Wadi Musa
Petra:
Candidate for "Wonder of the World"
H.K. of Jordan

May 31, 2007

Salaam Aleycum,

It's 9:00 pm here in the dusty Bedouin Village in the dark hills outside Petra.  We just finished tea together and I am saying a final goodbye to my friend Manal.  We are shaking hands.  She is so sweet I want to give her a hug, but that's completely inappropriate.  Even a handshake is quite bold for a young Bedouin woman who covers her head and wears  full length clothing.  Woman?  I should say, girl.  Manal is seventeen, but "going on thirty-seven."