The Day of the Dead

I left my prescription sunglasses when I set out on the last leg of my trip and had to get another pair in Cairo. I did not have a lot of time and like most things done in haste compromises had to be made. I had to choose a certain shape and style of sunglasses that I would not otherwise have bought and when I put the glasses on with their new lenses I felt they were weird but could not quite say why. Things were not helped by the fact that I was wearing brand new shoes with a whole new philosophy on walking. The soles are not flat but curved, making you ‘roll’ when you walk instead of planting one flat foot on the ground after the other.  They take a bit of getting used to but are very comfortable and are supposed to help or prevent joint problems.

I left Cairo the next day - definitely rolling. The problem was that far from fluidity in motion, my rolling was accompanied by much stumbling. I kept looking down at my feet to see why - Cairene sidewalks may not be the smoothest on the planet but what was I falling over? It took me another day to figure it out. As long as I looked straight ahead the sunglasses were fine but as soon as I looked down, up or to the side the curvature of the lens was way off - I first realized this when on looking down at my feet I was pleasantly surprised to see them appear so small and dainty. Closer inspection without the sunglasses revealed that the ‘rolling’ shoes while comfortable could not remotely be called dainty and my feet were the same size as before. It is as well I figured out this potentially dangerous lens curvature before I set off on one of my solitary ruins inspections. Clambering over some broken-down walls one day before jumping off what looked to be a low wall, I looked again without my glasses - fortunately as it turns out since the real jump was considerably higher than it had seemed......