A very popular term in the Middle East is "Inshallah." It means "God Willing" and is nearly always accompanied by a nonchalant shrug of the shoulders or shake of the head. It's part of a cultural norm, an attitude of accepting that much of life is out of one's control.
When I went riding across the desert in Saqqara, Egypt between the pyramids on an amazing Arabian horse, my camera's lens cap fell off. Sand and desert grit don't mix with technology so, dismayed, I asked my guide to help me look for the lens cap.
"I will find it!" My guide declared resolutely, instilling confidence in him and giving me hope! Then he clarified, with a shrug, "I will find it, Inshallah." I knew then that we would never find the lens cap. That night I rigged up a temporary protective covering out of a ziplock bag and a hair elastic. Luckily, I also had on my lens what photographers call "cheap insurance" - a polarizing filter. The system worked quite well until I got home.
I seem to have an affinity for scheduling travel on the tail of natural disasters. Two years ago, that trip to the middle East saw me fly to London on the very first flight to leave the US and fly across the Atlantic in nearly two weeks, due to the Icelandic Volcano eruption.
Now, Sandy, that minxy little hurricane battering the East Coast has not only wreaked destruction across the Eastern seaboard and caused unprecedented devastation in the Big Apple, but the storm is threatening to come around for another round of damage! Flights are being canceled again through NYC and Philly.
I'm scheduled to fly through JFK in one week to get to Tel Aviv. So now, it seems, I'm in a similar situation to the one I was in two years ago while waiting out that darned volcano... waiting, praying, hoping for the best. And calling my travel insurance office to see if my trip is covered due to storm cancelation.
If need be, I'll head over to Fiji. Or maybe Australia. But Israel is the goal.
One week, Inshallah.
When I went riding across the desert in Saqqara, Egypt between the pyramids on an amazing Arabian horse, my camera's lens cap fell off. Sand and desert grit don't mix with technology so, dismayed, I asked my guide to help me look for the lens cap.
"I will find it!" My guide declared resolutely, instilling confidence in him and giving me hope! Then he clarified, with a shrug, "I will find it, Inshallah." I knew then that we would never find the lens cap. That night I rigged up a temporary protective covering out of a ziplock bag and a hair elastic. Luckily, I also had on my lens what photographers call "cheap insurance" - a polarizing filter. The system worked quite well until I got home.
I seem to have an affinity for scheduling travel on the tail of natural disasters. Two years ago, that trip to the middle East saw me fly to London on the very first flight to leave the US and fly across the Atlantic in nearly two weeks, due to the Icelandic Volcano eruption.
Now, Sandy, that minxy little hurricane battering the East Coast has not only wreaked destruction across the Eastern seaboard and caused unprecedented devastation in the Big Apple, but the storm is threatening to come around for another round of damage! Flights are being canceled again through NYC and Philly.
I'm scheduled to fly through JFK in one week to get to Tel Aviv. So now, it seems, I'm in a similar situation to the one I was in two years ago while waiting out that darned volcano... waiting, praying, hoping for the best. And calling my travel insurance office to see if my trip is covered due to storm cancelation.
If need be, I'll head over to Fiji. Or maybe Australia. But Israel is the goal.
One week, Inshallah.
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