Camel Rides for Everyone

We ended our day at a Bedouin camp. The Bedouin are a nomadic people who wander the desert and live in tents. The Bedouin are a people in transition due to the fact that the Israeli government is pressuring them to move into houses and essentially join civilization. When we arrive at the Bedouin camp we see a couple large tents that are used for serving dinner. We also view a herd of camels that will be used to give everyone a camel ride around the camp. This was a cool memory. Another adventure that I shared with my wife and one that we will remember for the rest of our lives.

Here are some things I learned about camels. It is a real pendulum swing when they stand up or sit down. You swing back and forward and it is critical to hold on tight. They also will take a swipe at you if you get too close to their mouth. Finally, do not get too close to their mouth.

We enter into a large tent for dinner. A Bedouin host begins to educate us about their culture. As he spoke we were given some fresh bread, and hot tea and coffee...the strong coffee. The taste and smell reminded me of growing up with an Arabic stepfather who used to serve the same things. The host shared many details about Bedouin life. The thing that got the biggest rise out of the crowd was the statement that many Bedouin take multiple wives. He joked that he thought Bill Clinton might be Bedouin. The crowd howled.

We shared a family style meal sitting on carpet on the ground around a pad set on the floor as a table. It was nice but I was still unadjusted to the time change and almost fell asleep often through the night. As we walked outside the tent it was alarming to see that the security at this site (every site had security) looked like a group of fifteen year olds carrying huge machine guns.

We return to our hotel. This was the most run down hotel of the trip. Every hotel at the beginning of the trip had Fox News. Which I used to like but don't really trust as much anymore. But while we were in Israel a few stories broke and seeing how Fox covered them was interesting. First, Governor Elliot Spitzer of New York resigned because he hired a call girl for like thousands of dollars per hour. I kept wondering how we were viewed.

One night Sean Hannity began to talk about how there was a story about Barack Obama that was being ignored and it had to do with comments from his pastor Jeremiah Wright. The comments were played over and over. I wondered if this story would catch on. By the next day it had exploded. All of the major news organizations had caught onto it and Obama was getting hit somewhat hard. It was fascinating to view this from a distance. On one hand I thought the questions raised were pertinent and should be addressed somehow. On the other hand it looked like a vendetta and that was offputting. I really disliked this aspect of it and viewing it from a distance made this more obvious.

This hotel was the one that gave us a plastic card that we needed to insert in a slot in the wall in order to turn on the lights. Probably a sabbath thing. I also noticed that every door in every hotel had a mesuzah on the outside of it. This was a small metal scroll box that contained some scripture in it. This came from some verses where the people were told to write the words of God on the doorposts of their homes.