I have arrived!

Greetings from Abu Dhabi! I arrived just a couple of days ago and hit the ground running. With the help of relaxation pills at night (thanks Xtino and Katie!) and caffeine during the day, I battled jet lag like a champ!

New York was a beautiful trip, though Nayara and Christina, thoroughly beat down by the heaviness of living there, kept disagreeing with me about how beautiful the city really is. A visit to New York is similar to playing with someone else’s baby because when you’re done, you can simply hand her right back to mama. But Sarah’s dedication to making it happen in that place attests to its potential. Good luck to the three of you, my sisters.

I ate….oh how I ate! Delicious Italian food at Inoteca with a sweet friend: bruchette with caponata di verdure, fresh ricotta with sun dried tomato, and this crazy sumptuous almond love paste smeared over delicious bread. Jesus Christ.
Bottles of wine, over priced cupcakes, Jamaican food that included prawns cooked in a coconut milk sauce. Needless to say, it was TOO MUCH! I’ve re-devoted myself to exercise. Otherwise, I’d be in be big trouble. New York also involved art (umm yeah, the point of this crazy trip). I met Walid Raad and realized that I have much to learn, and much to unlearn. It made me anxious, but I can do it. I also saw a couple of exhibits: “Archive Fever” at the International Center for Photography and the Whitney Biennale (most notable: Walead Beshty http://www.hammer.ucla.edu/exhibitions/110/).


Next stop: Paris for a day! Just enough to whet my appetite (literally and figuratively…) and spend a beautiful day with my dear Katie and Viktor. We walked the city traversing the 19th century passages, taking in the beautiful window displays of Spanish tapas, beautiful cookies colored and flavored with lavender, artisanal cheeses. We jumped around Daniel Buren’s site specific installation at the Palais Royale, flipped off the basilica Sacre Coeur at Montmarte for its affront to revolution, drank some tasty French wine, thoroughly enjoyed this Vietnamese dish called Bun Bo. It was a beautiful trip and I can’t wait to go back in early June.


On the flight from Frankfurt to Abu Dhabi, I met a Palestinian man with a typical Palestinian story – his family left Palestine and has been living in diaspora since, unable to go back because he has the wrong passport. As my friend Regev (who I’ll be hanging with in the homeland) said, “it’s a war of demographics,” meaning get as many Jews in and as many non-Jews out. I meet one Palestinian after the other, most of whom have never been there, have conversations about what it’s like to be a Palestinian in Diaspora – with survivor guilt if you’re doing well, or this burning push to keep working on and on. Palestine looms in my head and heart, a metaphorical, emotional, literal, and sometimes mythical place that demands my attention. It is my final destination on this trip, and I think it will envelop me like a blanket.


I’m staying in Abu Dhabi, but have not yet explored it. On M’s days off, we took the long drive to Dubai. It’s about 1-½ hours away, but it’s a huge pain because Dubai is one gigantic construction zone and traffic is constantly re-routed. One cannot rely on the same landmark from one week to the other. New developments are constantly being erected, and the landscape is always changing. That said, the buildings are mind boggling, and situations crazy. I still don’t understand this building we saw yesterday that looked paper thin on one end. I swear to God. And M mentioned that she recently saw a bulldozer on top of another building. Inexplicable. Dubai’s money comes from tourism, so here’s how one can experience the emirate: go to the Emirates Mall and ski in an indoor ski mountain, shop, eat, play, etc. Or, you can go to this (new) souk that comes complete with a Seattle’s Best Coffee and Cinnabon. You can also check out the Burj al Arab: http://tetrabulgaria.com/listing_image_4392.html
Or the islands being built in various shapes, like date palms: http://guide.theemiratesnetwork.com/living/dubai/the_palm_islands.php
or the map of the world: http://guide.theemiratesnetwork.com/living/dubai/the_world_islands.php

Yesterday M and I also drove to Sharjah, where I met Tarek Al Ghoussein (another dissertation artist) in his home on the American University Sharjah campus. It was an exciting conversation that made me feel like the direction of my thinking about his work will be productive. Later, we went to Dubai and had dinner with Jack Persekian who I’ll be working with at Al Ma’mal Foundation for Contemporary Art in Jerusalem.

One thing about the Emirates that has really blown my mind: the racial, cultural, and class diversity here is such that difference is the norm. There are workers who come from places like the Philipines, South Asia, Europe, the US, the rest of the Arab world, West and East Africa, and East Asia. People come here to work for a number of years and make $$ to send back home with the intention of eventually leaving. The lingua franca is therefore English (which is a bummer because I want to speak Arabi!!!) Housing is generally paid for, and people get either transportation allowances or get driven to work in big buses. It’s no cure for capitalist exploitation, but it seems that people who get here can make the money they are after.

Today (4 may 08) is my first chill day. I’m writing, exercising, puttering around and thinking of my family and friends – missing the ones in the States and grateful for the chance to meet up with those on this side of the world. The fact that I’ll be primarily staying with friends and family throughout this trip attests to the fact that I am blessed! I am grateful, and I am happy. Big Hugs to you all.