Ambassador Gamal Bayoumi writes
One day, a president of an African country where I was a non-resident ambassador invited me to meet him. I knew that an ambassador of a major country would also attend the event. We stayed at the same hotel.
For dinner, I asked my colleague the ambassador to accept hosting him and his wife. We also sent dinner to his driver and mine.
I paid the bill and left it in its place on the plate.
The ambassador asked me: Why don’t you take the bill?
I told him that I don’t need a bill.
- He said: Do I understand from that that you bear these events from your own pocket and therefore don’t need a bill to bill the embassy with?
I told him that in the Egyptian system, the ambassador bears the expenses of the hospitality he invites to.
He laughed and said: Then I should thank you twice… but would you allow me to take the bill to cover some of my expenses?
I told him: You are most welcome… and I know that he receives about ten times my salary.
The surprising thing is that the ambassador held the bill and waved it in front of the drivers and asked them “Balatah”: Did you eat well?? Implying that he was the inviter.
But this is the case with Egyptian diplomacy.
