The great coat adventure

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19 March 2012 5:45 local
Now it can be told. I left my jacket in the bus from Aqaba to Petra. I went to the bus station next to the visitor's center when I realized it was missing (3 + hours later) to see if they have a lost and found. It turns out there are two bus stations. The one I went to is for tour busses. Mahmoud who runs the entrance gate invited me into his kiosk while we tracked down the driver of the bus I was on. A few phone calls located the jacket and arrangements were made to pick up the jacket from the bus station the next morning. While we were trying to get people on the phone, Mahmoud and I shared sweet tea and stories. He has seven kids. He was nice enough to drive me to my hotel (about three blocks away, but still) and the only thing he said I could do in return was use his friend's taxi to return to Aqaba the next day. He gave me a phone number to reach him to make arrangements. The next day, the driver was later than he said, but had the jacket. Many of you can imagine me pacing the platform waiting for him to arrive. And so everything worked out. Upon my return to the hotel, I called Mahmoud twice, but no answer. Then, I went back to the kiosk, but they gruffly told me he wasn't there. I didn't get to use Mahmoud's friend's taxi. If anyone ever reads this and knows the Mahmoud who works the tourist bus gate in Petra, please tell him thank you again from Jon (Caterina's dad).

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