Before and After: Sara Plays Soccer in an Egyptian Drama?

There are two more things you can now say you did in Egypt: played Egyptian-style soccer, and participated as an extra in an Egyptian television drama.

A man that works in the hotel where you live loves to watch and play soccer. It is just about all he can talk about. Whenever a new male guest arrives, he invites them for a game of soccer, or here called football, every Saturday. This time he invited you to join, too, but only as a spectator. You carry on a little bit about how you are perfectly capable of participating just as much as anyone else is, but in the end you are told it is impossible to play mixed genders in Egypt. Displeased, you accept this and agree to come and watch.

The day arrives and you meet about 15 other foreigners, as well as Muhammad the football fanatic, at the metro station and proceed to walk to your playing/spectating destination. The football field is a large, flat, dirt lot surrounded by three white, crumbling cement walls, which are lined with white-chalk lines and outlined with trash. The viewing area is a three-level cement stadium, with a small covering for shade. As you enter, there is a man watering the dirt to make it less dry and dusty while the teams play. You pick a relatively clean area to sit down, in the shade, and watch the game.

The teams are divided between two hotels- Sultan Hotel, which is where you are staying, and Safari Hotel, a few floors upstairs. In the first half, Safari Hotel is getting creamed by Sultan Hotel and the first game finishes 9 – 3. Everyone takes a break, and you express your desire to get on the field and join the game. Safari players have no problem with this. What have they got to lose? They urge you to join their team, so you go for it. You run onto the field, and before anyone can object, you join the play and impress everyone with your mediocre skills. Through the remainder of the game, no one objects to your female presence on the field. You believe that it is due to complete shock of the sight of a woman playing football. Everyone watches and cheers you on, giving you a “thumbs up” at the conclusion of the game.

You feel accomplished. Even though you have never been a good football player, you have always loved playing the game. You express your feelings of satisfaction to the organizer of this game, and he invites you to come play again the next time they have a game. The impossible became the possible.

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You also never thought it would be possible to participate in any kind of professional film project, but when the opportunity presented itself, you decided to go for it. You were packing your bags to check out and wait in the hotel lobby for a few hours until your train to Upper Egypt leaves. You are asked if you want to participate as an extra in an Egyptian drama, for pay. The location of the project is in the café immediately below your hotel, so there is no concern about being late for the train.

You are seated at a table inside the café- a fruit drink in front of you as a prop. You wait. Everyone is running around like crazy yelling out things you don’t understand. Eventually it is “action” time. The cameras roll and your job is to pretend to talk. You enjoy the experience, but it only lasts for about 20 minutes. Then you are told to wait more. You end up sitting, and waiting, and not doing anything else for the remainder of the afternoon. You are now sitting and waiting only to be paid. Eventually you walk away with over 100 Egyptian pounds in your pocket. You are extremely happy with this, as it is money that you took for doing practically nothing.

Two unique and exciting experiences to conclude this time of yours in Cairo. On to the next adventure...