I know a number of people of a certain age who were born in the Egyptian city of Alexandria. They tend to be cultivated, lively, warm and cosmopolitan.

I made the mistake once of casually alluding to one such friend as "Egyptian," and she bristled. The Alexandria of her memory, she informed me, is - or rather was, before so many non-Muslims fled or were kicked out when the monarchy was overthrown - a sophisticated and culturally superior distinct society, having little in common with the "Rest of Egypt," as a Quebecer might put it.

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