Wedding Crashers

Wadi-Rum in Jordan is hands-down the most beautiful desert that I've ever seen! Actually, it is fair to say it is just one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. It's cut into colorful sandstone and granite and has deep red and white sand with purple, cream, and red land masses and arches. Speckled throughout are green spots of life sprouting up through the desert landscape.

Connor, Meg, and I came out yesterday afternoon with our guides and stayed overnight in a Bedouin camp. We got to watch the sun set behind the beautiful red mounds and just sat there enjoying life - the beauty of the sunset, the cooling of the air, and watching the stars appear in the sky as we laid down in the sand. It just felt totally alone and calm.

This morning we woke up ready to go. We spent the entire day rock climbing, hiking up dunes, cooling off in the shade of the overhanging rocks, and investigating tight crevices for petroglyphs. We've been going all day and having a wonderful time.

We haven't seen anyone else all day so we were surprised when we drove around the corner of a rock formation and saw two very large tents in the middle of the desert surrounded by dozens of people.

Two men came over to greet our guide and there was a lot of friendly chatter. Our guide turned around and said they are having a wedding and we are invited to join.

Oh boy! That sounds like fun. Spending the rest of the day at a Bedouin wedding. I've attended weddings before in Greece and in the Orkneys and both were entirely surprising experiences. I was very excited and grateful for the opportunity to attend a Bedouin wedding.

Our travel companion Connor (whom we met on a multi-day Felucca ride down the Nile and had been traveling with ever since) went with the men and we were escorted to the female tent. A woman popped out of the tent to greet us. She was entirely covered in a berka with only her eyes visible. She must have had the face covering off in the tent because it wasn't fastened, she was just holding it up with her hand. I could actually see the smile in her eyes when she greeted me and she grabbed Meg and me by our hands. I felt immediately warm and there was no feeling of intrusion. The man responsible for delivering us to the tent left, and the woman walked us both into the tent. As soon as the tent closed, she dropped her face mask and gestured for us to sit down on the floor with her. Inside the tent, all the women had removed their face coverings. Everyone was sitting on the floor in circles and listening to music. We joined the circle and started to "chat" with the women. I say "chat" because the conversation was a combination of a very small understanding of English and an even smaller understanding of Arabic on my side!

The music was really just hand held instruments and lots of singing from the group. The kids were dancing and wanted Meg to join. Meg immediately joined in on the fun which all the ladies loved!

Finally, dinner came out. I admit it didn't look too appetizing - being that it was a sheep head on a platter sitting on a bed of rice - but it was amazing! Throughout our travels in the Middle East, we noticed that meals tend to be shared dishes with no silverware or plates and everyone eats from the same platter or dishes with their right hand. This was the same. Multiple platters came out and one was placed on the ground in the middle of each circle. Everyone ate from the platter using their hands - grabbing a handful of rice and massaging it in their hand to form a solid ball of rice. It formed together really well because it was drenched in the sheep fat (which made it taste - awesome!). There were chunks of lamb scattered throughout the rice. Everything was eaten. Even the eyes that were in the sheep's skull but those were eaten by special guests of honor - not us!

After dinner the music continued. Time flew by. We were having a great time but we eventually had to head back and we left before the party was over.

Meg and I camped that night in the desert in our little two-person pop-up tent. I went to sleep that night thinking about how lucky I am to be able to spend time with people all over the world just going about their everyday life and truly enjoying themselves and the moment. It feels so nice to be invited into a small part of a person's life and get to enjoy those tiny glimpses into their world.

Meg dancing at the wedding

Outside the men's wedding tent