| Log Cabin Chronicles Letter From the Oasis #7 |
 Jerry Buzzell  Jerry's previous columns are archived HERE
| Posted 10.25.01 |
Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
10.07.01
It rained yesterday evening. Actually, there was quite a storm at around 6 o'clock. The wind came up, dust clouds darkened the sky, and, for about fifteen minutes, it rained heavily. Streets full of water, trees uprooted, one or two quite serious-looking car crashes. There didn't seem to be much water in nearby wadis (perhaps because of blocked drains, leading to flooded streets). It would be interesting to see what the desert wadis look like.
There is still water on some streets this morning, although the 'lake' outside our villa is much reduced.
A funny thing happened to us while shopping a few days ago. Linda picked up some cheese, cut off the block. A few minutes later, one of the managers rushed up to her, wanting her to replace it with some which was prepackaged, because "it smells bad!" "No thank you," she replied. "Roquefort is supposed to smell bad."
10.09.01
America and Britain are bombing Afghanistan. It takes something like that to drive the situation in Palestine from the front page of the Gulf News.
The UAE is quite calm, with few signs of anything untoward happening in the outside world. The Abu Dhabi Canadian Club has cancelled its Thanksgiving dinner, which was planned for Thursday.
"While we feel that it is very safe in the UAE as individuals, we think there may be a very slight risk for large gatherings at this difficult time. We prefer to err on the side of caution."
There has been some worry amongst our friends here in Al Ain, mostly because of large numbers of Pathan and Pakistani expats brought here as labourers. It was feared that there might be incidents here if Afghanistan were bombed.
There is a large bachelor village of labourers (not all of them here legally) in Sanaiya, on the southern edge of Al Ain. Such settlements are tolerated (or at least blind-eyed) because they provide a source of cheap labour. Of course, nothing is said about this officially, but there were riots in Sanaiya several years ago, which makes some people uneasy.
It's often difficult to separate facts from urban legends. In editing this last paragraph, I've crossed out a lot of the latter.
At the University and Faculty, it is business as usual. At Tawam Hospital, they have been gearing up for trouble for the past couple of weeks, fearing that Sanaiya will erupt if they bomb Afghanistan. Tawam has a disaster plan (the Faculty doesn't even have a fire-alarm protocol). One of Linda's surgical wards has been closed and fully fitted as a trauma ward to receive injured police and military, if necessary. (So Linda is short of surgical beds and has to find them elsewhere, including some places which would ordinarily be unacceptable.)
This week, they have begun restricting access to the hospital's front entrance, by setting vertical barrier rods in concrete into the pavement, leaving only a narrow passage (presumably for ambulances, since the Emergency Department uses the same roadway). That is probably working on the same principal as the concrete barriers in the approach to the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait -- a terrorist in a car could not get up a good speed to attack the place.
Having said that, let me repeat that Al Ain seems to be very quiet and peaceful. The country's leadership has come out very firmly on the side of the alliance, while expressing concern for the innocent people affected.
One cannot but feel that, if they could quickly topple the Taleban, capture bin Laden and perform a sex change operation on him, and find an equitable solution to the Palestinian situation, all would be right in the world.
Of the three, the last mentioned might be the most difficult.
10.13.01
The weekend has just past, and there are still no overt signs of trouble in this part of the world. Of course, there is concern (and a sense of helplessness) as we hear reports of the bombings and of the riots in Pakistan and elsewhere. The murder of a Canadian expat in Kuwait on Wednesday brings home the fact that we cannot be too complacent.
From the newspaper reports, most of the Middle East seems to be firmly on the side of combating terrorism; massive bombing attacks are not, however, universally seen as an effective or desirable response.
10.14.01
The rain last week has definitely lead to a greening of the desert. There is apparent new growth on the trees and bushes. They just appear fresher and healthier. It's still too early for much (or any) flowering, but we'll be looking for that later in the winter.
On Friday, the Natural History Group put on a field trip to Wadi Khutwa, one of our favourite spots, in nearby Oman. It was well attended both by veterans and by new members, which was good, except that some of the new people had obviously not been briefed about being 'culturally sensitive'. Without being a prude, several of us were uncomfortable with ladies wearing tank tops and short shorts, especially by the mosque in the oasis, around the time of Friday midday prayers. Besides the inappropriateness of the clothing, there is also the practical consideration of the effects of a very hot sun on exposed flesh. There were several cooked lobsters amongst us when we got back to the cars.
Anyway, an e-mail on the subject went out to the general membership yesterday.
The rain has definitely had a beneficial effect on the wadi. The falaj was flowing very strongly and there were some deep pools of water in the wadi itself. Again, the vegetation was green and vibrant.
(A falaj [let me remind you] is a watercourse and is the principal means of bringing water from the hills to villages for consumption and irrigation. The falaj at Khutwa begins at a weir a couple of kilometers from the village, and travels in an open concrete channel along the side of the wadi, until it reaches the oasis at the edge of the old village.)
On a hill overlooking the weir is an ancient cemetery, with one modern grave. A few years back, the villagers noticed that the water in the falaj was becoming foul. They reckoned that a goat or sheep had died in the falaj and was rotting upstream, so they investigated and found a dead person, murdered at the weir. The police were summoned and apparently they eventually caught the culprits. And the body of the victim was buried it in the old cemetery.
Since then, Wadi Khutwa has been known (to some) as the 'body wadi.'
Let us reassure family and friends that we are well and as safe as anyone in this crazy world. We are a long way from Afghanistan and it is very peaceful here. We appreciate your concern, but beg you not to lose sleep worrying about us.
Linda wonders if part of the concern is generated by TV reporting. Perhaps we'd be less sanguine if we had a television. We don't.
Best,
Jerry & Linda |