Fatemah Farag gauges the mood as we shuffle into 2003 The SMS made its way around town and the cynicism was not lost on anyone. Try to love me and I will try to give you happiness and to make all your dreams come true. Sender: 2003. Not that 2003 is expected to be anything other than the harbinger of calamity. Few in the Arab world are looking forward to the prospects. "Happy New Year, may it bring all the best!" exclaimed our host, cheerily if half-heartedly, as we left a pre-New Year's Eve dinner. As the elevator made its way down one of the guests smirked: "Fat chance!" The evening had been dominated by talk of war in the region: when will the Americans strike and what form will it take being the main topics of conversation. Nor is this likely to have been remarkable. From the salons of Zamalek to coffee shops deep in the alleyways of working class Cairo fear of an American war against Iraq has dampened the holiday spirit. "What is there to celebrate about a new year which only seems to be offering a war against innocent people, more deaths of Arab and Muslim people and continued violence in Palestine?" asked Salama Ahmed, a grocery shop owner in the lower income district of Boulaq Abul-Ela. Not that Ahmed usually does much by way of celebrating the advent of the new year. "We are not the kind of people who can afford celebrations like you read about. But the television puts on a special evening and New Year was an opportunity to make some extra special food. That is our way of joining in the fun but this year has been tough and really the spirit is just not there." Lamp-shade manufacturer Karima Abdel-Fatah, however, is adamant that the celebrations will not pass her by. "Everyone celebrates so why shouldn't we?" she asked. She insists that her husband, a court clerk, take her and the kids out for a soda at one of the Nile casinos. "That way we can walk along the corniche and watch the revelry, buy the kids a few funny hats and feel like we are doing something special," she explained, adding guiltily that "it is a bit of an expense, but it is for the kids." For most Egyptians the streets, and in particular the Nile corniche and the bridges over the river -- by virtue of being free -- offer the only affordable outing venue on occasions such as these. New Year, in spite of the cold, is no exception. "You just bundle up and head out," Mohamed Zaki, a young mechanic, explained. "When you consider that you have to pay for transport from wherever you live to Downtown or the nearest point on the corniche, and then maybe buy some refreshment, you can understand why many people find it difficult to get out. But my friends and I are not married and can afford a little revelry." And part of the appeal of celebrating New Year's Eve seems to be the opportunity to "rub shoulders" with the rich even if only on an abstract level. For as Zaki pointed out, "when you walk past the fancy hotels you get a look at how the other people live." It is not just the opportunity to look on, but the opportunity to mimic. "We celebrate at home. We ask our relatives over and cook dinner and watch TV. But best of all the women wear something fancy and do their hair," explained Shahira, a student at Cairo University. It is not in the tradition of her family or district -- she lives in Shubra -- to celebrate New Year's Eve but she knows that this is how it is done. She knows because she has seen it in the movies and read about it magazines. The past year has done precious little to improve the financial lot of many. "The holiday season is an opportunity to decorate the shops and try and entice more people to buy but business has remained slow," said the owner of a downtown clothes shop who preferred to remain anonymous. "People crowd the streets mainly to look. Looking into our shop- windows has become a sort of outing, it is free." For this shop owner and many others the prospects for 2003 remain at best unclear. "If there is war, and the Americans have it in for us, things can only get worse. I do not know how many years we will have to wait before a New Year comes along that we really feel like celebrating."
