Life after leaving Egypt

Landing in Estonia

I have been in Estonia now for 1,5 months and as much as I call it my original home, much is different and new from what I remember!
Here are some random things that have felt unfamiliar or very different from what I was used to in Egypt - my own little personal reversed culture shock. You can assume the social rules were quite the opposite in the Egyptian society. I'm sure more self discoveries and findings will come along, so I will be presenting them week by week ...






WEEK 1

• Waiting to cross the street behind red traffic light on an empty street

• Grumpy supermarket cashiers getting upset if you give them 50 EUR and they have to get off their lazy a...s to get change.

• No guys staring me on the street - have I become ugly :)?

• Noone gives 2 cheek kisses, just one hug

• Wanting to greet people entering the same elevator or passing me in the corridor (I would not tell them "Salaam we Aleykum" but have tried the Estonian "Tere" but have been greeted with terrified faces). Let me explain. In Egypt it is normal and customary to greet people who You run into in closed or narrow spaces (elevators, corridors, house entrances). This is done to avoid awkward silence and show respect.

• Not having any Arabic TV-channels on my TV list

• The silence - no traffic horns, no prayer calls, no music, no loud street vendors, no street dogs cry

WEEK 2

• I actually need a calendar notebook again, people plan ahead of time here

• Understanding that all my work years and payed taxes in Egypt are totally useless in the EU and Estonian national employment system

• So few people on streets, I can hardly find someone to ask for directions. In Egypt there are at least 10 men sitting on each street corner, one selling lemons, one is begging, one is a security quard, one is just chillin' on his smartphone, one selling newspaper, 5 waiting for the public microbus etc.

• Most old people in Estonia now have mobile phones and most school children now have smartphones

• Fancy new restaurants have overly hyper talkative waiters who even go over the list of your main course ingredients before you can dive into your plate, a little too much information for me - I already read the menu ;) Artisan restaurant-baked bread is the new hot thing too.

• People prefer not to speak to one another. Bumping into somebody in a narrow space is done in silence, without saying "excuse me" or "sorry".

The joy of T-shirt

WEEK 3

• Clothing ... oh, the clothing ... yesterday I went to the supermarket wearing a basic white tight T-shirt and I DID NOT wear an extra top underneath to hide my white bra lines!

• Trying to figure out again how electric ovens work (most homes in Egypt use gas) and enjoying the oven heating up just the food, not my whole kitchen!

• The sun does not want to set, at 10 PM it's still light outside

• Im literally grabbing the bananas at the store if I see they are from Egypt. I don't care much for the rivalling Brazilian banana :) 

• Wondering if what we call cultural difference really does exist ... I have encountered much unreliability and being late in Estonia too ... still wondering ...

• Realising that people in Estonia buy most things ready from supermarket - tzatziki dip and potato salad as a few examples. In Egypt I was used to making everything from scratch to make sure I was eating the best quality clean ingredients and some things were simply not sold in supermarkets at all (Russian-style potato salad etc.)

• Im not used to dunk people on streets and noisy people in supermarkets buying vodka jello shots

WEEK 4

Cairo taxi seat covered with plastic

• I sat into a taxi and asked if it's obligatory to close the seatbelt. The driver looked at me for a few seconds and understood I was not joking. Very often in Cairo cars and taxies simply didn't have a seatbelt installed, don't work or were tucked away between the seats or covered by plastic covers. Nevertheless I quickly realised my question was not a wise one :) 

• I get excited to find out Estonia is finally importing konafa "angle hair" noodles, there must be a demand! Konafa noodles are thin soft wheat noodles used in making Middle-Eastern sweets.

• People say I use a my hands a lot while talking - a very Egyptian thing!

• Playing an Egyptian shaabi or pop song in class makes me feel like I'm in my home in Cairo and the TV is playing Mazzika channel.

• The metro bench in Cairo metro wagon fits 4 people, but everyone is used to fitting 5, since it's always crowded and people (of the same sex) don't mind close physical contact. In Estonia I took a tram and a bench that fitted 4 people (in my Egyptian way of thinking) was only used up by 3 people. Estonians like their personal space and public transport is usually not crowded.