What affects men sharply about a foreign nation is not so much finding or not finding familiar things; it is rather not finding them in the familiar place.
G.K. Chesterton

"When you remember me, it means that you have carried something of who I am with you, that I have left some mark of who I am on who you are. It means that you can summon me back to your mind even though countless years and miles may stand between us. It means that if we meet again, you will know me. It means that even after I die, you can still see my face and hear my voice and speak to me in your heart.

For as long as you remember me, I am never entirely lost. When I'm feeling most ghost-like, it is your remembering me that helps remind me that I actually exist. When I'm feeling sad, it's my consolation. When I'm feeling happy, it's part of why I feel that way.

If you forget me, one of the ways I remember who I am will be gone. If you forget, part of who I am will be gone. "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." the good thief said from his cross (Luke 23:42). There are perhaps no more human words in all of Scripture, no prayer we can pray so well."
-Frederick Buechner

So ready to go. All these resources - language learning, storytelling, history and underlying rationale of it all - lie at my fingertips. And the more I explore them the more impatient I get, it seems. I know there's a time for everything, but some fast-forwarding motion would be nice. I want to *be* challenged to explain why I want to go, *be* in training, and *be* overseas working my heart out.

Finding a thought-provoking spiritual gifts test online, realising that's probably going to come into play later as well....

This question I couldn't easily answer, as much as I'd love to give a decisive 'yes'.
"I am ready to try the impossible because I have a great trust in God."
With my heart, sure I'd agree, and the word 'impossible' is such a beautiful challenge, as is 'trust'. I'd just be wary of whether it meant emotionally/mentally/spiritually possible, or physically possible. Physically, as in 'translate all 33 stories in half a year' - bring it on! So I guess 'yes' to the impossible... I don't know if that'd be based more on the adventure sense or on the trust in God, though. I do trust that God can do impossible things through us, through me, when He wants to.

"I do NOT feel uncomfortable when people drop in unexpectedly."
This one's funny, because by nature and from growing up overseas, I'm highly comfortably with unexpected visitors.

Strongest end scores - Hospitality, Going, Craftsmanship, Helping, Encouragement, Music, Writing.


Interesting. Seems pretty in-line with how life is, with what I love... taking care of people and doing my own jobs well, not to mention no-brainer inescapables like writing and music :) And just think if I get the videography job this summer- such a beautiful combination of craftsmanship, music, helping, and encouragement :)

Life is suddenly better, this February. It looks like there's a chance I may be heading back overseas, though not before fall. I had started studying Arabic, then went ahead and switched to Italian- the Middle East is still a possibility, but Europe tugs at me more. And I still have a half-finished workbook from last year, so it's easy to get back into it.

Knowing there's 'a future and a hope' just makes this year so much more faceable. Like I was telling someeone the other day, I "spent two challenging, delightful, frustrating weeks in SC with the wilderness training, then two weeks here wondering how it all went wrong, and what I was going to do with my life." But now I think I can see a little further into the future, a little more of what has for me. And that revs me up, so to speak, because when I know what's coming I can prepare for it. Just the simple step of studying Italian helps, as do some recent storytelling resources.

So we'll just have to see how all this develops, but I'd be highly excited (and not very surprised) to be on the road again soon....

“I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel's sake. The great affair is to move.”

Robert Louis Stevenson

Days like today- after a weekend of fullblown American suburbia - I wonnder why I even blog at all. And that's such a trite question, found on so many hundreds of blogs I'm sure... I hate trite questions. Except maybe when they lead to original answers, none of which I'm guaranteeing here. Only to say that I mentioned this weekend of movies, food, and hanging out to a friend, and said that at times I wonder what it would have been like if I had been raised by my aunt... if I had grown up in her safe, warm southern community... if my all-American cousins had been my brothers and I had been an all-American girl....

I mentioned some of that to my friend, who asked then, point blank, if I'd 'missed much?'

I tried to get her to rephrase the question. But the answer was pretty straight-forward when we got down to it - yes and no. I regret nothing. I'm proud as well as grateful that I grew up overseas, in my own globetrotting home, and that I can enjoy my all-American family and friends and not feel a need to join them.

And yet I would have been a highly different person, so in some vague way I do miss that. I would have developed different talents - physically, socially, mentally, spiritually. Would have had different experiences, known and befriended different people. Maybe by now I would be dating someone or - like some of my friends here - be engaged or married. Maybe I'd have found a job that I loved and been firmly entrenched in some organisation or off in my own studio with writing or photography. I would probably not have typed 'organisation' with the British 's', I would have written it 'organization' without a second thought, because, after all, they don't want to be progressive if they don't want to be.

Anyway. No conclusions, just more questions raised by one small question in the first place. Or maybe two small questions. Seed questions growing more, and all is as it should be....

Wow... major long time and half the world away since I've posted here. Xanga's easier to use, for one thing, and I wasn't as much into the cultural posts over the last while, which is what this blog was started for. No, culture's been pretty simple lately - America. And while I probably processed a fair amount of stuff about the Netherlands to USA transition, it never ended up here... hmm. And I still don't know how much I intend to use this blog, but it's nice to resurrect things now and again. And when I hit the wilderness in January, insh'allah, there may be more work stuff to discuss again. Although I'll probably be online with ridiculous rarity.. that's definitely going to be a shocker. No more two or three daily posts, lol, on Xanga or on here....

"As far as I'm concerned, they can't do that. And if we can't work this out... we may need to give them a blasting."

