During Covid all the tourists left, leaving behind the women who had married local men and couldn't get out. Women who had believed the fairytales and fallen for the lies.
This was a bizarre, shocking story! It sounds medieval!!!! Glad she got out. It’s so sad that people are so lonely that they’d fall for this scam. How tragic. 😢
A frightening and cautionary tale that any woman planning to have that experience should read before embarking on it! Thank you for another amazing article! Your writing makes me feel as if I am there observing it in person. Your courage is laudable, and your actual feelings while exhibiting it, make it relatable.
Terrific piece. You took us into a part of the world most of us will never see, and made us feel like we were there.
You also made the piece relevant to current events.
I wonder how the intersectionality crowd lives with the treatment of women in the Islamic world? I also wonder about the silence of once powerful women’s groups.
Thank you. True stories like this drive the intersectionality crowd absolutely insane with righteous anger. How dare reality conflict with their made-up madness. Stories are our most powerful tool. They keep trying to change the truth by telling false stories. But when you really tell the truth, it shines such a powerful light that it's impossible to deny it--although they will keep trying.
Dec 14, 2023·edited Dec 14, 2023Liked by Karen Hunt aka KH Mezek
I 'member readin' this tale (sans the preface an' some bits) early-on when I found yer stack an' I said then an' there--that IS an extraordinary story!--not cuz we it's rare we hear such tales told (we don't!), not cuz it's rare for a woman to be treated miserably in a Muslim country (or community)--this is kinda hush hush known for those've us that have traveled a bit--but because you PREVAILED! Wow--I mean I'd'a felt my heart in my mouth--bein' walled in, every moment a gamble, even as a tall gal with some martial arts under yer sleeves--that is ONE feat of strength--of character, of conviction, of fiercely helpin yer friend. So bravo to you, Karen fer the bravado no matter how much actin' an prayin' ya we doin' inside--you convinced 'em ta stand down (an' let'em do it with dignity--that's thinkin' on yer feet!). But this tale is important now that folks are sayin' these single muslim men comin' inta all've Western YourUP an' invadin' our borders are simply "asylum seekers." Not only are they sleeper cell mercenary soldiers here--but their culture is SO strongly against respectin' any women but their own*** that any woman is at risk--even grannies! (yup, I heard an 80 year ol' french woman got raped by one'a these young men). Clearly about power... ****An' as for "their own" I wunder how wrappin' 'em up like mummies an' showin' their kids how they treat infidel women, cheatin' on their wives too! how is that respectin' their? Wull it ain't!
So I don't pretend ta understand THIS delusion (in the West) about these "innocent young fellers" who are actually--NOT. They are sadly deluded young men an' anyone who believes they kin treat others like a sidewalk...without guilt, remorse, regret, any've it--wull I just don't know what ta say... but I'll add 2 things that back ya up here...
1. a college friend'a mine did a stint as a merchant marine an' met a young muslim sailor ("mou" for mohammed) on the ship... he courted her like she wuz Rita Hayworth! but he wasn't no Prince Aly Khan! After the marriage (where she wuz all perfumed an' dolled up by all these ladies--SO unlike this gal pal'o mine who never donned a dress fur as I know)--her "husband" treated her badly (beat the heck outta her often), cheated on 'er, called 'er names like ya posted, stole her money (she wuzn't rich at all but had some savin's I guess...) an' I don't recall how she managed ta extricate herself an' get back to the USA but it wuz a whole thing an' took a couple years... She had brothers who stepped in, I 'member that. She had ta get therapy an' then it took her mebbe a decade 'fore she could date again...thankfully she found a nice hubby...they'ze still married but she really got more than she bargained fer. Oh, "Mou" was very handsome. I'll leave it at that...
2. I did some studies in Berlin fer a spell back in my salad daze an' I used ta go out in the evenings ta dance-- it was so fun an'...safe!--no crime ya'd see (nothin' like my hometown NYShitty) an' none'a the polite German folks (even single men) would bother a gal mindin' her own bizness (dressed kinda punky as it wuz!). None've us had cab money--my pals (fellow students) didn't have a way of pickin' me up--nor the opposite--so we all walked or took the train, gals an' fellers alike an' met up at the chosen spot. However...
