Day by DayOrlando A
A, called me this morning to see what I needed, if I needed anything at all. He has continually refused payment for anything. Every now and then I talk him into letting me pay for something, although he always is shelling out. He prefers to pay, and when he does, he reminds me of the Egyptian godfather. To start, he drives this huge dark Dodge Durango in a sea of imports and when we roll, he drives like my uncle Joseph, who knows he is the emperor of the road. When people in the neighborhood encounter A slowly cruising, their first instinct is to honk, but when they see who they were going to honk at, they say nothing and move along. Me and Candice chuckle. Outside the neighborhood, less so, but it is still funny. He says he learned to drive in America and he is the only driver I have ridden with here who drives like an American in a sea of Egyptian drivers and chaos.
So we were supposed to go out and pick up some bread from his cousin's bakery, which is really cool because they have a stone oven, and it is right across the street from Luxor temple. However, we had been asked to pick up some essential oil for a friend who wanted it for health reasons, and he had told me previously he knew a spot right outside of town where the guy hooks up a donkey to a huge wheel and they make it right before your eyes. So I asked him if he minded going, poof, just like that we are on the road.
The road to Qus, is a pretty modern road, farms and pleasant scenery, only a couple of checkpoints along the way. I am getting used to the soldiers on the road at the checkpoints now, but it is still kind of like, wow. We made it into town and Brother A, had to ask for directions, the oil spot was hidden in a nook, deep in town. Qus is a relatively inexpensive place to live. Divide the cost of living in Luxor by four and you get an idea. However, you would need to speak Arabic there, as English is more like a memory, unlike in Cairo and Luxor where most people understand at least a few phrases or can direct you to someone who does.
So when we arrived at the shop, to say it was quaint would be an understatement. All the prices and signs were in Arabic. To learn to speak Arabic is one huge daunting task, to learn to write Arabic is another thing. Luckily, A was there. In addition, I know how to read Arabic numbers, which isn't really that hard. All the prices were very, very reasonable. However, we were too late to see the making of the oil. As it happens, a cow is hooked up to the huge wheel, but that happens in the morning. So we will go back another morning and see the making of the oil. However, the smell was still there lingering and locals were coming in to buy their essential oils from the man who looked none too pleased to see anyone who was not a local. 
However, we purchased pure rose oil, mint oil, orange oil, a liter of olive oil, jersaline, and the best smelling lavender and jasimine oil I ever smelled. All were purchased for a relative fraction of the cost of synthetics in the states and even counting the cost of gas, which A paid for, and forcing A to let me buy his, were still a bargain.
So we were supposed to go out and pick up some bread from his cousin's bakery, which is really cool because they have a stone oven, and it is right across the street from Luxor temple. However, we had been asked to pick up some essential oil for a friend who wanted it for health reasons, and he had told me previously he knew a spot right outside of town where the guy hooks up a donkey to a huge wheel and they make it right before your eyes. So I asked him if he minded going, poof, just like that we are on the road.
The road to Qus, is a pretty modern road, farms and pleasant scenery, only a couple of checkpoints along the way. I am getting used to the soldiers on the road at the checkpoints now, but it is still kind of like, wow. We made it into town and Brother A, had to ask for directions, the oil spot was hidden in a nook, deep in town. Qus is a relatively inexpensive place to live. Divide the cost of living in Luxor by four and you get an idea. However, you would need to speak Arabic there, as English is more like a memory, unlike in Cairo and Luxor where most people understand at least a few phrases or can direct you to someone who does.
So when we arrived at the shop, to say it was quaint would be an understatement. All the prices and signs were in Arabic. To learn to speak Arabic is one huge daunting task, to learn to write Arabic is another thing. Luckily, A was there. In addition, I know how to read Arabic numbers, which isn't really that hard. All the prices were very, very reasonable. However, we were too late to see the making of the oil. As it happens, a cow is hooked up to the huge wheel, but that happens in the morning. So we will go back another morning and see the making of the oil. However, the smell was still there lingering and locals were coming in to buy their essential oils from the man who looked none too pleased to see anyone who was not a local. However, we purchased pure rose oil, mint oil, orange oil, a liter of olive oil, jersaline, and the best smelling lavender and jasimine oil I ever smelled. All were purchased for a relative fraction of the cost of synthetics in the states and even counting the cost of gas, which A paid for, and forcing A to let me buy his, were still a bargain.
On the way home, we navigated the streets, and wished we had brought water. The Egyptian sun had risen overhead and we were all thirsty. Twenty minutes back to Luxor. We were given the wrong directions back to the main road out of Qus twice, once by a man with two teeth. We joked, he lost all his teeth because he was a liar. Soon after we found the road, we had taken a shortcut and bypassed the city itself.A checkpoint and few minutes later we were at the outskirts of Luxor again, looking across at the Valley of the Kings and Queens. A, asked if we still wanted to go to the bakery or look for drinks. We decided to head to the bakery. When we arrived at the bakery to buy bread, we found corn muffins fresh out of the oven. A, grabbed a few for us to sample, how could we resist? Each was 1LE, the equivalent of about 18 cents. We bought 15 and bread for about 3 days, for maybe three or four US dollars. I think my biggest expense from the whole adventure will be shipping the oil back to the US. Since it is for a friend I will use Fedex, next time we will use the Egyptian mail service, which is likewise inexpensive.
Tomorrow we plan on maybe buying socks and going to Luxor temple. I will put photos of Luxor temple up, and maybe some pictures of the market. Maybe I will talk Brother A into taking me around to his tailor to make me a galabia and some pants. The price he quoted me for a handmade galabia was unbelievable. Apparantly because of my above typical height of 6 feet tall, I will have to have my galabia hand made, the cost will still be less than half a pair of pants in the US, but only if I can get the local price. A is wonderful because not only does he look for the local price, he looks for the wholesale local price, after all, he owns a few local businesses. Every night I sleep over Karnak. Tomorrow, Luxor.
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