The metro stopped. I supposed that I should be getting off at this station because I saw the other DukeEngagers getting off. However, I was stopped, by a huge figure standing in front of me. I thought she was standing at the door because she was getting off as well, which was proven to be false--- she did not move. The door of the metro shut behind my fellow DukeEngagers, leaving me alone in the metro. My head went empty as I watched Susan turned back and looked at me with her mouth open! It was my first time taking the metro in Cairo! Staying with the group was the only way to survive here as first comers, I thought, but I was left alone in the metro, not knowing what to do. I felt like a lost child. The metro started moving; two Egyptian men jumped out of nowhere and started trying to open the metro door for me so that I could get off, inshallah! I help hope in my hands as well. I did not care if it was dangerous or not—I had to get off and be with my fellow DukeEngagers, I screamed inside. “La!!!” said the huge figure standing in front of me and held me back with her firm hand. The two Egyptian men were still trying to open the moving metro door for me. I was still trying to get off. I had to get off! The hand held me tight and pulled me back again. “XXXXXXXXXX ! XXXXXXX!” she continued. The two Egyptian men gave up as the metro moved on. My fellow DukeEngagers became farer and farer. I looked at the hand holding my hand, and then her face. She was still speaking to me, “XXXXXXXX!” She seemed to be in her 50s, dressed in traditional Egyptian clothes like any other Egyptian women are: long gown that covered her feet, a scarf that covered her head and neck. I could only hear one thing from her “XXXXX wahid (One) XXXXX…” She went on talking in her language as if I was having a conversation with her that she did not really care about. I smiled at her and did not know what to say. Shama called me on my cell phone and told me to get off on the next stop and take the metro back and they would be waiting for me at the right stop. I was relived. I started reasoning myself--- of course this was not the end of the world, I could go back, or call Professor Lo to find me! I was mesmerized by my own thoughts when I was pulled out of the metro by the hand that had been holding me the entire time. We got off on the stop, and she was still holding my hand. She dragged me to the stairs to the exit, still speaking to me. Still, I could only hear one word:wahid (One). We crossed the bridge holding hands. She dragged me to another metro that was coming from the other direction and gave my hand to a younger woman who happened to be standing at the doorway. She said something to the younger woman and the younger woman nodded and smiled at me and took my hand. I smiled back. When I turned my eyes to the doorway, I could not see the older woman any more. She was already gone.
Suddenly, I felt guilt running inside me. I felt guilty because I told myself that the Egyptian women were not friendly; because they never smiled at us; because they never said hi; because I did not understand why they wore heavy makeup in the heat that has been melting me. I looked around myself in the women’s cabin again. They all looked like the two strange Egyptian women who held my hand in turns…
I got off the metro when the younger hand let me go. I smiled at my fellow DukeEngagers and accepted their friendly laughter as well. We started walking to our apartment. I looked at my hand and found myself smiling.
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