Friends For Life

I was in Egypt in late 2010 for 2 weeks. This was prior to the Mubarak uprising and the country seemed fairly stable. I had the privilege of flying a woman and her granddaughter on their yearly trip. I took over the flight in Reykjavik, Iceland and landed in Cairo 5 and a half hours later. The passenger and crew were staying at the same hotel, something I’ve never been fond of. It’s always a little disconcerting for the passengers to see the flight crew out of the plane and in a more relaxed atmosphere. As it turned out, we never crossed paths so it wasn’t a big deal. With these passengers, I wouldn’t have cared anyway. They were really nice, having a great time together and easy to get along with. I was cleared for a low pass over the pyramids on our way into Cairo and they both came up to the cockpit for a better view. I felt it thoroughly impressed them and at that point, could probably do no wrong.

We bid farewell to the passengers, cleaned the plane and fixed the obligatory cocktail. This being a Muslim country, I knew our drinking options would be few and far between outside our Western hotel. Had to get ‘em while we could. After a lengthy time clearing customs, we were finally on our way to the hotel. None of us had ever been to Egypt and we were all excited, especially after having just flown over the pyramids, one of the 7 wonders of the world.

Flying over the Pyramids

We checked in and I immediately went to the concierge desk to arrange a tour guide. My flight attendant was very gung ho to see the sights as well and was willing to throw down some cash to have an unforgettable experience. I was in agreement.  The next morning, our own van and our tour guide, Sameh, met us bright and early. We called him, Sammy. This kid was about 30-years old and knew everything you’d want to know and more about Egypt. He also spoke fairly good English. He was the perfect guide. Gave us only as much info as we could handle and didn’t bore us with bullshit. He took us to the Egyptian Museum where we saw sarcophaguses, King Tut’s golden headdress and some amazing relics from antiquity. This place was amazing. I could have spent a week there. Unfortunately, we only had 4 days. We hustled through the constant Cairo gridlock and made our way to Giza and the pyramids.  What a joke this place was. I mean, they’re a must see, but the panhandlers and salesmen hocking their wares are relentless. They try their best to break you down, and it usually works. But I’m no sucker. A quick lesson. When negotiating, always settle on a price in your head that is AT LEAST half of what their offering price is. When they come down closer to your price, you go lower. They will quickly see how it is going and will be willing to immediately be at your original price. For instance, if you’re being offered a shitty souvenir for $10, offer $4. When he counters at $7, hem and haw and say, “you know what? After looking closer, it’s really only worth about $2 to me.” You’ll never pay more than $4. Thank me later.

 So we went to the pyramids and got a great tour from Sameh, often interrupted by shills trying to rent us a camel or take a picture with a turban on our head. Ok, so I fell for this one. I mean, how can you pass up an opportunity to get a picture taken on a camel in front of the Sphinx with a God damned towel on your head? You can’t! I mean real Lawrence of Arabia shit. We did the pyramid tours, saw the Sphinx and passed by the KFC and Pizza Hut just outside the gate on our way out. Ridiculous.

The next day, we hired Sameh and the van again to take us to Alexandria. Well worth the trip. This Mediterranean town in Northern Egypt is completely different than Cairo. We toured the catacombs and saw the Library of Alexandria, aka, Indiana Jones’ playground. Every book relating to Egypt or any other ancient civilization for that matter is contained in this ultra-modern library. We bought some souvenirs and split back to Cairo. On our way out of town, I snapped a random picture of a Christian Coptic church on the outskirts of town. 3 months later, it was fire bombed by Muslim extremists, killing 26.

2 days later, we flew our passengers to Luxor, in the middle of the country and where I had an experience that I will never forget for the rest of my life. Sameh had a friend who was a tour guide in Luxor so we hooked up with him to see all the sights that Luxor had to offer. We saw the Valley of the King’s and I stood in Ramses’ and Tutankhamen’s tombs. We visited the Temple of Hatshepsut, the only female Pharaoh of Egypt; we stood in front of The Luxor Temple, which is adorned on one side by a huge obolisque.  It seems that another one on the other side of the entry would make the Temple completely symmetrical, and in fact, there used to be a matching obolisque. When Napoleon visited Egypt, he admired it so much that is was given to him. It now stands in Concorde Square in Paris. We visited the Karnack Temple and admired its amazing carvings.

