Zaatar Days, Henna Nights: Adventures, Dreams, and Destinations Across the Middle East

by Maliha Masood

When twenty-eight-year-old Maliha Masood, a burned-out dot-commer from Seattle, bought a one-way ticket to adventure and rejuvenation, she found it in the most unlikely of the Middle East.  With an infectious love of adventure, a zany sense of humor, and serious questions about her Islamic faith, Pakistani-born Masood begins an unforgettable journey. She camps in the Sahara with a Bedouin "desert fox," is mistaken for a spy in Turkey, takes a lesson in beauty from a Kurdish family, and falls in love with a poet. She experiences souks and mosques, open-air lingerie bazaars and nightclubs grooving to hip-hop. In a region associated with terrorist havens, Masood meets ordinary Muslim men and women navigating the politics of culture, religion, and identity. Zaatar Days, Henna Nights offers a street-savvy take on the contemporary Arab world that's seldom seen on the evening news.  This is a story of discovery and faith, of making bonds and breaking stereotypes, and of finding oneself where one least expects to.

Genres: Travel, Middle East, Nonfiction, Memoir

320 pages, Paperback

First published December 29, 2006

About the author

Maliha Masood is a Pakistani born writer based in Seattle, WA. She is also a teacher and educator on global affairs. Her creative nonfiction has appeared in numerous anthologies including Best Travel Writing by Women for 2010. Maliha is the author of two travelogues focusing on the Middle East and South Asia. Born in Karachi, she immigrated to the United States at the age of eleven and returned to Pakistan two decades later in 2003. Her new book, Dizzy in Karachi is an intimate account of what it was like to live, work and travel in Pakistan as a young Muslim woman who belongs to both East and West. More information at www.dizzyinkarachi.com

Reviews

[Tye Tavaras · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the story of a young woman on a journey through the Middle East. With complete and occasionally reckless trust in strangers she has interesting and enlightening experiences in every country. This book is an enjoyable read if you are not searching for an expert take on life in the Middle East. I enjoyed this book because of her general naivete' which was refresehing and also frustrating. Often times the language is the book can seem overwrought, but I have found myself thinking similarly during travels, struggling to find less poetic and exaggerated language to explain my emotions. Though I felt some sections were rushed, her writing brought me back to my first experiences in the Middle East. If you are looking for an seasoned traveler's recount of the Middle East with expert analysis, this is not the book for you. However, if you wish to envelope yourself in the journey of a young traveler navigating cultures while finding herself in others, this is an ejoyable read.

[Mer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been wanting to read this book, mainly for the title, and patiently waiting for COVID-19 to die down enough for my library branch to start Interlibrary Loans back up. And it's been a real joy to read! There are many places in the Middle East that I'd love to see and experience but I don't believe I can, so I'm glad to be able to live vicariously thru her experiences.

The author's style and imagery reminds me of Frances Mayes and her books on her 2nd home, in Tuscany. I love this style.

I'm reading this in 2021 and the book was written in 2006. I do travel often on my own but I'm not sure I would be as comfortable as her friend Bea was. And there has been so much that's changed in the region since the book was written, that it has me wondering if the author would still feel as comfortable traveling the region now as she did then?

[Vidhi Verma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amidst the lakhs of books strewn in Kolkata book fair, I picked up this book basis the interesting title.

What a lovely lovely gem :) an engrossing, humourous, honest and gentle take on the culture and countries of the Middle East while a young girl from Pakistan living in US understands her roots.

[Jan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is primary a book about about Maliha Masood, 28 years old, burnt out dot-commer with Pakistani roots from Seattle and only 2nd or 3rd a book about the Middle East, or if you like - a Travel diary with stress on diary.

Maliha tells us about her joys and conserns, glourious moments and dissapointments - how it feels to live in the shaddow of a more physically attactive and outgoing girl-friend, how she sometimes feels lonely, how she sometimes enjoys just being in her own company, about people that she meets, about falling in love, some admitting of her limited knowledge of the Middle East and about concerns for women traveling alone in the Middle East.

