When Rosa commits herself to travel to Egypt she becomes an accidental tourist.  Her story is told through her discovery of Egypt, it’s people places and customs.  As the reader learns of Egypt, They also learn of Rosa’s past and why she chose the flee the place she had previously occupied.

A good example of this is her fear of the crazy driving.  Although a quite reasonable fear, her reaction to it is slightly unreasonable.  This represents the fear imposed by her mother that any change would lead to bad luck.

A second example is when she meets Baseema, the woman working the restroom.