The Red Vineyard

by Nesma Kassem (Egypt)

A leap into the unknown China

“Can you take me to the nearest bus station?” I said while I was covered in sweat waving my hands to stop the lady coming towards me in a motorcycle. She was the only person I saw on that road. She stopped and started talking in Chinese and I couldn’t understand. I opened my phone and wrote on google translate “I need to go to the nearest bus station” I showed her the words translated in Chinese and she waved at me to ride behind her. It was my first time to ride a motorcycle. I put both my arms around her waist like it was my last chance of hope. We were on a road in the middle of the countryside “The Red Vineyard” as I called it. She was moving so fast so I kept holding tighter on her. I was exhausted, I could barely breathe so I closed my eyes to comfort myself and all I could think about was if I would ever get back home. It was the first day at my host family’s house in the countryside, I couldn’t sleep the night before because they had a wooden bed for me to sleep on. When the sun came up, I looked at my window, the scenery resembled “The red Vineyard” painting. So I decided I would go for a run in that view, I got out of my room and asked my host. she said “Yeah sure, let me show you the way” as she gave me a banana from the dinner table. She took her bicycle out and we walked on a straight road in the middle of two sides of green scenery. She followed my with her bicycle as I started running, I kept looking around the pretty scenes while listening to “Here comes the sun” the road was completely empty. After about 1 km, Lin said” Okay I’ll go back home, will you be able to come yourself?” “It’s a one way road, I’ll head back after I finish 5 kms, I won’t get lost don’t worry” I said as I chuckled. I continued running until I finished my 5kms, the weather was humid. I then turned around and took the same way back home, as I finished the road I didn’t remember how me and Lin got on that road at the first place. I kept walking and I found some different houses, I couldn’t find ours, I didn’t have the house number, the street name nor Lin’s number and my mobile had no access to calls or internet and I didn’t take any money. I was so hot. I stood still and I remembered the house was near a bus station, what bus station? I had no clue. I stood for 15 minutes waiting for anyone to come but the road was empty so I kept walking until I saw that old lady that took me on her motorcycle. She dropped me off after 10 minutes, I looked around and I saw myself in the wrong bus station,I panicked for a moment and asked her “Do you have a mobile, I need to call my house, I’m lost” she didn’t understand so I opened google translate and wrote down that phrase with both my hands shaking, I showed it to her, she looked at it then put her hands in her pocket and gave me her mobile. I opened her mobile and dialed Xinyi’s, Xinyi was the one who helped me find that host family. I said “I lost my way back home, can you please call Lin to come get me?” She said “Calm down please, just tell me where you are ” I gave the mobile to the lady to tell her the location, she talked and hanged up. She then smiled at me and waved as she was leaving and I thanked her in Chinese. I waited for about 10 minutes more until I found Lin coming on a motorcycle, she came close to me and said “Let’s go home” “I thought I would never come back” I said, She laughed and hugged me, I rode behind her thinking she was my last chance of hope.