Sorry =[

I have felt the power of writing, the way it can affect people. I am experiencing a unique thing in Wadi Rum that is too sensitive to write about. It is over and done with, but I don't feel comfortable writing about it on the internet. It is just in the journal. It may be a while until my next post, I'm very sorry and If you want to know I am alive please email me. I sometimes may not check my email for about a week, so don't get too worried.
Love,

Bailey

Burdah Bailey

I’ve noticed something strange since we have been here. Before we went to Egypt, I would always look down at the sand when we went in a jeep or on the camels, now I look up at the mountains. I think my body and mind are finally starting to take this magnificent desert in. It took some time to concentrate on the ground, but now I am concentrating on the mountains. I just recently went up one of those mountains and it was fantastic. I had done a tour with a couple of British college kids, and they were planning on climbing Burdah Rock bridge, and invited me to go along. Climbing Burdah was on my list of things to do before I leave, so I leapt at the chance. We started a trek out in the desert to get to the bridge, which hurt my hips. There is something strange about women in the desert; our hips start to burn right at the joints after walking for an extended period of time. For men, they don’t hurt at all because they don’t have “real” hips. The scramble up to the rock bridge was difficult, with slippery places, ledges, and drops. You cannot have a fear of heights to do the scramble. We had met two groups of people that were scrambling and said there was only one difficult area just at the top, but you should be okay if you have ropes. ROPES?? We didn’t have any ropes and I started to get nervous. I took one look at the difficult part and told my self, “there is no way.” It was a little windy slippery path that went straight up a rock face. Richard and Hayley (college kids) went up and when I saw them on top of the bridge I began to regret it. I studied the path and knew where to put my feet and called Mehdi to come and help me. I finally made it to the top and the view was spectacular. You could see everywhere and I felt so happy that I was living in this desert. I consider this place my home. When we went to Egypt I missed it so much, and realized that a piece of my heart will be buried in this sand forever. I have fantasies of me having a tent out in the desert where I would just sit in the silence and write all the stories that come to my mind. This desert has energy that wraps you and you can never let go, because you never want to. I also love the culture here, some people say this place reminds them of out west, just by how it looks. Out west you don’t have that culture, here you have the spirit of the Bedouins that is embedded in every nook and cranny of the rocks. The people here are extremely friendly, but they are humans as well and susceptible to jealousy, temptation, anger, and all the other traits we humans experience in life.
On the way back Hayley and I were so tired and our hips were on fire. Finally, one car stopped with a very young guide that I had met a couple of times in the village. The people in the car saw how tired we were and one woman said “We just can’t leave them here, they must come with us.” So, Hayley and I climbed up on top of the car on the roof racks and sat on the top as we were driven around. They were going to another part in the desert so we were dumped in the middle of nowhere. I got my sense of direction and figured that the camp was straight but we were told to wait for the rest of the group. We sat in the middle of the desert writing names and making hand turkeys, until the rest of the group finally arrived. We walked a total of 10 hours that day and when I got back to the camp, I could feel the relief radiating off of my legs when I sat down. Maybe next time I go hiking in the desert, I won’t go for so long.

I don’t want to leave in a month. Climbing up to Burdah really made me realized that I consider this place home, the kids my brothers and sisters, the drivers my buds, and the desert my home. I miss some things about the United States, but I am just not ready to head back into western life. I love the person I am here. I don’t have corrupted opinions of people because maybe they don’t wear the right clothes or say the right things like what happens to you when you are in high school. I feel alive and free, like the whole world is open to me to explore. I love how I talk without saying “like” every 5 seconds, how I smile all the time, and I don’t feel nervous to laugh when something is funny. I am happy that my mom took me out of high school because I saw that I was going down the wrong path of extreme teenager. Yikes! I love this Bailey Theado, and I hope she stays with me when I return to the states.

Some may call me crazy

Jebel Musa was a powerful experience that I will never forget. There is a presence on that mountain that cannot be explained. A force that rackets your soul and makes your head spin, and your heart heavy. For the past year I have been going through a spiritual crisis, not knowing if there is a God, or who is right. I have been praying to the universe because thats what I believe connects us all. I was having a hard time believing, but I had peace in my mind because I trusted that the universe would provide me with the answers when I needed it. I got one of those answers on the mountain.
We were hiking up with our Bedouin guide Sobe and a huge group of people from Dahab. There are little shops every kilometer that sell snacks and drinks, and our group would stop at each one. My mom and I were searching for the quiet so we would go in front of or behind the group. We had stopped at one kiosk and my mom and I had walked a little bit ahead, my mom had turned back to ask our guide a question and I kept walking a little. I stopped and I looked up. Immediately, my heart felt like a rock that was sinking my chest in, while my head was in the clouds. The moon was full and lit up all the surrounding mountains, but Jebel Musa remained a powerful black silhouetted. I stopped and stared for about a minute in the quiet and felt a tear slide down my cheek. A man at the bottom of the mountain was saying that people come, they pray, they cry, then they leave. I was laughing at them in my mind and didn't want to be one of these babbling brooks, crying over a mountain. I felt my eyes tear up and one drop run down my cheek. I had been irritated the entire way we had climbed, why was I crying all of a sudden? I let go of my body and all feeling. Then my conscious just said to me, ( I actually ended up saying this out loud) "Everybody needs a God. No matter how strong you think you are, you need it." I had regained my mind and gave myself a very strange look, and felt very strange. Why had this idea popped into my head just then as I looked up at this huge black silhouette. I felt small, but powerful, alone and weak at the same time. After much speculation, I bet that I had been given one answer, that everyone needs a God. That does not mean that I am saying everyone should be Christian, I am just saying that everyone needs the comfort of a God. It may not even be that, because I don't even quite understand it. It was an incredible experience to just feel weak all of a sudden and have an idea pop into my head that "Everyone needs a God." Some may call me crazy, but it is my experience. The feeling of not being in my body, my heart like an anchor in my chest as my head floated up to the stars.

I always laugh at the people that think they talk to God and are spoken back to, but something talked to me that night. I had been irritated by the Americans screaming at the top of their lungs the Indiana Jones theme, and the Spanish guy going on 5 min rants that sounded like " dadadadal dkfjaldkjfajdhfkl ajhdfkaljdhfakdjhwueakda;dlkfjadlskfja;ldjfaldksjf....", but during that one second something strange happened. I didn't feel it when I was on top of the mountain or when I was climbing down, but just at that one moment with the glorious full moon lighting my face as the mountain where Moses received the 10 commandments towered over me, I think I felt God.

Dining in Dahab

They waited calmly for their food to arrive as their stomachs began to turn concave and any sight of food lifted their hopes, but then quickly smashed it into the ground, because they knew it was not theirs. They felt the cool sea breeze brush their skin as they turned to look at the calm waters of the Red Sea. The sun was just high enough to reflect dancing flashes of light on the little waves. The two of them pictured in their minds the wonderful life that was held just below the surface of this large calm pool of water. All of a sudden, they were interrupted by the clinking of plates and three men approached them, with plates in their arms and some carried tea and condiments. They placed a feast before them. One man laid down two large white plates filled with tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, eggs, French fries, falafel, oranges, and a steaming dish of fooul. They began to grab their forks, but they were stopped as another man came and placed two large glasses of mint tea and a little pot of sugar. They resumed their fork collecting and were interrupted once more by a man who brought little dishes filled with hummus, babaganous, cucumber dip, a plate of 3 different kinds of bread, and one plate with ketchup, hot sauce and more napkins. By this time the two were speechless, but they managed to spit out a “shukran,” and the waiters seemed pleased at their shock and they walked away. One of them started on the foou,l which had the right consistency of beans mixed in with tomatoes, spices, and fresh garlic. The other started by cutting her falafel and dipped each piece in the wonderful dips. They both stirred sugar into their tea and kicked back, this is the life, they thought. The ocean, the mountains, the great place to stay, and the amazing food, was just the kind of relaxation they were looking for. Whew! It was not like the typical beach towns in the United States, with hoards of people, bright lights, and everything else horrible about the shores. (Cringe) They were having the most amazing breakfast of their lives, looking over the Red Sea, which is one of the best places for diving, and occasionally glancing up at the staggering rock mountains where Moses talked to god. It is a special place. Once their bellies were filled up to the brim they relaxed and chatted about what they may do for the rest of the day. They drew a blank except for going snorkeling. They left a tip of 5 EGP (1$) and paid a whopping 20 EGP (4$) for their meal. The both thought, “I sure could get used to this,” and headed to the sea.

an addition to the last blog

I remember one time Tom, my mom, and I were walking to go get a drink (I got strawberry juice which was really good, but Tom said it tasted like cold liquid jam. Yummy!) We said something rather quickly and to me and my mom it sounded like this, “jkwkjdbeuwwoepaldsdjkbalsdiwue;awoeraohsdlkhapqeuhanvnbm,bkajhdlbafhaleure?” My mom and I turned to each other and asked if the other actually understood what he just said. I have the same problem with Abbie (New Zealand) and Sara (Australia) back in Wadi Rum. One day, Abbie quoted a man who said that “England and America are divided by a common language,” which I believe is completely true at times. Well we are staying/stayed (because I am already back in Wadi Rum) at Bish Bishi, which is a really sweet little hotel. Our room was 25 EGP ($5 USD), not too bad eh? Dahab is fantastic and I am a little nervous to write about how amazing it is because I don’t want so many people rushing to Egypt and staying there, because it starts to feel like your own after a while. Boy oh Boy do I miss it, and will be back time after time.

