Running in Cairo's Pavement Jungle

August 2, 2007

So this week I strapped on my running shoes and became the third jogger that I have ever seen in Cairo. Cairenes in general don’t exercise: there’s basically the expensive gyms at the nice hotels, and a brand new Gold’s Gym which runs around $120/month, well above my budget. During school time I use the gym at the university but it’s closed during break, so I have to find an alternative. After some careful research on the subject I discovered that the only time one can jog in Cairo is between 4 and 6 AM as these are the two hours when the streets are not packed with people and traffic; there is actually room to run and the pollution isn’t as bad, and the number of people looking at you/laughing at you in your silly shorts is significantly lower.

So I ran out, enjoying the relative morning calm and running down the riverside past the Nile to the sound of “Fantastic Dream” by Alphaville coming through my I-pod. The Nile is not as romantic as people imagine it. It’s a good thing Moses wasn’t living today, because if his mom hid him among the reeds of the Nile he’d have a lot more problems than being “slow of speech.” That river is nasty!

One of the first songs to come on my I-pod was “Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Nirvana. How appropriate. Even at 5 AM Cairo is a discordant cacophony of smells. It’s hard to know what is producing what, and even in the rare stretches where I couldn’t see litter I’d pick up a whiff of something that was definitely decomposing. It’s hard to judge whether one is improving his health by jogging in Cairo. However, the mental high of actually getting some exercise is worth whatever price my respiratory system is paying.

The never-changing Nile and ever changing smells aside, Cairo at this time of morning is definitely different. First of all, I did see some joggers. 2 others, in fact, bringing the total number including myself that I’ve seen using the vast expanse of pavement in Cairo for exercise up to 5. I thought I saw a 6^th, but it was just a man sprinting in sandals and his “galabiyya” robe down the street for some unknown reason. He probably would have been embarrassed had he known that I saw him, though not as embarrassed as the other “galabiyya” clad man who was asleep on one of the benches. His robe had ridden up beyond his waist, inadvertently exposing his more private parts. Not a pleasant site at any time of day.

The few joggers and bench sleepers weren’t the only novelty: I also saw dogs. In 2 months I had only seen 1 dog on the streets of Cairo. I was kind of excited when I saw the first one, until he started chasing me. Fortunately he didn’t pursue for long. However, I encountered a whole pack of dogs later: 6 in a row walking up the sidewalk. I stopped running and slipped into the road to give them the right of way on the sidewalk. Not because I feel like street dogs are higher up on the Cairo social totem pole than I am but because, well, they were dogs laden with who knows how many diseases and fleas.

Dogs are a rarity in the feline empire of Cairo. Cats rule supreme, living on every street and in every nook and cranny. One jumped out of our trash disposal just outside my apartment the other day. Scared the tar out of me. I am terrified of cats. I avoid them just like I avoided the dogs, though I usually return their defiant stares to show them that despite my inner fears I will not be intimidated by them.

As I grew used to the smells and morning air (still hot) I gradually began to pick up my pace, particularly when “Hot Stuff” from the Full Monty soundtrack comes on. Soon I was going close to my old pace of 7.5 minute miles, flashing a smile at the bewildered street guards who would me warily until they realize that I’m just a crazy foreigner running down the street. Some would smile and flash a thumbs up, others just continued to stare and nervously grip their rifles. The most confused of all were the rich Saudis who were hanging out in front of the Hyatt hotel. “Material Girl” was an appropriate song at that point, I amusedly thought to myself. Don’t ask me why “Material Girl” is on m I-pod. I have no good answer.

My wildlife encounters continued throughout the morning. This is really an urban jungle. The strangest meeting was with a weasel. Arabs call this animal “Ibn ‘irs”, or “son of the bridegroom.” Strange that this animal would come from the same root as the word for wedding. But I digress. I also ran into a bird. Yes. I was going that fast. The bird flew out of the tree and actually hit me. It, needless to say, startled me but I must not have hurt the bird too bad as it kept right on flying. I felt a rush of pride that I had hit a bird and outran a dog. My next animal victim was a donkey. To the donkey’s credit he didn’t know we were racing, and he did have a cart full of vegetables and a driver to pull. And he didn’t have Guns n’ Roses playing in his I-pod. However, I still destroyed him in our race.

Even at 5 AM people laugh at the crazy foreigner in shorts. They’re even more bewildered when I answer their comments in Arabic. “He’s American, but he speaks Arabic!” is a regular comment from young men whom I pass. As I said, I don’t’ know if this is actually helping my health or hurting it. However, I’m determined to participate in at least 1 marathon this year in Luxor; and perhaps a second either in Athens or the “Pharoah Run” amongst the Pyramids. So laugh away, Egypt.