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Author Archives: Austin Penn Groff
Poverty In Egypt
Posted in Uncategorized
Myths About Egypt
Egyptian City at Night
Rainfall in Egypt
Most people probably think that Egypt is just like other African countries and they associate Egypt as being under-developed, but what a lot of people don’t know is that Egypt is actually pretty developed and modernized. There are many roads and a lot of the population has a car. It may not be the nicest car, but it is a car and there are real paved roads to drive on. The infrastructure in Egypt is actually pretty good in comparison to what a lot of people think. If you told a friend that you would be traveling to Egypt, their eyes would probably get very big and their jaw would drop and they would look at you like you had a death wish. A lot of Americans think that is extremely dangerous to travel to Egypt. They think that every Egyptian is out to get them. This being said there are some parts of Egypt that aren’t tourist friendly, but it is certainly not the whole country that hates tourists. There are many parts that are still very accepting of tourist and there are still many resorts that are very safe to go to, even in Cairo. I have a friend on my floor who is from Egypt and he gets greatly offended when you say he is an Arab or terrorist. He said that people think that everyone in Egypt is an Arab. This is most definitely not true. An “Arab” is mostly used to refer to someone whose native tongue is Arabic. My friend does know Arabic, but his first language is certainly not Arabic. His native tongue is surprisingly English. He was raised speaking English, which is very uncommon but certainly he is not the only one. His parents wanted him to know English as his first language so he could come to America when he gets older. When people see Egyptians on airplanes, they probably hold their breath. Egyptians tend to look more like Middle Easterners rather than the typical African. For this reason people look at them like they are terrorist. A lot of men in Egypt have long beards and in an American’s eyes a terrorist is anyone with very tan skin black hair and a long beard from anywhere but America. It is true that there are terrorists in Egypt, but the majority of the population has nothing to do with terrorists. And most terrorist from Egypt don’t leave Egypt, they attack things in Egypt. Close your eyes and try to picture what it looks like in Egypt. I bet you see sand and hot dry air, maybe some pyramids and cacti. This is probably what most people who are ignorant of Egypt see, but that is not all Egypt is. Egypt is much more than a sandy desert and big pyramids. There are cities in Egypt just like we are used to here in America. They get rain and sometimes it even gets pretty cold. They do not often have snow but it is certainly not hot and dry all year long. In the winter they often get close to temperatures in the high thirties in the winter. Another stereotype of Egyptians are that they walk around with as much gold and fancy clothes and makeup as possible. This is just simply not true for all Egyptians. There are indeed some that do this, but most of them are just like any plain old American. My friend from Egypt is probably more American than most people at this school. He wears Timberland Boots and doesn’t own a single gold piece of jewelry. Egypt is a country that is usually typically off of most people’s radar. They don’t make headline news and when they do it is often bad news so there are a lot of misconceptions about Egypt so people should know that Egypt is not all the bad things that people hear.
-Austin Groff
Posted in Stereotypes
Egyptian Revolution of 1952
Naguib and Nasser at the 1954 Anniversary of the Revolution
Egypt is a country that not many people know about. Many people probably assume that the only history that Egypt had was pyramids, pharaohs, and mummies. However, there is much more to it than that. Just in 1952 they actually had a revolution. The two leaders of this revolution were Muhammad Naguib and Gamal Abdel Nasser. The whole thing started when the people wanted to overthrow King Farouk, but it soon became about more than just overthrowing the king.
Muhammad had a very extent military background so he was very familiar with how the politics in Egypt worked. He joined the Free-Officers Movement and worked his way up until he became the Major-General. Of course all of this was in secrecy. The Free-Officers were young men in the military who formed together to overthrow King Farouk. Naguib was a very important part of the Free-Officers Movement. He was basically the face of the movement in the eyes of the people. He talked to prime ministers, generals, colonels, peasants, and just about everyone else who wanted to overthrow the king. Naguib seemed to be a very persuasive person and could talk anyone into anything. With the help of his good friend Gamal, they managed to overthrow the king quite peacefully. After the overthrowing and exile of the king, Naguib became the first president of Egypt.
Gamal met Naguib when they were in the Free-Officers Movement. Gamal was actually the Colonel of the Movement and as Naguib slowly worked his way up to Major-General, Naguib ad Colonel Gamal became very close friends. They are both considered to have played the biggest part in the Revolution of 1952. Gamal had a very impressive military background and served in countless wars. After him and his friend overthrew the king, he became the second president of Egypt.
