Monday, February 8, 2010

Amr Diab Concert

Last weekend included a couple of memorable events, most prominently one last glance at Egyptian enthusiasm for their African Cup triumph. But first, a little background. One night about a week ago my roommate (Matt) and I, along with a few other friends, were looking for a certain bar in Cairo. Of course, finding any bar in Cairo is a challenge, but this one was particularly tough as it was located on the 10th floor of an unassuming hotel. During this quest we decided to enlist the help of a few local guys, which isn't as good of an idea as it sounds. While Egyptian women tend to be unapproachable, many men are more than eager to help out tourists, even if they don't really know where a place is. This is especially true of younger men, who love to make American friends, perhaps as a sort of status symbol. Anyway, Matt had soon found four young men who assured as that they could lead us where we wanted to go. This initiated about an hour of wandering around downtown Cairo, before we finally stumbled across the right place, more by luck than anything else. However, the time had not been entirely wasted as Matt had become fast friends with one of the Egyptians, a relationship which would later bear good fruit.
As an aside, Egyptian young men are much more European, or at least what I think of as European, than American in their friendships with each other. This becomes apparent whenever you have talked to an Egyptian man for about a minute before he promptly grabs your arm and tucks in inside his, so that suddenly you are walking down the street arm in arm. They are also much more willing to use dramatic language towards male friends; phrases that many guys in the U.S. would be hesitant to tell a new girlfriend for fear of being seen as too needy.
Well, last weekend Ahmed (the Egyptian friend) has expressed a desire to see Matt, and suggested that they go to an official celebration of Egypt's victory in Cairo International Stadium, complete with a concert by the Arab superstar Amr Diab. Tickets were only 10 pounds (about $1.80), and the proceeds went to help flooding victims in Egypt. Matt and Ahmed were kind enough to invite others, and that's how six Americans found themselves in Cairo Stadium with about 50,000 Egyptians. They went absolutely bonkers when the stars of the football team made an appearance, and again when Amr Diab came out. I can't say I enjoyed the performance too much, since I don't particularly like Amr Diab in the best of circumstances, but being immersed in such a completely Egyptian environment was really cool, and couldn't have happened unless Ahmed told us what was going on. Many of the Egyptians who attended came from the suburbs of Cairo, and don't see Americans very often, so we were sort of celebrities. Unfortunately the two girls in our group received a little too much attention, and once again Ahmed provided great assistance in warding off crowds of camera waving boys. The moral of the story: its worth getting to know some local fellows, even if their degree of friendliness is a little strange at first.

1 comment:

  1. "They are also much more willing to use dramatic language towards male friends; phrases that many guys in the U.S. would be hesitant to tell a new girlfriend for fear of being seen as too needy." Hahahaha! There's nothing strange about telling a new broski that he is delicious, sweet, and you want to see him again. Is there?

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