I’ve discovered, over the past month and a half, that in order to embrace Egypt, or at least give up certain ideals I had about my four months here, I need to embrace Americana culture icons, and all the ways in which, for better or worse, they’ve filtered the rest of the world.

Granted, the American University in Cairo’s campus doesn’t exude a feeling of “the real Egypt” by any means. Actually, because the students here represent such a small percentage of Egypt’s income level, it is a terrible example of true Egyptian culture. The oasis that is AUC, and how I’ve developed a strong love-hate relationship with it will have to be another post entirely, but one aspect of Egyptian culture that it does reflect rather accurately is its fascination with America.

When I was in France almost four years ago, I became seriously frustrated with how hard it was to escape America and speaking English, even with natives. I assumed it was my fault for choosing a country whose natives are notoriously arrogant about foreigners speaking their tongue. Having heard that Egyptians are hospitable and kind, I hoped that Egypt would welcome me into its culture with open arms. Packing conservative clothing and scarves, I was hoping to be invisible and avoid my American heritage for four short months.

Well the Egyptian hospitality wasn’t what failed me. What I had totally miscalculated was the utter fascination for America, even in the Middle East. Call me naïve, but I assumed Egyptians would be as skeptical of an overwhelming adoration for American culture as I am. I discovered that fitting into Egyptian culture is to embrace literally everything I had grown to scorn about my own country: fast food, brand name clothing (especially the knock off versions), an appearance-based social hierarchy, English curse words giving no semantic meaning to an otherwise entirely Arabic conversation.

Most of those things don’t bother me too much because they don’t get in my way or affect me in my attempt to understand Egypt. The only thing that’s come to absolutely drive me crazy is the dependence on American food, particularly the fast food chains that pervade the country, as the best option for a well-balanced (?) meal. The options for dinner have come down to two choices: the Egyptian or the American variety. I prefer obviously the Egyptian meal- a falafel or fuul sandwich for about 2 pounds. But even if I get two, I find myself hungry in a few hours, and in search of something green to balance out the carbs or fried protein. Unless you build every meal off a collection of snacks from a grocery store (which I do often enough) like some cheese, fruit, peanut butter and crackers, or juice, you have only the American option left. Hmm… McDonalds, Subway, Hardee’s, Pizza Hut or KFC. Although I hadn’t eaten Pizza Hut in probably ten years, I think I’ve had it five times in the past month. The sad part is that I’ve even transformed my way of thinking about fast food- rather than being disgusted by the grease, calories or mysterious ingredients, I’ve begun to contemplate the two shreds of lettuce, a slice of tomato, and piece of cheese on the burger as well-rounded, with the McFlurry giving me an added source of calcium. The same goes for the vegetables on top of a pizza.

My giving in to fast food has gone one step further: that it might actually fulfill my goal to find the pockets of Egyptians. Both on and off campus, the American fast food joints are overrun with Egyptians, having a family meal in Tahrir Square or having a break with friends at school. Needless to say, the line at El Omda (the only Egyptian food place on campus) is almost entirely Americans. Both groups of people are trying to get a hold of what they can’t “at home,” but at one point do our traditions just flip over until we reject them from our own culture? Is that even possible, to swap food preferences like a badge at a Girl Scout camp?

Don’t get me wrong- I’m not a health freak by any means, and I’ve never taken any kind of impassioned rant against fast food (though maybe I would if I watched Super Size Me). I like to eat healthily for my own well being, even though my family often jokingly calls me Queen of Carbs because I could probably eat my entire weight’s worth of pasta and potato chips if they didn’t make me feel so sick afterwards. My shock about Egypt isn’t the presence of fast food nor is my dissatisfaction about having to eat it sparingly. I’m just getting sick of it often being the only or best option for a good meal. Is there no escaping Evanston’s BK fiasco??