Primary Sources in the News: December 2011 Smithsonian

There were some really cool stories in the December Smithsonian and I just had to share them.

"Artisanal Wheat on the Rise" tells the story of small farmers around the U.S. who are giving old wheat stock a try. The jury is still out on whether the taste alone merits its cultivation, but the article touches on other benefits, too. Because I'm have a passion for history and the environment, I like to follow stories on rare breeds and seeds. It's fascinating to read about the way in which plants and animals were adapted to their environment. And I like to hear about the renewed appreciation for this specificity over one-size-fits-all monoculture with its intendant dangers. Besides preserving biodiversity, I love the thought of being able to taste a food the way my ancestors did, to put myself in their shoes for a little while.

Speaking of getting in touch with our ancestors, I was excited to read about a Smithsonian project with the Osage tribe in which early 20th-century busts of tribal members have been rediscovered and people are getting to meet their grandfathers face-to-face! The Smithsonian is working with family members and the tribal museum to have copies made for them. And from my part of the country comes a story about a dam removal project on the Elwha River in Washington State that will provide the opportunity for the Klallam people to walk their ancestral land for the first time in over a century.

(Also from my old stomping grounds, an article on Clarence Darrow, that asks whether he might have bribed a jury member, references the Special Collections at the University of Oregon.)

For Star Wars Fans & Dog Lovers Out There

If you have missed this elsewhere, I just had to post it to my blog! Hee hee!

The Price of a Good Thali Lunch

We had a veggie Indian lunch at Sangeetha here in Abu Dhabi yesterday. It's delicious and cheap which is unusual in this town. We met up with a couple of friends and their two small children around 1:30. Unfortunately our timing and our natural reticence meant that we didn't get food for a good 45 minutes, as people who arrived well after us got served first. Sigh.

We all know that small children have a narrow window of patience for these things. I had hoped that the folks at the restaurant would recognize this, too. They have a set lunch, so usually they would have had food on the table within five minutes of seating us, but a busload of folks had arrived just before us and it happened to be a special harvest festival--Happy Pongal, by the way! The food was tasty and served in generous portions in the end, fortunately, and we emerged relatively unscathed and stuffed with all sorts of goodness (only some of which could we name).

Lessons learned:

1. Observe and adapt to the culture of the place. Be bold--assertiveness is rewarded at Sangeetha.
2. Avoid festival days when possible.
3. Order immediately upon being seated. 

Trends in Pets

We've noticed a lot of young men walking huskies along the Corniche in the evenings. I don't think Emiratis have traditionally owned dogs because of Muslim strictures against the canine kind. They are considered ritually unclean. So, I wondered if this might be some sort of youthful rebelliousness. I worry about the welfare of the dogs since they are cold-weather dogs in what is a very hot-weather country come summer and their people may not understand what it means to be a responsible dog owner.

The other day we saw a young man with a snake dangling from his shoulder and speculated whether that would be the next trend. Then last night, some guys upped the stakes by walking two monkeys on leashes. What will be next?

Pistache Perdu

I do not have the most domestic of skills, but I love food, so occasionally I'll turn on the stove and make something. This morning we had a fresh loaf of pain de campagne and some eggs, so I thought I'd make some French toast. When reaching for the cinnamon, my eye fell a bag of pistachios. What would it taste like to dredge the bread through pistachios and cinnamon before cooking, I wondered.

So, I cracked the eggs into a bowl with a little soy milk, cut a thick slice of bread and put it in the bowl to soak. I chopped the nuts and mixed them with cinnamon then added butter to the frying pan and warmed it up on the stove before forking in the soaked bread. (I quickly figured out that sprinkling the chopped nuts over the bread after it was in the skillet worked better than dredging--more even distribution.) When it was done, I divided the French toast in two and drizzled (poured, really) maple and lingonberry syrups over the halves.

I love the tanginess of the egg and the sourdough combined with the sweetness of the cinnamon and syrup and the nutty crunch that I got with the pistachios. Also, lingonberry syrup takes me back to my childhood. It reminds me of the boysenberry syrup that was traditionally served with pancakes and French toast when I was a kid. Do restaurants still provide those little sticky pitchers? One boysenberry, one "maple"?