The Bus Ride

Have you ever been confined to a seat for 18 hours? Well, let me tell you it is not fun at all. (Acutally as I write this I'm getting a marraige proposal from a 19 year old. I've only had a couple, but this one is looking good. I've got half a million red camels which he has to go to Iraq for, (differnt than normal ones) and houses all of Egypt, and it will be honemoon all the time. haha)

Anyways, we took a bus from Luxor to Dahab, and it was the longest trip ever. We left at 5 in the afternoon and arrived at 11 the next day. Our bus was a lot nicer than the other buses we have taken. This one had new seats, and air conditioning, and it was clean. The only problem with the seats was that they were covered in plastic, every 5 seconds you would have to skooch up to keep from sliding down. We had some interesting travelers on our bus. The first was a really nice Russian man who looked really Russian. We had met him in Luxor at the bus counter and I did not need to ask him where he was from because he looked like Vladamir Putin. There were also two girls on our bus from Nevada who were studying in Torino (they were on vacation). I was not happy by the way they dressed. (Gosh I'm really going to sound like an old lady) One girl was wearing a small tight tye-dye tank top and then with a slit in the tank top that went right down to her clevage. First, If she were in the states I would tell her to put some clothes on, but she was in a muslim country! Tank tops are a no no in anywhere but the beach, but she had a cut in her shirt to make it go lower! (Some people don't reasearch before the come on vacation I think). I felt offended, and ashamed that I came from the same country, because that is another example of an Ugly American. We did have another really nice guy on our bus from England. His name is Tom. (Hi Tom, I bet your reading this) It has been funny to hear the English accent and the fact that we can't understand each other sometimes.

Crikey! I hope there are no crocs!

There are no crocodiles below the dam, but my imagination would would not face this fact and tormented me with sick images of being attacked on the fellucca. I have to say that the Nile is an amazing special place, and feluccas are the best way to experience it. Our felucca trip was from Aswan to Kom Ombu. We started out of Aswan and once we had reached the end, peace had settles in. We zig zagged up the Nile and I loved watching the lush palm tree groves just below the looming golden sand dunes. The food was good, but I have a broblem in Jordan and Egypt. I don't like fresh tomatoes and they are in a lot of things. They just make me gag. Also, the Egyptian food makes me gassy and all I want to say about that is the other people on the boat should be damn happy there was a nice breeze and it wasn't closed in. (:]) The fist place we stopped for the night was a little plot of lush green grass with two cows, tall reeds, and alittle forest of plam trees with duomo on them. Duomo is a strange type of fruit that looks like a nut but is sweet on the inside. The outside is brown, smooth and misshapen. it feels like a rock and your teeth have to be very strong as well. The fruid inside is not you typical fruit but just under the hard coating is a little thicket of yellow fur that is sweet. I don't fancy it, but it is interesting. The cows were scary. S.C.A.R.Y. They looked like bones with fur draped over them. I could make out their ribs and their pelvic bones protruded out. If I were interested in studying cow anatomy, without the blood, these cows were the perfect subject. I did not sleep at all that night, Jessica was leeping right next to me and another lady named Christina at my feet were snoring all night long! At one point my body was so tired that I passed out. I was about to punch all the snorers in the face, because I could not fall alseep for hours. Apparently, I snored. Nobdy has ever told me that I snore, but whatever. Perhaps my subconsicous wanted to get back at all the other snorers in the boat. (MUWAHAHAHA) They next day was nice and I thankfull for Ipods. I love to hear the sounds fo a place, but sometimes I just want to experience it to my own beat. Everyone was doing their own thing I took my ipod, walked to the front of the boat, sat down, and cranked up the 90s tunes! The sun would come and go as the biloowing sail woudl move in the wind. Sometimes too much, when you close your eyes and it is like a disco of flashing light, then it turns annoying. Ayob and Jessica were playing cards. Heather and my mom were reading and listening to music. Christina slept. Mustafa was on his cellphone, and Abdu was navigating the boat. I was basking in the sun underneath the sail while listening to musich and casually glancing over at the palm trees and dunes. (Hows that for suave bragging) THe first place we docked was rather shitty and shady. It was shitty because there was trash everywhere and swarms of mosquitoes. It was shady because there were men sitting next to the boat just staring at us. Later, we moved to a nicer place away from the men and trash, but the mosquitoes followed. There were tall bright green reeds that looked like a perfect home for a crocodile. I played out scary images of a giant crocodile busting out of the water and grabbing hold of a deck hand and taking a peice of the boat along with it! We had no human trajic deaths, but things were lost. Heathers sandal was whisked away by the current, and my mom's sunglasses had a trajic drowning outside of Aswan. I did not lose anything thankfully. I would have like to say on the felucca for a couple more days. There is something strange about the prescence of the nile. Maybe it's the fact it has helped the magnificent ancient Egyptians build temples, or that it defys physics and flows up, or that it is in such a romantic setting. I felt drawn to it, that it welcomed anyone to make the river their home. I miss you already.

Abuuuuu Simbel

Taking the train from Cairo to Aswan was interesting. Our train was decent and we were sitting in an area with a couple other travelelrs. I listened to the ipod until the juice ran dry and somehow fell asleep. My mom and I were sharing an opened sleeping bag, which I pulled all the way over my face to keep the bright flourescent light out of my eyes. Before I went to sleep a man behind us began playing annoying arabic music from his cellphone very loudly. After about a minute I spun around and flashed him a drity look and he stopped. When I woke up the next morning we were going by lush green land dotted with tall palm trees. It looked like a little slice of paradise. I then turned my head and on the other side was a stark baren desert. I tried to use my periferal vison and see the vast constrast between the too landscapes. One other thing that was quite interesting were these tiny tin decrepit shack that were situated on the tops of appartment buildings. They were think slabs of wood with tin thrown together to try to resemble a house. I didn't think that anyone lived in them and they were perhaps storage areas, then I saw a woman come out and by the way she was acting, I could tell it was her home. We don't think or imagine that people live under those conditions, but they do. Once wer arrived, we wernt into the tourist information office to find out about taking a bus to Abu Simbel. They were no help at all!! They would not tell us anything and gave us a brochure of Aswan, IN ITALIAN! The one thing i hate about Egypt is that you cannot trust anyone. Everyone seems to try to get all the money they can out of you. It's tiring to always have your guard up. Theother thing is that you don't want to be rude, but in a way you have to be. I miss our pleaseant nook in Wadi Rum, where we always get the right price. Well, after the tourist office we decided to look for a hotel. A tall man approached us very calmly and gave us the name of a hotel and if we wanted to check it out he could take us to it. HE approached us very calmly, so we followed him to the hotel. OUr room was 40 EGP (8$) per night for the three of us! What a deal! It was also a nice room. After we had setteled in we met with our tall friend, whose name was Jimmy Hendrix. We planned a trip to Abu Simbel with him and apparently got ripped off. He quoted us $80 USD per person for a feluca ride and we decided to think about it. We went out to grab some luncha nd all the prices were a lot highter than Cairo. The hasseling is a lot worse in Aswan than it is in Cairo as well, probably because there are more tourists in Aswan. Later, we were approached by another very tall man named Ayob, he was a felucca captain. We negotiated a much better price of $30 USD per person. Ayob is very charasmatic and has a great big smile. He speaks arabic, nubian, english, and japanese fluently! We hung out with him a lot during our stay in Aswan. One night my mom turned in early and I stayed out with Jessica and Ayob. I am constantly with my mom and it's good to get out on my own. We went into a room with a big group of people watching an Egyptian soccer game while we played pool against a really small 15 year old. It was fun but I decided to go home and take a shower because the later it got the more uncomfortable I felt. I was out with a 28 year old, and a 33, and me being 15, I'm always uncomfortable! ( :] ) Well, our first real day in Aswan we went in a giant convoy to Abu Simbel. If you don't know what a convoy is, it was set up by the Egyptian fovernment to keep tourist safe. It is certain times during the day when hundreds of tour busses and microbusses get together and are escourted by the police to the tourist sites. The funny thing is that I felt way more unsafe. We are a giant group of foreigners all clumped together. An easy target don't cha think? That is something funny about the middle east. Being a foreigner, you can't completely stay under the radar, it's something you have to cope with. (dressing like them is stupid looking, especially for the guys) However, in a tour group I think you are in a greater danger. You are in a huge bus, stay at the large tourist hotels, and are always sticking out as a larger thumb. I also found that the people respect you more if you are a traveler. They notice that you are not here just for the sights, but to also get af eel of the culture, and interacting with the people. They seem to appreciate and love meeting travelers, but they deal with tours to make money. Well, Abu simbel was incredible! We arrived just after the sunrise and I noticed that the sun went directly through the temple. I later read it was done on purpose. Abu Simbel is the site with two amazing temples that were originaly found completely covered in sand and left to be covered over again after an explorer found no real tresure inside. (LOSER) The temples were moved after the making of the dam. Even though there are swarms of people, the intense feeling of the place over rules all of the bad tourist mojo. What is extremely impressive in my eyes is that some med looked at a mountain and said, "Lets build a temple," then carved a whole bunch. They had to first carve into the mountain, then make the statues, then make rooms, then do all fo these incredible heiroglyphics! Bajeebus that's a lot of work! My favorite think about the temples were the pictures of the gods, especially the jackal. It is such a famous symbol of the ancient Egyptians, that seeing it in person stops my heart and brings me chills. I bet the Egyptian teenagers have a more interesting "homeland" history class than we do. (personally,I don't care about paul rever and all those other powder wig guys) We also went and visited the dam, which was well, a dam. Then we took a little felucca ride to an island with a temple that had been removed before they built the dam. That was incredible, but being in a shitty-ake mushrooms (I have family reading this =])convoy, I did not have enough time to explore. We went back to Aswan, chilled out, and got phsyched for our felucca ride!

