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July 2005 Newsletter
Howdy all!
Wow, where to begin? Camels Richard and Ibrahim and I just returned from two weeks in Washington, D.C. working for the Smithsonian Institution’s annual Folklife Festival (actually our second time- in '02 it was for Kazakhstan), where we were attached to the exhibit "Oman: Desert, Oasis and Sea".
I met my Omani counterpart, Hamood Abdallah Al Wahibi, the day before the Festival opened and he told me that I give my camels too much water. Their bellies were too round. My US camel friends tell me that I don’t give my camels enough and the Bedouin all say I feed too much!
Well, the next day the Festival opened to the public and during our first demonstration, we were loading Richard with a girba (waterbag made of goat skin) and three other bags representative of traditional Omani trappings found on camels. Hamood and Richard had already gotten off to a fairly unpleasant start (maybe it was the comment about his belly) and Richard wanted nothing more to do with him. He pulled back on his lead rope, which snapped in two and Richard lit off, running down the National Mall toward 14th street. It was at about that point when I got up next to him on a golf cart driven by a Festival employee, grabbed his lead rope and brought him under control.
Walking back, you could have seen the smoke coming out of my ears! Not only was the relationship between Hamood and Richard on my mind, but I was also concerned about public safety and the Smithsonian’s perception of me and my camels.
After returning with Richard, Hamood said to me, "Douglas, this no problem. In my town, this happen one hundred times, every day!" I quietly explained to Hamood that we were not in his town. Thankfully, the Smithsonian has a sense of humor and an even greater sense of publicity. The ensuing TV news piece and Washington Post’s mention of Richard’s "escape" only helped to boost attendance. In the days following, I was gradually able to see the humor in it, changing my answer from "uh-huh" to "Yes, in fact he mowed down 33 school children and a nun" when asked, "Is that Richard?" Later on, we even made USA Today (no mention of the runaway camel, much to my delight). If nothing else, I learned to stretch the truth while in D.C. I wonder if that’s ever happened to anyone before...
Perhaps the straw that broke the, well you know: Having to answer to D.C. Animal Health officers for why there was no water set out for the camels for the twice-daily, hour-long presentations finally got to Hamood. He’d begin each talk with, "The camel is a friend to man. He no like the shade and he not need to drink too much water." If anyone needs filibustering done, Hamood’s your man.
Less dramatic goings on included the exchange of gifts between Hamood and me. I was presented saddles and all sorts of camel equipment from Oman as well as a new shmaq, the traditional Omani headdress, while Hamood received two handsome shirts, a Leatherman pocket tool and a good old Tex-Mex dinner for him and his family. It’s nearly as hard to find Mexican food in D.C. as it is to find diesel fuel for my truck. Top price paid: $2.89/gallon.
The time spent in D.C. was invaluable and, despite our rocky beginning, what I learned from Hamood is priceless. The Bedouin of Oman, Yemen and the United Arab Emirates all use similar equipment, unique to the southern Arabian Peninsula and very different from what I’ve come to know in Egypt and Sinai. It’s minimal, essentially bareback camel riding, but totally functional. These folks are the stuntmen/camel riders of the Bedouin world, in my opinion. You will be able to see images from the Festival in the next week or two on the website. Also, check out the website soon for some incredible sketches of the camels. Dr. Harrison Ferris took the time to visit twice and was very kind to present me with a handful of his very talented work. Big thanks to Pat, Chuck, Barb, Mary, Steve, Rob, both Riches, Neil, Amanda, Lynne, Dianne, Michelle, Enrico, Ali, Eddie, Gregg, Paul, Vicente and Sabine for the wonderful hospitality.
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This Saturday, the 16th, I’ll be in Weatherford, Texas with a couple of camels. The National Guard Armory there is hosting a birthday party for the children of deployed members of that unit. The deployed parents have sent lots of camel pictures from Iraq and someone thought it’d be cute to turn the tables. Among a number of activities that day, all the kids will have their photos taken with my camels, which they’ll send to their folks. This is something that I’m really excited to be a part of.
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July also sees me traveling back to Arizona, for VisionQuest (www.vq.com), working with their camels and the at-risk youth in their program. This time of year is their monsoon season and rains can come and go pretty violently. The work I do with those kids is always rewarding, but even more so when it’s in a torrent!
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Texas Camel Treks typically slow down in the summer due to the heat, but in August I’ve got one date planned for Monahans Sandhills State Park, the 28/29. September will take me to the Big Bend area on the 25/26. There’s plenty of room and I hope that some of you can make one or the other.
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By September, I should have the exact dates for the Jan/Feb ’06 Sinai trip confirmed. I appreciate those of you who have shown interest in the past. Remember, I only need four folks to make the trip run. We’ll be visiting the Pyramids of Giza, the Egyptian Museum, Khan el Khalili market and Al Azhar mosque in Cairo plus a three-day camel trek in the Sinai desert, ending up at St. Katherine’s at the base of Mt. Sinai. All along the way, we’ll stay in my Bedouin "family" and extended family members’ tents in the open desert. For a description from last year’s trip, check the website and click on Camel Treks, then Sinai.
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As always, I appreciate your interest in my camels and their goings on.
Doug
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