the one-dollar nation

what a trip it has been. sand as far as the eye can see. sand dunes, sand beach, sand in your shoes and socks, sand everywhere. majestic pyramids that has lasted centuries, hieroglyphics that tell stories of a time before christ. tombs of the mummified dead and cruises along the famed river nile. i have encountered many firsts this time round. the first time i've spend the night in a sleeping cart as the train rolled on by. the chug-a-chug makes for a very calming, very comforting lullaby rock. i wake up many times that night, hoping, wishing, that our destination was still a long way away. it was also the first time i had dinner in a tent under the bright starry sky, far from civilisation, surrounded on all sides by sand to the horizon. we talked, we chatted, we laughed under the glow of the flickering candle. it was like a page out of aladdin, or some middle eastern fable. the stories told were captivating, to say the least, of queens and pharoahs long gone, of quells for power and lineage squabbles, of incest and forbidden affairs, stories that we can now only let imagination fill in the gaps of what history recorded. the first i've stepped on egyptian soil, tasted egyptian food and interacted with their people.

i looked at all the sand surrounding us, so parched, so dry, so devoid of anything except more sand, and all i could think of was how could they have let their country go to such waste. a long long time ago, there were trees, there were greeneries. they were a rich powerful country, building huge monumental structures that were simply mind-boggling. their architecture, their medical knowledge were beyond the times. all that is left now are fine grains of sand that slip from one's grasp. awe striking legacies are now reduced to a 'one dollar' nation.

everywhere that you go, everywhere that you turn, everybody screams 'one dollar' at you, almost like it is a term of greeting. hello, good morning, how do you do, one dollar. you will think that it is en egyptian term for acknowledgement, one that sounded so much like our american unit of currency. unfortunately, you listened to what you heard, a request, more like a demand for money. one dollar for whatever they are selling. one dollar for taking photographs of them. one dollar for using their restroom. one dollar for even looking at them! old men with age wrinkling their faces, young handsome men, even healthy decent looking children, all demanding money as if it was their god given right. if you make a purchase, be swift on your feet, for you will most likely be short-changed, deliberately. it is a place where you have to be on your toes.

everyday was an adventure in itself, a page in life.

we were told that they will charge us for taking photographs of them. still, armed with that information, we were not prepared. sleepy, disorientated and exhausted, we clambered down from the bus for our first tourist spot, the pyramid at saqqara. we were hounded almost immediately by the locals working that area. we knew better, or at least we thought we did. we rejected their offer of taking photos. free, no charge, they tempted us. we ignored them whilst they brazenly interjected themselves in our family pose. they persisted. they took off their headwear and placed it on the hubby. thanks, but no thanks, i am not going to be caught dead in some strange guy's piece of clothing. later, he stuck his hand out for some money. i thought you said free, i was screaming inside my head. but i know better than to argue with these people. their hide is as thick as their face. for them it's survival. we gave in, but so many times i had to feign deafness to ignore their demands for money.

when you venture into their markets, they open their prices with the sky. absurd, you say. then what do you want, they ask. it is all a very tiring process of bargaining, of give and take. i am lost in this place, where your words are not your meaning, where manipulation is the game. you think you have won when you bargained to rock bottom prices, then you think back, all the grabbing of your arms, the all-too-close proximity, the shameless request for a kiss or anything else in your bag for that matter. did you win or did they gain the upper hand?

egypt. that was egypt for me. a place full of mysteries and brazen people. a country so poor when it has so much. an experience of a lifetime.