Camels on Wheels and Other Charming Anomalies

For today's post we have something special--a song! I know, we all love songs, especially Tehva who has recently demonstrated a new love for recitations, turning all odd twists of phrase into song. "Star Wars Star Wars Lego Car Wars" is one that we all have come to despise. "Ahummmdulah praise Allah.... a hum banana praise Allah" comes shooting out at the oddest moments, which can be nerve wracking when we are in a public place surrounded by people who probably do not use "Allah" and "banana" together very often.

The song to be featured today is much more mundane. Sung to the tune of "She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain When She Comes", it is catchy enough to dance to and ALL TOTALLY TRUE. Here we go. First verse:
Have you ever seen a dromedary drive? (Yee hah!)
Have you ever seen a dromedary drive? (Yee hah!)
Have you ever seen a dromedary, looking fairly ordinary,
Ever seen a dromedary drive? (Yee hah!)
Apparently camels only drive after dark in order to avoid pesky Westerners and their cameras because if it had been daylight, I would have shot a photo of this one, as would have any other English speaker who happened to chance across the driving dromedary.

The vehicle of choice? A Toyota Hilux (for those of you who lack male genetalia, that is a mini pick up). And, all right, the camel wasn't actually driving. But somehow the driver had folded the camel into the bed of the pickup and perhaps given it some camel-downers so that the beast actually looked like it was smiling and enjoying the ride. Additionally, it was festooned with a little camel cap and a hump cover, plus a little camel seatbelt to keep it from abandoning its joyride before reaching its destination.

Second verse:
Have you ever found a goat outside your door? (Have you?)
Have you ever found a goat outside your door? (Have you?)
Have you ever found a goat herd, dropping little goat turds?
Have you ever found a goat outside your door?

Yes, so we live in the big city here, just a block from a hypermarket (that would be a mall in the USA), yet we are apparently surrounded by enough scrub and brush to sustain a herd of goats. Right outside our house. And goats poop. A lot. In our driveway. Yet another reason to hire a maid.

Third verse:
Have you ever seen your children freaking out, (Eghad)
Have you ever seen your children freaking out, (Eghad)
Have you ever seen them freaking,
Whining crying screaming,
Have you ever seen your children freaking out?

We discovered this week that the shells the kids have been picking up are killers. Literally killers. They have been collecting delicate, white cone shells and have been clutching them in their hands, walking down the beaches. The beaches here go seemingly forever with no one and nothing on them but rocks, shells, and the very occasional fishermen.

A new found friend, who has extensive experience diving, was examining the shell collection, which lines one of our window sills. Frantically he cried, "You let them pick those up? They shoot poisonous barbs at fish and they can, frankly, kill a child. Don't let them put them in their swimmers."

So even though these shells had been sitting on our marble stoop for days and were anything but sustaining life, the kids danced and screamed and generally had a freak out.

Try not to get that little ditty stuck in your head. And tune in for another blog from the Land of Sand in a few days.