New Guest

On Saturday a new guest checked in across the hall from me. She is an Egyptian architect in her mid-twenties, very beautiful, who is contemplating coming to London for a second master’s degree. This morning I was late leaving the breakfast table because she, L, and I were deep in conversation. She lives a very different life. From what she explains, Egypt is a land of wealthy and poor with no middle class. Her family is wealthy and she is used to being very spoiled. The idea of moving to England and having to do things for herself on her own is overwhelming for her.

I hadn’t realized it until Sunday morning but I actually gave her and her cousin directions on the tube on Saturday. She told me over breakfast how she was scared for me when she saw me at the train station alone. This made L and I laugh later on. There is really nothing to be afraid of being on the trains alone at five p.m. on a Saturday.