned
travelers, as we had traveled so much with them all over the world,
their reaction was that of total disbelief and consternation.
Nothing that I had described was even remotely like what they were
seeing. They were aghast by the pall of pollution blanketing the city.
The deafening noise of the traffic which was heard even in the rooms
on the uppermost floors of both the Hilton Hotels (with the windows shut
tightly), and the misery of the people milling around in the streets.
They were horrified when they saw the state of the many apartment
buildings that were either on the verge of collapse or had already
collapsed, balconies precariously hanging on.
Where were the chic boutiques, the elegance, the lovely and breezy
Corniche along the meandering Nile? The whole place was a total bedlam
of collapsing structures and filth...and I felt heartbroken and ashamed!!
My husband and sons were however, fascinated by the pyramids and etc..
as well as their trip to Upper Egypt, but these are tourist attractions,
and in no way represented anything of our own past and daily life.
Yesterday, I tried to speak to my husband, and my sons about Alexandria
and Egypt. It was as if I was inventing a place that had never
existed..,.and no one believed me. I had to give up trying to describe
the sort of lifestyle that existed then.
The only picture my husband and sons were able to mentally visualize
was what they had seen : i.e. a third world, miserably filthy,
hopelessly overpopulated country, with nothing, but absolutely nothing
even remotely like anything that I was describing. My daughters-in-law
were more gracious and generous with their interest... BECAUSE THEY HAD
NEVER BEEN THERE!
As I only have half a dozen photos (that friends and distant relatives
sent me), I was unable to prove to them that what they had seen was
nothing like the Egypt of my youth.
If anyone of the members could give me some advice on how to change this
sad reaction of disbelief, I would truly appreciate it, and I am sure so
will others who like me, have encountered a similar response.
As you can well imagine this is quite disheartening..
I am sure that others will have had the opposite reaction. But this is
what I and others have experienced.
Regards,
Edna posted on our forum http://groups.yahoo.com/group/egyjews/
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