hi everybody,
not sure where i left off... i am in tanzania now with my sister and her family, after about 3 weeks in egypt. egypt was good overall; there were some definite ups and downs while i was there though. after my moms left me in jordan, i caught a bus and then an all night ferry from aqaba, jordan to nuweiba, egypt and then a taxi to dahab. i wanted to chill at a mellow spot before heading off to what i knew would be some major tourist spots in egypt. so, i asked some egyptians on the ferry where i should go. the answer was either sharm el-sheikh or dahab; and with dahab supposed to be the more mellow one, i headed there. what a great choice it turned out to be.
dahab is on the sinai peninsula, eastern side on the gulf of aqaba. sinai for short. a pretty small little town with one main tourist street, right on the water. it was perfect. i wanted to chill out but i also wanted to be around some other tourists and some other kids. the street full of restaurants on the sea side and shops on the land side. there were also a bunch of egyptians there from cairo, to my luck it turns out. i ended up meeting some egyptian kids that i would later stay and hang out with in cairo.
sanai was cool, and as i would find out as the egyptians said, nothing like egypt. i spent a week in dahab; basically hanging out at the beach, went camping one night to this place called abu galum, pronounced aba galoom. a beautiful place, stark desert pushed right up against a flourishing sea. what a different contrast! the two egyptian kids i met at my guest house, a place named the fighting kangaroo, a really cool little place full of different people of all ages and origins. much like otres beach in cambodia, a place where travelers stop traveling and end up staying for years. i really enjoy coming across these places as the people you usually meet there are great: not elitist, not pretentious, mellow, chill, and easy to get along with and talk to. no exception here. i would meet the egyptian kids a few days after arriving and we just hit it off right away. we would ended up hanging out for a few days with a couple of girls from cairo as well. girls that i might add were extremely independent and free in a country that women are basically stilled treated like it's the last century. i would have a conversation with them about this; and just thought that they were the cats' pajamas.
we would all part ways at the end of the weekend, them all heading back to cairo and me heading to marsa alam (recommended, of course). marsa alam was like a smaller dahab and a little less touristy on the egyptian mainland (red sea side); with quite a large population of ex-pats. i ended up meeting and staying with a sudanese refugee who let me stay at an extra apartment he had in town. it was really nice; but the whole time i was a little scared as i couldn't figure out what he wanted, as in money or maybe me waking up with a missing kidney. turns out, i'm the asshole and the dude was just super nice and pretty much took care of me the couple a days i was there. besides letting me stay at his apt, he showed me around, took me spear fishing, watching soccer games and ended up giving me some clothes. i'm really not sure how this has been happening to me; but it's been eye-opening i guess. i had that guy in jordan let me stay at his place, this guy, then the family in cairo that was super nice letting me stay at their place and taking me out for all sorts of cool shit there. i can't figure it out, and that's okay, i'm happy leaving it the way it is. the only thing i guess i know is that when you open up to the world, the world opens up to you; and then anything is possible. anyway, i was in marsa alam for a few days before heading to aswan, the "real" egypt.
not even sure why i had stopped there (i guess i thought i had to on the way to luxor), i got there early in the morning after an all night bus ride, got breakfast and booked a hotel room for the night next to the train station so i could catch the train to luxor the next day. i caught up on some sleep for a bit as i hadn't got much the night before and then headed out to do some tourist shit in aswan. this is when i started to get eaten alive. i was bugged to go into every shop in the tourist section of town i was in, not bad, happens everywhere. i ended up talking to another sudanese dude and saying, yeah, i would come over to your house for dinner (pictures of another phenom phehn story popping up in my mind); after the dude had offered me scarfs to women and everything in between. not really believing i would go. i got bombarded walking down the street, they wouldn't leave me alone. i eventually caved and got a carriage ride around aswan. the dude took me to all the tourist places and it was not fun, i kept telling him i didn't care about the museums and all this other stuff and to show me something better. he eventually took me to his house in the ghetto for lunch, which was pretty cool. upon dropping me off back near my hotel though, he hit me up for a hundred bucks, that's right, usd. i told him, no way, wasn't happening. we got into a pretty heated discussion about how much i would give him, with me walking away a few times, offering nothing. i eventually settled on a little over 200 pounds. which was more than i wanted to, but it happens. i was seething and ended up walking past the sudanese's shop and speaking with him about it. he was pissed too and he ended up confronting the guy about it, which was nice but unnecessary. at that point, i decided i would go to dinner at the sudanese dudes house. funny, i was still a little worried about it, but sometimes you just gotta throw caution to the wind and leave it in the hands of whatever is out there. it was cool, he took me back to the same ghetto as the other dude, but a little deeper, showed me around there for a bit, coffee shop, sudanese refugees, a live music show, and then we ended up watching soccer at his house, in the room they sleep, that's also the living room; in this tiny little hut. it was an experience. later, he would hit me up for money, in the guise of using it to help pay for his mothers doctor appointment, saying he would pay me back tomorrow. i lent it, knowing i was taking off at 4 am to luxor and not going to be around.
