When asked for my name here, I say the version easier for the Arabic tongue to pronounce: Mira. Eyes light up as much as when I say my full name to English speakers. It was only today when I had my name written as hieroglyphs on authentic papyrus that it was explained to me that it was the “Ra” that made it glow.
So this is Luxor. While daytime is mostly spent exploring what once was ancient Thebes, nights are such a dream made of halva ice cream, pensive moods, reading more Mahfouz, and a lone oud player tugging on strings of nostalgia and silences. Evenings in Luxor make me feel that I have really rested for the first time in months. I think my soul has been given back its glow, too… and that’s when one feels that one truly got what they came here for.
The Book-Butterfly 