over 4 weeks ago, this is what I remember of my journey to Aswan:
NO MONEY NO CRY:
It is 5:30am and I leave the cozy friendly walls of Bob Marley House Hotel in Luxor; I head for the train station with one backpack (I leave my other bag there and will return in a few days to get it)Amr the owner was asleep near the reception area, he mumbled from under a blanket "pay when you come back" ...I smiled because really this is a rarity in Egypt, the fact that he seems perfectly content without me paying him. I placed 200 egyptian pounds (about 40 bucks total for 6 days) in front of his sleepy face. It is better to pay him now. He smiles and goes back to sleep. I pass by walls filled with Bob Marley posters as I walk through the doors into the light blue early morning crispness. I head towards the train station and watch men cycling and walking past me, I see only one woman in all black...though maybe it is not a woman...who knows. I have a hat on, a long shirt and jeans. From what I know about Egyptian transport, is that I will be among few women on a train full of men. I mentally prepare myself for the experience. I reach the station and opt for buying my ticket on the train, I find the platform and a train is slowly leaving. I pass a man at a candy stand and ask "Aswan?" pointing to the train. He nods and gets up. He looks worried for me and jumps onto the moving train. he reaches for me as do the other couple men that are standing at the open door of the train. Another man on the platform materializes and helps me onto the train while taking my backpack and also throwing it on the train. Next thing I know, I am in the air and then placed gently on the train amongst all these men. They have lifted me onto the train painlessly. "Shukran, shukran" I say picking up my bag, i thank them and smile to myself, I love surprises. They way they all worked together to help me was such a sweet surprise...oh humanity, I think with warmth.
So I make my way through the crowded cabins walking over sleeping bodies. I quickly realize that I am on the wrong train, though it is going to the correct place, Aswan, you see, I am on the local train:) Which is actually what I do prefer, but in Egypt, the government provides extra security for the Tourists Only trains cause of all the attacks on tourists. But personally, I would think that since there are occasionally attacks on tourists that maybe being on the "Tourist" train would not be the brightest thing...so i am actually relieved that I am on the local train, and well it should be an experience. It has been so far :)
MORE THAN I BARGAINED FOR:
So I am growing tired of walking over the bodies and decide to park myself at the tea bar where 3 men (2 guys in their 20s and one about 70)are working behind the counter. They smile and place sweets and tea in front of me. They chat in their few words of English and I in my few words of Arabic. We show each other photos of family. They are so friendly and I am glad to have perched myself at their counter. Of course everyone in smoking up a big grey storm and I am the only woman that has dared to sit at the little narrow bar; but it is a nice friendly place to be. The older man who just has shared photos of his daughters and their families pulls out his cell phone and begins a video, which I assume is of his family. But wow am I in for a surprise!!! It is a woman in a black burqua peeling it off to reveal her naked body. Yep, this man of about 70 has just shown me the beginning of a porno. And his face is still joyful, looking at me then back at his cell like "ain't this the best thing ever" there is no embarrassment or shame in his face, he seems happy and curious, and I look at him and say "La" (meaning No)and "halas" (meaning Finish or Stop); the young man next to him stops smiling and makes the old man stop playing it...the old man looks confused like "what? you don't want to see this?" And I think about the stereotype many people seem to have here, that Western women are interested in only sex....and truth be told based on some of the crappy Western videos ("Videophone" by Beyonce and Lady Gaga comes to mind) and movies that seem to show up in abundance here, it is not that difficult to see how one can come up with that idea once in a while...but that being said, I am in a bit of a shocked and awed state and honestly, though I would prefer to move from my little perch, I really do not feel like hiking over passengers...so basically I sit there in a slightly disturbed silence while they carry on behind the bar...The men behind the counter do not seem fazed, they are nice and generous and still ask about my job and family. And I am not really angry I am just kinda sad that this dude actually tried to show me a porno and failed to see a problem with that, though I am pretty sure that if I was Egyptian he would never have dared. I think about technology and how quickly it is creeping into everyones lives, I am thinking about the concept of shame and where it comes from, I am thinking about gender differences, I am thinking about censorship, repression, and self expression, I am thinking about religion and critical thought, geez, so many thoughts are racing around rooted in curiosity that I am relieved when other customers show up....The train speeds down the Nile's edge and I watch the blurred ride from Luxor to Aswan. When I get to Aswan, I meet up with a friend and guess what, the same thing happened to him....haa haa.
