Guiding Old Scona High School in Egypt in 2000

Every Spring, for 15 years, I guided the Old Scona High School from Edmonton, Alberta  Canada. Every year Mr. Ray Adam would organize a tour to a different place. He was a chemistry teacher and the kids loved him. He would take 34 or 35 students and no more. He had a waiting list of the students that wanted to go as well but they were too many.

Egypt was a great tour. Except for me as a tour director, we had an Egyptian lady, Noha, who was our tour guide there. She was working on Ph.D. and everywhere we went everybody knew her. They called her Dotoressa, Italian for Doctor. It was my first tour to Egypt and I was enchanted. It felt as if I had been there many, many centuries ago. Among other things, we visited the Temple of Karnak. It was in the evening and while there it started getting dark. I had a video camera and was filming. There was a big group in front of me where I wanted to film and they just would not leave. They finally left and it was dark. I heard the iron fence doors closing. I run to the door yelling: “do not lock me in”. They reopened and let me go out. I look ahead and there is nobody in front of me looking down the road. I think: “oh they are just behind the corner”. One corner, two corners, three corners, nothing. All the vendors gone, all the souvenir stalls closed. I get to the bank of the Nile and all the cruise ships were gone as well. So here I am, all alone on the bank of the river Nile. I was not scared at all. I just started thinking:” what do I do”? I will just sit here till the morning and new ships will come (there were at least 50 ships when we docked) and someone will take me to Luxor. Contemplating my faith I spot my ship coming back. On the ship, they realized that I was missing so they came back.

I got big applause walking over the gangway to the ship. It is not very often that THE TOUR GUIDE GETS LOST!

I am the one on the ground!

I am a storyteller.True or not this is my story.

Nina Turek