Chapter 4: Wherein the author rides a camel into the desert

May 13, 2009

Can I just start out by saying that I have felt epic this entire trip?  If "epic" is a feeling you can have.  There's just something about living in tents and storming castles and eating with your hands and going without running water and feeling the desert wind blow through your hair as you watch the sun sink behind the sandstone hills...  Epic is the best word I can find.  

This morning we woke up with the sun after sleeping out under the stars on a sand dune.  With nothing scheduled until much later in the morning, we took our time getting up, examining the small bug tracks made in the night (beetles, not scorpions) and skating down the sand dune to a breakfast of the ever present flat bread, goat's cheese, yogurt, jam, dates, eggs, olives, and tea.  After breakfast I climbed up on the right-side sandstone bluff for a little devotional time, reading my Bible and singing while enjoying the view.  

Around 11 the camels came for us.  We mounted up and rode off into the desert.  Yeah, actually it wasn't as exciting as it sounds.  It could have been...if we had been able to steer our own camels and could have gone a little faster...but considering the value of camels and the relative insanity of people in our group, I suppose it was understandable for their Bedouin owners to want to be in control every step of the way.  So we went pretty slowly, in a large group, most camels tied together in sets of two or more, led by different men.  Rachel and I were tied together and led by a young, barefoot, Bedouin boy.  Bare feet on the hot sand...ouch!  I think he said he was 16 or 17, though he didn't look like he could be nearly that old.  He let me have the reins for a little while, which was pretty fun.  I do have to say, though, that I felt more comfortable this time around.  I'm learning better how to sit and how to move with camel rhythm.  Really, I'm practically an expert.  Except not.  

Anyway, we rode probably a mile or two into the desert, ending up somewhere roughly south of our camp.  We got off the camels and waited.  James, our guide, said that he would bring us lunch, but he didn't really specify when...so we waited.  Some people went exploring.  I guess I was momentarily "explored-out" so I sat around with some other people and we played games as we waited: Mafia, the Thumb Game, and eventually, Signs.  We were just getting into signs when the truck with our food came driving up.  Lamb, chicken, flatbread, and yogurt.  

After lunch we got back on the camels and headed back to camp another way, making a loop.  The desert here is beautiful, with so many different rock formations.  I suppose one would come to recognize them after a while, but for me, well, I could maybe get lost if I wandered among them enough.  They all look surprisingly similar. :)

Fortunately, we made it back to camp without losing our way even once, surprising, I know.  Once back at camp we had a little time before our last planned session with Dr. Wright.  We watched another sheep slaughter, but I think most of us were less interested this time.  Instead of watching them complete the process, Jon, Josh, Ian, Cam, and I played 5 handed Rook.  Pretty much made my day.  We hadn't played long, though, when it was time for our session.

Job 6:15-17

"My brothers have dealt deceitfully like a wadi,

Like the streams of the brooks that pass away,

Which are dark because of ice,

And into which the snow vanishes.

When it is warm, they cease to flow;

When it is hot, they vanish from their place."

If you've ever met a Levantine Wadi, you know what Job meant.  There are valleys all over - clear evidence of rushing water.  Often the bottoms of these valleys are green and full of life.  So you go and expect to find water.  All to often, the water is only a memory.  Sometimes, though, you might go expecting little to no water, and instead are washed away by a sudden flash flood.  Wadis are unpredictable and deceitful.  

Job 14:18-19

"But as a mountain falls and crumbles away,

And as a rock is moved from its place;

As water wears away stones,

And as torrents wash away the soil of the earth;

So You destroy the hope of man."

The rock formations are indeed fragile.  One can see where water has washed over them and worn away parts.  When we would go climbing, sometimes parts of the mountain would crumble in our hands.  Sometimes we would tap on a surface that looked solid, only to hear a hollow ringing from where it had been undercut by water.  The effects of the erosion are seen in the sand that stretches as far as the eye can see.  