That night, I perused the gift shop at the hotel and quickly struck up a conversation with the shopkeeper. He was a late 20-something Christian man, one of only about 10% of the population of Egypt. We hit it off and he invited me to come meet his friends for tea after he got off work, around 9. I accepted.  I met Saren, the shopkeeper in the lobby at 9 and we walked outside to the parking lot where he had his motorcycle parked. He told me to jump on the back on hang on… Ehh… Okay. Off we went.

We rolled up to he and his friends’ teashop and we went in the back where a bunch of guys of about the same age were sitting on the grass in a circle of chairs, smoking Hookahs and drinking strong tea. I was introduced to them all, each of them Christians and they were proud for me to know it. They were overly friendly and accommodating. This place kind of seemed a Christian sanctuary in a sea of Muslims. It was for them, at least. Saren introduced me to his best friend Menah, whose father was the priest of the local monastery. One guy was real curious about US immigration. When I asked him about his curiosity, he said his wife was living in the US and was pregnant. He wanted to know what he had to do to be with his wife and child. He had been denied a visa several times. I didn’t have an answer for him. Menah asked me what my plans were for the following day. “I’ve got a great umbrella next to the Nile that I plan in sitting in all day”, I said. He laughed and asked if I’d like to come meet his father and see his monastery. I was a little leery, but accepted his invitation. He said he had to work and asked if we could go after he got off around 5:30. “Fine!” I said. I really didn’t want to go.

The next day, I sat on the banks of the Nile, admiring the beauty around me. It was a perfect day, sunny and almost cool. I drank pina coladas that the bartender kept putting increasingly less alcohol in. It was starting to become a Mexican standoff. If I’m paying 8 bucks a drink, there sure as hell better be some booze in it and don’t try to regulate my intake, asshole. As I sipped my drink, I contemplated an excuse to get out of going to see Menah’s Pops and his monastery. After a while, Joe, the guy I was flying with, came over and had a drink with me. I told him my dilemma and he said I should just stay in my room and not meet him. We were here for 2 more days. I didn’t want to have to evade him for that long. I ran into Saren around 3 and he told me Menah was really looking forward to me meeting his father and he’d be here straight from work. Well shit. I said I’d go… Better stick to my word. 

Sure enough, Menah was in the lobby right at 5:45. He said Saren really wanted to go as well so we waited for him to close the shop and headed out. The monastery was on the opposite side of the Nile from the city, which meant driving a good distance South to the only bridge to the other side. We passed the Karnack Temple, some new excavations right in the middle of town, the Luxor Temple and several Souks and Bazaar’s. We made our way out of town and by the time we reached the bridge, the sun was beginning to set. We crossed the bridge and I looked up the river to see several small fishing boats and a couple of Nile River cruise ships moored on the side. THIS was Egypt, an extremely fertile valley, bordered on each side by the vastness of the Sahara Desert. The Nile was definitely God’s gift to Egypt. Without it, Egypt and Sudan would be a wasteland. We turned north and paralleled the river on the west side. It was getting dark. We had been in the car for about 45 minutes and I was beginning to wonder where we were going.

The city soon gave way to a rural landscape interspersed by small settlements, farms and fields. It was pitch dark and Menah was driving. I suggested he turn his headlights on and they both turned and gave me a puzzled look. I quickly realized, when an oncoming car suddenly flashed us, that they don’t use their headlights at night in Egypt. Who knew? My wonder turned to slight worry as another 30 or 45 minutes passed. I was, after all, an American in a Muslim country. My only consolation was that these guys, whom I felt were my friends, were Christians. I’ve never held any ill will toward Muslims, even during 9/11, but given our current situation, had these guys been Muslims, I would have definitely wanted to get out of the car. I mean, we were in the middle of fucking nowhere.

After growing increasingly uncomfortable, I saw a light in the distance and Menah said we were almost there. Finally! We pulled off the highway and drove about a half mile on a dirt road up to the Monastery. It was surrounded by an 8-foot mud wall and resembled an adobe church one might see in Santa Fe. We pulled through the gate and were greeted by several mangy dogs and some men sitting outside the front door drinking tea. I was introduced to everyone and we made our way inside the church. Menah and Saren removed their shoes once inside and I followed suit. They both kneeled before the alter and said a prayer while I waited in the back. The church was empty, apart from the 3 of us. After paying their respects, I asked Saren if we would be meeting his father, as I was growing somewhat impatient after the long drive. He assured me we would and we made our way out of the church and walked through the gate into the backfields.

