Saturdays I try to take off and explore. I recently went to the Santa Clara Pueblo to visit the Puye Cliff Dwellings. Which, of course, led to another adventure as I was invited to visit Jeff Roller, Native American artist and potter in his gallery. Since this is a picture rich post, I’ve placed it in the Gallery section.
“Sometimes serendipity is just intention unmasked.” ― Elizabeth Berg, The Year of Pleasures
So much of what I am learning is about unlearning.
I like to think myself free of many of the cultural bounds I have lived in, but I am not. As I travel, the extraneous falls away, but I am still the product of the world in which I have moved for so long.
But somewhere in this past year, I have crossed a threshold. It might be a threshold of just not caring. But actually I think it’s more of a surrender to the journey. And an abandonment of my so called mind, its comparative judgements and desire to control.
Instead, I am simply present and curious, and in this I find great joy.
***
During my flying days, I remember being at the airfield one day. A friend had come down, to see my new plane, Whiskey Oscar, and to just hang out a bit. After a bit, she turned to me and said: “Why are you doing this?”
Why am I doing this? Flying is magic and it touches my soul.
She’d watched me struggle with the size and bulk of the plane; with the need for assistance that was granted oh-so-reluctantly. There were a million not so subtle clues that I really wasn’t welcomed into this male aviation bastion that I had joined.
“I just want to fly,” I replied.
I looked at her and repeated my words: “I just want to fly.” It was a response from deep in my soul and I uttered it with total peace and conviction.
It was the joy of flying that drove me forward, through all the petty difficulties and nonsense.
Why hadn’t I learned that life lesson sooner, that it is all about the joy?
And now, in my sixth decade, I find joy in life’s serendipity and adventures, albeit on the ground.
There is something about the adventure of being on the road that allows one to step out of the bounds of routine, that makes the space for serendipity to arise.
From 11 Life Lessons Learned from the Road: bit.ly/2ArBwpq
Saturday was a curious day. I was a bit without a rudder. There is always work to do on the blog. Growing social media. Opening new doors. I could employ three of me full time.
But Saturday, I felt the need to just be out, away from my computer. I wandered and in my wanderings, serendipity arose not once, but twice.
***
My travel wardrobe (as I’m sure you will recall!) is black, grey and off white. Everything matches, although nothing matches really. And it’s all just fine. It’s a uniform I don with little thought and I like the freedom it brings.
Now just a splash of color would be nice. So I am on a semi-perpetual scarf quest, at least for the moment.
I am in no rush. Serendipity will allow the right thing to appear, at the right time. And in this day of wandering, I did not find a scarf, but a conversation.
***
The Santa Fe Farmers Market
I wandered over to Guadalupe Street where the farmer’s market was just wrapping up. I know if I stop in I will find something, but that is not what today’s quest is about.
Today’s quest is for a bit of color.
On Guadalupe Street is a combination of stores and restaurants, jewelers and consignment shops. Peruvian Connection is on one corner, and across the street, Double Take.
Double Take is a consignment shop with seemingly endless finds. The first floor is pure cowboy/cowgirl, with everything from oodles of jewelry to boots and clothes.
Falling on the cowgirl side of the equation, I am always taken with the turquoise jewelry. Case after case of beads and bracelets tempt and beckon. But I have a few things I love and I need no more. Even so, I do enjoy browsing this Saturday afternoon.
Beautiful colorful baubles
More bracelets, this time in turquoise
I wander the bracelets and beads. The beads are beautiful but the prices seem a bit high; a bit too tourist inflated. The flea market north of town has better prices and perhaps better jewelry too.
I head towards the other side of the shop where the vintage clothing lives. Perhaps I’ll find a scarf here.
But rather than a scarf, I get talking to an attractive woman a bit younger than me. Her name is Sarah. We share our Santa Fe enchantment/entrapment tales.
New Mexico is called The Land of Enchantment for good reason. If you connect with this place, it’s a soulful connection that isn’t easily cast aside.
The landscape of Santa Fe
The flip side of that is that it entraps you. Once New Mexico is in your blood, you are forever entrapped by the Land of Enchantment.