Cairo Pt. 3

Okay. Here is the continuation.

Everything was fresh and the little market had every color of the rainbow in food form, dotted here and there with large white decrepit looking scales. There were women completely covered in the burqua yelling at the seller about the condition of the vegetables, I felt immeresed. Throught our entire bazaar experience, we only passed one other couple of tourists and that was it. I belive that we had walked far off the beaten path because people either gave us a quizzickle look or blurted out all the english they knew and smiled. It did not cross their minds to hassle us or try to get us into their shop. We walked on and on passing throught different districts. There is the cotton and clothes district, textiles, kitchen applainces, kitchen wear, wood carving, food area, miscealaneous (darn no spell check, sorry), car and machine parts, slaughter houses, sheeshas, mats, tassles (yes there was a special area that just sold tassels,rugs, lumber, and probably man more. We weaved in and out of streets, as we got lost in this maze. The coolest area i thought was an area where they carved bowls and untensils out of wood, which would normally cost a fourtune in the states, but they were practical here and were not expensive at all. We decided to turn right and head back to what we thought was the larger street and my mom spotted an interesting store. She walked across the street to get a good picture when all of a sudden 2 police officers appreared. They had sour faces and approched my mom. An elderly woman passed by and made a motion of no pictures and then crossed her wrists to show "arrest."Jessica and I were confused as we watched my mom go from being interogatted to being hit on by the policemen. I glanced up and saw the building behind her had barbed wire. I remembered that it was illegal to take pictures of government or militarry things, but my mom did not take a photo of that,but something across the street. She showed the policemen the pictures she had taken and after being hit on, we continued. As we walked by the barbed wire building, I realized that the woman did not mean my mom was going to be arrested, but the building was a jail. The area of the bazzar that the jail was located was the lumber departement and the street was dark, one side filled with wood and men smoking sheesha, and the other side was a large black wall and just passed it was a dark looming building with men shouting out of the barred windows. As we walked on, I noticed women and children standing in front of the lumber store, looking up and talking. I look up and saw they were talking to the men in the jail. It was interesting to watch this strange intereaction. We walked on through kitchen applaiances, tassels, and fabric. Just as we were going to leave. I spotted a juice bar and turned in. I grabbed a mug of deliciousness! The little bar was grubby and had plastic chairs with flies swarming around, but I didn't care because the juice was fantastic. It was bannana, mango, and strawberry with large chunks of fruit nicely displayed on top and bananna and strawberry chunks in the drink. It only cost 2 EGP (about 40 cents). We then hopped into a taxi, worn out by the stimulation of our bazaar experience. (Ooh Pun!)

Cairo pt. 2

Sorry I have not been blogging. I have been so caught up in Egypt that I haven't processed. Here we go into Cairo pt. 2. I already wrote this down in my journal so I could copy it here.

It had all started out as a little stroll down an alley, but then we were trasported into a labrynth in another world. I walked past some stands selling copies of the Quran until my mom had spotted a herd of goats being navigated through long tunics, colorful scarfs, ripe plump strawberries, spices,and old men smoking sheesha. Their little furry buts waddling to and fro, one occasionally being separated and with a quick slap and a "baaaaa", it rejoined his mates. I was transfixed and struck dumb at the alley ways. The alley was only about 12ft wide and had drapped cloth that created a tunnel effect. The alley was lined with spices, fruits, vegetables, egyptian cotton, scarfs, shoes, blankets, anything imaginable. It didn't feel real as I walked silently through these noisy passageways. There was the occasional kissy noise and the "welcome to egypt." ( I must have heard that 150x and I did feel welcome) As we walked on my mom was being pulled by her camera to the goats, it was magical. If you have a stereotypical image of a romantic bazaar in your mind, IT'S BETTER! We came up to the goats as they were entering a building and I wondered if they were brought there for meat or for fur. It was hopefully the 2nd, but most likely the 1st choice. Jessica and my mom snapped photos as I was too shy and nervous to stick around. I think that is my weakness in my way of traveling, which I hope to fix, that I always have a hard layer up and don't want to stop so I can avoid confrontation, I need to be a little looser and not feel antsy about stopping. We continued and decided to take a right towards life that we saw down the way. As we were wlking a truck beeped at us from behind to move, mind you there is only about 6 feet of room, and we jumped out of the way. Being a pedestrian in Cairo is not good and very very dangerous. we hopped out of the way and we were pushed into a large fruits and vegetabnles market.

got to stop there. time is up for internet

Cairo pt 1

I find myself having mixed feelings about Cairo. Do I like it? Do I love it? Do I hate it? I am not sure. Maybe one of you can hint on my feelings towards the city by my description. I just think the city is alright, better than I excpected actually. When we asked people about Cairo half of them said it was horrible and we were better off just skipping it and the pyramids as well. They told us tales of hassling and harrassment and pinches. I have had no such experience. Cairo is like any other big city, and houses about 11 million people I believe. By the architecture, the city looks just like a typical large European city and is not anything very special except for the museam, mosques, bazzar, and food. Before I go into my impressions I think I owe it to the men on our bus to dedicate a little part of my blog to their bus ride.

We had left Soft Beacha at about 8:45 to catch the 9:00 bus to Cairo and waited around with 3 other girls who were going to Cairo too. (They spoke Arabic thankfully) THen a man in a minivan pulled up and offered to take us somewhere and the girls negotiated for him to drive us to Cairo for 60 Egyptian pounds each. (about 12 USD). We piled into the car and went to the passport checkpoint. We handed him our passports and he glanced at them and told us to turn around. We were not allowed through! The driver had no idea why and we wondered if it was because we were American or we had an Israeli stamp. We will never know. The minivan after ruining our plans of taking the 9 o'clock bus, dropped us off at the bus station. We were so disapointed because the next bus to Cairo was at 3 and that would mean we would arrive at the hotel at 12 in the morning! (no thanks) The girls asked and a man said that a bus was coming for us in about 10 min. We were very skeptical but just as he had said, the bus pulled in. We bought our tickets and as I was climbing up the little staircase to the bus, I looked up and it was all men looking up. It was us 6 girls and a bus full of men. (Woah) We were ushed to sit in the front and we began the drive. The men acted like 3 year olds! They were hollering, laughing, drinking soda, chaning seats, and acting like children! I was sitting next to Jessica and she fell asleep as I covered my mouth to keep out the smoke and looking forward to keep from getting carsick on the windy road through the rocky cliff desert. I remember turning my head to say something to my mom and huge green palm tres caught my eye. There were two elderly women making a fire and weaving under the shade of 2 huge palm trees with a huge towering cliff of rock looming over their heads. It was a beautiful sight. We got out of the rocky desert and everthing became flat. Completely FLAT! I supposed the straight road was a signal for the men to hit the music. The driver pushed in a tape then BANG!!! Thumping ear popping music blasted through the speaker over head. Jessica shot up and had a face of sheer confusion, and terror. (Poor Jessica). I realized that it was only our little speaker that worked in the entire bus so we were the lucky ones that got to have our ear drums bursted. The men all got up and went into the aisle of the bus and started dancing!! It was so funny. They were shimmying, clapping, going "aye aye ayye rrrrrrrrrrrrr (spanish roll of tounge on the R), and having quite a blast. This went onn for a long long long time and was quite the amusing show, and an experience one can't forget.

We arrived in Cairo and went to our hotel whichh is okay, very clean and nice, but service and stuff is not spectacular. We headed our into Cairo at night to grabb a bite to eat (we got shwarma which is this large hunk of meat the spins and they shave of a bit and mix it with spices, juices, and vegetables, and sometimes will put it into a sandwhich. At night we got some stares and a few "mwah!"'s, but not bad at all. We got a great night of rest and were ready for the egyptian museam. The egyptian museam is more like a ridiculously large and very nice antique shop with things thrown here and there. We were a little flustered and got a really great Egyptian guide. Everything in there is spectauclar from the huge stone spinxs, large faces, crystal eyeballs in the statues, to the endless amount of hieroglyphics on just about every piece of stone. It was amazing. We were in quite a shock at the contents of Tutankhaman's tomb. OH MY GOD! GOLD EVERYWHERE! This man knew how to go down in style. It was so cool to see the famous mask up and close only about 4 inches away from my face. His jewlery was incredible, and the large gold plated boxes that encased his tomb (like Russian nesting dolls) were impressive. There is so much to see in that Museam that if you spent 1 min looking at every little thing, it would take you 9 months to finish the whole museam! After the museam we hitched a cab to the Islamic Area to check out the mosque and the bazzar.

