Jordan is More Than a Kind of Sneaker

New bridge over Suez Canal
at sunset.

Very large container ship sailing "into the sand" of
the by-pass channel.

Through the Suez Canal, into the Red Sea – and now we are parked in the harbor of Aqaba, Jordan  for two days.  Winter is fast approaching this area of the Middle East, which really means it is a comfortable 70 plus degrees going up to low 80’s in the middle of the day.  We would call it ‘comfortable”.  What was not so comfortable was the early morning call to go “sightseeing”.  That call was accompanied with bleary eyes, groans, and a few interrupted snores.

Typical bands of granite seen in the
hills as we approached Wadi Rum.

 Our tour of choice was a trip to Wadi Rum, the location for “Lawrence of Arabia.”  The car ride was about an hour from port and our driver was a loquacious Arab who talked a lot while we laughed, as we had lots of trouble understanding his English.

He told us how he loved King Abdullah and Queen Rania.  He told us how, if a young woman married without her parents’ permission, she would be killed and the young man would be jailed.  He told us that this is a Sunni nation. 

Jordan has no oil, so it is one of the poorer Middle Eastern countries.  What it does have in abundance is refugees.  Originally, Jordan got lots and lots of Palestinians.  In fact, Queen Rania is Palestinian.  And now, Jordan has received more than a million Syrian refugees, along with 20,000 US soldiers to help them keep the peace.

What is “Wadi Rum”?   We learned that “wadi” means valley, so Wadi Rum was a village in a valley. There are 1,050 people in this village and almost all of them are from the same family.  And surrounding the village were behemoth sandstone mountains  that reminded us of the American southwest.  That is what we were there to see, primarily.  But you know me.  I was much more interested in the people and how they live.

Getting into our ride, a beat-up
Toyota 4x4 with a burlap sun shade.

Entrance

 This is the area of the Bedouins, with all the drama that name implies.  Yes, the Bedouins do have tents, some very large ones, with camels wandering around their encampments. These camels are used for riding, camel racing, heavy duty work. But so are the trucks, ramshackle trucks used mostly to haul we tourists out into the desert. And the Bedouins still do move their

You can rent these to camp out
here at the entrance

tents in the spring, to check up on their wandering camels and their sheep and goats.  But, for the most part, they park themselves in ramshackle villages, using not just tent material, but also tin sheets, sandstone blocks, concrete – anything you could consider “building material.”  Why, you might ask, has this change occurred?  It is because of schools.  Even the Bedouins want their children educated.  So they have built schools, one for boys, another for girls and they are only semi-migrant in the modern world. 

How did we find this out?  Well, when we got to “Wadi Rum” we were introduced to our “driver” on a 4x4 truck to take us into the desert for a couple hour introduction to Lawrence of Arabia-ville.  

The vast expance of Wadi Rum.

More vastness.

Abdel was 20 years old, dressed in traditional Arab garb with the headwrap, long robe to his feet and sandals. He lives in Wadi Rum with his family, goes to Amman for school, and comes home to “work the tourists” on his days off.  And, even though his schooling was in the village, he answered our questions about his life and his family’s life as Bedouins.  I, personally, found it way more interesting than the landscape (although Bos was in “hog heaven” with all the rocks, fissures, stones surrounding him!).  In fact, I wanted to adopt him and bring him home, figuring his family wouldn’t miss him.  You will see why I think that…

Narrow slot in the 1500meter
tall wall we explored.

Inscriptions found in the slot; in Arabic, Thulmic and other lost languages

Example of the many pictures scribe in the walls.

Guide waiting for his guests to follow him further into the defile.

Train that was used for Lawrence of Arabia.

As we bumped along, I asked Abdel if he had brothers and sisters.  “Yes,” he replied.  He had 10 brothers and 7 sisters.  I was amazed and intrigued.  “But my father has 3 wives,” he explained.  “I am the second son of the second wife.”

What does your father do for a living?  Supporting 17 kids, 3 wives and 20 camels has to require a hefty income.  This kind of stumped him.  After much thinking, I think I know why.  In this typical Bedouin village, the men really don’t work.  They sit around and drink tea, gossiping with their friends. The family’s needs are really not much, compared to a traditional American family. Seldom do they have a tv or computer.  Yes, they do have cell phones, interestingly enough.  The women, on the other hand, stay at home caring for the children and doing all the housework (and I say “housework” loosely, as the houses are more like shacks). 

School for boys; there is one for girls.

A peek into one back yard.

Camels at the ready.

When we were leaving the village, our first driver explained that Abdel’s father was a retired military man and had a pension, which made him a “rich” man in this place.  And while Abdel said his father was “old”, we learned he was really around 60.  So to Abdel, we must have appeared ancient!!  As we said goodbye to Abdel, I asked my final question:  Are you planning to leave Wadi Rum when you are done with school?”

His answer made me reflect on life. “No,” he said. “I love the desert.  It is quiet here and I like that.  My brothers and sisters stay here.  My family is here.  I will stay.  I like to come to America for one year to learn English better, but I come back here.”

This must be where “Home is where the heart is” comes from

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