I arrived at Heritage Village, a mock village that displays Bedouin life before the modern state. In the first hut I saw three women who were cooking a dish that was crepe-like with an egg and some cheese spread thinly inside. It was a simple dish that was surely popular among the nomadic tribes since it required very little ingredients.
The women cooking were old and did not know very much English and so I continued on. The next hut had two women sitting outside of it. They invited me to look inside the traditional structure, but again their English was poor even though these women were much younger (probably 30s-40s). The third hut I saw was full of men inside, so naturally I did not go up to the door as I had with the previous two tents.
However, one of the men saw me and waved me inside. Upon entering I was instantly greeted with lemonade. Only one of the men spoke English. He was the youngest in the group, only 29, while the other men were in their 60s and 70s. I sat in that tent for nearly two hours discussing the traditional culture. I was offered cookies, Arabian tea and chocolate covered dates to which I could not refuse (even though I hate tea, I quickly learned that this culture will not take no for an answer because it was repeatedly offered until I gave in and drank it).
The conversation covered a wide range of topics… terrorism, traditional dress, how henna tattoos can signify a person’s sexuality, jihad, how Muhammad PBUH limited the daily prayers from fifty to five, and how the end of the world is near. The conversation was very light and joyful. Even the serious topics did not yield any more emotions than did the discussion about traditional dress.
This came to be only the first of many discussions with locals that covered a wide range of intensive topics and yet remained so peaceful that all genuinely agreed to disagree. And yet, each time no ill-will was ever displayed. Even when a Sunni was explaining to me the wrongs of Shi’a, he never once grew heated. The kind of gentle scholarly discussions I encountered in the Middle East would almost certainly never be held among Western Christians with such a difference in ideology. And yet, here I was… in a region that is renown in the West for being oppressive, intolerant and backwards having the most intelligent, accepting and joyful conversations of my life.
About the Author: Jennifer Turay is an ASU undergraduate in History and Religious Studies
