Growing Up With Tourists
Ahmed Aboul Enein
Deena Abdelmonem
Noha El Farouk
Nemat Assaad
Hi, we're Ahmed, Noha, Nemat and Deena. We are Egyptian students at the American University and Cairo and we have taken an interest in the tourist activity that goes on in Egypt. We have looked into this matter by reading many articles and from our own observation that occurs in our daily lives.
Egyptians tend to have mixed feelings about the institutions running their country, but most can acknowledge that tourism is a major factor that helps shape the appeal Egypt has to the rest of the world. Tourists have become a prominent staple in Egypt’s many scopes, and Egyptians do the best they can to keep the tourism industry running.
People from all over the world come to visit Egypt for its timeless treasures and unique, lively culture. Being exposed to tourists your whole life makes you accustomed to it after a while though. However as youngsters, we couldn’t help but feel amazed by the people who marveled over the most basic aspects of our daily lives. Yes donkey carts may seem out of place in other countries but we as Egyptians cannot imagine walking down the street without seeing them. Other than astonishment, there was a general feeling of pride. All of these people paid a lot of money and flocked from different, far places all over the world in order to come and see our land and its wonderful sights.
We find it amusing that they come to our country and fascinate over how we go about our daily lives as Egyptians. However, as we grow older, this confusion mixed with pride slowly changes into acceptance. We also began to understand the importance of Egypt’s tourism industry and how crucial it is to our country’s economy and international acclaim. After seeing those tourists for almost every day of our lives we accept the fact that they too are part of our daily lives. We even stop noticing them as much, they are as part of Egypt as the pyramids themselves.
Comments
Hi AUC Rhetoric Students: Our class is very excited to be blogging with you! It's interesting to me that you are so used to seeing tourists as part of your daily lives, but yet of course tourists are not a part of your private lives--you see them everywhere, but do not share your lives with them in the way that you do with your friends, etc.
Posted by: Julia Bleakney | March 3, 2009 09:40 AM
Hi,
My name is Kiah and I'm a student here at Stanford. You seem to have mostly positive or neutral feelings towards tourists in Egypt. Do you ever feel annoyed or overwhelmed by the mass amount of foreigners who cannot all be sweet or necessarily as accepting of you as you are of them? You mentioned that tourists are as much a part of Egypt as the pyramids, but what if you could have Egypt without them (the tourists, not the pyramids obviously :) )? Would that appeal to you or do you really not mind having so many tourists?
Posted by: Kiah Thorn | March 3, 2009 09:43 AM
Hey Guys,
Great to hear from you. My name is Paul and I'm a student at Stanford. I share some of the same exact feelings that you all do as well. I am of Native Hawaiian descent and I grew up in Hawai'i, so tourism is very prominent in my life as well. Tourism has sort of become a joke to many of us, in some ways equating ignorance of culture and ideas with being a tourist. Barely any of us actually spend time in Waikiki, the tourism capitol of the Islands, and if we do, its because we're "playing tourist" as we like to call it, pampering ourselves for a small portion of time. It is conflicting to us, however, because of the commercialization of our culture and how these perspectives are the only ones tourists ever get. I've been asked many times if I live in a grass shack, paddle a canoe to school, or surf and dance the hula -- all perpetuated images of a stagnant culture, when in actuality our culture is ever-changing.
I do hope to visit Egypt one day - but I also hope I won't be as "touristy" as some others. Maybe thats not possible, but it'd be great if that could happen.
Posted by: Paul I. | March 3, 2009 11:37 AM
I'd have to agree with Kiah, you guys do seem to be pretty neutral on the idea of having tourists now just be a normal part of your lives. Do you think it's relatively easy to spot a tourist? Is it the way they dress or act?
Posted by: Stephanie Byrne | March 5, 2009 12:17 PM
Hey,
As I read your post, I couldn't help but laugh because I feel the same way living in New York. When you go down to the city-especially Times Square- you see people standing in awe and taking pictures, but I've been there a million times. On my way to work or school, at least once a week, someone asks me how to get somewhere on the subway.
I never think about it much anymore, because it is natural. I also understand what you said about pride, because this is my city and people come from far and wide, and I live here.
Posted by: marlen Tello | October 30, 2009 09:29 PM