AUC is in medan Tahrir, the busiest intersection in the busiest city in the busiest part of the world (not counting Singapore, Bangkok, and maybe a few more). The square is centered around a four lane rotary. Crossing the street requires full concentration, and should never be performed on an empty stomach (what a pity to die hungry). And don't wait for the little green man--yielding to traffic lights is unmanly. What if your fellow drivers suspected you to be light on the manhood... the horrors!).
When crossing the street, don't bite off too much at a time. Baby steps. Cross lane by lane. Step into the street. Cross the first lane. Calmly wait for the next lane to slow down. Cross the next lane. Don't run.
Rumor has it that all the white-clad police officers standing around are meant to write down the license plate numbers of traffic offenders. (Running red lights, etc.). At the end of the year, when you go to renew your license, you are fined a lump sum for all of your violations. Problem is, the police are required to record a certain number of numbers each month. This summer, Amr's father, went to renew his license, and had a fine of five pounds. Problem is, he's been living in Boston for the past year, and hasn't been driving in Cairo. How could he incur infractions without being in Cairo? But five pounds isn't very much, only a buck, so he chose not to fight it. If each person were overcharged five pounds they could pay of the national debt! However, if you know someone in the police, name-dropping usually cancels the charges. C'est la vie. Furthermore, this system employs all the police officers whose job it is to stand around and write down real, or not so real, numbers. Erin's "job creation" theory states why employ one person, when three can perform the job just as well? Here things "help a brotha" as efficiency is left behind.
Another one of the idiosyncrasies here is the lack of headlights at night. Some say it is meant to save gas (!?), but Amr said people don't like glare in their rear-view mirrors. Instead, the posher cars have been fitted with groovy blacklights on the underside of their bumper. They glow blue, and I look for LA-style hydraulics (no sightings yet).
Regarding parking: In the US it's deep shit if you bump another car while parking. In Europe, "kissing" the other's bumper is tolerated. Here, people leave their cars in neutral. If the space is too small, bump the car behind your intended space. It will slide back, and bump the car behind it. This starts a little dominoes, until the entire line of cars has scooched a few inches (or feet!) to enlarge your space. Also, cars sometimes double park. If a double-parked car is blocking your exit, it’s kosher to push the car (because it’s left in neutral!) in front of another’s car.
Taxis: don't pay until you are out of the cab. The moment you pay before exiting you've branded yourself as tourist, and have sacrificed any bargaining power you might have had.
In orientation, one student asked about buying a car. Tomader said absolutely not. When pressed for reasons, she said "you don't know how to drive here." The wannabe driver responded "I know how to drive!" Tomader shook her head. "Well, you don't know how to honk here."
"honk?"
"yes, honk."
"how hard can it be? toot toot!"
"there are many types of honks in egypt! you'd be lost in a second."
"many types of honks ?! like what"
"why there's the warning--I'm on your left, don't move over. then there's the f*** you honk. then there's the polite "thank you" honk. there's also the "look out, this is a blind turn" honk. and don't forget the "don't think about going there" honk. you see? you'd be lost. next question?"
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