Wrapping up 2011

We had a busy couple of days wrapping up 2011. On the 30th, we visited the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. The light that afternoon was just stunning on all that white marble. It was beautiful!

And then for something completely different...we went go karting on Yas Island. Yep, you get to put on racing coveralls. That's Chuck and me with the dark visors. I'd never gone go karting before. It was a little terrifying going around the twists and turns of the track. We ladies came in 14th, 15th, and 16th...of 16. Sigh. Afterwards, we had dinner at Amerigo's at the Park Inn which had delicious Tex Mex and strong margaritas!

On New Year's Eve morning, the women got up and went kayaking around the mangroves. It was very peaceful. We saw lots of egrets and heron and even a flock of flamingoes wading in the distance. It was much easier than my previous kayaking experiences, possibly due to the lack of wind, which made it much more fun than I expected. (I admit it, I was a doubter.)

After re-energizing with a shower and some French pastries, we had a generous and tasty Indian thali lunch at Sangheeta followed by abaya shopping. And we fit in a nap before heading to celebrate the new year with friends. It was a crazy busy weekend, but we had so much fun!

Falcons!

Yesterday morning we visited the Falcon Hospital. After the, now familiar, navigational challenges, we found the place out among the scrub. If we'd known, we could have made arrangements to visit the Saluki Center, too--there's always next time.

It was impressive! They began with a preliminary lecture including how falcons travel--when commercially, in-cabin, two to a seat, with passports--how they are acquired--from licensed breeders mostly in Europe--how much they are worth--tens of thousands of dollars--where they are taken to hunt--Central Asia, North Africa, Pakistan--and how many a Sheikh might own--a couple hundred. We also learned that female falcons can be twice as big as males and are the preferred hunters.

Then we entered the exam room, where some twenty falcons were lined up on perches on the floor awaiting service--19 of them were female.  Here they perform routine maintenance, like clipping and sharpening talons and beaks, and more complicated care, like replacing or repairing feathers. Before any procedure they knock the falcon out with anesthesia delivered via a mask that fits over its entire head. They split our group into two and we got to see them trim a falcon's talons and beak. They let us touch its feathers and showed us its ears.

They also demonstrated a sort of falcon repair kit where we got to see how different feather breaks are fixed. They use bamboo near the base or a needle at the tip and glue it back together. Not only are the birds given a microchip for identification, but when hunting, they are fitted with a tracking device on their tail! This way the hunter can follow along in a truck as the bird flies.

The highlight of the visit was getting to hold two different falcons. The first required a thick leather glove and was surprisingly heavy. The second was a much smaller bird that we could hold right on our wrist.

Our tour wrapped up with a visit to an aviary--in the summer they are air-conditioned since falcons in the wild would migrate to cooler climes--some individual outdoor cages with eagles and owls, and then the small museum. I highly recommend a visit!

Camels!

Molly's shot of a camel crossing

Having a visitor has given me the impetus to do some of those cultural things I've been meaning to do. Tuesday, four of us went to the Al Dhafra Camel Festival in Abu Dhabi's Western Region at the entrance of the atmospherically named Rub Al Khali, or Empty Quarter.

Molly and Ben and I were grateful that Chris agreed to drive--he was much more adventurous than I would have been. This was my first experience having to navigate out-of-town. Thank God we also had the iPhone and its mapping abilities. I now see why everyone has a GPS and a road map with coordinates. The signage is extremely limited and tends to be right at the turn off or exit with no lead time.

We eventually made it to the festival with the help of the taxi driver hired by some folks we met at a rest stop. We had missed the poorly labeled side road for the festival and were well on our way to the Liwa Oasis when we turned around.

At the festival itself, we started at the Ministry of the Interior village where we learned all about historic and modern uniforms of police, military, and emergency response units. We browsed the other tents including one in which little kids could dress in uniform to have their picture taken, the military band's tent, and the Special Forces tent where we could have apparently fired a real automatic (?) weapon.

