Edfu

At the temple I separated myself from the group after Mahmoud was done talking. I was feeling tired and home sick and really missed the kids. I found a nice corner behind a huge column where I could sit and write in my note book while watching some little birds which lived in holes in the walls of the temple. Soon I noticed that the group had left, so I hurried to catch up with them.

On the way out of the temple I witnessed what could have been a scary situation. To the left of the path was a steep embankment with a look out tower complete with guard and gun at the ready. Below the look out tower, high up at the top of the embankment was a little boy. Down below, on the side walk was a very tense father, another soldier with his automatic rifle out, two temple guards in gallabeyya and a police officer. All were tense.

The father was yelling, “Come down, now," the boy was refusing to come down. One of the temple guards caught my eye and made a motion with his hands and shoulders, indicating a sense of helplessness, and understanding for the father’s situation and the antics of small children. It was evident that the guard knew what was going on. Kids and parents. These things happen, kids get stubborn. But this time involved tense men with big guns.

The fathers voice held fear as he hollered, “If you don’t come down now you won’t get any ice cream” but the boy wouldn’t budge. I’m sure he had a fun time climbing the wall, was completely oblivious to the soldiers with guns and then got to the top and was afraid to come down. Can't you just see a 4 year old doing this?

Eventually the boy made it about half way down. He obviously had done no mountain climbing with his family as he was trying to walk straight down the embankment…on steep slopes it is best to go sideways. He teetered a bit and fell to his butt, then stood up and was afraid to go further. The father asked if he could go up to that point to help his son. The police man said it was ok, so the father climbed the embankment and retrieved his son...I didn't hang out any longer, but hurried out of the temple to find my group.