Whenever you travel somewhere, people will always ask about it upon your return. The further you travel, the more they’re interested. Domestic travel garners the least amount of interest, then Europe and, if you travel internationally that’s not North America or Europe, people can be downright fascinated. And then maybe disappointed when all you have to say is a comment on the weather, such as: Egypt is hot.
What is an Intelligent Comment?
However, the more different and “exotic” a place is, the harder it is to talk about. Egypt was another world. There was, and is, no way to sum up a travel experience like that in a perfunctory, “how was your vacation,” conversation. So, when I returned from Egypt and people asked about it, I kept responding that Egypt was hot. It was meant to be kind of funny but I think some people actually thought that I was unintelligent and learned nothing. But it’s, quite literally, the opposite. I took so much in that I couldn’t possibly make someone else understand. Instead, I said minor comments that were seemingly meaningless but actually, had a whole different meaning in my head.
The Pyramids of Giza are Big
It sounds like a silly comment. We all know they’re big. But they are absolutely mammoth. You can read about their size in books and look at pictures but it is not the same as seeing them in person. The ongoing question of, “how did they build those?” takes on an entirely different meaning when you’re looking at them face-to-face. They’re taller than any building in the state of Connecticut. Sometimes, when driving through Hartford, I still picture a giant pyramid reigning taller than the city.
They’re Poor
Think this is another “duh” comment? Think again. This is another situation where reading about it with facts and numbers will make a fraction of an imprint as seeing it. An old co-worker of mine, who was from a third world country and had moved to the United States, traveled to Egypt. When she came back, she wanted to talk to me about it because I was the only person she knew that had been there. Her mind was blown at how they lived. She said, “I am from a third world country. That is not third world. Fourth world? I don’t know. Something else.” I don’t think I’ll ever forget that comment of hers because I knew exactly how she felt. Some of the small moments I witnessed in Egypt will indelibly live in my mind long after I have forgotten any statistics.
On one instance, a tourist had extra pens and she gave them to some children nearby. They went bananas. All the kids started running to her and clamoring for pens. The woman was getting overwhelmed and was being physically pushed and practically trampled by the rush of children shoving their way in, yelling for pens. Pens! Pens! I want a pen! Desperate for a pen. And they’re desperate because they don’t have any. They can’t afford a pen and paper for school. It’s not for fun. It’s not for play. They don’t want candy. They want pens. For school.
Egypt is Hot
Seriously though, it was really, really hot. I have never experienced such heat in my life. Especially wearing pants and 3/4 length sleeve shirts because, culturally, as a women in Egypt, I am not wearing shorts.
What Stays With You
I’ll certainly remember the pyramids and the sphinx. I’ll remember the long flight and mosques and the temples and the hieroglyphics. And, of course, riding a camel and holding baby crocodiles. But what will stick with me the most viscerally will not be those things. It will be when I was walking through a small village and there was a toddler, too young to walk, sitting outside his home by himself covered in flies. And when the young boys paddling in a small canoe-like boat and grabbing larger, motor-powered tourist boats and singing in hopes to be given money. It will be when I was followed and badgered by Egyptian men for me to take off my sunglasses because they never see green eyes. It will be the sum of a million tiny parts that can never possibly be adequately conveyed in conversation.
Feeling and experiencing a place will always be different than any written or verbal explanation. It will carry more weight and it will be what changes and teaches me. And, all these years later, I can still reflect on the things I learned and the emotions I felt.
