An American Werewolf in Cairo

OK, so I'm neither a werewolf, nor an American (despite the fact I've spent the past five years or so living in the US of A) but I am in Cairo!
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The long version:

The offspring of an Egyptian who grew up in Egypt, I am officially half Egyptian (my Canadian mother and Canadian-like experiences will make for another blog entry when I'm back in Canada). So what is like for a half-Egyptian guy to be back in the "homeland"? Well, as much as I'm proud of my Egyptian heritage (as I am also proud of my Canadian heritage), I've come to realize that I am not Egyptian. That's right, I AM NOT EGYPTIAN! Genetically I most definitely am half-Egyptian, but culturally, I don't completely fit in here.

As I've learned from Jon Arensen and his anthropological disciples from Houghton, culture comes from the influences surrounding you. It is the way you view life. The color of tint in the glasses you view life with... if you will. I grew up in a Canadian culture (followed by American as mentioned above). While I've heard Arabic being spoken, eaten vine rolls with Christmas dinner and had hieroglyphics hanging up on the walls at home, that doesn't constitute Egyptian culture.

While I've only been in Egypt for a month now, I'm coming to find that there are many cultural differences between life here and the life that I've known. First and most obvious is that I can't speak Arabic! While my face and darker hair make me look some what Egyptian, my dress basically sets me off as a foreigner.

In terms of cultural behavior, Egyptians can be very intense people. Tempers can be raised and fights will break out over whether or not you'll have a second serving of lunch. This is all understood by members of the same culture so there are no hurt feelings. In Egypt, men will sit while the women serve them. People tend to move at a whirlwind pace... though things are typically less busy than North American culture. The oppressive leadership (Nasser, 1954-1970) and lackadaisical leadership (Sadat, 1970 - 1981) have seemingly promoted the appearance of fear from the older generation and disinterest from the following generation. I'm not going to say anything about present leadership so I don't end up in prison (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6385849.stm)!!

There are many things I can connect with in Egypt, however. The people are friendly and easy to talk with... even when you can't speak their language! I have really enjoyed being here and I am eager to learn more about life here and how I may or may not fit in.

Note to Egyptian family: Please correct me if I'm wrong here.
Note to all: Please forgive the sweeping generalizations... this doesn't define all people, it just identifies some trends I've found, read or had identified for me!
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The Short Version:

It's great to connect with a culture that I share a heritage with. It is however, not specifically my own culture. I'm a hybrid of many cultures and am realizing I am more a foreigner than a member of the Egyptian culture despite my genetic connection.
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