206 CultureShock! Egypt
Fruit and Vegetable Shopping Hints
Unless you know that the market person will select good fruit
and vegetables for you (you only learn this by experience),
insist that you select the fruits and vegetables yourself.
Watch carefully to ensure that no rotten commodities are
slipped into the bottom of your bag or additional items added
to increase your purchase.Drinking Water
Most guidebooks warn visitors not to drink the local water,
eat food on the street or partake of fruits and vegetables
that cannot be peeled and/or cooked. Only you know your
own constitution and body’s immune system. I would point
out that if you are going to be in Egypt for some time and
plan to follow Western standards of hygiene, you will have to
sequester yourself in a hermetically sealed room (there are
none that I know of in Egypt). It is impossible to maintain
practices foreign to the land for extended periods of time.You can buy drinks from these shops but if you are buying bottled water,
make sure that the seal is unbroken.