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of
the children have grown and live in other places close by. They
come and go a lot. There is Aunt Saida, Aunt Naima, and Aunt Layla,
Mo and the bros, and their friends, who are always in and out. Then
there are my married female cousins Yas-min, Subira—Suzy, she
prefers to be called—and Selma. My aunts are widowed. Uncle Omar
died two years ago."
    Leda didn't ask. But after a while Gabriella
added, "My aunties are sisters, and Uncle Omar married all of them.
They joke that he didn't really need so many wives, but their
father offered substantial dowries for each, and Uncle Omar was an
ambitious man." During this conversation, the taxi had arrived, and
they were heading east on a broad thoroughfare that spanned the
beach and the pit that had once been the harbor. Beyond an enormous
dam, the Mediterranean gleamed blue and calm.
    "That's amazing," Leda said, turning
sideways in her seat to stare at the vast excavation site. "It must
be costing billions holding the sea back like that."
    "Oh yes," Gabriella said. "We actually hope
to raise and replicate as much of what the coastline was once like
as possible. Of course, the biggest problem wasn't holding the sea
back, actually. Cofferdam technology is quite ancient and was used
at Aswan while the dam was being constructed and elsewhere. This
dam is on a bit bigger scale, and of course, the displacing of the
businesses of the harbor is a nuisance, but the commercial
inducement was large enough to persuade the government to move the
military's naval operations for the duration of the excavation
while some of the shipping was transferred to the western
harbor."
    "Those sound like pretty big problems to
me," Leda said, still staring at the hole the sea—and part of
ancient Alexandria—had once occupied.
    "Yes, but the real pain was rerouting the
sewage systems for the city. There were forty that drained into the
eastern harbor. They had to be linked with others farther east
along the coast. Those who can afford decent plumbing have been
most annoyed and inconvenienced. Those who cannot have been
delighted by the jobs offering high pay for such lowly work."
    "So the city is revolving around this site
now."
    Gabriella shrugged. "It has revolved around
the harbors since its creation, and the site occupies the harbor,
so naturally . . ."
    Leda glanced across the highway at the
stacks of tacky buildings lining the road, called in the
guidebooks, Al-Corniche 26 July. On the harbor side of the highway
was beach, crowded with people sitting under umbrellas. Their
chairs were those molded plastic patio chairs restaurants at home
used for sidewalk dining, but here the chairs came in red, yellow,
and turquoise, like big bright birds flocking on the beach. "I bet
the stock in binoculars has risen just because of local sales," she
said.
    "Oh yes. You used to see men with fishing
poles out here. Now, of course, the enterprising guides and
hoteliers capitalize on the easy unofficial access to what has
become the city's chief attraction," she acknowledged. "Perhaps it
is all of this which has contributed to Namid's unpleasant
disposition. But no, I am being too charitable. He has always been
a pig. The stress and importance of his current position have
simply worn away the veneer of charm he once used to impress his
superiors."
    "That's why they need such heavy security, I
guess, keeping out the tourists," Leda said.
    "That and terrorists, yes," Gabriella said.
She sounded rather weary of the subject.
    "Well, it all thrills the heck out of me,"
Leda said. "I can't wait to start work."
    Gabriella rolled her eyes. "If the work was
all there was to it, I wouldn't be able to blame you. But Namid
will make it as unpleasant for you as possible; count on it."
    Because of Gabriella's Western mannerisms
and expressions, Leda was tempted to say, "Gosh, you're a bundle of
cheer," or something else playfully sarcastic. But she had learned
over the years that a sense of humor did not always translate