On Cafe Culture: Cairo, Istanbul, etc...

Recently I read a truly interesting BBC article titled "Sad Goodbye To Cosmopolitan Cairo". Cairo's cafe culture has always been an interest of mind. When I studied in AUC in the Summer of 07, I would always grab a cup of hot white chocolate and sit in the balcony of Cilantro in Midan El Tahrir, what I consider to be the nucleus of Cairo's hustle and bustle. There was something about the dynamism and energy of the city that stimulated me to return to that same spot almost every morning. Whether it was with friends, with a book, or just to come and sit down with my mug to observe people, there was something about Cairo's cafe cuture that was addicting. I cannot say that Cilantro is a justified example for experiencing Egypt's authentic cafe culture, but gave me taste that ever since put me on a trail to discover what it is about the cafes that enriched the Arab world's intellectual movements.

In my early teenage years, I remember going to the Naguib Mahfouz cafe in Khan El Khalili. I remember seeing portraits of the mastermind there, but I had no appreciation of his works at that time. But I soon discovered through my readings of Arabic literature that it all started in cafes like the one I had visited so long ago. Sitting in the midst of cosmopolitan Cairo, some of Egypt's greatest writers would congregate like think tanks to share their impressions and inspirations. This rich literary culture has died since, but I have been able to relive it through my readings.

I remember back when I was in AUC, on one of my daily tours of their outstanding bookstore, I picked up a book titled Cafe Riche. A publication by the AUC press, it was a book that chronicled Cairo's rich intellectual cafe culture that progressed over the past century and how it influenced Egypt's literary movement. The title of the book was a mere specimen of Cairo's vast pool of cafes.

After reading the BBC article, I was disappointed to find out that this intellectually-luxurious cafe world I had imagined had become artificial and is slowly rotting as Egypt's intellectual literary movement withers away. I still imagine nostalgic Downtown Cairo to have the Parisian touches bestowed upon it by Khedive Ismail, but I have to terms with the fact that the cafes that once cultivated Egypt's rich literary history are now void of any intellectualism.

Nowadays, most of these cafes are alcohol-stenched, dusty, and overcrowded with the dregs of society, if I may be excused to say. I once visited one of these cafes in an old, shabby motel in the middle of Zamalek with a couple of American friends. We took a very shaky lift up to the top floor of the motel to find that it was a run-down cafe converted to a shady bar, where instead of some of Egypt's greatest thinkers and writers would congregate, it had become a hub for taxi drivers to drink their lives away. I was quite disappointed. My friends and I were there till sunrise, and it was such an irony watching my countrymen drunk on whisky while the Fajr athan was sounding...

What happened to the classiness, and style of the past that attracted the latest trends of thought and fashion from Europe straight to the alleys of Cairo? The BBC article I was reading blamed religious conservatism in Egypt as the main culprit for the decay of this rich cafe culture. I wouldn't disagree, but I would also attribute it to the lack of interest in literature...actually, there is no point to beat around the bush...simply put, I would attribute it to ignorance and lack of regard for education.

Unfortunately, the elite that once set the standards for these cafes have also sought new, more suburban places to avoid the chaos that has engulfed downtown Cairo. Living in Katamaya, I can attest that I feel like I come from a completely different country when I step out into Downtown Cairo.

I believe that the closest thing that has allowed me to relive what I believe would have been Cairo's rich cafe cuture is Istanbul's backstreet cafes. In the alleys stemming from Istiklal Avenue, Omar and I have been able to discover very sophisticated cafes which resemble those of Manhattan's Village, where there is the decency of sipping of on a glass of wine, nothing obnoxious like I had seen in Cairo. My favorite spot in Istanbul was the Algerian/French Street, with its steps, fountain, petite colorful apartment buildings.

Omar in front of the Algerian Cafe Street in Istanbul

In Charlottesville, there is nothing remotely cosmopolitan as in Istanbul and Cairo, so I have invented my own Cafe world in the couple of cafes scattered across the Downtown Mall. Although the Mudhouse Cafe may not compare to Naguib Mahfouz's cafe, I find it to be my own literary inspiration, at least in my own way.