Band roadie in the Sahara!!

I was asked last week to fill in last minute for a trip with the Mary McBride band into the south part of Algeria (Sahara desert).  I left on Saturday and we flew to a town called Ouargla.  As we flew in, we had a great view of the Sahara.  It was surreal. 

We stayed in a hotel that I NEVER would have stayed at in the states!! LOL  Those of you who know me well, know that I am a self-proclaimed hotel snob!!  First of all, everyone smokes everywhere, so that was not good.  The decor of the hotel looked like something out of the 70's with purple textured wallpaper, shag area rugs in the bathroom, floral bed spread,and a phone that I didn't even think they made anymore.  The tv had no channels in english or subtitles so I got to practice my french! The shower area was a tiny cube with a hand held shower (that fell apart upon my first shower).  The toilet was in a separate area.  They did provide a large bottled water in the small fridge which I used to brush my teeth.  One of the doors to my patio didn't lock so I wedged a chair up underneath it.  The door to my room was covered with leather and the lock was an actual key.  To lock the door from the inside, you had to put the key in and lock yourself in.  Good thing there wasn't a fire!  We sat outside on the patio the first night and had some wine (thank goodness the restaurant served alcohol)!!  The minister of cultural affairs from the city hosted a traditional dinner in a huge tent for us.  We sat on the floor on pillows in this huge tent, covered in beautiful tapestries.  They served us salad, bread, traditional soup (which was lamb & couscous), bourek (which are meat filled egg rolls), then plates of meat (chicken, lamb & quail) with herbed couscous and then baskets of fruit for dessert.  It was a wonderful dinner and great atmosphere.  We drank some more wine on the patio, hoping it would help us get to sleep.  It didn't because the beds were very hard and uncomfortable.

The next day, we went a radio station to promote the concert where the band sang an accapella version of "Swing Low Sweet Chariot".  That song has meaning here and they sounded great in 4 part harmony.

We drove around the city of Ouargla for awhile, found an Algerian soccer jersey for Mary to put on during the concert and then headed back to the hotel to get ready for the concert.  The band played in an open air colisseum type venue.  There were about 400 men and about 10 women (very typical in the more traditional Muslim cities).  The women aren't allowed out without chaperones.  I introduced the band to the crowd and got an ovation!  I guess they don't see too many 6 ft blondes in southern Algeria!  LOL  I sat in the front row with an Algerian colleague from the embassy.  The crowd came down close the stage and were dancing and having fun.  One young man pulled me up to dance and then after that, they were lining up to have their photos taken with me.  It was a weird feeling!! I kept telling them that I was not with the band but they didn't care!!  Then they started crowding around me and the security guard grabbed my arm and pulled me to the stage where he brought a chair up and made me stay up on stage behind the band for the rest of the night.  It was a very weird feeling!
The concert was great and the band awesome...if you haven't heard the Mary McBride band, check them out on facebook or google them.  They play country rock with some blues influence.  It was fabulous.  Mary put the Algerian soccer jersey on for the encore and the crowd went nuts!!

The band greeted a few people after the concert and took some photos and then off to the hotel.  We sat outside in the beautiful weather and drank a few more bottles of wine.

Next morning, we boarded a bus that looked straight out of the 60's to drive over 5 hours through the desert.  It was pretty cool.  We had a pit stop at this tea house where we had to use the bathroom but there was no way in Hades that I was going into that smelly, filthy place where there was only a hole in the ground.  My colleague and I had the armed security guard follow us out back to a walled area and we went behind the wall, amidst piles of garbage, to pee out back!!  Thank goodness for travel packs of kleenex.  On the way back there, we passed this small  cement structure and as we passed by this ferocious guard dog comes charging out of the structure, frothing at the mouth and snarling at us.  We screamed and the stupid security guard (the one with the gun), was behind us!!!  Thank God the dog was on a chain and we were out of reach!  The owner came out and took care of the dog until we finished our business out back!  What an adventure but when you gotta go, you gotta go!  :)

Back on the bus and through the desert. 

We arrived in the city of Biskra and checked into a hotel where we were greeted by a lobby full of taxidermy!  We checked into our rooms where the decor again was from the 70's.  We went to the dining room and encountered more taxidermy on the way, including a very badly stuffed camel.  These animals were just creepy looking!!  The dining room was huge and completely empty and one of the band members said "This reminds me of the movie The Shining".  Well, that freaked me out because he was right!!  Those of you who have seen The Shining would understand!  The food was completely terrible.  Mary and I ordered salads and couldn't finish them.  How do you screw up a salad?!  The lobby was full of smoke, as was the bar area. 

We rested after lunch and then were off to the concert venue for sound check.  This one was an indoor theather.  Another one of my American colleagues joined us in Biskra so the 2 of us were sitting in front, where we were inundated with photo requests (she is also a blonde).   There were about 200 people at this event with a few more women.  The band rocked hard and it was a great show.  Again the Algerian soccer jersey got a huge response!  They close every show with a rocking version of "Amazing Grace".  It is awesome!

We arrived back to the hotel, where we only had to spend one night.  I do have to say that the bed was much more comfortable and we had one channel that was playing movies in english with arabic subtitles.  The next morning, we toured the city, went to a date store to buy dates since this city is known for their dates, supposedly the best in all of Algiers. We then stopped at an outdoor cafe for coffee, where a senator from the city paid our bill.  The weather during the whole trip was absolutely beautiful.  It was hot and sunny, in the 90's during the day.

We had lunch at a local chwarma place.  It was really good and had the best bread!  Then off to the airport and back to Algiers by plane.  The van  stopped by my apartment where I dropped off my bags and picked up Kirk.  We then took the band to a Turkish restaurant called Bosphore.  They have super kabobs and we enjoyed several bottles of wine with our kabobs and great company!  The band is great and we laughed and relaxed.  The next day, we had to go back to work but the band had one more local concert to perform.  We took a van to the concert after work to the theatre.  We were backstage before the band went on.  The theater was very nice and it was a good crowd.  There were definitely more women and girls at this concert.  You could tell we were closer to the city!

The band left the next morning and I was sad to see them go.  It was a wonderful trip and great opportunity for me.  The band members were so nice and very fun to be around.  I miss them already! 

When I arrived back to work on Wednesday, I found out I was tasked with something big....which you will have to read about in my next blog!!  :)