So where are we today? Personally – and this is more of a personal touchy, feely post today…. Personally I have been DESPERATELY trying to NOT focus on Syria or Egypt’s ‘stuckness’. Am I succeeding? Of course not! Every time you see a FACEBOOK or TWITTER posting you know I’m not. But, as Esther once told some one who came across her in a frustrated moment “I teach Law of Attraction, how to get what you want in life…don’t worry, I don’t practice it, I just teach it!”
Not succeeding is not entirely true – I am succeeding to a degree and my emotions and energy is 100% better than it was a week ago, I’m just not 100% THERE yet…but it’s ok – I AM getting there.
Counting the Cost. Remember this Syria thingy is only the latest of a string of ‘last straws’ Egypt and myself have experienced since 25 Jan 2011. And complain though I might I am sincerely grateful I am not living in Syria and my heart goes out those who are. And I have not had to leave my home and my life’s work behind – and my heart goes out to those millions of Syrian refugees who have.
Counting the Cost……My insane and emotional tweeting and facebooking has lost me quite a few followers/friends I imagine….. especially those on the American side of the world. As someone dependant on people from around the world staying with me my big mouth has also done me quite a bit of damage….I imagine….
But hey! On the bright side of it – I have met quite a few really great Egyptian friends/followers I would not have met without this mess we are in. AND anyone contemplating on coming to stay at Mara House can have the comfort of knowing I say exactly what is on my mind……regardless!
Speaking of the mess we are in – not being a fluent speaker of Arabic, outside of social media I am reduced to getting my latest news via Nile International TV….. and I am a bit disappointed, rather like the guests they had on last night. Now that the Syrian crisis has diverted the world’s attention I am sad to see that neither Egyptian media, businessess nor government are making the most of the respite. I am suspecting also that the reason for the travel bans now in force by the world on Egypt have more to do with the US and Russian military build up in the Mediterranean than with Egypt itself…………………every incident in the Middle East traditionally impacts Egypt’s tourism – Crazy!!!!
What would I like to see them doing? Getting tourism back is vital to Egypt so I would like to see them doing the following:
- The army should be conducting exercises that teach ordinary people, shop and business owners how to live with terrorism – just like the rest of the world is doing. Egypt does not realise we are NEVER going back to the Mubarak days of security, impossible. So now they must teach people about cleaning the streets, so there are no concealed bombs – like we do outside. They must teach shop owners and workers how to spot incendiary devices, left packages, suspicious items – like we do outside. They must teach people how to be observant of cars that do not belong outside their houses or shops – like we do outside. They must teach people how to be observant of people and events outside the norm – like we do outside. Then they must teach people that we get on with normal life and business – like we do outside.
- Police should be back stationary outside every hotel, bank and government office in the country.
- Utilizing foreign residents and foreign friends of Egypt to get the government messages on tourism and investment OUT of the country AROUND the mainstream media – cos the foreign media are blocking every normal news avenue of truth about Egypt right now and cannot be relied on ever again for truth. They have their own agendas.
- The Egyptian government should be contacting and establishing lines of communication with lesser known TV, Radio and journalistic media in every country of the world and giving them the Egyptian info directly.
- Every town and city in Egypt should have it’s own marketing organisation made up from the local businessess so that when an incident happens that is not affecting that town or city indirectly everything does not come to a stop as has been happening the entire country since ……..well I have only been here since 2003 but every time there has been a sneeze in the Middle East – Egypt has suffered and never been able to combat that single sneeze effectively! Events in Cairo since 2011 have crippled Luxor and Aswan despite nothing noteworthy happening here.
- I would like to see the Egyptian government and people actually realise the safety of Egypt in comparison to the rest of the world!
- I would like to see the Egyptian government employing new strategies to market Egypt – realising that they are not the best people to market the Country as they are looking at it through Egyptian eyes, not foreign or foreign tourist eyes. Egypt has so much to market that it has never recognised much less market!
- As for Luxor, I wish I could get to meet the Governor because there is SO MUCH we could be doing to help ourselves right now and the inactivity is driving most of us to the point of craziness! Luxor is not a big town and if we can’t secure it, declare it safe to the world and market it – then………..what hope for an entire Country?
DONE!