Culture Clash at Marsa Matrouh

View of the public beach from our new room.

Sunday – Friday, August 15-21, 2009

We were able to switch rooms in the morning.  We were moved to a room in the ‘newer’ building.  Although we had to give up space (there were no family rooms in the ‘newer’ building) we were happy to be rid of the stench.  After the first night, the food got better.  We established a routine of sort and settled into our days starting with breakfast, kids activity – bingo in the lobby, dip in the sea, lunch, nap, another dip and dinner.  For most of our stay, our older girl didn’t feel too well.  We all felt so bad for her but she was a trooper. 

Macarena on the beach, one of many kids program activity.

The girls swam, played bingo (and won a prize), made friends and enjoyed the loukomedes at breakfast daily.

Marsa Matrouh was an interesting place for cultural observation.  When we first arrived, it was not yet Ramadan and the hotel was filled with many Egyptian Muslim families.  To my surprise, many of the women were covered from head to toe.  When I first visited Egypt in 2000, I did not remember seeing so many women wearing hijabs (head scarves) and cloaks/outfits covering head to toe.  At the beach, this sort of very modest attire stood out, especially if they waded into the waters fully clothed.  (Actually we were the ones, in bathing suits, who stood out from a sea of women fully clothed on the beach and in the water.)

My girls were very confused about the choice of dress.  I did my best to explain to them why many Muslim women wear what they wear but I was at a loss when we witnessed one of the women, fully clothed, flailing in the water, looking like she was about to drown.  Thankfully, I assume, her husband came to her rescue. 

The scenery on the beach changed dramatically when Ramadan began.  All the Muslim families left the hotel when Ramadan started.  This makes sense.  During Ramadan, you cannot eat or drink (!) from sunrise to sunset.  There is no way you can be at the beach without drinking all day.  Two changes with the start of Ramadan; Christian families replaced the Muslim families at the hotel and the room rates decreased.  The beach scene was totally different.  Everyone was wearing a bathing suit.

There was one thing that really bothered me while at Beau Site - the trash in the water.  The water and the beach are amazing but they are marred by trash.  Besides one other man during our stay, our family was the only one who threw trash in the garbage cans conveniently places at regular intervals on the beach.  No one else did.  People would eat and throw the plastic bags or peelings right where they sat.  There would be a ring of garbage around the beach chairs.  Even worse, people would eat while in the water (why???) and throw the garbage right in the water. I could not believe it.  I know I must have looked righteous and ridiculous but I would make a point of grabbing the garbage floating in the water and walking all the way up the beach to the garbage cans.  Nope.  Not one person followed suit.  They all just kept playing in the water with the garbage floating by.  I didn’t get that.

The women were, as I mentioned, more than modestly dressed.  The men were not - the double standard.   How about the children?  The children were dressed like any other children but here’s the twist.  One afternoon, for the kids program, there was a parade of costumes.  My girls wanted to watch but not participate.  So we got seats and watched the parade of children dressed up in various costumes like Spiderman.  What struck me were the younger girls who were dressed in provocative belly dancer type of outfits and who were being cheered on loudly by their mothers covered from head to toe.  That was disturbing.

No matter, we all enjoyed the Mediterranean; its beautiful waters and sand.  We came to look forward to mealtimes.  The setting was gorgeous – an open dining hall on the beach, family meals at sunset.  The girls liked the buffet – it worked really well, they could get what they wanted when they wanted.  Loukomedes in the morning were a hit.  The kids program was fun for the girls.  The hotel put on shows on the beach in the afternoons.  One afternoon showcased a strongman, the next a magician.  This vacation definitely provided us with a very local flair.