I had been looking forward to proving myself to my boss for a long time. This trip was my chance. I was disgusted by men like him; ideal chauvinists who thought that pretty women were only good for arm ornaments, trophy wives in the making. I was going to prove him wrong. The piece I was planning on the injustices done to the young women in this country would show him I could be insightful, intelligent and the best damn field journalist he had.

I had my long wavy blonde hair drawn back into a ponytail. The heat here was relentless. My kakhi shorts and button-up shirt did nothing to keep me cool. I smiled at Tony, one of the cameramen. He was miserable as well. Tony was slightly on the heavy side, but he was one of the nicest guys I had ever met. Ayham, the other cameraman was seemingly untouched by the heat or the blowing sand. He was originally from this country, and had been a field cameraman for years. He and I didn't get along, but curiously enough, he was the one who had backed me when I demanded to the boss that I should be allowed to give this trip a try. Ayham saw me looking at him and gave me a brief nod. I was finding his behavior strange, he had been getting more and more cheerful the further along this road we traveled. He mentioned something about seeing an "old friend" of his at an establishment along the way.

I turned my gaze away from him and resumed watching the endless sand dunes pass the jeep.