The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2015

102 July-August 2015 | the foreign Service journal local lens By ALDA KAUFFELD n PETRA, JORDAN Please submit your favorite, recent photograph to be considered for Local Lens. Images must be high resolution (at least 300 dpi at 8” x 10”) and must not be in print elsewhere. Please submit a short description of the scene/event, as well as your name, brief biodata and the type of camera used, to locallens@afsa.org. D uring a recent visit to Petra, the ancient caravan-city in Jordan that was an important cross- roads between Arabia, Egypt and Syria-Phoenicia, I came across this scene. The old Bedouin rababa player and his charming grandson were playing music for tourists passing by, and were so caught in the moment and comfortable with their surroundings that they seemed to transcend time. Petra is one of the world’s most famous archaeological sites, where ancient Eastern traditions blend with Hellenistic architecture. Located between the Dead Sea and the Red Sea, the city is half built, half carved into the rock and surrounded by mountains riddled with passages and gorges. n Alda Kauffeld is a Foreign Service spouse posted in Amman, where she works as the embassy’s EFM residential security coordinator. The Kauffeld family has served in Kenya, Sri Lanka, Ghana and Jordan. She is a profes- sional photographer and winner of the 2009 National Photo Award. She was awarded “Best in Show” by the Art in Embassies “Through Their Eyes” worldwide Defense Department and State Department Photography Contest in 2012.