Life in Cairo, Egypt
Moving to Cairo, photographer Merve Ongoren gives new insight into Egypt.
“When life gives you a hundred reasons to cry, show life that you have a thousand reasons to smile.”
Living in Cairo is a lot different than the images you see on the television. Photographer Merve Ongoren moved to Cairo with her husband at the age of 35. It’s always not easy to leave your comfort zone, and trying to adapt to another unknown culture. But you get used to everything; you adopt somehow. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. For her, everything is new there, even herself.
The lack of traffic lights to control overly congested streets, the rancid taste in your mouth from the burning garbage, and the irritation from the dust, dirt, and sand that becomes enclosed in your sneakers were difficult adaptations — my senses were tweaked. Cairo reconstructed my understanding of existence like a psychologist analyzing the human mind of a schizophrenic.
One may think that life in other areas of the world, like Cairo, may look unlivable; however, I would have to disagree. The Egyptians who I have met are poor, but they are not tarnished by the media (that’s one-sided) or controlled by money. They were born poor and that wasn’t their choice. When I walk the streets of Cairo and see these people who make $2 per day but still have smiles on their faces — I realize how absorbed we, as outsiders are by media, consumption, and the pressures of society.
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