Naguib and Nasser like a lot of friends, had their disagreements, but their disagreements ended their friendship. Right after the Revolution Naguib was sworn to office, but also became the prime minister and chairman of the RCC (Revolutionary Command Council). Nasser formed a government of mostly important army officials. Naguib’s political career was no the most popular. He basically just surrounded himself with his colleagues and stopped caring about “The People” of his country. As you might guess, this move was not very appreciated by most people. The RCC started to realize this and did not like it. They soon started clashing ideas with him and that’s when he had a realization. He seemed to drastically change his mind and suddenly thought that the army should have nothing to do with the government and they should only be there to protect the civilians ruling it. The RCC ad Nasser strongly disagreed with this. Nasser thought that if they pulled the army out of politics, that it would allow for parties like “The Muslim Brotherhood” to regain power. This is where their major conflict started. Nasser publicly accused Naguib of supporting “The Muslim Brotherhood” and tried to turn everyone on him and eventually it worked. Nasser made everyone think that Naguib supported “The Muslim Brotherhood” and he was forced to resign and Nasser took the presidency, prime minister position, and chairman of the RCC. In 1954 an assassin tried to kill Nasser at a rally, but missed all eight shots, so Nasser calmly stood up and kept speaking and the people slowly started to stop panicking and loved every word he said. Nasser knew what the people wanted and did everything the people wanted. Nasser was a much better president than Naguib and really turned Egypt around.
-Austin Groff
History Repeats Itself
Take two countries like Africa and the United States and most people would use the word similar to compare the two, but you can’t judge a book by its cover. As different as these countries are now, they were both colonized very similarly by the Europeans. This is just another example of how where nature and nurture both play a factor, nurture takes over as the dominant factor.
The European Colonies of Africa
The Europeans have a tendency to think they can intrude on other people’s land and take over. The African’s and European’s had quite a confusing time with each other. Through treaties and other agreements, the African’s thought they were making allies, but the Europeans thought that the African’s were signing their life over to them. The African’s soon realized this and did what anybody would do, they resisted. African leaders tried to order military rebellions but they were no match for Europe’s well-developed military. The African military was not the biggest or most professional army out there, so they relied mostly on Guerrilla Warfare. The African countries fought hard but could not hold on to their precious land. The technology of the African weapons was very basic, they used things such as bows, arrows, spears, and swords. While the technology of the European weapons was very up to date, they had the latest rifles, machine guns, artillery, and pretty much any of the newest technology at the time. There was just not much chance for the Africans. By the 1900’s most of Africa lost the battle to the Europeans and was colonized by the powers of Europe. Every European power wanted a piece of this new African territory and this created what is known as “The Scramble for Africa”. These countries were so serious about getting as much of Africa as possible that the word “Imperialism” started getting tossed around a lot. This colonization should sound familiar to you if you know anything about the colonization of the United States.
The United States colonization is so similar to this that it is scary. There are some differences like the fact that the British actually used force to move the Indians first and then also tried to use force to control the American colonies after. The British used force just like the other European powers did in Africa. There was also war between world powers because everyone wanted a piece of America just like “The Scramble for Africa”. The colonies of America had a small army so they too had to use Guerilla warfare. The technology difference in weapons between Britain and the colonies was not quite as big of a difference as the one between Europe and Africa, but it was still enough to give the Americans a disadvantage. The colonization of Africa and America are so similar and not many people even think to look that far into it because they see how different these countries are today.
Slavery in America
Imperialism and slavery are to me very similar terms. Imperialism is virtually the act of making a group of people into slaves. No imperialism is not as severe as slavery but it has the same basic principles. The definition of imperialism is “a policy of extending a country’s power and influence through diplomacy or military force” according to dictionary.com, and the definition of enslave is “cause (someone) to lose their freedom of choice or action, usually by force”. These two definitions are very similar. If you look at the first part of the definitions, a country extending its power is like exerting its dominance, usually a loss of someone else’s freedom also comes with a country extending its power. The second part of each definition refers to the act of force being used to obtain what someone wants. I think that slavery and imperialism are both horrible things. Slavery often comes with more severe treatment of the victim but not in all cases and sometimes the victims of imperialism are often treated very poorly. I think that slavery and imperialism go hand in hand and are both awful things, but unfortunately they are both a part of our history.
– Austin Groff
Insight Into the Most Mysterious People in the Ancient World
The Great Sphinx in Front of The Great Pyramid
Ancient Egypt is probably one of the most interesting and mysterious places on planet Earth. From the Great Pyramids to mummification, the ancient Egyptians had some pretty interesting practices. To this day we still have to wonder if the ancient pyramids were actually built by the Egyptians or if they were built by “Aliens”. The Great Pyramid is so large and mysterious that it is hard to believe humans could build such a thing with such little technology. The Egyptians were one of a kind for several reasons.
