Mail-Order Grooms

Our guide in Palmyra told us a couple of stories I must now relate to you. First, he said that his brother in Colorado was a tour guide as well. One day an American woman from Colorado came and enjoyed the tour with him. Later she returned to Syria and boldly proposed marriage to him. Now they live together in Colorado.

Another one: a Scottish woman on a camel-back tour of the desert became enamored of one of the guide's assistants, a 27-year-old named Ali. Though they shared no language, they communicated through sign language and within a few days she'd fallen in love with him. She is arranging for his visa to go with her to Scotland. She writes him emails, and our guide translates them for him. This because 1) she doesn't speak Arabic, and 2) even if she did, Ali can't read and write. He's illiterate! This is a riot. And women criticize men for taking mail-order brides....