now, at luxor, i got ravished. just flat taken, eaten alive, chewed up and spit out. i don't want to be mean; but it was brutal. now, i usually try not to let hawkers and locals selling things get to me. it comes with the territory, i'm in their country, visiting their historical sites. and usually i'm pretty good at it. i got beat down here. i've been waiting my whole life to see egypt, the luxor temple, and the pyramids. they are the reason i got into anthropology in the first place. i must have been like 5 when i read about them and decided i would one day visit these places. by mid-day, i was just handing out money to be left alone, no shit, here's a twenty, leave me alone. it was bad. i'm at the valley of the kings, probably one of the greatest tributes to ancient civilization with some of the most sophisticated work in history and i let it get to me. i was miserable. don't take this to mean it wasn't amazing and when i could grab a minute to myself i would just sit down and lose myself in the wonder. and wonderful it is, over 4 thousand years old, complex to the point that parts are still baffling to anthropologists and scientists, temples that have been worked over by multiple civilizations from the ancient egyptians, the mesopotamins, greeks, romans, persians, and there is stuff still buried out there under the sands. waiting to be uncovered. the burial sites in the valley of the kings were amazing, covered in glass (to protected from the humidity created by tourist breathes) no pictures allowed as to damage the sensitive artifacts (and i'm sure to keep people paying and visiting); the walls just blanketed in hieroglyphics. it was really cool. i visited the temples of karnak, luxor, and the valley of the kings. what an amazing opportunity!
i finished the day waiting at the train station for the sleeper train to cairo. i got eaten alive at the train station as well; i wasn't left alone. people trying to sell me shit, or wanting me to give them shit, it was infuriating. all i wanted was to be left alone to read, i was sitting there reading and they wouldn't leave me alone. i finally got a remote enough place and was complaining to some british people, who broke it down for me: egypt has lost about 80% of it tourists and that's a huge part of their economy. i felt a bit like an asshole after that and resolved that i would be more understanding and try not to let it get to me anymore. still, i was happy to be heading to cairo to stay and hangout with some people from egypt.
now, cairo was cool and the fact that i got to stay with a family there was all the more lucky for me. the family that i stayed with was great, they welcomed me in like i was a long lost son/brother/cousin; whatever, beloved family member. a pretty affluent family, living on the 34st floor of the second highest building in cairo, owning multiple jewelery shops in old cairo and around the city; but down to earth and super giving. it was really nice. i did do a lot of tourist things while i was there but it was done in such a way as to feel like it was just another day in the life. we visited the families shops in old cairo and walked around down there amongst the old building and mosques and history, just teeming with life and people on the move. i prayed in the only outdoor mosque in the city, not to get religious or say that i've converted to islam but i had a major breakdown or opening up, however you want to call it, it was powerful. we did the whole islamic preparing for the prayer, washing the body, trying to cleanse the mind and then the method of prayer. i didn't really know what was going on as we did it in arabic, and karim (one a the kids from dahab) tried to explain a little, but i just let myself go, praying for my family and friends, thanking whomever for my life and my experiences, i lost it, started crying and couldn't contain it; nor did i really care about trying. i mean, here i am doing a muslem prayer with a kid i met a few days ago but feel like i've known my whole life, thousands of miles from home, my family and my friends and all i can feel is this over abundance of love and the desire and wish for everyone i know and love to have the most beautiful of lives and i'm bawling like a little kid. it was... relieving. karim telling me i'm beautiful and i can't even compose myself enough to take a picture. it was powerful to say the least. anyway, we left the mosque to go back to his uncles shop where his uncle (after offering me pidgeon) buys us this huge fish meal. now, uncle as he's called by family and friends (i would dub him papi, as he took care of everyone) i just fell in love with. he was hilarious, so full of life, just laughing his full laugh, fucking around with everyone; taking care of his son, running his store, facing family