For the people who are drawn here, the pull is almost palpable and it immediately creates a connection, to the land and to each other. There is a knowing and acceptance that opens conversations on a more personal, energetic level than I’ve experienced elsewhere. Perhaps this is one of the reasons that I am so drawn to this place.
I tell Sarah the tale of CancerRoadTrip. Of betrayal, of pursuing my own healing through travel. And of the future plans to give to others.
She responds that it is perfect.
“It’s a work in progress,” I respond laughing. I point to the amazing resources of a place like Santa Fe for a healing retreat.
“Feldenkrais”, she responds.
I pause.
Pardon me?
“Feldenkrais”. I have no idea what she is saying, much less talking about.
“I can’t explain it”, she tries to explain. “You just have to try it”.
She asks for my email. I give her my card and she promises to send me the information.
And, sure enough, later that day, an email with the directions to Feldenkrais appears in my inbox. Sunday 11 am.
At first, I write a polite, non-commital response. But something sticks with me; I decide to google Feldenkrais. And it’s a fascinating story.
Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais was born in Russian, immigrated to Israel and eventually worked for a number of years with Joliet Curie in the French nuclear program.
Feldenkrais was physically active until a knee injury sidelined him. Simply walking was problematic, between mechanical dysfunction and unrelenting pain. And that is when he focused his very keen mind on a synthesis of physics, body mechanics, neurology, learning theory and psychology to develop the Feldenkrais method.
Photo by Samuel Zeller on Unsplash
This method leverages knowledge with experiential understanding to rewire the brain, to find new methods of movement. As one learns to experientially move in new ways, the mind also learns to think in new ways. It’s about self knowledge, discovery and choice. The brain’s neuroplasticity, something science is just getting onto, is perfectly capable of rewiring itself and translating that knowing to the body.
What implications does this have for chronic pain issues, not to mention cancer?
But I digress.
This particular session had to do with experiencing the function of the lungs. Did you know that the right lung is larger than the left? It has three lobes versus two on the left. Have you ever felt or sensed this disparity?
The series of breathing and visualization exercises took me deep into the movement of my lungs. I understood breath in a new way. I felt the function of breathing in a way I never had before. And because it’s experiential, the sensation and awareness of each lung, rising, deflating, moving through my body is now a part of me. I can draw on this exercise and sensation at will.
As Sarah had forewarned me, you have to experience this.
For me, this resonated on a far more profound level than yoga ever had (although getting up and down from the floor during this exercise, I realized some time in the yoga studio would also be good for me). I can only imagine how much I might learn over time, about body wellness and dynamics.
After class I stopped and chatted with the instructor. I ask her how she got into this.
“I was a dancer and at the age of 15 I started having hip problems. They told me I needed surgery” she explained. But rather than surgery, she found Feldenkrais and was so captivated, that after art school in New York, she decided to concentrate full time on this method of healing.
Needless to say, I’m heading back next week for more Feldenkrais. I hope that this may be an avenue to deal with some of my mobility problems and the unending pain in my shoulder that started with my hip surgery after the last round of chemo. And perhaps a method of insight into that elusive mind/body connection that I believe is such a crucial key to healing, life and wellness.
***
Serendipity arrives in yet another form on Saturday night. I am feeling unusually social. I stayed in Friday night, too tired to do anything. But tonight I’d enjoy some company. I browse the MeetUp groups. Perhaps there is something here.
A dinner for women entrepreneurs catches my eye, but the RSVP deadline was yesterday. Nevertheless, I leave a message seeing if I might join. A bit later, a text appears on my phone. I am welcomed.
Photo by Cathal Mac an Bheatha on Unsplash
In some ways being in Santa Fe is like being a stranger in a strange land. Serendipity welcomes me at many a turn and I find an easy comraderie with people. It has never been like this before. Is it me, is it Santa Fe, or is it some combination of the two?
Tonight, six women gather, each with their own fascinating story to tell. And they are all great stories, of women navigating families, work and life, all on a quest for something with deeper meaning. One has sold a business and written a book; another is developing a healing retreat. Some are lost, some are found, at least for the moment.
We chat. We eat. We regard each other and smile. Serendipity is at work, and we all recognize it with deep gratitude.
