For Love of Country Military Policewoman (my saga continues) For your own signed copy see Amazon or silvaredigonda.ca

My first trip was to Cairo with the Canadian contingent. What an experience. We were crammed in a minibus and then in a taxi. The drive was long and exhausting. A weekend is not sufficient to see Cairo. But that was all we had. The trip was hurried and not organized. My first impression of Cairo was that it resembled Toronto, after a nuclear war. I only got to see the exterior of the pyramids. In my opinion, they were overrated. I didn’t find them impossible to make. I thought of all the tales such as those connecting UFOs to the pyramids and found them ridiculous. We continued to tour a museum without a guide. I was pleased to see King Tut, as I had missed him when he was in Toronto. The museum was breathtaking. There was so much to see, to know, so much history and I missed not having a guide to explain what we were seeing. The main hall overwhelmed me. Massive figures of Kings and their Queens stood side by side. I could feel them, their greatness. How proud a nation! What happened? I cannot help feeling sadness for these great cultures that had disappeared with time. How is it possible for a people to take a step backwards? I found the Egyptians I encountered simple-minded. At least they appeared to me at the time, where I was stationed. The people I came into contact with were the Bedouins. The men were thin and dark-skinned and appeared lazy. I also found them unattractive to women and that is putting it mildly. The women kept their faces covered and were not treated equally to men. They did the chores and any hard work. Mind you, this is what I was told. I myself had never seen anyone, regardless of sex, do too much work since I’d been there. The women, too, were slim and rather short--about five feet. It was difficult to assess their beauty since they were covered from head to foot. I’d spotted them occasionally removing their veils to show their faces to our men while on patrol. Obviously these women were not as timid as they appeared to be. I had the opportunity to meet them on occasion while on patrol and the reaction was consistent. They seemed surprised and happy as they examined me. Though communication was not possible due to our language barriers, expressions are universal. These women embraced their lifestyle and had no animosity towards mine. On the contrary they appeared impressed. I hope there comes a time when humanity can unite in equality and mutual respect. What happened to these women? How can they once sit proud, next to their men, intelligence filling their faces, full of character? How could it come to this? I obviously had to read much more about these people. I was more familiar with the history of these people than the present. A pamphlet I had read about the Bedouins describes them as indigenous inhabitants of Sinai. There are more than 10,000 divided in several tribes. We boarded a night cruise in Cairo and heard and enjoyed a combination of English, French and Spanish lyrics. We had a belly dancer entertaining us as well. It was an evening of romance, mystery and intrigue. The following day we toured an Orthodox Church. Men and women prayed separately in different parts of the church.

Excerpt From: Silva Redigonda. “For love of country : military policewoman.” www.silvaredigonda.ca + Amazon