Multiplicity

Note: Justin seems to be doing a good job handling the day-to-day recap of our Egypt trip, so I'll be providing some alternative commentary.

Pavel recently compared Israel and Egypt to the movie Multiplicity. Stay with me on this one, because I think it's an apt analogy. In the movie, Michael Keaton is so busy (like really, really busy ) that he can't do everything by himself. So what does he do? The only logical course of action: he clones himself. The first clone comes out great; it's just like Michael Keaton, and the only better thing than one Michael Keaton is two Michael Keatons. The next clone is okay too, but pretty soon things start to get a little funny. See, when you start copying your clones--and this is science so don't argue--little defects start showing up. Pretty soon, the copies aren't really anything like Michael Keaton. Yeah, they look alike, but they're completely different people.

If the United States* is Michael Keaton in Multiplicity and Israel is Michael Keaton a couple of copies in, then Egypt is like if you took a copy of Israel and copied it a couple thousand times. Also, it doesn't look anything like the United States. It's a fucking nuthouse. Still, I can see Western influence everywhere.

Take a look at the traffic lights, for instance. In the United States, a traffic light signals to drivers whether or not they are allowed to safely pass through an intersection. If the light is red, not only is it not safe to proceed, it is illegal to do so. Egypt also has traffic lights. I'd compare it to the following: It's as if someone bought a microwave without having any idea what it was used for, didn't ask anyone, and decided that the microwave was supposed to be a table. Sure, they can use a microwave as a table, but why not just use a table? On second thought, maybe that analogy doesn't work because I have no idea what people in Egypt think traffic lights are for. I'm pretty sure that they don't think that they're related to driving, though.

Egypt as a whole works the same way. All of the elements of Western Culture are in place, but their implementation is often distorted past the point of recognition. There are sidewalks, but everyone walks in the street, often in between traffic. There are metal detectors outside large buildings, but no one stops you when you set one off. If you travel to Egypt in the near future and have any expectation of knowing what the hell is going on, forget it. It may look a little familiar, but it's nothing like anything you're used to.


*I could substitute any modern Western country for the US, but I'm not going to because I'm an American.

Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee