I once spent a night in the Negev Desert in the south of Israel in a Bedouin camp. I was injured from an incident in a night-market a couple nights before and my guilt for being in such a controversial place was growing, so I struggled to get to sleep. Eventually, I gave up and left the massive sleeping rug to smoke. As I smoked, I walked around the camp until I came across this camel. She was the only one in the area other than me that was up, so I decided to hang out with her for a while. Most camels that I’ve met are rather rude and generally smell bad, but this one was different. It stood near me without making any demands for food or threats of spitting. When I spoke to it, it would bleat softly back at me, seemingly trying to hold a conversation. I think that the camel needed the company as much as I did in the cold loneliness of that vast desert night.