....at least a few times takin' the shortest route home I got followed, chased, cat called, an' each time had ta take cover at one'a them "Imbiss"es--mini hot dog stands! or duck inta a late-night fooderie ta be safe, ta wait 'til "they" or "he" left. Lord knows I hadn't anything against them young Turkish men--I often went ta one of the Turkish neibs ta buy "doner kabobs" in the daytime--an' growin' up a city girl I'd gotten my share of cat calls from the cheeky Latin fellers in the city (grabbed a few times too BUT even then I did not feel threatened...not truly...just "grossed out") but in Berlin these men were skeery--they skeered me, a tough city gal--something in their manner was NOT jokin' 'er just annoyin'-flirtin'--their culture wuz different. Never put a name to it but whut ya describe...it feels like that same feelin'--like you're not a fellow human, not even a plaything... I got that feelin' back when I read this harrow'in' tale... I ain't near 6 feet an' I got no martial arts skills--but I wore Doc Martens an' I could run...FAST. I wunder if today it'd be lots wurse... I guess we're'a gonna find out as these men are comin' here... just 't'other day (I'm in the boonies now) there wuz a post on freecycle lookin' fer furniture donations for "new apartments" to house "asylum seekers"--HoHOHochul (here in New Yawk) is "helpin' " these fine "scholars" by placin' 'em in little towns way north of NYShitty--the home I left b/c of such "scholars" (an' mandates an' many other things...) This ain't a good time fer any women now...we'ze bein' erased...The Women of Luxor could be Cassandras fer us all!
I DO believe yer right that once'pon a time proclaimin' the "power" of the USA would give one cause ta pause--but today, it don't mean diddley (sadly). My thoughts've been with poor Gonzalo Lira, rottin' in jail in Ukraine with our gubbamint doin' squat all--an American citizen no less...one that appealed ta the US Embassy. So there is that too! I hope yer still in touch with yer friend--what an ordeal, but I hope it makes ya feel stronger in the long run cuz'a what ya faced, head on, with far more aplomb than many've us could'a mustered!
"but I wore Doc Martens an' I could run...FAST" Haha, loved reading this. Sounds like you had your wild, adventurous days. Glad you survived those Berliners and good idea to hang out in the boondocks now!
yup, that wuz me! Wanted ta add sumthin'--I grew up with two girlfriends that were arabic--had no idea if they were christian or muslim tho' they did have xmas trees come the holly-daze--lovely gals an' famblies, nobuddy even asked who wuz whut--that's how it wuz. An' re my friend who married that feller--she had no predjudice against marryin' a Muslim man--she knew little of their "beliefs" an' just trusted in his sincerity. After it wuz over she tol' me the WORST thing she felt wuz betrayal by the women in Mou's fambly--they were chatty with her, dressed her for the event (all veiled an' covered up), did henna on her hands, perfumed her, bathed 'er, dressed her (it felt so ODD ta my plucky pal ta be so-treated)--an' THEN let her go ta a man that was so curel, physically an' mentally. I think she wuz just as upset by the betrayal by her fellow women (sure of a diff. faith but women no less...) than of the scoundrel she got 'erself hitched with. I couldn't understand it then--I do now-daze seein' how some women attack others so fiercely...sometimes jus' fer sayin' theyze women! Whut times?! eh?
Dec 12, 2023·edited Oct 20Liked by Karen Hunt aka KH Mezek
What an extraordinary tale about an extraordinary place. It sounds like the flip side of Thailand, the legendary Land of Smiles, which has been this octogenarian Englishman's home for the last 25 years. Here, beautiful, artful and amoral women are the predators, ruthlessly targeting and fleecing gullible, well-off-but-emotionally-washedup Westerners with their unique blend of innocence and depravity. I should know. Like Ulysses, I had wandered the world for an eternity, hoping to recapture the careless rapture of the romantic love I experienced briefly as a young man. Then, when I had all but given up hope, came the siren call of Thailand. The rest, as they say, is history. Like countless others before me, I soon learned the hard way that you can't buy love, and have the gaping holes in my bank balance to prove it. But no regets. I've relished every minute on the romance roller-coaster. Hopefully, at least some of those old ladies of Luxor can say the same!
Thank you for sharing story with such heartwarming/heart-wrenching pathos. I love that, Land of Smiles. I have never been to that part of the world, but I am still hoping to get to India. It's the same in Costa Rica, where the men go to take advantage of the women, but the women and their families often get the upper hand. I've never seen such hatred beneath the surface of the smiles, however, as I saw in Luxor. Still, as you say, there are some who navigate it, but mostly by telling themselves lies. They are stuck and can never leave, so they might as well live under an illusion.
Voltaire called illusion 'the first of all pleasures' - a description one of my ex-wives borrowed for the title of her second novel. I suspect you would enjoy it!
I fear I lack the time and energy for such a daunting task. In any case, I doubt many people would believe the tales I could tell!
