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The Vacation Spectator
The Jet Lag Journal
Postcards from a family holiday get-away to half-way around the world.
(Page 2 of 2)
As Arab — and thus Muslim — countries go, the UAE is not extremely conservative; it is perceived as relatively “open” and tolerant. But while we saw a fair number of Arab men (as distinct from those from the Indian subcontinent) in Western garb, Arab women who did not have at least a head scarf were utterly absent. At least a third of the Arab women we saw wore full burqas, something that our children strangely never seemed to notice.
From the “21st century meets 9th century” files: As I was watching my son go down the Sheraton’s kids pool waterslide several dozen times, I noticed two young women in burqas — the only visible bits of skin were hands, toes, and a one-inch high rectangle across the eyes — sitting on chaises next to the pool. I guessed them to be in their late teens or early 20s as they sat there playing with their smart phones.
Then, as an Indian pool attendant walked by, they called him over and each had him take her picture with their phones, two utterly unidentifiable shapes clad in all black, looking for all the world exactly like each other and like thousands of other women we had seen in the city. But apparently still worth a photograph to show, or at least claim, that they had been to the pool at the Sheraton.
It is perhaps a Western conceit to think that these women must be at least somewhat unhappy, stripped of public identity and individuality. Yet these two colorless and functionally identical creatures seemed mostly to be behaving like any other iPhone- and social media–addicted girls. Not only do I not know whether they will ever taste a more complete freedom or something akin to equality, I don’t know whether they hope to.
As we watched CNN and the BBC one evening, we heard the devastating news from Newtown, Connecticut, where 20 children, mostly 6 or 7 years old, were executed by a madman who should have suffered a fate much worse than death. As parents of a daughter who is also in first grade and whose seventh birthday was the next day, the news hit us, and especially my wife, very hard; Kristen has been in tears several times in the days since, expressing the horror and anger that are being felt, particularly by parents, around the world.
We have not spoken to our children of what happened in Newtown, and we don’t plan to. While we want to inculcate safe behaviors in our son and daughter, childhood should not be unnecessarily laden with fears of madmen and murder. The burden of worry is mine as a parent, and a good parent does not share that burden with his young children.
Although our overwhelming jet lag caused us to miss most of the few highly recommended sites in Abu Dhabi, including the third-largest mosque in the world (the largest outside of Mecca and Medina), we did have one memorable Middle East adventure: a whirlwind three-hour “desert safari” including hair-raising and slightly nauseating high-speed driving on and over sand dunes in a Toyota Land Cruiser, with plunges down steep sides and precarious balancing along infirm shifting ridgelines.
The “safari” also included a camel ride, which turned out to be two people at a time getting into the saddle of a kneeling camel that then stood up and was led around for less than a minute by a bored-looking Arab. Disappointingly short but it made for a few good photographs. There were a couple of snowboards leaning on a fence, so I grabbed one and trudged about 30 feet up a sand dune — much further effort-wise than it sounds, with every step ending by sliding down half of the distance just covered — only to find that I couldn’t get going for more than a few feet, or a few miles per hour, on the snowboard before coming to a halt even on the steep sandy slope. Again, disappointing but an amusing photo op.
We celebrated our daughter’s seventh birthday that evening at a restaurant at the hotel — which is not to say a hotel restaurant, as it was independently owned by a Lebanese man who was renting the space from the hotel. He is a Catholic who left Lebanon about a year ago. When I asked him if he thought, as I do, that all Christians will leave Lebanon, he responded “That seems to be the plan for the whole Middle East, does it not?”
The food was passable, but not great, which was probably to be expected at a place named the al-Mayass restaurant. Two items of particular note: One, a main course called assafir, which sounds as if it should be an unpleasant smelling layer of air above the troposphere, consisted of a small clay pot in which, in a bittersweet pomegranate sauce, were sautéing six tiny, headless, disemboweled bird carcasses, each not much bigger than the first section of an adult’s thumb, to be eaten in one crunchy bite. I have to say it was not particularly delicious, with a slightly liver-like taste whereas I was hoping for something more like quail, but at least it was expensive.
Upon further research, the bird is probably a kind of bunting, called an ortolan, or another small song bird which mostly feeds on figs, and is thus called, in French, bec figue. You may learn from my mistake and not order this for yourself should the opportunity arise.
