May 1, 2008 Traveling back to SouqTown

It’s 2pm and I’m sitting in front of a café, waiting for the tranzit, the shuttle bus from here to SouqTown that runs 4-5 times a day, weather permitting, inshallah. The shuttle is scheduled (loosely) to arrive between now and 2:30, inshallah.

I can see 24 people from my seat – I am in the heart of downtown Berberville, after all – but not a single female. 24 men, 0 women. Really, my very existence at this moment, sitting at a café while being female, is probably Hshuma (shameful / inappropriate) – but I don’t know anywhere else to wait where I’ll be sure not to miss the tranzit. Fortunately, the moqaddim, who I met yesterday, and who knows that I chatted with the Quyd not long ago, is sitting at the next table, so no one will say anything inappropriate to me.

OK, now it’s 3:30pm and I’m en route to SouqTown. The tranzit got in right around 2:30, but didn’t leave again until 3:00. I guess I don’t need to be so worried about missing it; it’s got a nice long layover. We’re driving past the igran – the irrigated fields – some of which are apple orchards. They’re right on the cusp between flowering and leafing. Some are all apple blossoms, some are all leaves, and many are at some point of the journey inbetween those two states. I feel like I should make some sort of metaphor for my own position, about to finish my training and start my Peace Corps service (inshallah), but I’ll let the opportunity pass.

Note to self – there’s a dike about 45 minutes out from Berberville, only visible from the road when you’re heading this direction. Two parallel dikes, actually, looking a bit like an italicized # sign as they cross the bedding planes. One of the prettiest cross-cutting relationships I’ve ever seen. I can’t wait to get the GPS-tracker gizmo that can sync up with a camera and tell you exactly where you took any given photo.