@Βασίλης-and-Ann0
About seven o'clock in the evening Majd and Faisal were headed, on a shiny black Cadillac and a truck as large as a house, to the rendezvous point, a parking lot of a big supermarket on the Kuwait City boardwalk.
We were waiting for them. Me, Justine, a French journalist, Leonardo, a Spanish traveler who had just arrived from Jordan, Clive, an oil engineer, and Kamal, a student from Mumbai. There were also Breanne and her husband Evan from New Jersey.
Two hours later we were in the middle of nowhere. In the desert, a few miles to the border with Saudi Arabia.
We had planned everything carefully: tents, sleeping bags, music, fruits, vegetables, meat and a portable barbecue. That night there would be a new moon, perfect for watching the stars.
Different stories seemed merged in one place, that night. They came to life in our words and then, a second time, in the minds of those who listened to them, bound to leave lasting signs.
"It's not a question of religion, Emily, but of tradition. I'll get married next summer, insha'Allah. You are invited to the ceremony. "
"So you're telling me that you're going to marry a woman you've never seen in your life? Not even in a photo? "
"Not even in a photo ... But I'll see her soon."
"How many times will you see her before marriage?"
"Only once, next spring."
"Wow ... you seem remarkably calm?"
Majd laughed. "The calm is only on the surface. Obviously this situation fascinates me and scares me at the same time. Okay, rule number one out here. Getting permission to be alone with a girl and talking to her two hours is a very serious matter. It’s a special event, that day the emotion will be strong. It’s a great emotion right now. Whatever happens, the rest of my life will depend on those two hours. "
"If you do not like her, you can always decide not to marry her, right? And the same goes for her? Sorry if I ask you a thousand questions, but I'm interested to know the traditions of this place and above all I'm interested to know your point of view. You must know that when I talk about marriage, the truth is, I never feel at ease…”
“It’s okay, really. I agree with you that it’s essential to compare different points of view. I do not have to marry her and the same goes for her, but I hope everything will be fine. There is no family imposition, but certainly my parents would not be happy to see their plans fallen through. I'm almost twenty-four, I want to get married as soon as possible. I see this marriage as a sort of salvation. If I started going around looking for affairs with some girls – I mean, temptation is everywhere - I think I could not stop. I wish to choose a person, only one, and be faithful to her: this is what I want. Although I’ve never had a relationship, I am deeply convinced that faithfulness to one's partner increases the strength of the bond as time goes by…trusting each other with our lifes. It will be a challenge, no doubt... »
“I know what you mean. It would be absurd to demand absolute faithfulness, without actually being willing to offer it in return. That's why I do not want to hear marriage for the next ten years of my life."
“We'll see how it goes. If marriage is a disaster, there is always the divorce.”
"And maybe you will find your next bride by yourself."
"That’s right! But in any case I think in my family this tradition will end with me. I want my children to be totally free to build their future. You know, I think it’s finding the right person that makes the path special, a path of self-knowledge. You see what I mean, don’t you?
“Maybe you and I are a lot closer than I thought.”
"Anyway, do not think they're all like me around here. Well, take Faisal, for instance. He too has a bride-to-be, but in the meantime he is having many affairs with local girls. You may notice he’s got always two phones. When he sees a pretty girl in a car alone stopped at a red light, he approaches her, catches her attention and, a moment before the green light, he throws a cell phone in her car. After a few minutes he calls her ... Emily, you won’t believe this, but he met a lot of girls in this way. "
"Faisal is a tamarro"
"I’m sorry, a what?"
"Nothing, it's something we say in Italy."
Some unexpected clouds stood between us and the stars. But we all got busy with other things. The smell of the meat cooking on the coals, the desert breeze, a walk with Breanne, Evan and Justine into near-total darkness.
Very late at night, the music was turned off and people began to get into their tents. For a few seconds, the quiet was interrupted by Faisal’s car alarm.
I was in the middle of nowhere, but there was no silence around me. There was only the sound of the wind. Delicate, precise, so confident. I felt it pass through my arms and, distinctly, between my fingers. The wind accompanied my thoughts, it blew them away, one after the other. My eyes were closed and in the desert, I had that feeling…I felt warming, grateful with everyone.
Suddenly the wind went down and the silence, this time, became total. So dense and enveloping. The stillness of the desert. Not an absence of sounds, but, on the contrary, a presence that filled all the spaces.
I took the sleeping bag and unrolled it outside on a yoga mat. Before falling asleep, I looked in the direction of the sky once again. A few stars and new clouds.
A few drops of rain woke me up. I opened my eyes and I saw flashes of light and, for a moment, I was transfixed by this vision. Dozens of lightning were striking our camp. Some of them a few miles away, others seemed very close to us. Faisal lowered the window just enough to scream: "Emily! Get in the car, quick!"
So I ran and I almost bumped into Clive who was going to Majd’s car. Breanne and Evan sat with me in the back seat.
A small debate raged on the effective protection given by the car in that situation. Kamal, after listening to our doubts for a few seconds, closed the debate with authority by saying that the car acts as a Faraday cage and therefore we were safe, provided we avoided contact with metal parts. We all were relieved and we thanked good old Kamal in our heart. I stayed in that car almost an hour to see, with incredulous eyes, one of the most extraordinary spectacles in nature. And finally it was over in an instant. We saw the sunrise together. My stay in the desert was long enough for me to know that our friendship would last for long.