Our cab stopped infront of a mosque which holds the oldest University in the world. We had to take off our shoes and cover our hair and we were whisked away by a man who seemed offical, but I had my radar on and knew he was not a tour quide and would want baksheesh (tip) for his services so we said no thank you and he left. We went into another room and were offered this same tour guide things but instead of being offered they just went into talking about the place! My mom and I were ready to just leave because it got annoying. I have to say that mosques are way more comfortable than churches, getting to feel the wonderful carpet under your toes and the smooth cold marble. Wonderful. As we were leaving I stopped myself and walked into the center of the mosque. It was all white alabaster on the floor stretched out and brightened up even the sky itself. There was a covered walk way all around the center with men sitty lazily in the shade. I was impressed at the whiteness of the stone and wanted to run all around it jut because It looked like one of those amazing nicely made beds that make you want to just jump into the covers and feel that craftsmanship. I had to urge to walk and run and skip on this giant slab, becaus it looked holy. We went outside and headed into the labryth they like to call "bazaar". People are waiting to use the computer and I am not going to be rude. 'Till tomorrow my friends, I leave you with suspense with these hints "wood carving, almost being arrested, inmates families, kitchen appliances, and smoothies"

Bailey

P.s Sorry about the typos

Egypt trip! Woot Woot!

Our trip so far in Egypt has been an interesting one. I have so many things to share but I find myself not able to process them into writing. I used to live in the future and in the past, revel over the events and play them over in my mind. Now, I live in the present and it is hard to think of the future because I have no plan, and there is no time to think abou the past. I was craving this and feel alive now that I do live this way. It's refreshing. Now to the task at hand, Egypt.

Well, to get to Egypt we had to go from Jordan through Israel and into Egypt, all in one day. It was incredible to go from each country and in a matter of meters the whole area changed. It all looked the same geologically, but was drastically different in the color of the people, feel of the area, economic wealth, and all that other good stuff. I think the most shocking situation of the entire trip was coming from Jordan to Israel. After being put on a facotory line (being stamped, questioned, and inspected), passing AK-47's, and barbed wire, we were in an entirely different world. THe language changed, the people changed, and the women changed. I was seeing women in short sleves with their hair showing! I was in quite a surprise on the cab ride. We met an austrian couple and decided to share a cab, but they wanted to go to this aquariaum (funds were not sufficent so we did not go). We all piled into a car, and headed off to Eliat. I saw white people again, women in tight shirt, WOMEN IN SHORTS!!! (not people that should be wearing shorts might I add), T-shirts, and long hair billowing in the wind. I was shocked at how much skin they were showing. THe girls with their short skirts, tank tops, looking like little harlets. (Now I sound like an old lady I've already started with the "music being too loud") Eliat is a modern city that looks like a typical american beach scene except there are grey desert mountains in the background. I wanted to turn right around and go back to Jordan. As my mom and I sat on a bench in front of the Aquarium for a long time, I didn't get my stares, they all dressed innapropiatley, and I missed home. Even now, thinking about Wadi Rum makes me nostalgic. I long for my sand, my bad music, and my nook. I feel at home there, with drama, laughs, fights, friends, and many more. I felt like I was back in America and was ready to run out of there into an Arab country. Once we got into Egypt, It was like we were a piece of meat and all the taxi drivers were like hungry wolves. They would drive very slowly next to us and say "excuse me my sister, taxi , taxi , TAXII!" Over and over again. There was so much stimulus and I already had stress up to my eyeballs, I was about to punch him in the face. It was also HORRIBLY HOT!! I could not role up my sleves because I did not feel confortable and getting any more attention than I already was......so I opted to soil my clothes in sweat. (haha lovely description, soil.ha) We got on a bus to Nuweiba and I thought we were about to go off the road the driver was driving so fast! The coast here is interessting with sandstone mountains and a blank desert (not as pretty as Wadi Rum) then an aqua blue puddle they call an ocean. THe Gulf of Aqaba is an interesting converstion. YOu have Israel and Jordan up on top (plus a little Egypt) and then the giant mass of Saudi Arabia. If you are not familiar with how women are treated there I will just say this, even women travelers have to be completely covered from head to toe in traditional dress. Our camp was wonderful (even though I got a lot of bug bites). It was right next to the beach with about 45 little palm froned huts and a restaurant. There are also a lot of lage areas filled with cusions right along the water in the shade. There is also private service right to your little kingdom of cushions on the water with amazlingly cheap food and amazing fruit drinks. I would just lay and look out at the ocean with was about 10 feet away and ocassionaly gaze over at Saudi Arabia. I went snorkeling while I was there with Jessica ( a wonderful girl we met in Wadi Rum). It was quite an experience. Even though I may want to be a marine biologist, I still have a fear of the ocean. We walked in and in 2 seconds I was seeing crabs. We walkeed furter and then the reef started. OH! The day before this we tried to go to another reef but I got freaked out when I walked in about 15 feet and saw a large poisonous water snake that was black and white. (no thanks!) Well we got on our equipment and started to go around the bottom of the water was about 5 feet down adn the reef was abotu 2 to 3 feet from the top of the water. Jessica took a turn towards the top of the reef and I followed. I felt like I was about to brush innto all the coral and large purple sea urchins. I got so scared and hyperventelated in my snokel (which was already broken) and got all water then put my hand down on the reef! I didn't touch anything thankfully! We swam more and saw beautiful hot pink coral colorful fish and giant black sea cucumbers. I was in awe because I had never seen this much life. It was an amazing exerpeince that I can hopefully elaborate some other time (people are waiting for the computer). We had lots of fun at Soft Beach Camp, made so friends and spent some time with adorable puppies! Then after 3 days, we headed off to the bus to take us to Cairo. And I leave you with suspense 'till the next blog post I bid you adieu.

Bailey

P.S Sorry about the typos if there are any, I am in a rush.

Off we go!

Tommorow my mom, me, and a girl named Jessica (who we met here) are going to egypt! We are so close and it would almost me ridiculous not to go. We will be spending some time in Dahab snokeling and head to Cairo to see the pyramids and hopefully take a felucca up the nile. (cross your fingers so that we have enough funds) I hope to write in interent cafes about my trip there.
Bisous,
Bailey

Put on your thinking caps!

I was thinking today about what I was going to write in my blog. Maybe something spiritual, something informative, something artistic, or something just plain goofy. Then I came to a realization, I don't know what you think about the Middle East. How can I provide a real look into my life in Jordan, when I don't know what you picture in your mind. So, I am going to ask you some questions and I want you to think hard and not just click the comment button and write whatever. I want you to be honest, real, and don't be afraid to express how you feel and I will try to clear things up for you. You can also email me at petitbateau17@gmail.com. Here we go!

1. When you think of the Middle East what is the first thing that comes to mind?
2. What do you think the people do during the day?
3. Do you support the war in Iraq? If so, how can you justify all the deaths of innocent civilians?
4. Do you feel educated enough on the turmoil in the middle east to make statements about the situation?
5. Do you think the media is bias when providing information about the Middle East?
   
6. What do you imagine the Middle east is like? You can pick a country and state what you think about that one.
   
7. Do you think that every Muslim is a terrorist?
8. Do you know all the countries that make up the Middle East? (not looking at a map or google =])
9. Do you travel outside of North America? If not, why not? Are you afraid?
   
10. Would you ever travel to the Middle East? Maybe see Petra or the pyramids?
    
11. Please provide me with any feelings you have towards the Middle East (Maybe about the women, children, daily life, Islamic extremists) Or if you have any questions please email me and I will have to have a sit down day and go through all of them and address them!

These are questions that have been buzzing around my head because I want to understand your point of view. I have had some horrible generalizations about the Middle East that need to be cleared up and before I can provide the correct answer to questions and address these generalizations, I need your input. I believe that I owe to you to show you a real perspective of this world, my experience, observations, and feelings.

Regular life

I would like to share some of the little normal things about life here in Wadi Rum.

Television-

• There are over 300 channels
• The girls in the music videos are not beautiful, but rather plump and stocky with lots of makeup on, and they only swing their long hair around.
• There are lots of shows that are based around the king. Some of them have men dancing while throwing silver guns around like batons
• Channels 13 and 116 are english

The House-

It is large for Wadi Rum and consists of a front room/office (where we meet tourists), a room where all the kids sleep (all 9 of them, and you were complaining about sharing a room with a brother or sister, try about 7 more of them =] ) a living room with mats on the ground and a Tv and heater, the parents room, and a kitchen and a bathroom. The thing about the kitchen is that if you clean it and leave it for about 3 hours you will come back to an entire new mess.

A day-

Sometimes we go out on 6 hour jeep tours and guide the tourists and provide them with some information on the area. If we do this we will end up at the camp  where we prepare the tents, watch the sunset then all gather into the communal tent for food, dancing, and music.  The communal tent is round with a cement bench with a fireplace right in the center with mats around. It is very welcoming and is one of the best things about the camp in my opinion. If we do not go on a tour we meet guests, make tea, clean, and I do school. (I have internet access but no telephone)

The Wadi Rum desert-

When I go out on a tour I try so hard to process this place, but it still hasn't come through me. Many people asked if I would be bored in the desert, but I would love to get bored so I could just sit and stare at the amazing rock mountains. We are usually busy, so I would love to just have my mind go numb.  The mountains look like someone took a big blob of clay and make lines and squooshed things up

The family-

The kids in order of oldest to youngest are..Shaker, Eptisam, Joeher, Achmed, Zeneb, Othman,  Ashma, Mariam, and Iman. The wife had a son in her first marriage before she married Mohammed Sabat, but they still call him their brother. Things with the family are smooth sailing and have been great so far. 

The food-

OH MY GAWDDD. So amazing. We like to eat up at the camp because Abu Iyman (the chef) makes a wonderful buffet of things that I don't know what is in it , but I just dig my spoon in. The ice cream here is really good and only 20 piestas (about 25 cents) and is just like that of an ice cream truck.

