Yesterday i picked up my mom from SFO – saw my Aunt & Uncle for a few minutes as they were staying in a local hotel due to an early flight back to Hawaii. They live there. I missed my cousin, Michelle, as she was already at the gate for her connecting flight back to Hawaii. She was going straight back to work this morning! 24 hrs of travel already and she’s spending another 5 in the plane immediately. She’s hardcore!
So, it was was really good to see everyone and my mom pretty much talked the entire 2 hr drive to her house about the trip. She was ecstatic! She had a great time and her favorite place was Petra in Jordan- the excavated ruins, seen in the photo above. There was a lot for her to tell, but I’ve bulleted the few stories that struck my funny bone or nervous bone…
- My cousin Michelle had several proposals of marriage during the 2 week trip. She is a 26 yr old nordic blonde in a country of dark women. The boys and men were enthralled. My uncle turned down many herds of cattle and livestock. One man boasted he had 7 children by his wife. When my aunt said he already had a wife, he proudly retorted “But by law I can have 4 wives!”
- At Mt. Sinai, the tour group stayed at a new hotel that ”catered to westerners”. So in each room, there was a TV and a large shower. Only, there was no television reception or running water.
- According to my mom, the hotels didn’t come with towels, washcloths, sheets or toilet paper.
and finally…
- In Amman, there was a seemingly anti-American demonstration on the street behind their hotel. Later than evening, my mom was in a convenience store getting some pepsi and there was some gunfire from an automatic weapon heard in the area of the demonstration. The next day as the tour bus left, they had a few additional passengers- armed guards escorting the tour group until they had moved onto the next location, “just as a precaution- No Worries!”.
All in all, my mom said the trip really enlightened her about the middle east and the conflicts. It really became obvious to her that the different religious views could never allow for a compromise. The centuries of fighting weren’t going to ever be resolved fully because of this. She really doesn’t know how the U.S. thinks it can fix it with our 200 yrs of experience when 1000 yrs of experience hasn’t been able to so far.
I asked her how she did with the food, the lack of our daily comforts and the huge difference in culture and everyday life. She surprised me, but only a little. She ate falafel – didn’t care for it (not surprising). She ate mostly veggies- Surprising! She didn’t get sick because she’s used to roughing it when she visits her sister & brother in law – they have some desert property in Southern CA. So she was prepared for the primitive restrooms. And she wore a great pair of shoes. You know that saying from Bette Midler? “A woman can do anything with the right pair of shoes”? Those shoes were Skechers! Yup. When we went shopping for the trip, I had her try them since I swear by Skechers. And now she does too. With the exception of the camel dung she stepped in, the mesh upper worked out well for the heat.
Now that the 2 hrs of chatter has been documented for prosperity, I want to thank you for staying with me! My uncle took about 300 pics a DAY! and will be sending my mom a cd copy, soon i hope. Hopefully there’s a shot of mom on a camel!
