Gamal Hasan. He saw me while I was at the pier taking photos of him and other fishermen for a photojournalism class. He started getting all awkward and smiley at the camera. We started chatting and he offered me his fishing pole and asked, “do you want to try?” When I said I don’t know how to fish, he said, “I will teach you.” And he did, so patiently. He told me a bit about himself: He and his family had recently immigrated from Egypt, he used to work as security guard for the US Embassy in Cairo, and he likes to fish. And then I realized: Gamal was in Egypt during the height of the Arab Spring. I asked him about it and he told me a bit of his perspective.
This is Valerie Osier sharing this story from Long Beach, California.