Much better was my daughter’s Lebanese/Armenian birthday cake which looked like a pile of white hair but was in fact extra yummy, with the “hair” being some very sweet stuff — precisely what I still cannot say — covering semi-sweet cream in between two crunchy sheets of pastry, on top of all of which we poured some clear sugar syrup. Needless to say, with two young kids, that plate was all but licked clean, after one of the most memorable birthday “cakes” of all time.
As the owner of al-Mayass pays quite a high rent (perhaps inspiring the restaurant’s name) the food was overpriced in a town where good food can be found, outside of hotels at least, for less than I’m used to paying at home. But although I am not Christian, I was happy to spend a few extra dirhams to help a displaced Christian who is working to be a success in the Muslim world. I wished him well in his business as I departed.
Sifting through news online that night, as my jet lagged son played a game on my iPad at 2 AM, I was disappointed to read that the President of Gun Owners of America, a group I was and may still be a member of, had talked about gun control supporters and advocates of “gun-free zones” as having the blood of children on their hands.
His underlying point may have a grain, or many grains, of truth, but I found his comments, or more precisely how soon they followed the massacre of children, to be reprehensibly insensitive. I say this as someone who believes strongly in the Second Amendment, who grew up shooting, who has a fair number of pistols, rifles, and shotguns, and who understands that various anti-gun politicians and groups wasted no time in blaming guns rather than mental disease for the killer’s infamous actions.
————
A few hours after sunrise, staring out over the Indian Ocean just south of the town of Hikkaduwa near the southwestern most point of Sri Lanka, I watch my children run joyfully through the shallow foamy water of just-broken waves. And I am reminded both of the unquenchable pain engulfing Newtown, Connecticut, as well as my tremendous good fortune in the challenging blessing that is parenthood.
About the Author
Ross Kaminsky is a self-employed trader and investor and is a senior fellow of the Heartland Institute. He is the host of The Ross Kaminsky Show on Denver’s NewsRadio 850 KOA at 11 AM on most Sundays. You can reach Ross by e-mail at rossputin(at)rossputin(dot)com.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (20) | Leave a comment
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Appleby| 12.21.12 @ 7:24AM
I visited Istanbul in 1969 on my way around the world, and that was the first time I realized that it was possible to be bilingual and not speak English. (I was 21 and it was the 1960s when Americans did not travel at all.) We were fortunate indeed as word had reached the forward Air Force base that a shipload of American college girls was docking in Stambol and a large number of American Guys hitchhiked 100 miles to take us out and show us a good time. My roommate and I went about with three guys who showed us the town and we ended up at the Hilton for dinner. One advantage of ship travel is no jet lag; however, I suffered plenty of same when travelling between Australia and the USA. Sounds like you had a wonderful time.
Cobalt| 12.21.12 @ 8:21AM
Exactly. No need for other innocent children to ever hear the words "Newtown, Connecticut."
Unfortunately, many children will not be spared a first hand knowledge of evil or mental illnes.
For travelers: http://www.theforceguard.com
Hardcard| 12.21.12 @ 8:50AM
Apparently someone has been excommunicated on doomsday (friday) by TAS.
Quartermaster| 12.21.12 @ 8:58AM
Larry Pratt was not reprehensibly insensitive, he was exactly correct. You may wish that things were different, but you must always be on the offensive against teh left. They must be attacked relentlessly and give no rest, no room to breathe.
Sensitivity is why we have reached the sorry pass we are at. We either man up and fight, or we take your path and lose, and we would deserve to lose.
loulou| 12.21.12 @ 10:17AM
Agree. Larry Pratt was magnificent. I wish our RINO congressmen had his cojones.
This was the first time I had heard that awful Piers Morgan and there's something about the timbre of his voice that makes me want to throw up. Add to that his gibberish and one has to wonder why he has a TV show in the first place. Made a fool of himself.
Simon Templar| 12.21.12 @ 11:49AM
"Sensitivity is why we have reached the sorry pass we are at."
That is a brilliant observation and it gives me some hope, please keep pointing it out.
Occam's Tool| 12.21.12 @ 12:53PM
QM: I don't agree with you all that often, but when you are right, you're right---screw being sensitive.
The way to reduce the violence is to put violent psychotics on antipsychotics whether or not they want to be on them. Check out Fuller Torrey on this. I see this every day---how the legal system fails the mentally ill. Incidentally, YES WE DO HAVE THE MANPOWER TO TREAT THESE PEOPLE IF WE WERE ALLOWED TO DO SO. We waste hours in court and enormous numbers of hospital days fighting for the right to treat people who desperately need it.
Ross: dehydration is a nasty side effect of jet travel. Drink your gatorade.
