We'll Need A Boat

I’ve gotten my way through mountain of grading by mid-morning and can finally devote some time to a summer vacation for the family I’d been noodling on all year.  The complete version of what I’d liked to have done is a bridge-too-far and probably would have exhausted everyone.  But we should be able to do a portion of what I’d intended.  Something I’ve wanted to do for a very long time.  Next Tuesday then, we’ll fly to Cairo.

I’ve read things about Egypt all year long.  I’d found a few, old Cambridge histories of ancient Egypt, another notably thinner treatment of the Arab conquest to the present.  E. M. Forester had written a fabulous history and guide to Alexandria, Laurence Durrell, Naguib Mafouz and Steven Cook’s “The Struggle for Egypt” which is to say I’ve dipped a toe in the water of the is five-thousand-year narrative.  I’d put this on hold for while and now, I suddenly feel like I’m playing catch-up. 

I’m old fashioned and start with a Lonely Planet when I consider the itinerary.  I feel like I’ve always felt when I read one of their guide books, as if I’m speaking with a smart, trusted friend.  And it seems we’ll need a boat.  Falukas sound pleasant but I’m not sure if the ladies will want to be peeing over the side of the boat for four days.  There are cruise ships which sound god-awful and look worse.  The dahabiyas, the larger sailing vessels, quiet and powered by the wind also seem to have generators that provide air conditioning. And every story, that references the British idling along the Nile, marveling at the ruins aboard a dahabiya, invariably references Agatha Christie. 

I confess, (a good word as one begins to describe a mystery writer) that I have never read anything my Ms. Christie.  I hadn’t realized, that Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (1890-1976) was the best-selling author of all time.  I’ve never been particularly drawn to the mystery genre but I’m sure work is fun and one assumes the best of her best is likely remarkable.  And soon, I’ve found on line at least two works of hers that focus on Egypt.  “Death Comes in the End” is set in ancient Egypt and “Death on the Nile” takes place in 1937.  They’re both available on Amazon.cn, which is wonderful and now they are on their way to our house.  Should be here, well before we depart. 

Monday 6/24/19