Beni Suef

Beni Suef was the first time where I felt Alone in a Foreign Country.

The hotel in Beni Suef had a metal detector at the door. I was wondering how all my gear would make it through when a manager arived to tell the guard I was exempt. I threw some water on my face and left in search of food.

Two teenagers were selling pastries near my hotel. They gave me some freebies and I bought them some of those Egyptian fruit drinks with the strawberries and the bananas.

Dusk is a magical time in Egypt. I spent some time wanderring through the narrow streets without seeing a restaraunt. There was every other type of shop though, including one gun shop, which surprised me. One street was lit up with Christmas lights and had a stage at the end. As soon as I stepped on to it I was surrounded by 20 kids who insisted I should stick around for the disco.

Eventually I met Khaled and his friend Mohamed. They had a shop full of bags for putting grain in. Khaled didn't speak English but through sign language he invited me to his house to eat. It was a great honor to meet his family and eat supper there.