I recently got in touch with a friend I hadn’t seen since uni (the joys of Facebook), who commented that my Arabic must be fluent by now. I explained that my Arabic is good, but not fluent, primarily because I’m female and as such it is impossible to get into a situation where it could become fluent, without getting married (becoming a professional belly dancer excepted). He expressed his sadness that I must have been subject to sexism over my time here.

It did (and does) make me laugh to think about sexism in Egypt. It’s not in the least bit funny, and it has affected me greatly, but so ingrained is sexism here, that I don’t even consider it as such: it’s just (a big) part of the culture. Sexism is almost too lofty of an intellectual concept to be applied! I’d put it more in terms of sexual harassment and then add that it is on a daily basis - almost every time you step out the door.

It’s strange what we can get used to.