Then I asked one of the officers how we could get to the camels that we saw in the distance. He said, "No English," so I said in Arabic "where (is a) camel?" He pointed down the road. So, off we went in Chris's little compact car, down a road that increasingly turned to desert, until we found ourselves in a chaotic mix of camels and four wheel-drive vehicles--some driven by children (both the camels and the 4WDs).

Shot of Chris and camel owner by Molly

We pulled over and went to speak with some of the camel owners. Chris had a nice chat in Arabic with a man from Sudan in which we learned, among other tidbits, that his camel could go for $10,000, but the darker camels were worth a lot more. As we spoke, Emiratis pulled up in their trucks to talk to the owners, but we couldn't tell whether they were asking after the camels or us. We seemed to be the only foreigners out there and I'm sure we made a ridiculous sight--No one else was on foot unless they were corralling dromedaries.

Molly & me with camels by Ben

On the way back out, we got caught in a jam of trucks, camels, and a news crew interviewing people. Fortunately, Chris's Shanghai driving skills kicked in and he got us back to the cultural village.

While there, we got to see men perform the traditional Emirati dance (al yawlah?) with sticks and swords and possibly fake guns. They sang in a sort of call and response style accompanied by drums.

Camel babies!

Later, Molly and I were invited to drink Arabic coffee with cardamom and hot milk with ginger and sugar (surprisingly tasty!) with some ladies in full niqab. We asked after each other and they gave us each a little gift. We weren't sure what we were doing, but think we made it out without causing offense (?).

The way back to Abu Dhabi was down a dark road with semi trucks in the right lane and impatient locals in the left. It was a little scary, but in the end we got home with sand in our hair and shoes, but otherwise without incident. What a day! (Alf shukr to Chris for getting us back in one piece!)

Dubai, the superlative-est city in the world!

Molly was scheduled to arrive in Dubai Thursday night, so Chuck and I rode up after work. After checking into our hotel, we took the metro to Chuck's tailor to pick up his new linen suit. But first, we stopped at a veg Indian place, Sangheeta, for dinner. It was excellent! We've got to track down the branch in Abu Dhabi!

Friday we spent at Dubai Mall. It was quite accessible for being "the largest mall in the world". We had a nice brunch at Shakespeare and Co.--delicious hollaindaise!--and then visited the Dubai Aquarium, featuring the "world's largest viewing panel" and some pretty cool gray nurse sharks (a.k.a. sand tiger sharks). Looking at those teeth from below as you walk through the tunnel is a leetle freaky.

After more browsing and shopping, we made our way to the Burj Khalifa ("the tallest man-made structure in the world")--not nearly as accessible as the mall. In fact, it was so exclusive, we couldn't figure out how to get in the door. We eventually made it in and met up with Chris for high tea on the 122nd floor at At.Mosphere, the "highest restaurant in the world".

We started with a glass of bubbly; nibbled on tea sandwiches; sipped tea; and compared notes on the little cakes that finished out the set. A couple of hours later, as the sun sank over the Gulf, we thought it might be time for a cocktail. Fortunately, cocktail hour began at 6:00. The harpist was rolled away and the piano player brought out. He sang some lounge-y numbers, fortunately mixing in a few Christmas tunes, while we sipped strawberry balsamic martinis--delicious!

We descended just in time to see the Dubai Fountain ("the largest choreographed fountain in the world"?) brought to us by the same folks who designed the fountains at the Bellagio in Vegas. They danced to Thriller! :) We did a little more shopping, then took some Pot Belly Sandwich Works and Baja Fresh back to the hotel for a late dinner. It was a successful, if surreal, day in Dubai!

Oh good, the Lamborghini is back from the shop...

We are constantly amazed by the variety of outrageously expensive cars we see in Abu Dhabi. We've seen custom cars and cars from manufacturers we've never heard of.

Yesterday, we saw this Lamborghini, a Bentley, at least one Maserati, along with the usual Porsches and Mercedes (they seem to be a dime a dozen). We've decided the 4-door white Porsche is the family car of choice. You know, the car you take to get groceries, the one that fits the kids' carseats.