Negev Desert, Israel – Tea time took on a whole new meaning for me as I waited for my Nana (mint) tea made by Mohammad, a Bedouin camel farmer, on the Noam Bamidbar Farm. I learned a valuable lesson Gandhi would have approved of.
During my travels in Israel, I had vaguely heard about the formerly nomadic Bedouins who lived off the land in the Negev and Sinai deserts of the Middle East for more than 7,000 years. Now many of the 160,000 Bedouins in Israel are semi-nomadic farmers like Mohammad or live in permanent urban settlements. (Reuters)
Mohammad was wearing a beautiful lime green tasseled scarf and I gestured to him I liked it. He didn’t speak much English, but apparently he knew what I meant.
With no pomp and circumstance, he walks up to me and hands me his scarf and returns to his tea making – like it’s an everyday occurrence for him to give a stranger the clothing off his back! Shocked by this act of generosity, I was overwhelmed as what to do besides say, “Toda, Toda” (phonetic pronunciation for Thank You in Hebrew).
Taking inspiration from Gandhi’s quote, “If the whole world gave an eye for eye, we’d be blind”, I decided to adapt the Old Testament teaching and twist it around a bit. Rather than an eye for eye, why not a scarf for a scarf?
I turned to my friend Lina who lived in Israel for advice as I was still unsure if he would even like my rather feminine pink and purple scarf. She said, “Of course he’ll like it!” I shyly unraveled my scarf and gave it to him. He accepted with a grin and spark of joy in his eyes.
It was an incredible moment of shared humanity.
As we shared the traditional Bedouin tea around the campfire accented with glittering purple and silver pillows, he explained the organic produce they farmed in this seemingly barren Negev Desert. They even grow grapes for wine making!
Here is the delicious tea recipe from Iris, who owns Noam Bamidbar (Hebrew word for ‘In the Desert’) Farm, with her husband Benny:
Bedouin Tea Recipe
Black Tea Leaves
Fresh Mint
Fresh Lemongrass
Start a campfire or use your stove if you must. Mix sugar as desired with water, black tea leaves, fresh mint and fresh lemongrass in a pot or percolator. Let it come to a boil, strain herbs, share with a friend and enjoy.
Noam Bamidbar Farm also offers camel rides for $15 for 30 minutes, farm stays in an ornate Khan (Bedouin-style tent) for around $30 a night with a full Israeli breakfast and overnight camel treks into the Negev Desert for around $275 per person.
Video by Lindsay Taub of highlights from my Israel Adventures in December 2011:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3jm1a9iuBQ?version=3]