Magic

Day by Day
By Orlando A

So we are out going to get some toilet paper and dish detergent and we decide to walk down a few blocks more on the Nile. We get the usual people asking about taxi rides and such but it is different this time. I realize that it is an honor in a way to be considered worthy of the requests, even if it is about the money. I figure it is better than being on the other side of the coin.

Anyway, I am struck by this young dark skinned brother who sees me and Candice and utters, welcome back. Initially, the one side of me is like huh, we haven't been here yet. Then I realize what he is saying... I felt like damn. Then it made me happy. We decided to go in his shop. He was proud of the work he did, he was crafting alabaster pieces and he was saying that he was a chef. I think he was saying that he made the pieces, but didn't know exactly how to say it. But we understood. The pride in his work kind of spoke louder than anything.

Still, since I am going to be here for a while I decided not to buy anything from him. So I told him and as we were about to walk out another gentleman walked in who was the shop manager. He was pleased to see us as well. He was pleased, even when we were leaving. So I figured this might be the real Egyptian hospitality we have been hearing about.

So we turn around and walk back home. We stop in the store on the corner of our block. We have only been in this flat for a day and a half. Only in Luxor three days. We know where we live and a few words of Arabic. We have a few friends, whom we count as our landlord and a cab driver who we met that was kind of cool.

When we walk in the store we see the shop owner, normally we only see his son and a couple of other kids who work there. We speak and the man eyes me for a minute. He asks where we are from and he is the first person I met who knows how to do the pound and shake correctly. He is damn sure about it too.

So me and Candice are like, what you know about that? He's like, I know about that because I lived in New York for like twenty something years. He adds that he is a Nubian. Me and Candice look at each other and smile. We are like, we been looking to catch up with some Nubian brothers and sisters. He smiles and says that he is going to have us over his house and cook for us, because he is a chef.

He asks us where we are staying and we tell him, right at the end of the block. He laughs and says he owns every house on the block except that one, which he sold to my landlord. We laugh. We know this is true because our cabdriver from the other day had mentioned that this man, named, A, owned almost every house on the block and that he was his relative. He also owns the Alabaster shop.

He says I used to work for the man in New York and pulls out his passports. He explains that he is a dual citizen. Then he asks if we know Dr. Ben. Dr. Ben-Jochannan. Me and Candice look at each other and laugh. We say we do and that we have been students of his, and his work for some time. He says that he asked because he worked for him when he was younger.

He further adds that Dr. Ben used to call him "Chicken George" when he was younger because he was smaller then. We laugh and we are in utter disbelief. The world is so small. He explains that he came to the US the first time with Dr. Ben and he knew Dr. Ben, Dr. Jeffries and the whole gang. He went on to tell us stories of his times in New York. This is on the way to buy toilet paper and dish detergent. Our neighbor was like, he was going to get us down to Aswan to hang with the Nubians! I am like damn!

He explains that Dr. Ben had sent him to school in New York to learn English and a trade and because of that he has been able to do well for himself and has even been able to build the Mosque in our neighborhood. I am thinking, man, the reach of Dr. Ben. Black folks don't even know.

We are connected from Africa to America and that is evident. We owe tremendous gratitude to Dr. Ben for his work and for his life. We are who we are because of what he has done and who he is and this is one more reminder about his work and contributions, and not just his but all the brothers from that time period who did lay the foundations, including Dr. Jeffries, Ashra Kwesi and all the others who we will be hearing about in stories from our neighbor.

Thank you.