I’ve always loved kids and they have always loved me back. I met these triplets in Hurghada, Egypt on my way to Cairo. They were on the bus that I caught from Marsa Alam. The minute the bus stopped for more passengers in Marsal Alam, I first saw two of the triplets, waving at me while holding their dad’s hands. I waved back and as if that’s what they were waiting for, they came to me and sat on my lap. I must say, I was surprised but not as much as their dad was; one minute their dad was holding their hands and the next minute they were seated comfortably on my lap.

I greeted them with the only Arabic I could remember at that time. Being kids, they continued speaking to me in Arabic, thankfully their dad understood English, he translated. Well, the only thing they asked was, “Why is she speaking English?” I’m glad I was not the dad, I didn’t even have an answer to that!! But he explained that I was from Kenya and that we speak English in our country. Still they couldn’t understand why I spoke English and not Arabic.

Music is a neutral language. On the bus ride to Cairo, the radio played Arabic music and the triplets held my hands and danced in the bus, other passengers could only smile and watch us, as they too didn’t speak English. They got to their destination too quickly and I went back to enjoying the music, the triplets’ happy faces engraved in my memory-forever :).