We part, looking forward to our next get together.
More Reading on Serendipity and Life Lessons From the Road:
It is my finale of Restaurant Week and art, flavor and elegance combine for a wonderful dining experience at Restaurant Martin.
Each dish is a still life. One almost hesitates to dive in.
Almost.
From the description of the dish on the menu, to the presentation at the table, Restaurant Martin dazzles.
If there is one word that captures the dining experience at Restaurant Martin it is passion. Passion for cooking, passion for the integrity of ingredients and passion for life. For life and food are inextricably intertwined in this adobe restaurant on the corner of Galisteo and Paseo de Peralta.
Art and a simple, clean decor welcome the diner at Restaurant Martin
Chef Martin attended the Culinary Institute of America and spent time in France. His quest for knowledge and inspiration is global and it’s reflected in his food.
Restaurant Martin opened in 2009 after the chef did stints in Europe and then in some of the best known restaurants in town: Geronimo’s, Inn of The Anasazi, and The Old House Restaurant. His work has been nominated for numerous awards including the prestigious James Beard Award.
Restaurant Martin resides in an old adobe house, updated, with simple white walls hung with art. There is also a bar should you have to wait a bit or should you be traveling solo. They even offer blonde Lillet, one of my all time favorite aperitifs from Podensac. Eighty five percent of the wines that make Lillet are from Bordeaux (Semillon for the Lillet Blanc and Merlot and rose for the red version of the wine). The remainder are citrus liqueurs (sweet orange peels from Spain and Morocco) and bitter green orange peels from Haiti. The combination is aged like a Bordeaux wine, in oak vats. With a bit of lemon peel, it is a perfect way to start a meal. This attention to quality and detail are everywhere.
Restaurant Martin’s clean lines beckon from the Paseo de Peralta
For Restaurant Week, here is Restaurant Martin’s menu:
Dinner Menu
$45 per person
Appetizer
Caesar Salad — Hearts of Romaine, Lemon-Anchovy Dressing Shaved Pecorino Cheese, Sourdough Crisp
Carmelized Apple Mille Feuille is a feast for the eyes as well as gastronomic soul
Molten Bittersweet Chocolate Cake steals the show
Of all the restaurants I was fortunate enough to visit this week, this was the standout.
Outside of Restaurant Week, if dinner seems a bit pricey, consider brunch or lunch. During good weather, patio dining offers the perfect opportunity to sample some of this amazing food en pleine air. Bring your iPhone, if not your paint brushes, because you will be inspired.
From Restaurant Martin’s website, meet the owners and get a behind the scenes glimpse of this much loved Santa Fe restaurant:
So it is that Restaurant Week comes to a close for another year.
Winter in Santa Fe is not crowded, and it can be cold and snowy. In my mind, it’s the perfect time to visit, to experience the magic of this adobe town nestled between two mountain ranges.
Good food knows no season, and I know no reason not to travel in winter.
Do put Restaurant Week in Santa Fe on your bucket list. I think you’ll be pleased you did.
(Restaurant week in Santa Fe is now past; but keep it in mind for your future travels. It’s a blast!)
In the Yucatan peninsula, home to the Mayans during the sixth to twelfth centuries, lies Chichen Itza. The name translates as “at the mouth of the well of the Itza“.
The chance to visit this site is one of the things that motivated me to take a cruise. Which is how I ended up visiting Cartagena, Chichen Itza, Panama and numerous other Central American locales.
For me a cruise is a curse and a blessing. I’ve done numerous transatlantic crossings and enjoyed them enormously. But the cruise life just isn’t for me. But more on that in another post.
The waters around Mexico are beautiful. Blue and turquoise, gentle waves beckon. The Yucatan peninsula is arid and flat, with water provided by underground rivers. Access to water is what made the land habitable, and Chichen Itza is located in proximity to four visible sink holes that could provide the water needed for the civilization to flourish through several centuries. The name “Chichen Itza” is believed to refer to the large sinkhole the Sacred Cenote (“mouth of the well of the Itza”) into which gold, jade and even human sacrifices (yes, it was a bloody time) were deposited.
