At the previously mentioned Bedouin Night, there was a Bedouin dance show with extensive audience participation. During said dance show, the talented female Bedouin dancer ripped three layers of clothing off a brave male “volunteer” dancing with her, leaving him dancing shirtless in front of 100 of his recently-met peers. Whod’a thunk things would get hot and heavy in an Arabian tent!
The Office of Residential Life organized a Bedouin Night on Sunday, where those who were willing to pay 100 Egyptian Pounrds (about $17) could enjoy dinner, horseback riding by the pyramids, and a Bedouin dance show. The Bedouin are a predominantly Muslim, desert-dwelling nomadic group, akin in societal stature to the Basque or Native Americans.
While waiting for dinner, the DJ played a partially Arabic-language remix of the 50 cent song “Candy Shop.” If you’re how aware of how sensual the lyrics are, the chorus goes “I’ll take you to the Candy Shop, I’ll let you lick the lollipop, Go ‘head girl don’t you stop, Keep going ’til you hit the spot, whoa.”
I realize that is certainly a trivial observation that might not having any greater purpose than provoking laughter amonst me and my friends (which it absolutely did). Yet at the same time, an Arab-language remix of such a lewd song is indicative of the complexities surroudning the practice of Islam in Egypt.