40 Acres and a mule vs. 600 camels...

Bonjour mes amis!

I'm still not really able to recount my activities, but I will take a few moments to share how I came to know my worth in camels...

In the streets and markets of Egypt, female tourists are often approached by men, especially those selling things but often times others as well, who make various proposals. I've been proposed marriage by several men since my arrival. Heather, one of my fellow travelers, has turned this into a sort of competition and whoever gets the most proposals by trip's end gets a drink on the loser.

One day Betty and I were out browsing a local market. I believe we were in Luxor, but it might have been Aswan, when a man offered Betty 600 camels for me. Another day, a man said that Betty was worth 10 million camels and a chicken. When we asked him why the chicken, he said that he needed it to eat on the first night...

The most bizarre proposition I've been given so far went something like this...
Random man: Are you married?
Me: Yes.
Random man: I'm married too. I want to love you.
Me: No thank you. (walking away)
Random man: I just want to love you. You won't love me?!

I get asked a lot if I'm Jamaican and they yell "Rasta never die" at me. My current hairstyle is only associated with Jamaicans here. They also say "color like me," "my cousin" or call me "Nubian." Many men refuse to believe that I'm not at least partly Egyptian.

I can't quite compare camels to 40 acres and a mule because the camels aren't reparations to right a wrong, but more of a purchasing price (more polite people might call it a dowry). Adel says it's all ridiculous because it's an antiquated tradition with no real meaning in today's society.

I'm currently in the Baharia Oasis in the Western Desert. Tomorrow morning we head to the Siwa Oasis. After two nights there, we're off to Alexandria for 2 nights which marks the end of the trip.


Bises,

Mlle. Alicia

P.S. My camera stopped working yesterday morning. I got it up and running again, but it's still randomly malfunctioning on me. Hopefully it won't drastically affect my picture-taking but I was really bummed yesterday because I had to miss out on some great photo ops.