Written by Lexie Rolfe
Lexie and her husband Jack have 5 children and 15 grandchildren. They raised their family in Las Vegas, NV and St. George, UT and are now living in Amman, Jordan, where they are working as humanitarian service volunteers. They have a love and passion for helping others and are enjoying being able to do that full-time as they work and serve in the Middle East.
A Minor Challenge
My husband Jack and I have been working in the Middle East for the past 10 months as Humanitarian Service Volunteers. We spend our time here supporting non-government organizations throughout the country with various projects. We also make time to see the many wonderful sites whenever we can.
One minor challenge we face quite often is a language barrier. We only speak English. Many of the locals do as well, which is wonderful! The translation of written text, though, isn’t always accurate. Sometimes the barrier is frustrating. Other times it gives us a good laugh. Oftentimes it can be seen as a blessing or a bother and just depends on the perspective we choose to take.
A Pick-Up Truck & Comfy Couches
Recently Jack and I had the opportunity to visit Wadi Rum. (We were so excited because this has been on our bucket list!) One of the first activities on our itinerary was a sunset jeep tour. We booked it online ahead of time. The description sounded fantastic and we assumed we knew what we were getting ourselves into.
We arrived at the appointed location a few minutes early, eager to get started. We were looking forward to seeing the beautiful Wadi Rum through the eyes of a trained tour guide. When we got there, we immediately noticed a vehicle off in the distance. As it came closer we began to second-guess ourselves. We wondered if we had really booked a jeep tour, since the vehicle coming towards us definitely wasn’t a jeep. Instead, it was an older model pickup truck with bedouin couches in the back-end!
As soon as the truck reached us, we were met with another surprise. The driver appeared to be a young teenager! Our “Jeep tour with a trained tour guide” wasn’t turning out as we had expected. We wondered if the language barrier had once again come into play.
The young driver parked the truck next to us and then hopped out. He asked if we wanted the front or the back. When we looked at him questioningly, he pointed to the slim bench row in the cab of the pickup and then to the couches in the back. We opted for the back. He then showed us how to step from the truck bumper onto another “step”. From there we were to climb into the back! We were a little skeptical. Had we in fact booked a “Jeep tour with a trained tour guide”? Since we still wanted to see the country, we hoped for the best and got into the truck!
As it turned out, our young guide was excellent. He stopped often so that we could take photos. We quickly discovered that he was a very creative photographer. By the end of the tour we had many marvelous pictures, all thanks to him. Our guide also pointed out several interesting things and places. We thoroughly enjoyed the stories he shared of his family growing up in the area and of his father’s village.
Not Quite As Expected
Our experience was not what we had originally planned it to be. Upon seeing our travel accommodations, we could’ve chosen to be upset. It would have been easy to have been bothered by that. To have seen the result of the language barrier as a bother, not a blessing. But oh how we would have missed out! Because we simply chose to ‘come what may and love it’,1 we had the experience of a lifetime. We loved everything we were able to see and learn through the eyes of our wonderful tour guide (and the unexpected truck and couches just added to the experience!).
References
- Wirthlin, JB. Come what may, and love it. Ensign. 2008;Nov:26-28.