My ex-wife's second novel, The First of All Pleasures, is long out of print, though second-hand copies may be available from the usual sources. Alternatively it can be accessed online here:
Dec 14, 2023·edited Dec 14, 2023Liked by Karen Hunt aka KH Mezek
When I was 33 I married a 19 year old poor girl from Latin America. I put her through medical school in her home country and then paid for her to take courses in the US in order to pass the USMLE exams. Towards the end of our relationship I discovered that she was having an affair with another American. This is when I discovered that divorce laws in the United States by no means protect or are written to benefit the aggrieved spouse. I was able to process a divorce in her home country where the only communal property is the family home and any assets held jointly in both names. I later discovered that she had filed for divorce in Texas where she was entitled to fifty percent of my assets, even though we had never lived together in the United States nor had she provided even one cent towards the marital property.
I detail these events to illustrate that even in the Western world, a very similar situation exists. Marriage to someone from a much lower socio economical level, can result in financial ruin, and one has little or no recourse. I suspect the same would be very true if one of these women from Luxor brought her Egyptian husband to the US. After being married for two years, residency is no longer conditional and he could easily file for divorce and make a substantial claim against her assets. I have heard of men who married women in Colombia, brought them to the US only to discover that after two years their wives divorced them and then petitioned to bring their "real" husbands to the US. Love can prove to be even more expensive in the Western world than in places like Luxor, Thailand, or Latin America.
Yes, that is what often happens. The men are after green cards. Very often they marry a foreign woman, come to her country and sometimes work or sometimes just live off her. They send money home to their families, but it's really to build a house so they can marry a n Egyptian woman. They end up living two lives until they eventually go back to Egypt where the foreign woman has essentially paid for everything for the man to have his new life. There are many support groups online, on Facebook for example, where these women detail their horror stories. The stories are endless. In the desperate search for love, women (or men) never seem to learn.
Dec 15, 2023·edited Jan 26Liked by Karen Hunt aka KH Mezek
There is night and day difference between a man being willingly taken advantage of by a woman, and a woman being physically abused and threatened by men even if the lure of love is the same (simply because of the physical inequality in the situation and the physical danger). So, yeah, I doubt some of those old ladies will have the fond memories you say you have.
Broadly speaking, I agree with you. Sadly, however, there are women ( have met a few) who seem fatally - literally, in some instances - attracted to the kind of bullies to which you refer. I find their predilection puzzling and, to be honest, somewhat pathetic.
Sadly, you're right, Michael. That is part of my experience living there for 3 years that I haven't written about yet-but I will when I can get around to it. No matter how much I warned some of these women, making the abuse they were going to suffer as plain as day, they would not believe it. They rather believed that I was jealous of them or some sch ridiculous things and I was making it all up. They believed the men, heart and soul. Some were still lucky enough to get out --with the skin on their backs and nothing else, as I wrote. Others refused to see the truth, no matter what.
Yes, as it is pathetic for old men to be so desperate to prove their virility by having sex with young women who are eager to take their money. The difference between older women looking for love in the wrong places, and men is that men in all normal circumstances have a distinctly superior physical strength and thus, the ability to defend themselves physically in those situations.
What an incredibly insightful look at the dark side of human relationships, existing on the opposite spectrum of our western mentality. I am assuming those foreign women had financial means to travel to Egypt and even buy property there? How did you manage to open a boxing gym in Luxor - that must have been quite a story - or have you written about it already?
Yes, the women had money, but often it's their not very big savings for retirement and the men take it all. Then, they are stuck with no money to get out and become prisoners there.
I haven't written about the boxing club yet but I have a whole essay that I'm writing about my time in Luxor and it will include how I started Luxor Boxing Girls.
I find it fascinating. They must have really been on the verge of despair to move to a place where they had no connection - cultural, familial, professional - to get a second chance in life.
On an unrelated note, I love that you are 6 feet tall! I am 6’1”, minus all your sports accomplishments! Bravo.
This story seems so bizarre, but I believe it. I have heard of other stories where women are looking for romance in poorer parts of the world, and are being hoodwinked and taken advantage of. I also found the letter from one of your readers very interesting, who wrote about his experiences in Thailand.
Yes, it's even more bizarre than what's written here because I couldn't include everything. But when I can get around to it, I plan to write one more essay about my experiences during my 3 years in Luxor.
What an amazing story. Thank you for sharing. I never knew this was a thing in Luxor, and probably quite a few other places.
So many lost souls. As a fairly recently divorced guy in his mid-fifties now, I am thoroughly enjoying my freedom, devoting the energy I would be using in the dating scene to instead raising my very wonderful teenage daughter. But there will come a day when she’ll be off on her own life’s adventure, and I’d prefer not to die alone, so I reckon I’ll have to get back at it.
