As I
mentioned, I am daily interacting with quite a range of people here in Egypt as
I make my way through the country. And I have a hard time balancing my
emotional responses to the behaviors I see in people… Sometimes I am humbled by
their generosity only to be disgusted moments later by their rapacious greed
for money the next. Or Im impressed by their personal appearance in a
dusty/dirty world only to be amazed by their lack of care over how their street
looks as they throw their litter in the street. Frequently they want to help me
so much that they are incapable of listening to what it is they can help me
with… Its incredibly frustrating at times J And I don’t speak Arabic so the
language barrier is an added “amplifier” of misunderstanding too…
And so,
every day Im having difficult interactions with the Egyptians I meet along my
way as I get petrol for the bike and find food to eat and places to sleep and
directions to this place or that… And while I keep trying to take the “high
road” I have to admit that at least a couple of times each day I find Ive
“taken a wrong turn” and am on the “low road”… angry and using a raised voice and
thinking bad thoughts, much as the other party in the situation is feeling at
the same time Im sure. Its definitely the most challenging country of the trip,
but the reality is that the challenges are actually reflections of aspects of
my own personality.
And so Im
getting plenty of opportunities to “grow”… but as usual Im failing to make the
most of lots of those opportunities… Im only human (and old and stuck in my
ways at that!) and I think we all learn pretty slowly with this sort of thing…
All I can do is my best, and when I get it wrong, well I can reflect on it
afterward and then try to do better next time J
Egypt – a
land of challenges J
