by Monda Mahmoud

Created on: June 09, 2009

Sometimes it seems that life here is one lifelong show. True, this is a city that never sleeps. No matter how odd the hour, you're bound to find some action going on.

Everyone is doing something, and funnily enough, everyone is watching. We are all performing. Some tumble and fumble as they do so, some perform with confidence or with an air of arrogance. We're the actors and the audience. The life we live has become our own circus, and that is ultimate platform for performance.

A circus in our original vocabulary refers to an incredible show where the performers risk their lives to entertain. It has evolved to a true symbol of showmanship - of performing a task that is extremely difficult and pretending it to be extremely easy.

A circus has its own allure, a power to captivate and thrill. On varying levels, we connect in that manner to this charming city we call Cairo. Cairo is beautiful. It is rich, and it's full of culture, literature, art, history and architecture. It is big, congested, wild, dirty, sexy, dangerous, welcoming, and it has a witty sense of humor. Cairo is a mystery. We live amid way too much madness and chaos and deafening noises. Mix that with the attitude - the unbelievable attitude sometimes.

Cairo has been called a wonder, it never ceases to amaze. All pent-up anger and frustration aside, it is still a sight for sore eyes. There's an abundance of light too; street lights, neon lights, car lights and house lights. Lights that are reflecting off the Nile even. Lights here usually come with plenty of sound, some with beat and rhythm, a lot just plain loud and noisy. The hallmark of the Egyptian street is a combination of cars honking, mobiles ringing, music glaring and people talking and shouting and screaming.

Our life has become a circus, in every possible meaning of the word.

People are doing crazy things by the minute; we must give them credit for creativity, despite the ridiculous and the silly. In a sense, they are all clowns of one form. Clowns that roam around and create havoc. They run rampant in all directions, violating cultural rules and taboos wherever possible. They exaggerate emotions and invert social rules and roles in overly dramatic ways. They are outrageous. Clowns who laugh at themselves; they don't make the joke, they are the joke. Every so often they make you the butt of the joke.

It's not just the clowns; there are other characters that exist in our lives that epitomize circus performers, metaphorically

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