Now you know...

You probably didn't know about this site, Rate My Turban, but thanks to this blog, now you do!

Islamic Feminist Theology for Dummies, by a Dummy

Okay, not a dummy, but certainly a neophyte, and my recent experience tells me that Mohammed wasn't a big fan of women.

Or Allah, I'm still trying to figure this out. See, there's the Qu'ran, or the prophecies as told to Mohammed (and written down later). But there's also this other text, the Hadith, that describes What Mohammed Did and dictates the Islamic law, Shari'a--a sort of 'WWMD' text for Muslims.

Some first-hand evidence: separate mosque entrances & smaller women's rooms, prohibitions on 'unclean' (that would be pregnant, menstruating or recently serviced) women entering the mosque, separate everything--schools, salons, clothing stores, taxis, wedding ceremonies--and then there's the whole covering thing.

In UAE, the 'outdoor dress' consists of the abaya, the black robe worn with the shayla or black headscarf. Both are adorned with glitter designs, sequins, or embroidery but I never saw any other color but black. These are different from the burka and chador. I can now identify a goodly number of countries of origin based simply on attire. Now that you're up to speed, you're probably wondering, like me, how you can wear normal clothes, sandals and lots of jewelry and then cover up all but your most sensual parts--your face, eyes and feet--in an effort to keep men from sinning (and of course protecting the woman and her dignity)? Granted, they likely need all the help they can get but is all this covering really a deterrent?!

Sure, I saw some women with uncovered heads and most actually did not cover their faces, but this was definitely the minority. And there's something to same-sex socializing, but that's when it's by CHOICE.

I spent a whole 90 minutes with my head covered, and that was about 90 minutes too long. It took my greatest concentration to not let a wisp of hair or my neckline peak out. Let me tell you, it was a full-time job. No wonder the women I saw were constantly flipping, tucking or adjusting their scarves. And then there's the peripheral vision question, especially for those who cover their face and drive! There's so much web information (our fav source) on both sides of this issue--some espousing the increase in veil-wearing and its positive impacts--but I have to say a weekend in Cyprus felt genuinely liberating for this non-veiled woman.

At least women can drive in the UAE, you say. Well, it's not that easy to understand, I'm learning. Women's rights don't mean a thing to a woman whose culture ingrains her in a system of permission-seeking. I can see how equal rights would be a foreign concept if it goes against the very grain of your everyday existence. I mean, if the question is, "Don't you want equal rights?" and the response is, "Let me ask my husband," there's a long way to go in this discussion.

Here's a great blog that presents a less blasphemous view of some things UAE: http://arabiantights.blogspot.com/2007/10/truth-about-abayas.html

Blasphemy: I Love the UAE (Oman was even better)

People reacted unusually to my vacation destination: Where? What’s that? Aren’t you afraid? Isn’t that near Iraq?

No, fear never struck me until I was there. The scariest thing about being in the Middle East was poetically my own fellow Americans. Knowing that a lot of them would just as soon bomb the shit out of any country not deemed 'worthy' made me feel vulnerable and angry at a goodly percentage of our country.

My experience in UAE and Oman were compounded by spam forwarded by one of my aunts in good ol' Madison County, Indiana. It read "Boycott this 'Christmas' Stamp" and went something along the lines of how dare our government print a Christmas (this was the first clue of ignorance; I believe Eid is the season between the end of Ramadan through Mohammed's death) stamp (in print since 2001) for people who don't even believe in Jesus Christ (false--next clue) and how if everyone just banded together and refused to buy the stamp (so impactful--yet another clue)--all 41 cents worth--it would be a noble cause. Having just purchased a sheet of Eid stamps myself, and being in a Muslim country, I couldn't help firing off a reply to all. And so now a large portion of my ear-infected waking time is absorbed with how I should reply to the reply to my reply. I deleted some responses without looking at them, but I did read my aunt's which seems to be blaming hateful people who want to poison our children with paint, those who have recently become citizens who seem to have less rights than other citizens, all non-Christians, international aid, and greedy foreign companies for job loss. Shew!

I guess she didn't take me up on my suggestion to voice her concerns to her legislator, because her intended path of action is still to boycott the stamp.

So, really the ONLY scary part of being in the Muslim world was knowing that I am stymied as to how to address a major portion of my own country who has forgotten how to love thy neighbor.

