Nubian Village

We left on a small open boat early this afternoon bound for our “fun day.” The ride was good, though mostly unremarkable, except for the sight of Elephantine Island and the hotel where Agatha Christie wrote Death on the Nile. The scenery was striking – ruins, mudbrick houses, a few yards of dense green, desert, water buffalo, and what I think was ibis. My favorite were the children swimming or paddling in something like kayaks. They would grab onto the boat and shout languages at us until they settled on one, then burst into song, especially “Row, Row, Row Your Boat.”

We landed and all managed to disembark on a plank about six feet long by six inches wide, hack our way through the vendors, and mount a camel. My guide was a fourteen year old named Hambo, and his camel was Rambo. He walked along beside me, talking occasionally, clicking and swatting at the camel like all the drivers. We went at a good pace with occasional fear that I was to be chucked off the front end, while the locals raced the camels back or ambled by, legs crossed, gazing at us. Once, when some sand got in my eye, one man slowed and said, “Pretty lady, no cry,” then rode off.

In the village I held two baby crocodiles and then we walked through the bazaar. Keekay put his headphones on a little girl and Osman told her Keekay was proposing. She turned him down cold. Her name was Sara, and she couldn’t have been more than six or seven years old. The shocked smile, first from the technology, then from the question, was delightful. Then another precious girl caught my eye. When I smiled at her, she grinned and reached for my hand. We talked some in Spanish, some in English, but neither of us understood the other very well. Her name was also Sara and she led me about, grabbing other friends, and soon we had a following, all reaching for the headphones. Eventually she switched with her big sister Fatima, age eleven. She an I spoke Spanish with each other very well. Everybody climbed onto a roof and she pointed out her house and told me about her three sisters. She eventually asked for my whisper set, but when I explained that it was not mine, but the school’s, she accepted that, and didn’t pester me. Later she disappeared and I was joined by both Saras and another friend, until Keekay put his “girlfriend” on his shoulder. Soon we had as many kids as HUG students. At the very end, some began to beg, and it was very difficult waiting to file on the boat. I seriously want to mother the whole world. Perhaps I’ll find a way to help someday.