well, i kept forgetting to blog for the last couple of weeks...but i'm back now.
i was thinking about something the last few weeks that i love and i hate in cairo. well, hate is a strong word...maybe its better to say something that is both great and not so great. spontaneity.
egyptians love being spontaneous! and egyptians hate commitment. i think the two go together a lot of the time. i have had friends in the past in the states with the same personality, but i never have experienced this in a culture. i think the french people are like this somewhat, but egyptians always take it up to the next level. they love the extremes.
so, i experience this definitely in everyday life here. whether its personal, business, or anything else, it seems that no one really plans in advance and in order to really have fun, they feel it is usually when its a spontaneous event.
there's a great side to this and a not-so-great side to this type of living. the great side is that i feel that i'm rarely bored and there are literally no 2 days the same ever! when i think back to living in the states, i feel that i was so bored. not because people are boring, but just because everything was so routine living there. most days were alike and the ones that were different were the"fun" ones. on top of that, if you realized you didn't have plans for tomorrow or 3 days from now and tried to make plans with friends, they were definitely busy because they had planned that day for a month or more now. super-advanced-planning..that's americans. americans love to fill their calendar at least 2 weeks in advance and i remember it usually being more like a month! with egyptians, if you get in the mood to hang out with someone and you think about it right after work at 5pm, you can call them and they will happily invite you over or go out with you at 7 or 8pm..and really it can be even less hours than that. its quite fun that way!
the not-so-great side to that is that when you are trying to get a bit of planning in with an important event or just want to go ahead and plan your weekend on wednesday instead of waiting so that you can see both family and friends and go to church (be efficient!), then its virtually impossible. everyone will say a tentative yes, but the commitment is not there. and then the importance of confirmations comes in. here in egypt, its normal to confirm about 2-3 times...at least once the night before and then one time that day and usually even call when you are on the way to make sure they aren't changing the time by an hour or two :) i think that's one reason its "bank" to own mobile phone companies here!
honestly, i can't decide what i like better. but i think egypt is "up one" on this one...because i'm rarely bored and end up spending way more time hanging with people and having quality time and conversations with family and friends, rather than just doing many many activities and feeling overwhelmed with a full schedule.
so, when i'm in the states this summer...i think i'll try to keep it spontaneous as much as possible. call me the day you want to hang out ;)
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