Sunday 19 June 2011

Selling Alison

One of the highlights of Jordan at Christmas was visiting Petra. It was truly breath taking. If you ever get there, it’s worth taking the trek up the mountain to the Monastery and please say hello to our Jazzy-angel – we sprinkled a few of her ashes at the back, in the centre on what appeared to be a raised altar. (We take her everywhere with us and scatter just a small bit in the most beautiful places we find, which may seem odd, but it works for us.)
 
The famous Treasury at Petra


We were in Jordan with the kids, my parents and my friend, Alison. The Monastery was too far for my folks, so they caught a donkey back to the camels, to get a camel back to the horse and carriage, to get back to the bus. The transport system there is quite a feature! Our gorgeous guide Tala said she’d take our oldest (he’s in a wheelchair) and the youngest (the little one) while my partner, Alison, the then 11-year old and I made the climb. We arrived to find the entire site engulfed in a cloud and we couldn’t see a thing! Thankfully, after wasting some time in the extraordinarily expensive souvenir shop, the cloud lifted for an amazing view.

Donkey (as opposed to Gorilla) in the mist
The Monastery

















So we now need to hot foot it back to the bus. My partner is not keen on riding animals so elects to walk. We grab a donkey and then walk about 2kms to the end of the gorge before getting on horses to ride back to the gate to meet up with the rest of the party. Tala has told us the horses are included in our ticket and that we just need to tip them – a ridiculous amount of money. They must be making more than anyone else in Jordan.
I get on my horse from the concrete platform erected for the purpose and grab the reins. The horse starts rearing up and I hope to Christ I don’t fall back off and crack my head on said concrete platform. ‘Let go of the reins!’ yells the horse guy. As a rider, albeit merely occasionally these days, it’s counter intuitive but I manage to let go and horse drops to the ground. That was more excitement than I needed!
Eventually, all three of us are on horses and set off with three horse handlers along side.
‘Have you got a boyfriend?’ one asks my daughter.
‘I’m eleven,’ she says in that voice that implies the question was stupid.
‘Can I marry you?’
‘I’m eleven,’ she repeats, slowly and loudly like he’s stupid.
They now move on to Alison.
‘Your daughter?’ he asks me.
Okay, so Alison is a few years younger than me – like 7 – not enough to be my daughter!!!
‘Aw, Mum,’ says Alison. I swear, if I were not stuck on a highly strung horse, I’d have jumped off and run back to bitch-slap her.
‘How much for your daughter,’ asks the guy.
‘A camel ought to do it’, I said.
‘Hey Mum!’ said Alison, ‘How come you happy to sell me, Mum? You love the other daughter more than me Mum. And surely I’m worth more than that….Mum!’
‘Okay, how about 2 camels? Too much? How about one camel and a chicken?’
The guy has warmed up. It goes on for a bit before he says to Alison:
‘I come to your hotel. I pick you up. Take you to the desert. We have some Bedouin whisky. You, me and a million stars….’ (Bedouin whisky is tea – these guys are devout Muslims and don’t drink alcohol.) ‘Where are you staying?’
‘The Diamond Hotel,’ I blurt out.
Alison, quite rightly, doesn’t think this is now funny. We are staying at the Diamond Hotel.
‘Just ask for Sarah,’ I improvise.
We’ve thankfully arrived at the gate and get off the horses. I tip the guys and they stand there and complain they want more. Gee – and I thought they liked us??
We get back to the bus and my partner is already there. So despite our relatively expensive donkey/walk/horse trip, he walked all the way and still beat us. But he didn’t have the entertainment!


15 comments:

Anonymous said...

FROM THE ALISON DESCRIBED ABOVE

In my defense, I was not only Mother who work's "daughter" on this trip, I was also her "sister" and let's not forget my short stint as her "step mother" - before her father un-sanctimoniously divorced me.

The real reason I'm sure she "improvised" with the name Sarah was she probably remembered.... "oops my 5 and 11 year old girls are staying in Alison's hotel room, different floor to me, so probably not a great idea to have strange men coming after Alison offering "a million stars".

Mum/sis/step daughter ..... don't you remember the going offer from West Africa was 100 camels??? How could you offer so little?

Mother Who Works said...

I think that was 11 cows Al - but you are worth more than average!! And is one camel worth 10 cows plus a chicken??? MWWxx

Anonymous said...

RAAAHR 100 Camels is the going rate - Burkina Faso December 2010!

A camel, especially in west africa where I only saw one in 2 months, is not comparable to 11 cows and a a chicken!

I think your now 12 year old daughter should handle the negotiations !

Mother Who Works said...

Fair call!! MWWxx

Unknown said...

I thought the price you were asking was a little on the low side too!!! Very funny post! I found you on VoiceBoks and am now a happy follower!! I have a daughter with special needs so your post stuck out for me! I look foward to reading more from you!

Mother Who Works said...

Hi Kathy, nice to meet you too! You can read a bit more about our beautiful boy on the post called Human Nature http://motherwhoworks.blogspot.com/2010/12/human-nature.html
He has a great sense of humour!!! Some of my work mates came to support his school art show and introduced themselves, saying 'I work with your mum', to which he solemnly replied 'I am so sorry.' Nice! MWWxx

Fashionista said...

Hello MWW,
Have just discovered your blog via Mamamia, have read most of it and have been giggling away like a mad woman (lucky I have an office by myself!). I tried to comment on your Dubai water park experience as I had a similar one last year, but not sure if my comment got up there.

Looking to reading about your adventures...

Mother Who Works said...

Hey Fashionista, thanks for the comment! Much appreciated. I'll definitely head back to the Dubai water park post and check it out. An amazing place, fun, scary, safe - all at the same time - and that's just the swimming costumes!!! MWW xx

Anonymous said...

OMG MWW your subscriber list has taken a huge share lift! Roll on retirement.

Dawn Pruitt said...

found you via voiceboks and am a new follower. check me out at
Check it Out! with Dawn
http://checkitoutdawn.blogspot.com

chantelle said...

hi, im a new follower from voiceboks. would love for you to check out my blog and follow back if you like.

CylestialChola said...

Hi! I just found you through Voiceboks and am now a follower, but the most amazing thing about reading your blog for the first time was the fact that I too have been to the Monastery! It was truly one of the most beautiful places that my eyes have ever beheld, but taking my boys there was kind of like being in charge of a three ring circus! Small world! I look forward to reading more of what you write, and hope you will hop over and check out my blog too. I'd love to have you as a follower as well. Be well!http://cylestialchola.blogspot.com

Rosann said...

Wow, what an amazing trip that must have been. The pictures are very cool. Stopping by from VoiceBoks to check out your blog. :)

Many blessings,
Rosann
http://www.christiansupermom.com/

Unknown said...

I wonder how many camels I'm worth... hmmmmm... Let's see, I'm 46, divorced... Oh never mind, lol!
I got your link from VoiceBoks. This is an interesting blog. Thanks for posting!
Lisa
http://susannasapron.blogspot.com/

Nikki said...

I am visiting from the voiceBoks! You have a great blog! I am your newest follower and would love it if you would follow me back! Thanks!
-Nikki
http://chef-n-training.blogspot.com/

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