Commuters stand packed like sardines in a carriage on the Greater Cairo Underground. There's nothing unusual in that. The service, which is decline, has been like this for the past few years. The train pulls out of Ghamra Station in central Cairo. Though the sign on the door and the platform clearly shows this door is for passengers to disembark, three teenagers have forced their way into the carriage. Having just squeezed themselves on board, they pick on two Africans, a young man and a girl. “You samara [dark one] should not block the way like this!” starts one of the trio in a derogatory manner. “You are too black to be seen,” he adds as his other two pals burst out laughing. “But you should note guy that when he and his girl, who is like an overgrilled sweet potato, come together, they'll be seen for sure,” chips in another of the threesome, as other commuters laugh faintly. “Don't trouble them. They seem to have a date on the Metro. Their pitch-black colour makes it hard for them to see all this crowd around them,” says a third, much to the angry embarrassment of the two foreigners, who seem to not quite understand. As the couple thread their way to get off at the next station, the three brats parody a local song, ‘Al-Leila Al-Leila ya Samara' (Tonight, Tonight, you dark Girl). Strangely, some other youngsters in the carriage join in the chorus. “You should be ashamed of yourselves, you rude boys,” an old man says out loud. “You should remember that the Prophet Mohamed [peace be upon him] said that no Arab is superior to a foreigner except through piety and that Allah does not look at outward appearances, but at the heart,” he adds. As silence prevails inside the carriage, the trio suddenly roar with laughter, moving towards the door to disembark. “May God help us benefit from your blessings, our Sheikh!” says one of them sarcastically.
