53 days of shooting.
53 and a half hours of footage.
And it’s all over bar the shouting.
Wednesday and Thursday saw us return to the village to attend a Bedouin wedding and film the events. Wednesday night witnessed the traditional (or not depending on who you ask) all-night dance-a-thon with the guys spinning in circles and the girls ululating out of sight in a house nearby.
The next morning, we set off early with the guys to sacrifice 13 goats for the wedding feast. We stopped in a beautiful shaded valley where the guys promptly started sharpening their knives. Then they got to work… and the peaceful bird songs and cricket chirps where, for the next hour, drowned out by soft prayers to Allah, shouted instructions, gurgling and bleating goats, and the spray of arterial blood on hot rocks…
Later, the valley was filled with the sound of knives slamming into flesh, as the men quickly drained the animals, skinned and disemboweled them, then hacked the meat into small chunks. The meat was then transferred to humungous pots, and loaded onto the back of the pick-ups. (Check out the goat skin stretched across the bonnet of the pick-up below).
It was all over in an hour – 13 goats killed, dismantled and prepared for cooking. The mood throughout was festive and happy, filled with jokes and singing and dancing. Afterwards, we drove back into town, blasting car horns and waving at passersby.
That night’s feast – as hundreds of guests tucked into the delicious goat and rice mansaf – was the last footage we shot. A fitting celebration upon which to end our little adventure into the fascinating world of the Bedouin of Petra.
We made many, many friends in our time in the village. Everyone – with absolutely no exceptions – was exceptionally kind and made us feel right at home. We felt deep sadness to leave them on Friday and will miss everyone, in particular Mahmoud Abdullah and Fatima and the twins and Mahmoud Habu and Scotch and Mohammed and Ahmed Johnny Depp and Tall Ahmed and Suleiman and Mohammed 360 and Ghaieth and Ghassab and Ahmed Saksoukay and the crazy kids outside the falafel shop and and and…
From next week, we’re back in Europe… back to the mundanity of finding jobs and catching trains and attempting to raise completion funds. Please keep checking back on the blog for updates on our fundraising progress, and don’t feel shy in sending this link to anyone who might be able to get our vision onto a screen near you!
Thanks for reading, and we’ll speak again soon,
Carl and Touf
(Our Bedouin camera)
What a wonderful experience you have had, and we are all totally absorbed in the experience. Wishing you all the very best back ‘home’ and with the project. Hope it will sell to the BBC or such-like.
Lots of love,
Mom