I am back from the Middle East! It was just like living in a Tintin book.




King Hussein and King Abdullah II





Arabic coffee laced with cardamom





Dad? Robert Capa?
















Twenty kilometers from Saudi Arabia





Assimilating





The first of many men named Muhammad that I would
meet during my travels, pictured with his donkey.





Muhammad number two





Lois and Khalid. The Arabic pronunciation of Lois
is "Loyze". My name is pronounced "Muddy".












Climbed up into the caves at Petra. The
people below looked like tiny mobile raisins.






Modest Moo





Camel in repose. Looks like a dollop of chocolate Tasti DeLite.





Accidentally tried to pay the entrance tax with a counterfeit coin!
"This is fake," the guard said, not smiling. Tintin, again...





Graffiti is the same everywhere. I didn't even
notice the crudely-drawn weenie until just now.





Seigneurial Pops





A photo from Tel Aviv. This man had blonde hair and skin
the texture of beef jerky. He did yoga poses in his undies
before paddling out into the crummy surf. Just like home.






Stray cats patrol the city scrupulously. They
appear to be guarding something important here.






Before I left, Alex told me that Tel Aviv reminded him of Miami in
the 1970s. Good observation. It also had whiffs of Montreal to me.






Breakfast





Lunch





The hotel bar offered a cocktail called a 'Flaming Lmaborginni' (sic).
I can only imagine Germans drinking this.






I have happily turned into a blimp due to the sexual
politics of the Middle East. Let me explain. All the
hotel workers, for reasons of propriety, are men. When
I ordered room service (*very frequently and against
my dad's wishes), it was always delivered by a man.
And because I ordered so often, the waiters began to
throw in free dishes of ice cream, bowls of fudge sauce,
and quivering slices of cheesecake, which I handily
consumed. I will be wearing baggy sweaters for a month.






Sheik of Dadd





Jesus gets up hugetime in Jerusalem





View of the Temple Mount shortly before we were ejected.
It is a Muslims-only zone for most of the day.






Snake oil for sale





An astonishing smorgasboard of sweets










Cutest Ethiopian Coptic priest ever. Wouldn't you like to hug this man?






Dad split his lip





Making pastries. Do I spy an LL Bean sweater?





We had a great time!












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