1.7 Walk Like an Egyptian

With the weekend upon me, I thought it was time for a change of scenery. I did still have that research I needed to do in Egypt. So I caught an early plane and headed out.

Talk about climate change! It took me a while to adjust from the winter wonderland I'd left behind in Bridgeport!

I may have left winter behind, but apparently not the limo service. That was a pleasant surprise.

I wanted to jump right into my research, and that meant meeting locals. I figured the best place to start would be the market.

I struck up a conversation with the merchant who sold me a snake charming kit (it can't hurt to learn, right?) but it wasn't easy to get her to open up.

Raffi kept catching my eye, so I thought I'd give it a try. We got to know each other a little.

And we talked about family, until I finally got him around to the subject of music.

He and Sanaa (the merchant I spoke to earlier) both agreed that history and tradition played an important role in their music.

And apparently the paparazzi play an important role in being everywhere and eavesdropping on my conversations.

I headed back to the market first thing the next day, where I tried to get some information from the bookseller.

It turns out Rainia was a bit of a virtuoso herself! It would be nice to get feedback from a musician! Things were going really well with her, but I got a little sidetracked...

Raffi called to ask me on a date! And then proceeded to try absolutely nothing. Maybe I misunderstood him...

The next morning, it was back to the market once more. I knew I could get Rainia to open up if I got to know her just a little more. She had a different take on music than the others. To her, it was like the cinema, like the music was made just for Al Simhara. Interesting. And now I had enough to take back to the theatre, it was time to return to Bridgeport. I was just not made to live in the desert.