Whew, finally catching my breathe after returning from my 3 week tour of the Middle East. It will take time to put it all in perspective but a few things stand out.
If you don't like to see weapons, don't go to the Middle East. Armed security is present everywhere. After a while, uniformed men toting machine guns seem like wallpaper---they just blend in with the surroundings. But the initial sight of so much security required some adjustment. Remember after 9/11 when, for a while, our airports were staffed with soldiers holding rifles? For Americans, this was a sobering and shocking reminder that we had been attacked, but the soldiers disappeared soon enough. In the Middle East, they never disappear. And as one travels from city to city by road, armed security checkpoints are frequent. Buses travel in convoys. Soldiers guard even the most obscure historic sites, mostly looking bored and weary. We saw one soldier in Cairo going home from work dragging his rifle on the sidewalk like an unneeded cane.
The Middle East is hopelessly confused about it's place in the modern world. What to wear, for example. Let's see, shall I put on the bhurka today to respect my religious beliefs and if I'm a woman, is it enough to just cover my head or should I cover my entire face leaving only the tiniest slit for my eyes? Or shall I dress modern-style? Sometimes they find ways to accessorize, combining old with new, the craziest example of which was a twenty-ish lady with skin-tight blue jeans, a red playboy bunny shirt and a traditional head scarf.
When it comes to cell phones, they make American usage patterns seem modest. After a while, cell phone use while riding camels, horses and donkeys seemed normal, and there's certainly no better way to while away the hours herding goats than by texting or talking on the phone.
I expected to encounter the anti-western negativity for which the Middle East is notorious. I didn't. This is not to say that they embrace all things American, but they admire American spirit, style, openness to change and, of course, wealth. Unlike the Saudis and those in Dubai, to name a few, Egypt and Jordan are very poor countries.
They love American music, though quite unfortunately, their primary exposure seems to come in the form of sappy pop a la Celine Dion. How sad for them. I'm delighted to say that my Americana material was received quite enthusiastically, and contrary to my expectations, my anti-W tune "Crawford" seemed quite unnecessary and wasn't well understood. They love guitar. Many had never seen an American-style acoustic guitar up close.
More than anything, I wanted to gain an understanding of the fault lines in the Mideast, especially in Israel. The more I learned, the less I knew. Warfare, conquest and tribal disunity has been a tenet of their society since the dawn of recorded history. The average person from the Middle East has no more interest in killing than you or me, but for a few of them, killing defines their lives and seems the purest expression of their twisted beliefs. Is this something anyone can change? How I wish I could find reason for optimism here, but I can't.
But people are people, the human connections I made were full of vitality and meaning and I return from the Middle East seeing the world through new eyes. And with immense gratitude for the blessings and privileges and beauty we often take for granted in the USA. Sometimes it's nice to be reminded of that.
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