Settling into the Emirates, settling into myself

Once I met Tarek, I gave myself the chance to relax a bit, which has been so great. I had been running like a headless chicken for the past couple of months, so I've decided to simply chill out during the day. This means that whenever possible, I wake up when I wake up, hang around, do some yoga, eat breakfast, relax, write, whatever. I could probably do this all day long, but I should probably see Abu Dhabi, just a little.


Allowing myself the space and time without feeling the need to be productive has been quite nice, and I’m going to try to do it as much as I can. So much of my life as a graduate student is spent either working my butt off or feeling guilty for not working enough. One of the things I hope to learn from this trip is how to let go.


A couple of days ago, I went with my dear friend to her work at a college about 1.5 hours away from the city of Abu Dhabi. It was so nice to get out of the big city and meet Emiratis living in the Western Region. The average student age is 18, but there are women in their 30s getting their college education, too. Some are mothers, some are widows, some are both. They are astounding – energetic and proactive – nothing (but social taboos and cultural norms) can stop them. But really, there’s something about them that makes them feel like they can do anything. And they do! For example, they opened a little store on the tiny campus selling stationary and office supplies as well as MAC lip gloss (what self-respecting Emirati 20 something girl would be caught dead without it?). And when we walked into the boys classroom, they stood up out of respect. They were so kind and sweet…I was flabbergasted. You rarely see such sincere engagement between staff, teachers and students in the States. I’m officially on the lookout for an eligible Emirati.




On the way home, we took the long way, passing through an oasis area called Liwa so that we could drive through the vast area of desert it borders. It was astounding – the sand dunes shifted shapes right in front of my eyes, as the wind whipped top layers right off and onto the freeway. Just like snow snakes and dances across the road with the wind, so does sand. The ride was intense and involved a lot that I won’t describe in detail, but I’ll outline quickly – relentless conversation, repressed emotion, weather that simultaneously gave us rain, 40 degree Celsius temperatures and powerful gusts, camels caravanning all in a line, desert bushes that probably popped up that day after the earlier rain, and, later in the 2 ½ hour ride, palms heavy with nearly ripe dates.




It was an intense ride, and I wanted so badly to escape into the desert, so I did. We stopped and buried our shoeless feet within fine grains of orange sand. It moved like liquid between my toes, warm and inviting. The eager green that grows there was delightful, and I felt happy to be in such a magical place.




The weather and topography are extreme out here, and as summer progresses, there will be nowhere to go but “extreme-er,” and then “extreme-est.” Yesterday the high was 100F, which is pretty damn hot. When it’s that hot, there is no choice but to slow down. Take a breath, relax and feel your mortality. Really, this is one of the places where you come to understand how close death truly is.


Yesterday I went to another oasis called Al Ain (“the spring”) with my cousin, her husband and damn cute baby who was experimenting with the variable sounds of her vocal cords the whole day. We didn’t see the springs, but we did drive up this heartless rocky mountain range called Jebel Hafit on the border with Oman. The mountains jutted out of the ground slanted, coming to peaks pointing north. Fossils of coral, oysters, barnacles and crab claws have been found in the area. Again I feel small in relation to the vast expanse of time. Al Ain National Museum has on a view an impressive collection of natural and man made heritage from the area. Today the Emirates are a diverse place full of expats from all over the world. But its special location on the Gulf means that it has always been a whirling hub of cultures. This is the kind of stuff that gets my juices flowing and heart pumping.


The next couple of days, I’ll stay in Al Ruwais at a resort hotel in Jebel Dhanna. I’m so lucky, damn it! M has to be down here for national yearly student testing (Allah ma’akum!). Though its inevitably a super stressful time for students, it will be a super relaxing time for me. I plan to hang ten at the beach, read, write, get a little sun and exercise. I will seek pleasure. That is all.