text: Aqaba - Egyptian Friends After two wonderful days in Jordan at Petra and Wadi Rum, we headed back down the Desert Highway to Aqaba, the Bride of the Red Sea. Aqaba is the only coastal city in Jordan, an otherwise landlocked country, and the largest and most populous city on the Gulf of Aqaba at 150,000 people. It has been inhabited since 4,000 BC.
  Aqaba plays a major part in the Jordanian economy through tourism and trade. Its strategic location and proximity to copper mines made it a regional hub for copper production and trade in the Chalcolithic (copper age) period. Its proximity to Petra and Wadi Rum places Aqaba in Jordan’s Golden Triangle of tourism. Its access to the Gulf of Aqaba makes it Jordan’s only port. Aqaba's location at the northeastern tip of the Red Sea between the continents of Asia and Africa, has made its port important over the course of thousands of years.
  The Great Arab Revolt's Battle of Aqaba, depicted in the film, Lawrence of Arabia, resulted in victory for Arab forces over the Ottoman (Turkish) defenders.
  The road from Wadi Rum to the Desert Highway is little more than a gravel road. The Desert Highway is paved but passes through areas where goats roam the highway. Signs in Arabic gave me little clue about the area. We passed an occasional mosque and a guarded checkpoint. A small fishing boat was displayed in a fenced area like a shrine but I have no idea of its historic significance.
  Aqaba looks like any mid-sized city with shops, hotels, and recognized America fast food restaurants. The tour could have taken us right to the border to Eilat, Israel, just across the Red River, but they built in a 3 hour stay in Aqaba so we could shop in the duty-free stores and add to the Jordanian tourist economy. Fair enough.
  The highlight of the stay in Aqaba, to me, involved workers who were on a lunch break. A little explanation. When I was at the Sea of Galilee in 2008, I passed a man who was sitting on a boulder and fishing. That story is in my blog about the Sea of Galilee. When I asked if he was catching anything, he shook his head no and put his fingers to his lips while he said, speak. Don’t speak? Fishermen often don’t like talking near their fishing spot.
  I walked up to Calpernius and, as I walked back past an old car, I saw that fisherman and his wife cooking fish for dinner in a can on a Bunsen Burner. He motioned for us to sit down and join their dinner. I realized that what he was saying when I first passed him was that he couldn’t speak.
  His car was old and beat up and looked like he and his wife might have slept in it. They were wearing dirty clothes. Here was a man who wasn’t fishing for sport; he was fishing to feed his family. He had next to nothing but he was willing to share it with strangers. I thanked him and said we had to get to Acre by sundown to shoot a lighthouse and didn’t have time. No, they didn't understand English. I’ve always regretted that I didn’t sit down and visit for 5 minutes with a fisherman on the Sea of Galilee who showed me the most spiritual moment of the entire trip.
  So, when I passed a group of workers sitting on a pallet in an alley between two buildings on a lunch break in Aqaba and they motioned for me to sit down and join them, that’s exactly what I did. One of the workers went for drinks and brought drinks back for me and my friend. I sat on a cinder block – fell off once while holding my camera and camera bag – and ate the usual pita and hummus. One of the workers even reminded me I was holding the pita wrong and should hold it folded over to spoon the hummus up.
  I quickly realized that the workers only knew a few words of English between them but that didn’t stop them from laughing and having a good time, especially when they had to help me up after I fell off the cinder block with my camera. They were workers from nearby Egypt. They were obviously finishing construction on one of the fast food restaurants we never got to. We asked if they were painting. They didn’t understand. Sheetrock? They didn’t understand. Drywall? One man said, excitedly, we do.
  When lunchtime was over, we stood up and the workers and I looked at each other like we couldn’t just walk away but we had no words in common. I reached my hand out and shook hands with each man before they went back to work. I took a few photos of my new friends and my friend from KY.
  You don’t need a common language to meet new friends and have a lunch you’ll never forget. I still wish I had joined the fisherman and his wife for 5 minutes at the Sea of Galilee. Live and learn.
  The border crossing back into Israel was less complicated than entry into Jordan and we were off for more Israeli adventures.
  
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  Greetings friends, neighbors, fellow tribal members, and especially to the District 26 constituents. The 94thLegislative Session is underway and I want to thank you for the privilege and responsibility of serving as your Senator! I am looking forward to this year’s session, as every year is another opportunity to make policy that is beneficial to District 26 and its residents. My session committee assignments are State Affairs, Ag and Natural Resources, and Education, I also serve as the chair of the State/Tribal Relations Committee and the Chair of the Corrections Commission during the interim. These committees are extremely important and I am ready to use my experience and the direction I get from you all to keep the interests of District 26 in the forefront.
  Following my Senate re-election, our caucus selected me to be the Senate Minority Leader. I am extremely humbled to be the first Native American to be elected this position in South Dakota. As Minority Leader I will be working with our Caucus, the Majority Leader, and the Governor’s office on the direction of the South Dakota Senate.
  Governor Noem delivered the State of the State Address on the opening day of Session. In her address, she touched on a few agenda items that I am sure we can agree on. One of these items is workforce development housing. Our caucus has brought this issue up during numerous legislative sessions. It is our hope that we can work together and take the best ideas from everyone to implement this policy. Governor Noem spent a considerable amount of time talking about increasing pheasant habitat. Pheasant hunting in South Dakota is a real draw for people to our State and many small communities rely on the revenue that comes with it. With that said, we have to be smart about how we approach this policy, we cannot sacrifice one industry for another. We haven’t seen the exact plan as of yet and I will appreciate your input as it unfolds.
  I was extremely concerned that there was no mention of healthcare or the nursing home crisis that we are facing in South Dakota. We often talk about workforce and economic development but both of these issues cannot be addressed without a healthy population. Access to affordable and quality care is becoming more and more difficult in our State, especially on our Reservations. We will be submitting legislation in the coming weeks to address this problem and I am hopeful that Governors office will work with us to alleviate this problem. The nursing home crisis is real and getting worse daily. With the closure of nursing homes, especially in small communities, our elderly population and their families are quickly running out of options for care. Any input you may have would be greatly appreciated, our elders deserve better.