Who would believe that I could be sitting on a deck chair on a floating pool on the Nile? Of course I'm knitting. The sky is cloudless, the water is bluer than the sky, there's a chilly breeze, and everyone is more tan than I.
I've seen pictures of this place but now I see it as true. Ships are passing. Big tour ships of three decks and sail boats looking suspiciously Egyptian.
We tourists on this float are relaxing from the chaos outside on the street. The vendors and horse and buggy rides. A woman pulls out cross stitch while her husband is reading the last pages of a James Patterson novel. I feel colonial.
Mid-afternoon call to prayer erupts first behind me then another and another up and down the river. A great sing song bouncing off the water.
I'd like to think that I have paid attention in geography class, and know: Egypt would be a desert without the Nile, and it's the only source of water. Somehow, the full meaning of those statements was never impressed on me. I now know that there is NO rain, and therefore, the Nile IS the only source of water. Yes, wells can be dug, but very deep ones. We drove from the east coast on the Red Sea to the Nile and there was nothing growing until we got within 10 miles of the Nile. It's all watered my canals.
The similarities of Egypt and the desert Southwest where I live are many. Shocking!
I've seen pictures of this place but now I see it as true. Ships are passing. Big tour ships of three decks and sail boats looking suspiciously Egyptian.
We tourists on this float are relaxing from the chaos outside on the street. The vendors and horse and buggy rides. A woman pulls out cross stitch while her husband is reading the last pages of a James Patterson novel. I feel colonial.
Mid-afternoon call to prayer erupts first behind me then another and another up and down the river. A great sing song bouncing off the water.
I'd like to think that I have paid attention in geography class, and know: Egypt would be a desert without the Nile, and it's the only source of water. Somehow, the full meaning of those statements was never impressed on me. I now know that there is NO rain, and therefore, the Nile IS the only source of water. Yes, wells can be dug, but very deep ones. We drove from the east coast on the Red Sea to the Nile and there was nothing growing until we got within 10 miles of the Nile. It's all watered my canals.
The similarities of Egypt and the desert Southwest where I live are many. Shocking!
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