I would like to say that I have taken all of your suggestions in to consideration regarding the avoidance of these lads and, although I have made a few breakthroughs, the marriage proposals keep pouring in. The most recent of which was from Aymen the Silversmith and included a caveat that I could live where ever I want while he stays in Egypt. Aman believes I can do better and must under no circumstances make any eye contact at all. So from now on, she can lead me around while I look at my feet.
One of my breakthroughs involved a certain individual named Monty and believe me when I say... All roads lead to Monty. We were in Aswan (an otherwise tranquil town right on the Nile and home to The Temple of Isis, the most magical temple I have even seen) minding our own business and trying to find a price on one of these cruises. We had been forewarned about Monty by the Kiwis so were leery of him to begin with and wanted to book somewhere that didn't involve him. Unfortunately that is impossible in Aswan as the man is absolutely everywhere. Every travel agent we went in to would call him and once he knew we were trying to circumvent him, he started to tail us. The psycho bleedin' followed us! He would stop at nothing to make a sale on one of his tours to anywhere in Egypt, so we just bleedin' booked with him to get him off our backs. Aman did get a chance to tell him off and she felt better, but his response was 'I am sorry but I am very stressed. Do you need a hotel in Luxor? I can get you a good price.' If I were to say that I needed to go to the bathroom, he would try to get a percentage on the toilet paper or even the water I used in the flush. Now I say I made a breakthrough cuz at least he didn't try to come on to me and I was so successful at showing him my disdain that he only talked to Aman.
Luckily the cruise took our minds off The Monty. This was what ya call livin' outside your means, people!!! I don't think I have ever eaten so well in my life (I am still too full a day later) and our cabin had two bathrooms (that is ONE each!!). So what if the beers were the same price as a room in the hotel we are staying at now, they had chocolate mousse for dessert!!! The crew were very nice for the most part (although a few of them knew we were interlopers and should be treated accordingly) and one of the waiters even brought me a list of English words he had written in his matchbook to check his pronunciation. There were, unfortunately a few occasions where Aman and I had some trouble adapting to how the other half live. One in particular involved a certain Oriental Night in which the cruisers dressed up as Egyptians (who, to my knowledge, are not oriental) for a dinner and a dance. Now neither Aman or I had gotten the memo about the costumes and the look on our faces when we entered the dining room was one of shock and dismay and then complete empathetic embarrassment as they all started to dance together. It was one of those instances where I really wish I had a video camera cuz I am sure the memory of it will haunt me forever but if I could actually see it again I might be able to get over it. It was a surreal experience and definitely worth the $55US a night.
We are back in budget land again in Luxor, home of the Valley of the Kings, the Temples of Luxor, and a whole embarrassment of riches. Life is good!!!
I hope you're all well.
Love,
Jen
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