The sky-

We are under the same sky as people in America, because I am still in the norther hemisphere. When we go out to the camp, I like to step out and look at the stars. Here I have seen more stars that I ever have in my entire life. There are so many that they clutter up the sky and you can't find the constellations.  The sunsets are always amazing and right after the sun dips down, the sky looks like a rainbow.

The bathrooms-

You stand. I have not gotten used to it even thought it is more sanitary than western toilets.

The way people dress-

The men here wear the traditional dress with the keffiyeh (I don't know how to spell that) and the robe. It is not religious, just traditional. When you see women in the streets here in Wadi Rum  they are completely covered with only eye slits, but I will deal with the women's culture in a later blog post.

Work Schedule-

The way people work here is very different from the states. The work is not very hard and difficult is just because the business is tourism, you have to be on call. They do not work all the time and have lots of time to relax and be with the family, it is just the people that work with the company have to be on call, but then again there is not much else to do in Wadi Rum besides just chill and work. haha.

Cell phones-

EVERYONE HAS THEM!!!! It is very strange to see a beautiful man leading his goats into the moutains and then brriiinngg "Marhaba". 

If you have any more questions please feel free to email me at Petitbateau17@gmail.com I will gather the questions and make another post.

Bisous,

Bailey

The Ugly American

Over my travels I have wondered why Americans have a bad reputation for when they travel. Yesterday, I met that monster in the face and I need to share this with you so that you can watch out when you go on a vacation to not be the (drumroll please) (insert really deep voice)....................UGLY AMERICAN.

I would like to keep the identity of these subjects anonymous, but I will tell you their situation. They are just out of high school, taking a gap year, and they are volunteering in Israel. Anyways I had just retrieved my hat from the desert and I was coming over the dune to walk down to camp and I knew they were American. All the girls had on sweatpants (some with things written on the butt) and sweatshirts. That is a number 1. I walked down to camp and we got ready to see the sunset. They were sitting up on top of a rock (with their sweat suit ensemble). They were talking sooooooooooooooo loud. You could hear them from the other side of the camp. That is number 2. Once the sunset was over (they actually went in before the sunset, weird) they all started to go to the communal tent. They walked past me and I stood up and introduced myself, but they seemed a little closed. I did some things around the camp and went into the tent. They had taken up the entire bottom by the fire and did not leave room for any of the other guests to sit. One guy offered to let us sit, but we said no thank you, hoping he would move over for the other guests. The food was all set up and we said for people to go and eat. The Americans got up and got their food, but they were coming up for seconds before other people had eaten!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Not cool. After we ate my mom and I decided to strike up a conversation. My mom asked them "Where are you coming from?" They all just turned around and stared. A French lady said in French to us "I guess they don't speak English." The problem with them was that they were still in high school, they gave the dirty smug to anyone who was not in their group, they acted like a clique. I asked them "So what are you guys doing in Israel?" A girl said, "Volunteering." There was a pause and I just looked at her waiting for her to finish and asked "What are you volunteering there for?" The other example was when I asked "Where in the states are you guys from?" They just said, "All over." I waited and then did a hand motion and said "And where in the states...?" I was experiencing the Ugly American reputation. I had met plenty of Americans here that were so friendly and open, but these were very stereotypical and were very closed. I gave up on trying to make conversation after the girls insulted me by saying in a valley girl voice "Like, what do you actually do here?" I replied very politely our daily duties and all I got was sour faces. I decided to go and talk to a girl from American that lived in boon, NC. She was so open and friendly, because I was done with that group. So I will do a quick rundown of what not to do when you travel, so we can together beat this reputation.

1. Don't talk extremely loud
2. Don't wear sweatpants, it looks sloppy
   
3. Offer others seats before yourself
   
4. Always be aware of your surroudings so you can be polite to everyone in your area
5. Don't go up for seconds when some people haven't eaten
6. Engage in conversation and be open to all sorts of people
7. Don't make rude remarks at what others say
8. If you think you are acting like a "typical ugly American," STOP!

Sorry, these people got under my skin, and I felt that It was the right thing to do to share this experience so we can get rid of this reputation.

self-conscious

Today I am feeling insecure about my writing. I feel nervous and uninspired. I believe the reason is because of the counter on my blog. I know it is something interesting to look at, but it is also making me feel self-conscious. My mom has over 100 more views that I do and it makes me want to just quit, and give up. I am jealous and I don’t know why. This blog feels like it is becoming food for my ego, when people write comments about how they like the post, I get booted up. I need to continue to do this for me, and to provide people with an understanding of Jordan, and the Bedouin people. I have lost this. I feel as if I am floating in a fake High School world, where I need to know if my outfit is cute enough to let me climb the social ladder. I need to stop this because it is ruining my days here and instead of being inspired by things, I feel as if I have been searching for them. My friend James wrote me a comment on how one of my posts inspired him to read the Middle Eastern section of the newspaper and gave him strength. I need to read and re-read this because it is inspiration that fuels me. Sometimes, I wish that I had a little secretary inside of my brain that could write down poems, thoughts, or whatever came to my mind, when I got inspired.
I was discussing the other day with my mother, how the arts affect people. We will take writing for instance. When you read, you are in a personal space, weather you be reading out loud or along with someone, it’s in you. Writing is powerful. It persuades, inspires, makes you sick, gives you nightmares, educates you on bed bugs, tells of distant lands, it does everything! Sometimes, I wish that I could just be put in a room with a laptop for a day, and just write everything that came to my mind. Writing is the way that I can be an artist (and it is why I need to stop searching for peoples approval). I don’t know how to paint, make a sculpture, balance ISO in a photo, but I can write. It is simple, but it is the brush with which I paint. Or if you have seen Juno, “The cheese of my macaroni.” I don’t think like a scientist, even though I love science, I don’t live in numbers but in my imagination. I feel bad for people who have stashed away their imagination, in an attempt to grow up. I love to observe human ways and I look at adults and pity them is some ways. Growing up is something entirely different and in an attempt to “grow up,” some have lost their imagination to their jobs, pushed away their dreams because of others, or some that wish to explore the world, but are bound by their own minds. I want to keep my imagination and try to use it everyday, weather it be looking at rocks and finding a funny face, playing a story through my head all day long, or writing. I must keep my fire alive. I can’t have my creativeness and my imagination get smoldered by this counter. This is my creative outlet and I have to remind myself of this or the breeze will snuff my rawness and honesty. Take my writing however way you want it, it is in your personal space. You may exaggerate my feelings; find inspiration in my words, or just curse at my views. Do it! I encourage you to access that special place inside of you. We admire children because of their creativity and their ability to love (and many more reasons), but they also don’t have a tainted imagination. They don’t laugh at each other’s imagination, if they want to imagine an underwater city in their tree house, or see a dog in the way the clouds billow, they are free. Keep this in mind, because you are your imagination and don’t let that light get extinguished. Burn baby burn!
Bisous,
Bailey

Let it fly

Well it was just another day. I am sitting next to the middle son and he is playing around with pictures on the computer while singing. One thing about the people in Wadi Rum is that they are not afraid to sing and dance. (Wooohooo!) I woke up at the camp and had a breakfast of warm pita bread, cheese, pineapple jam, Hulawah (sugary thing), and some sesame paste. I always love eating up at the camp because it is the wonderful little buffet of good food and good tea. I have also become addicted to the tea they drink here. It’s a black tea with tons and tons of sugar in it. However, you only drink small amounts not big huge cups. The tea is always delicious and takes the place of desert after dinner. I feel like answering some questions about things that have happened since we have been here.

Camels.
They are amazing animals that sound like monsters when they talk. The reason that we hurt so badly was because of the way we were sitting. To sit comfortably, you must swing your leg over the camel and ride a type of side saddle. We were riding it like you would a horse, with our legs on both sides. The saddle of camels are not like that of a horse because you ride on top of the hump. (haha, funny animals).

The man slapping me.
It was a bop. It was a playful smack, not a “Oh my god I hate you,” kind of smack. It did hurt though and left a bad taste in my mouth. Don’t think that if you bring your children to the Middle East, they will all get smacked. This is a rare breed.

Eating.
I have no idea what is in the food, but it sure is amazing. They hardly use a refrigerator and all the food is fresh. They use spices, yogurt, vegetables, rice, and a little chicken

Now for random thoughts.
Today I took a nice shower, scrubbed off all the grime. (Yeah, grime, that’s the word.) Everyone that knows me would be very taken a back at my appearance. I take a shower every 3 –4 days, don’t shave (what’s the point if your covered up? Gosh I wish I could see your faces!), no make up what so ever, I wear the same 3 outfits, wash my clothes every 2 weeks, and when I wash my face I turn a different color. But I don’t care! I feel great not having to keep up my appearance, because these people don’t shower every other day, and don’t change their clothes almost all week. That is how the rest of the world lives, and I feel happy to do the same. Even though, I feel so gross sometimes that I have to take a shower in the next 5 minutes. Okay. Well after my shower I pampered myself with some lotion, cleaned my fingernails, and changed into fresh new clothes. I feel good. Earlier today after my hair was dry, I let my hair down. I keep my hair up in a bun or in a ponytail everyday and I was ready to let it fly. I walked up to the mirror and took a step back at the person staring back at me. Who is she? I don’t recognize her? I looked different and I felt different. I have not given myself a good look in the mirror since we have been here. I stood there and looked at my eyes, my nose, my hair, and my whole face. I felt different. This was me, no make up, no thoughts, and no feelings, just me. I looked different. I felt like I had stripped away my teenage hormones, my care for what people thought of me, my fake makeup, etc. Just, Bailey Marie-Francoise Theado. I just hope that I can stay this way, and the aggressive people in France do not corrupt me. (You can probably hint at my feelings towards the country =] )

Well the situation in the house is doing great. I think that a little aunt named “Aunt flow,” might have taken a visit into the house. It was a full moon a couple days ago, and if you have no idea what I am talking about I will just come out and say it. I think that the women in the house may have had their period because the full moon was out. There. I took matters into my own hands; I slept more, and just moved slower. When I would do dishes, I take my time. I just turned my “work” knob to slow, and I feel a lot better and more relaxed. I am going to go chill in the hostel and maybe sleep or play a round of cards.

