![\"Petra](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/719\/2016\/08\/Petra-camel-ride.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Even more than a year later, I still have photos and stories to share from last year\u2019s trip to the Holy Land, which I have never shared on this blog. It was such a rich experience that I continue to think about it. And so, if and when I can, I may still go back to my collection of photos from the trip and tell further stories to my blog readers.<\/p>\n
One thing that struck me on my first visit to Jordan was a turn of phrase that the children at Petra had picked up, presumably as they learned English by interacting with\u00a0tourists who visited the site. The\u00a0children would consistently ask us, \u201cGo for a camel ride later?\u201d It took me a while to realize that this expression most likely resulted from English speakers politely refusing the offer of a camel ride by saying \u201clater\u201d rather than simply \u201cno.\u201d<\/p>\n
Have you come across other interesting turns of phrase that have come about through such cross-linguistic and cross-cultural points of contact? If so, please share them!<\/p>\n
On a related note, one reason I couldn\u2019t get worked up about the whole Covfefe thing\u00a0has to do with a camel. There was an incident on the Butler campus once when the police were pursuing a suspect in a crime. Updates about the pursuit and places we ought to avoid were sent regularly by text and on social media. At one point, the message said that the suspect was\u00a0seen \u201cheading towards the camel.\u201d They had meant to write \u201ccanal\u201d but autocorrect had other ideas. This led to a whole lot of writing and programming about the Butler camel, with one student organization even bringing a camel to campus for an event. Typos happen. We may judge people for carelessness in ways that we would not want to be judged. And of course, Americans are notorious for judging people in other countries as well as their own who do not speak English perfectly, even while they themselves may not know any other language \u2013 and indeed, may not even know English as perfectly as they might.<\/p>\n
I should also mention that a\u00a0Bedouin woman at Petra tried to sell us a bracelet made of \u201cBedouin silver\u201d \u2013 in other words, tin. A close look at the bracelet revealed that there was Chinese writing on it. I pointed this out, and she insisted that the design was Bedouin, but that they then have them made in China. This will remain one of my favorite memories from visiting Petra \u2013 although obviously the place itself is breathtaking. But I regularly find that the most significant moments for me, on my travels to various parts of the world, are interactions with people,\u00a0and the opportunity to learn about another culture, laugh at a linguistic misunderstanding, or sometimes both simultaneously.<\/p>\n
On a related note, I\u00a0have a draft blog post related to Jesus\u2019 sayings about camels, which I ought to\u00a0finish and post, especially if your reactions to this one suggest that more about camels would be welcome!<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Even more than a year later, I still have photos and stories to share from last year\u2019s trip to the Holy Land, which I have never shared on this blog. It was such a rich experience that I continue to think about it. And so, if and when I can, I may still go back […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":40663,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[105],"tags":[1527,3074,5912,9015],"class_list":["post-35145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel","tag-camel","tag-english","tag-jordan","tag-petra"],"yoast_head":"\n