DAY 22 - THEN AND NOW
SYNOPSIS: About a morning spent at the Luxor temple, an afternoon spent writing for the blog, an evening wasted hunting for a new camera, and finally a few thoughts about Egyptian culture.
By the dozens they flock to the ferry on the west bank in the early morning, bundled up in thick shawls draped over their long blue, gray, or black kalabias (the long, dress-like outfits men wear around here). They are on their way to work on the east bank. I was on my way to the temple in Luxor. Three large national ferries transport the locals back and forth all day. And since the foreigners still are not coming, some of the smaller motor boats have taken to the ferry business providing faster service at the same price.
LUXOR FERRY
The temple is lined up on a north-south axis and the sun never sits quite right for perfect pictures, but early mornings or late afternoons are best for visits. It is a much smaller temple than Karnak, but it once was linked to it by a three kilometer long alley of sphinxes. In front of the Karnak temple the sphinxes are ram-headed; in front of Luxor they are human-headed. I wonder where that changed, how and why. The government is determined to excavate the whole 3 km alley right smack through the middle of downtown. I have no idea how that is supposed to work since nearly the entire stretch is built up with relatively recent residential and commercial building.
I know you don’t need me to tell you what you can find on line, so if you are interested in the complex, and long temple histories of Luxor and Karnak, you can look them up. I will focus on the not so obvious:
One of the fascinating idiosyncrasies of this temple is that it once was completely overgrown by mud-brick houses the locals had built right into it using temple walls as convenient backings for their dwellings. The government cleaned that up when tourism turned into a major industry. No traces of this usurpation can be found except for a mosque which was too old, and too special to be destroyed. It now is an integral part of the first court of the great Ramses II.
The minute you step off the ferry as a foreign looking entity, you will find yourself surrounded by people who offer you taxi, buggy rides, or other services. I shook them all, only to be approached by an older man a few meters down the road. In perfect English he started to quote what clearly were literary passages – shame on me, my English literature background is limited – so I have no clue what it was. But we struck a conversation. A former English literature major who studied in the US, he now is a feluka captain. Obviously, he was looking for business. If I had not gone on a feluka trip already – to travel with him would be a treasure trove of information and all that in any variety of English accents at demand. He demonstrated his ability to speak English either the American, the British, the French, or the German way. What an actor is lost in this man! His nickname is Shakespeare. This was a fun five minute morning encounter.
The next person approaching me was a tall broad-shouldered man, the Imam of the intrusive temple mosque. It has its entrance just feet away from the temple ticket office. He invited me to a tour of the mosque and was impressed by my unsolicited routine of taking off shoes and whipping out my head-scarf. The mosque is quite beautiful due to its intimacy and its mix of architectural features. Its history goes back almost 700 years. There is one old and one new minaret, the tower used to call for prayer; and one old and one new mihrab, the niche facing Mecca. The structure is stuccoed and white-washed, interspersed by intricate wooden lattice windows and some brick work. The inside of the mosque contained the old Pharaonic temple walls and columns, full of hieroglyphics, cartouches, and Egyptian deities. There was no obvious sign of defacing or iconoclasm. When I asked if it was a problem for the supposedly an-iconic Muslims to pray in front of images of the ancient gods, he responded: “No problem. We like our pharaohs. They are our grandfathers, but we pray to only one god here” How interesting! I think he should have a word with those who in the name of Islam smashed the Bamiyan Buddhas in Afghanistan. Those were some people’s grandfathers, too!
LUXOR TEMPLE FULL VIEW
Luxor temple has nothing quite as impressive as the hypostyle court in Karnak. But the entrance of the temple with one of the few still standing obelisks and the giant statues of Ramses there and in the first court, are among my favorite spots in Egypt. You feel dwarfed and awed by these statues. Many photographs and many hours later, I left to rest at my former luxury hotel Nefertiti. They have this wonderful street restaurant away from traffic. It is quiet. And I still remembered the code to lock into their wifi network…
The loss of my camera is still something that gives me a stomach ache every time I think of it. I feel so violated. I am pretty sure now that it happened on the microbus from Kom Ombo to Edfu. For a while I put my bag down since the bus was not quite full. How easily anyone from the back row could have gone into some of my side pockets. There was nothing of value except my camera there… And as Joanna, the British cleaning lady of our hotel told me: “Absolutely! That’s what people do on buses. And then they will sell you camera most likely for no more than 100 Egyptian pounds (the equivalent of $20) because they don’t know any better.” Oh, it hurts!
I don’t know what it is about Fuji, but my search for a camera in five different stores in Luxor turned up the exact same useless digital camera everywhere: 3X zoom (I had a 14X) and the use of AA batteries that last little to no time (I had proprietary batteries which would last all day) – and that is only the beginning. The price varied from 500 to 750 Egyptian pounds ($100 to $150). No thanks. I wonder if Cairo sports a better selection. I will hang in there for a few more days.
The evening was a social event. Next to Joanna, the British ex-pat, Nicola, an Irish ex-pat showed up at the hotel for a chat. As I was processing photos on my computer, the two of them chatted over tea with Kasper about the world, life, and spirits of course. I wondered if some day I would become an ex-pat somewhere in the world. I can picture that; but not in Egypt. There are some things about this culture I do not stomach very well: Trash, smoking, greed and cheat, and most of all the lack of culture which to me is most noticeable in the absence of reading. People around here simply don’t read. There is a library, but I hear it’s quite empty. Not many books, even fewer people.
People are very nice and welcoming to strangers, but with a smile in their face and after assuring you how much you are their friend, will turn around and screw you over. Poverty may be an excuse, but it is not an answer to this phenomenon. There are other cultures in the world equally poor that do not breed this behavior. Of course, there are exceptions to this, but collectively, this holds true.
The ex-pat women had stories to tell about abuse and violence. Joanna observed that children are never nurtured here. Mothers don’t sing to their children, don’t read to them, and don’t cuddle. Kids are to be tough and self-sufficient. They are trained in the hierarchical pecking order which keeps everything running around here. They will be punished physically, if they don’t conform. Much of this can also be seen with animals. They are living tools and servants, never pets or companions. They will get food, but won’t be loved. Neither kids or animals nor women are treated kindly when they misbehave.
In many ways tribal mentalities still run deep. How much of this will factor into the future of Egypt will have to be seen. People now talk a lot about the “New Egypt”; an Egypt, free of corruption with fair wages and opportunities; a self sufficient Egypt that can play a leading role in the Middle East. But will people be willing to work for this? Will they be able to give up the “me and my kin first” tribal mentality and put forth a country which will operate on democratic values and promote the common good regardless of tribal hierarchy? In Shahallah!
Good night.