Coals

Her eyes stung from the smoke of the fire as if the smoke had engulfed her vision and she only had a few minutes of sight left. She calmly unbent her knees and weakly stood up and stretched. She had been kneeling for the past 15 minutes on her little mattress next to the fire in the communal tent, and was ready to move. She excused herself and walked on the cool sand of the tent, pushed away the heavy carpet door, and stepped out into the moonlight. The ripples in the sand glistened in the luminous moonlight that lit up the sky like the sun. She walked across the sand away from the tent, her eyes coming back to life. The cool desert air felt moist and fresh compared to the stuffy smokiness of the tent. She walked up the small rock cliff and stared out at the moonlight desert. The camp was situated in the conversion of the red desert, white desert, and the black desert. In the moonlight they swirled together in different shades as the towering rock cliffs loomed above. She took in every moment of her quiet minute in the desert. Her eyes took in the inspiring sights like a telescope sucks in light. A gust of wind signaled that time was up and she wrapped her scarf up tight around her face. The smell of the scarf was a mix of fire smoke, shisha, and cigarettes, and she wished she could wash it in perfume. She looked down at her clothes and saw the sand stains on her pants, the slight brown tint of her jacket, and she then felt her face and the smooth yet grittiness of the sand on her face. She walked over to the communal tent and glanced up and saw that the tourists had gone to bed and sighed. It was time for her to enter the eternal darkness of her dreams and she was ready. Her body was sore, knuckles sunburned, hair messy, clothes dirty, and her mind tired. She pushed open the door of the tent and walked inside. She made her way to her mattress that was piled with 5lb blankets and struggled to lift them up. Once she was snug in her covers her whole body relaxed. Ferris went out to turn the generator off and the soft buzzing in the desert was gone. Everything quiet. He came back into the tent as the moonlight burst though the door as he pushed it aside. She was quite scared the sleep in the desert because this was her first night being away from her mother in Wadi Rum. That anxiety drowned quickly in the sleepiness of her eyes and the darkness of the room. Sara, Ferris, and Ziad whipped their cigarettes out and searched for a hot coal. Then, Ferris prodded the coals and swished them around and they became alive. She imagined them like sleeping maggots in a vegetable, then some visitor comes and opens it up and they start moving and fighting. The coals laid on a bed of gray and the darkness of the room erupted with a quick glow of orange light. The light of the coals pulsated like drums and together they formed a band of beating light. She tried to comprehend this simple thing that was occurring, and she remembered her Christmas tree in North Carolina. They had gone to Lowe’s and picked up a fiber optic Christmas tree that throbbed with light just as the coals were doing right now. Her mind was wrapped in this simple yet magnificent moment. Ferris, Sara, and Ziad dipped their cigarettes into the sea of coals and lit up. In the air it looked like tiny orange balls of light that would occasional turn into a blaze and reveal a face. She rested her head on her pillow and was unexpectedly happy. She was calm, perfectly content. She wished that every night would be peaceful such as this one. Even if they did not, she would always remember this moment as an amazing simple night in her life. Thank you universe.

Yikes!

Well I seemed to get a lot of responses to my blog post "Bad Vibrations." I would like to respond to Kris's comment about if I get satisfaction from my work. I do get satisfaction from my work. However, sometimes it feels like a drag (like any job =]). When I look at how many mattresses I sewed, I have to find that inner appreciation. It just doesn't feel very satisfactory when I have to do a lot of things that someone in the family could be helping out with, and not just telling me to do it. I think I need to explain the situation because I get the feeling that people are reading into the post way too much, looking for some hidden meaning. I was very vague on my post because I did not want to get into the situation and just talk about how I was feeling. So here I go.

I think that anywhere you go and live with other people, problems are going to happen. Thats what living together and being a family is! I know that things cannot always be great, thats life. Wadi Rum is a very slow village. People drink tea, watch tv, and relax. That does not mean they don't work, it just means that they have lots of time to chill out. Now as helpers, we want to make this place the very best it can be, just at times I feel a little taken for granted. There is always that language barrier, but I don't take it very kindly when someone will say "You make tea now?", or "Wash this.?" I forgive them for the way they communicate because they are not used to it (but one day I will probably meet my limit). When I say I don't feel appreciated or they think we are not working, it is just the vibrations I get in the house. It is hard to describe but something just changed. Another reason why there is a little tension or they do not think we are working is perhaps the difference from Mohammed's view and the daughters and mother. They daughters and mother do no go to the camp and see us working, and talking with tourits (which is very tiring). They see us only in the house and could be a reason why they don't feel we are working, which is understandable. I think that I will just see how the situation develops and maybe be a little more firm on when I can do something and when I can't.

The trip to Aqaba was very tiring. We got our Visas extended very quickly and did not know what to do with our time. We made our way down and found some fast food chains. The burger king and McDonald's is understandable because they are rather global, but Quiznos, Popeyes, and Pizza Hut!!!!!!!!!!!! Crazy. We ended up having some delicious fries, chicken sandwich, and a coke at Burger King. (To get our fix of American food.) We then walked down into the market and bought some toys for the kids, and just some random things we needed. I had 2 very strange incidents happen. My mom and I were sitting eating some cookies when a policeman took a picture of us with his camera phone! I saw him take it out and aim it, then i would look at him and he would pretend to clean the screen. Then he finally took it! Very strange, so we left. I also bought a book to learn Arabic in a shop and got slapped by an old man! I went inside and my mom was standing with her back to me reading a book. I asked him if he sold any books to lean Arabic and he said yes. Then there was a pause. I asked, "where", then he moved. He asked me if this was my sister and I said no it was my mother and he slapped me! Pretty hard too! I didn't smile at all after that and he said something that I was always supposed to say she was my sister. In the middle east, it is okay to smack the little kids and is customary, but he was just a weird Jordanian. I have never met anyone like him and he was very unusual. He then continued to question my mom if she was married and showed her a book of a Kiwi girl that married a bedouin man and Blah blah blah.

We are staying here for 3 months to experience all aspects of the place. That means the good and the bad. I am also 15 years old. How many teenagers work all day for their food and lodging and do school. I think I have a little reason to complain. (Even just a teensy weensy bit) Last week, I was wearing rose colored glasses. This week I feel like I am focusing on the bad, when so many great things have been happening! I think it is just my tiredness kicking in that makes me a little grumpy. In addition to that, when I am tired I am a bag of giggles. I need to focus on the positives and take a walk in the fresh air. That would do me some good. Good things: Yesterday in Aqaba, we got oriental rice mix (my favorite!), and got this HUGEEEE BAR OF CHOCOLATE WITH HAZELNUTS! Yesterday, me, Sarah, and my mom joked up on a rock and watched the most amazing sunset. We did funny voices, and planned on cooking the family a meal. We were thinking about making pasta then I remembered that there is only one fork between the hostel and the house. So we imagined us all picking up spaghetti with our hands and having it hang in the air, trying to eat it! We also danced around in the tent with the family (which is always fun). The best part about it is that the Bedouins cannot keep time, at all! They just kind of kick up their feet and bop around . It is always hilarious to try to imitate them. You look like a dying fish flopping around kicking up your fins! Well I have to go do some math homework! Only 2 more questions left on my speedback! Lots of love <3

Bailey

Analysis

My last post was more about what I felt at school, but now I would like to go into the facts and differences. It was a strange experience that I will never forget, and it is a lot different than school in the states.

1. The culture: I believe that there are 3 cultures in the Middle East. There is the womens culture, mens culture, and public culture. It is interesting when you enter a place that only allows women, you feel part of this secret club. I love to observe situations and found that going to school (being only girls!) felt like a special place. I would love to experience the men's culture as well, but since I ain't no guy. I don't think it is going to happen. However, since I am western girl, I get to do many more things than the girls in the Wadi Rum village.

2. The way the girls dress. When I saw them all line up, they went in a type of time line in dress. The younger girls- little blue frocks over jeans and no head scarf. The little older girls- different blue frocks and some had head scarfs. Older girls- green frocks and all head scarfs. Then oldest (11th and 12th grade) had on long tailored coats that went to their shoes and beautiful head scarfs.

3. The morning announcements. All of the girls lined up silently outside. and said a prayer or pledge of allegiance. Then the principal continued to talk. In the states it is either over a loud speaker and people are not as quiet.

----I think that the size of the school has to do with how the school works, because there are about 200 girls in the entire school. From grades 1-12 (I think).

4. The class rooms. They are not as colorful and exciting. They are very plain and there are no posters or a teachers desk.

5. The way the girls interact in the classroom. They seem excited to learn. For example, the teachers says "And the name of the animal is....?" they would all shout "COW." This was how they interacted with the teacher. Also, when she would ask if someone wanted to answer a question, they would all shoot up their hands and say, "MISS MISS MISS MISS."