King Menes was the first person to have a unified kingdom of Egyptians. He created one of the most successful empires in history by uniting upper and lower Egypt. This pharaoh was the first person to ever have complete control of the entire Nile. As you may assume, the Egyptian empire was much bigger than the country of Egypt is now. Memphis was the capital of this empire for most of the time the empire existed. Six hundred years later, the Old Kingdom comes to existence. The Great Pyramid was built for a ruler by the name of Khufu. His son Khafre built the second pyramid and the Great Sphinx, and his son Menkure built the third. These pyramids are amazing. The Great Pyramid is made up of 2,300,000 limestone blocks and some of those blocks could weigh up to 6 tons. Many people think the pyramids were built by slaves, but these people were actually paid. Most of them were farmers and when the Nile would flood for three months, they couldn’t farm so the king would offer them jobs working on the pyramids. It took twenty years to finish the Great Pyramid and hundreds of thousands of people. During some time during the Middle Kingdom, a ruler decided to colonize Nubia. This move will end up being of great importance, because Nubia becomes Egypt’s biggest suppliers of gold. Nubia is filled with mines full of gold. The New Kingdom came around during 1540 – 1080 BC. During this time period Egypt’s greatest works of art and agriculture feats were accomplished. During this time, the Egyptians starting making tombs, not pyramids, and the artwork drastically changed. People now drew with more feminine features like eyebrows, and softer edges. During this time the Egyptians embraced the floods instead of running from them by inventing dykes which control the flow of the river with a system of levees or dams. They also made a system of waterways in which the water would flow from one basin to another taking advantage of downhill depressions. This system could transport water to places that were miles away. A shaduf was invented which helped move water. It was basically a crane with a bucket and counterweight that could be controlled by hand. The Egyptians were really something else. They had multiple eras, but in every era they flourished and managed to amaze scientists and researchers today!
Everybody has heard of Ancient Egypt! Of course there are millions of websites that talk about the Great Pyramid, the Great Sphinx, mummies, and other things that the Egyptians did, but a website with loads of information about Ancient Egypt is TheHistoryChannel.com. They are reliable and have researchers that actually do the investigating so a lot of the information is first hand. Because The Great Pyramid is one of the Seven Wonders of the World and it was built by the Ancient Egyptians, there are millions of people all over the world doing research on them and trying to figure out who they really were, and when all these people’s research is put together and common factors are found, you can get a pretty good idea of who the Ancient Egyptians were.
-Austin Groff
The World’s Best Unknown Vacation Spot
Ever heard of the Nile River? The longest river in the world? Yeah, you have, well how would you like to sail down it? What about riding a camel? Or better yet, ride a camel to one of the 7 wonders of the world? Is that not really your style? How about windsurfing, yachting, para sailing, water skiing, and snorkeling at a reef? Maybe you want to just relax, how about a trip to the hot springs? Want to try a new way to relax, how about burying yourself in sand? What’s that? It is a therapy treatment when you get buried in sand as an effective and quick way to relieve the aches and pains in your body. You are probably asking yourself if this is a round the world trip in order to do all these things. The answer to that is NO! It is a one stop trip to Egypt! I know what you are thinking, Egypt? Why would anyone want to go to Egypt? When is the last time you heard of someone vacationing in Egypt? Probably never, because nobody knows off all the great things to do in Egypt.
