Two Day Magazine

Can Love Conquer All?

East meets West

Ashraf is a 23 year-old engineering student at Cairo University. He was born in Kuwait, raised in Abu Dhabi, and moved to Cairo four years ago. Ashraf works as a translator for an English language Cairo newspaper. He loves his bicycle.

Sarah is a 29 year-old American woman living in Cairo. After studying law at Yale, Sarah moved to Cairo to study Arabic. Shortly after meeting Ashraf, Sarah decided to remain. Her interests lie in international law and human rights, women’s issues, and various national liberation movements. Sarah loves her bicycle.

A warm summer night brought these two unsuspecting individuals together. What better setting than the River Nile? Both Sarah and Ashraf were meeting mutual friends to rock a felucca boat on the river. Representatives from Egypt, the United States, Greece, India, and Palestine were present there on those waters, and there was much to be discussed.

Ashraf first noticed Sarah’s firm handshake and neck tattoo. She had been wandering around Cairo by herself for the past 3 weeks and was enjoying the present company. She admits that she was not looking for love. She had a boyfriend back home.
“Hooking up with a hot Egyptian guy was the last thing on my mind,” she chuckles.

But the magic of Egypt had something else in store.

Politics

It was a rocky start on that boat ride. Sarah was discussing the human rights work she had been doing with the Kurds in Turkey. Ashraf’s first response was, “I don’t really have much sympathy for the Kurdish people. They still practice honor killings there. If I were an American, I would be doing this kind of work somewhere else.”

The interview stops. “I didn’t say that!” argues Ashraf.
“Yes you did!” Sarah demands.
“No I didn’t!”
And so on. They agree to disagree.

Regardless, annoyed, Sarah went to the other side of the boat to chat with the others. When the ride was over, Sarah and Ashraf shook hands and said goodbye.

They did not exchange numbers.

The next week, happenstance brought them together yet again.