Hello there,
internet is more difficult to come by than I had initially thought it would be. I had to wait five minutes for this page to load, no joke. It's longer for some others. But enough of that, here I am now!!
****a word about the posting of photos on this website. I cannot post photos of the DWC girls because they do not want their images on the internet (understandable) and so I won't post as many wonderful pictures but you can come ask me for them if you would like to see some of the wonderful women I spend my week with!
Today was another day full of beautiful weather! I know I didn't finsih telling about yesterday but I will get to that when I have time. I'm keeping a journal but these things take up time I really don't seem to have. We're pretty scheduled here. I'm sure you all were expecting something a bit more stimulating and well written; well to tell you the truth, so was I. I have no idea how I could have ever thought that I would end up with enough time to write such a blog but it was a nice thought. Perhaps there is still a chance for redemption.
Today we learned about the Islamic courts and law, especially pertaining to child custody. I had no idea prior to hearing this lecture, that men and women had many equal rights and allowances in Islam. There are many laws which out-rightly lay out the fact that women have agency. Such things are never spoken about in "typical western culture" and I think having it stated as it is with Islam forms a mutual understanding of men and women as equals in many respects. This is, of course, broken in countries where Muslim woman's rights are undermined. We were taught today that men in Afghanistan who force their daughters to to marry against their will or desires will answer to Allah at the end of their lives. I thought it was a beautiful thing to recognize the girl's right to get approve or reject the husband even if the parents are doing the selecting. We acted out a simulation of a child custody case in the Islamic court after this lecture. It was quite interesting because it deteriorated quickly. I played lawyer, which is mostly likely the closest I will ever get to being one. Children of lawyers don't usually become lawyers themselves, I've heard. It was an interesting exercise because it made us girls think critically about the law and what we had learned from the speaker.
gosh. days here seem so long.
I should be so much more elaborate about this because if I had time, it would be flowery and full of emotion and imagery. But it's not, the internet is wonky (to use Groove's favorite word) and I'm tired after long days. It may be only 4:41 to you all right now, but add 8 hours to that and you've got me sitting in the lobby with drooping eyelids.
We took our first fieldtrip in the afternoon! I'm so surprised about the weather here, I should mention, because it isn't oppressive and hot like I had expected, but rather warm and humid and is quite pleasant with a breezy breeze. I find myself quite comfortable which is a relief because the concept of weather had been causing me a great amount of anxiety before I came. Heritage Village was our first stop. I brought this laptop with me to the college today so I had to bring it on the bus. Unfortunately, I spilled a bit of my tea inside the bag from inside the thermos but luckily not much was wet. Later, when I returned to the bus, I would learn that because I was stupid and put the teacup back into my bad (?!), it had leaked again and made everything wet. including my laptop. in it's case. luckily, it still works great! I'm one lucky chick. note to self and of course to the general public; don't put tea thermoses in a bad with important possessions, it's airtight twist-on lid could leak tea ALL over your bag and all of the things you love. Nope, I'm not annoyed at this ocurrence at all.This village was
hold on. I've got to end. I need to help with a seizure.
well! and you thought you were not going to write about anything exciting. hey! thanks for the peek into your day!
ReplyDeleteWhat you wrote about made me think of this article from the NYTimes: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/02/world/asia/02malay.html?ref=asia
ReplyDeleteIt is about a Malaysian custody dispute. Malaysia has two sets of courts, Islamic courts and government courts and the Islamic courts handle cases pertaining to Muslims. A husband converted himself and his two children (youngish children) to Islam and he got custody from the Islamic court, but since the wife wasn't Muslim she couldn't be represented. Though recently I guess the civil court overturned the ruling since the case didn't only involve Muslim parties.
But yeah, I thought that was interesting, though I am sure there are a whole lot less of that kind of issue in Dubai and the UAE in general as there isn't as much of a split in population.