Not sure where I’m going with this, I guess it’s that I don’t want to end up one of these geriatric westerners trolling the 3rd world for a wife. Seems pathetic. Aw well, I suppose I’ll just have to put faith in one of the verses of one of my favorite poems:
Be yourself, especially do not feign affection. But neither be cynical about love.
It gave insight into questions I've always had, when seeing Western women in settings that were so culturally divergent - outside of tourism.
I've been to African and Middle Eastern countries during my time in the military and never could square the circle, but your explanation (although quite obvious after you laid it out) never occurred to me - "looking for love in all the wrong places".
It's a shame, that these women fall into this snare due to their emotional loneliness and then are trapped, by the cultural and situational horrors.
Well done on using the assets at hand, to manage, dominate and escape the situation. This isn't you, but I always laugh when the "America sucks crowd, get themselves into desperate situations and calls on "their" county to come and rescue them. Brittany Griner is a prime example.
You are correct though, it is only when we are perceived as strong and resolute, that this proxy influence works.
I wonder if you're story would be taken up by the likes of Blaze media, Breitbart or Bannon's group and the like?
Well done saving your friend and warning of the perils to be found in these male dominated cultures.
This is what I learned. Women have an innate insanely strong desire to be pursued and loved passionately, regardless of their education, money and culture. And, this creates enormous risks. 🤷♂️
I don’t understand why they didn’t publish your article in the States. I know you said because we cannot say anything against the Muslim but that doesn’t have much sense when you are telling your own experience in a foreign country with a different culture and so different from a Christian perspective. We cannot teach them Christian’s values, other men have to teach them but still would take decades because they don’t have the need to change. Glad you are back home, that you made it. Very futile to go back to those cultures as a lonely independent woman, those places are not for us, many women are gang rape and killed and cannot write their experiences. The only Muslim country I have been is in Morocco and there women are totally ignored, we don’t exist, it’s a very strange feeling but taught me not to give for granted my freedom in the west. So beautiful countries to visit in the world and safe!
After the introductory section, oh, how I wanted to read the article... I was very anxious to read it.
But I stop reading (or watching or listening) when I come across degrading, inappropriate language. I feel that to write it is to perpetuate the use of it, and to read it is to perpetuate the writing of it. :(
I'm sorry you feel like that but you have every right to do so. I have lived all my life in the real world. I've seen and experienced to much to hide the truth. The truth is seldom popular or easy to hear and is often shocking. I see it as exposing what goes on in the dark and shining a light on it. I'm a fighter so I stand up to the darkness as best I can. Having said that, I don't expect everyone to do the same. God bless.
I am a longtime follower of your father, Dave Hunt. I bought my first Dave Hunt book in about 1987. I am quite certain he would agree with me on this. There is no good reason to perpetuate filth. God’s Word speaks about using profanity. Why add to the already-prolific spread of degradation? I honestly don’t think Yeshua would quote filth, even if someone else said it.
There is a lot of clean information out here. You just have to find people that have an awareness of righteousness and integrity.
I could just quit reading and not say anything but I decided a while back that if people aren’t ashamed to use bad language, I should not feel ashamed to say I think it is inappropriate. I now try to challenge people to reconsider what they are saying and promoting in hopes of a change of heart. I give them a chance to change. If they are defiant and determined to continue on that path, then I know what to expect and act accordingly.
So God has appointed YOU as the arbiter of what is "righteousness and integrity? Forgive me but that sounds pretty arrogant. And - If they are "defiant"? Meaning, if they choose not to tone down what these women ACTUALLY experienced at the hands of the aggressors because your sensibilities can't handle the terrible things that happen in the world? It is not as if she was using harsh language gratuitously. Context of anything is important and your taking offense at her truthful accounting appears to be self-righteous and an attempt to downplay the things that actually happened. I prefer the unvarnished truth.
I’m saying that it is not necessary to report word for word what was said. It would be better (according to God’s Word, which Karen’s father spent the greater part of his life studying and explaining to others, and which I think Karen claims to believe) to simply give what was said and say “laced with expletives” or something along those lines. I have received The Berean Call (Dave Hunt’s) newsletter for over 20 years and have quite a few of his books. I think I know his views pretty well, and I do not think I am saying anything Karen’s father would disagree with. If that seems self-righteous to you, then I don’t know what to say. I am giving my perspective. You are criticizing me for saying what I think, but you and others who think otherwise are free to say what you think. Why does “free speech” go only one way - the directly opposite way of what the founders of this country meant it for and what God has to say?
This was a bizarre, shocking story! It sounds medieval!!!! Glad she got out. It’s so sad that people are so lonely that they’d fall for this scam. How tragic. 😢
It is extremely medieval, a good description.
