I spelled the name of people from this country as "Emarati" in the last post because "Al-Emarati", the blog, spelled it that way so I thought it might be correct. I think that it should be "Emirati", at least in English. The name of the country, in English, is United Arab EMIRATES, so I'll go with that.
Also, I look back at the posts and they don't always make sense. My brain races, my fingers and brain get tangled in ideas, thoughts and nonsense! You all know me and how I am.
And unsure if I should refer to the literature of this area as Arab literature, Arabic literature, so I think I called it Middle Eastern. That term is more inclusive of the areas anyway, adding Persian and Northern African, Turkish, Syrian, and, yes, I want to read them all.
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Friday, August 26, 2011
The English Language in the UAE
This will be short but I will add to it as I hear or see other interesting usages of the language. English is the second language for many living here as well as being the first language for expats from across the globe. I regularly interact with people speaking with Australian, Irish, English, Canadian, and American accents. And Emaratis, Indians, Pakistanis, and Filipinos speaking it as a second language. There are two important influences to the spoken language here, or so I believe. The British were here and many Emaratis were educated in England so British English has a strong presence here. Secondly, the largest group of expats here is Indian and they also influence the language.
I sometimes have to take a step back and try to figure out what something spoken or written in English means. The signs for Yield on American roads say Give Way on UAE roads. Makes absolute sense and I'm sure it comes from the UK's influence. Another usage that is different came up recently. I was talking to a young Emarati woman who asked me what my good name was. I had no idea what my good name or my bad name was. We talked about it, and decided that it might be from an Indian translation, that it means, first name (you know, first, best, good... ). I really didn't know what she was asking and what surprised me is that she said she was saying it because that was what she had heard was the correct way to ask. She said that they simply say, what is your name (no good or bad about it). We laughed, I told her that in the U.S. we would say it like she would.
Oh yeah, and Shisha, also known as Hubbly Bubbly, is prevalent everywhere. It's the smoking of flavored tobacco in hookah pipes. That Hubbly Bubbly, it sounds like an addition from the Indian expats. I don't know that, just think that it might be.
By the way, I just added the blog/discussion link called Al-Emarati to my links. It sounds like the voice, or perhaps the voice I filter through to interpreting life to be like here. I haven't read them all, and so don't know if what I just tried to say is true for me. Especially interesting was the posting called "Just because you hate your leaders". I recommend it. I think Americans tend to lump the whole of the Middle East together, politically, socially, economically. Once you live here, you see how things are and it is not that simple. I am reading (as I said in an earlier post) the book Rags to Riches, which gives the story of the birth of this country from one person's perspective. The first Sheikh of independent UAE, Sheik Zayed (apologies if I formed his name incorrectly), did what was right for this country. He invested the oil money in the citizens, building infrastructure, schools, medical facilities. Look at pictures of the life here in the 60s, even 70s, and contrast it to today. Last night, taking a taxi home from the store, I watched a man crossing the street and thought about what he would have been walking on if this was fifty years ago: sand, with a handful of vehicles driving on sand, and living with no air conditioning, no running water, few jobs. This place might not be perfect but I think that the heart is in the right place.
I'm adding to this post. I wrote it a couple weeks ago but today I was blessed with an email containing the phrase "Please do the needful". I love it.
Oh yeah, and the Aussies don't know the expressions kitty corner and katty whompers (spelling???). Imagine that!
I sometimes have to take a step back and try to figure out what something spoken or written in English means. The signs for Yield on American roads say Give Way on UAE roads. Makes absolute sense and I'm sure it comes from the UK's influence. Another usage that is different came up recently. I was talking to a young Emarati woman who asked me what my good name was. I had no idea what my good name or my bad name was. We talked about it, and decided that it might be from an Indian translation, that it means, first name (you know, first, best, good... ). I really didn't know what she was asking and what surprised me is that she said she was saying it because that was what she had heard was the correct way to ask. She said that they simply say, what is your name (no good or bad about it). We laughed, I told her that in the U.S. we would say it like she would.
