1600 Pounds of Egyptian Secrets

by Andrea Hackett (United States of America)

A leap into the unknown Egypt

I had studied the skies for weeks. Finally, it was my turn to tackle the air and travel forward in time on a spaceship made for normal people like me. I could feel my stomach turn inside out from the fear of uncertainty. Still, I carried on. I placed my prayers in a box with my mothers and trusted that this was my purpose. I had written down a list of things to bring back but the most important would be myself in complete form. I had dragged my flesh and blood from job to job to home and around the city where I lived in a million pieces. I was searching for the glue to put me together. I was searching for my heart and soul and God. I would surely find them in a land that the world I had come from had hidden and filtered. I was searching for truth in the only place I’d find it. Africa. Another language rang out from the sound system on the plane and I was completely calm. With Kamau in my headphones, a friendly stranger nearby and my heart of gold, I was off to the motherland. My face was glued to the plane window. I could see the lights shine on one side of the Great Pyramids, finally, after 22 hours in the air. The city was lit and alive at 8:00 PM when we landed and I was speechless. A grand scene that didn’t seem real. It was officially my 30th birthday. I soaked in the view, the atmosphere and the thrill of a foreign currency against my fingertips but nothing could amount to the love I have for my family. I felt it now more than ever and I needed them. I had taken them for granted on more than one occasion. Chasing 100 dreams over my lifetime and it took me approximately 8700 miles to realize my heart and soul purpose was to love them. 1600 Egyptian pounds is all I carried. I immediately regretted my decision to make this trip when I stepped outside the airport. It smelled of filth and sand. It was dark out but the golden street lights revealed the city’s lack of resources. An Egyptian man holding a sign with my name held an uncomfortable grin on his face and escorted me to his vehicle in a garage several feet from the airport entrance. My heart pounded. I thought of all the horrors of my homeland and all the things that could happen or go wrong. I was a long way from home and of all the danger I had been exposed to in America, I was terrified of what might happen to a woman alone in Egypt. I took my phone, confirmed my reservation and punched the address into google maps to make sure we were on track. Solo traveling seemed so much more exciting on social media, but I pushed on. And even though I had secretly mapped out my escape route in my head twice while we drove in the dark through the eerie streets of Cairo, they got me to my destination as promised.Le Meridien Pyramids Hotel & Spa was a pleasant sight to see. “Welcome home!” a gentlemen at the entrance said as he assisted me with my bag at check-in and I was immediately reassured that everything would be ok. Of the 30 years I had been a citizen of the United States of America, not one person had spoken those words to me or treated me as if I was welcome anywhere as a black woman. It was refreshing to see people that looked like me and ones who embraced me. And even though I was scared as hell, from the 30 minute airport transfer to my hotel, I was not threatened or led to believe that I was in any danger. I thanked God for safety.