(I wondered why they were so excited to learn. In the united states we learn to get into college, and get a job. I thought about what these girls have to work for. Their goals are to have a good family, and maybe some go to a university and work a little, but most not.They learn because they love it. It's extremely inspiring, because our school system kills inspiration and love of learning in me. Because I am not in school, I want to learn and educate myself more. However, when I am in school I do not have that urge.)

(I also felt like an outsider and not very welcome at the school. I think the reason for this is because they do not have much experience and this is something completely new. They don't know how to be outgoing.)

6. The most obvious difference. IT'S ALL IN ARABIC!!!!


Off the topic. OMG! They have the cutest baby goats ever here! They look like little puppies and we got to play with them! Ah-Maze-ZING!

First Day Of School Jitters

Thank you everyone for the wonderful comments! It is so nice to see them and read them!

Last night we had a French family come and sleep in the desert. They had a really sweet little girl, who was 9 years old, and she reminded me of little miss sunshine. Her parents worked for the SNCF (trains and things in France). The mother had the most interesting profession. Before you read on I want you to guess the most random profession you can think of....................................................................................................
She makes furniture out of cardboard!!!! How cool is that?!? She is also a travel writer (something I may want to do in my future). They were so nice, and they even noticed that French people do not seem content. We stayed in the desert 'till about 10:30. We were driven back in a big SUV with plastic on the seats by three doctors. One studied in Algeria, and one in Russia. On the way up we listened to cheesy English 80s songs and Gasolina (if you are older, you may need to ask your teenager about that one =]). Who would ever think that I would be bopping around the desert in the middle east, drinking orange soda, and listening to cheesy 80s songs in an SUV. Who knew? We got home and I was very very very tired. I plopped into bed and was out like a rock. I was planning on going to school tomorrow, and I was very scared that I would be too tired to go. I woke up fine and put on my best outfit for school. I still looked like a hiker, but oh well. Eptisam and I ate breakfast and headed out. We walked out of the driveway and turned to go into the little shop. There was a steady flow of girls coming in and out of the shop with little black plastic bags filled with paprika potato chips, Cheeto's, chocolate wafers, and cookies. I immediately noticed that everyone had on a uniform. The older girls I saw wore green coats, and then group below wore a blue and the group of girls even younger wore a blue variation. The older girls came and greeted Eptisam and she began talking to them. They looked at me with surprise and bewilderment. It was very uncomfortable, so what do I do when I am in a weird situation??? Smile. You got it! I always smile uncomfortably when I don't know what to say or someone is staring at me, anytime I feel awkward. Eptisam left me without a word and walked into the shop. I was left standing out in my tallness and little girls in blue jackets and strawberry shortcake backpacks walked past. Their eyes were magnetically drawn to my western face and uncomfortable aura. I realized that the reason I was uncomfortable was not because some of these girls had head dresses or looked different. It was just school jitters. I was the new girl and I knew nobody. I just looked around and did what??? Smiled. My mom was standing at the edge of the driveway just looking at me with her camera at her side. I felt like it was the first day of kindergarten. (Thanks mom!) Eptisam came out of the store finally and her and her friends started walking away. I trotted over to them (yeah not exactly trot, more like awkward fast walking) and we came to the school which is only about 20 meters away. I got a glimpse of the school yard and there were tons of girls gossiping, kids doing homework, playing soccer. In the activities aspect, It looked like a normal school. We walked in and I followed behind. The girl's school is made of two buildings. On the left there are small classrooms with a tiny little awning. There are about 4 rooms and they are constructed out of cinder blocks. On the right is the school building that has more classrooms. The area between the two buildings is all covered in speckled while tiles. It takes a little dip when you walk closer to the larger school building. All of little girls were playing with a soccer ball in the lower half of the school yard. Everyone was looking at me. EVERYONE! I was about a head taller than everybody. Quite a nice view from the top I must say =] It felt like the first day of school just by the way that people interacted with me and the looks. I have changed schools a lot and I know the feeling. I felt out of my element, not in the sense that I was in the middle east, just the fact that I was in a different school. I was a magnet for everyone. I would have little girls come and stand around me and look at me. We would tell each other our names and then smiles. I felt comfortable in the sense that I was in a different world. This was something that men could not experience, which make me feel secretive and special. There were some women were completely coved with a burqua (face completely covered in black, only eye slits). It was a little strange at first. There was a signal and all of a sudden everyone rushed to the dipped part of the school yard, in front of the school house. All of the girls began to line up into their classes. I was very confused and stood in the front, then noticed everyone was lined up and quickly scurried to the side. I noticed that as the girls got older the dress got different. The youngest girls had on the blue coats and no hair cover, a little older some had their hair covered and different blue coats, then the older girls with green coats and hair covers, and the oldest had on well tailored long jackets and looked very beautifully poised. They began to recite thing and then apparently had their morning announcements. I was studying all the girls and noticed that a little girl had a tiny boy in front of her. He was big chestnut eyes and wore a cute little orange shirt. She had her hands on his shoulders as his eyes went here and there. He looked so cute, he could have been in a TV commercial. There was a signal and Eptisam told me to follow her. We walked into the school building which was very dark because the lights were all turned off. We pasted the office/teachers lounge, and made our way into a nice size class room. The only problem was that the desks were tiny. They looked like antique desks that would have been used in the deep south. Eptisam told me to come sit in between her and her friend. I was in quite a shock because that bench was tiny! I squeezed into the bench and her friend sat down next to me. In came a woman with a white head scarf and a very young face. She did not look at me or smile at me. She spoke in Arabic and one thing after another I was riding a small wave of girls into a science room. It looked just like mine science room back in the states. The hard counter tops with faucets in the center, electrical outlets, and cupboards. In the back of the room was a glass case (nothing in it) and big blue cupboards. The only thing different about this room was that it was very barren.The only color on the wall was the bottom half, which was dark blue and one poster about beach birds. In my school they are covered with inspirational posters that everyone likes to make fun of. We settled in and they were studying the elements and putting them together. I noticed that there was a division in the lessons. There were 4 girls that were studying batteries. The way the class interacted with the teacher was very different. They would chant the words during the lesson, and when they would want to answer a question they would all shoot their hands up and say "miss, miss, miss" They seemed very excited to learn, but they also had a very small class compared to the states. I would take a look outside and see the amazing landscape a have an inside giggle because when I look at the whole situation in retrospect it just sound funny. I have been to school with a Muslim girl in the Wadi Rum desert of Jordan. How cool. I am very lucky. After the class, Eptisam took me to the principle to say thank you. They were all very nice and I walked home. I had been very nervous and just being in a school made me realize that I did not miss school. I like doing my school on internet and traveling. It reminds me that school is around the corner so I need to make the most of my time left.

Part 3

We woke up the next morning and enjoyed some more tea, pita, cheese, some sugary thing, and many more. Every meal in the desert is like a paradise buffet. The amazing thing is that the cook only cooks in a tiny room about the size of a broom closet, with only a tiny stove top. The food he makes is fabulous (love that word). Well, when we stepped out of the tent we were in quite a shock. The desert was surreal. We had arrived in the dark so we had not seen anything. The desert sands were a burnt red that glistened in the yellow sun. The ripples of the sand reminded me of the ocean, the way that they dipped up and down with perfection. I try not to walk on those parts of the sand because I feel like I am interrupting beauty, or trampling on serenity. (Doesn’t settle very well in my conscience). The sky was bluer than any sky I had ever seen, and against this magnificent backdrop, jagged stone mountains burst through the ground with power and force. The beauty of this place is so powerful, that it seems almost unreal. (I will be working very hard one day and have to stop myself and look up at what an amazing place I am in). The stones are layered and the tops are smoothed from countless years of wind.. We drove back to the camp settled into our room. We had three girls come to go into the desert and they decided to take a 6 hour jeep tour, stay the night, then ride the camels back. That meant that we were the ones that were going to get to ride the camels! I was very excited! We hung out with the family until it was time and I had a very weird experience happen to me. The oldest son, Jaqura, came into the room that Eptisam and I were in. I had never seen him before, but I could tell he was her brother by the way she spoke with him. It was only us in the room. He was to my left, leaning against the wall, and Eptisam on my right, sitting behind the heater. They were talking very fast but every couple seconds I would catch the word “English,” in Arabic. I just sat there with my head down, as they talked very frantically about me for about 5 to 10 min. The brother would just not move so I got up and went back to the hostel. I met this Danish girl that had just come back from a trek, and there he was leaning on the wall at the hostel. It was very hard to concentrate on the conversation I was having with her because he was just standing there looking at us. She was also wearing a tank top and had no problem with showing her body. My mom came back with our backpacks and we headed over to the camels. Zed was waiting for us with them. He motioned for my mom to come on the giant one and she went and sat on it. The funny thing about camels is that when they sit down, they look like their legs have been amputated because they lie so flat. I started walking towards another camel but it then turned its head and went, “BAAAAAAHHHH.” It sounded like a monster and I stumbled back. Zed motioned for me to come sit on it. I swung my leg over the saddle. The camel started to get up and I was holding on for dear life. I swayed back and fourth until I was very very high. Then we were off! The desert is so quiet and beautiful, and I think that camel is the best way to travel to really take in the beauty of the place. The camel in front of me, Zed’s, was extremely gassy, and kept eating bushes every 5 seconds. As my mom mentioned in her blog, “ We do a camel back belly dance.” If you can imagine that swaying up and down, that’s a camel. After about 20 min my legs started to really hurt. I was not able to focus on the scenery because I was trying to do a mind over matter thing with my legs. After about 1 hour of pain, my mom noticed that Zed would flip his leg over the camels neck. It really helped! We arrived at the camp and hiked around a little bit. It began to get too cold, so we headed to the fire. The 3 girls were already around the fire and we settled in and talked for a bit. After a while, a stead flow of random people came into the tent. Then, 3 guys from Japan came in. They had booked with another guide, but his camp was not set up yet, so they were staying at Mohammed’s. After lots of talking, more eating, and even more tea, we were very comfortable. The tent was packed and alive. I was quiet and stared at the fire for sometime. Then, out of the blue, the guide of the Japanese guys, asked me “Are you an artist?” I was startled and asked him what he meant. He said that he could see in my eyes that I was an artist by the way that I took in every moment. My mom said that I wrote. I like to write, but I don’t think I am anything special. It was nice to hear it. The man that told me was actually an award winning poet, a massage therapist, computer teacher, and a Bedouin guide. It’s very impressive and his poems sounded very beautiful in Arabic. Later on in the night, the music started! Men started playing the lute and playing the drum. Everyone started clapping and finally the men started dancing with each other. It was a little scarring actually. They would shake their chests and bop off beat. Hilarious. They pulled my mom up and she gave me her tea glass. I was then forced to slam the tea glasses together and spill it all over me. Dancing here is great because everyone doesn’t know what to do, and the Bedouin men dance off beat. After getting out of breath we headed back to the hostel (because there was not enough room in the cars in the morning) and got a good nights rest.