complications and jail time; didn't let any of that stop his enjoyment. it wasn't like he didn't take anything seriously, he just let it roll off him. he didn't speak much english and i don't speak really any arabic but we had a great time. he would buy us dinner, take us on a midnight private cruise on the nile and would give me an onyx roman soldier hand carved stone from his personal display case in his home and encase it in silver for me to make into a pendant necklace, saying, "i want you, when you look at this, to remember me as a great warrior and soldier." when i asked why he was giving me, what i would consider such valuable present, he would say, "i love my nephew and i can see that he loves you, therefore, i love you." such a simple answer backed by a generous offering. i would in turn, teach him yoga until sun up (most egyptians keep nocturnal hours due to the heat, i was told). and really without speaking to each other, we had a connection. it was moving.
i would spend 6 hours in a mosque one day with mano (the other kid from dahab). i would extremely respect mano for what he is trying to do with his life. maybe as it runs parallel to what i have been going through the last couple of years in trying to find myself, my purpose, and really embrace life. heavy into drugs and now trying to go clean and re-connect with his family and just starting a corporate job and finish school and working at becoming a "good" person. i would tell you he already is; but you have to believe it yourself to actualize it. anyway, i've had a keen interest in learning about islam since i was about 21 or 22, i guess, ever since i read the autobiography of malcolm x and his redemption path. i've bought the quran a few times and tried to read it, but never gotten too far into it. i basically have a keen interest in all religion, and this gave me the opportunity to see one i do not know much about first hand, i would take it. plus, anyone you love that is trying to change their live in such a positive manner you should back 100% and they invite you to take part in a major influence in said change you should accept the invitation without hesitation. so, i spent the day in a mosque with saudi "ministers" not the right word but whatever. it was beautiful and mind opening. i loved what mano was doing, and i loved what these saudi's were doing, and the brotherhood i felt there. but i just couldn't get some of the ideals, or strictness of islam. the saudi's were convinced i would convert as soon as possible and would even ask me multiple times during the day if i was ready to convert. and that they would pray for me (i found this a little assuming in a negative manner; i'm all good brother, no need to pray for me. but it came from such an honest place that all i could say was thanks). they gave me presents and fed me two meals there, and i prayed with them multiple times throughout the day as they have the 5 mandatory prayers a day. i had these dudes crying when they hugged me, in our group talks i was patting their backs while they cried as they listened to mano and the others participating in the 3 day "retreat" speak about what they had learned in that time. it was surreal to say the least. maybe they only liked me cuz i have a beard that is almost on par with theirs... just kidding. jokes, jokes. it was really an experience. i even got to spend some time outside of the mosque (it's in the ghetto) playing ping pong with the locals and earning street cred with my abilities. hahahah, but for real; and then i would get pulled back into the mosque by a believer that saw me earlier and would pull me back in for prayer time.
i got to go to the great pyramids of giza (a lifelong dream come true, just checking those off the list by the day now, hahahah). we went to the egyptian museum; where i learned about the rosetta stone and that the egyptians want their historical artifacts back from england and the louve. i got to see tutankumans grave items. i got to smoke hooka everywhere we went. i was blocks away from an uprising where people were injured and killed. i got to speak with multiple egyptians about the revolution and how they feel about it, what it means, how i thought it was such an amazing thing for them to see and be empowered by. we went to the jazz club. mostly i got to know some people, i got to speak with them about life as they saw it, hear their problems and give what little advice i could offer to complicated situations of life. i got to help two best friends working to re-establish their relationship in times of turmoil for both, finding out about themselves, their relationship to the world, how they want interact with the world, where their lives are heading, where they would like their lives to head. man, the twenties are such a bitch.
