Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words (and saliva) will never hurt me.
I have been able to handle rude comments and the occassions when people spit at me fairly well. I have my discman to tune out comments most of the time. And I don't know why but the spitting barely upsets me when it happens. I don't think that it is ok for people to do that, but I can come up with reasons in my head as to why they might think it's ok to do that or how to them maybe I represent a group of people or way of life that they hate and have no respect for, to say the least . . . if that makes any sense at all. But yesterday I met my limit. Walking home from school, I passed a group of boys from about age 11-14 I would guess. They didn't say anything to me, rude, nice, or annoying. I passed them and a nice sized rock was thrown in my direction. It didn't hit me, but was obviously thrown at me. I told myself to keep walking, maybe it wasn't thrown at me, maybe it was a accident. Then a rock hits me in the back of my leg. Anger. Rage. Fury. I froze for a moment deciding whether or not it was a good idea to pick up the rock and throw it back at the kid. I did control that urge. Instead I turned around and glared at the group of boys. The group ratted out one of the boys, accusingly pointing fingers at the guilty party. I yelled at him. He didn't understand a word of English, but it felt good.
I feel like my honeymoon period with Egypt is officially over.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
I think you might be right… My wife hates Egypt for all the same reasons. She never had a rock thrown at her, but I think that was because I never let her travel outside by herself. Teenage boys would however sneak up and pinch her butt on rare occasion, and more than once I punched them in the face (or kicked ‘em in the ass as they ran away). The teenagers nearly always would make rude comment though, “sucky fucky” being their favorite. Men used to just stare and occasionally make comments. Again, that was with me or one of my troops escorting her at all times. If I were you I’d take to self preservation by always wearing very conservative outfits, a scarf and whenever possible travel in a group (at least 2 girls, with a male friend if possible). I know it blows, but you live in one of the most hostile environments on the planet for women—especially young single westerners (who are hookers by definition to Arabs). I actually had a good time in Egypt, but no one harassed me being a male. I would also strongly advise against dating an Arab unless you know him extremely well, even then I wouldn’t recommend it. Perhaps I’m prejudiced, but it’s a prejudice I learned from Arab…
Never saw much of a problem in the Sinai however, they understand tourist.
Stay safe, and protect yourself!
Post a Comment