My Dream to Be Free

by Juergen Stollin

  They traveled back and forth by a bus owned by the hotel.

  If you consider that the three weeks in the hotel, food, rooms, and the coach were free, the payment was very good for the local conditions.

  The staff could not spend a lot of their wages because there were no options. Drinking tea and watching TV, that was it already. During working hours they did not ruin their health. It should be remembered that the Egyptians did not invent work.

  I also had this rhythm of 24 days of work and six days off.

  Since I now had my own jeep, I loaded it with drinks, eatables, charcoal for grilling and a lot of ice in one of coolers from the hotel.

  I went to the mountains of Sinai, sometimes up to a week.

  It was an adventure every time.

  Soon I knew the Sinai quite well, so that I dared to take strangers. I offered tours, of course, only for certain people and that too only for free.

  Here again my pig-dog came back again, on my left side after a long time. I got rid of Mimi forever, I thought at this time, and so I could think of a lady subtenant again. But I didn’t want to fall in love again. This had to be only be a holiday acquaintance, nothing else.

  Only I did not get the right one, all were just people, who wanted to ride into the desert, because the chef of the Hilton Hotel was such a nice guy.

  And they all were afraid to stay overnight in the desert.

  People thought that they would be eaten by snakes or scorpions. Of course, you had to be a bit cautious in the desert, which I was always. Often I had to travel to Cairo to complete some formalities or other.

  This meant that I had to go to the Embassy once again to get a new passport. Mine was once again full with many visas.

  As nice as the officer was, he did not want to issue me a new passport. But he gave me a few letters from the embassy in Amman, which were however not addressed to me but to the local embassy here in Cairo.

  Clearly it could be read that I had not paid any maintenance for many years and that I was hiding from my responsibilities abroad. There were only two ways to get a passport. Option one was to pay the outstanding maintenance. The second option was a forced repatriation. That meant flying with an official to Germany who would deliver me to the public prosecutor immediately. I agreed to start making installment payments. To show my good will, I paid a few dollars, which were exchanged for local currency. In exchange, I got a passport with validity of one year.

  But I had to promise that I would pay the amount every month or they would inform my employer and collect the money from him. Those were pretty massive threats that I would have to bear in mind. My pig-dog laughed his head off.

  I could not have that kind of circus at my workplace. I could not accept the fact that I was now asked to pay, even though the mother of the child had kept the name of the impregnator secret in those days. But they must have pressurized her so tremendously that she did not have any other choice but to disclose the name. At that time, I did not want the child was born out of wedlock. I had been ready to marry Helga. But she was the one who did not want to, because she was married to Jesus. But she wanted just a child from me. She probably realized that she could not expect money from Jesus. The State also could not get any maintenance money from him and so I had to face the music now.

  My life had gone so quite different to the normal way. But this was the finishing touch. Now I had three children and yet none! The first was not mine, Maruscha, the second was a hundred percent my child, but I was not quite sure about the boy here.

  Helga had relationships with several men, I knew that for sure.

  I did not feel morally responsible but on the other side this was not the child’s fault.

  And was it the fault of my elder daughter?

  Didn’t I deal with the matter very generously? And what thanks did I get?

  Because of my generosity, I was called stupid today and my family and I were in such a shit. I did not want to go through that again and that was probably why I was so cold-hearted to this child, who could possibly be my son. But that does not exempt me from the maintenance, which I would now try to pay regularly. However, this Embassy visit made me more agitated than I wanted to admit. I would have liked to have someone with whom I could talk about the whole issue. But Achmed or this young English man were not the right conversational partners to discuss such a subject. But there was this restaurant, which a German managed, not far from the Embassy in Zamalek.

  I went searching and found the place. The very first taxi driver I asked knew the crazy host from Berlin. The joint was called Bal-Moral and its tenant was Hannes.

  With my jeep parked at the hotel, I had a room at Ramses Hilton. I did not have to pay anything for that since I had free room and board there. That was part of my agreement - I had free room and food in the Hilton hotels in the whole of Egypt.

  So I was traveling by taxi. As it turned out later, it was very good because I was drunk, that was to my advantage. Since I was probably so drunk, Hannes had taken me with him into his apartment. Only in the morning, I realized that this was not my hotel room. For breakfast we went to a typical Zamalek cafe, in which only aristocrats socialized.

  The café had survived from the good old days and had the best croissants and the best coffee. Hannes told me that he also ran an agency for placement of hotel staff. He knew I held the post as chef in the Fayrouz - Hilton in Sharm el-Sheikh.

  But if I ever wanted to change - good European chefs were always wanted in Cairo, he told me. He could even guarantee a better salary here in Cairo than in Sinai.

  I thanked him and promised I would come back regarding the offer. I said goodbye and went to my hotel. It was good to know that there were other Germans in Cairo. I also bought some small items for my personal use and traveled back the next day in my open jeep back to Sharm. I was not far away from the hotel tin the direction of the main road to Suez, when I noticed a European woman with a backpack, who stood exactly on the middle strip of double road and wanted to walk to the other side.