A frightening and cautionary tale that any woman planning to have that experience should read before embarking on it! Thank you for another amazing article! Your writing makes me feel as if I am there observing it in person. Your courage is laudable, and your actual feelings while exhibiting it, make it relatable.
Thank you.
Terrific piece. You took us into a part of the world most of us will never see, and made us feel like we were there.
You also made the piece relevant to current events.
I wonder how the intersectionality crowd lives with the treatment of women in the Islamic world? I also wonder about the silence of once powerful women’s groups.
Thanks again for a well written thoughtful piece.
Thank you. True stories like this drive the intersectionality crowd absolutely insane with righteous anger. How dare reality conflict with their made-up madness. Stories are our most powerful tool. They keep trying to change the truth by telling false stories. But when you really tell the truth, it shines such a powerful light that it's impossible to deny it--although they will keep trying.
I 'member readin' this tale (sans the preface an' some bits) early-on when I found yer stack an' I said then an' there--that IS an extraordinary story!--not cuz we it's rare we hear such tales told (we don't!), not cuz it's rare for a woman to be treated miserably in a Muslim country (or community)--this is kinda hush hush known for those've us that have traveled a bit--but because you PREVAILED! Wow--I mean I'd'a felt my heart in my mouth--bein' walled in, every moment a gamble, even as a tall gal with some martial arts under yer sleeves--that is ONE feat of strength--of character, of conviction, of fiercely helpin yer friend. So bravo to you, Karen fer the bravado no matter how much actin' an prayin' ya we doin' inside--you convinced 'em ta stand down (an' let'em do it with dignity--that's thinkin' on yer feet!). But this tale is important now that folks are sayin' these single muslim men comin' inta all've Western YourUP an' invadin' our borders are simply "asylum seekers." Not only are they sleeper cell mercenary soldiers here--but their culture is SO strongly against respectin' any women but their own*** that any woman is at risk--even grannies! (yup, I heard an 80 year ol' french woman got raped by one'a these young men). Clearly about power... ****An' as for "their own" I wunder how wrappin' 'em up like mummies an' showin' their kids how they treat infidel women, cheatin' on their wives too! how is that respectin' their? Wull it ain't!
So I don't pretend ta understand THIS delusion (in the West) about these "innocent young fellers" who are actually--NOT. They are sadly deluded young men an' anyone who believes they kin treat others like a sidewalk...without guilt, remorse, regret, any've it--wull I just don't know what ta say... but I'll add 2 things that back ya up here...
1. a college friend'a mine did a stint as a merchant marine an' met a young muslim sailor ("mou" for mohammed) on the ship... he courted her like she wuz Rita Hayworth! but he wasn't no Prince Aly Khan! After the marriage (where she wuz all perfumed an' dolled up by all these ladies--SO unlike this gal pal'o mine who never donned a dress fur as I know)--her "husband" treated her badly (beat the heck outta her often), cheated on 'er, called 'er names like ya posted, stole her money (she wuzn't rich at all but had some savin's I guess...) an' I don't recall how she managed ta extricate herself an' get back to the USA but it wuz a whole thing an' took a couple years... She had brothers who stepped in, I 'member that. She had ta get therapy an' then it took her mebbe a decade 'fore she could date again...thankfully she found a nice hubby...they'ze still married but she really got more than she bargained fer. Oh, "Mou" was very handsome. I'll leave it at that...
2. I did some studies in Berlin fer a spell back in my salad daze an' I used ta go out in the evenings ta dance-- it was so fun an'...safe!--no crime ya'd see (nothin' like my hometown NYShitty) an' none'a the polite German folks (even single men) would bother a gal mindin' her own bizness (dressed kinda punky as it wuz!). None've us had cab money--my pals (fellow students) didn't have a way of pickin' me up--nor the opposite--so we all walked or took the train, gals an' fellers alike an' met up at the chosen spot. However...
