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