  There was a lot of traffic, as always in this crazy city. But I was so hardened that I simply stopped and called out to the European woman that she should come over and I would take her along. I ignored the honking Egyptians and waited till the girl was at the jeep, threw her backpack onto the loading platform, came to me to the front and got in. After we had introduced us by name and nationality, I asked her where she wanted to go.

  It was to the bus station, which was on my route. I also asked her where she wanted to travel by bus. She wanted to travel to Sinai and from there to Eilat and then on to Haifa. I wanted to know where exactly in Sinai she wanted to go to. I was delighted when I came to know that her first destination was Sharm el-Sheikh.

  It started a small altercation, during which I told her in advance about her free trip to Sharm and free accommodation at the Hilton. She did not believe me and thought I was crazy. She told me to drop her directly at the bus station.

  I had not noticed that we were already there during our conversation. But the bus, which she wanted to catch had already left and the next one would leave only in the evening. That meant she had to wait for another six hours and travel with all the local people in the night.

  I repeated my offer and showed her my new passport, in which the address of Sharm was registered.

  With that, I could convince her and win a certain amount of trust.

  So I did not have to drive those five hundred kilometers through the desert alone.

  Of course each of us wanted to know as much as possible about one another. We talked so excited that we did not even realize that we were already on the channel underpass. From then on, we were in the Sinai and there was no traffic from the opposite direction, and no one who wanted to overtake us. Up to El-Tur, there were no major cities and there was just a restaurant where we got something to eat. The food was not the most palatable but we ate our fill.

  I also had to refuel the jeep.

  I drove fr
om the street on a very long, straight stretch and into the desert. Anne, that was the name of my companion, was very nervous.

  After about one kilometer she asked what was up with that. I told her that I would rape her and then kill her.

  I immediately regretted having said this nonsense. Anne freaked out totally, paled and began to tremble, as if she had chills.

  I immediately turned around and tried to calm her down, tried to explain to her that I was only joking. She calmed down only when we were back on the road. I excused myself and to appease her, I wanted to put an arm around her shoulder but she shook my arm off and only cried.

  Why did I act like such a jerk!

  Just after almost half an hour, she spoke to me and asked if I really wanted to do that. Again I apologized for the stupid crap I had said earlier.

  But I made her aware of the fact that she could see what could happen to her or any other girl, if they got into a stranger's car and drove with him through a desolate area. She was lucky that I was not such a sick asshole!

  Only now she realized how easy it would have been and promised that she would never be so careless again. She would rather wait half a day for a bus, because then there would be more people there and nothing could happen. She was young, pretty and very trusting to people she did not know.

  Although I had not thought of teaching her a lesson, the object was however achieved. I just wanted to make a stupid joke, make her get a bit scared but didn’t want to scare her so much!

  By the time we reached Sharm, I knew her life story from birth up to that day. So I knew that she came from the suburb in London and had a friend in Israel, whom she wanted to visit now. She had planned to go on this holiday with a girlfriend but first to Egypt and then to Israel, so that there would be any Israeli stamp in the passport. The Arab world had its own ideas of neighborhood and co-existence in the Middle East.

  Normally you didn't get an entry stamp, if you asked for it. There was only a piece of paper with the visa on it. But since she wanted to stay in Israel for a longer period, it would be eventually possible to get such a visa, in addition. That's why she was first in Egypt and then she wanted to travel to Israel.

  Her girlfriend had flown back from Cairo. Anne did not think that anything could happen to her on the journey through the Sinai. She had not even dreamed that she could come across a madman.

  But since by chance I had chatted with her on the way to the bus, everything had changed. These are precisely the things in life that throws you off from your familiar course.

  Small changes in daily routine can cause big problems for the rest of your life. No coincidence, no misfortune, no luck, it's just simply the destiny, which we cannot escape. Others call it Karma. My young female passenger was already in control of herself so well by the time we reached the hotel that she did not have any objection when I dragged her backpack to me into the room and pulled her along after that.

  We ate together in the restaurant at my expense; in the room I slept on the couch and she slept on my double bed, which she liked very much. I did not even try to get too close to her. I also had my pride and kept my promise that I would not force her to do anything. In the morning I was quite proud of myself that I had passed the test.

  After our breakfast together, I took her to the bus stop, from which she wanted to drive to Taba, to the Israeli-Egyptian border.

  Before she boarded the bus, she even came very close to me, gave me a kiss on the mouth and disappeared into the bus. I had gained a new girlfriend that day. Although I never met her again in my life, I was sure that she thought of me very often.

  For the first time in my life I had a feeling that I did not know until then. I was pleased and glad that I had not slept with this girl. Normally I was proud and happy when I had got a girl into bed. What was going on with me?

  It was almost like in India with the family where they had accommodated me in the bed room of the daughter. But nothing had happened at that time because I had been too drunk. In life there are moments that will be remembered for a long time.

  But there are also those that was best to be forgotten immediately.

