Bedouin folk medicine by Miriam Aborkeek

miriam-aborkeek-desert-daughter-bedouin-bedoin-cosmetics-israel.jpg

I had the pleasure of meeting this enterprising Bedouin woman, Miriam Aborkeek while on a Bedouin home stay and personal tour with Yeela Raanan of Bedouin Experience in Israel. Here’s Aborkeek’s story about her natural cosmetics company Desert Daughter: Once, Bedouin women roamed with the seasons, foraging for plants and helping graze animals where the rains […]

Read more

10 Cool Garbage Cans for Middle East Trash

a96782_a492_ovetto-ccc.jpg

Would innovative waste disposal devices make for tidier Jordanians? Year Two in the Hashemite Kingdom, and my honeymoon with Amman is kaput.  It’s impossible to keep the romance alive when your beloved is so totally…trashy. At work, shopping for trash receptacles for a new airport terminal, I stumbled across some wacky waste bins that might’ve saved […]

Read more

Jordan Enjoys An Endless Summer

sunset-jordan-ruins.jpeg

The logistical headaches of keeping daylight savings year-round in Jordan. Last week in Amman, the Jordanian Cabinet reversed a decision to switch to wintertime, sticking with daylight saving time for the entire year. Our extended daylight hours are good for the environment (and coveted by many Israeli neighbors), but the late decision is causing logistical […]

Read more

Will Dark-sky Ecotourism Spread to the Mideast?

petra-jordan-candles-dark-sky-tourism.jpeg

Israel’s Negev Desert, Jordan’s Mount Nebo, Medaba and Wadi Rum are a few dark sky destinations for stargazing. Paris is known as the city of lights. So is Medina Saudi Arabia, Be’er Sheva Israel and Las Vegas, Nevada. We shouldn’t overlook Baltimore Maryland, Varanasi India, Quanzhou China and Milford Pennsylvania. Each of these cities is also […]

Read more

Seed Money Available to Protect Mediterranean Basin Birds

mediterranean-b-birds-sunset.jpeg

Seed money up to $1 million to protect your local birds. Apply today. Sick of reading about Cyprus songbirds killed and pickled for snacks?  Weary of wild killing sprees like Egypt’s sanctioned bird hunt ? Or maybe the downed flamingos in Kuwait ruffled your feathers? BirdLife International has created a fund to underwrite environmental preservation projects in one of the […]

Read more