Chapter 49 – In the Jungle. The mighty jungle.

Sasha’s POV


No, not the Jungle but the desert. We were definitely in the desert. We traveled to a small village a 4 and a half hour drive from the resort we were staying in. At one point we were no longer driving on paved roads. We were going to spend 2 days in the small village were Nef’s grandparents are originally from. I was a little nervous. I’d been camping before but this was a whole new ballgame. Ali, Hassa, and Nefetari had come with us. They didn’t often get the chance to come home so when told them she wanted to bring me to Egypt and show me where her family came from they all jumped at the chance to do it. Ali and Hassa lived in Cairo but spent a great deal of time in Germany with the branch of her grandfather’s company there.

When we first stepped out of the jeeps Nef attacked me with sun screen, telling me that I needed to apply it frequently or I would burn. It was really bright and the sunlight reflecting off the sand was almost blinding. We were greeted by an older woman named Bast who turn out to be one of Nef’s grandmother on her father’s side. She immediately ushered us into her home and out of the sun. It was darker inside as all of the shutters where closed and it made the temperature several degrees cooler.

She didn’t get to see her grandchildren very often as they lived in America. This was the first time that she had ever met someone that Nef had been seeing. Bast didn’t approve that Nef was 24 and not married with children.

”She has traditional, old school values and beliefs.”

We talked for a long time with Nef acting as translator. Her grandmother wanted to know as much about me as she could. It was funny trying to watch Nef explain ice hockey to her. She couldn’t seem to grasp that I was paid to play a game for a living. I guess with the way she lived their lives were devoted to a handful of things: survival, procreation, and religion. Bast said that life out here was simple and there weren’t very many modern amenities.

”It must be fun to be able to do what you love for a living no matter what.”

She even asked me what I thought of Nef going to school and working. Nef’s paternal grandmother had never done anything like that. Her life was centered on her family: her late husband and her children; whereas Nef’s maternal grandmother, Nefetari, had gone to school, had a career, and a family. I told her that I liked it. During the season I’m so busy with hockey that I don’t always have the time to be completely devoted to Nef. She has her own life and ambitions. She’s not sitting around waiting for me. She doesn’t need to be the sole focus of my attention. She took a lot of pressure off of me. It made being with her easier because I knew that she was just as busy as I was. I know that being super busy can cause problems and issues when we become distant but it also helped that it made us both understand the effort we had to put into a relationship.

Nefetari eventually came to find us, saying that if we wanted to eat we would have to work. There was going to be a large family gathering tonight and there was work to be done. Ali had taken me off to work with Nef’s male relatives while Nef was taken to work with the women. Nef absolutely hated gender roles and she let it be known. I couldn’t help but laugh as her family shushed her and ushered her off to do the prep work. I was surprised by the number of her number of her relative that spoke English. There were several that were fluent and some that could chat.

“So you are the one that has tamed Nefertiti,” one of her cousins said.

“Tame her? I not think so.” Don’t let her hear you say that.

We were building a fire pit to be used that night. We had already built one that was being used for cooking. I saw Nef cooking with her female cousins and she shouted ”Please! Come save me from these Harpies!” I laughed at her and told her to enjoy the time she had with her family.



Nef’s POV



”Where did you find him? He is absolutely gorgeous!” one of my female cousins gushed.

This was how my afternoon went. Most of my female relatives thought that Sasha was mind bogglingly beautiful. He was exotic and different. When I went up to him to help him reapply sunscreen he took off his shirt and I thought that they would all faint. He has amazing muscle definition and since he had amped up his workout in preparation for training camp next month he was losing the off season pudge…if you could call it that. He didn’t gain weight but the muscles that are always active during the season rest and they start to lose their shape.

”This isn’t funny,” I told him when he laughed at me. He knew that they were oooohing and aaaahing over him and it stroked his ego.

When we finally did sit down for dinner all the girls had a million and one questions for him. Those that spoke English spoke for those that didn’t. How did you meet? How long have you been together? How did you get Nef to settle down? When will you two get married? When will you have children?

“Hey! Why do I have to get married? I haven’t done anything wrong!” I shouted indignantly. I repeated it in Arabic.

Both of my grandmothers shook their heads at me and Sasha just laughed. He knew my opinion on this topic. I was not one of those girls whose sole purpose was to get married and have kids. There was too much I want to do and to study.

”Someone needs to make you settle down,” my uncle Ali said. Over my dead body.

I was able to get a few minutes alone with Sasha, away from my family. I didn’t want him to be overwhelmed. We sat together quietly for a few minutes, just long enough for him to exhale deeply and rest his head on my shoulder.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“Da. I fine, just need a few minutes to…to…”

“Decompress?”

“Yes.”

With the hustle and bustle of traveling to the village and preparing for dinner tonight we’d been moving almost nonstop all day.

”You’re cousins told me that you have finally found someone to tame you,” he told me.

”Please don’t listen to the cavemen. They all have very archaic beliefs when it comes to women and their roles.”

”I noticed that. I’m waiting to see how long it takes you to blow up at someone.”

I swatted him. Baset, one of my million and one cousins came over to tell me that we needed to get ready. I hadn’t told Sasha but there was going to be a dance tonight. There was going to be belly dancing, snake charming, the whole festival shebang. We’d eaten dinner and given it time to digest and now it was time for the fun to begin.