Imagery from this whole area of the Middle East is found throughout the Bible.  Job and Wadi Rum is only one example.

After our session, I tagged along with Cameron and Jon for one last bout of exploration.  We went up behind the camp this time, up a larger sand dune and a larger sandstone formation.  We didn't go to the highest point, but it was still a good spot to view the desert and reflect.  Jon left after a while but Matt and Elise joined us and we all watched the sunset together.  I'm going to miss those desert sunsets...and the people who experienced them with me.  

We hiked back to camp, enjoying our run back down the large sand dune.  Once back at the tent I ended up playing hearts, a game at which I am not terribly proficient.  To make it even better, though, a couple Bedouin children sat by me and practiced their English by reading off all the numbers on my cards.  :)  It was really fun, actually.  I hadn't had much contact with any of our host family, so I enjoyed it.  

We had a fairly late dinner of mansaf, this time managing to eat with our hands a little better.  Still not good, but we tried.  Then we hiked back up the dune for another slumber party under the stars.  This time we knew to dig holes in the sand to better fit the contours sof our bodies, and I think most of us slept much better...except possibly the people who had seen the camel spider earlier that day.  *sigh*  I miss out on all the cool bugs.  

May 14, 2009

We woke again at sunrise...and then maybe fell asleep for just a little longer.  This time, however, we had to leave fairly quickly, so we dragged our selves out of bed, brushed off the sand, and tumbled down to breakfast.  

After breakfast we packed everything up and piled back into the jeeps (or similar ones) that had brought us there.  Once back on the bus we headed for Aquaba.  We ate and early lunch there.  It was kind of weird, going into a nice resturant with cloth napkins and amazing bathrooms, all of us smelling like smokey goat.  They probably had to disinfect the place when we left.  Still, we enjoyed our meal, including the cold soda.  Cold drinks...what a luxury!  Then back on the bus to the border crossing.  It was a fairly simple crossing, and I finally got a Jordanian stamp in my passport!  Then back on a NET bus and north to Jerusalem!

Good bye, Jordan, red sands, and goats.  It was epic.  

Chapter 2: Wherein the author travels back up to the plateau and experiences some aspects of Bedouin life

Let's see, where was I...

May 11, 2009

We woke up well rested after a night in the Eco-Lodge, a virutal resort, especially when compared with our lodging for the rest of the trip.  To the typical fare we'd had the day before they added halva which made my day that much better.  If you've never had halva, well, you're missing out.  Someday I will figure out how to make it and post a recipe.  Hopefully.  

Anyway, after a good breakfast we again hopped into our "jeeps" and drove off across the desert to where our driver had left the bus the previous day.  On the bus we drove up the Arabah to the southern tip of the Dead Sea with Israel just across the way.  It was pretty barren (for the most part): dry, flat, sandy.  I rather think that life can often look like that to various people at various times...but the Bible constantly reminds us that God is with us, especially in the desert.

"Ah, the Saved...what happens to them is best described as the opposite of a mirage.  What seemed, when they entered it, to be the vale of misery turns out, when they look back, to have been a well; and where present experience saw only salt deserts memory truthfully records that the pools were full of water."  (C. S. Lewis, The Great Divorce)

From there we cut back up a wadi to the top of the plateau and then drove back south, past Bozrah, the capital of Edom, to Shawback (spellings may vary but it's pronounced more like Show-beck).  It's a bit off the tourist route, but it does have a pretty good crusader castle ruin, in addition to the "fake" bedouin camp we stayed at: Jaya Camp with our host, Saleh Rawashdeh.  

