European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 02, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse At the ruins of St. Simeon monastery near Aswan a guide entertains visitors with a Lively performance. Assuming that s what they Cost As he had nodded when he took the Money. I started to walk away but another Man stopped me motioning for me to go Back to the counter. My change was waiting 1 Pound 50. One afternoon two of us were wandering through the Back streets of Cairo wondering if we were Brave enough to enter one of those Tacky cafe Type places where the men sit around and smoke water pipes Between sips of mint Tea. As we passed one such place we hesitated a just Long enough for the waiter to come out and arrange a table for us on the sidewalk. V it seemed everywhere we went children chased us begging for Money presents pens. Many have Learned More than a few words of English which they love to practice. They can be annoying especially at the major tourist Sites where they Hawk postcards and cheap souvenirs. But usually they accept a firm Quot no Quot and keep they can also be irresistible. A Street Urchin no More than 5 or 6 years old with enormous Black Almond eyes that popped out from the Brown smudges on his face convinced me to let him Shine my shoes. Quot no mama. No papa Quot he said pathetically. When i gave him 5 pounds for his work he beamed and kissed my hand. A determined pretty Little girl ran after our group when we were on a Donkey Riding excursion. Quot one egyptian Pound. One egyptian Pound Quot she pleaded As she held up a primitive doll she had made with scraps of Clef re. How could one say according to an egyptian guide one should. Children should be in school he said. But Quot if a child can bring Home five pounds Why should he be sent to school Quot rather than make certain their children go to school parents will encourage them to go out and earn Money. Illiteracy is one of erupt s major Jarob lems. \ the country of 55 million is also faced with a critical population explosion an increase of 1 million people per photos by Leah Larkin vegetable vendors await buyers at the Luxor Market. A amps millions of these people depend on tourists to survive. Tourism is the country s second largest Industry following Petroleum. But since last summer when tensions in the Middle East began to heat up there have been few tourists in Egypt. Fortunately they now Are beginning to trickle Back. In january there were no lines to get into the a pyramids no waiting to see King Tut s treasures in the museum of egyptian antiquities in Cairo no one to fill the cruise ships on the Nile if those Selling rugs jewelry Copper and leather goods in the bazaars were Overly _ aggressive there was a reason. They d had so few customers they were desperate to sell. In Egypt "5 percent of the people Are very Rich 5 percent Are very poor and the rest Are Middle class Quot a guide in Cairo said. By our standards her Quot Middle class Quot is poor. The average egyptian earns Between 100 and 150 egyptian pounds $32 and $48 per of month the average a fit is 100 egyptian pounds per month. But thanks to the Nile River or More precisely the High dam near Aswan food is abundant in the country. The world s longest River provides the water to irrigate the Fertile land along Thela Anks where everything seems to thrive including sugar Cane countless varieties of mangoes dates bananas and tomatoes. The dam has put Amend to the disastrous floods that used to occur every several years. Some 97 percent of Egypt is desert. Most of the people live along the River in the 10-mile-wide stretch of Green that is bordered by Sand. Their Way of life has changed Little in thousands of years. Farming is done by hand still using some of the same tools depicted in Tomb Wall paintings that Date thousands of years . Many egyptians live in mud Brick huts. Women still Wash clothes in the canals in Many cases they May have running water even washing machines in their Homes. But As a guide pointed out it s tradition. Women gather continued on Page 10 May 2, 1991 stripes Magazine 9