Oh yeah, and Shisha, also known as Hubbly Bubbly, is prevalent everywhere. It's the smoking of flavored tobacco in hookah pipes. That Hubbly Bubbly, it sounds like an addition from the Indian expats. I don't know that, just think that it might be.
By the way, I just added the blog/discussion link called Al-Emarati to my links. It sounds like the voice, or perhaps the voice I filter through to interpreting life to be like here. I haven't read them all, and so don't know if what I just tried to say is true for me. Especially interesting was the posting called "Just because you hate your leaders". I recommend it. I think Americans tend to lump the whole of the Middle East together, politically, socially, economically. Once you live here, you see how things are and it is not that simple. I am reading (as I said in an earlier post) the book Rags to Riches, which gives the story of the birth of this country from one person's perspective. The first Sheikh of independent UAE, Sheik Zayed (apologies if I formed his name incorrectly), did what was right for this country. He invested the oil money in the citizens, building infrastructure, schools, medical facilities. Look at pictures of the life here in the 60s, even 70s, and contrast it to today. Last night, taking a taxi home from the store, I watched a man crossing the street and thought about what he would have been walking on if this was fifty years ago: sand, with a handful of vehicles driving on sand, and living with no air conditioning, no running water, few jobs. This place might not be perfect but I think that the heart is in the right place.
I'm adding to this post. I wrote it a couple weeks ago but today I was blessed with an email containing the phrase "Please do the needful". I love it.
Oh yeah, and the Aussies don't know the expressions kitty corner and katty whompers (spelling???). Imagine that!
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Arabic Coffee
First, tell me, is it Arab coffee, Arabian coffee, or Arabic coffee? I think Arabic refers to the language and Arabian sounds like horses, so I'm always stumbling over what the correct adjective might be. I really should look that up before I write but it's before work and I want to write this down before I start thinking about something else.
I don't know if any of you remember my raving about how good Dona Tina's coffee was? She ran a small restaurant in Tulum, Quintana Roo, Mexico. Hers was the first coffee I had consciously registered as having spices added, and it was dark and delicious. It was flavored with cardamon. My mind wanders to the realization that there might have been a Middle Eastern connection there, that the Yucatan Peninsula is an area of great diversity of origins. Digression: I brought Gary Nabhan's book, Arab/American: Landscape, Culture, and Cuisine in Two Great Deserts, and Dona Tina's coffee is reminding me of the diversity written about in this book.
So here I am, in the UAE catching whiffs of coffee with spices and thinking about what I've read about the coffee shops in the Middle East and their wonderful coffee. Unfortunately, I can't drink coffee past about noon so I haven't had a chance to try it from a cafe but I am trying to make it at home.
As I've said before, it's Ramadan right now. This is a huge food time for Muslims with daily Iftars and other food-focused events. So the supermarkets have displays of special foods. I was perusing a display at the Lulu's market and a container of coffee caught my eye. I'm almost out of the Olympia Coffee Roasting Co.'s coffee that I brought so I've been aware of needing to buy more. What will it be, Costa or Starbucks? Well, I decided to get a package of Al-Alwani Arabic coffee (there, it's Arabic coffee, on the package, I have my answer) flavored with cardamon and saffron. Sounds exotic, don't you think? But when I opened it, the color really put me off. It's pale, almost yellow (saffron, of course) and it's very finely ground, almost a fluffy texture which reminded me of instant coffee. So I was not really sure about this stuff. I tried it once and was still put off, perhaps the saffron? If you don't have one of their coffee makers (I don't know yet what these look like) it's prepared by putting a water in a small sauce pan adding a measured amount of the coffee, and sugar if preferred sweet, heating it to a point where foam rises, turning it down, then repeating the foaming and bringing back, twice more, then letting it settle out a bit before pouring into cups. Yes, there's sludge on the bottom, you just don't drink it. After trying it once, and telling my neighbors, Tim and Liz about it, Tim told me that the grocery right down the street has coffee beans and they probably add spices and grind it there, too. Sure enough, I went to the Abu Dhabi Cooperative Society grocery and there were four colors of coffee beans, two levels of light colored beans which were called Arabic, and two levels of dark referred to as Turkish. I chose the darker of the Arabic and asked to have cardamon added. The guy scooped up some beans, threw in some very large pinches of cardamon (me thinking, no, no, too much!) and asked me how I wanted it ground. At that point language barriers became apparent as I said less fine and he said more fine and neither of us understood the other. I bought this huge bag for less than 10 Dirhams (less than $2.72). That's what I'm drinking this morning. Unfortunately, as I was writing this, the coffee boiled rather than just bringing it to foaming. Making Arabic coffee is something that should be done while paying attention, no multi-tasking allowed. I will try again tomorrow when I am not getting ready for work. (Tomorrow is the beginning of our weekend and also the start of our Eid holiday which includes having the entire week off from work! And it's another food holiday. I think I'm in my element!)
