thoughts from a train...Egypt

It's been a beautiful morning. I woke up around 5:30 and got out of bed to watch the countryside roll by. I'm currently on a sleeper train on my way to Luxor in southern Egypt. I spent at least 30 minutes this morning just staring out the window observing the people and their fields and houses as I passed by. I wanted to be able to go talk to them, to talk about their lives, their livelihood, their expectations, their disappointments, and what makes them happy. Most of the people I saw were poor. Most were farming some type of grass or hay and beyond that I'm not sure what they were doing. Men and boys were gathered around fires lit along the roadside, I assume it must be chilly enough to warrant them in the morning, or they were starting something that I don't understand. From my protected perch on the train car it is difficult to really understand what it is like outside, everything passes like a film in front of my eyes. Landscapes are nice but they seem almost surreal and the people, well they are just figures whose lives pass before me in a glimpse. I don't understand them, I don't know what it is like to live like they do. I don't know their hardships, their hopes, their dreams, their aspirations, or if they even have any of these things. Perhaps they are merely trying to survive, but isn't that an aspiration in and of itself? I think so. Are they aware of the vast world which exists outside of their small village? To the contrary, am I really aware of their lives here? I think the answer to both questions is no, not really. We probably both have an idea of the others existence, but beyond that, we are both surviving according to what we know. (1 May 2008)