The Middle East had me from “hello”. Photographs of the Alhambra and the Great Mosque of Córdoba catapulted Al-Andalus (Andalusia) to the top of our 2005 travel list. My Iranian-American friends feed me food that rivals the cafes of Paris and trattorias of Roma. The melodic sounds of Persian, Turkish and Arabic sentences nibble at my ears like waves lap a shore. When I first heard the evocative call to prayer (adhan) in Istanbul in 2004, its soothing and exotic beauty sparked a nostalgia I couldn’t place. If I missed hearing one of the five calls a day, I felt like I had lost something. Turks, Lebanese and Egyptians are beautiful in face and heart. Family salons yield forth sweet delicacies, and shopkeepers, though with mercenary intentions pause to offer tea before plying their trade.
For years now, our country has been at war with, and Western media has sullied our compatriots’ minds to, that part of the world. We traveling Americans slink circumspectly and apologetically, until we are lavishly reassured by our hosts that they understand the difference between a nation’s individual citizens and its foreign policies. They, of course, have the same problem.
This year, I will again blog about my Middle Eastern adventures. (last year’s trip blog is www.beirut2cairo.blogspot.com). The discipline of blog-writing is a gift, incenting me to pay closer attention to daily sensations and encounters, preparing for my date with the keyboard before bed.
Our plan is to land in Tel Aviv, and immediately travel to Jerusalem. After two weeks in Israel and Palestine, Jim will fly home, and I will return to Turkey for the Istanbul/Ankara Exchange – the Turkish counterpart to last year’s Beirut Exchange. Turkey is a vibrant country, positioned squarely between the West and the East. I will understand it so much better at the end of July. Then, inshallah, I will meet up and travel in Iraqi Kurdistan with my Baghdadi friend Sarwa.
So, wish us traveling mercies, and stay tuned…