Chichen Itza grew over a period of centuries to become one of the largest of the Mayan cities and a key trade area. The nearby port at Isla Cerritos provided access to trade with Central America as evidenced by products such as turquoise, gold, and obsidian from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. All were obviously imported from elsewhere. Chichen Itza was a regional powerhouse, dominating the social, religious, and trade culture of the area until the twelfth century when Mayapán became the new capital.
The majority of my time here was spent in the upper portion of the map below which includes the Great Ball Court, Temple of the Skulls, El Castillo, and Temple of the Warriors.
Chichen Itza is an extraordinary set of archeological treasures. There are 2.6 million annual visitors to this Unesco World Heritage Site. Be prepared for crowds, heat and humidity, not to mention the occasional passing shower.
The surrounding area is poor, depending upon tourist income for subsistence. One story buildings, many of them open to the hot, humid air line the road the Chichen Itza. The pictures below were taken from a moving vehicle:
Businesses line the roadway into Chichen Itza
If you can stay overnight a sound and light show runs nightly. The show traces the history of the city and restores some of the original coloring that most likely decorated the buildings. (Their current grey/beige tones were once vibrant with color.) Tickets need to be purchased in advance or through a tour company such as Viator.
***
The Pyramid of Kukulcan (El Castillo) at Chichen Itza
The Mayans built two types of pyramids: One, with a flat top and a temple, was typically used for sacrificial rituals. Untrucated pyramids were too steep to climb and were deemed to be sacred.
The Pyramid of Kukulcan (which translates into “Feathered” or “Plumed Serpent”), or El Castillo as it was called by the Spanish, is constructed with massive serpent heads at it’s Northwest base. Each year, at the spring and autumn equinox the shadows of the temple create the illusion of the serpent slithering along the side of the pyramid.
The shadow of serpent at the equinox Photo Credit: Wikileaks
The large serpent head rests at the base of the pyramid.
Interestingly, the pyramid would seem to be built on another, older structure:
In April 1931, looking to confirm the hypothesis that the structure of the pyramid of Kukulkan was built on top of a much older pyramid, the work of excavation and exploration began in spite of generalized beliefs contrary to that hypothesis. On June 7, 1932, a box with coral, obsidian, and turquoise encrusted objects was found alongside human remains…
In April 1935, a Chac Mool statue, with its nails, teeth, and eyes inlaid with mother of pearl was found inside the pyramid… After more than a year of excavation, in August 1936, a second room was found, only meters away from the first. Inside this room, nicknamed the chamber of sacrifices, archaeologists found two parallel rows of human bone set into the back wall…
Researchers concluded that there must be an inner pyramid approximately 33 m (108 ft) wide, shaped similarly to the outer pyramid, with nine steps and a height of 17 m (56 ft) up to the base of the temple where the Chac Mool and the jaguar were found. It is estimated that this construction dates to the eleventh century CE.
The remains of this once great city are impressive. The Great Ball Court is a massive playing field where games and competitions were held.
A view of the Great Ball Court at Chichen Itza
The Chichen Itza Ball Court is more than twice the size of a football field. It is so acoustically perfect that one can hear perfectly at either end of the field. The attention to acoustics isn’t limited to this stadium that was used for a variety of games; one can clap one’s hands in front of Kulkucan and hear the echo come right back.
Near the Great Ball Court the Skull Platform immortalizes the victims of battle and most likely the unlucky losers from the nearby ball court competitions. The carvings are somewhat gruesome, with vertically impaled heads carved into the long, low lying walls.
Detail of the Skull Platform at Chichen Itza
The Wall of Skulls
This three minute video from National Geographic provides a great overview of the site:
Chacchoben
Chacchoben was another stop on my travels.
The extent of the civilization at Chichen Itza contrasts with the much older remains at the Chacchoben settled from 200BC, with structures dating from 700AD. The city was discovered in 1972 by an American archaeologist, Dr. Peter Harrison, while flying over the land by helicopter, he noticed hills that didn’t seem to fit into the landscape. Over 2000 years of jungle growth obscured the structures which would be excavated and brought to modern light.