....at least a few times takin' the shortest route home I got followed, chased, cat called, an' each time had ta take cover at one'a them "Imbiss"es--mini hot dog stands! or duck inta a late-night fooderie ta be safe, ta wait 'til "they" or "he" left. Lord knows I hadn't anything against them young Turkish men--I often went ta one of the Turkish neibs ta buy "doner kabobs" in the daytime--an' growin' up a city girl I'd gotten my share of cat calls from the cheeky Latin fellers in the city (grabbed a few times too BUT even then I did not feel threatened...not truly...just "grossed out") but in Berlin these men were skeery--they skeered me, a tough city gal--something in their manner was NOT jokin' 'er just annoyin'-flirtin'--their culture wuz different. Never put a name to it but whut ya describe...it feels like that same feelin'--like you're not a fellow human, not even a plaything... I got that feelin' back when I read this harrow'in' tale... I ain't near 6 feet an' I got no martial arts skills--but I wore Doc Martens an' I could run...FAST. I wunder if today it'd be lots wurse... I guess we're'a gonna find out as these men are comin' here... just 't'other day (I'm in the boonies now) there wuz a post on freecycle lookin' fer furniture donations for "new apartments" to house "asylum seekers"--HoHOHochul (here in New Yawk) is "helpin' " these fine "scholars" by placin' 'em in little towns way north of NYShitty--the home I left b/c of such "scholars" (an' mandates an' many other things...) This ain't a good time fer any women now...we'ze bein' erased...The Women of Luxor could be Cassandras fer us all!
I DO believe yer right that once'pon a time proclaimin' the "power" of the USA would give one cause ta pause--but today, it don't mean diddley (sadly). My thoughts've been with poor Gonzalo Lira, rottin' in jail in Ukraine with our gubbamint doin' squat all--an American citizen no less...one that appealed ta the US Embassy. So there is that too! I hope yer still in touch with yer friend--what an ordeal, but I hope it makes ya feel stronger in the long run cuz'a what ya faced, head on, with far more aplomb than many've us could'a mustered!
"but I wore Doc Martens an' I could run...FAST" Haha, loved reading this. Sounds like you had your wild, adventurous days. Glad you survived those Berliners and good idea to hang out in the boondocks now!
yup, that wuz me! Wanted ta add sumthin'--I grew up with two girlfriends that were arabic--had no idea if they were christian or muslim tho' they did have xmas trees come the holly-daze--lovely gals an' famblies, nobuddy even asked who wuz whut--that's how it wuz. An' re my friend who married that feller--she had no predjudice against marryin' a Muslim man--she knew little of their "beliefs" an' just trusted in his sincerity. After it wuz over she tol' me the WORST thing she felt wuz betrayal by the women in Mou's fambly--they were chatty with her, dressed her for the event (all veiled an' covered up), did henna on her hands, perfumed her, bathed 'er, dressed her (it felt so ODD ta my plucky pal ta be so-treated)--an' THEN let her go ta a man that was so curel, physically an' mentally. I think she wuz just as upset by the betrayal by her fellow women (sure of a diff. faith but women no less...) than of the scoundrel she got 'erself hitched with. I couldn't understand it then--I do now-daze seein' how some women attack others so fiercely...sometimes jus' fer sayin' theyze women! Whut times?! eh?
What an extraordinary tale about an extraordinary place. It sounds like the flip side of Thailand, the legendary Land of Smiles, which has been this octogenarian Englishman's home for the last 25 years. Here, beautiful, artful and amoral women are the predators, ruthlessly targeting and fleecing gullible, well-off-but-emotionally-washedup Westerners with their unique blend of innocence and depravity. I should know. Like Ulysses, I had wandered the world for an eternity, hoping to recapture the careless rapture of the romantic love I experienced briefly as a young man. Then, when I had all but given up hope, came the siren call of Thailand. The rest, as they say, is history. Like countless others before me, I soon learned the hard way that you can't buy love, and have the gaping holes in my bank balance to prove it. But no regets. I've relished every minute on the romance roller-coaster. Hopefully, at least some of those old ladies of Luxor can say the same!
Thank you for sharing story with such heartwarming/heart-wrenching pathos. I love that, Land of Smiles. I have never been to that part of the world, but I am still hoping to get to India. It's the same in Costa Rica, where the men go to take advantage of the women, but the women and their families often get the upper hand. I've never seen such hatred beneath the surface of the smiles, however, as I saw in Luxor. Still, as you say, there are some who navigate it, but mostly by telling themselves lies. They are stuck and can never leave, so they might as well live under an illusion.
Voltaire called illusion 'the first of all pleasures' - a description one of my ex-wives borrowed for the title of her second novel. I suspect you would enjoy it!
It sounds like you should definitely write your memoirs! And I'd love to read her book.
I fear I lack the time and energy for such a daunting task. In any case, I doubt many people would believe the tales I could tell!
My ex-wife's second novel, The First of All Pleasures, is long out of print, though second-hand copies may be available from the usual sources. Alternatively it can be accessed online here:
https://archive.org/details/firstofallpleasu0000macl/page/n3/mode/2up
Enjoy life, writing is far too time and energy consuming as you say. Thanks for the link.
