Sober Saturday

I have been thinking about how to write this post for a while now. I wasn't sure if I should even post anything at all, but the more I thought about it, the more I felt I needed to express my thoughts on the matter. I know that for many, the middle east seems like a scary place. When you turn on the news or read the news paper what you're most likely to hear about the middle east are stories of violence, unrest, and lack of freedom. Those things are scary anywhere, really. I know that they're the reason that my family fears for my safety while I am here. Then I read this article on the Huffington Post this morning. It perfectly summed up my thoughts and feelings toward living in the middle east and being amongst people of different religions from my own.


The news recently of the deaths of innocent people in relation to extreme religious groups is incredibly saddening. Although I didn't know them, my heart aches for their families and friends. Reading articles and comments online lately has opened my eyes to how incredibly small minded some people can be and how quickly we can forget to extend the same courtesy and understanding to others that we would expect for ourselves. It can be so easy to assert and accept blanket generalizations about people, especially if you don't have the occasion to interact with and get to know those people to determine the validity of those generalizations. As the author in the article I read wrote, "These people who did these horrible things to the Jordanian pilot and the Japanese journalist and so many others, these people don't represent Islam any more than a "Christian" protester who chooses to picket an abortion clinic or a funeral can be said to represent my religion.

These brutes, with their vicious and twisted misunderstanding of God, represent no real religion, no real faith. They know nothing of God."

I never understood why people fight about God and what His word says. To me, fighting and judging others goes directly against what any God would want. From my limited knowledge of The Bible, I've learned that what God really wants from us is to love Him and each other, so that is what I try to do in my daily life. I'm not always the best at it but at the very least try to be respectful and understanding of others. It really costs nothing but a little bit of mindfulness and patience.

I've been around a lot of people in my life, but not many have had the genuine kindness and sincerity that I have experienced in interacting with people since I moved here. I think the difference is that there is less of a self-centeredness here. There seems to be a real desire and openness toward learning more about other people, as well as a willingness to share more about one's own culture. It's quite refreshing, actually. Almost every time I meet someone new I find that I come away having learned something I could not have expected to learn prior to meeting them. Today I was out shopping and I nice muslim woman asked my name. When I told her, she asked if I knew what it meant. I said "sure, I think it means magic maiden or something like that", and she said "no, no, my dear, in islam it is the name of the seventh gate to heaven". Imagine that :)

Masquerades and Masha'Allah

This weekend was unexpectedly awesome! If you recall in one of my previous posts I talked about wanting to step outside of my comfort zone and try new things since moving to Abu Dhabi, and I've done that, but this masquerade was something I didn't really want to do. But as I know and sometimes forget, words have power and once you say them (or type them) they have a way of coming to fruition. I can only attribute how this all came about to God. I heard somewhere that if you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans. Well, I think God had a good laugh at me.

So, like I said, I didn't really want to go to this masquerade. I didn't have a dress, or a mask, or anyone to go with or a desire to look for any of the above. So I didn't do anything to make those things happen. But one day I went to the mall to feed my Shake Shack craving and happened to pop into BCBG which was just across the way, because they were having a 50% off sale. The sale was mostly on, you guessed it, evening wear, so I decided to try a few pieces on. I never wear red (my grandma told me it was for hussies when I was a kid and I believed her), but I decided to try on this red dress just for fun. When I put this dress on it fit so amazingly I couldn't believe it, so I stepped out of the dressing room to look at myself in the big mirror and when the sales lady saw me she said "Miss you look so elegant!"...it was 50% off but it still wasn't cheap...I had to think about this. So I walked around the mall for a bit to weigh the pros and the cons. I already had shoes to match. And accessories too. When would I ever find a deal like this again? What other places could I wear a dress like this? I might meet my future husband in this dress, just kidding! I bought the dress and thought, "I guess I'm going to a masquerade" and promptly went home and hung the dress in the back of my closet.

The following weeks kind of flew by but I found myself thinking about the masquerade and wondering what's the worst that could happen? Then I found out a few of my other coworkers were going. I still wasn't convinced. Then somehow I got on a mailing list for updates about the masquerade so I was getting email reminders about it every couple days. I sucked it up and bought a ticket. 

The actual event turned out to be really nice. It was put on by the ladies of Zeta Phi Beta sorority, who knew there were sorority chapters in Abu Dhabi, right? Well apparently there are, and they do a lot of charity work but also know how to party. After our champagne reception we were treated to dinner while awards were presented to some local people for their contributions to the expat community here. I got to mingle with some people that I had met at other events and also network with some people from the public school district here. That's where I learned my new arabic word, masha'Allah. It means God has willed it and is a way to show joy or praise. It can also be used to prevent the evil eye or jinxing.

And then when our bellies were full and most people were buzzing from the champagne and wine being served, the dj started playing hip hop, r&b, and reggae music that brought everyone to the dance floor. It was really fun to dance and laugh with my new friends and see some of the crazy dance moves people had. Before I knew it it was the wee hours of the morning and time to go home.

Now, I'm a responsible drinker, here more than anywhere because you can be arrested or deported for being drunk in public or driving while intoxicated, so I didn't drive to the party. I took Uber and it was my first ride so it was free! But Iqbal, the driver wasn't the best at following directions or finding my apartment so I decided to take a taxi home. He didn't do much better. I live in a development that has four apartment buildings that all look the same. They're not numbered on the outside but since they sit in sequential order its pretty easy to figure out, and since so many people live here and take taxis, most drivers know which building is which because they come here all the time. 

So, I was a little tipsy but not enough to forget where I live, when I noticed the driver pass my building so I say 'hey, that was my building'. He laughed and replied, 'No, miss, this your building, how long you live here?'. Clearly he wasn't tipsy, so I took his word, paid him and headed into the building. When I got on the elevator my key card wouldn't work, which frustrated me, so I (annoyed) called for the guard who takes one look at me and says 'Miss this not your building, this building 7'. I do not live in building 7. I live in building 6 smh. I just walked over to my own building half ashamed of myself and half laughing at myself. What a night! So much fun :)

And now here are some pictures!