I haven't told you everything about Egypt. I couldn't possibly. I loved it there. Cairo isn't a beautiful city (sorry!). But I loved the people we met. Since I've never been anywhere, this was my first chance to just absorb a very foreign place. And I did.
I was not able to capture my favorite image of Cairo. As we were riding in our mini-bus through the city, we passed a huge flat bed trailer. It was as long as a semi-trailer and it held great bundles of re-bar. The trailer was pulled by a horse. The driver was dressed in the stereotypical Egyptian-looking garb--about like what the camel guy was wearing. He was holding the reins and a cell phone at the same time and was texting as he drove. This is Egypt.
Before we got back to our hotel, we were taken to a cotton store. You know, Egyptian cotton is supposed to be fabulous. The store had some beautiful stuff, but I couldn't afford any of it. It was clearly a place for rich tourists to shop. I tried on an awesome dress, but didn't buy. The salesperson wouldn't give us any space or I would have taken a photo of myself in it.
Anyway, when we pulled up to the cotton store, we could see kids kids pouring out of the gates of a building across the street. Wael told us that was the public school. I took a picture.
| You can see the young boys coming out of the gate on the right side of the photo |
The next day, when we got to the airport in Cairo, I noticed a lighted sign that was everywhere, in English and in Arabic.
The fact that this sign was everywhere shows that they have a great deal of pride, especially about the revolution. But I just can't seem to reconcile the words with the images.
What do you have to say about it?
Egypt is voting this week for their new president! So I am thinking of Wael, his wife, and his little son Omar and their future in that ancient land.
3 comments:
at work, we talk about things being "unreconciled" all the time. so i'm used to it.
i also plan to suggest that the young people of america paint "egypt" across their foreheads.
or Obama
ps. i love the image of the flatbed pulled by horse with the guy texting on his cell phone.
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