Is Egypt Safe?

I been getting this question a lot lately. I don't know really. I mean is anywhere really safe?

I think Egypt is ok. I mean crime is relatively low. I did get my purse stolen but I wasn't hit over the head when they took it. Petty theft is an issue but violent crime is rare. Aside from a few bombings every now and then. I dont know what to say about that except that I think the U.S. probably has way more violent crime than Egypt does.

Egypt has your usual crime like any other place in the world, but its not so obvious as it may be in some countries.

I can't say that I'm scared for my life here at all. The people are nice and Egyptians have a great sense of humor. Of course its much easier to be a man here than it is to be a woman. I definately need to walk in a conscious defensive manner down a crowded street or in some neighborhoods.

The men here stare and oggle at women and it really is lame. So sometimes I just look them straight in the face when Im not in the mood. The look on my face isn't happy either so they get it. Not that it changes anything but it feels good to defy them. They are probably happy I acknowledged their lame existance but hopefully it wasn't the look they wanted.

The young boys are the worst here. I think that bugs me the most. They will walk by a woman and touch her any way they can. It makes me want to kill them, but they are quick and sneaky and the older men dont do anything about it. I am always ready to grab them and twist their ear or something. Probably not the best but I kinda don't care if I get in a scruff with a boy if he messes with me. Nothing major is gonna happen so I may as well get a few hits in.

Today, I walked down the street with a friend and two boys walked by us. One boy reached his hand out to grab her as we walked by. But he missed. She and I stopped and turned around angry, but some man walking behind who saw said to just nevermind and let it go. I was so mad. But what are you gonna do? He didn't actually touch her so we couldn't do anything. Gggrrrrrrr...

Am I safe? Yes, I am safe. Irriated, yes. But actually its not much different than some of the grown men I've seen in the bars I've worked in. They are always trying to get their hands on the servers and other women in the bar. But back home if they did what they wanted to they could be arrested. Here its against the religious culture but as for being illegal, I dunno. I think that issue is in process and protecting women from these situations is slowly developing.

My life is not threatened at all, there is no one here who wants to kill me. At least not that I know of. I'm sure there are some radical Muslims who really hate America and all that but being that I am a woman, I would not talk with any of these men ever. Even if my Arabic were perfect they wouldn't talk to me at all. So I dont need to worry about dealing with them at all.

There are many Coptic Christians here in Egypt and I spend most of my time with them. I have a good group of friends and even go to a church on Friday mornings where the service is outside and we sing worship and the whole area can here. Muslims dont like Christians but they both live here together in Egypt. It is just life.

Yes, some churches have been stoned and some places have conflict but I am not in any of those areas. But I dont see how its different from the U.S. or Canada, churches have been burned down, people come in with guns and shoot people, etc, etc. These crimes happen everywhere for crazy reasons.

It is a different culture here but it is still basic human nature that prevails. That is not so foreign. The cultural elements are challenging but not life threatening. At least not today.