We walk down a stony path as we see an oasis, a small spring starting a narrow stream. Two Muslim women watch their children as they play in the water. We manage enough Arabic to greet them respectfully and ask some men, lying in the shadow of a palm tree, for the way. They seem delighted by the chunks of Arabic we throw at them. After asking where we are from, they kindly invited us for coffee. We declined thankfully. "Our time is limited, we need to go back to Al Quds!" (Jerusalem), we tell them. Reaching an aqueduct up the hill, we still talk about the encounter: Rarely have we seen such welcoming and relaxed people. They seemed untouched by our society of wealth and consumption, sitting relaxed under the palm tree, drinking coffee. Afterwards they would probably go home to their huts, living under conditions unimaginable to us. Next to these huts there is usually something one might reckon as a stable, but are really just a couple of rusty barrels put next to each other and a small palm-leaf shelter for chickens or goats. The question arises, whether they are happier than we are, but the following discussion, which rekindles a couple of times during our walk, brings no clear answer. Maybe the better question to ask would be, whether we would be happier living a Bedouin life. Honestly, I don't think so. While we have to be aware that affluence is not the way to happiness, living in poverty in a remote area would be really hard after growing up in a European city. I personally drew one conclusion: my palm tree, my way to relax is too often through consumption and that is something I want to change. (DW)
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