tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2199724184490424193.post2664685367818907707..comments2023-05-13T07:38:01.590-07:00Comments on Priesterin von Avalon: Luxor impressionsUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2199724184490424193.post-67512587280570246032011-01-18T04:22:06.973-08:002011-01-18T04:22:06.973-08:00You are so right, I often think how much more succ...You are so right, I often think how much more successful they would be if they tried a different approach with women, and hasn't it occurred to any one of them? But then yes, Egyptians are very set in their ways, like they are set in their religion. I don't think it's Islam so much as it is the way Islam is approached, which is very traditional: you have to learn the Koran by heart and believe everything religious authority says. You are not taught to question or think for yourself. Society works in much the same way: What teachers and parents say is law, and thinking for yourself is discouraged. When you grow up like that, original thought only happens in a few, instead of in many...Tressihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16559279792468011605noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2199724184490424193.post-51897066964605997792011-01-15T00:57:43.499-08:002011-01-15T00:57:43.499-08:00Dear Tressi,
thanks so much for your help. I have ...Dear Tressi,<br />thanks so much for your help. I have worked out the tutting sound and the handwaving, and I knew la shukran and khalas, but I didn't know iHtàram nàfsak. That will come in most useful. I have also trained myself to look through people, best way to learn that is directly in the Souk. So I went there and and now I'm quite good at it. Listening to music on my mp3-player helps a lot.<br />I do understand about their situation and about how they go on trying since there are probably more than just a few european women going for it. But what I can't understand is how these men are totally incapable of seeing things from another perspective. They have never learned to considder different aspects of things, like we are being taught. So they can experience a thousand times european women saying, no thankyou leave me alone, and they will still approach the 1001st woman in the same inappropriate way. It just doesn't occur to them to think, ok, maybe some of these women wouldn't mind getting to know me at all and some of them would even like a holiday fling or something more serious, if only I went about it in a different way. So what are they like, how do they do things, what can I find out if I get to know them?<br />I find it really difficult to put this into words, Tressi, but it seems like their minds are totally stationary, they repeat what they've been told and taught and there is no development.<br />I suppose a religion like Islam where people are trained to believe that their way of living is the one that God decreed can only work in a society where people are taught not to consider other ways. <br />I know it's not all of them, thank Goodness I have met and continue to meet Egyptians who, as you say, are very gentle souls.Joannehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17320027929493425866noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2199724184490424193.post-39353950177870651452011-01-14T13:50:14.916-08:002011-01-14T13:50:14.916-08:00I understand and remember well the annoyance of so...I understand and remember well the annoyance of some Egyptian men. Unfortunately Luxor is one of the worst places for that, as it has many tourists and not much else. And since some tourists *do* fall for the tricks, they keep on trying it.<br />The attitude to women is infuriating, but it may help to know the situation. It is nearly impossible for young men to marry, since to marry you need enough money to provide your wife with a house etc., and most young men are unemployed or have a very low income. Sex outside marriage is impossible, so most young men are incredibly sexually frustrated, with no prospect of that ending soon. Along comes a solution in the form of... Western women, who *do* have sex before and outside of marriage. From a traditional Egyptian point of view, if you are no longer a virgin, you are spoiled goods anyway so you may as well have sex with anyone and everyone. And some European women do indeed fall for it, so they keep trying... in their own annoying unsubtle way.<br />It used to drive me up the wall. Here are some tips I found may help a bit: <br />- don't look anybody in the eye, but don't look at the ground either. Try looking through everyone.<br />- wear a wedding band and wide, long, concealing clothing<br />- when accosted, keep walking, tut (a "tsk" sound Westerners make when annoyed, in Egyptian it means "no") and wave your hand horizontally (means "no, leave me alone"). "Laa shukran" means "no thanks", you can use that if they offer you something. "Khalas" means "enough", use that if they persist. "Khallíínii" means "leave me alone". "iHtàram nàfsak" litterally means "respect yourself" and can be used as a reproach when they make rude sexual comments.<br />- and most of all, keep in mind that it seems like *everyone* is accosting you all the time, but it is the minority. Most Egyptians really are normal, genuinely friendly people.Tressihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16559279792468011605noreply@blogger.com