Scene from a distance...

Tragic really....leaving all those oranges piled up in a lonely corner in that posh Hurghada supermarket. I bought just four, leaving the crinkly leaves in the bag. Now? With hundreds of vitamin C deficient children roaming the streets beside me, as I travel on through the outskirts of Cairo, I wish I had a few oranges to share out. My western, wrinkled cheeks stand out here. Not many Aussie tourists around in such troubled times. I am still offered many exotic trinkets all of dubious quality. Buy 10 mini sphinx and get 20 free for cousins and aunts! I am amused by this bulk selling technique - it sounds out of place here.
I feel guilty. The mother in me taps at my shoulder. Little children earning a living. Our lungs sucks in the furnace air..... It's so very dry here...I am thirsty but mine is quenchable with the "aqua minerale" dispensed from my hotel. Oh "Oberoi" you do it so well. Nice touch that chocolate truffle on the crisp night linen! I loved it.
But now, I try to look poor......ashamed at my gold pass sunglasses. Hustle and bustle brings me to my father's past to a place he viewed well before I was born. My eyes are now set on the enormous pyramids...one of the many wonders of my world now. Hues of sienna, rust, dust, slate and limestone.

I have goose bumps at the enormity of these monster sand castles! Funeral homes for the long dead. But I am completely overawed at the workmanship. I sit down at the side of the road to rest and to take it all in. Ironically an Egyptian policeman strikes a pose just for me - lips puckered and seated on his camel. "No charge" he calls out. I take his picture anyway, as the children have run away now. I then reluctantly allow a tourist guide to use my camera for me. He takes my photo holding a pyramid. It's my proof of being here......there I'm justified!! I feel myself smile.....I made it. Cairo you are amazing.