The Definitive Guide to Living in the Capital , Cairo , Egypt

For the past six days our favourite search engine, Google, has been updating its generic artwork in a manner that reflects the World Cup matches scheduled for any given day. Although this is no new feat for Google – the search engine has always been updating its artwork to reflect important events and dates – we just have to give a shout out for  the folks behind the Google Doodle pertaining to Egypt. 

What we especially love about Egypt’s artwork is the fact that it presents very local elements to the global stage. Indeed, it includes cartoon depictions of children playing football in the street, of men watching the game at a local coffee house, a veiled woman carrying a box of groceries on her head, 3esh balady, and even a tuk-tuk. It really looks like the folks behind this artwork know their Egyptian culture, and we just love the departure from typical depictions of Egypt which include the Pyramids, the Sphinx, and a belly dancer. As such, there is truly nothing generic nor stereotypical about this image of Egypt. 

Since Egypt’s National Team has a match scheduled today, Tuesday the 19th of June, against Russia, Google has added this doodle to commemorate the match. It is worthy to note here that this match marks the 7th time the teams go head-to-head, with the first 6 times being friendlies. The first was in 1955, and the last being in 1991. In the latter of the two occasions Egypt managed to triumph over Russia, and we are of course hoping for a repetition of this 27 year old outcome today.