what I would rather remember

I don't think there has been a single time we have gone out for our morning walk where we don't have some sort of experience that makes me feel good about living here. Today, it was walking back towards the side street with the blue door and the man in the shop across from it started talking to us in English. "You've been here before haven't you? Yes we remember. California!" [They got California from the back of one of [url=http://blipfoto.com/scorpionkiss]SK[/url]'s t-shirts.] Today, it was our friend outside the mosque/madrasa who, despite it being Ramadan kept insisting that we have tea or 7-up, and we kept insisting that it wasn't necessary.

These little experiences make me feel good about living in this country and, as an Egyptian, I am proud to say that.

That's not to say that we don't have negative experiences. Of course we do. Just like we had negative experiences when we were in Frankfurt and were treated unbelievably rudely by one woman because we didn't speak the language. Just like we were treated rudely in London when we had the gall to ask one man for directions. And don't get me started on what it was like visiting New York. It happens everywhere in the world. It has nothing to do with nationality, country, or city. It has to do with human nature.

I am perfectly aware of the negative side of Cairo. I'm perfectly aware of the pollution. My asthma attacks will attest to that. I'm perfectly aware of the idiots who throw tissues, cans, and whatever else is littering their car out onto the street. I'm aware of taxi drivers who have ripped me off. I'm aware of the red tape that I have to go through to renew my passport, my driver's license, SK's residence visa. I'm aware of what a nightmare it is to drive through this city and sometimes I find myself imagining what it would be like to ram right into the jackass who swerved in front of me repeatedly, and I nearly slammed into the bus next to me because of him. I could go on and on about all the horrible things about living in Egypt.

But I choose not to.

Because I live here. It is my choice to live here. And I'm not going to bitch and moan about a choice that I have made for myself. I'm not going to, day in, day out, complain about the petty things that can get to a person living in one of the most disorganized, chaotic, dirty cities in the world. You don't want to hear it. Hell, I don't want to hear it.

So I look for the good. And that's what I choose to write down, because that is what I would rather look for.

That is what I would rather remember...