Almost Been Kissed.. and other stories

Music: Creep by TLC

First of all, to Idd.. i cannot believe we were at Jeju the same time! oh well..

Didn't think anyone was reading this blog haha.

Anyway, this is gonna be an entry of all the weird shit i got from guys while I was in Egypt and Jordan.. I just finished a marathon of Dexter seasons 5,6,and 7.. So my brain is sorta fucked up now.. that show can do that to you..

Alright..

It was only my second day of the month-long trip.. I was exploring downtown Amman alone.. i didnt really have any plans... started in the morning.. so lets cut to the chase.. around 3pm or so.. after spending 1 hour at the local library and having lunch at the Roman Amphitheater.. I started wandering away from downtown.. when I realized some guy was following me.. he was watching me.. at first i thought i was being paranoid.. but when i saw he was always behind me.. stopping when i stopped.. walked when i walked.. i realized he was really following me.. i started walking faster.. made sure i was always next to the main road.. where there were many cars.. took some pics here and there like a tourist, just didnt want him to know that i was panicking a bit. whenever i turned a corner and he couldnt see me.. i will run a bit to make a head way.. didnt want him to know i was running.. finally lost him.. come to think of it, i shouldnt have acted as a tourist and tried to blend in as a local instead.. ok mental note.

walked some more for an hour.. just following the crowd.. some women.. turns out i sort of made a big circle and ended back in downtown.. another guy approached me.. he wasn't arab.. he told me he's korean-american.. a transfer student.. he seemed harmless.. we chat a bit.. then he brought me to student hangout area for foreign students.. felt safe there.. met 2 australians at a a coffee shop.. then the 4 of us decided to go to the Citadel.. then we went for a drink.. the korean-american, turns out he lived near where I was staying..nearby Jordan University.. when we were on the bus.. he started being weird... to cut the long story short.. he told me wanted to kiss me. on the lips. and he said that like, directly. can u imagine a 30 minute conversation of him trying to convince me to do just that. wtf right? i managed to dodge it.. he even said, i dont have to do anything (suggesting he'll do the work). HAHAHA. and this happened only on my second day..

nothing happened for the next 10 days since I was hanging out with Malaysian friends.. then we parted in Aqaba since i was gonna take a ferry to Nuweiba.. they left after lunch time.. in that duration since they left until i boarded the ferry (at 12.30 AM), two guys (met them separately), invited me to their homes..i declined of course.. one guy was a divorcee.. another guy was in his early twenties.. the younger guy actually forced me to dance with him.. and later tried to hug me and kiss me as well.. managed to dodge it as well.. at one point i was shouting already.. crazy right.

I reached Nuweiba around 8am the next morning.. and went straight to Dahab (see previous posts). there was a guy from a shop here who knew me.. well, he called me to his shop.. sometimes its just so hard to say no.. but i learned to be stronger when it comes to declining things and people as time goes by.. throughout the 18 days i was in Egypt.. This guy, since he knew my real name, he always called me whenever i pass by his shop.. when he found out i was married for 1 year already (i wore a fake wedding ring and already have a fake story that comes with it whenever people asked).. this guy told me he was going to get married soon in about 40 days.. after chatting a few times.. at one point, he told me to share with him my 'first night' experience.. wtf rightttttttt.. i said no and no and no.. and he would insist and insist... after a few days he left me alone when it was obvious that i started ignoring him... another shopkeeper, also in Dahab.. took my phone from me and called his phone.. so that he has my number. he kept calling me for the next whole week.. i always didnt answer, until one time he called me when I was with my friend's friend in Cairo.. my friend is Malaysian, stayed at his house, and his friend is Egyptian and he sorta became my tour guide while i was in Cairo.. he took the phone from me, and answered it.. they exchanged some pleasantries.. lol.. then the calls stopped.I didnt get bothered much in Cairo coz of Mr. Bodyguard.. i was also most of the time watching movies and series at home at my friend's apartment..

