Culture Shock! Egypt - A Survival Guide to Customs and Etiquette

Food and Entertaining 207

Until you can get used to a little dirt and some germs in your
system, you will have to follow precautions without a doubt,
but I suspect that this cannot continue for long periods of
time. Besides, it will not be long before you forget to brush
your teeth with bottled water (and you will probably fi nd you
do not get a major case of diarrhoea doing this).
Most major Egyptian cities state their tap water is potable.
Cleanliness of rural water supplies is considerably more
problematic. Usually in small towns and villages, water is
drawn from wells or piped in, but cannot be considered
potable. Many people get slight diarrhoea when drinking
water in rural places. Giardia, one of those bad little parasites
which lodges in the intestinal tract, is more likely to be found
in rural rather than big city water supplies.
One of the habits I fi nd most interesting among some
foreigners revolves around their obsession for ice in drinks.
People who religiously carry bottled water so as not to get
germs from tap water—the same ones who even brush
their teeth with bottled water—turn right around and order
ice for their drinks. They never once ask themselves where
the water comes from that makes the ice. Ice is made from
tap water.
A word of caution: if you are buying bottled water, make
sure the seal is not broken when you get the water. There is
little concern in big hotels and restaurants. At these places,
waiters delight in presenting the chilled water bottle, pointing
out the unbroken seal, and ceremoniously breaking the seal
for you. On the other hand, some street vendors take old

Safety Tips

„ Be careful of eating food bought from street vendors.

„ Ice is usually made from tap water.

„ Squeezing some fresh lemon juice on fruits and salads

can help kill harmful bacteria.

„ Wash your lettuce with just a tiny bit of chlorine bleach

to kill harmful germs.