i'm hanging out in a cafe in the aswan souq, practicing my arabic by talking to strangers. as always, eventually some egyptian starts talking to me exclusively in english.
"you don't believe that they say about egypt in newspapers." he said at one point. "egypt is a peaceful country. in my shop i have four people working for me, two christian and two muslim. i make no difference between them. i don't pay the muslims extra money because he is like me. everyone is equal here.
"do not believe what they say about us. you should talk to real egyptians. they will tell you it is okay here. it does not matter if they are christian or jew. listen to what they have to say. that is the truth."