Only seldom though do we really get to know the life and situation of these people that she meets. That is a pity as she seems to meet a lot of interesting people along the way that really could have provided us with some insight about what life is like for ordinary people in the middle east. Her Egyptian friend Ghuma tells her that it is easy to be a white foregner in Egypt, but poor Egyptians are treated very bad is one of the few cases where we are given some insight into the life of the poor Egyptian majority. Her Jordanian friend tells her about the frustrations of the big, educated and unemplyed young popolation. During the spontanious visit at the house of Um Jasim and her Beduin family outside Aleppo, we get an insight into the Beduin unconditional and natural hospitality and the diffenence in how traditional women dress outdoors and at home. But it often takes 50-100 pages between the situations where you get this glimpses into life of ordnary people in the Middle East.

Therefore, i can unconditionally recommend this book if you are (or have a girl-friend or sister in law) in your late 20s from Northern America with Asian roots, burnt out former employee of the IT industry and travel in the Middle East to find yourself. I am confident that you will recognice a lot of what she writes about.

If, on the other hand, you look for a book that will give you backgoround information about the Middle East, because you want to travel there or learn more about the people living in the middle East, you will find some of what you look for here and there, but if you only intend to read a book or two, I recommend that you start elsewhere.

[Levy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very nice book about the joy of traveling and self-discovery. It is highly recommended to teenagers but also to adults especially Westerners who have problems understanding the Middle East and themselves. There is an obvious tendency in the Western lifestyle to ignore the inner reality while people are busy with the everyday routine of the outer reality which later makes them slaves of a life without consistency.

Maliha Masood have had a rare opportunity to visit the Muslim world before 9/11 - her too being a Muslim - and her writing skills are impeccable. But I didn't like her persona too much maybe because she looked like trying to take advantage of some of her hosts (she might not realize it but she did do that in fact). The last part of her book about Turkey proves my point and besides, it feels like it was written on a hurry to meet the deadline. Maliha doesn't mention anywhere how much time it took to write her book but my guess is it must have been a few years because her journey ended in 2001 and the book hit the shelves in 2006. With so much time at hand she shouldn't have rushed the ending...

[Elizabeth · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wish there were more books like Patricia Storace's _Dinner With Persephone_....a travel book that tells the story of the people she lived among for a year. This book looks like it may fit the bill. Just started reading it, so I hope so!

Update: disappointing. I finally gave up and returned it to the library. It seems like the book was about how the author could interest men all over the globe and make them wish she'd stay with them forever when she moved on to the next place of interest. Yeah, tell it to your 20-something groupies.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

"If I had chickened out and waited any longer, I might have given my parents fewer headaches, definitely fewer worries, but I probably wouldn't have forgiven myself for failing to disengage from a rusty vessel of thwarted hopes before it foundered and sank. As least that was how I saw my life six years ago."

For anyone that dreams of traveling to "find themselves", this is an entertaining and honest account of one woman's travels in the Middle East. There is something to be learned from her successes and short-comings.

[Dana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two years later, I want to thank Maliha Masood for introducing me to zaatar. I had never heard of zaatar before reading this book and I was intrigued with her descriptions that filled my head with images of noisy souks and delicious fragrances ... it sounded so wonderful to have fresh bread, olive oil and this mysterious spice. I have now tried several different versions of zaatar and its #1 fan in my home is my 8 year old son. From pizza crusts to challah, he takes advantage of every opportunity to dip any bread into olive oil and zaatar.

[Andrea · Rating 1 out of 5]

I should have been warned by the independent book press and no reviews.... I have read some undergraduate theses better written than this! Also I didn't feel connected at all with the author, nor really empathize with/for her at any moment, (she once said that she was 28 years old and alluded to the fact that she slept in her parents basement on a bunkbed, yet she worked in tech....) Yeah, definitely no author/protagonist connection!!!

Fun travel log, and that's why I picked it up, but otherwise a disappointment.

[Capella · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's just a travel diary with some weird lapses in chronology but it's very interesting because she's an American raised, Pakistan born woman who backpacks through the Middle East. Just getting glimpses of day-to-day life in Beirut and Amman makes it worth the read. When she waxes philosophical about "identity" it gets very weak but the various times she is detained (and accused of being a terrorist) are telling.

[Maura · Rating 2 out of 5]

This account of one woman's (at times reckless) travels through Egypt, Syria, Jordan, and Turkey may be worth reading if you plan to visit those places soon. (I may have forgot a country or two...) Unfortunately, her story was overwrought at times and uninteresting at others. I found most interesting one part where she was drugged and another in which she was the victim of an attempted kidnapping...

