Social Culture & Political Egypt By: Kerollos Kamel

The Streets People drive recklessly in Egypt, no concept of lanes or rite of way. Very crowded/narrow/long streets lined with many old buildings and street vendors/shops. The most common shops are juice shops and sandwich joints. Public transportation is how most people travel from place to place. The buses are old, broken down, has no a/c, and people just yell at the driver to get on or off. Almost every other car is a taxi, bus, or truck.

Muslims/Islam Most people are passionate Muslims. Most women cover hair and some wear galabayas. Some men wear turbans and/or galabayas or pants, rarely do you find other than that. Muslims pray 5 times a day. People would fast during the day and prepare for a feast at night for a month. They can’t eat pork products. This the equivalent of Christmas, Hannakah, Kwanza, etc.

Food If you want to hang out with your friends, you would go hang out in Egyptian versions of coffee shops and talk about politics while smoking hookah. Kids are allowed, but most don’t. Most meals are served with either rice, tahini, hummus, pita bread, and/or salad. If you go to another’s place for a meal, you would usually bring a small gift, like a box of sweets. To go for groceries, most people would go right under their place on the streets and shop along the stores under their house, usually by walking.

Other Interesting Facts Egypt houses the pyramids. Egyptians are very passionate about what they do, think, and believe in. Egyptians believe that they are always right or that their opinion is always the right way of thinking. They don’t like to be proven wrong. With almost every helpful service, there is a tip, like a waitor or room service.

Government “Democracy” (rigged). Vote for him or else…. Political parties include the government and Islamic Brotherhood/Islamic terrorists. Abdel Fattah el-Sisi is the current president. Previous rulers/presidents/dictators include Muhammad Morsi and Hosni Mubarak. Egypt went through 3 rulers in less than three years.

Ancient Egypt Egypt was unified and became Egypt by king Menes in 3500 BC.