We walked along an irrigation ditch for several hundred yards in the dark. The moon was just starting to rise, providing just enough light to make out outlines, but nothing more than that. I could hear water flowing but couldn’t identify its source through the darkness and tall reeds on either side of the small levee we were walking on. Soon I could hear voices ahead. “We’re almost there,” Menah said. We reached an intersection of 2 levees and in the middle were 3 men. One of them, Menah’s father, was sitting in a homemade wicker chair under a store bought umbrella. The other 2 were sitting on the ground smoking and drinking tea. They were obviously tired from a long days work.

It was a scene reminiscent of Pharonic times. I felt like I was 2,000 years in the past. As we approached, the 3 men stood up. Menah’s father walked toward us with outstretched arms and a warm smile. He embraced his son and his best friend as a loving father would. He then turned to me and gave me the same embrace and told his son in Egyptian that he was blessed to have us there. Menah’s father was a very jovial little man, reminding me not entirely of Santa Clause. He had a big, full gray beard and a potbelly. He was wearing a traditional gown that men of this part of the world wear. He leaned back, put his fists on his hips and looked us over with a big smile on his face. He obviously hadn’t seen his son in some time.

We sat down on the levee and Menah’s father sat next to me. He seemed more interested in his foreign guest than he did his own son. Menah didn’t seem to care. For him, it was show and tell. His father asked me many questions about the US and myself, all of which was roughly translated by Menah. He asked me if I’d like to see some of his pictures. Of course I did! I was immediately snapped back to the reality of 2010, when his father produced an iphone from his pocket and began showing me pictures of his daughter’s recent wedding, which he had officiated. Even in translation, I don’t think he understood why I was laughing when he pulled his phone out of his pocket. We looked at some more pictures and then his father asked me if I was hungry. I was, but told him no thanked him as I was suspicious of the offerings. He said he’d just made some fresh goat cheese and insisted I try it. Fine… I do love goat cheese.

We walked back along the levee to his barn and went inside through the 2 large barn doors. Inside was a menagerie of animals and I told him it reminded me of Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem. It absolutely did. I think it impressed him. There were 2 white ducks that greeted us as we walked up and once inside, there were several stalls, one containing an donkey, a calf, several goats a horse and a newborn foal. We went into a side room that had a couch and the floors were covered with very nice silk rugs. He lit a gas lamp and the 3 of us sat on the couch while Menah’s father disappeared into a back room. I assumed there was no electricity. He came back a few moments later with a plate of crumbly, white cheese and a fork. I was a little hesitant, which brought a nervous snicker from the guys. I lifted a bite to my mouth and it was cold and probably the best cheese I have ever tasted. It was fantastic! This simple offering meant so much to me. I finished the plate and graciously returned it to Menah’s father, who hadn’t quit smiling since we got there. After some small talk, we said our goodbyes and made our way back to the car to return to Luxor. On the return trip, I reflected on my trip and my apprehension on going in the first place. The sight of a checkpoint ahead and Saren and Menah’s obvious discomfort soon interrupted my thoughts.

Saren, the better English speaker told me not to worry. Well shit, why would I? This immediately made me worry. These guys, Christians, were the minority in their own country. We pulled up and were approached by 3 guards with Kalashnikovs. They asked us all to get out of the car. The senior officer asked me in English what I was doing with these men. I told him they were my friends and where we had been. He gave a huff and walked off. He had us stand behind the car while he searched it. The other 2 kept their eyes trained on us. After a very thorough search, he said some words to Menah and Saren, which they would never tell me what was said, and we were released. I will always wonder what that guard said to them. I could sense a sort of uneasiness that wasn’t there before the search. We arrived back at the hotel around 9:30. I bid farewell to the guys, lit a cigarette and watched them drive off into the night, hopeful we would cross paths again one day.

This was one of those experiences that few people will ever have in their lives. I was transported, for a few moments to a time that I will never know. Things move slowly in this part of the world. I’m thankful I was able to slow down with it and take it all in. And I knew I had made 2 new friends for life.