01/24/2020 All right. I surrender. I can’t force anything in life. I let go of the thought of heading to the Bahamas on a sailboat. Things that are beyond my control speak against it.
01/28/2020 Dear fellow travelers, do not ask me with a clear, trained mind: “Why is it going to Egypt now?”. Please don’t say: “You wanted to go to Latin America!”. Yes. Right. But what should I do if Egypt calls now? A country as mystical as no other. Millennia-old history right in front of your nose that still seems puzzling. Walking the pyramid with a meditation group. And a friend from Germany on site. We have wanted to spend time together in Egypt for a long time. Now the time has come. The sailing boat situation is tricky. The 3-man sailing crew dissolves. From today, everyone goes their own way. And I choose Egypt.
02/01/2020 Tunisia. It is 7 a.m. I get ready. Shortly afterwards I’m in the breakfast room. The sailing crew is already drinking coffee. Both came back last night. One last attempt to start with the sailboat today. Has the paper finally settled? A quick exchange and they are on their way to the port. With my wishes that it works. I still have some time. Time before it starts. Go to Egypt. I have breakfast. Talk to my newly won “Tunisian family”. Write on this post. My plane is at 3pm. It takes about two and a half hours to the airport. I was told to leave at 9am. “Well,” I think to myself, “It’s better to have too much time buffer than stress afterwards.”
9 clock. I’m being taken to the city center. From here I should take a taxi bus to Tunis. A few minutes later, barely arriving in the center, the driver calls out of the car. It calls back. We stop in front of a nine-person bus. I try to pick up any Arabic word I know to put the situation in order. Tunis! Well that sounds good. I get off. Load my backpack into the minibus. Either the question marks are written on my face or it is my European appearance that a young Tunisian appeals to me. I ask with my school French that I have digged out piece by piece here in Tunisia whether the bus goes to the center of Tunis. “Qui.” “Quand?” Okay, it’s getting complicated. I did not understand the answer. I change to English. So the answer comes: “Nine person in bus.” So that’s the answer to my question ‘when’. Okay, got it. Not quite understood, but it doesn’t matter. And the question from him immediately afterwards: “Friends?”. OK. Um. What? “Friends. Facebook. “Oh. Roger that. What the hell. He seems harmless. The friend request to me is out. In good mood he wishes me a good trip in Arabic language and leaves. With a Facebook friend more, I get on the bus. Ten dinars are included. Another ten for the taxi from Tunis to the airport. And ten dinars if something goes wrong. The equivalent of ten euros in my pocket, so I’m on the bus. With three women. So there are four more places available for passengers. It’s slowly dawning on me. I remember Namibia. I sat there on the bus for half a day until the last seat was finally filled and the journey started. Back then, I didn’t care when the bus started. Back then. In the meantime we have 9:45 a.m. Another woman comes along. Patience is the order of the day. The engine is started. I still see three free places. Can this be? “On y va?” I ask my neighbor. She smiles at me and shakes her head. Then why does the engine run? I see the money being collected. The driver comes to me and speaks Arabic with me as if it were my mother tongue. What is he supposed to have said other than that he now wants the travel costs. I give him one of my three bills. Converted a little more than three euros. Accompanied by countless Arabic words, I get back about one euro. I ask in French if we should start now. A swing of Arabic words comes towards me. Um. I interpret that as a ‘no’. But he must have said more than that. There they are again: my question marks on my face. This time it is a young woman who turns to me and explains to me in French that the driver will start as soon as all the seats are filled. A man comes out of nowhere and squeezes in that I can buy these seats. Then he would drive off. Ah. Yes. So he opens this debate. Clear. For the few euros I could still pay the remaining places and he would start. Converted about twelve euros. For a two hour drive. My European perspective thinks that’s okay. But not my travel self. Why should the German buy the carriage? I feel uncomfortable with this thought. Time goes by. The engine is now out again. The man who thought he had to explain my privileges is also one of the passengers. So there are still two places available. The clock says half past ten. Um. My head is calculating. I calculate how much time I have until I check in. And there is an unknown in my equation. The start time. I am patient. But not my seat neighbor. She shouts something in Arabic, through the bus, out to the street. To where the driver is standing and drinking coffee. The situation remains unchanged. I’m calculating again. This time with the few dinars that I have in my pocket. 14Dinar would have to be paid. I think: what if I offer him ten dinars to get him going? I hesitate. I don’t want to play this arrogant card. However, a flight is more expensive than 14 dinars. I shut my eyes. And breathe my nervousness away. Doesn’t quite work out the way I would like it to. Second try. Much better. I look at the clock. I’ve been in the same place for almost an hour and a half. If only I knew when to start. With my eyes closed, I imagine that I will arrive at the airport on time. And if I have to pay for the seats. Okay. I open my eyes because the woman next to me has become restless again. Two others have now joined in their verbiage. The driver barks back. Great. How should I make it clear in this situation that I have decided to pay for the seats. I stay silent. The battle of words continues. Until the driver gets behind the wheel and drives off. And I’m sitting there again: with a thousand question marks on my face. But never mind. We drive.
The sailing crew sets the sail. They were allowed to start. I sit in the airplane seat. I can get to know Egypt.
