The Crew

There are people here who are becoming central characters to my Wadi Rum experience. When I first arrived, everyone I came into contact with was just a name for me to try to remember. Now, these people are becoming very real to me and are finding firm footing in my heart.

The Sabah al Zalabeh family is of course right up there. I often have Ashma and Zenab (girls, 5 and 6 yrs old) running around me or sitting next to me on the couch. On school mornings, I help them tie their smocks on and make a pretty bow in the back. Sometimes, they’re a little too much and I have to pretend I’m going to take a nap in my room just to shake them off. You know how kids can be! Eptsam and Joher are 14 and 15 years old and they hang out with Bailey mostly. The mother, Reiya, is somewhat reclusive with the two babies, although yesterday I sat with her under the goat hair tent in the yard. She had built a small fire and put a large iron saucer upside down over the flames. On top of this, she cooked the most delicious flatbread the size of a large platter. She would start with a piece of dough and then flatten it down before thinning it out in the air, like pizza makers do. Then she would just throw it on the metal saucer and let the fire cook it. Even though we have trouble communicating, I enjoyed sitting and watching her and the fire while eating a crispy piece of fresh bread. Mohammed, the father, just came and sat next to me and we talked for a good half hour about how we might get help for the poor people in the village. We’ve had some tourists who want to help but there is nothing set up. So we just talked about the possibility of setting up a scholarship fund to help bright students go to the university. He told me the story of corruption that prevented one of Rum’s brightest from going to medical school. No one here can afford to go beyond high school. Mohammed is very passionate about helping his extended family, which is basically the whole town. He hires many of the poorest for his business and is right now in the process of building a little house on his property for those who have nowhere to sleep. Meanwhile, his family lives on the bare necessities. And I mean bare. The pots and pans are all dented and burned and the sponges are used until they are completely shredded. They wear their clothes out too. Every scrap of food is saved and used. The family is a regular noisy mess, though, full of laughter and yelling and warmth. All the kids sleep in the same room.

Other people in my life here are men. The women are all in their homes and I have not had the opportunity to meet them. Mohammed Hussein (not the father, but his nephew), took Bailey and I to visit his sister and her two young children. She made us tea in her two room house and enjoyed watching the babies play. Her house was so sweet and clean. She has painted the walls half way in Grecian isle blue. She was also very young, 20 I believe, and already has 2 young boys. Mohammed Hussein is probably the closest to us. He also stays in the hostel and has his own climbing/trekking company (see link to the right and movie in previous entry). He is 23 years old and speaks English quite well, so we’re able to joke around with him a lot and play cards at night when we’re not at the camp. I’ll post a picture of him in his North Face jacket… a real riot. Today, he took us helpers out for coffee at the rest stop. It was quite the outing. He bought and sold cell phones at the café. Rum Ebay. We all really enjoy Mohammed’s company, even if he does spend way too much time on his cellphone(s).

Then there is Ferris. He is one of the drivers and speaks only a little English. He doesn’t wear the Bedouin dress, but he’s from here. Ferris is always the first one to get up and dance at the camp, and it’s a nutty one at that. We all try to imitate him, but the rhythm is all off and I’m not sure how he stays standing. I like his attitude too. He never seems to sweat it.
There’s Ziad (20)and Zed (17), the two brothers. Ziad drives jeep tours and Zed does the camel tours. They live in a goat hair tent and always have smiles. Cute kids, too. They’re always too shy to get up and dance, but once you pull them up and force them, they’re just as crazy as the rest of us.
Abu Ayman is 65 and he is the cook at the camp. I’ve written about him before. He’s like the grandfather of the whole clan. I love the way he will come into the tent once the food is served and just sit back in a corner with a cigarette and watch his food get eaten. He starts cooking at 2 PM and finishes around 6:30. It’s amazing.

Well, these are the people I see on a daily basis. There are some others, like the lady at the small shop and some neighbor kids, but mostly it’s them and us. Us being me,Sarah, and Bailey. Sarah deserves an entry all to herself. But basically, she’s from Sidney, 19, and traveling by herself. She is the posterchild for the modern independent woman. Before coming here, she shaved her head for charity. She’s quite authoritarian, which suits me fine most of the time, cause I’m not much for managing people. I’m too much of a dreamer.
Well, I’m off to join the crowd. I’ll add a picture of Mohammed, one of the younger kids, and one of Sarah. Cheers!