A desert destination that had been raved about by many people, we decided to book an overnight tour into the desert surrounding the Oasis of Wadi Rum. Excited for sleeping under the stars, the reported beauty of the desert, and the legendary hospitality of the Bedouin people, expectations were high. Trip for traveling : Keep expectations low and you won't be disappointed.

For US the scenery was representative of what can be viewed in the US southwest, the Bedouin man running the camp was lonely and single, and the brightness of the moon (although beautiful) drowned out the starry display in the night sky. To sum up we were disappointed by the experience - but hey you win some and loose some. In the end we did get some nice photos and the red sand dunes were unique and beautiful. We also picked up a classic example of the frustrations that can happen while traveling.

To begin allow me to back up, most of what we have posted on our travel summaries has been the tastefully edited details that solely include our travel highlights and the elements of our trip that we think others will be interested in. Now of course many people realize that traveling includes its obvious stresses. Figuring out fickle time tables for local bus/trains, arriving daily/weekly in unfamiliar towns means minutes/hours of orienting and reorienting oneself, dealing with the constant batter of local touts hawking their inflated fares for restaurants, souvenirs/merchandise, & taxi services, and attempting to find bargain priced hostels/meals which have retained some sort of quality, is all part of the daily life. For our part we try to be the pleasant travelers and ambassadors for the USA by learning a few words in the local language, attempted to know and understand local customs, engage in conversations with locals, and treat even those who attempt to rip us off cordially. Inevitably we are not perfect and miscommunication/cultural clashes happen (mostly small and quickly resolved - ie not trusting an honest hotel manager when they have quoted a tour price). At times however cultural differences are much more frustrating ( i.e. waiting on buses for hours before they leave, people cutting directly in front of you in line, or the misconception that Western women are of loose values).

It is the last of these cultural misconceptions that has been by far the most frustrating when traveling in the Middle East. Based off of TV and movie portrayals of Western women (the West being guilty of producing such things like MTV or Sex N the City), men here assume that those of us traveling in their country are like this depictions (despite attempts at modest dress). So even though they would NEVER treat their own women the same, it is inevitable when walking down the streets that comments are called out, eyes openly stare, and Mike starts to boil.

With this as the back ground it was a common day when our tour of the Jordain desert was spent driving around with a 30 something Arabic/Bedouin man who is adolescent in his interactions with me (Andrea). The inevitable requests for multiple pictures and flirtatious remarks were common but by the end of the day I was worn thin at performing the balancing act of being kind/friendly but setting barriers. So when after dinner the host of our desert camp began to serenade us with Arabic songs I settled in to relax. When Mike attempted to take a picture the 50ish year old man requested a picture with me (Andrea) and him, indicating a spot RIGHT next to him. Now being the ONLY woman in the camp (the other 5 tourists being male) I politely declined and muttered some excuse. Despite a few more requests for a shared picture, I reinforced that I didn't want any pictures of me. So the singing re-started and at one point he serenaded each person individually a welcome to the camp, that is ALL but me.

This pouting continued through the night and at one point he even mentioned his disappointment to a fellow traveler and was questioning the reason for the refusal of a picture. Finally, when it was time to hit the sack we decided that this had gone too far. Mike approached the man about his obvious misgivings over the lack of a photo and reinforced that the decision wasn't personal, but that his reaction was inappropriate. So in the end the awkward situation was smoothed out, and everyone went to bed peacefully. In the end the event was minor and merely uncomfortable, but many women during their travels through the region experience similar annoying and inappropriate requests/statements. What I don't want people to get out of this story is that these men are in our term "pigs". They are not. It really is an example of how misconceptions about other cultures can sadly cause unintentional negative interactions.

November 17th
Petra

November 18th
Wadi Rum and a glimpse into the negatives of traveling