Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
of the same gender to hold hands in Egypt, and I appreciate that fact in this moment because
I need this hand. I need this hand like I might someday need a cane. Cairo is excellent at re-
minding me I cannot make it alone, and never more so than now: in the bright light and open
air with my friend, who looks as bare as I feel, with the shadows of men like a forest just
ahead.
My fingers interlock with Tori's; our knuckles can't get any closer. Many things are yelled
at us. “Big dick” is yelled at us. “Sex” is yelled at us. And so is a question: “Are you lov-
ers?” Which I find interesting. Someone in this jungle of hecklers has noticed how tightly
we'reholdinghands.Heseessomethinginthoseinterlockedfingers,andrightlyso.Ifthere's
a place with the power to change my sexual orientation, would it not look like this? If there
were a moment when I swore off men and partnered instead with my own kind, wouldn't it
be now, as I walk back naked into the Friday
souq
?
Somemenstare;othershiss.Ganglyboystrailusandbleattheword
sex
.Butbecausenone
of that happened, just moments ago, because the contrast is so stark, so ludicrous, I want to
taunt back: “We were just here, fools!” If there were a way to gloat, how I'd gloat. I'd yank a
veil outofmypocket, wave itoverhead like acrazy lady,andlet every oglerknow,“Youjust
looked right through me.”
But it's my turn to look right through people. I pretend I see no ruckus, no fury, no storm.
I scan the fields of junk and, before anyone can chase us away, shoot, shoot, shoot. A half-
hour into this reverie, the reverie of looking through not veil but lens, I realize I have no idea
whether the boys trailing Tori and me, flinging dirty words and sticking their fingers into my
photos, are the same boys who began doing so 30 minutes back. That's when I realize I've
beiged back out.
I once read that camels have an extra eyelid. It's a translucent cap that keeps out grains of
sand. There are many reasons camels survive in the desert. They have special pads on their
feet and humps of sustenance to go days without food. The way they weather sandstorms,
though, moving through the desert at its most furious, is this secret lid that slides right down
over the open eye.
