All in a Day’s Work: Jordan

This is Sauq. Presumably a member of the Bedul Bedouin tribes native to south Jordan. Though limited in English, he caught my ear: by a stream of loud grunts and “hee-yahs” that I mistakenly thought were directed at me. Taken aback, I stopped long enough to notice his barrage of “insults” were actually landing just past me toward the seemingly empty monastery up the hill from us. Curious, Jess and I welcomed the pause from our sweat-drenched trekking to turn our gaze in the direction of his. Nothing. Hm. Puzzling indeed. His eyes still fixated on the monastery, Sauq slowly rises up from his small, weather-beaten footstool, sweeping his keffiyeh head cover behind his shoulders to reach for a giant green plastic tub. Barely a moment later, Sauq notices us in his periphery. Now standing upright with the tub tucked under his arm, he points at the monastery just above eye level with his free hand while he continues to fill the silent, cavernous valley with spirited grunts and “hee-yahs.” Jess and I are now studying the landscape closer - after about 10 minutes (and to our disbelief), a herd of a dozen or more goats round a steep corner in a single-file line, clambering down the steep and rocky walls of the monastery, clumsily negotiating the uneven terrain while faithfully answering back in a comedic chorus of “buh-rrrrrr!” With every “hee-yah” Sauq hurled at them, the herd responded obediently in kind. Once down from the wall, the goats began to pick up speed into a slow gallop across our dusty foot path toward their shepherd who blanketed a section of flat rock with dry feed. Sauq says his herd roams the grounds of Petra freely, calling them in 4 times a day for meals and water. In seconds the feed was cleared and with another series of grunts from their shepherd, the herd took off, back up to the hills. Just like that. Minutes later Sauq was back to manning his magnet and trinket stand. All in a day’s work. Sharah mountains, Petra, Jordan.