Customary

I'd read enough before-hand to hopefully prepare myself for almost any kind of behavior from the Middle East. Misconceptions still came up.

On day one I experienced the smooch kiss, whistle, the "hiss", hey hey hey, "beautiful", and various other calls. Here it goes, I thought to myself. No problem. As long as they don't grab me, I'm cool.

Days go by as my friend and I explore Cairo. Suddenly, there it was - the "smooch" sound again. I look over but it's not at me! It's one man trying to get the attention of another male friend across the street - WOW, I thought! That's great. That makes more sense to me - it's not because I am necessarily a blonde tourist as much as it is a normal custom they follow. They don't waive. This is their sound - their way of expressing themselves and it has nothing to do with me.

Now I think to myself, how many people are offended and have no idea. Some may even go home telling all their friends about how terribly they were treated.