And that, my friends, pretty much sums up my analysis of my trip. More later on how Mohammed is not too down with women and the schools of the UAE.

Middle Eastern Travel Recommendations?

I’m headed to UAE next month….a belated, yet-unplanned vacation with My Very Own Martha. We’re off to visit a friend serving as a year-long mentor to an elementary school principal.

She lives in Sharjah, and we’ll be close to Dubai. We’ll drive to Oman one weekend.

My other goals are to do a European plane change layover and visit another Middle Eastern country.
Any suggestions?

You can follow our trip planning at TripIt
a cool new tool I’ve found that keeps all your bookings and where you can enter notes, photos and links as well as store your confirmations and maps.

Totally Delinquent

Ok, was gone for two and a half weeks and then it took me some time to get back into the swing of things (plus I went to Buena Vista last week for some camping, hiking and kayaking). The photos of all my adventures can be found here. If you go to the sets on the right, they are nicely chronicled for you. Argentina completely rocked and I’m willing to tell the stories in person. We did make an excursion to the race track in Palermo, BA where Team Hot Pants bet on a horse based on mojo and jockey colors (black white and red of course) and won. Wine-tasted and nearly froze to death in Tupungato. Stared at the Aconcaqua, danced with the hot boys in Buenos Aires, and contemplated ending it all in Iguazu Falls. Epoch.

My new favorite coffee house in Denver is City O’ City, where I am currently drinking beer and eating the most kick-ass humus pizza. Down-side . . . no bloody air conditioning! Upside, excellent food and beer, and free wi-fi. Oh, and good music. Damn, they really need an air conditioner. I’d spend all my time here.

Feeling poor?

Here's the global income rank calculator website

referenced by Daniel Handler, aka Lemony Snicket, earner of $1.5 million annually in the article

in this week's NYT Magazine, which has a ton of great articles on the income gap.

Happy reading, you world's wealthiest people, you!

International Incident

Greetings from Argentina! I have been remiss in my posting but there isn´t great access in the Andes and to be honest, I´ve been full of meat and wine for the past week or so and blogging was not first on my agenda. I´m now in Buenos Aires and it is raining, so now seemed as good a time as any. You can find photos of BA and Iguazu Falls here. (Thanks for the posting tip Rebekspe!)

Argentina is incredibly georgeous and incredibly cheap. People consume wine here like it is water. Seriously, today I passed a car wash that had a wine bar inside so people to drink while they waited for their car. Brilliant! Yesterday we were in Tupungato and rode horses all around the base of the mountain. That right, a bunch of horses asses on horses. The pictures are priceless. It was also record cold. Figures. The day before was spent on wine tours and the day before that we were at the Aconcagua. Top of The Americas baby! You will also be happy to know that we have introduced the phrase "el borachasso" to Mendoza and the wine country. And then HP02 demonstrated for the locals. This is a fantasic story better told with wine.

There is so much more, but I have someone hovering over my shoulder. Via Con Dios for now!

America is Exporting Environmental Nightmares

How's this for irony: The title of the article is "Making Trash Into Treasure" but the article ends with "Yet it's still a sensitive issue. No matter how bad the environmental damage, China's appetite for resources shows little sign of abating."

We're supposed to cheer that our recycling is being shipped to China to be used to make more crap for us and be only slightly concerned that the poor regulations in China are leading to serious environmental problems? Nice. Recycling was supposed to help us limit our negative impact on the world...or was it just to make us feel better about our consumerism. Shop on.

Old, but not so old stories on the same topic...
UK sends crap to China
Old Computers Often End Up in Toxic Heaps in Developing Countries
One Man's Trash Doesn't Necessarily Become Another Man's Treasure

This afternoon's top stories on Google News

Bush's new plan for Iraq contains many elements tried before
"...Bush advisers also believe that Americans do not necessarily support an immediate withdrawal and might be willing to give the president the benefit of the doubt if he presents a feasible, detailed plan that points the way to an eventual U.S. drawdown..."

America Attacks
"...Unlike when you are fishing, you can't throw the minnows back into the sea afterwards, and the battle for Somalia is all about the minnows..."

ET, Phone Steve Jobs
"...In the press section, reporters actually gasped in awe a couple of times, or laughed at the delightful feats of technology Jobs was showing off..."