Curiously I always remembered that excellent ethiopian restaurant we went to in Georgetown. I was surprised that it still exists but seems to have risen in the gastronomy handbook. Nothing to do with the affordable hand eating restaurant we went to. Now,white table cloth and elegant wine glasses are officially standing on each table. I am assuming that prices also rose for the circumstances...
Each one my footstep was followed by the image of Diana's death shown while we were having breakfast in a bar...
Few
days ago, chatting with a colleague I suddenly realized that I will be
turning 42 soon...I tend to forget my age lately and seem to have
stopped at 35! People don't believe me when I tell them my age. But then
walking around, with this weird mix of memories, I wonder... Would I
live it the same way knowing what I know now?
I
found the answer to this question in an article posted on one of my
friend's fb wall. As usual lately, articles seem to get displayed as I
need them..."Rather
than seeing it as a failing on my part, I see it as a positive. In each
of those instances I like to believe that I learned something which
helped me to grow and may have even helped in future relationships.
Rather than see them as the ones that failed or got away, I think of
them as they ones that were here, served a purpose, and then went away
after they served their respective purposes." http://www.elephantjournal.com/2015/07/why-the-best-romances-often-have-endings/
My
trip obviously raised other questions... I can not spend 13 hours in a
plane without overthinking and analyzing my different steps in life.
Flying accross the world for officially 1.5 days of meeting. Really?
Luckily I am professional enough to organize myself and obtain other
productive meetings. Also, as usual behaviors from above makes you
wonder which values you wish to work for and how long you will last in
this endeavor... Let's see if the appetite comes back once the Red Sea
is again on sight.
It's
also quite amazing how your brain or all organism develops adaptation
capabilities more and more easily while still resisting changes.
Traveling from one culture to another, so diametrally opposite and being
able to adjust without even thinking to the newly acquired freedom, to
the logical orientation in the city, to the weather, the lack of abaya,
the language, the sense of service... It's simply amazes me as the
reverse is true as well. While in Dubai, I got easily used to see prayer
rooms and covered women, and I am already thinking about my abaya badly
set in my backpack.
The
only thing that triggered my thoughts was an encounter with one Indian
man during my meeting on Monday. Curiously, I am ready to accept
anything while in KSA and I am conscious of the rules and respect codes.
For example I never give my hand to Saudi men. But in the states, I was
so much in my comfort zone that when I wished to shake hand with this
guy and that he politely refused to give me his hand as I am a woman, it
strongly hurt suddenly! As much as I respect it in KSA, I have much
more trouble to understand it in a country of diversity and
pluriethnicity like the U.S. And DC in particular... I still haven't
gotten over it, it seems!
But
luckily, got the chance to gift myself with a full load of self
development books during this trip, hopefully that will help me
understand and better manage this kind of reaction in the future :-)
They
happened to already be quite useful for my flight back from Dubai to
Jeddah. As it happens we are in the Haj season and Muslims come from all
over the world for their pilgrimage to Makah. Men all wear white long
dress made of something that looks like towels or sheets and women are
dressed in their abaya but with a bright colored veil on their nijab.
And obviously all turned to pray at the same time (men in front and
women behind) when the clock said so just before boarding. The good
thing is that with all the prayers and songs that went on before flying,
our flight was definitely meant to be safe! 
Although since for many of them it seemed to be their first time in a plane at an already advanced age, the dynamic was quite hectic. Although since I slept most of the trip, I obviously missed a big part of it. Just looking how my old neighbor had problems to look at his screen (which did not hide any sensitive subject) or was not really at ease sitting next to me or interacting with the Stewart was quite an interesting scene. What was much more pathetic was the going out of the plane as obviously all this population (I believe 60% of the plane) decided they needed to go out without respecting the security rules nor the code of conduct that resides in letting others go out first...and let's not forget that I am a woman to makes things easier!
Luckily
I finally imposed my coming out and found sympathy at the luggage claim
where a nice Colombian helped me reach out for my suitcase!
Tout est bien qui finit bien, comme toujours! :-)