[Nikunj Thakkar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Light read with its moments where it makes you wonder.. Some day.. I would want to do something like that. Its a trip, where she goes to find her roots. I can relate to her ideas, as like her, I am someone who does not interact with strangers easily. The spontaneity that she goes to the Dead sea with a pack of strangers. Commendable. Probably its her mate, Bea who also adds to her confidence. Still reading.. :)

[Gwyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm dreaming about a trip to Turkey and reading travel stories for inspiration. I enjoyed living vicariously through the author's wanderings through the Middle East. I appreciated her perspective as a Muslim-Pakistani-American living between the Eastern and Western worlds. I was inspired by her encounters with honest, generous, and kind strangers. It was a good reminder to be open to opportunity and to say "yes" to the moment.

[Becca · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was not the best book I've ever read, but I enjoyed the author's stories about her travels in the middle east as a Muslim American woman. The stereotypes she faces are quite unexpected! It is also interesting to learn more about Islam and women and how people have such opposing views about what it means to be a modern Muslim woman in different parts of the world.

[Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance · Rating 4 out of 5]

Masood travels alone across Egypt, Jordan, Syria, and Turkey, though she does not speak the languages of these countries and though she is both a foreigner and a woman. All of these get Masood into deep trouble at times. In the process of traveling she deepens her Muslim faith and makes many new friends.

[amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The many negative experiences she had while finding herself may have completely ruined my trip, but she perseveres and seems to have greatly enjoyed the challenges involved. I guess shell have something to talk about in the "locker room." The overall message of gaining personal growth is a good one.

[Rosemary · Rating 3 out of 5]

TTV book club selection for May-a Pakistani/American Muslim girl's travels to "find herself" in her travels through various middle eastern countries, oddly not including Pakistan. It was fun to read about her adventures and scrapes, and share zaatar(with bread and oil) together in our discussion afterwards.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a beautiful travel story/memoir about the author's experiences through the Middle East, as an American, Pakistani-born Muslim woman, and finding herself through countries with the same religion and such different cultures. Lovely! Very inspiring. Makes me want to list the Middle East as my next travel destination.

[Cherie · Rating 2 out of 5]

B- While the idea of her trip (traveling for extended periods of time) is incredibly appealing, at times, you feel like she is a snob. Her adventures are interesting--she trusts everyone--but sometimes, you feel like she thinks she's above it all.

[Maureen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this just because it took me back to places I've been and experiences I've had. At times, I tended to wonder how much was fact ...however, I really liked her descriptions of how she was neither "fish nor fowl" in trying to juggle the two parts of who she really was.

[Alma · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed a peek into middle east countries that I haven't been to but am interested in the culture. Loved her descriptions of the people and places that she visits. I also enjoyed the food recollections.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though I wouldn't say this is great literature, I was compelled to read to the end. I felt that the author did give me some insights into Middle Eastern cultures, and I particularly enjoyed the more in-depth character sketches.

Now I need to add Syria to my list of Places to See Before I Die.

[Bethany · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed her writing style and the "what I learned via travel" portions. I did, however, get annoyed at the bad decisions she made. I guess bad decisions make good stories, but she got herself in a few predicaments that a little culture learning and respect could have prevented.

[Jane]

I'm not a writer, so I don't know how I'd improve this book. The author has great stories to tell and I'd love to hang out with her, listening. But I'm not captured by the book. I read about 1/4 and am giving up.

[Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a beautiful documentary of a woman's journey through a Middle East that is not open for the same exploration today. It matters not whether your interest is specifically travelling this region, Maliha Masood's journey of self discovery is a thought provoking read for any traveller.

[Rula · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it. Great cultural commentary, a beautiful style of travel writing, and very cool firsthand observations of a world that often seems veiled to the West.

[Melisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great read. The few episodes of self-conscious navel-gazing are outshone by wonderful travel stories. A great read about places we hear little of.

[Laila · Rating 1 out of 5]

I dare anyone to find me one sentence in this book that wasn't a simile or painfully ego-centric.

[Chelsea · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book all the way through it very much!! yay!!

[Pam · Rating 1 out of 5]

Disappointingly egocentric. And boring, which I thought would be impossible given the premise.