The site of the ruins translates a “Place of Red Maize”, the name of a nearby village. It’s original name has been lost with time. The earliest human settlements in the area of Chacchoben have been dated at around 1000BC. Studies made during the excavations suggest that the site was abandoned and reoccupied a few times, being finally abandoned at around 1000AD. Most structures that have been restored were modified several times during the occupation period with the most remarkable modifications dated at around 300-360AD.
This post is a short compilation of some of Steven Boone’s adventures in Luxor over the course of several years.
Steven is an artist, photographer and writer living in Santa Fe. His travels have taken him around the world numerous times. His adventures are chronicled through his art, photography and writing. I am grateful to be able to share some of them with you.
Steven’s connection to cancer is through his daughter, Naomi, who died of Ewings Sarcoma, a particularly deadly form of childhood cancer. Steven wrote a moving memoir of her battle: A Heart Traced in Sand.
“A Heart Traced in Sand”, Steven’s novel about his daughter who died of a rare childhood cancer
Luxor is a city of about half a million people located along the east bank of the Nile in southern Egypt. During the 16th-11th centuries B.C. , Thebes, the pharaohs’ capital, resided here. Surviving today are two ancient collections of buildings and temples that draw tourists to the area: the Luxor and Karnak Temples, located on the east bank and the royal tombs of the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens on the West Bank.
Luxor is located along the Nile in Egypt
Much of the economy of Luxor centers on tourism. In Steven’s travels, he befriended a family in Luxor, Egypt. One of the daughters, Amira, aspires to go to college and study business and accounting. Her annual tuition is $2,000, about the annual earnings of the entire family.
Steven has started a GoFundMe account for her. If you’d like to help, please click here.
Steven has adopted, or been adopted by, some Egyptian families in his travels. Here in Luxor, he revisits with his friend, Abu’l Ezz,and his family. Abu’l operates a felucca–a sailboat– that takes visitors up and down and across the Nile.
Karnak Temple Photo Credit: Steven Boone
I am now a “brother” of the Nile. It feels as though this grand, lengthy and luxurious river is a vein in my own body. It will always share its life with mine.
Karnak Temple, Luxor, Egypt Photo Credit: Steven Boone
By now, I am quite familiar with Luxor, a major Egyptian city that straddles both sides of the river, and the home of many important historical sites from ancient civilization. I have visited most of the key locations, and especially like Karnak (founded 3200 BC), with its massive ramparts, scores of tremendous columns, inscrutable, exotic hieroglyphics carved in its walls, granite floors, and immense totemic sculptures of human forms and guardian beasts. Over thirty Pharaohs contributed to its formation over scores of generations. It is the second largest ancient religious site in the world, after Angkor Wat Temple in Cambodia.
Abul Ez in his courtyard at home. Photo Credit: Steven Boone
On my first visit in 2008, I made friends with the captain of a felucca, a traditional sailboat now used primarily to take tourists on Nile River sailing jaunts. Abul Ez and I became friends and I often visited with him and his family in their humble home of earth on the West Bank of the Nile at Luxor. After a week, when I left to continue my world travel, he said, “Do not forget me and my family!”
During the years since then, I often thought of Ez, his family, Egypt and the Nile—so I returned. I did not seek Ez immediately, since I needed some time to unwind from a busy two days in Cairo, and Egypt is very hot and I am easily drained of energy while outdoors during most sunlight hours. So, I avoided the extremes and stayed indoors working on writing, painting and correspondence. Then, as I suspected, it was easy finding Ez, especially with the photo I brought with me to the West Bank.
When we arrived at his home in the early evening, it felt familiar. I brought gifts to his wife and children and once everyone got over the surprise of my visit after six years, we settled into a happy feeling. I took note of how the four children had grown and also, the new addition of one boy, Yusef. As we sat in his tiny front room of earth and he smoked flavored tobacco in his water pipe, he smiled at me and said, “This is your home!”