When I was 33 I married a 19 year old poor girl from Latin America. I put her through medical school in her home country and then paid for her to take courses in the US in order to pass the USMLE exams. Towards the end of our relationship I discovered that she was having an affair with another American. This is when I discovered that divorce laws in the United States by no means protect or are written to benefit the aggrieved spouse. I was able to process a divorce in her home country where the only communal property is the family home and any assets held jointly in both names. I later discovered that she had filed for divorce in Texas where she was entitled to fifty percent of my assets, even though we had never lived together in the United States nor had she provided even one cent towards the marital property.
I detail these events to illustrate that even in the Western world, a very similar situation exists. Marriage to someone from a much lower socio economical level, can result in financial ruin, and one has little or no recourse. I suspect the same would be very true if one of these women from Luxor brought her Egyptian husband to the US. After being married for two years, residency is no longer conditional and he could easily file for divorce and make a substantial claim against her assets. I have heard of men who married women in Colombia, brought them to the US only to discover that after two years their wives divorced them and then petitioned to bring their "real" husbands to the US. Love can prove to be even more expensive in the Western world than in places like Luxor, Thailand, or Latin America.
Yes, that is what often happens. The men are after green cards. Very often they marry a foreign woman, come to her country and sometimes work or sometimes just live off her. They send money home to their families, but it's really to build a house so they can marry a n Egyptian woman. They end up living two lives until they eventually go back to Egypt where the foreign woman has essentially paid for everything for the man to have his new life. There are many support groups online, on Facebook for example, where these women detail their horror stories. The stories are endless. In the desperate search for love, women (or men) never seem to learn.
There is night and day difference between a man being willingly taken advantage of by a woman, and a woman being physically abused and threatened by men even if the lure of love is the same (simply because of the physical inequality in the situation and the physical danger). So, yeah, I doubt some of those old ladies will have the fond memories you say you have.
Broadly speaking, I agree with you. Sadly, however, there are women ( have met a few) who seem fatally - literally, in some instances - attracted to the kind of bullies to which you refer. I find their predilection puzzling and, to be honest, somewhat pathetic.
Sadly, you're right, Michael. That is part of my experience living there for 3 years that I haven't written about yet-but I will when I can get around to it. No matter how much I warned some of these women, making the abuse they were going to suffer as plain as day, they would not believe it. They rather believed that I was jealous of them or some sch ridiculous things and I was making it all up. They believed the men, heart and soul. Some were still lucky enough to get out --with the skin on their backs and nothing else, as I wrote. Others refused to see the truth, no matter what.
Yes, as it is pathetic for old men to be so desperate to prove their virility by having sex with young women who are eager to take their money. The difference between older women looking for love in the wrong places, and men is that men in all normal circumstances have a distinctly superior physical strength and thus, the ability to defend themselves physically in those situations.
What an incredibly insightful look at the dark side of human relationships, existing on the opposite spectrum of our western mentality. I am assuming those foreign women had financial means to travel to Egypt and even buy property there? How did you manage to open a boxing gym in Luxor - that must have been quite a story - or have you written about it already?
Yes, the women had money, but often it's their not very big savings for retirement and the men take it all. Then, they are stuck with no money to get out and become prisoners there.
I haven't written about the boxing club yet but I have a whole essay that I'm writing about my time in Luxor and it will include how I started Luxor Boxing Girls.
I find it fascinating. They must have really been on the verge of despair to move to a place where they had no connection - cultural, familial, professional - to get a second chance in life.
On an unrelated note, I love that you are 6 feet tall! I am 6’1”, minus all your sports accomplishments! Bravo.
This story seems so bizarre, but I believe it. I have heard of other stories where women are looking for romance in poorer parts of the world, and are being hoodwinked and taken advantage of. I also found the letter from one of your readers very interesting, who wrote about his experiences in Thailand.
Yes, it's even more bizarre than what's written here because I couldn't include everything. But when I can get around to it, I plan to write one more essay about my experiences during my 3 years in Luxor.
I would love to read more
What an amazing story. Thank you for sharing. I never knew this was a thing in Luxor, and probably quite a few other places.
So many lost souls. As a fairly recently divorced guy in his mid-fifties now, I am thoroughly enjoying my freedom, devoting the energy I would be using in the dating scene to instead raising my very wonderful teenage daughter. But there will come a day when she’ll be off on her own life’s adventure, and I’d prefer not to die alone, so I reckon I’ll have to get back at it.
Not sure where I’m going with this, I guess it’s that I don’t want to end up one of these geriatric westerners trolling the 3rd world for a wife. Seems pathetic. Aw well, I suppose I’ll just have to put faith in one of the verses of one of my favorite poems:
Be yourself, especially do not feign affection. But neither be cynical about love.
For in the face of aridity and disenchantment,
It is as perennial as the grass.
