by Marko

These events took place on day three of my Egyptian adventure. We were a group of 12. And our guide had promised to show us something really special that day. We didn't know what to expect. Our bus dropped us at a suspiciously looking part of the city of Cairo. There was a strange smell in the air, but we got used to that by then. We just thought: "We're in Cairo after all, this is something normal. Right?" With every step, we went deeper into a strange suburb. Soon garbage of all sorts was literally piled all around us. People were going through those heaps of all sorts of stuff with a strange enthusiasm and an occasional pig was rummaging around for something eatable. Children were playing around and looking curiously at 12 strange Slovenians. They were quite cute and some of them just wanted to say hello or introduce themself to a strange foreigner. No one asked for "baksheesh". We got used by then to be approached by people asking for "baksheesh" in return for some strange favor they just came up with or even for no particular reason at all. After we got through this part of the city we went uphill. Steep rocky slopes were carved with various biblical motives. We made a stop at an interesting church which was carved into the rocky side of a hill. Our guide decided it was time for an explanation. He explained to us a few things about the place we had just seen. First of all, those people we saw were mostly Christians (Muslims have no need for pigs and they mostly refuse to do any unclean work - you would probably agree that things don't get much dirtier than garbage). People we saw live there by their own choice. Sorting rubbish is what Zabbaleen (people of the rubbish in Arabic) do for a living. And they earn enough to fall into Egyptian middle class. Ground floors of their houses are used for sorting rubbish. Upper floors however are mostly well furnished. The backyards also serve as parking places for fancy cars (Mercedes, Mitsubishi or BMW is not a strange sight in those streets). On our way back to the bus, we looked at the same things as before through a totally different pair of glasses. Living in a relatively clean country as Slovenia, this is a story hard to forget. From there we went to see how people live in a family tomb. But that's a whole new story...