Abul Ez relaxing with his pipe. Photo Credit: Steven Boone
Since my last visit, Ez has traded his felucca for a motorboat with canopy that seats a dozen people. He has more business, since he can quickly and easily ferry local people across the river and back. He has a motorbike, and now there is a television in his house. Otherwise, he looks much the same and has hardly aged . . . being robust and with vigor. The family still live humbly. Today at lunch, the meal was so delicious, and a flavorful soup was spicy and my nose began to run. I asked for tissue, but there was none in his home, so his wife tore a cotton rag and this is what I used for my nose. I am so comfortable here, and he reminds me that we are brothers, and I feel the same.
Steven returns three years later and quickly picks up on his friendship with Abu’l Ezz the felucca captain and another family headed by Hagag, a farmer.
Abu’l Ezz and his family in Luxor, Egypt Photo Credit: Steven Boone
Amira seemed timid and mysterious during my first visits to her home in Luxor several years ago. After all, I was a stranger from America who did not share her Egyptian life or speak her language. What might I be thinking of her poor, humble earth home and impoverished family? Her father, Hagag, and I were becoming friends. Each day I walked on the dusty dirt road along the Nile River to be with him, his wife Edleah and five children.
Mother, grandmother and daughter—Amira 2014. Photo Credit: Steven Boone
Bilal, the youngest, age 3, often ran around with nothing on but a t-shirt. He sparkled like a gem—full of happy exuberance, whether playing with cats, racing about the compound, or being at my side. His mother was amused when he scolded her to go away so that he could have me for himself as playmate.
Mohammed, the oldest son, took me on a sojourn to a nearby village. I sat atop the family donkey while he walked beside. He spoke enough English to allow us to converse. Amira had just reached the age to cover her head with a scarf. She could only glance at me shyly in passing. Nubi, the next oldest boy seemed shy and aloof. Iyah, the youngest girl was bubbly and playful, her reddish-brown curly hair pulled back and tied behind her head. She looked curiously at me while smiling in delight.
I came to know and love the entire family, and the grandmother too.
Three years later, last December, I arrived again in Luxor and stayed for three weeks. Mohammed had gone into the army. He could not avoid it since the family had no money for college. He returned home for a week while I visited. In the army he earns one dollar per day and must pay for his uniform and shoes. The family cannot afford it, but pays for his bus trips home and back to his army post. He only has a few months of his two year service left. After that he said, “I want to work and help my family.”
My time in Luxor was split between my friend Hagag’s family and my other Egyptian friend Abul’ Ezz and his big family. Hagag is poorer than Ezz, but by American standards they both are quite poor. Yet such heart in these people! I feel humble in their presence.
Edleah and Hagag. 2017 Photo Credit: Steven Boone
Hagag is a farmer with a tiny plot of greens. He has a bad back that needs surgery but labors on. The children have grown and with this visit opened up to me. Bilal wanted to be sure he was not asleep if I were coming. Iyah made drawings—including my portrait. Nubi gave me rides on the donkey cart if I was going on to Ezz’s home. Amira stopped her studies to look deeply into my eyes and speak a little in English.
Women, on bread baking day. Photo Credit: Steven Boone
I always had my camera and the families accepted my picture taking.
Amira is coming of age, finishing secondary school. She is bright, honest and pure hearted. Her hope is to attend college and study business or accounting. But it is impossible for the family to afford. The tuition, including room and board is about 2000. dollars per year. That is about the entire yearly income for Hagag.
All four children sleep in one small room. Amira’s bed is a straw mat spread upon the hard earth floor. The others sleep togerther on cushions on simple divans. Perhaps Amira sleeps on the earth because of her age—because she is a young woman. There is no complaint in her.
Amira making bread in the courtyard Photo Credit: Steven Boone
I told Amira I would be sure she can go to college. Her heart soared and it was as if a thousand candles lit within her breast. Such a smile of gratitude. I imagine her at college, ardent in her studies, sharing a room with another student, and with a bed to sleep in.
Please, if you read this and are moved, make a donation now. Any amount helps.
For Amira to go to college would be a tremendous success for the entire family. Impossible without our help.
One of those perfect days, so filled with life and adventure, that times flies by. From markets to sailing the Nile with Abu’l Ezz, a day to be remembered.
There are days that I call three-in-one days. They usually occur while I am traveling. Events are so fantastic and magical that they embed in my psyche indelibly and deeply, filling my being in such a satisfying way that I swear I have lived three days in the span of one. Yesterday was like that.
