Ramadan Kareem!

Ramadan this year began the 11 of August. Since living in the UAE, this will be my 2nd Ramadan experience. As most of you know, during this month, Muslims fast and abstain from evil actions, thoughts, and words. When the sun goes down, Muslims break their fast by celebrating Iftar. This year I was fortunate enough to attend an Iftar dinner at the Sheikh Muhammad Centre for Cultural Understanding. Here, Emirates hosted a 3 hour event encouraging all visitors to come with an open mind through their open doors. Their aim was to raise awareness about the Emirate culture. The night began with amazing, traditional Emirate dishes.

As everybody enjoyed their meal, a few volunteers, both men and women approached all visitors and talked to us in small groups. They were very enthusiastic and encouraged us to as questions. While some emirates engaged in conversations with their guests, others responded to the call to prayer.

We then headed to the mosque, or as I later found out by Nasif (our guide), should be called Masjid not mosque because segun dicen... it is derogatory, stemming from the word mosquito when King Ferdinad, during the Christian invasion, wanted to swat out Muslim prayer houses like mosquitos.

Here I am with Christine and some of the new teachers this year. We had to cover up before entering.

We then walked back in a blazing 122F weather. Towards the end of the visit, there was dessert, (including camel milk chocolate!) and more questions to be asked. I learned that women's traditional garment was made for transportation purposes, as it was convenient to put on over light clothing and cover their face/eyes from the desert sands. The abaya can be styled in endless ways, as Emirate women have the option of purchasing one off the rack or creating their own design and having it stitched on.

This leather mask (and yes they are leather, not metal) is called a burga. Older more traditional emirate women wear it. Nasif called it "cheap facial" because women wear a lotion under the leather parts that is supposed to be good for their skin. Not only does the burga protect their face from the sun, but some women also use it to signal that they are married.

As the night came to an end, I knew that my perspective on Emirate culture would never be the same. One thing that really stuck out to me is hearing the volunteers emphasize the fact that Emirates only make up 20% of the population. They are considered a minority. And like any minority group in the world, out of need, they must create initiatives that will preserve their culture and defend their rights. I am extremely grateful for this experience as I was able to get to know the Emirate culture in a different light. This has helped me appreciate living here a little bit more and I am now much more enthusiastic about venturing out to discover other hidden treasures like this one.

Back in the UAE

After a long summer break to beautiful South America (Bolivia, Peru, and Colombia) I made it back to Dubai for another year of teaching. I was looking forward to work at a brand new campus, about 5 minutes away from my apartment...but things didn't quite work out that way. Elementary is still at the old Jumeirah campus and this is what my classroom currently looks like!

...stay tuned for an after pic.

So after about 2 hours of unpacking and feeling a bit overwhelmed about the work that lied ahead of me, I decided to go home and look who I bumped into! Meet my neighbor Emanuella. At only 1 1/2 yrs. old she manages to dismiss the worry I picked up during my classroom visit:)

Que linda no?!