Jotting in the Gulf

We all have moments in our lives that for reasons—both political and personal—stick with us for months and even years on end. For me, such moments arrive as vivid visual flashbacks, intense emotions or just the simple memory of where I was at a specific date in time. A natural planner, I find that my thoughts tend to be present and future facing, but occasionally (due to various triggers, usually a sound or smell), I am transported backwards. For example, I will never forget…

(1997) The time I played Adagio for Strings at an orchestra competition in the 9th grade—the first time I felt transported to a “different” place via sound.

(09.11.2001) Sitting in my college dorm room praying my father hadn’t gone to the Pentagon that day and watching the news non-stop in disbelief.

(2003) The last hug my childhood mate gave me before he passed away one week before our college graduation.

(2003) Walking out the front door of our new apartment the day after my husband and I arrived in Japan. We were greeted by the smell of urine (likely from the homeless people that slept near our doorstep every night) and fried octopus (our first place was located on top of a takoyaki restaurant—think doughnut-hole shaped food that tastes like a mix of octopus, pancake mix, ginger and fish flakes… a meal I learned to crave by the time I left Osaka two years later). Beyond smells, our alleyway was packed with vendors selling dried fish and pounded rice treats, senior citizens walking about while hunched nearly 90 degrees over their canes, young adults zooming to and from on their bicycles, and speakers blasting a combination of the Hanshin Tigers baseball team theme song and the latest rap music from the US of A. Lucky for us, our bedroom window was located next to the sound system for the shopping strip we lived on which meant that our apartment was filled with the aforementioned tunes from 10am until 7pm daily! Ah, the thrill of culture shock!

(8:30am, 11.05.2008, Dubai) The morning Barack Hussein Obama was elected president of the United States of America.

It is this last memory that I will turn to as the subject of the remainder of this blog entry…

November 4, 2008

(8pm) Lost. Have wandered into what appears to be all male labor camp on beach. Looking for fish shack and friends. See only real shacks, male “workers” in their after hours sarongs and endless sand.

(8:30pm) Fish shack spotted—literally a shack on the beach—as well as friends. Enter shack to order. No menu, just bucket filled with day’s catch smothered in red sauce. Select fish and request pile of paratha for table. Return to seats outside (think picnic benches under the moonlight). Hear cook sneezing inside kitchen. Friend makes joke about cook’s germs as garnish for our dinners. Everyone laughs with unease.

(9pm) Meal arrives. We raise our water bottles high. A toast to Obama. The food—fantastic!—takes phrase “finger lickin’ good” to whole new level.

(11pm) Return home with friend visiting from US (husband is away on business in Korea). Go to bed.

November 5, 2008

(5am) Alarm goes off. Enter living room. Friend’s eyes are glued to CNN.com. We dress and head out to election morning party hosted by Kuwaiti friend downtown.

(6:30am) Arrive at compound (huge home, lots of marble, tasteful décor). All eyes glued to plasma screen on wall. More CNN. People arrive—Indians, Emirati, Palestinians, Canadians…

(7am) Breakfast is served—foul (Egyptian fava bean dish), eggs, feta cheese, Arabic bread, balaleet (traditional Kuwaiti dish made of sweet noodles), and strong coffee. Continue to watch news. Each time state turns blue Persian, Arabic and English chatter fills the room. Virginia goes blue! Call parents and sister to congratulate.

(8:30am) Barack Obama declared the winner of 2008 US presidential election! Verses of the Qur’an are recited. Kleenex is passed around the room. Tears of joy are everywhere. Yes we can!

(10am) Return to work. Huge box of Indian sweets sits on office table with sign “Obama Celebration Sweets.” Remainder of day countless coworkers stops by desk to offer congratulations. I thank them and say all I did was vote and contribute 50 bucks. Hope is in the air!

Today

When I think about the 2008 US presidential election I am reminded of a conversation I had in graduate school with a good friend of mine. She said, “A, I have spent countless hours with children in schools in rural China, as well as with kids from inner city New York. While to you, it may not seem like NYC schools have many resources, compared to the schools in rural China, they have so much. The issue is the children’s outlooks… what rural Chinese kids lack in resources, they more than make up for with hope. These kids still dream and believe in education. How do we get the kids of inner city NYC to have hope?” I wondered, “How do you give people hope?”

Afterthought

At the moment the world is short on resources. But at least, as of November 5, 2008 (8:30am Dubai time), a great many of us seem to have more hope.

Thank you Obama!

A

PS To see photos from my latest Dubai adventures, click on the image below.

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