Greetings from the Desert

Last night we camped in the desert and it was the best night's sleep Lea's had since we were in Cairo! I slept well, too. :-) Lea woke me up about 2:30 a.m. so I could escort her to the latrine, which was fine with me because I needed to go, too! The stars were amazing. We just stood outside the tent for a few minutes just taking them in. With Lea's impaired vision, it's very rare for Lea to see stars anymore--so for her to see so many was such a gift! At one point, we both said, "Shooting Star!" and she started crying. The two of us seeing the same shooting star was such a gift. As I was typing this, Lea said she was thinking about the shooting star last night. I told her that I was writing about it just now. She said that it was a "Universe Loves me best moment" for her and that it must have really wanted her to see that star.

Our camp is deluxe. Each tent has one or two beds (with enough room to move a round), a bed-side table, a peg rack, shelf and mirror combo, waste basket and a great view from our front and back door! If you're going to camp in the desert, this is the way to do it!

Last night before dinner, we did a Toning. It was such a gift to get to tone with our friends in the middle of the desert! During the Love Circle everyone shared their gratitudes for being able to be together in the desert and for the trip in general.

The chef prepared us a lovely vegan, wheat-free dinner of rice, moussaka, cucumbers, tomatoes, grapes, and a oriental pastry. After dinner, we went out to the desert and sat around a camp fire. We were so amazed at how cool the sand was. It was burning our feet a couple hours earlier. We were also amazed that we were so close to a fire when we were so hot earlier in the day. We shared ghost stories around the fire and people talked about their haunted houses and Lea told people about the ghost kitty in our house. One of the drivers (whose name escapes me) came over the camp fire and began making coffee Bedouin style. It involved crushing coffee beans by hand with a mortar and pestal. He also crushed and added ginger. He then stiffed it into a small long-necked ceramic pot. He took some coals from the fire and put them into a shallow pit in the sand and sat the pot in the coals. Every now and then, he would take the pot and rub the bottom of it with a oil-soaked cloth and put it back on the coals. The oil kept the pot from cracking, I was told. Once the pot started steaming, he put out 8 small cups and put a small amount of sugar in each one. He then put something fibrous into the spout (to filter out the grinds) and poured a small amount into each cup. It was an amazing ritual he shared with us. Many of us drank his coffee and it was delicious! So strong, sweet and spicy!

This morning we're heading into the White Desert. I'm really looking forward to going back and to sharing this amazing place with our friends! They're going to love it!

Lea sends her love and asks me to let her her folks know that she's doing well and that this blog is their postcard! :-)

Time for coffee!

Thanks and Love,
Stuart