Jogging in Dokki

I’m not one for extreme sports.

I think if you are on a bridge- you cross it. You don’t jump off it with elastic cord wrapped around your leg.

Playing 5-a-side soccer on Dublin’s north side on a cold Sunday afternoon, can be a bit extreme sometimes- but I don’t think that counts.

But jogging in Cairo- it does not get more extreme than that.

I run most days in Ireland. In Cairo I ran 4 times in 3 months- and one of those times was fleeing a Tahrir Square under attack.

I’m not particularly sure what Cairo’s streets are good for- but it is certainly not running.

Potholes, random bricks sticking out of the ground, uneven (very uneven) surfaces, bad street lighting, pedestrian pathways that are blocked by cars, piles of rubbish, insane traffic and the pollution all conspire to make running in central Cairo an unpleasant experience.

There were some local joggers in the Dokki area, where I lived. They ran along the Nile cornice and across the bridge- but they were few in number.

When I ran, I found myself so consumed by concentration, worrying about each footfall on the dangerous ground- that I got headaches. There was no zoning out, that comes from the pleasant runners high you gain while pounding through the Phoenix Park back in Dublin.

There is a serious issue here.

There seem to be very few public spaces for people (especially children) to play in. In 3 months in Cairo I only saw children play football on the streets a handful of times. The streets flow with constant traffic, there are few green spaces- how and where Cairo’s kids learn how to pass and move, or cross a ball- is not clear to me. (I could be mean and say this may be a reason why they have not qualified for the World Cup since 1990- but it would also be false, Egypt has had great success in the African Nations Cup and in the African club championship over the past two decades). There are many gyms in Cairo, but most would be too expensive for the average Cairene to join.

But despite these problems- I really like Dokki.  Situated on the west bank of the River Nile, middle class (I think) by Cairo standards, it is residential and friendly.

There are no real tourist sites to attract foreigners (unless the ‘Agricultural Museum of Egypt’ rocks your tractor)- but the place bustles with the familiar sounds and smells of the Arab street- coffee shops, the bread man pushing his cart and calling at the top of his voice, the call to prayer, smoke rising from the street oven cooking the kofta camel, the bakeries etc...

I am looking forward to my return- but sadly I think my favourite pair of runners will be left in Dublin.

PS. I got a number of nice comments sent to me about my last post- many thanks for them. It's nice to know people are reading. (It also got highlighted on Irish Left Review http://www.irishleftreview.org/2011/12/19/real-yacoubian-building-woman-involved/ )

Merry Christmas to everyone.