News-Record.com

NEGEV DESERT--I have a very vivid imagination. That or I watched too many National Geographic films in my formative years. Spending an afternoon with the Azazme Bedouins conjured up images of tents and camels, dancing with the women of the tribe and having a cultural exchange that would be forever etched in my memory. Well I got the tent and camel parts right.

Azazme Bedouin tents at the site of our day of music and feasting

My favorite camels of the Azazme

I know that plural means more than one. But it shattered my naive expectations to discover that the "Bedouins" we were spending the day with consisted of two male musicians, a son of one of the musicians and a very humble and generous soul who ceaselessly served us. Yep, you guessed it - also a man.

I should have realized something in reality didn't match my fantasy when we were given only a few words about how to dress and no information as to what customs to follow. Clue one.

When I asked Yair Dalal what type of dance would be appropriate (or not appropriate) he said because our group is not of the tribe we could dance as we wanted. Clue two.

But it still didn't sink in. Clueless.

And to think I have a cultural anthropology degree....

Ah - but the setting was beautiful and the Azazme (pron. AzAHzme) were consummate hosts. They played music for us, served us course after course of delicious food they must have easily spent all morning preparing and even showed us how they prepare their bread. If you come to my house I'll give you a place to sleep, some clean sheets, a towel and complete access to the fridge. But cook!?!? How about some hummus from the Farmer's Curb Market. It's really good!

Chicken and meat shown here but the Azazme also prepared 100% vegetarian, animal-free fare for us

If we were to dine with a traditional family, much more cultural preparation would have had to take place. And we're a big group. Usually 20 or so but on this day we numbered 30. I don't know about you but I can't recall last time I had 30 strangers over. At least not since I was 16. And I can't talk about that because mom might be reading....Or worse, dad.

Our group enjoying a magnificant lunch

Okay. So it wasn't much like I expected but it was a highlight nonetheless.