THE BANYAN TREE
The driver meets me outside the AlUla airport.
He takes care of my luggage, opens the door for me to climb in and I sit in the back of the car, where I have some snacks and refreshing drinks, given that the drive is a quite long one.
Then I arrive at the reception. I need to wait for a while, there are other guests before me.
One German guy is booking a series of excursions, including an hot air balloon flight as his wife is arriving tomorrow and he wants to make her a surprise as it is their wedding anniversary.
I don’t mind waiting. I have good company as I am sitting in front of a boxe full of dates and I am given delicious tea. I’m there to enjoy, not to get mad. This is my VIP experience and I can’t start it by being stressed. It would cast a dark shadow on the whole experience.
After a while, it is my turn to check-in.
The lady at the reception is the kindest one I ever met and I realise that she is super professional.
I check-in, request a few information, and then she calls the golf car that will carry me to my villa.
I am Cinderella going to the ball in her pumpkin carriage.
I enjoy the ride.
My villa is number 222.
It is bigger than my flat.
My flat is 52 sq, here I have 72 sq at my disposal.
It is elegant and luxurious.
When I open the curtains I spot the pool and I am overjoyed.
I did not realise I had booked a villa with private pool, till I see it.
I regret I booked so many activities, it means less time in the villa, less time in the pool.
Needless to say, the first thing I do is to wear my bikini and to jump into the pool.
The pool is on the back of the villa, so nobody would see me in bikini, anyway, out of respect for the country customs I pay attention to cover my body as soon as I get out of it. It is their preference and I can easily adapt.
I am an introvert, so I appreciate enormously the opportunity to be alone in a pool in the middle of the desert.
4 days alone in such a place it’s a blessing. It means nobody distracts me from absorbing every single second of this wonderful experience.
The desert is a spiritually powerful place.
It is the place where God talks to his people.
The book of Prophet Hoseas comes to my mind and I feel I am the spouse taken to the desert, to sing like in the days of her youth.
It is an highly regenerative time and God knows if I need it, after all the mess of the last two years.
The pool reminds me of the sacrament of the baptism.
I can’t stay away from the pool. Even at night I enter it.
Under the full moon light. Like a witch or a sorceress.
I have the feeling I am in a spiritual retreat, going through a series of rituals.
I’m entering a new phase of my life.
I leave in the water the old Elena, so that the new one can resurrect.