Great post Karen.
It gave insight into questions I've always had, when seeing Western women in settings that were so culturally divergent - outside of tourism.
I've been to African and Middle Eastern countries during my time in the military and never could square the circle, but your explanation (although quite obvious after you laid it out) never occurred to me - "looking for love in all the wrong places".
It's a shame, that these women fall into this snare due to their emotional loneliness and then are trapped, by the cultural and situational horrors.
Well done on using the assets at hand, to manage, dominate and escape the situation. This isn't you, but I always laugh when the "America sucks crowd, get themselves into desperate situations and calls on "their" county to come and rescue them. Brittany Griner is a prime example.
You are correct though, it is only when we are perceived as strong and resolute, that this proxy influence works.
I wonder if you're story would be taken up by the likes of Blaze media, Breitbart or Bannon's group and the like?
Well done saving your friend and warning of the perils to be found in these male dominated cultures.
This is what I learned. Women have an innate insanely strong desire to be pursued and loved passionately, regardless of their education, money and culture. And, this creates enormous risks. 🤷♂️
Very sad that women get themselves into these situations.
What a story. Incredible, it’s literally on a level of modern slavery.
I don’t understand why they didn’t publish your article in the States. I know you said because we cannot say anything against the Muslim but that doesn’t have much sense when you are telling your own experience in a foreign country with a different culture and so different from a Christian perspective. We cannot teach them Christian’s values, other men have to teach them but still would take decades because they don’t have the need to change. Glad you are back home, that you made it. Very futile to go back to those cultures as a lonely independent woman, those places are not for us, many women are gang rape and killed and cannot write their experiences. The only Muslim country I have been is in Morocco and there women are totally ignored, we don’t exist, it’s a very strange feeling but taught me not to give for granted my freedom in the west. So beautiful countries to visit in the world and safe!
After the introductory section, oh, how I wanted to read the article... I was very anxious to read it.
But I stop reading (or watching or listening) when I come across degrading, inappropriate language. I feel that to write it is to perpetuate the use of it, and to read it is to perpetuate the writing of it. :(
I'm sorry you feel like that but you have every right to do so. I have lived all my life in the real world. I've seen and experienced to much to hide the truth. The truth is seldom popular or easy to hear and is often shocking. I see it as exposing what goes on in the dark and shining a light on it. I'm a fighter so I stand up to the darkness as best I can. Having said that, I don't expect everyone to do the same. God bless.
I am a longtime follower of your father, Dave Hunt. I bought my first Dave Hunt book in about 1987. I am quite certain he would agree with me on this. There is no good reason to perpetuate filth. God’s Word speaks about using profanity. Why add to the already-prolific spread of degradation? I honestly don’t think Yeshua would quote filth, even if someone else said it.
Wow, that kind of limits your ability to read about reality in this world.
There is a lot of clean information out here. You just have to find people that have an awareness of righteousness and integrity.
I could just quit reading and not say anything but I decided a while back that if people aren’t ashamed to use bad language, I should not feel ashamed to say I think it is inappropriate. I now try to challenge people to reconsider what they are saying and promoting in hopes of a change of heart. I give them a chance to change. If they are defiant and determined to continue on that path, then I know what to expect and act accordingly.
So God has appointed YOU as the arbiter of what is "righteousness and integrity? Forgive me but that sounds pretty arrogant. And - If they are "defiant"? Meaning, if they choose not to tone down what these women ACTUALLY experienced at the hands of the aggressors because your sensibilities can't handle the terrible things that happen in the world? It is not as if she was using harsh language gratuitously. Context of anything is important and your taking offense at her truthful accounting appears to be self-righteous and an attempt to downplay the things that actually happened. I prefer the unvarnished truth.
I’m saying that it is not necessary to report word for word what was said. It would be better (according to God’s Word, which Karen’s father spent the greater part of his life studying and explaining to others, and which I think Karen claims to believe) to simply give what was said and say “laced with expletives” or something along those lines. I have received The Berean Call (Dave Hunt’s) newsletter for over 20 years and have quite a few of his books. I think I know his views pretty well, and I do not think I am saying anything Karen’s father would disagree with. If that seems self-righteous to you, then I don’t know what to say. I am giving my perspective. You are criticizing me for saying what I think, but you and others who think otherwise are free to say what you think. Why does “free speech” go only one way - the directly opposite way of what the founders of this country meant it for and what God has to say?
No one is denying your right to say what you think. Just as others have the right to disagree with you and give their view of your comments.
LOL, I loved those Kathleen Turner movies, but the first one, Romancing the Stone was the best-it’s one of my favorite movies!