not sure where i left off... i am in tanzania now with my sister and her family, after about 3 weeks in egypt. egypt was good overall; there were some definite ups and downs while i was there though. after my moms left me in jordan, i caught a bus and then an all night ferry from aqaba, jordan to nuweiba, egypt and then a taxi to dahab. i wanted to chill at a mellow spot before heading off to what i knew would be some major tourist spots in egypt. so, i asked some egyptians on the ferry where i should go. the answer was either sharm el-sheikh or dahab; and with dahab supposed to be the more mellow one, i headed there. what a great choice it turned out to be.
dahab is on the sinai peninsula, eastern side on the gulf of aqaba. sinai for short. a pretty small little town with one main tourist street, right on the water. it was perfect. i wanted to chill out but i also wanted to be around some other tourists and some other kids. the street full of restaurants on the sea side and shops on the land side. there were also a bunch of egyptians there from cairo, to my luck it turns out. i ended up meeting some egyptian kids that i would later stay and hang out with in cairo.
sanai was cool, and as i would find out as the egyptians said, nothing like egypt. i spent a week in dahab; basically hanging out at the beach, went camping one night to this place called abu galum, pronounced aba galoom. a beautiful place, stark desert pushed right up against a flourishing sea. what a different contrast! the two egyptian kids i met at my guest house, a place named the fighting kangaroo, a really cool little place full of different people of all ages and origins. much like otres beach in cambodia, a place where travelers stop traveling and end up staying for years. i really enjoy coming across these places as the people you usually meet there are great: not elitist, not pretentious, mellow, chill, and easy to get along with and talk to. no exception here. i would meet the egyptian kids a few days after arriving and we just hit it off right away. we would ended up hanging out for a few days with a couple of girls from cairo as well. girls that i might add were extremely independent and free in a country that women are basically stilled treated like it's the last century. i would have a conversation with them about this; and just thought that they were the cats' pajamas.
we would all part ways at the end of the weekend, them all heading back to cairo and me heading to marsa alam (recommended, of course). marsa alam was like a smaller dahab and a little less touristy on the egyptian mainland (red sea side); with quite a large population of ex-pats. i ended up meeting and staying with a sudanese refugee who let me stay at an extra apartment he had in town. it was really nice; but the whole time i was a little scared as i couldn't figure out what he wanted, as in money or maybe me waking up with a missing kidney. turns out, i'm the asshole and the dude was just super nice and pretty much took care of me the couple a days i was there. besides letting me stay at his apt, he showed me around, took me spear fishing, watching soccer games and ended up giving me some clothes. i'm really not sure how this has been happening to me; but it's been eye-opening i guess. i had that guy in jordan let me stay at his place, this guy, then the family in cairo that was super nice letting me stay at their place and taking me out for all sorts of cool shit there. i can't figure it out, and that's okay, i'm happy leaving it the way it is. the only thing i guess i know is that when you open up to the world, the world opens up to you; and then anything is possible. anyway, i was in marsa alam for a few days before heading to aswan, the "real" egypt.
not even sure why i had stopped there (i guess i thought i had to on the way to luxor), i got there early in the morning after an all night bus ride, got breakfast and booked a hotel room for the night next to the train station so i could catch the train to luxor the next day. i caught up on some sleep for a bit as i hadn't got much the night before and then headed out to do some tourist shit in aswan. this is when i started to get eaten alive. i was bugged to go into every shop in the tourist section of town i was in, not bad, happens everywhere. i ended up talking to another sudanese dude and saying, yeah, i would come over to your house for dinner (pictures of another phenom phehn story popping up in my mind); after the dude had offered me scarfs to women and everything in between. not really believing i would go. i got bombarded walking down the street, they wouldn't leave me alone. i eventually caved and got a carriage ride around aswan. the dude took me to all the tourist places and it was not fun, i kept telling him i didn't care about the museums and all this other stuff and to show me something better. he eventually took me to his house in the ghetto for lunch, which was pretty cool. upon dropping me off back near my hotel though, he hit me up for a hundred bucks, that's right, usd. i told him, no way, wasn't happening. we got into a pretty heated discussion about how much i would give him, with me walking away a few times, offering nothing. i eventually settled on a little over 200 pounds. which was more than i wanted to, but it happens. i was seething and ended up walking past the sudanese's shop and speaking with him about it. he was pissed too and he ended up confronting the guy about it, which was nice but unnecessary. at that point, i decided i would go to dinner at the sudanese dudes house. funny, i was still a little worried about it, but sometimes you just gotta throw caution to the wind and leave it in the hands of whatever is out there. it was cool, he took me back to the same ghetto as the other dude, but a little deeper, showed me around there for a bit, coffee shop, sudanese refugees, a live music show, and then we ended up watching soccer at his house, in the room they sleep, that's also the living room; in this tiny little hut. it was an experience. later, he would hit me up for money, in the guise of using it to help pay for his mothers doctor appointment, saying he would pay me back tomorrow. i lent it, knowing i was taking off at 4 am to luxor and not going to be around.
