287landmines in some parts of Egypt. It is my understanding
that they are behind fences, but can also move with the
shifting sand.
Do avoid drinking brands of hard liquor you are not
familiar with.
DON’T
Don’t overestimate your understanding of the Egyptian
world
It seems that as soon as I think I understand what’s
expected of me, I miscalculate a small item, and there I
go again. So, I would have to say foreigners’ number one
blunder is to think they have actually become multicultural.
You haven’t and probably won’t even approach a good
multicultural understanding of the Egyptian world without
many years of immersion. But you can avoid some of the
most frequent cultural faux pas by remembering that you
still have much to learn.
Don’t over- or underestimate your Egyptian colleague’s
understanding of your language or your culture
Thinking people understand what I mean when I say or
do something ranks number two on my list. Why? On
the surface, it seems a simple proposition—say what
you mean and you will be understood. Not so! Language
is inescapably intertwined with cultural practices
and symbolism.
Let me give you a recent example of how I blundered
with this one. Following an email request for information,
I mistakenly wrote a response to a very Westernised,
educated Egyptian friend stating something to the effect
of, ‘Oh, by the way, this is what I do for a living. Please tell
them we need to negotiate a contract and I will be happy to
provide the information’. Because my friend was so aware
of Western practices, I assumed we were talking on Western
terms, not Egyptian. Big, big mistake! Well, it doesn’t take
a rocket scientist to figure out my mistake. By assuming
we were talking on Western rather than Egyptian terms,
I had inadvertently broken all the rules of friendship. He
had asked me, as a friend, for information. Yet I responded