To Petra, maybe!

I was a the reception parking lot earlier today, Monday. It's about 5 to 6 miles from the lodge over a rough road. Generally people park their cars there and hire a local with a truck to take them to the lodge. I missed the lodge driver who leaves around 8:30, so I catch a ride with three ladies who I met last night. They are all from NH and are thrilled to meet someone who's lived in NH. They all went to Exeder. One of them is currently working on her Phd at Oxford in Anthropology but living in Jordan. The other two are sisters living in NY and visiting their friend in Jordan.
Rather than waiting for a ride back or for the lodge driver, I decide to walk back to the lodge. It's a good hike. I walk about a mile when I see a herd of goats. There are some dogs guarding the goats. At first it seems that they don't notice me, but as I get to the other side of the goats they take notice. There are three of them, and like dogs they tr to circle me. I face them and walk backwards. They keep their distance and we depart without an incident. Apparently, dogs not bothering humans is not 100% true.
After another mile I see a kid in the fields. He is walking towards his truck. I hear him start the truck and a few miutes later he pulls up and opens the passenger door, offering me a ride. I want to do the hike but accept the offer and get in. It reminds me of the days when I used to go running in Morocco, and on the way back some of the mountain people noticing I looked tired would offer me a ride on their donkeys.
We get to chatting. We are going abour 5 miles per hour so it takes time. There is a tent about 70 yards from the road to our left. He tells me that is his home and invites me for tea. We go in the tent. The women on the other side of the divider start a fire to make tea. The tent floor is usually dirt with straw matts lined around a small fire pit. Guests are offered a foam matt and pillows to lean on. We chat some more. He speaks some English, so we switch back and forth between English and Arabic. The tea takes a while, but we finally have tea. I have a couple of cups. I thank him and leave for the lodge which is less than a mile away.
I make plans to go to Petra and book a hotel for three days. I read some forums online and people recommend at least two days in Petra. I am trying to line up a local driver when one of the guides tells me to wait. He will see if any of the guests are going to Petra and if I can go with them.
Later that afternoon the chef is glad to see me and tells me he is giving a cooking class tomorrow at 11 and it would be great if I can translate. He is dissapointed when I tell him I am going to Petra.
After dinner the guide who was arranging the schedules for guests finds an English couple who is going to Petra tomorrow and has arranged for me to go with them. I chat with the couple. They want to check with their driver and the tour company.
Tuesday morning I am all packed and ready. The English couple is expecting their driver to show up around 10. I go to the reception desk to say good morning. They are having problems with the computer. Someone has spilled sweet tea on the keyboard, apparently a common occurance, and some keys are stuck. They want to know if I can fix it, afterall I work with computers. There are a few other things going on, so I decide to push my trip to Petra out by a day, tell the duty manager to swap the keyboard with the other computer to get him going. I take care of the logistics of moving my trip to Petra, have breakfast and sit at a desk to pry the keys off the keyboard. I use alcohol and tissue to clean the keys. It works well and the duty manager is very happy. I head off to the kitchen for the cooking class.