floating of the Egyptian pound and the economic policies mandated by the International Monetary Fund in exchange for lending money to Egypt. Currently, there is a state of economic suffocation which affects the daily life in Egypt and the different manners of enjoyment and consumption practiced by the Egyptians. People who are used to a certain standard of luxury are now forced to minimize their spending on luxuries, in order to secure the more basic necessities of life. Going down with the social strata, the poorer people are suffering way more and are in real danger of not being able to provide for the basic necessities themselves, even with the country’s plans and programs working to help with the economic difficulties of this social group. So what about the enjoyment of these people? What do they do for fun? How do they spend their time after work?
In Alexandria, the coastal city, there is an old tradition that occurs weekly in some of its streets. It would not go unnoticed if you happen to be walking around while it is taking place; the gathering of the horse-carriages and their owners and the crowd it attracts would not leave you without curiosity about what is going on. If you approach, you will notice the noise of the men cheering, the sound of the horse hooves on the ground, the car honks and the motorcycles’ noise. Then you might think that what is happening is a horse race, or something of the sort. Then you realize that what you are watching is something happening purely for fun. Tens -sometimes hundreds- of horse-carriage riders gather weekly in these spots just to “run” with their horses; to let go and just race. They race to give their horses a chance to run freely, with no rules or boundaries.
During their weekends, on Fridays or Sundays, the horse-carriage owners go to the outskirts of the city to engage in this hobby which is their main source of enjoyment. They start after 10 pm so the horses can run without being exposed to the sun. The “Running” season starts on Easter day by the banks of Al Mahmoudeya Canal, where a huge number of horse-carriage riders gather from all over Alexandria, and sometimes from outside the city to announce the start of the Running season that lasts through the summer. In winter, horses would not be able to run because of the slipperiness of the streets and the harsh weather conditions. The horse-carriage owners choose their timing carefully, whether during the spring and summer or the actual time of the day, in regard of their horses. During the race, it may happen that someone likes a certain horse and decides to buy it, so they make an offer to the owner which can actually reach hundreds of thousands of pounds, making the activity both business and pleasure.
Recently, people in Egypt have been suffering from critical economic and political circumstances especially with the recent
