Cairo's Champions

Apartment blocks are the one constant in a Cairo skyline that includes many eye-gouging hotels and other architectural abominations. While the latter aim for clean, coloured exteriors, the former take advantage of the natural “smog grey” provided by the environment. Ugly as this may seem, millions of LE is saved on paint.

Like a book, however, one should not judge an apartment block by its cover. But you have dig deeper than superficial aesthetic factors to find the true quality of an interior. This quality control is left up to one person: the bowab.

Men dominate the profession, but their female counterparts are becoming more and more common. They wear galabayas (or abayas, for women) and are generally found in or around the apartment building they take care of. Their duties include, but are not limited to: collecting garbage, transporting and installing propane tanks, guarding the door at night, stopping unwanted people from coming in, hassling visiting Egyptians and foreigners, liaising with the landlord/lady, hanging out with other neighbourhood bowabs, general cleaning, and making sure the elevator works. All it costs each tenant is a fee ranging from 20 to 50 LE.

Bowabs are often old—I’ve seen a couple that should be in the Guinness Book of World Records. There is no question that Bowabs have seen some serious $@%&. From Nasser to Mubarak, from Socialism to whatever you’d call the current government. What haven’t these caretakers seen?

What impresses me the most is their ability to sleep in front of the door (that is chained shut) with the light on, knowing that people (mainly annoying foreigners) will be coming out. I’m pretty sure they resent us simply because it means less sleep at night. In all seriousness, though, bowabs are a great group of people. Cheerful, respectful, and they would make a great interview.