sex, sunshine & videotape

so i am writing in the wee hours of the morning in the dubai airport. which is always a scene. this time passing through i actually visited the city - which is insanity. the 'arabian peninsula' lonely planet suggested the dubai museum, but everyone else i spoke to recommended shopping. i only had one afternoon, so like any good haliji, i hit the malls. the ibn batutta mall was as grand as expected - ibn batutta was an egyptian explorer who travelled all over the world a few centuries ago. today, arabic language students the world over somehow always read texts about his journey. the mall is based on his journey, and as you wander through all usual shops, you meander through egypt, india, tunisia, persia, china - all with vast halls ornately decorated in the style of the country. impressive really. malls are usually just malls. from there i went to the mall of the emirates, so i could swing by ski dubai and watch children penguin around the snow and skiiers go down the same hill repeatedly..... why would you build a ski slope in a mall? why not? dubai, if nothing else, is a city of vast dreams, imagination, and tremendous excess..... i finished my afternoon at burj al-arab, the 7 star hotel on the water which has become a symbol of dubai. it is so eexclusive that 'day guests' are not always welcome to come and gawk at the wonderous fountains and the underwater restaurant has been permanently closed to casual visitors because the camera flashes were scaring the fish. luckily, i was staying at an outrageous hotel myself, so after showing my own rather amazing high-tech key, i was permitted entrance, flaming torches and soaring fountains welcoming me. (aside - my own outrageous hotel is a rather amusing story, the friend i was meant to stay with in dubai was out of town, so i had asked a few friends to help with somewhere to stay.... i thought i was going to be sleeping on someone's cousin's couch & instead had an executive suite at the emirates towers - yowsa!) ... anyway, the burj al-arab was spectacular. i'm not sure i could accurately describe the building - kind of king triton's palace a-la the little mermaid meets old world redgold plush glam meets diamonds are forever bursting but casual luxury. it was a scene. i returned to take advantage of the free food and drink in the executive club lounge rather awed by dubai - especially because it is still growing.... (from my room i could see the islands for "the world" that is being built in the sea) i was too tired to make it out to one of the many nightclubs - it has been quite a week, and did my dancing for the weekend on thursday night in doha.....

it straight up rained during the daytime for a few days in doha last week. (not for long each day, mind, but even a little rain is a noteworthy event.) it has definitely given doha more of a rough edge, or at least it feels that way - a little wind, a little rain, and somehow it all feels a little less like sunshiney paradise and a little more tough.

as for tough, i found myself reading about some new scandalous t.v. show in america about polygamy - 'big love' or something like that..... the article was about the reactions of women who were currently or formerly in polygamous marriages watching the show together. i found it curious to be reading it in this context. a few months ago, i finally sat down with a qatari friend and asked about how it all works in qatar - how women felt about it, what the arrangements were, the reasons, etc. not surprisingly, the intracacies of actual experience are more nuanced and vibrant than any t.v. show or steretype could portray. i hadn't written about this, and subsequent conversations, earlier because i've thought about doing something with these stories. i may very well still do..... in any event, the stories were as varied as the women and men in them. (i could go into the reasons for a man's being permitted to have mulitple wives under islam, but will save that for another time. it's practice, rather than the theory, that i wanted to comment on.) a few stories. i was told of a woman who was married to her husband for 10 years without becoming pregnant, so encouraged him to take a second wife (being childless is one of the main reasons for taking another wife). shortly after the second wife arrived, the first wife conceived. as did the second wife. wife 1 considered wife 2 her good luck charm, they named their children after one another and are best friends. however, i have also heard of women who are bitterly competitive and filled with anger towards each other. because the husband must be able to provide for all of his wives equally, this competition is often manifest in materialistic ways. each wife must get the same fancy watch, same diamonds, etc.... (i found that strange, i kind of thought i would try to distinguish myself so that each wife would be spoiled in different ways - there'd be the diamonds wife, the chocolate and beauty spa treatment wife, the travel wife (that would be me)) .... as for living arrangements, each wife usually has her own wing of the house or her own house and yes, the man is meant to spend equal time with each - including in bed. the american women in the article i read objected to the show's portraying the husband as a viagra-popping poppy. but my qatari friend assured me that it is quite common, even if it would never be admitted.... ahh, love. speaking of love, the friend i mentioned last time who had found a "friend" managed to meet her egyptian for coffee. he brought her a diamond necklace (which she priced later and was pleased about). this proves he likes her, she said, and that he is not a typical egyptian (egyptians are apparently not as generous in the diamonds department)... i was impressed that she got diamonds just for having coffee... she was horrified i have only ever been given diamonds by my grandmother.... ahh, love. ;-)

speaking of love, my award for being the 'nicest' student was rather remarkable. the ceremony itself - for all high achieving students in the women's college - was truly bizarre but pleasant. all the more pleasant when i realized we were all being given gifts and the gift was a digital camera! yowsa. the two top-scoring students got laptops....

time is running out on this particular public laptop & i still have a small scattering of stories to share.... will have to save for later... maybe another rainy day? no, i think i'll be staying sunshiney for now - especially in morocco, where i am headed in about 30 min....

oh & the videotape reference is re: the BBC - if you watch the doha debates this weekend, you will see me, looking intently interested in a debate about iran's security threat to the region (my good friend edits the tape & told me i made the cut).... oohlala!

alright, all for now. am sending warm thoughts, sunshine, and some oppulent dubai love. xx