I’m Staring At The Pyramids Right Now And These Are My Thoughts
Rising from earth’s crust with a divine energy summoned from the cosmos, the Pyramids of Giza are breathtaking to even the most seasoned adventurer. Only perhaps Machu Picchu can match its majestic aura, but I’m not even sure the forgotten Incan city is as marvelous as this celebrated wonder.
OK! Now that that pretentious opening paragraph is wrapped, let me simply state in the words of Curb Your Enthusiasm’s very own CrazyEyeKillah: “What the Muthaf*cka, wh*t the f*ck?!?!?!” I am currently thinking of slightly more advertiser friendly words to describe the orgasm my eyes are having at the moment; a heavenly scene experienced from the sweltering rooftop of my hotel. It has taken me a very long time to get here, 28 years in fact, but boy, never has travel abstinence been more rewarding than now.
I was seven when I first opened my first world history book in Ms. Smith’s class. Peru and Egypt’s wonders of the world popped off the page like curse words in a Spawn comic book. It was likely then that my insatiable thirst for travel began, fueled by the Indiana Jones trilogy and later in life, an associate’s degree in archaeology from Howard University. Still, I criss-crossed the globe for nearly two decades, visiting some 42 plus countries and most of the United States before arriving in Egypt here today. I have been doing this a long time, and on occasion like a promising date gone sh*t with the quickness, have found myself underwhelmed by the hype surrounding some destinations. Not Machu Picchu. And certainly not the Pyramids of Giza.
The pyramids speak to most of us the first we see them. They make us believe anything is possible; that (wo)man, when focused, can create something so magnificent that it can inspire, console or evoke tears from people such as myself thousands of years after being created.
I suppose bashing America’s many, many faults is natural for the lot of us. But something has to be said of a country that provides opportunities for a boy from South Central, born to a single mother with a drug addiction, the ability to see the world, eat its foods, connect with its citizens and in moments like this, find himself struggling to encapsulate just how beautiful, surreal even, this world can be.
I will never forget this moment, a time where The Sphinx, staring into my eyes like Players Club LisaRaye during a lap dance, allowed me a chance to bask in its greatness, to be reminded of what innovations others and myself are capable of, and for making a little boy from South Central’s dreams come true. That was a run-on sentence, but in moments like these, finding the perfect words are laboring when this is what’s in front of you.
