Football

Since I've been writing about crazy night time customs, there as to be a mention here of the football fans. Why here- well- you have to see it to believe it. Whenever there is a big match- esp. the local derby (between Zamalek and Ahly- not sure if that one's spelt right!) then the street go even wilder than before. With people running alongside the road with flags, fireworks, firecrackers going off everywhere, driving along playing Tablas (drums) in the car, indeed- on the cars too! Basically lots of noise caused by heightened emotions, which occasionally have the same bad side effects as back home, i.e. fighting etc- but since alcohol is seldom a factor it’s the exception rather than the rule thankfully. A friend drove me round the street one night just so I could experience being in the football crowd- I, as one who doesn't particularly like football, was taken by the strength of emotion and energy involved. Our fans back home could learn a lot about supporting your team, by removing drink form the equation! Mind you, I did also see the police fire their guns into the air in an attempt to calm some of the excitement to get the traffic moving along- that only seems to encourage it!!! I can only imagine what it was like here when Egypt won the African cup!