Unique Muslimah

Before I came to Egypt this summer for my annual vacation I was quite intrigued to find a good GPS navigator. I was excited to have my international license and wanted to roam the streets of the West with ease. Don’t get me wrong, I am a woman with a good sense of direction, but I travel to new places quite frequently, so instead of a map, an automated voice companion is ideal.

Over in the West GPS gadgets are on everyone’s windshield, from Garmin to Tomtom. I was in the mood to buy a Mio to celebrate getting my licence and being able to drive anywhere in the world, but had to cut the dream short because of my plans to come to Egypt. It was only when I came to Cairo that I realised I still needed my own GPS to help me remember how to get from A to B. But that is when I found out an alarming fact- while the West sold millions of these handy gadgets and all you ever heard of these days was GPS this and GPS that, Egypt’s use- in my limited knowledge- of a GPS was rare to non-existent. Why? Perhaps because whenever you’re lost you’ve got handy friendly Egyptians on board who will be happy to tell you how to get to your destination. Or perhaps all the streets lead to Rome?  

So I went on the search for an Egyptian  GPS, wondering if they had computerised a system where the streets of Egypt were actually on a map (I was praying fervently that there was such an invention). To my surprise there is only one in the market (if I am wrong please do correct me.)  This company is proud to state that it is the first and only GPS to have the streets of Egypt on a computerised map. Hell, even Google Earth hasn’t named the streets of Egypt yet, so I’m not sure why I was surprised that there is no organised effort from some of the top names of GPS companies to offer the Egyptians a GPS.

Since Egypt is such a iconographic and image conscious society surely middle-class to elite folks will love to hang one from their windshield. Foreigners working in Egypt would probably welcome the idea too. In a country where everyone has a car (well it seems that way to me with the overpopulation) there must be a need for a GPS? Though I am quite disheartened that Egypt is behind on this technological front which is quite popular in the West, I have to say I am relieved that there is some sign of an Egyptian computerised map, though when I visited the website there was no talk of where I could purchase one to save me from my days of getting lost on the heated streets of Egypt.

Another big deal in the West is the technology that can turn your digital photography into professional canvas and poster prints. Those of you familiar with this service may have visited sites that Flickr advertises which can print your pictures into pretty frames, but it’s not only expensive, shipping prices can leave you out of pocket. Again, before I came on vacation I was set on finding a decently priced company that could turn my photos into art. I found many, but all expensive.

So when I came to Egypt I initially believed that I would never find such a service- but I was surprised because you can. Though they haven’t actually promoted it yet like they have over in the West, in Egypt you can turn your digital photos into poster prints, frames and canvas and when you work it out it is cheaper than what is being offered in the West. I’m not sure if there are shops in Egypt that actually have promoted the words “Turn your photos into art” like they have in the West, but I’m sure if these shops did put such an advertisement, amateur photographers across Egypt who can afford to (and thousands of them are on flickr) would be happy to sign up. Personalising our homes with our own creativity is becoming quite important and I’m quite keen to follow this lovely trend so I can express myself in my own private space.