2018:7 - The Dance

Hans' arrival on Thursday of last week has meant less time in writing and reflection and more time out and about, taking in some of the cultural richness of Cairo. Having traveled here before, we've not taken in the Pharaonic monuments, and have opted instead to explore more of the culture of the Common Era. We've spent time exploring Coptic as well as Islamic Cairo.

Bread delivery in progress

Traveling to various sites has meant maneuvering Cairo's infamous traffic guided by Mohammed, a driver we know and trust, as well as Uber. Driving in Cairo is unlike anything I've experienced before. Lane markings are suggestions - a three lane road will regularly have five or more streams of vehicles flowing. Cars, tuk tuks (3-wheeled open-sided, covered passenger vehicles), motorcycles, donkey carts, bicycles, and pedestrians are intermingled everywhere, from neighborhood streets to main roads. It is not an exaggeration to say that one of the highlights of touring around Cairo is that it gives you an opportunity, from the seat of a car, to see how resourceful and efficient Egyptians can be. Just this week, I've witnessed pick-up trucks packed several feet high with fresh eggs being delivered to markets - not one was broken. I've seen a large dog being transported by motorcycle while being firmly held in place by two passengers. I've witnessed multiple delivery boys navigating traffic by bicycle while balancing a four by six-foot pallet of fresh bread on their head, often with both hands steering the bike. All of this is accompanied by a steady flow of car horns.  

As you might guess, "safety first" is not a motto that I've ever heard spoken in Egypt and it's true that much of what I see out my car window makes me cringe with worry. I would not allow anyone I know to do some of the things that pass for legal on the roads of Cairo.

Stock image, when I've seen it, there's often a man on top. 

That said, I've realized something as we made our way through Monday morning rush hour traffic this week. The constant flow of horns around us are rarely an expression of frustration - the way I often hear horns at home. Instead they signal presence and caution to other drivers: Toot! Coming up on your right side. Honk! Merging in from the left. Beep! Beep! Beep! Motorcycle coming up the path between cars.

I've long thought Cairo traffic was simply chaotic. This week I've begun to witness the complex dance that is being choreographed outside my window. To maneuver traffic in Cairo is to make your way through a complex and crowded environment where the safest thing is to maintain flow and movement, but where drivers do that with constant awareness of everyone and everything around them. Traffic in Cairo is an exercise in awareness that we are not the only people in a hurry with places to go and people to see. And what looks like chaos, may actually be a complex exercise where everyone is doing their part to meet their needs, while also caring for the wellbeing of their neighbors surrounding them.

Maybe that's a more poetic analysis than traffic deserves. But there's something about what I see from my passenger seat that looks to me like a beautiful, chaotic, choreographed dance.