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 places: 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.