On yet another day and another adventure on the streets of Egypt, I happened upon two young boys, about 13 or 14 years old, pulling a wooden cart, much like you would imagine hitched to the back of a mule. As one pulled the cart behind him loaded with watermelons they yelled out “Bateekh Bahteekh!” (Watermelon) Intrigued by this unusual scene, at least by American standards, I stopped the boys to talk to them. Unfortunately they didn't speak English and I don't speak Arabic. So we resorted to hand signs and raising our voices to emphasize our words, as if the increased volume would transcend the language barrier.
I decided to purchase a watermelon from them with no real idea of what I was going to do with it, as anyone who knows me, knows I don't care for watermelon. The older boy, in his striped Calvin Klein shirt, placed a watermelon on one side of the balance scale and then started adding weights to the opposite side until the two sides balanced. He then quoted a price of 20 Egyptian pounds, about 3 dollars American. Not really knowing if I got a good price or not, I paid him his 20 pounds. After all, it was the experience and the interaction with the locals that was most important to me at this point, not the price and especially not the watermelon.
Having set my watermelon aside, protected by the plastic grocery bag he had placed it in, I grabbed my camera and raised my eyebrows as if to ask "can I take your picture?" They both shook their heads in agreement, and again, here is “What you won't see in the travel brochures...”
I hope you have enjoyed the first two installments of "What you won't see in the travel brochures..." My next installment will solve the mystery of the watermelon I really didn't want and who are those other two boys?
For more of my Photography please visit my website at www.HackworthPhotography.com