Sailing on the Nile RRiver
The Great Pyramid of Giza
The Red Sea Coral Reef
A Hot Spring In Egypt
The Nile River is the world’s longest river and it empties into the ocean in no other than Egypt. You can sail across the world’s longest river while peacefully swerving in and out of the slow moving deep blue water and observing some of the most diverse culture in the world. Have you ever seen a camel? Probably not in real life out of a zoo, but in Egypt you can actually ride these majestic animals. These camels can take you the whole way to The Great Pyramid of Giza. You don’t have to walk one step because camels are great for riding and they can even hold your stuff for you. How many people can say they say one of the Seven Wonders of the World? That is certainly some to brag about. You will be amazed when you see these 455 foot pyramids. Yes, 455 feet! That is almost 46 stories! After you soak up some of the great ancient culture of The Great Pyramid, how about some adventure? I can almost guarantee you that nobody ever told you how great the aquatic activities in Egypt are? Isn’t it just all desert? NO!! Egypt is surrounded by some of the most interesting bodies of water in the world! The Nile, the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea! There are so many things that Egypt offers for aquatic activities. You can go para sailing,water skiing, windsurfing, or kite surfing. You might be saying “Those are all things that I can do at the beaches here in America”, but can you go snorkeling in the Red Sea Coral Reef? I don’t think so! There are also many places where you can go deep sea diving and see some of the most beautiful sea creatures on the planet. There are 2,148 known species of fish in the Red Sea alone! I can guarantee you that you will see some beautiful and amazing fish! After all of the diving and windsurfing you are probably going to be pretty tired, well that’s okay because there are plenty of ways to relax in Egypt. Ever hear of the saying, “Don’t knock it until you try it”? Well, that is exactly what I am encouraging when I tell you to go to Egypt and get buried in sand. This practice has been around for thousands of years and believe me when I say it WORKS! After your body is all relaxed, you can end your trip with a day at the hot springs. There are hot springs all over Egypt and sitting in a hot spring is like sitting in the most expensive hot tub in the world. If you are interesting in improving your skin’s health as well, there are many places where you can take long relaxing mud baths.
If none of this sounds interesting or fun to you I suggest you just try a Chuck E Cheese or your local Dave and Busters, but if you want a real vacation you’ll never forget buy a ticket to Egypt now!
-Austin Groff
Ebola In West Africa
Medical equipment used by doctors to protect themselves from being infected with Ebola while operating on patients
The article I chose to write about is from “The Huffington Post” and the article’s title is The Ripple Effect of Ebola on Health Care in West Africa. The article was written on August 8, 2014. This article not only deals with the health problems associated with the deadly disease known as “Ebola”, but it also digs deeper and discusses the effects that it has on the health care in Sierra Leone and Liberia. There is a ripple down effect caused by Ebola, and besides the fact that the disease itself is killing people, the other destruction caused by this disease is leading to even more deaths. It is important to know these effects so more people do not die. One example of the ripple down effect is that people are afraid to go to the hospital because of the fear that they may become infected. This means that if they are showing signs of malaria or dysentery and they do not get them treated than they may die. It is possible that dysentery and malaria may be killing more people than Ebola. Another indirect effect of the virus is that it is difficult to find doctors to help because, without the proper equipment, most people are too scared to help out to actually do anything. In Liberia there are fifty-one doctors for almost four and a half million people. There is no way that those doctors can treat all those who need treatment, so the proper equipment needs to be bought so that the doctor to patient ratio is not so terribly low.
The author seems like they are writing with a concerned attitude. They use words like “urgent” and “crisis” to address the importance and use the word “we” a lot to show that the readers can make a difference and it is going to take people like themselves to help solve this problem. We have learned in class that we can help by educating ourselves about Africa. I get the sense that the author is trying to convey that Africa is a helpless country and cannot help themselves. The need for help from outside countries is also stressed throughout the article. It seems like the stereotypical article about Africa. I get that the tone is used to persuade people to help Africa, but what article isn’t about how we should help Africa? The article is written by the Huffington Post so it is slightly biased towards liberal ideas, so it probably supports foreign aid.
My personal thoughts about this is that Africa does clearly need help, but it is not entirely our responsibilities to help them. We as individuals can only do so much and the countries of Africa have to set aside their differences and unite to help. If the African countries were smarter, they would stop worrying about securing their own borders and stopping the disease from getting into their country and rather start directing their efforts into stopping the disease as a whole. It is not only the African countries doing this. All of the countries stopping their airlines from making trips to Africa and putting restrictions on incoming flights spent a heck of a lot of money to do that. That was money that could have been used to buy medical equipment for hundreds of doctors which are desperately needed in Africa. The money needs to be spent on making conditions safer for doctors so no doctors will get infected. This would lead to an increase in willingness of doctors to help the struggling country. The disease needs to be controlled and eliminated. Instead of trying to stop the spread we need to focus on simply eliminating the disease as a whole. What better way to stop a disease from spreading than to eliminate the disease completely. Africa needs help, but not just any help, we have to be smart about how we help. This includes the doctors that are helping now. They cannot try to be brave and do reckless things like operate without the utmost protection. This could lead to them contracting Ebola which would eliminate more doctors and clearly that would only worse the problem. The article ends with a quote from the World Health Organization’s Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan saying “Our collective health security depends on support for containment in support in these countries.” This is a powerful statement and sums up my opinions about this article. What she means is that if pity is not enough to get you to do something about this then your personal health being in danger should motivate you to do something.
-Austin Groff