It began before dawn when I am typically asleep. I woke, made breakfast and coffee, then walked in the dark along the dirt road on the west bank of the Nile River in Luxor. In a few minutes I arrived at my Egyptian brother Hegag’s home. It was quiet and a light shone from within. The doors are never closed so I stepped to the passage. Edleah, Hegag’s wife came forward from the back and motioned me to sit inside. Hegag soon appeared and we sat drinking hibiscus tea. Edleah’s brother, Adil, came with a car. We set out driving in twilight.
I was in the back seat, noticing the earthen homes, sugar cane fields, and morning haze—vapors from the canals by the fields. We reached a rundown paved road and took off as the sun rose behind us. It came up glowing orange behind distant blue mountains.
People appeared along the way, beginning their daily tasks . . . turbaned men in Jellabiya, the loose gown that flows down to the feet, and women in hijab’s and scarves covering their head.
We were going to Isna, where a big Saturday souk for trading animals occurs. The ride would have taken less than an hour, but speed humps to slow down traffic caused Adil to brake often. It took about an hour and half. At Isna we had to ask directions. Hegag said the location changes week to week. We knew we arrived when we could go no further because of the crowd.
The souk at Isna Photo Credit: Steven Boone
Hegag and I set out walking with Adil staying behind. Within a minute we were in a crush of men and animals. I had my camera in hand and was so dazzled by the scene I began snapping photos left and right. Hegag kept close watch over me, keeping me from being trampled by buffalo, camel or cow, and making sure I was free, but tethered to him.
A man with a horned sheep at the market Photo Credit: Steven Boone
Big masculine energy abounded with carousing, exclamations, excitement, joking, shouting, and fraternity. I knew I was the only “different” one, and thought a couple times this was no place for wimps. But SPIRIT was holding sway and I pointed my camera and shot. Sometimes, a man or boy wanted his picture taken next to a friend or holding a beast. Occasionally I would hear “hello”, or “welcome”. I gave a lot of thumbs up and pressed flesh with the guys.
A boy standing in the midst of camels at the souk Photo Credit: Steven Boone
We took a break for tea and falafel lunch with pita bread, then we dove in one more time. I wondered about the complete absence of women. Hegag said it was not their job to buy and sell animals. “If a woman’s husband dies, and she needs to sell an animal, she gets a neighbor, or relative to help.” He showed me where animals were being butchered and I walked in bloody mud while the butcher posed with his long blades in front of hanging carcasses.
As we began the drive back, I told Hegag, OK, the long drive was worth it.
I joked with Adil about all the humps home.
Abu’l Ezz, at the helm of his sailboat on the Nile Photo Credit: Steven Boone
The view from the boat Photo Credit: Steven Boone
Late afternoon my other Egyptian brother, Abu’l Ezz met me by the Nile and off we went in his motorboat to cruise at sunset. “This is your boat! Any time!” he said, grinning. “Are you happy?’ I said yes, and he replied, “Then I am very very, very, happy!” Indeed I felt happy—languidly floating on my favorite river in the world, chasing after felluca, the traditional Nile River sailboats. Ezz would align us for just the right pictures. I especially enjoyed seeing the felluca with the sun going down behind them.
When the sun set and Ezz took me back to the river bank outside my flat, he asked me to come to dinner the next day, after another boating at sunset. I look forward to being in his earth home with his children and served a tasty Egyptian supper prepared by Saida, the best cook in Luxor.
Sailing the Nile in a Felucca at Sunset Photo Credit: Steven Boone
When I reached my flat, I made dinner. Walking back to Hegag’s home for tea I thought . . . OK this has been one of those three days in one.
Inspiration, joy & discovery through travel. Oh, did I mention with supposedly incurable cancer?
What's on your bucket list?
Thank you for stopping by!
CancerRoadTrip is about making lemonade out of lemons.
As you read my story, you may want to start at the beginning to "grok" how CancerRoadTrip came to be. You can click here to start at the end (which is actually the beginning) and read forward! The posts are chronological, with the most recent posts appearing on the front page.
