Egypt and the Evil Eye, part 1

In March 2002 we went on an adventure to Egypt. We went with an Italian tour group, there were 25 Americans from Aviano Air Force Base on the trip and more than 200 Italians. We rode a bus from Aviano to Milano International Airport where we got on a chartered plane with all the Italians. We arrived in Luxor in the late afternoon, having already been traveling for more than 12 hours. All of us were bussed from the airport to the cruise ship, on the Nile River. The adventure had begun. I was a bit out of sorts from all the traveling and all the no sleeping, but we made it there yeah! Our (the 25 Americans) tour guide offered to take us to see Karnack that night, right away that way we could miss the crowds and have a more leisurely day visiting the valley of the kings tomorrow. We all readily agreed.

There I was in Karnack just as the sun was setting. The sky was the most incredible color of blue, that I will never forget. Karnack is amazing, the size of a small city. Built 5000 years ago, intact in many ways. The hieroglyphics on the walls, the architecture, it was amazing. That moment was everything I came to Egypt to see, it will be with me forever.

Our guide who called himself Sammy (not his real name). Tour guides sometimes give themselves a name that Americans can identify with and feel secure with, it makes them seem more like you, less like one of them, a trick of the trade perhaps. He was very educated and imparted to us, over the course of our entire trip volumes of knowledge about ancient Egypt. None of the stories were about curses and legends, it was about the culture, the people, the traditions, what the translations of the hieroglyphics, the means by which the structures were built. Sammy was very proud of his ancestors, of what they had made, and how they had lived. I could write an encyclopedia about all that I learned of ancient Egypt that trip. It was incredible and fascinating.

This trip was as I said in March of 2002, six months after September 11. Egypt is one of our strongest allies, yet they are Muslim, and we were military. It didn’t take long for us to start asking questions about modern Egypt. We asked about their culture, about the Muslim religion, about the economy, about poverty. Sammy was prepared and ready to share with us, he loves his country and wanted very much to share with us his thoughts. He started taking us places not on the itinerary, to schools, and villages, and even inside of someone’s home.

This is beginning to get a little long, I will continue tomorrow.