adopted

Alexandria, Egypt

I think I've been adopted. I was walking down the ocean walk when I first got here and didn't know if I was walking toward the center of town or not. So I asked two women for directions. They told me to keep walking walking walking and I thought that was the end of it. But a little later they walked up behind me and started talking to me. They were very concerned that I was by myself, and Ihem, the one that spoke english gave me her phone number and told me to call if I needed anything. They went off to their car. Then, I was still walking and they drove past having decided that they were going to give me a ride. I had a hard time convincing them to let me out at the train station. Ihem made me promise to call her when I got back to the hotel.

That was two days ago. The yesterday she and her neighbor picked me up at my hotel and took me on a driving tour so I could see the fishing boats and the palace and aquarium. Then they took me to the mall. It's what they thought that I needed to see in alexandria. We had tea and cake in a very starbucks like place, and then went to the mosque in the mall because it was time for them to pray. The mcdonalds sign had the big yellow M and then the name was in arabic. The also took me to buy my bus ticket and then bought me dinner before dropping me off. Her son translating for her on the phone told me that she thinks of me as her daughter.

In other news, Alexandria is beautiful! The whole city is really narrow and follows the water. I found a really good falafel place called Muhammed Ahmed, and I've been there every day. I tried to go to the library of Alexandria (they built a new one) but it was closed. It's a crazy modern looking building, but it's supposed to be amazing.

I've been kind of slack. Since I last posted I've also been to Aswan (the most southern point of the roman empire) and Luxor. They were both hot and full of hasseling guys. So I wouldn't reccomend them if you're a woman traveling alone. However, in a group in the winter I think they could be good places to visit especially if you have enough money to take a cruse on the nile. I did see the amazing temple of karnak where you can get lost in a stone papirus forest and the valley of the kings.