Spoken like a true Westerner. In this case, the issue is legal, longterm, computer software suddenly showing the message, 'Your system will outdate in three days..." and my coworkers are, understandably, not amused. Especially one who has been in influential circles in the business world and knows quite well the limits.

Yesterday I experienced what seems to be expatriates' number one pet peeve here - the infamous Dubai traffic, backups and road configurations that can turn one missed exit into a full hour of detours and waiting in heavy traffic. Today I'm experiencing the second pet peeve- government and/or business systems that do not tend to operate on Western logic.

I also need to decide, within the next month or so, whether I'm going to come back to the UAE after Easter break in the Netherlands with my family. I'd have to say there is a fair amount of things I like here, and the things I don't like are more of slight annoyances than problems. So we'll see, but I think I'll be coming back...

"If you haven't found something strange during the day, it hasn't been much of a day.- John A. Wheeler

By that definition, today was much of a day. The something strange being the *interesting* censorship on www.xanga.com, where I happen to have another blog. I happen to like posting on blogs that I own, but the censorship issue is making it complicated, since I'm not always sure when I'll be blocked or in what sections. At the moment, depending on how hard I click, how many times I click, or how fast I click, I get this message,

"We apologize the site you are attempting to visit has been blocked due to its content being inconsistent with the religious, cultural, political and moral values of the United Arab Emirates.
If you think this site should not be blocked, please visit the Feedback Form available on our website."

First of all, I agree that there is questionable content on Xanga. But I also don't think it's right to block an entire site because it holds writers out there who want to blog gory or intimate details. If censorship is that important, I would suggest first shutting down all the sites that are *focused* on perceivedly inappropriate details before shutting down ones that happen to *include* such details. Another alternative would be to set up a censorship system that inserts */?__%# for key words, and leave sites in general alone.

Thoughts on this issue?

It sounds like Cat-Fight Night outside... hmm.

The sound of cats fighting is something I haven't heard in a loong time. My favourite story about it, from growing up, was the time my dad turned them into dogs....

The neighborhood we lived in at the time had its share of rowdy cats and dogs, and, like the clever man he is, my dad used to keep a jar of rocks and a slingshot near the window to ward of the pesky beasts. One night, however, he reached for the jar and found there were no rocks! Perhaps the jar wasn't there either- he wasn't too clear on the details the next morning. Either way, he asked my mum what on earth had happened to the rocks. Her reply was something to the point of,"Oh, I'm sorry- I was cleaning the other day and thought the jar was something the kids had left up here. I threw it out."

What to do, what to do. Again, being the clever man that he is, my dad rummaged around till he found a reasonably similar collection of objects that would serve as projectiles. Fire one! And there went the first 'Fisherman's Friend' lozenge. Fire two! And so on, till the miauling had stopped. Silence.

Then, a chorus of dogs started barking. The only conclusion worth drawing was that the noise-makers had not, in fact, been cats. They had been dogs with sore throats....

Well, this blog hasn't gone much of anywhere....

And that could well be because I haven't been in the UAE short enough for everything to be fresh and exciting, nor long enough to achieve detatched interest. Within a few days I'll hit the one-month mark, and that would be a good point from which to look at what I've done and what I'd still like to do.

A thought about culture shock came to me today, bringing a smile- the typical time from arrival to culture shock is somewhere between 3 and 6 months... and I'll be going home after three months here! Then again, this culture isn't really new to me, so whatever stages there are tend to be jumbled together.

I did get a bit homesick today. I miss the freedom of Dutch life in general, but talking with a Dutch girl friend this morning and hearing those funny turns of phrase again as we discussed 'gezelligheid' (the high-held value of cosiness and companionship) and 'vreselijk weer' (horrid weather), and then to come home and hear Marco Borsato music playing... it all made me miss my Dutch friends.

What is it with music, anyway, that evokes such feelings of a particular place? I found one or two internet country-radio stations, and listening to those brings back so many warm-weather and warm-friendship memories of Alabama and the time I spent there.

I've enjoyed listening to some of the softer, more real sounding prayer calls here, and Arabic music has been on the radio as well. I don't think this first month has done much to change my mind about my future... I don't think the Middle East is for me, or at least not long term. Italy, or possibly France, would be more to my liking (and not only because I can wear sleeveless tops and go swimming in public....) More on that later perhaps, but I am doing well here for now, and am content.

I was thinking yesterday, strolling along the beach in the UAE, how totally different my life was a week ago. Last Saturday I was doing in the Netherlands, where gender differences are minimal and clothes tend to be chosen on basis of weather and activity as opposed to cultural traditions and modesty.

And what could be more representative of all that than my grey running shoes? Last week I wore them on a court as I played hard with a men's volleyball team; this week I wore them as I walked sedately with another lady and her children in public. Last Saturday, besides the sneakers, I wore a sleeveless jersey and semi-short shorts; this week, besides the sneakers, I wore jeans and a long sleeved shirt. And even then I stood out slightly as a foreigner- if I had really wanted to be unnoticeable I would have worn a head scarf and a long black coat. (Then again, if I had really wanted to be unnoticeable at the volleyball game I would have worn a beard...) But I'll pass on going the total distance if it's not important... there are plenty of other foreigners (and jean-wearing nationals) here. When I visited Iran a few years ago I wore a manteau/abbaya like every other woman in public areas- not wearing one would have attracted too much attention.

So this area has a relaxed dress code in contrast, and I imagine things would be even more international in the heart of Dubai....


UAE

So... today seemed like a good day to start a blog. I already have one, but this is going to be mostly about language/culture/traveling instead of everyday life. So that should be good...