  Even we humans have the gift to put away things that are beautiful and good in the drawer of the long-term memory, while the bad and evil things come into the short-term memory drawer. Back in my kitchen, I was extremely glad to bring my instructions and advice to the man, after a week of doing nothing. My hotel manager and the Egyptian girl had now become a steady couple. Their wedding was announced.

  I met a new man, a Belgian by the name of Claude, who lived in Sinai, ever since the Israelis had to leave the country.

  He worked in one of the three diving clubs as a dive instructor and technician.

  In my spare time I often sat with him at the bar and we drank beer together sometimes.

  Sharm was a small, sleepy divers’ paradise, which would certainly change in the coming years - we feared. We noticed how right we were, from month to month. Tourism flourished, the little airport was enlarged, new wide roads were built, small restaurants and also diving clubs sprung up like mushrooms from the desert sand and the big hotel chains built the splendid beach with their fortress-like rooms. Again, I noticed the radical change that backpackers, who lived in a tent or camp, became suitcase-tourists in the 4- and 5-star - palaces.

  New complexes were developed, where I had my work. We were not many foreigners. It was like a big family, everyone knew everyone and celebrations were done together always.

  There was almost not a single day, in which a celebration was held on the beach or in the desert.

  We offered the starlight-dinner for our hotel guests. My director and I did this extra work and got the necessary things transported into the mountainous desert by our own jeep. The electrician built our own power generator, to install a light and music system. Tables, chairs, benches, dishes and all the food and drinks were driven into the desert. There were turkeys, chicken and of course a lamb on large skewer. Our guests were thrilled, certainly this was an experience for retelling others.

  The hotel guests did not have to pay anything extra. It was all so, as if they were eating in the dining room. Even the transport into the desert and back was the hotel’s responsibility. None of our guests had to worry about anything. The result was worth the effort!

  The big hotels were yet not ready but constructions were going on in all beaches that were still vacant.

  I often spent my free days in Cairo. I got along with the other chefs in the 4- and 5-star hotels very well. There was a special meal for us chefs in one of the hotels every month. The host chef was then responsible for eventually providing accommodation for the chefs not living in Cairo. Chefs from Luxor and Alexandria also came to these chefs’ party.

  Whoever had his wife or girlfriend were allowed to bring them along. On the whole, it was seen as a club for the chefs and was called "The Egyptian Chefs Association".

  A subsection of the "World Association of Cooks Societies" or simply "Les Toques Blanches" - Egypt Chapter, which meant in German "Der Klub der weißen Mützen” (“The Club of the White Caps”).

  The day came when I had to also give my invitation. Of course, this was possible only with the consent of my director. The problem was that I had to have accommodation ready for forty people.

  All those who had signed up wanted to come with their dependents, wife or girlfriend, of course. I had to think of something special.

  Our last meal together had taken place in the shadow of the pyramids.

  A jeep safari had to be included from our place that was clear to me.

  Chefs from 5 Star hotels at the "Bedouin Dinner"

  Since we had the full range of equipment for our Starlight Dinner, I only had to set it up correctly.

  My director had the best idea.

  I was very scared about the costs but he wanted to bear all the costs. That sounded good, as well as the proposal that he submitted to me.

  We had a somewhat quieter
week and gave our invitations out.

  We got the forty persons to be picked up from Cairo in our hotel's own bus. We slept in the hotel the first night. The rented jeeps were ready the next morning and we drove off into the mountains and desert of Sinai.

  There was lunch just in front of the Saint Catherine Monastery.

  Bedouins waited there with already cooked Mensa, a specialty that only Bedouins can prepare. Mutton is cooked in a yogurt sauce till the meat detaches itself from the bone. The secret is the yogurt, which is dried to the consistency of a stone and crushed and mashed for the dish and then diluted with goat's milk and cooked with the meat and spices together.

  As an accompaniment, there was rice with raisins, almonds, pistachio nuts and pine nuts, Muhallabia as dessert, which is rice pudding with pistachios scented with rose water.

  Of course there was the typical Bedouin bread, which is baked on a hot steel plate, mostly on the base of a cask. And there was lots of coffee with cardamom or tea made from fresh mint to drink.

  My guests were thrilled.

  They were all from five-star hotels where they certainly had the best of the best cooking but Bedouins cooked for them here in the desert - simple, easy and just delicious! That was exactly my intention.

  There was no caviar or foie gras or champagne and even whiskey.

  There was water, tea and coffee, that was all!

  But the evening meal cooked by my brigade was definitely even more outdone, I knew that. We called the piece of beach where it was to take place as “The Mangroves”, because there were actually mangrove forests on the northern most part at the Gulf of Aqaba. The Israelis called the Gulf however as the "Gulf of Eilat". Well, that was pure politics with which we had nothing to do.

  So, my director arranged for a big Bedouin tent to be put up there on the beach.

  A toilet car as well as blankets and deck-chair mattresses were also transported from the hotel here via the desert.

  There was a camp fire burning outside, over which veal was grilled already from mid-day. There was a huge put with rice steaming over another fire-pit. There was a Bedouin woman baking bread at the next fireplace.