As I learn more about this coffee, I will let you know. Now, off to work!
I don't know if any of you remember my raving about how good Dona Tina's coffee was? She ran a small restaurant in Tulum, Quintana Roo, Mexico. Hers was the first coffee I had consciously registered as having spices added, and it was dark and delicious. It was flavored with cardamon. My mind wanders to the realization that there might have been a Middle Eastern connection there, that the Yucatan Peninsula is an area of great diversity of origins. Digression: I brought Gary Nabhan's book, Arab/American: Landscape, Culture, and Cuisine in Two Great Deserts, and Dona Tina's coffee is reminding me of the diversity written about in this book.
So here I am, in the UAE catching whiffs of coffee with spices and thinking about what I've read about the coffee shops in the Middle East and their wonderful coffee. Unfortunately, I can't drink coffee past about noon so I haven't had a chance to try it from a cafe but I am trying to make it at home.
As I've said before, it's Ramadan right now. This is a huge food time for Muslims with daily Iftars and other food-focused events. So the supermarkets have displays of special foods. I was perusing a display at the Lulu's market and a container of coffee caught my eye. I'm almost out of the Olympia Coffee Roasting Co.'s coffee that I brought so I've been aware of needing to buy more. What will it be, Costa or Starbucks? Well, I decided to get a package of Al-Alwani Arabic coffee (there, it's Arabic coffee, on the package, I have my answer) flavored with cardamon and saffron. Sounds exotic, don't you think? But when I opened it, the color really put me off. It's pale, almost yellow (saffron, of course) and it's very finely ground, almost a fluffy texture which reminded me of instant coffee. So I was not really sure about this stuff. I tried it once and was still put off, perhaps the saffron? If you don't have one of their coffee makers (I don't know yet what these look like) it's prepared by putting a water in a small sauce pan adding a measured amount of the coffee, and sugar if preferred sweet, heating it to a point where foam rises, turning it down, then repeating the foaming and bringing back, twice more, then letting it settle out a bit before pouring into cups. Yes, there's sludge on the bottom, you just don't drink it. After trying it once, and telling my neighbors, Tim and Liz about it, Tim told me that the grocery right down the street has coffee beans and they probably add spices and grind it there, too. Sure enough, I went to the Abu Dhabi Cooperative Society grocery and there were four colors of coffee beans, two levels of light colored beans which were called Arabic, and two levels of dark referred to as Turkish. I chose the darker of the Arabic and asked to have cardamon added. The guy scooped up some beans, threw in some very large pinches of cardamon (me thinking, no, no, too much!) and asked me how I wanted it ground. At that point language barriers became apparent as I said less fine and he said more fine and neither of us understood the other. I bought this huge bag for less than 10 Dirhams (less than $2.72). That's what I'm drinking this morning. Unfortunately, as I was writing this, the coffee boiled rather than just bringing it to foaming. Making Arabic coffee is something that should be done while paying attention, no multi-tasking allowed. I will try again tomorrow when I am not getting ready for work. (Tomorrow is the beginning of our weekend and also the start of our Eid holiday which includes having the entire week off from work! And it's another food holiday. I think I'm in my element!)
As I learn more about this coffee, I will let you know. Now, off to work!
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Book Groups and Books in the UAE
I've decided that I will post little reports often rather than thinking in my mind of all the things I should research before writing a post (such as my Dates posting which will happen in the future after I receive the Dates book I requested). So this is the first of my small reports.
