The historic center of Cairo is undoubtedly one of the largest of all those existing in all underdeveloped countries. The network of its narrow and elongated streets is home to a typically Muslim commerce with its many specialties (Spice Street, for example). Under awnings that protect from the sun, the various commercial openings show a great vitality with their owners sitting or chatting while waiting for the clientele that occupies abundantly the street route throughout the day: bustle, smiling faces and always people, many people, exceptionally, some group of tourists. At certain points appear the mosques, of beautiful silhouette, some madrasa or Koranic school, the complex of Coptic Christian temples and a conglomerate of two-story houses. All this is very attractive for those of us who live in cities with historic centers so different from the Muslim ones. It is currently undergoing rehabilitation and recovery.

Two complexes are particularly striking in the surroundings of the Historic Center: The Citadel, of large dimensions, and the Cemetery or "city of the dead" (al Qarafaor al Magabar) which was a pilgrimage center as early as the tenth century. It houses a huge number of "homes" or buildings inhabited by the living that coexist between tombs, mosques and schools, all forming part of a cultural and historical heritage, where you can find stores, micro restaurants and cafes.
In the eastern area are located very luxurious buildings of American and official firms (Hotels and Ministries) in addition to the Abu El-Ela Mosque and the splendid building of the Museum. Poverty and happiness go hand in hand and are mixed with pollution, uncontrolled traffic and the continuous honking of cabs.

The city, except in the few areas where a local and foreign bourgeoisie lives, gives the impression of suffocation because it is a continuum of streets and more streets that house high densities of neighbors. It extends for many kilometers from the central area (the historic center and its surroundings) following the river, between some industrial parks and some obsolete factories, towards Alexandria. Very close to the hotel complex is the very long street of Tahrir, several kilometers long, which runs from east to west and is adjacent to the place of the same name in which the events of these days are occurring.

The university complex of the Metropolis is in accordance with the population characteristics of the enormous city and welcomes the middle and privileged classes which, although scarce, explain why there are two large universities (Cairo University and Hellwan University, in addition to the American University among others). Each of the first two has about 150,000 students and thousands of professors, some of whom are exemplary participants in the protests to establish democracy in Egypt.

In both universities there are women in senior management positions. The incorporation of women into professional life is well advanced, at least among the middle classes working in the services sector.

But poverty is the dramatic grade of a country whose inhabitants pray to God. Another world, ours, hardly does so, but rather rejects it and sometimes attacks it with extreme vileness and clumsiness. A world, the first, which has been the victim of European colonialism and corruption, as demonstrated by the Tunisian Jasmine Revolution.