in Luxor, some shopkeeper tricked me into writing a 'love letter' to his 'girlfriend' in the UK.. i knew i was being tricked but i went along with it because i didnt want him to get too angry or anything.. said no to buying anything from his shop, except for 2 bottles of water.. which i needed anyway, and he finally let me go..
when i was in Aswan, a Nubian guy cooked me dinner on his felucca... a really nice guy... i wasn't afraid of him.. but he did suggest for me to marry him and be his second wife.. he said his wife wouldn't mind.. hahahahhaa. i suppose he thinks i am rich.. i did read some articles before, some Egyptians do have foreigner wives.. usually older and rich.. and single.. with permission from their Egyptian wife.. since life is so hard there now, its not easy to make a living in Egypt especially for people who depend on tourism as income all their life.. its a win-win situation.. the lonely older rich European women get their sex fix, while the Egyptian guys get money to support their real family.. crazy right..

On my second last day of the trip, I was in Alexandria alone.. this city is quite nice... a welcome change from Cairo.. i went to visit King Farouk's castle.. there is a huge park there.. i was walking along a road.. right next to the palace.. it was a public area..open space.. many people were around.. mostly families and couples.. but spread sparsely around the park.. i was snapping a picture of the palace.. which was on my right... from the corner of my eye i saw a red car which stopped next to the road.. the driver came out.. and crossed the road to the side where i was walking.. i didnt pay attention too much.. as i finished snapping the picture... i looked in front of me.. and this guy, the driver of the red car.. was in front of me.. with his stupid fucking ugly ass of a dick out of his pants.. his fucking hands on it.. and he was shaking it up and down.. while looking at me.. smiling.. WTF right!!! i know about flashers... but i didnt think it would happen to me in freakin' Egypt!!! i pretended i saw nothing, not even a flicker of expression or any response.. i walked past this asshole like nothing happened.. and went on snapping pictures.. i think i handled it quite well.. i didnt shout..not a sound came out from me.. i know these guys get thrilled if the girl freaks out.. sick mother fuckers..

Later, on the same day, i walked to Qaitbey Fort.. it was a walk along the sea.. and next to the main road.. and the stalker thing happened again.. this guy followed me for at least 20 minutes... i wasnt scared this time, it was next to a busy main road and he couldnt possibly do anything to me without attracting attention... when i walked, he walked.. when i walked fast.. he walked fast.. when i slowed down.. he slowed down.. when i stopped... he would walk past me... wait out front.. and when i walk pass him, he would start following me again.. it was obvious because he kept looking at me.. and he was talking on his phone the whole while... i was figuring out how to get rid of him.. and make him stop.. i saw a mother with her child sitting down by the pavement, watching the sea... i went to sit next to them.. smiled at the mother.. and did what they did.. i enjoyed the view.. took pictures.. the guy stopped nearby and continued talking on his phone while keeping his eyes on me.. then the mother and child left.. so i moved on.. a few minutes later saw a chinese couple... went to them and talked to them.. tourist to tourist.. started the usual conversation topics ive had with many other travelers. then i told them what was happening and made it obvious that i was pointing to the guy who was following me.. so that he saw i was pointing at him.. identifying him.. making others identify him.. actually i was hoping the chinese couple were walking to the fort as well so we could walk together, but they were going in the opposite direction.. anyway, the trick worked.. by the time we finished talking, the guy was out of sight.. gone..

so there you go.. the creeps i met.. other things like being touched.. on the shoulder.. my back.. on the hands.. and arms.. is normal.. the fact that i wore a tudung didnt stop these guys.. muslim or not.. im not an arab women so they think they can get away with it i suppose..

so there you go.. some personal stories of a foreign muslim woman traveling alone in Egypt and Jordan.. i was prepared.. so i wasn't that shocked.. but i was more shocked that i handled the situations better than i expected.. because of these experiences... i really don't encourage any woman to travel alone in Egypt especially.. if you think u cant handle these kinds things.. or scared.. or whatever.. however, i myself don't have any regrets..

and i'd like to quote what my professor thought of me, which he said to me some weeks back,

"I think you think that all men are stupid"

i just smiled and said, "no comment". HAHAHA.