Jen's Blog

What have I discovered for myself about Bedouin peeps? Here is the list of items that strike me:

They're resourceful. They can use whatever they have to get the job done. I've seen a wrench used as a can opener, a wadded juice box used for a gas cap, and tourists may be disappointed to see cut up plastic water bottles used as candle holders. But if you want authentic Bedouin culture, this is it.

They smell...really good. I know. But it's weird. I'm in close quarters daily with them and it's true. One of the guys can come back after three days of shower-free trekking through the 105 degree desert in a full black thobe (ie; covered from the neck down) and not have any B.O. Also, most of them don't ever brush their teeth and their breath doesn't smell.

They smoke 2-5 packs of cigarettes a day. Not all, of course, but probably 90% of the ones I know. This alone can exceed their daily income. Oh, and still good breath.

They barely drink water. I can be on tour all day with one of 'em in 100 degree weather, and they won't drink any water. Maybe a swig. Apparently it's genetic.

They are excessively hospitable and generous. I think we've been invited to every camp and home in the village and desert. For food, for a place to stay. Also, we'll be in a village shop and someone may step up and buy our food. It's impossible to decline without offending them. Again, this would be a big dent in their daily income.

It's a chick-thing, but they have the most beautiful eyes. And perfect eyebrows.

Cell phones. You can hear cell phone going off throughout the day out in the desert. In the camp at night, the drivers can be found with their faces all aglow with the cell phone light. I never see them playing games, but their phones are loaded with videos, music, and photos. Turns out that Nokia is the brand to have. Many come with a built in flashlight and they work even when filled with sand. Thinkin' of gettin' me one.

Mehdi, Ali, Issa (he's from Syria, actually), and Ziad

Ali and Mehdi

So I turned 40 on May 9th.

Funny thing; Mehdi, one of the drivers here, has been saying that he's 19. However, the other day, I got my mitts on his ID and it turns out that he had had a birthday two weeks prior and didn't realize it. SO....Birthdays here, not so much.

The other volunteer girls asked if maybe I wanted to hit Aqaba for the day and go for a Turkish bath. Aquaba is a resort city about an hour and a half away on the Red Sea. While real bathing is alluring (we have a cold shower up at camp), I just decided I'd prefer to stay in the desert.

SO, In the morning a couple of trekker girls who were staying with us came into our tent with a gift for me. They had taped two cans of tuna together with medical tape (they're med students studying in Israel) and wrapped a bow around made out of a plastic bag (the Jordanian national bird). The card was written on an old receipt. Then they proceded to apologise for not having a better gift for me.

Following this I went on a tour with Faris and the coolest tourists ever. They were from Canada but the guy has been living in Dubai for the past five years. He works as a managment consultant. Apparently Dubai has an insane demand for management and quality professionals...hmmmmm. Anyhow, they just loved it here and were delighted with everything. For my birthday, they got some shots of me at some of the sites for emailing later. I have almost no photos of myself in the desert. I climb up these cool rock formations but don't have the photos to prove it. Maybe I'm not even here. They're also mailing a printed version of the photos to Faris since he doesn't have computer access and we have no printer.

THEN it turned out that Mohammed organized a cake delivery from Aqaba with one of the cab drivers who bring tourists here. So later, we cleaned up our tent and invited the rest of the staff in for a birthday party.

I'm already a week out past my departure date. I love it here.

First I'd like to apologise for the woeful state of my photo editing. The photos barely show up on the computer screen so I can't tell whether they're any good and sometimes I can't even tell what they're of.

Second, it's difficult to blog here. The computer is in the office and if I'm here I often get called to prepare tea or check bookings. Also, the kids get out of school at 11:30 so sometimes they're running around (with knives and matches).

AND, apparently we have a spy so I'm disinclined to write about all the most interesting things which, like anywhere else, are the interpersonal relationships. Let's just say this is a compelling cultural study. Of course it's purely anecdotal but educational nonetheless. I gotta say this one thing: The repression of women we see here when looking from the West is actually not what it seems. And to the extent that it is there, it is held in place at least as much by the women as by the men. Remember....anecdotal. Just my observation.

So, here's the setup where I'm living at the moment. The family I'm living with lives in Rum Village, at the edge of Wadi Rum desert. Attached to the house is the tour office. Behind the house is the hostel, used mainly by rock climbers and us work exchange people. Then, 12km out in the desert, there is the bedouin camp.

So, tourists will book someting like a jeep tour and then a night camping in the bedouin tents out there. Maybe a camel ride back - yep, I did it. 12 km and blisters in interesting places.

The cast:
The family - Mohammed, his wife, and nine children. Whew! We spend some time speaking english with the kids.

The work exchange peeps - there are currently four of us. One, Sarah, has been gone since the day after I arrived, so I haven't gotten to know her. The other two, Stephanie & Bailey (Stephanie's 15 y/o daughter), are perfect. They're from the east coast, USA. They're totally sharp and laid back. Like me : ) They've already been here for two months and will be staying another two.

The employees - The camp employs four drivers for jeep & camel tours and a cook up at camp. I don't know if it's a Bedouin thing or just luck, but these guys are eminently respectful and good natured. This is the first place I've been able to let my hair down (Ha!).

So, us work exchange girls can basically choose each day how we want to contribute. There's hostel cleaning, tour guiding, email responding, and camp cleanup. Also, there is always customer support up at camp. We're expected to get 2-4 hours in each day. So, today I did email. Yesterday I did tour-guiding. The tour guiding is really fun but, at the same time, I think it's actually the most valuable work because the drivers don't really speak english. Also, just being up there at camp to answer questions is really useful.

Then at the end of the day, we and the drivers generally stay at camp with the tourists. The cook there is EXCELLENT! Also, after dinner, we party (which, here, means dance to Middle Eastern music and drink a lot of over-sweetened tea). Good times.

Currently I'm in Wadi Musa (this is where Petra is - but I'll be visiting that later), waiting to catch a bus to Wadi Rum in the morning.

On the bus here, there was a fight over whether the hatch on the bus ceiling should be opened or closed. One guy opened it. Another guy closed it. The one guy re-opened it. Suddenly a third of the bus is standing and shouting and the guys are trying to go at it. One guy is swinging a cane. Now, we've all seen this sort of thing in the states...when alcohol is involved. But here, no alcohol.

Another crazy scene...we were driving up to 'little Petra', a rock rift that was developed prior to Petra before their population expanded. We did a sunset visit, which was just amazing. On the way through town, a mini-stampede of horses came galloping down the main street. It was nuts. We almost got hit by a horse! Ya know how they say 'the deer hit me'. Well, yep. Sure enough. They kept going further down the street at full gallop and one collided with a man on a donkey - he went down, we gasped, and our driver just said 'oh yeah, no big deal, this happens often'. Sure enough the guy and donkey popped back up like a Weeble.

Tomorrow I go to Wadi Rum for a month to hang out here:
http://www.mohammedwadirum.8m.com/