Up In Smoke

(Not from Cairo, but he's smoking...pun intended)

Sometimes I feel like Cairo is one giant smoking advertisement, with Marlboro Light as the brand. At the risk of sounding like a complete cornball I simply must say...smoking has never looked so cool. I don't really know how to describe it or even exactly what IT is but Cairo makes you just wanna roll out and ashtray and get to puffing. EVERYONE SMOKES. I mean this is the kind of stuff the surgeon general warns us about on the side of the cigarette box but damn, all the cool kids are doing it. Hell, even the not-so-cool kids are doing it, and by kids I do mean kids, and adults, and senior citizens. The Bedouins are smoking, the Muslims are smoking, the Coptics are smoking. Where are they smoking? Everywhere. In the bathroom, at the cafe, at the stadium, on the bus, in the cab, on the street, in the restaurant, outside al mosque, in khan el khalili, on the grass, at the library, in the classroom. Why are they doing it? Who knows but I've just noticed how prevalent smoking cigarettes is here. Some of the first words I learned in my colloquial arabic class were lighter and ashtray...smoking is so prevalent that they DONT EVEN NEED cigarette ads. Its crazy. I'm just so intrigued by everyone walking around puffing on a cig and they all seem to be at ease amongst all the bustle. Just an observation.