We arrived just in time for lunch...well, right after tea that is...we had mansaf!  Of course, you all know exactly what that is, but just in case... :)  Mansaf, as I understand, is a fairly typical Bedouin dish.  They probably don't eat it daily - it's more of a special occasion meal: the arrival of guests, a wedding, a funeral, etc.  Anyway, it consists of flat bread (tortilla-like), rice, some sort of meat (in this case, chicken), some cilantro, some nuts (peanuts), and a sort of white sauce spooned all over it.  Oh, and have I mentioned that it's all on one big platter?  And you eat with your hands?  We had several platters and crowded and average of around 6 people around each to eat.  It was a messy business.  Stupid Americans, don't know how to use their hands properly.  Nevertheless, it was a fun and tasty meal.  

After lunch we spent some time (with several breaks for tea) learning about a few aspects of Bedouin life.  They first showed us how to grind and mash grain.  Then we spent a while trying to figure out how to plow a field with a donkey and then sow it.  Fortunately the real plowing and planting time is long over, so our efforts are not responsible to feed the family in the future.  After a tea break we went out and herded goats in a circle for a while.  There were more people than goats so it really wasn't all that exciting, but perhaps we got just a little taste of it.  We then continued walking over to a nearby hill top.  There we had more tea and spent time throwing rocks at other rocks.  We're an easily amused bunch, what can I say?

A few people headed back to the camp at that point, but the brave and intrepid explores among us headed down the hill to the wadi bottom.  (Which, by the way, is a really fun combination of words.)  On our way down we stopped at a mosque/sheik's tomb.  I don't remember the name of the sheik, but he was supposedly a friend of Saladin.  As we walked up the wadi towards camp we paused to explore some caves that had obviously been lived in at some point and admired the terracing in the region.  We considered making an assault on the castle that night, but decided we should wait until morning when we were more rested and had more light. :)

Instead, we made our way back to camp where we shortly had dinner.  After dinner we sat in the bedouin tent, drinking more tea and listening to a man sing and play a one-string violin-type instrament made from a petrolium can.  It was impressive.  When he finished we hung out in the tent for a while, talking and playing games, before making our way to the tents for the night.  

Out of the wilderness

Just a quick update to all my faithful readers...actually...does anyone read this?  If you're out there, you're sure a silent bunch.  It's no fair that you get to read all about me and I never hear from you.  Drop a comment and say hi or something, ok?  :)

So anyway, assuming anyone reads this, here's my quick update.

I'm back in Jerusalem after 6 amazing, spectacular, beautiful, wonderous, and epic days in Jordan.  Here's some highlights:

~ Every night but one was spent in a tent or out under the stars.  

~ One shower the entire time...which was quite a luxury, really.

~ Lots of bugs - scorpions, spiders, ants, butterflies, and beetles.  I love bugs.  

~ Lots of rocks.  Mostly sandstone, but also some limestone and granite, and a few other odds and ends.  I love rocks.

~ Lots of plants, everything from one that cures diarhea to one that causes diarhea.  I love plants.

~ Lots of hiking: down Wadi Dana, up random rock formations in Wadi Rum.  Up sand dunes.  

     *Note 1: Hiking up sand dunes is not as easy as it looks.  Pretty sure that sand dune was the most exhausting part of the trip.

     *Note 2: I hear that part of the new Transformers movie was filmed at Wadi Rum.  I may have to see it just for that reason.

~ Lots of bedouin tea.  Hot and sweet.  Yum!

~ Lots of flat bread, lots of practice eating with our hands.

~ Very little electricity or running water.  Especially the last two days.

~ Lots of bus time, 4 times riding in the backs of trucks.  One trip by camel back. 

~ Lots of time to get to know everyone just a little better...before saying good-bye today and tomorrow.  

~ Lots of adventures, both big and small.  

~ Lots of sunrises, sunsets, wind, and sun.

~ Thousands of pictures.  Quite literally.  I will try to post some later.

Okay, I think that's enough highlights for now.  There's more, but I'll have to save some for future posts.  I'll be travelling on and off for the next few days, so it might take me a while, but I will try to post some stories and thoughts from this latest adventure.  Meanwhile, though, I should pack, hang out with people for the last time (*sniff*) and get some sleep. :)