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Tea in the Sahara

I was emailing a British friend, Mark Willenbrock, in Morocco and he emailed back, "I am in the Sahara."

I remarked that it was amazing that he could email from the Sahara on his Blackberry (especially when I can't get iPhone reception in parts of Topanga Canyon) and that I hoped he would enjoy some hot mint tea while he was there - some years ago, when I visited the Sahara, I was invited into a rather grand tent by a local Berber tribesman and served delicious hot tea in a glass on a silver tray.

Moments later, this photograph arrived, also from Mark's Blackberry. It struck me how extraordinarily connected our world is - I was sitting in Los Angeles at about 5:30am and he was taking tea in the Sahara.

(Tea in the Sahara is also the title of Book One of Paul Bowles' magnificent novel, The Sheltering Sky.)

(Photograph by Mark Willenbrock.)
   

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