Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Kodak of the Mind

I have posted several pictures from our Eqyptian vacation. I admit that I carry my camera almost everywhere and as you can see from the previous posts, I even take pictures of bathrooms (remember my biffy shot from Italy last year?)

Anyway, there were several times when I didn't have my camera and perfect pictures would appear right in front of me. When this happens, I say "click" so that I can attempt to capture the moment in my brain instead of taking a picture. I call it Kodak of the Mind.

Here's a few of the pictures that you won't see on this blog but I will try and describe them to you.

CLICK
First day on vacation and I see a lonely camel walking along the path in front of our resort. It reminds me of the cows coming home along the path, as each camel seems to know the way there and back. I smile amusedly at the site of the camel making it's way back to "home". Suddenly a small image appears on the saddle. A very small boy (about 4?) was laying across the saddle either sleeping or trying to get people to take a picture and get money. As he looked around to see if anyone was watching, he put his head back down and went back to sleep.
CLICK
Two women in bathing suits walking along the shore crossing in front of two Muslim women, in full covering, walking to begin their daily hunt for octopus' in the sea.
CLICK
The site of several dozen young Eqyptian men walking along side their camels going up the side of Mt Sinai at 3-6 am as we were trying to ascend the mountain on foot. The question "Camel, Camel, you want camel?" was asked to us at least 25 times. One enterprising young man actually said "Taxi?".
CLICK
The most gorgeous man I have ever seen (no offense David) walking up beside me on Mt Sinai. He was a monk, getting ready for morning devotions (so I gathered because he had a "audio speaking device" strapped to his belt--at least that's what the bag said). I thought it could have been a reincarnation of Jesus. I would have confessed anything to him. He must have been between 50-60 years old, with wonderful colored skin and beautiful eyes. Maybe it was a hallucination because Anna says she didn't see him. It would be worth climbing back up the mountain to see him again.
CLICK
In Dahab, it was a common thing to catch a ride with vehicles passing by on the road. Hitchhiking is still in fashion although the drivers do expect to receive some kind of pay for their troubles. As we were getting ready to travel up to Mt Sinai, we needed our paperwork stamped by the Tourism Police. As our van pulled up, a small Toyota pickup roared up and I noticed that 13 people (I counted) got out of the back of the Toyota. How they all got in there, and the pickup could still drive without the oil pan scraping off, I will never know.
CLICK
As we boarded the plane, I noticed a man carrying 10 passports (again I counted) and behind him was an entourage of two women, two nannies, 4 small children and two teenagers. We couldn't figure out if it was a Muslim man with two wives or two families traveling. However, the truly interesting thing about this group was that the man had on a surgical mask (H1N1 prevention) and he sat in first class while the rest of his party had no masks on and they sat in coach. The same group was on our return flight, and the father/husband/caretaker? still had on his mask and his family was still unmasked. Someone should really explain how germs travel, but it wasn't my job on this trip.
CLICK
The site of my daughter and husband playing "war" with rocks and trying to ruin each other's sand castle. I did get pictures of this but it doesn't capture the sounds they were making in trying to defeat each other. It was one of the unforgetable family moments where even having a camera doesn't completely capture the memory. Don't worry, this one will be in my brain forever.

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