Hamdi, the gay Palestinian donkey

I went out again tonight (seriously, they tell you Ramadan is boring, but in reality, it means the day is boring, and then nobody goes to bed before the morning), to watch a youth dance troupe – they’re actually sort of an elite political dance group, and the kids are in training to be part of the professional troupe when they turn 18. I was a little skeptical when this event was described to me, but they were very, very good. Good enough that I could read the story of each dance, even without understanding the words or political significance of the music. As an added bonus, Senor Morelo, the Venezuelan government representative, was also in attendance for the evening.

After the performance, I went with Mohammed and his brother to their apartment with a few friends, and got into a very long, involved discussion of world politics while drinking cheap red wine. Some things are, apparently, universal. However, the discussion then switched to livestock. In particular llamas, and their use by the Israeli army, which everyone found funny. But if you talk about pack animals, you can’t avoid Hamdi, who is Ahmad’s cousin’s donkey.

Now, the family bought this donkey, a good, strong, weight-carrying male donkey, to avoid any problems with donkey mating and other nonsense. To their chagrin, Hamdi showed a strong propensity to mount any nearby male donkeys. "So much for avoiding the nonsense," they thought.

In a flash of brilliance, one of the kids decided to rename Hamdi, and now he's happily continuing his alternative donkey lifestyle with the new moniker Tootsie.