Summer.. A time for beaches and good times. The best time of the year, where streets are full of laughter and happiness, where girls and boys run around with not a single worry in the world. Such is the reality of most places, but not here. Summer is where money is as scarce as a drop of rain in June. The streets are silent. No one is laughing, no one is smiling, everyone is looking for a bit of shade to stay under, praying for the night to get closer as they try to push through the day.
The three months of winter, on the other hand, are a whole different story. People from all around the world come to visit us. They come to see the things their country can never beat us in. They may try to steal small artefacts from time to time to help put their museums on the map, but they will never be able to steal our temples or culture. I have to hand it to them though, they are more cultured than anyone I will ever meet here. They have respect for what they visit and appreciate the history behind most of the things they see. They study every wall of every temple I take them to, and laugh their hearts out when trying new things or playing around with the kids in the village.
The people that do show up in the summer though… They remind me of everything wrong with this country. They are not educated, disrespectful, and pay less than half of what we ask them for anything. They know we’re desperate this time of the year. Don’t get me wrong, I know that they have more right than anyone to visit everything for free, given that they are citizens of this country as much as I am, but the gas in my boat is not free. The food they eat is not free, and my time is usually worth money.
I think it’s their lack of exposure to the outside world that turned their ignorance from moderate to overbearing. There is absolutely no sense of respect to me, my boat, or my city. They do not understand why people come from all over the world to see these sights, and I doubt they will ever understand.
Trash is everywhere; by the river banks, in my boat, and on the streets. It’s not enough that the weather is overwhelmingly hot and dry, now the attitudes have changed too. Everyone around the world dreads the breeze of the first winter chills, but I can’t wait to welcome it to my city with open arms.
Fahd - A Nubian boat owner and Nile tourguide.
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