Got to get it out

Have you ever had the urge to tell someone a secret, draw a picture, make a cupcake, or sing a song. I have had this urge in my chest, like my heart is trying to escape my chest or climb up my throat (very weird image, but oh well!). I need to write. I need to tell someone about how I am feeling and how I am changing. It is like a wave that I can't resist and my body and mind are forced to put it on paper or tell someone. 

I have only been here for about a week and already I feel like I have changed. Something in my soul has flipped. My mind is clearer, and I feel reborn in a strange way. I don't look different, I don't smile different, I am still me, but I have changed. I open up to people and talk easier now. I have gotten out of the habit of saying "Like" every 5 seconds, and can communicate with adults and sound semi-interesting.  When we first arrived I was not very talkative and when tourists would come I would just sit down, smile,  and act really awkward.  Now, I engage in the conversation and love to help Mohammed get tourists to understand why his business is the best and helps the bedouin people. My sentences move more freely, and my thoughts just flow. I like to write because I can think about what I want to say, and no one is pressuring me by looking at me and waiting for me to say something. I can be funnier, smarter, and I am able to express what I truly want to say when I write. Now, I am able to connect my thoughts and put them into sentences a lot easier because i talk to people so much more. I was kind of a hermit and when I did speak it was okay for me to make mistakes because I was learning, but in english, I have no excuse.  I have also changed my way of looking at living situations. When I first got here and saw the rooms of the hostel, it was just a couple mattresses and some blankets. Not many amenities. It took a couple days for it to settle in, but now I say "hey, thats all I need." In america, we waste so much. Here, they keep everything because they can always find a use for it. Even a tiny shard of mirror could be used later, and they keep it. The whole family eats with their hands around a big tray on the floor. I now think. "Hey thats all I need." My way of viewing life on a personal possession level is so different because I don't want more clothes, make up, shoes, etc, because I have everything I need. These people are happy and they get by with such little things that it makes me wonder why Americans need all of it. Huge dining rooms that no one uses, closets full of clothes they don't wear, its disgusting to see how wasteful we are. I have changed because I cannot go back to the states and live the same life, when I think about the people of rum and all that they need. When we came on this trip, I wanted a shock, and boy did I get it. I LOVE IT! Everyone needs to see how other people live because you change for the better and learn to live your life more simply. I am thinking of starting an account where people can donate money, then I will go out and  buy school supplies for the children. Some children go to school without a pen or a pencil, which is wrong! They are amazing kids, bright, and full of life. They deserve to at least be able to go to school with a pencil. I want to try to get people involved to help support the wonderful bedouin life. If you have any ideas, please comment!!!! Our planet needs to keep our cultural diversity, and especially support these wonderful people that have renowned hospitality and  so much love.

Part 2

We arrived into Rum at night and we stopped in the visitor’s center. (We have found out that the visitor’s center is bad and takes away from the Bedouin people of Rum and the government sucks up all the money. Mohammed Sabah was actually the first person to ever have a sunset camp, then the government saw that it was a good idea and put up the visitors center farther away from the town to take up all the business.) We walked inside to the police desk and we sat down. We braced ourselves for an interrogation, but were poured tea and asked questions about how we liked Jordan and what why we were coming to Wadi Rum. They all had smiles and gave a good impression of the people. We hopped back into the car and drove 7 km to Wadi Rum. We asked a few people where to find Mohammed Sabah and finally found the house. We met Mohammed Hussein who gave us tea, and we then met the rest of the family. Suddenly we heard a noise outside and the girls quickly jolted and ushered us to another room. I turned my head and saw Mohammed and another man walk into the room. We went into the rest of the house and sat down. We met the children and drank more tea, then all of a sudden a very tall Caucasian girl popped into the room. It was Sara! She is Australian and so much fun. She asked us if we wanted to spend a night here or in the desert. We readily replied that we were ready to head out! We followed her and Mohammed Hussein to a jeep and bopped out into the darkness on an adventure. I felt like I was riding a little roller coaster, bumping around on the sand dunes. I could see the outline of the jagged rock cliffs that looked superimposed on a blanket of stars. I have never seen so many stars in my entire life. Its hard to pick out constellations because the sky is cluttered with stars. (I like to just stand in the sand and look up in awe because I can really see God and the universe in the Wadi Rum desert). We got to the camp and went into a round tent where there were men huddled around a fire. We got introduced to everyone and then the cook brought out 5 plates of food for us. (Now that’s some hospitality!) We walked out to the tents which were black and made of goat hair. They were peaceful and had mattresses and blankets perfectly arranged in the tent. We snuggled under the heavy blankets and went to sleep. It took at while to get to sleep because we had so many cups of tea that our bodies were shaking from the caffeine and sugar.

Part 1

Here is part 1 of our first days in Jordan

Jordan. Jordan. Jordan. Whew. We arrived in Frankfort and were very lazy during our time in “Airport City.” When we arrived at the gate, the crowd that was getting on the plane was not what I had expected. I had expected lots of middle eastern looking people wearing headdresses, siting solitarily, and not saying a word. Instead, there were only two women wearing headdresses and the rest of the people looked like they were from America. It was reassuring to see westerners and my anxiety settled. We took our seats on the plane, and met a Jordanian man living in Canada. He was coming to visit his family, and readily provided us with tips. My mom and him talked while I went to the back of the airplane and sprawled out across a row. The stars were amazing outside of the window. The moon was a little perfect thumbnail that gave of an amazing luminous light, while the stars cluttered the sky. I can never sleep on airplanes. Once we got off of the plane, our Jordanian friend helped us get throught customs. We saw a man with a sign with our names on it, so we headed towards him. He then switched cards with a man standing next to him and he motioned for us to follow him. At first I was quite scared and I was confused because this was our first time to the Middle East and we were being wizzed off by a man who was not holding the sign with our name. My heart was beating a million time a minute as we walked outside to his car, which did not look like a typical taxi, and had our bag thrusted into the trunk. While we were in the car, we talked to him and he showed us his card, which confirmed that he was legitimate taxi driver, and we told him we were from America. Now, I was very hesitant to tell people that we were from America but he just smiled and said that he had been a couple times and his brother had owned a supermarket in New York. Go figure! We dove on the highway and I would see little clusters of light and then wide open darkness. It was quite a shock when we reached Madaba because the shops were dirty, and there was trash everywhere. We got to the hotel and passed out as soon as our heads heads hit the pillow. In the morning, we ate breakfast and got ready to head out into the town. When we first went outside, I felt my body get filled up with fear. There were groups of men riding around in large cars with checkered headdresses, and women completely covered in black from head to toe. As we explored the town, I felt everyones eyes on me, and my mom told me that my hands were firmly glued to my sides. I felt very uncomfortable, but I tried to fake that I was happy and peaceful. A lady at the hotel recommended that we go eat at a café that she said was very good, so we went. As we entered the café we noticed that everyone in the café were traditionally dressed and they were all men. We ate falafel and drank lemon juice. In a matter of 5 min the entire restaurant took a drastic turn and was filled with foreigners. Very strange. We made our way back to the hotel and picked up our taxi to go to Wadi Rum. It was the same taxi driver that picked us up from the airport. We hopped inside and we were off to Wadi Rum! The driver would stop in the village and talk to random people on the street. I was a little confused, but he then turned around and told us that his family was one of the first families to every live in Madaba, so he knew everyone. The drive to Wadi Rum was very interesting, especially the highway. There were goats grazing on the side as cars zoomed by at 80mph. At one point, we stopped abruptly infront of a little tin shack. Our driver got out and asked us if we wanted anything to drink. He then came out with snacks, coke, water, and cookies. If I had been driving on the road, I would have not recognized that it was a place to buy food. They don’t have supermarkets in Jordan, just little shops. As we made our way down the country there were lots of pictures of the king posted on shops. Driving down is an experience everyone should experience and not come into with any expectations.