Some say endings are also the beginning of something new and fresh, and who doesn’t need a dash of freshness and new things in their lives? While others may get swept up in the intense waves of nostalgia, in the end, we all move forward, attempting to keep up with life.
Before we do that, and with only a few days left in 2018, we’ve decided to take a long look back at all the highlights that we, as Egyptians, have laughed at, cried at, gossiped about, and even made memes out of. Allow us to take you guys for a walk down the Egyptian memory lane for the year 2018!
January
- Remember how we started the year on a great foot when, for the first time in Egypt’s history, six female Ministers occupied seats in the government, representing nearly 20 percent of the cabinet.
February
- Johara getting arrested for her performance in Giza while wearing a belly dancing outfit without underwear. Yeah, we all remember that.
- We shouldn’t forget the marvellous efforts of our country, as Messi put it, leading the world in the fight against hepatitis C. Having cured more than one million patients, Messi used the “Tour n Cure” tagline to invite people infected with hepatitis C from all over the world to tour Egypt, receive treatment, and avoid waiting lists. Way to go Egypt, wonderful milestone.
March
- Egypt getting its very own Social Media Network. We’ve all talked about it and shared the news on Facebook for the most part of March. We even provided our contribution by suggesting names to call it!
- We know you’ve been dying to forget this one, and you may have succeeded for a while, but we, ever the loyal gossip whisperers, are here to remind you about the girl whose video went viral on Facebook. Um, we’re talking about the “oleelo ya Ma7amee7o” girl. Remember her? Well now you do. You’re welcome.
- Once upon a time, there was an Egyptian Prince Charming who played Football, his name was Mohamed Salah. And among one of the so many matches, the one against Portugal, a girl stood out in the crowd, holding up a sign asking the prince to marry her. But yea that didn’t really work out because the prince already had a princess and a family at home, so someone did live happily-ever-after in the end.
April
- Remember that time when there was heavy rain and thunder, and our streets were flooded with water? When suddenly cars weren’t needed, and boats were on demand for a couple of days. Fun times, weather, fun times.
May
- Remember how Egyptians hated Ramos more than Hitler because he hurt our beloved Mo Salah? Now, remember the memes? That’s probably the best thing about what happened.
@SergioRamos i know you and i will find you #ابن_الوسخة pic.twitter.com/9VZr036L82
— karim soghair (@karimsoghair) May 26, 2018
June
- June was a time that Egyptians filled up the bars, restaurants, pubs, and cafes, basically anywhere with a screen because it had been the first time in ages Egypt actually made it to the World Cup finals.
July
- Remember the Kiki Challenge phenomena? Lol. Shameless moments, or are they?
- Remember that time your Facebook newsfeed was swarmed with the Amr Diab & Dina El Sherbiny “Fareeq Al 3amal” memes? Fun times.
August
- We had some beautiful moments in 2018, one of which was the longest lunar eclipse in the 21st century, and with the summery weather at the time, we remember it being a mesmerising evening.
- Let us remember the icon El Hadary, when he retired from international soccer and how much we miss seeing him protect our goal and keep it empty of our opponent’s balls. That sounds wrong. Anyway, sending only warm wishes to El Hadary!
- The man who never ceases crossing milestones, remember how Omar Samra took part in a simulation of a lunar mission. We are proud, Samra!
- Among many August flashbacks, one that warms our heart when we remember is Elissa beating breast cancer, and raising awareness about how important it is to get checked, and how early diagnosis can save lives.
- Weird flashback, are you ready? Cadbury’s super bizarre Alien ad. All the billboards, the memes, and the other brands’ commentary on the matter. Let it all back in. You’re welcome.
- Let’s take a moment, please guys, and remember the “let’s have coffee at on the run” guy, and the whole debate that sparked Egyptians to take it upon themselves to decide whether the guy is a harasser or not.
September
- Great things happened in September, one of which would be the amazing Gouna International Film Festival. One of the moments worth remembering at the festival was Khaled El Sawy printing his popular meme (that is on nearly every Egyptian’s timeline) on a mask and taking pictures with fans while wearing his hilarious meme mask!
October
- October can sometimes be an emotional month, what with all the art that floods our timeline, as it is the famous Inktober after all.
- Let us also not forget about Amina Khalil’s beautiful heart-warming message addressing self-love and accepting your body as it is. Her message about how she accepts her love-handles, and how we should all embrace the little quirks that Hollywood and all the fashion magazines taught us to hate about our bodies. Well, that was a beautiful message that Amina put out there, proving again and again that she’s truly an inspiring figure.
November
- That wasn’t so long ago. Nevertheless, it is considered to be one of the highlights of 2018 because Spotify officially launched in Egypt for only LE50 per month for the premium bundle.
- Hamo Beka and Magdy Shata started a video war against one another, while we all ate popcorn and watched them on social media correspond to one another. Ah, it makes us remember all the memes.
- Remember that time Rania Youssef wore a dress at Cairo International Film Festival that sparked controversy among Egyptians, it all escalated from there to her getting sued for inciting debauchery? Yeah that wasn’t so long ago…
In the end, we ought to mention all the PUBG and GTA memes that filled up our timelines for the better part of this year (and of course “meen da5l el gannah now? meme”).
We have to admit, we Egyptians are quite the funny lot, and if there’s something we could all agree on it’s how we connect over our mutual love to laugh. Here’s to a 2019 that is filled with love, laughter, and joy!
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By Dina Khafagy
Cover by The New Republic
