Explore a Traditional Nubian Home

12/17/2009

This day was possibly everyone’s favorite day on the trip. It began with a 20 minute boat ride across the Nile. This was where we met with a group of camels which we were able to hop on and ride to a nearby Nubian village. I had no idea what this day had in store for us, but I was liking it already because we had been seeing camels everywhere on our trip and I wanted to ride one. It was a lot of fun riding the camels to the Nubian village, but I was disappointed it was a short trip. I was hoping that it would be a longer ride but the village wasn’t very far away from the shore. When arriving, I don’t think that many of us knew what to expect of the village or what we were even doing that day. The houses were different then ours. They were only made of brick and mud and reed mats were used for the roof. The house’s center is what we would call a living room with rooms attached to it. The living room is outside and the floor is sand. The sand is change every two days. The living room is a little different because they own many crocodiles as pets and they were kept in cages in this area. There were four larger crocodiles and several little ones. Nubian tradition are different then ours as well. The mother runs the household but if the mother passed away then the eldest daughter took over the care of the household. This includes the finances along with everything else. Also, when a man and woman marry, the women’s husband comes to live with the women’s family. It was really nice to be able to learn about another culture and it was so gracious for them to welcome us into there home. They offered us Nubian tea and hibiscus to drink. We were also able to receive henna tattoos and pick out a traditional Nubian hat. The real treat of the village was yet to come. We walked to a nearby school that was for 3-5 year olds. This made me excited because I love kids so I knew it was going to be a lot of fun to see them. In one classroom the little kids were blowing us kisses and in another all they wanted to do was take pictures with us and sit on our laps. When it was time to leave I didn’t want to go and the kids didn’t want me to leave either. They started to attack me with high fives. They didn’t want me to leave because they liked me but because I was their size. I really enjoyed this day. I was glad that our tour guide added the visit this day. I think I enjoyed it because we got to experience the Nubian culture and we were able to interact with them.

Posted at 10:36 AM by Ewelina Rog