Day 20

February 8^th

Today we went to Alexandria, the second largest city in Egypt. Alexandria’s population is about 3 and half million which puts it about the same size of Los Angeles, in city proper of course. It is a very linear city as it runs down the coast for about 12 miles. The city is some ways radically different from Cairo and at the same time very similar. On the one hand you could actually deeply inhale the air and not break out into a fit of coughing. This is because the city is much less crowded, I mean crossing the street was a joke. Remember that I think crossing the street is only legal in this street if you j-walk as no one uses the crosswalks, unless of course it was green. Thus, when we did actually come into some traffic on the same road, we were quite confused as to the source of this congestion. We soon found out, as we noticed the second difference: two cars had gotten into a fender bender ahead of us and had actually stopped, blocking traffic, in order to exachange numbers. This would not happen in Cairo, mainly because no one has insurance. Also because of the spacious nature of the city the air was clear and we could look out onto the Mediterranean. It was a gorgeous day, with the sun shining and just a few clouds in the sky. However, the city was the same as Cairo in that once you got off the scenic road that drove by the ocean, you saw the same sort of poverty, filth, and lack of suitable living conditions that you saw on the streets of Cairo. It is a not a European resort town, with cute well maintained ancient buildings. This is a city with 3.5 million people in it, who need some place to live and thus hundreds of same style cramped apartment buildings were built to house them. Judging from the levels of cleanliness in any of stores, I would guess that the apartments are not much cleaner. No wonder every one hangs out in the streets, why would you want to live in those kinds of conditions?

The water was a welcome sight after a four hour drive through the desert from Cairo to Alexandria. Once we got out of downtown Cairo, we got to see what the rest of Egypt lives like. In the rural and poorer suburbs most houses looked to be unfinished. They often had support beams sticking out of the top, like there was supposed to another layer. This might in fact be the reason for in Cairo I often see buildings that look like they were simply added right onto again and again. Rural Egypt looked more like the exotic Egypt many imagine when they hear the word Egypt. Although the climate was more arid and the soil more sandy, there were a lot of agricultural farms on the way to Alexandria. We also saw a lot of the little village children playing in the fields or by the buildings used to sell the produce. You often wonder what becomes of these children in the next 15 years. The economy of Egypt sucks. Their population is too large for their agriculture to support and their growth is slow with little possibility for expansion and improvement.

I have become addicted to the music video by Will.i.am called “Yes We Can,” featuring the speech of Barack Obama. It’s a very powerful video, calling not for any specific policies, but simply calling for Americans to once again believe in their nation. The most moving line goes “we have been warned by a chorus of cynics to not offer the people of this nation false hope. But in the unlikely story that is America, there is nothing false about hope.” He asks us to come together and believe that together as a choir of millions we can change the country and the world for the better. The thing that I love so much about Obama is nothing to do with the man himself. It’s the fact that he uses the term We. This race is not about him, he is merely a vessel for the hopes of millions of Americans who that we can do better as a nation, who think that just because an issue is tough and complicated doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be solved. He is not asking for us to see him as the panacea to the perils of America, he is asking for us to believe in ourselves. As it says at the top of his webpage, “I am not asking you to believe in my ability to bring about real change in Washington… I am asking you to believe in yours.” Barack gets young voters fired up because he taps into those idealistic juices that flow in the youth blood, those often called disillusioned notions that we can save the world. He makes us believe that if each of us just does our own part to make a difference in the lives of others then we can bring about real change in this world.

Now this is where my tangent about Barack ties into the main story. In Barack’s speech he talks about the hopes and dreams of a little girl and Dillon and a little boy in Los Angeles. He believes that it is our responsibility to them to all our children to give them the opportunity to actually attain these dreams. I have no idea what the dreams of these children are in rural Egypt or even what the dreams of the Children who come up to us on the street and don’t stop saying money, tekul (to eat). I don’t claim that we should force our ideas of what success is, but I don’t think anyone dreams of living a life of poverty, begging, and suffering. John-Paul, the kid who has been showing us around told us that the kids were too well dressed, and that it was a scam. When I looked at them, I saw clothes that hadn’t been washed in weeks, covered in dirt and filth and kids, albeit not emaciated, but begging for food. When we went to the ritzy mall to order our American food for 20 pounds, I couldn’t possibly eat knowing that we just denied kids a few pounds and dropped excessive amounts of money. I believe in a world where there is never a child who has to resort to beg on the streets. I believe in a world, where the idea of poverty is something that is only in history books. I believe in a world where every child, in Dillon, Alexandria, Los Angeles and Cairo can dream of a life of opportunity and prosperity a life without suffering, without hardship. I believe that I have a duty to help these children, to help all children, all people of the world. But as Barack says, this is not a problem that is to be solved by me or him, it is a problem to solved by us. Each of us should find our own voice our own tune and together this symphony of actions can solve any problem and together we can meet any challenge.

I don’t know what exactly my voice, my tune, will be in this, but I am finally beginning to realize that I am just one piece in a much a bigger puzzle. I wonder if politics could be the course for me. I wonder if I could be the one to inspire change, to inspire people to take part in the movement to lift this world up. I enjoy politics, I think it is a part that cannot be excluded from the solution and requires people with a passion to back up the direct action workers fighting the battle on the streets. I just don’t know if I have the traits to be a good politician. I feel you have to be a people person you have to know how to be social and have an A+ personality that people want to be around. I don’t know if this is who I am. Maybe I should be a community organizer maybe I should be an officer maybe that will give me the confidence I need to do politics