So though I write this from a SMOKE FREE internet cafe in Dahab facing the Red Sea; I figure I needed to include something in my blog about Luxor and Aswan, though I ventured there almost a month ago.
Just let your Fro Glow!!!!
It was important for me to get to see those two cities mainly because that is where many Nubian Egyptians are from and still live. Yes the sights are great but most of you know that I am a people person and well, I wanted to meet up with some people from different backgrounds in Egypt. So really I was thrilled to get to be around some Nubian people. They live mostly around Luxor or Aswan, and they tend to be darker skinned with curly hair and in many cases locks. I really wanted to be around people from this experience especially because I had experienced quite a bit of negativity about my fab fro in Cairo and was longing for some of that Fijian fro love that I miss. Now first I did a road trip to Dahab and spent Thanksgiving with some friends on the Red Sea, then I took a cheap flight to Luxor and checked into the Bob Marley House Hostel.
BOB MARLEY HOUSE
A very chill hostel with excellent food and nice colorful rooms. The men that run it were amazing. They were mainly Nubian from Luxor. They hooked it up and even gave me a night for free!!!! Free, now that is rare in Egypt. It was great to be in Luxor and really interesting to be around more people from a Nubian background. It felt a bit more comfortable for me in some ways. But still the people staring in my face with mouths open unable to rip their eyes away was still happening, just not as frequently and with more smiles. Luxor is hectic and the hassling is wild. Men asking if you want to buy this or that, men asking if I want to be bought basically. I think they offered some camels for me.
Anyway I met a great bunch of travelers from Bob Marley House and my life was much easier hanging with them, especially cause one of them was a man. A very lucky man according to many local men we met. As we toured sites we were followed and interviewed about Egypt. A film crew from Aswan TV decided that we would make good subjects. At night we were invited to a wedding of the camera man's brother. The wedding was huge, with men on one side women on the other and families mainly in the middle. Many women were fully covered and some were veiled. Some wore flesh colored body suits with a skimpy dress over. There was fire play and big fuzzy costumed characters acting as the bride and groom. The wedding was also well covered by a couple different cameras and even one on a crane. We are even on the wedding video. The wedding music was mainly a form of techno and there was a belly dancer that danced on the table to a crowd of eager men video taping her moves with camera phones. It was a bachelor party and wedding rolled into one...so I guess the bride never has to wonder what happens at the bachelor party huh?...it is there staring her in the face, and No her face did not look too happy as that dancer shook it like a salt shaker with the groom.....anyway, everyone was so sweet and generous.I have been very lucky in my travels for many reasons and attending the Maori wedding in New Zealand almost a year ago and this wedding here are just two of the reasons. I love going to weddings no matter where they are and no matter who is getting married, I am an oddball that likes weddings, but being able to attend these ones meant a lot to me. So thank you:)Now from Luxor I took a 3 hour train to Aswan and on that ride a most unexpected surprise awaited me...but I will write about that next time.
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