Petra: "Manal, Reyna, and One Hundred Camels"
Posted May 31, 2007 by JanWadi 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."