Cairo sucks

[ironduck]

You don't have to be fluent, but I'd be rather annoyed if I was expected to speak someone else's language and they were a visitor in my country.

Why would you be expected to speak someone else's language? There are plenty of people coming here that don't speak the language, nor do I speak theirs. That's completely normal and not a problem.

 

[Masquerouge]

You don't have to be fluent, but I'd be rather annoyed if I was expected to speak someone else's language and they were a visitor in my country.

Yeah. Plus learning the basic arab words is not that hard.

 

[Verbose]

I've been to Cairo.

Amazing place, wonderful to have visited, experiences that made great stories afterwards...

BUT it was a Major Hassle to be there, bartering with cab drivers intent on sticking it to the competition (found myself in some kind of vendetta between cabbies, making the extraordinary allegations about each other), not to mention the engineer working days at the Cairo water agency, and running a seedy tourist shop at night, who wanted to sell me spermaceti whale amber as a he claimed to have misgivings about my sexual potency (god knows where he came up with that line: "You put one drop in your tea, and... Fffft![demonstrativ arm movement] It stands for one! Two! Three hours!"), and then wanted to discuss sexual practices in detail ("I have two wives, and you know, having two women at the same time, that is very difficult...")!

Yes, I had a great time, but I wasn't sure if I was going to live when I sat at the nifty café overlooking the Fayyum lake absolutely puking my guts out, in one huge orange fountain, as I had been drinking some local orange soda.

Then again what can one expect in one of the real megolopoli of the world that doesn't quite conform to western standards, inhabited by a people that has in fact no real feelings of inferiority towards westerners. Adopt and adapt or they will take the piss out of you.

 

[Trajan12]

Why would you be expected to speak someone else's language? There are plenty of people coming here that don't speak the language, nor do I speak theirs. That's completely normal and not a problem.

People should be annoyed if people go to their country as tourists and then expect them to speak their language. If an American tourist goes to France he's expected to have some way to communicate what he needs. And if he goes on asking everyone do they speak English he has no right to be angry at anyone if they don't.

 

[ironduck]

People should be annoyed if people go to their country as tourists and then expect them to speak their language. If an American tourist goes to France he's expected to have some way to communicate what he needs. And if he goes on asking everyone do they speak English he has no right to be angry at anyone if they don't.

Of course, like I said no one should be expected to speak a language when visiting. It's a nice bonus, but one can get by just fine without in most situations.

Anyway, it's Red Stranger, it's not real

 

[REDY]

..and running a seedy tourist shop at night, who wanted to sell me spermaceti whale amber as a he claimed to have misgivings about my sexual potency (god knows where he came up with that line: "You put one drop in your tea, and... Fffft![demonstrativ arm movement] It stands for one! Two! Three hours!"), and then wanted to discuss sexual practices in detail ("I have two wives, and you know, having two women at the same time, that is very difficult...")!

OMG (10 characters)

 

[Eran of Arcadia]

It is impossible for some people (like journalists) to learn the language of every country they go to. Nonetheless, it is their fault if they can't communicate.

 

[ironduck]

Yeah, the distinction is between expecting anything, and simply just doing what you can..

 

[Eran of Arcadia]

I mean, all the French I know is just enough to tell someone I don't speak French and ask them if they speak English or Spanish. I would probably learn more for my own sake if I ever planned to go to France, but at any rate I wouldn't be able to blame anyone for not speaking English if I didn't.

 

[Left]

I don't expect people to learn a lot of native language of the country they visit, but learning a few words and phrases, things like "Hello" or "Thank You" is just courteous.

 

[Trajan12]

Right, you should at least know how to say "I don't speak___, do you speak____? Or "could you tell me where the nearest ______Consulate/Embassy is? "I need help!" Basic things, that it'd only take anyone about five or ten minutes to memorize. You could do that on the flight or ride.

 

[Eran of Arcadia]

But that wouldn't have helped RS at any rate, as he still would have been dependent on English speakers - it would have just been easier to find them.

 

[Trajan12]

Wait so how long did he stay there? It doesn't make sense to go somewhere as a tourist and depend on the grace of God to bring you someone who speaks English in every situation you could be in.

 

[Eran of Arcadia]

Well, it is not any better just to avoid everywhere in the world where most people don't speak English . . .

 

[Trajan12]

Then you are gonna be screwed if you're somewhere and you can't speak a single complete thought in the language. So you'd go at your own risk, I myself would rather learn as much as I could or bring a translator, or just not go at all.

 

[Eran of Arcadia]

I would just be willing to take the risk. Either way, English speakers are a bonus, not a right.

 

[Verbose]

OMG (10 characters)

Yes, that was my silent, inward reaction at the time as well.

But his guy was a barrel of laughs, and I was most polite and accomodating with information as I did try to live up to some notion of what it means to be A Man Of The World.

This kind of stuff wasn't entirely rare during my visit, and can be attributed to me plopping down in Cairo in the company of two young Swedish blondes which serioulsy threw a lot of the Caireenes we met.

 

[Pontiuth Pilate]

They do that in France too (pretending they don't speak English when they do know how).

If you don't show the natives the respect of at least being able to carry on a token conversation in their language, why should they reciprocate?

It's nothing to do with Egypt, it's to do with the fact that Red Stranger can't recognize the fact that he's the oblivious kid of a very rich American and that Egypt does not necessarily cater to that type. Now Dubai on the other hand was practically BUILT for that purpose.

 

[Pontiuth Pilate]

PS: In the "Harvard won't know what hit it" category,

Credit to Taliesin

 

[GinandTonic]

i wonder where commie is?

Interesting question. RS should checkout her posts.