杂

每天都忙得不可开交。六天的工作日很累，却空降了个韩国人鼓吹韩国人都工作七天。

虽然快入冬了，但白天还是三十多度。唯一让人感觉到这末季的是六点的漆黑，晚上的凉风。

每天都开车上班。早上的阳光很刺眼。光线之强烈，把外头变成了黑白，就只有光和影子。

下班回家我爱走海面那条路，因为能闻到海水的味道。

A docu on Israel and Palestine

I am no expert in Israel/Palestinian issue, although living in the UAE, you do get views from the "other side", i.e. the Arab view. Reading articles in the local paper about the very same troubled land here does feel funny at times, because of how things are reported. The National  ran a story last month about a Palestinian boy (handicapped by Israeli bombings) learning to scuba dive in the UAE.

Meeting Palestinians for the first time is like the sub-conscious meeting reality. The vague recollections of images on the news met with a guy smiling and saying hello.My Palestinian friend is a refugee born in the UAE, and does not have a passport. Neither did his dad, and neither will his sons, and maybe his sons' sons. By definition, he does not have a nationality. Travel documents are issued but this is scant comfort. What I do not understand is why Arab countries do not give Palestinian refugees passports, and why Arab countries seem to have such a little role to play in the troubled land where their brothers suffer. I'm sure some analyst out there will have an answer for me.

I also had an Israeli friend whom I had been trying to get back in touch with. When I knew her back then, I did not know much about the conflict and most of our conversations about Israel were about the culture, the coffee and the food. I was deeply impressed by the drive by Jews who go to Israel and bring back languages and recipes kept and preserved in their families in whichever country they had been living in.

The other day while browsing in Borders, I chanced upon a book about Palestinian fabric. It was hardcover and in colour, and inside were pages after pages of images showing delicately woven patterns that traditionally adorned Palestinian clothings. These images were in stark contrast to the images I grew up on watching CNN - stone throwing men, dead children, bombs, etc. Deep inside the hordes of faceless nameless people on TV is a rich culture entrenched in a land "promised" to another people at some point in time.

Palestinians deserve more attention and empathy.I've lost count of the number of times I've watch docus on the holoucast on the Discovery Channel, and also ABC in Melbourne where I go through the plight of the Jews every other Sunday. I hope this docu makes it to mainstream media.

This video was found on http://saudiwoman.wordpress.com/palestineisrael-documentary/

人与人、事与事像条钢索。走着走着就会习惯。看着看着，就会平常。

New moon

I saw that moon again the other night.

http://mingbox.blogspot.com/2009/08/ramadans-moon.html

明天

明天就要开始工作了，

有一点点期待
有一点点紧张
有一点点向往
有一点点犹豫

尝试了一年的小女人生活，一年的“少奶奶”。 仿佛今天的社会，今天的经济不容许女人安安心心地主内。又或许是自己。明天要工作了，感觉整个人又活了起来，生活又有了目标。不知道这一年的休息有没有让我能更从容地面对工作？让我更认识家庭与工作的平衡？让我在工作中没那么容易迷失自己？

或许这一生都是在寻找平衡中度过，或许平衡就是那一念之差。

明天，新的开始。平常心平常心。

静夜思

老公电话里说：“杯具。。 今晚回不来了，明天早上回来。”

咳，应该习惯了吧！自己对自己说。结婚五年，我看差不多百分之四十的时间是分开的。回头再算算，如果把工作时间算进来，应该还不止百分之四十。我们在一起的时间就只是晚上吃饭，还有周末一天。典型的看到同事比看到老婆多。老公工作辛苦，老婆其实不该埋怨。但写写杂文也无妨。

老公的工作属于飞天走地形，常常得出差，招呼客人，开会，等等。我起初很难接受，但老公说这很正常呀，古时的男子都把老婆留在家里然后四处游走。想想也有点根据，李白周游列国，留诗数百，但哪首是提过夫人的？他俩老婆大概就是那幽夜显影的月亮和影子吧。还有那琵琶女，埋怨商人夫君“重利轻别离”， 去买茶买了一个多月都还没回来，反而留她在江口"守空船”。（真是江水寒呀，江水寒。。）高楼当夜叹息未闲，唐朝诗人好像都爱写写女人的相思忧愁，但偏偏不说家中内人，难道不知贤妻“心恨谁”吗？

要说自己独守空房太自怜，最起码今天的科技赋予我们网络和DVD。我可以一边“非死不可” 一边看《大秦帝国》，一边品尝自创的精美蜂蜜柠檬藏红花美颜饮料。想想老公此时此刻也在独守空房呀，酒店的房。老实说迪拜的酒店不咋地，连牙刷拖鞋都没有，虽然浴缸的Villeroy and Boch 的。

就在这深夜的三点半，我寄博客舒我寂寥。悠悠长夜少了老公的打呼声，安能入眠？难道这就是传说中的 “情人怨遥夜，竟夕起相思” ？这种事大概专署女人部门，老公实在点。现在应该在睡梦中，因为得养足精神明天大早开车回来阿布达比与（阴虚的）闲妻饮茶。

远处回教堂开始拜神了，我也应该睡觉了。



后续

老公说昨夜也想我了。因为酒喝多了头疼，但没老婆递水送药，所以想我了。

WOMAD in Abu Dhabi

WOMAD was in town, and kudos to the Abu Dhabi government for making it a free for all event. I went for 2 of the 3 nights, and probably a good idea I dd not go on the 3rd night because sandstorms were in order. This was my first WOMAD, and I loved it!

I listened with awe the drumming/singing Chemirani's family originally from Iran and was near hynotised by the repetitive repetoire of God praising verses from Pakistani Fariz Ali Fariz. Trudging along the Corniche between acts, I arrived to the playful sounds of Babylon Circus in a slight sweat, and danced to the fusion beats of Transurban Global. And as Abri sang his heart out forehead glistening, young ladies in abayas excitedly took photos of each other whilst some Germans grooved to moves that looked like the twist, though not quite.

The soundscape was as amazing as it was odd. Odd because in this ever connected globe, where one comes into contact with people from all kinds of backgrounds, the sounds from their homeland still feels like my little peek into a backyard scarcely mentioned but always there.

WOMAD by the way stands for World Of Music Arts and Dance.Today where people are familiar with the likes of J Lo, Madonna, Chistina A, etc., regional music gets relegated to "World Music" status, the sounds of the " other" perhaps not unlike the "Best Film in a Foreign Language" category at the Oscars.I wonder if the mainstream music industry operates by a similar paradigm to the food engineers of Mcdonalds who strive to an empirical base for the taste palette so as to increase market and operational efficiency. I wonder if globalization actually reduces the rich tapestry of beats and tunes to a base toolset from which popular music derives, or if a certain range of sounds dominate so much others are drowned out.

To have regional music brought to the centre stage in this very diverse city reminds one that behind the common denominator of "hello"s and "how do you do"s exchanged in English, lie the intricate threads of culture invisible to those who do not see.

The last act I saw was Sierra Maestra. Around me were Filipinos, Europeans, Africans, and South Americans dancing to the Cuban beats in their own way.  There was a group of young men, most of whom wore the national costume save for an African looking boy who was teaching his mates to dance.

Sadly I missed out on the band from China, but that's cool, I have good access to the chinese music scene being the wife of an ex-drummer (OK, W says one can never stop being a drummer, but he'll have to contend with chopsticks for now...) I certainly look forward to WOMAD next year, and in the meantime, I found out that Indians and Egyptians have their own radio station in Dubai..

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