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06/01/2003

We won the Cairo American Softball League Championship in dramatic fashion; an extra innings barnburner ending with a walkoff solo homer by a guy named Timber. The game was followed by a BBQ of pork ribs, chicken, hotdogs and plenty of cold beer. It was one of those evenings that I forgot that I was in Egypt. I don't mean one of those alcohol induced amnesia incidents either. It was more of one of those surreal moments that make it difficult to believe that I am in the middle of the desert.

Here's another one. I'm watching the Micheal Jackson interview 'The footage we were never meant to see', hosted by Maury Povich. It's on channel 2 from Kuwait. The Arabic subtitles and commercial ads showing scarfed up housewives schlepping shampoo made more sense to me than the Neverland freakshow wondering why people think he's a wacko. The ironic thing is that I probably wouldn't watch it in the states, but because I get only three English speaking channels I'm glued to the TV.

Then there's golfing in front of the pyramids. The real ones, not the four foot pressboard replicas two holes away from the windmill at the neighborhood Putt-Putt. I should be more bothered by the fact that a badly sliced drive off the ninth tee could easily ricochet off a five-thousand year-old monument to the ancient Egyptian royalty's final resting place. But I'm more upset by the nine dollar beer and collared shirt dress code in the club house.

This weekend I was walking over a sand dune and just happen to notice a solar eclipse. I was camping on the beach and got up at sunrise to use the latrine when I saw the orange disk of the sun glowing on the horizon...with a crescent shaped bite missing from its side. At first I dismissed it as another example of shoddy workmanship, like the broken taxis and donkey carts that continue to function long after they have lost most of their parts.

We stopped at a Sunoco "On The Run" service station and bought Coke, Pringles, Combos, Wrigley's and a Pine-tree air freshener. We could have rented a video, if we had a VCR in the car. Although, I'm not sure how they expect people stopping at a highway service station to return a video. (I didn't see many 'local clientele' around.) We were reminded that we were in Egypt only when it came time to pay for gas...at 65 cents a gallon.

Then there are the truly Egypt moments. Last Thursday a hot wind was a foot. It felt just like a blow dryer. It was enough to water the eyes and turn your hair to straw. And then it rained. Go figure.

I know I'll miss it when I'm gone.