Childhood, Growing up in Egypt, and Experience in Egypt

Karen Ibrahim

Intro to the Modern Middle East

Mohammed Ezzeldin

18 December 2016

Childhood and Growing Up in Egypt

Egypt is one of the most influential Arab countries in the Middle East including media, culture, and way of life. From its history to the pyramids and the pharaohs, leading onto its history from being part of the Ottoman Empire and British colonialism, it has brought up a prodigious amount of traditions that are still used till this day. Egypt is located in the northeastern part of Africa, bordering the countries of Libya and Sudan. The capital city is Cairo, which includes one of the biggest populations in Egypt and where most of Egypt’s population resides. Another prodigious city in Egypt is the city of Alexandria, which is closer to the Mediterranean sea. Each region of Egypt is slightly different from each other, in aspects such as recipes for dishes, accents in Arabic, and even attitudes. My mother, Iman Ibrahim, was from a city called El Fayoum, which is located a little more down south from Cairo. It is more village-like with less industrial factors like Cairo, and holds a much higher poverty rate. However, my grandfather, named Youssef Abdelsayed, was a wealthy businessman that sold farming machinery. Therefore, my mother grew up well off, most more than other children her age in the city. 

My mother grew up with three brothers and one sister; her sister, however, got married when my mother was born, so she did not have an opportunity to actually grow up with her. In most families in Egypt, the boys in the families got more freedom to do any activities they wanted without parental guidance because they were viewed as more stronger than girls. When my mother was a child, she did have the freedom to play with her friends and play basketball, but she was usually told to stay home because her parents always feared her going out alone. Also, she was limited to the toys and things she could play with because her parents wanted to teacher to not be greedy or selfish. Her brothers, however, had more freedom to go out with their friends more, buy more things for themselves, and get jobs. When my mother became older, and graduated from college, she decided to become a preschool teacher, which was a typical job young women would pursue in Egypt. When she was a teacher, it was always her dream to go to the United States. In Egypt, America was viewed as one of the most desired countries to go to due to its prospering economy and freedom. My father, Samir Ibrahim, who was already an American citizen married her in 1997 and they both came to live in Staten Island, New York. Living in the United States was hard for my mother, because it was just completely different from Egypt. The language, culture, attitudes, and food in the United States was nothing like Egypt. It was hard for my mother to go around and read signs or talk to others because she only knew the native language, Arabic. It was also difficult for her to communicate with others because she did not know any English. Although everything  was difficult to adjust for my mother, she loved America, because of the freedom she had. Though Egypt is a beautiful country, it did not have the same rights and opportunities that my mother witnessed. 

In Alexandria, Egypt when I was 10 years old

When I was about 10 years old, I finally had the opportunity to visit Egypt, the country that my parents grew up in. Every thing my mother said about Egypt was right; it was a whole different universe than what I was used to. I look different from most Egyptians, having light hair and eyes and fair skin, so I usually got stares from people while walking in the street. I even got more stares when I spoke English or spoke in Arabic with an American accent. The food was also different; there were foods such as koshery (a pasta dish with mixed ingrdients such as fried onions, rice, and chickpeas), molokhia (a green soup), and bamya we roz (okra soup with rice). The weather was extremely hot in the summer (weather ranging from 100-110 degrees) which made me very uncomfortable because I was not used to it. All these differences about Egypt made me not like my experience at first, but it turned out to be the most memorable and the best time of my life. I learned so much about the culture and got a grasp of Arabic more, and traveled through all the places and cities in Egypt, including El Fayoum. Most importantly, I became very close with all my cousins and aunts and uncles the live in Egypt, and they gave the most hospitality I have ever seen; it is normal in Egypt to show a prodigious amount of hospitality to guests. I am probably not the only person who had the same experiences as me in Egypt, not liking it at first and loving it at the end. There was even an Egyptian movie, called “El Asal Iswid”, the narrated a young man who disliked Egypt when he first traveled but at the end loved it so much, that he faked having an illness on the plane back to the States just to stay in Egypt. 

My mother, Iman Ibrahim, when she was 10 years old in Egypt

From my mother growing up in Egypt to me finally getting to travel there when I was ten years old, it showed how an amazing country Egypt is despite its differences and faults. However, it has changed drastically in a time period of ten years, so both me and my mother do not know what it is like now. However, most Egyptians always have the country in their hearts no matter where they are because there is no place like it, and they always hold their culture close to them as long as they live. There is a famous saying, “You can take an Egyptian out of Egypt, but you can never take Egypt out of an Egyptian”.