May 23, 2010 - 4:50pm
This morning, we all dressed up again and went to the Arab League (which is something like the UN or the EU of the Arab world). We sat around a table with a high ranking Arab League official who eloquently and truthfully answered our questions. He wasn't trying to pander to us as Americans, but truly seemed interested in giving us the whole story as the Arab League sees it. The role of the Arab League seems to be primarily a peace-keeping one, and they do a lot of mediating between peoples to benefit each country as a whole. I was extremely satisfied with the meeting, and was definitely educated there.
We broke for lunch, and then at 2 our photo group went to the Giza Zoo. What a tragic place. The admission for Egyptians is 1 LE (or less), and for us it was 20 LE (around $4). We immediately went to the lion cages, because our guard (we always have one when we're in a group, no matter the size) led us there. We got there right at feeding time, in which a man fed the lions meat through the bars in their tiny cramped cages. It made me feel physically ill. After feeding, the 8 of us were brought alone into a small room that housed an even smaller cage with two lions in it. One by one, we posed in front of the cage, while a man poked the lions with a metal rod to get them in a good position for a photo. It was dark, smelled like death, and was just a foul experience. I was the only one who didn't pose with the lions, because I couldn't bring myself to do it. Just as I thought it couldn't get any worse, we were taken to a third room where even smaller, darker cages held more lions and meat. A man pulled a lion cub out of one of the cages, and Rob, Victoria and the guard each posed with it for a photo. It was such a horrible experience, watching a half-dead lion cub being posed for photos. I found it hard to watch.
As we walked around the rest of the zoo, the sights weren't much better. Some of the cages were bigger, but most of the animals had someone who (if you gave them a little baksheesh) would put food on a stick, and let you poke it into the cages to feed the animals. This definitely made the animals more attentive to the zoo guests, but it was just sad to watch. The whole place was dirty, foul smelling, and full of death. I didn't take many photos, because it's not something I'd like to specifically remember. Still, I'm glad we went because other people enjoyed it and I'm glad I was able to see the zoo, if just to confirm the rumors about the treatment of the animals there.
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