A scrawl of words, a glimpse of an arrival

[wayfaringwordhack]

Arrival

loud, pushing
giving way
demanding
Crowds
funneling through customs
Warm night, hazy air.
Dust, pollution
horns honking
hurtle down the freeway
men on curbs, sitting
standing
horns
Sprout eats Egyptian air by the plastic spoonful
Super Turbo
Cattle in pickup beds, bound for slaughter
3 lanes, drive in lane 2.5
Why pick 1 when you can straddle 2?
Honk, honk, honk
Citadel
Mosques, mean-green-lit minarets*
sheep and cattle penned under an overpass.
Manure, farm smell in the rushing city
cow-eyes glowing in the headlights
City of the dead, squatted by wretched living
rats, running
cats, stalking
Woken at two a.m. by crying.
Cat wailing outside the door with a voice like a newborn baby.
Too hot to sleep


Day 1

Streets almost empty
Holiday
Horns. Horns. Horns.
3 men lounging in plastic chairs, suit vests gaping,
squat, silver machine guns shining on their pudgy tummies
They smile at us.
Wall plaque announces: Presidential Residence
horns honking
On the street corner, one fatted calf, being skinned,
another watching, waiting its turn without even knowing it.
Sprout points at the dead animal, "Horse! Horse!"
Visit two apartments
Pasha prices, not for us.
Take out the trash; a woman comes to me, hand out, begging for my scraps.
Disconcerted, I explain it is cat waste, litter of the worst kind.
Kind woman in the supermarket, buys Sprout a KitKat.
Cheese spread sold in drinking glasses, like the principle of buying mustard in France.
Horns honking
"Noisy en Egypt," Sprout says, pacing in the hotel.

Day 2

Breakfast by the pool
Swimming
Lunch
Napping
Sprout reiterates, "noisy! Noisy Egypt!"
Tea with Papa
Trip to the bookstore
Supper
New friend, Mona, for Sprout.
Mona says, Come all the time! I teach Sprout Arabic!



_____________________________
* I actually wrote "neon" but I first read my scrawl as "mean"

Comments

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

This is more vivid than a photo could possibly be. Thank you.

(And for the email, too!)

[me-1956.livejournal.com]

glad you made it safe. Now please stay safe in "noisy,noisy Egypt". love to all.

[frigg.livejournal.com]

Wonderful imagery!

And ha! Poor Sprout and her noise sensitivity (which doesn't apply to self-inflicted noise). :p

I'm sure she'll get used to it, though. ;)

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

Oh, it would have been Eid al-Adha, wouldn' t it? Lots of animals being sacrificed?

[clarentine]

Now that's how all travel essays ought to be written!

[mindseas.livejournal.com]

Vivid images! It recalls to mind when I was eight years old and saw a cow being skinned in Denmark. I recall it being done with a mallet and a wedge.

[aeriedraconia.livejournal.com]

Welcome to Egypt! What great pictures you've written.