now, at luxor, i got ravished. just flat taken, eaten alive, chewed up and spit out. i don't want to be mean; but it was brutal. now, i usually try not to let hawkers and locals selling things get to me. it comes with the territory, i'm in their country, visiting their historical sites. and usually i'm pretty good at it. i got beat down here. i've been waiting my whole life to see egypt, the luxor temple, and the pyramids. they are the reason i got into anthropology in the first place. i must have been like 5 when i read about them and decided i would one day visit these places. by mid-day, i was just handing out money to be left alone, no shit, here's a twenty, leave me alone. it was bad. i'm at the valley of the kings, probably one of the greatest tributes to ancient civilization with some of the most sophisticated work in history and i let it get to me. i was miserable. don't take this to mean it wasn't amazing and when i could grab a minute to myself i would just sit down and lose myself in the wonder. and wonderful it is, over 4 thousand years old, complex to the point that parts are still baffling to anthropologists and scientists, temples that have been worked over by multiple civilizations from the ancient egyptians, the mesopotamins, greeks, romans, persians, and there is stuff still buried out there under the sands. waiting to be uncovered. the burial sites in the valley of the kings were amazing, covered in glass (to protected from the humidity created by tourist breathes) no pictures allowed as to damage the sensitive artifacts (and i'm sure to keep people paying and visiting); the walls just blanketed in hieroglyphics. it was really cool. i visited the temples of karnak, luxor, and the valley of the kings. what an amazing opportunity!
i finished the day waiting at the train station for the sleeper train to cairo. i got eaten alive at the train station as well; i wasn't left alone. people trying to sell me shit, or wanting me to give them shit, it was infuriating. all i wanted was to be left alone to read, i was sitting there reading and they wouldn't leave me alone. i finally got a remote enough place and was complaining to some british people, who broke it down for me: egypt has lost about 80% of it tourists and that's a huge part of their economy. i felt a bit like an asshole after that and resolved that i would be more understanding and try not to let it get to me anymore. still, i was happy to be heading to cairo to stay and hangout with some people from egypt.
now, cairo was cool and the fact that i got to stay with a family there was all the more lucky for me. the family that i stayed with was great, they welcomed me in like i was a long lost son/brother/cousin; whatever, beloved family member. a pretty affluent family, living on the 34st floor of the second highest building in cairo, owning multiple jewelery shops in old cairo and around the city; but down to earth and super giving. it was really nice. i did do a lot of tourist things while i was there but it was done in such a way as to feel like it was just another day in the life. we visited the families shops in old cairo and walked around down there amongst the old building and mosques and history, just teeming with life and people on the move. i prayed in the only outdoor mosque in the city, not to get religious or say that i've converted to islam but i had a major breakdown or opening up, however you want to call it, it was powerful. we did the whole islamic preparing for the prayer, washing the body, trying to cleanse the mind and then the method of prayer. i didn't really know what was going on as we did it in arabic, and karim (one a the kids from dahab) tried to explain a little, but i just let myself go, praying for my family and friends, thanking whomever for my life and my experiences, i lost it, started crying and couldn't contain it; nor did i really care about trying. i mean, here i am doing a muslem prayer with a kid i met a few days ago but feel like i've known my whole life, thousands of miles from home, my family and my friends and all i can feel is this over abundance of love and the desire and wish for everyone i know and love to have the most beautiful of lives and i'm bawling like a little kid. it was... relieving. karim telling me i'm beautiful and i can't even compose myself enough to take a picture. it was powerful to say the least. anyway, we left the mosque to go back to his uncles shop where his uncle (after offering me pidgeon) buys us this huge fish meal. now, uncle as he's called by family and friends (i would dub him papi, as he took care of everyone) i just fell in love with. he was hilarious, so full of life, just laughing his full laugh, fucking around with everyone; taking care of his son, running his store, facing family