I am attending my first book group event in the UAE with the meetup group, Abu Dhabi Book Club, on Sept 3rd. We're reading The Great Gatsby which I have little interest in re-reading forty years later. I want to be reading and learning about Arab literature, there's no time to re-read the old stuff. But I want to give the group a good chance so I'll at least skim it beforehand. The meeting will take place at Cafe Arabia which is described as a place where both expats and Emiratis meet. I will be interested in both the meeting and the cafe, if not the book. I wonder if they'd be interested in the Oly Reads style book group, where no one reads the same book unless it's by accident.
I joined the Goodreads UAE Good Readers group (and mentioned Oly Reads in my introduction) and found 2 suggested links to Arab literature there:
Kutub: Reading into Contemporary Arab Literature
and the blog, Arab Literature (in English)
I've checked out the two main bookstores in Abu Dhabi, McGrudy's and Jashanman. I bought five books at McGrudy's last weekend:
A Middle Eastern Feast / by Claudia Roden
The Middle Eastern Kitchen / by Ghillie Basan
Real Flavors of Arabia: a nomadic gourmet's journey from Marrakesh to Muscat / by Mike Harrison
Gardening in Oman and the UAE / by Anne Love
The Native plants of Oman: an introduction, with notes for gardeners / by Clive Winbow
The newspapers here have book reviews and author interviews at least once a week. After reading an interview with Alaa al Aswany, I found a copy of his The Yacoubian Building in the library. I recommend it. I've read that it was made into a movie of the same name in 2006. My library doesn't have a copy of the DVD but I think I'll suggest that we buy it.
I'm currently reading From Rags to Riches: a Story of Abu Dhabi / by Mohammed A.J. Al Fahim. It's a personal account of life and how it has changed in the UAE during his lifetime. He was born in the late 1940s and experienced the extreme changes that the people of this place have lived through. It's rather mindblowing and it seems like a good book to get a perspective on the country.
I have a lot to explore in the literature and culture of the area, and plenty of time for it. I'll try to be better about reporting more often.
I am attending my first book group event in the UAE with the meetup group, Abu Dhabi Book Club, on Sept 3rd. We're reading The Great Gatsby which I have little interest in re-reading forty years later. I want to be reading and learning about Arab literature, there's no time to re-read the old stuff. But I want to give the group a good chance so I'll at least skim it beforehand. The meeting will take place at Cafe Arabia which is described as a place where both expats and Emiratis meet. I will be interested in both the meeting and the cafe, if not the book. I wonder if they'd be interested in the Oly Reads style book group, where no one reads the same book unless it's by accident.
I joined the Goodreads UAE Good Readers group (and mentioned Oly Reads in my introduction) and found 2 suggested links to Arab literature there:
Kutub: Reading into Contemporary Arab Literature
and the blog, Arab Literature (in English)
I've checked out the two main bookstores in Abu Dhabi, McGrudy's and Jashanman. I bought five books at McGrudy's last weekend:
A Middle Eastern Feast / by Claudia Roden
The Middle Eastern Kitchen / by Ghillie Basan
Real Flavors of Arabia: a nomadic gourmet's journey from Marrakesh to Muscat / by Mike Harrison
Gardening in Oman and the UAE / by Anne Love
The Native plants of Oman: an introduction, with notes for gardeners / by Clive Winbow
The newspapers here have book reviews and author interviews at least once a week. After reading an interview with Alaa al Aswany, I found a copy of his The Yacoubian Building in the library. I recommend it. I've read that it was made into a movie of the same name in 2006. My library doesn't have a copy of the DVD but I think I'll suggest that we buy it.
I'm currently reading From Rags to Riches: a Story of Abu Dhabi / by Mohammed A.J. Al Fahim. It's a personal account of life and how it has changed in the UAE during his lifetime. He was born in the late 1940s and experienced the extreme changes that the people of this place have lived through. It's rather mindblowing and it seems like a good book to get a perspective on the country.
I have a lot to explore in the literature and culture of the area, and plenty of time for it. I'll try to be better about reporting more often.
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