Dude, you didn't need to find this out this way...thanks Anna...
But in any case, yes, the story is true somewhat, but no heroics, just ears that work and a curiosity about things that go bump in the night. Or smash, with a yell. But you get the drift--no pun intended. Well, sort of intended...
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Taylor the rescuer
I've been meaning to post this story for several days now - Taylor is the hero of our trip to Wadi Rum.
Let me go back...
Wadi Rum is a part of the beautiful desert in Jordan, made famous in part by the film Lawrence of Arabia, which was filmed there. We spent a day there, and in the evening stayed in a Bedouin camp site. It was all actually very luxurious, with about 20 large, roomy tents, with four beds in each. At about 2 am, the wind started to really pick up, and before long we were in the middle of a huge sand and wind storm, and the temperature was somewhere down near 3 degrees. What had previously been a beautiful clear night, where there were so many stars visible it was astonishing, turned into a howling, cold, dusty, dark night, with all of the stars obliterated.
In the middle of all that, while we were trying to sleep (most people, we later heard, unsuccessfully), Taylor (and note how I only say Taylor... ie not me, nor any of the other 40 or 50 people in the camp), heard a loud crash somewhere outside. He jumped up out of bed, grabbed his headlamp and raced outside.
I thought he was going to the bathroom, rolled over and went back to sleep (in my defence, sort of, I was wearing earplugs...).
It turned out that one of the tents, with its heavy metal poles and metres upon metres of goat's wool (ie heavy) fabric, had been picked up, carried by the wind, and flipped over, leaving the poor couple trying to sleep inside exposed in their bed, with a mangled and broken tent 10 feet away.
Taylor was the only one who heard all this happen, and the only one to be out there with light and to help them. We happened to have an extra bed in our tent, so Taylor brought the couple to sleep there. As the three of them tumbled back into our tent I sleepily rolled over again, wondered who these people were that were now sleeping 3 feet from me, and promptly went back to sleep.
In the morning we learned the names of our new tent-mates, and over the next few days enjoyed getting to know them a bit better. They were very sweet and very grateful to Taylor for helping them out that night. And though it may sound like it wasn't an enjoyable time there, we actually had a great experience, and both would have loved to get to spend more time in Wadi Rum.
Let me go back...
Wadi Rum is a part of the beautiful desert in Jordan, made famous in part by the film Lawrence of Arabia, which was filmed there. We spent a day there, and in the evening stayed in a Bedouin camp site. It was all actually very luxurious, with about 20 large, roomy tents, with four beds in each. At about 2 am, the wind started to really pick up, and before long we were in the middle of a huge sand and wind storm, and the temperature was somewhere down near 3 degrees. What had previously been a beautiful clear night, where there were so many stars visible it was astonishing, turned into a howling, cold, dusty, dark night, with all of the stars obliterated.
In the middle of all that, while we were trying to sleep (most people, we later heard, unsuccessfully), Taylor (and note how I only say Taylor... ie not me, nor any of the other 40 or 50 people in the camp), heard a loud crash somewhere outside. He jumped up out of bed, grabbed his headlamp and raced outside.
I thought he was going to the bathroom, rolled over and went back to sleep (in my defence, sort of, I was wearing earplugs...).
It turned out that one of the tents, with its heavy metal poles and metres upon metres of goat's wool (ie heavy) fabric, had been picked up, carried by the wind, and flipped over, leaving the poor couple trying to sleep inside exposed in their bed, with a mangled and broken tent 10 feet away.
Taylor was the only one who heard all this happen, and the only one to be out there with light and to help them. We happened to have an extra bed in our tent, so Taylor brought the couple to sleep there. As the three of them tumbled back into our tent I sleepily rolled over again, wondered who these people were that were now sleeping 3 feet from me, and promptly went back to sleep.
In the morning we learned the names of our new tent-mates, and over the next few days enjoyed getting to know them a bit better. They were very sweet and very grateful to Taylor for helping them out that night. And though it may sound like it wasn't an enjoyable time there, we actually had a great experience, and both would have loved to get to spend more time in Wadi Rum.
again
For those of you not yet tired of photos of Anna and I standing in front of yet another pile of rocks, here you go. Can't remember where this place was.
Petra by night
Our first view of this amazing place was by candelight. It truly is one of the word's wonders...and incredibly romantic by night!!
Monday, February 23, 2009
Goop-ing up with Dead Sea Mud
Pretty awesome stuff I hate to say. Also, you feel like a 3 year old playing with mud smearing it all over yourself...this was a few hours ago.
Orange blossoms
Anna enjoying an orange blossom today.
This is Anna typing now, saying I think I look like a complete goofball in this picture. Cheesy faces aside, the blossoms really did smell amazing!
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