complications and jail time; didn't let any of that stop his enjoyment. it wasn't like he didn't take anything seriously, he just let it roll off him. he didn't speak much english and i don't speak really any arabic but we had a great time. he would buy us dinner, take us on a midnight private cruise on the nile and would give me an onyx roman soldier hand carved stone from his personal display case in his home and encase it in silver for me to make into a pendant necklace, saying, "i want you, when you look at this, to remember me as a great warrior and soldier." when i asked why he was giving me, what i would consider such valuable present, he would say, "i love my nephew and i can see that he loves you, therefore, i love you." such a simple answer backed by a generous offering. i would in turn, teach him yoga until sun up (most egyptians keep nocturnal hours due to the heat, i was told). and really without speaking to each other, we had a connection. it was moving.
i would spend 6 hours in a mosque one day with mano (the other kid from dahab). i would extremely respect mano for what he is trying to do with his life. maybe as it runs parallel to what i have been going through the last couple of years in trying to find myself, my purpose, and really embrace life. heavy into drugs and now trying to go clean and re-connect with his family and just starting a corporate job and finish school and working at becoming a "good" person. i would tell you he already is; but you have to believe it yourself to actualize it. anyway, i've had a keen interest in learning about islam since i was about 21 or 22, i guess, ever since i read the autobiography of malcolm x and his redemption path. i've bought the quran a few times and tried to read it, but never gotten too far into it. i basically have a keen interest in all religion, and this gave me the opportunity to see one i do not know much about first hand, i would take it. plus, anyone you love that is trying to change their live in such a positive manner you should back 100% and they invite you to take part in a major influence in said change you should accept the invitation without hesitation. so, i spent the day in a mosque with saudi "ministers" not the right word but whatever. it was beautiful and mind opening. i loved what mano was doing, and i loved what these saudi's were doing, and the brotherhood i felt there. but i just couldn't get some of the ideals, or strictness of islam. the saudi's were convinced i would convert as soon as possible and would even ask me multiple times during the day if i was ready to convert. and that they would pray for me (i found this a little assuming in a negative manner; i'm all good brother, no need to pray for me. but it came from such an honest place that all i could say was thanks). they gave me presents and fed me two meals there, and i prayed with them multiple times throughout the day as they have the 5 mandatory prayers a day. i had these dudes crying when they hugged me, in our group talks i was patting their backs while they cried as they listened to mano and the others participating in the 3 day "retreat" speak about what they had learned in that time. it was surreal to say the least. maybe they only liked me cuz i have a beard that is almost on par with theirs... just kidding. jokes, jokes. it was really an experience. i even got to spend some time outside of the mosque (it's in the ghetto) playing ping pong with the locals and earning street cred with my abilities. hahahah, but for real; and then i would get pulled back into the mosque by a believer that saw me earlier and would pull me back in for prayer time.
i got to go to the great pyramids of giza (a lifelong dream come true, just checking those off the list by the day now, hahahah). we went to the egyptian museum; where i learned about the rosetta stone and that the egyptians want their historical artifacts back from england and the louve. i got to see tutankumans grave items. i got to smoke hooka everywhere we went. i was blocks away from an uprising where people were injured and killed. i got to speak with multiple egyptians about the revolution and how they feel about it, what it means, how i thought it was such an amazing thing for them to see and be empowered by. we went to the jazz club. mostly i got to know some people, i got to speak with them about life as they saw it, hear their problems and give what little advice i could offer to complicated situations of life. i got to help two best friends working to re-establish their relationship in times of turmoil for both, finding out about themselves, their relationship to the world, how they want interact with the world, where their lives are heading, where they would like their lives to head. man, the twenties are such a bitch.
