DINING & DANCING WITH MT. SINAI'S BEDOUIN

Despite the chilly night air atop Egypt’s famed Mount Sinai, things were heating up very nicely as our Bedouin hosts worked to bridge the cultural divide between East and West.  It was the perfect anecdote to a very long and arduous journey across Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula early that day. 

This was the anecdote to which I was referring.

Two months ago, we’d spent ten long and sometimes tense hours trekking through Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula from Cairo.  In the midst of the political unrest since president Hosin Mubarak’s government was toppled in 2011, this famed stretch of desert between Israel and Egypt had become a haven for transnational crime and Islamic militancy.   

Sinai's desert.

The economic fallout had turned miles and miles of seaside resorts into a wasteland of empty promises.   

On the other side of the Red Sea are the mountains of Jordan.

The political unrest had necessitated a heavy presence of armed guards throughout the 275-miles of this no man’s land.    

We were discouraged from taking pictures of the camera-shy guards. I couldn't help myself.

You’d think I’d been doing all the driving given my battered and beaten physical and mental status upon arrival.  Okay, so I don’t always travel well.   Nothing a good meal and a chance to unwind couldn’t cure.  Both were on the bedouin menu that evening. 

Bedu, the Arabic word from which the word bedouin is derived, is a simple, straightforward tag meaning  “those who live in badawi” or “those who live in the desert”.   There are an estimated 3 million Bedouin in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Libya, Egypt, Israel, and Sudan living a semi-nomadic lifestyle within tight-knit tribal communities dependent upon one another for survival in this harsh desert environment.  

The Bedouin travel in search of grazing for their herds of sheep and goat.

The traditional Bedouin saying covers it all.  “I against my brothers, I against my brothers and against my cousins, I and my brothers and cousins against the world.”

Which is undoubtedly why this patriarchal society’s ancient history is one of repeated inter-tribal warfare giving way to some sort of centralized rule, and then disintegrating back into chaos; feuds, warfare and instability have always characterized desert life.  The Bedouin are to the Middle East what the Indians were to North America’s wild, Wild West.   Civilization just never took root in the hostile deserts of the Middle East.   

Nonetheless, our evening meal atop Mount Sinai was quite civilized; Bedouin are also well known for their hospitality, born from a respect for the dangers and hardships of the desert.  The likelihood of encountering another person in the desert has always been cause for interest, generosity and civility.  Ya think!?   

There was plenty of all three on hand the night we rolled into camp.   I was feeling a bit like nobility as we arrived for dinner.  The Bedouin clan had rolled out the red carpet,

A smooth landing atop Egypt's Mount Sinai.

and opened the ‘beit al-sha’ar’, the traditional dark goat-haired tent, in anticipation of our arrival.

Doesn't get much cozier than this.

Flat bread hot off the coal-fired grill 

Next time, I'm bringing marshmallows!

accompanied flavorful chicken slow roasted in the traditional sand pit 

Dinner is served.

and a buffet of delicious vegetables, rice, dates, cheeses, and olives fit for any royal road warrior.  Did I mention the food was abundantly organic, free of preservatives, additives, high fructose corn syrup?  No obesity among the Bedouin. 

Obviously some remnants of the 21st century have invaded Bedouin lifestyle.

Of course mint tea and coffee (kahwa), a staple of Bedouin meals, was also readily available, 

I'll take mine with one sugar, please.

as was an assortment of sweets that definitely hit the spot for Jimmy.  

Sweets for my sweetie.

The sweet spot for the evening as far as I was concerned, though, was the entertainment after dinner.  Ten years younger (yes, I know today’s 60 is yesterday’s 50, but no lying Shakira, these hips just don’t move like they used to) and I’d be sharing pictures of me shaking my booty.  Thank you for stepping up, Alice.   

Mind you, I had 20 years on Alice, but who's counting.

Mind you, America’s got talent, but nothing compared to one beguiling bedouin belly dancer with more rhythm than a Catholic couple intent on family planning.  My tired, twitching eyes were having trouble keeping up with this boss Bedouin; no way my hips could handle the competition.     

Taking it to the next level.

I watched with awe and a touch of envy as Alice held her own (and then some) against the best of the Bedouin.    Eat your heart out Lawrence of Arabia!

Some hands-on communication.

Liz stepped up, too, keeping it real during the ‘heated’ cultural negotiations.   

You go girl.

We didn’t let on to our Bedouin dance instructor that Liz had a smidgen of experience where belly dancing was concerned; all's fair in love and cultural negotiations. 

It goes without saying (but I’ll say it anyway) Liz received no less than three marriage proposals before we all left Mount Sinai early the next morning .  

Our Bedouin instructor pulling out the stops.

Occasionally, but not often, I do miss being young; and limber!  Of course, I’m quite nimble when it comes to conversation.  Just ask Mitch.  

My wallflower status wasn't really all that disappointing.

He and I had quite the enjoyable cultural exchange/conversation when it came time to perusing the beautiful handy work of these proud people and the evening’s events.  I picked up a few items for myself and the family with what money could buy.

But the memories; they were priceless!