Evening near Cairo, with a Nile felucca
(Wikimedia Commons)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Riding on a felucca on the Nile is one of our favorate things to do in Egypt. \u00a0Traditionally, in the Cairo Branch, we would rent two or three large feluccas for our annual Easter sunrise service. \u00a0And now, we always try to take our tours to Egypt out for a felucca ride in Cairo.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
The particular felucca experience to which I\u2019m referring here, though, happened in Upper Egypt, or the Sa\u00efd<\/em> (sa-EED<\/em>), near Luxor.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
We were cruising slowly along the river through a really pleasant agricultural area, idyllic, green and relatively lush. \u00a0Going upstream, we were tacking against the current. \u00a0At one point, we came very close to the place where a peasant was working near the river bank. \u00a0Suddenly, the wind failed. \u00a0Not enough that we were reversing course, but enough to leave us more or less becalmed.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
He was only about fifteen feet away, and I waved to him. \u00a0He smiled and waved back, and I greeted him in Arabic. \u00a0Suddenly, his smile vanished.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Anybody who looks like me and speaks Arabic, you see, is likely to be an Israeli. \u00a0At least from his point of view, back then.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re an Israeli!\u201d he exclaimed. \u00a0\u201cYou killed my brother!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
He began to remove his outer cloak and to move toward the water.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNo!\u201d I yelled back. \u00a0\u201cI\u2019m an American! \u00a0And a Christian! \u00a0I\u2019m not Israeli!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
He kept moving closer, stepping into the water. \u00a0\u201cYou\u2019re an Israeli!\u201d he continued to shout. \u00a0\u201cYou killed my brother!\u201d \u00a0I continued to insist that I was neither Jewish nor Israeli, but I was also trying to figure out how I was going to handle this. \u00a0He looked very serious.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Fortunately, just then, a gust of wind came up, and we were off, further off shore and somewhat further southward.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
He gave up. \u00a0I wouldn\u2019t be surprised if he was unable to swim.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Anyway, I missed out that afternoon on what would surely have been a really interesting intercultural encounter.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 \u00a0 I don\u2019t know whether I\u2019ve told this story here before. \u00a0Probably. \u00a0But I occasionally use this blog \u2014 sorry! \u2014 as a depository for autobiographical fragments, so I\u2019m going to record the episode: \u00a0 Once, many years ago, when we were visiting Upper Egypt \u2014 which, in local parlance, means the southern part […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-71896","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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![\"Felucca](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2017\/05\/River-Nile-near-Aswan.jpg\")
<\/a>