After five or six consecutive Thanksgivings in five or six different countries, I'd say this one is probably the most unusual. I'm writing this journal entry from a Bedouin tent in the middle of Jordan's Wadi Rum desert. My Thanksgiving dinner consisted of lamb and chicken roasted over an open fire. Typical air and auto holiday transport were replaced by disagreeable camels stepping lightly across deep sand. Really a very traditional Thanksgiving. Really.
As the tradition dictates, this is the day when Americans look back over the last year and give thanks for what has happened and for what we have. I have many things to be thankful for. Here I am winding up a two month vacation, and looking at another year off to "find myself"... Not many people can take two years off out of four. I may not have things figured out, but I am extremely thankful for what I have and for who I am. Spending the last two months here in the Middle East has opened my eyes to many things, from typical realizations of how lucky I am to have a roof over my head, to a better understanding of the political problems of the region, to a better tolerance of religious differences, to a personal reduction of the fear and ignorance many of us suffered after September 11th.
Today we stopped in on a Bedouin family living in a tent in the middle of the Wadi Araba desert. With no real agenda, we accepted an offer of tea not really thinking about the time and energy needed to make tea in the desert where wood and water are scarce. It was a pleasure sharing time with this family, the kids were very pleasant in their hand-me-down clothes, helping their parents with everything from collecting wood, to filling the water cistern, to pouring tea. I assume like me, these kids are parents are thankful for what they have and it doesn't necessarily occur to them to want more. I gave a few of the children stickers which ended up on their foreheads... I snapped a few pictures and shared the images from my digital camera. This was probably a pretty exciting day for them... Getting stickers, getting their picture taken, and sharing their English skills.
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