Jason Bourne

As he walks around Cairo alone, Jason has fun pretending to be Jason Bourne. He walks with purpose, carries his backpack, and always stays aware of his surroundings. I am sure he imagines all the ways he could get out of a sticky situation using only a ballpoint pen and a piece of duct tape.

This morning he woke me up at 7:00. He had gotten ready for work and tried to leave our building. Our apartment door opens into the lobby, and there are double glass doors that open to the outside. The double glass doors, which for a week have always been open, were locked. The bawa’ab was not outside, and we haven’t figured out how to find him if he’s not sitting in his chair. So he came in, woke me up, and asked if I knew how he could get out. Neither of us was given a key, nor do we know of a push button that unlocks the door. He said, “I think I’m going to have to climb out the window.” Luckily, our windows have no screens, and our front window opens right into the flowerbed in front of our building. He handed me his backpack, swung his leg easily over the windowsill, and climbed right out. Since it was apparent to me that he thought this was ridiculously undignified, I said, “Remember, you’re Jason Bourne.” He went off happily to work.

Tonight Jason called our landlord to ask for a key to those glass doors. When he told him the story about climbing out the window, Mr. Ahmet laughed and laughed!