Islamists don't tend to work much. That's what they have Kaffirs for.
PCC| 12.21.12 @ 9:47AM
If it took you 35 hours to get to Abu Dhabi from Colorado, when most people could get there in half the time (or less) on commercial airlines, then you got what you deserved!
Drunken Sailor| 12.21.12 @ 10:15AM
Careful, Keep writing articles like this and you may get Ben Stein's job here.
Not sure why you were surprised about Abu Dhabi's population not enganged in service jobs. They have a class society and leave the menial task to the commoners (read foreigners).
And yes, Dubai is nicer and more westernized.
Denver Todd| 12.21.12 @ 10:22AM
You have to work really hard to fly from Denver to Abu Dhabi in 35 hours. According to kayak, the minimum is 17.5 and the average is around 24 hours.I suspect that Ross used frequent flyer miles that limited his selection.
Albert Constantine Jr.| 12.21.12 @ 10:44AM
I traveled with my wife and my first two children halfway round the world more than a dozen years ago. My daughter, then the younger of two, turned 3 in Thailand, and my eldest son was granted leave from kindergarten on the promise of giving a presentation to the class upon his return (he did, and got great laughs from the adults present on the virtues of eating at KFC restaurants overseas). While the travel was a great experience for them, I can state without fear of meaningful contradiction that having traveled overseas many times solo, and with children, that solo is much easier, and much better.
Today, with the costs of their college and private school tuitions, along with the diminished opportunity of the Obama economy, I can no longer afford to do this, though now that both have driver's licenses, laptops, smart phones, etc. to occupy their time, I imagine (even with the addition) it would be much easier.
Occam's Tool| 12.21.12 @ 12:55PM
Yes. I moved to New Zealand under Bush, Jr. It would be much harder to travel now overseas, as Obama has made it more dangerous and more expensive.
But I still plan to get down to Guatemala again and go to Israel.
Simon Templar| 12.21.12 @ 11:39AM
"His underlying point may have a grain, or many grains, of truth, but I found his comments, or more precisely how soon they followed the massacre of children, to be reprehensibly insensitive."
Well, hmmm, maybe now that your rested from your vacation you could write just a little about the manipulation, deception, lying, political exploitation, name calling, slander, accusations, and tirade that the Left and the media has dumped on conservatives and libertarians like yourself for that matter this past week while you were gone playing in the sand. Perhaps you could point out this insensitivity and stop, just for a moment, pulling the slivers out of conservatives eyes and ignoring the logs in liberal's.
Here is a little something you can chew on,
Congressman Jim Himes (D-Conn.) said Governor Rick Perry “had blood on his hands” for supporting the Second Amendment of the US Constitution.
rossputin? That says more about you than you will ever know or admit, a good descriptor.
Simon Templar| 12.21.12 @ 11:46AM
rossputin.....
Here is a little something you can have fun with like your contest you have with TLP.
Can anyone correctly guess what irony is hidden here and just how the use of this name and obvious reference fits him so well?
Put your thinking caps on....
RCV| 12.21.12 @ 12:14PM
Ross - Your column reminded me of a wonderful vacation in Istanbul I took a few years ago. The Turkish people were not only remarkably friendly to all, including the numerous Israeli tourists we met, but admirably tolerant toward one another. It was not unusual to see groups of people, some in chadors, others in tank tops, walking together and chatting amiably.
It is hard to overestimate the remarkable accomplishments of Attaturk in forging the modern Turkish state and its culture out of the ossified Ottoman caliphate. Let's hope the Turks have the mettle to preserve that legacy.
Occam's Tool| 12.21.12 @ 12:56PM
I don't know, RCV. Besides, the older I get, the more tired I get. I'm into cocooning.
Jack London| 12.21.12 @ 1:56PM
What a shame, RCV, for the modern Turkish state that it has an appalling recent human rights record, thousands of political prisoners on hunger strike and ongoing state censorship, not to mention the cover up of the Armenian genocide from Ataturk onwards. But glad you had a good time.
Tafuna| 12.21.12 @ 3:45PM
My own trip 40 years ago to Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and a couple months later, Columbo in Sri Lanka, was by ship thanks to the US Navy, and thus no jet lag problems. What a tremendous change there as been in the United Arab Emirates since back then. The UAE was a dusty backwater in those days, and about the only thing to do there was shop for gold smuggled in from India and made into beautiful 22k pieces of jewelry. There were few foreigners there, and the locals were working the jobs apparently now done by people from other lands.