Today I wore a skirt for the first time in a month, in weather that hovers around 90F/32C during the day.

But first things first: I’m in Doha, Qatar, teaching documentary filmmaking at Carnegie Mellon University to a class of computer engineers and software designers, as well as building course materials. Qatar is a Gulf country in the Middle East that is rich in natural gas and oil, and awash in money. Lots, of money.

The skirt – it stopped short at about my knees, business-tailored, grey, and generally dull. But I felt scandalous: wind flapping against my legs as I walked through the long building to my office. Every breath of air against my skin felt strange, like the first time you dare to come out of the house in just a Tshirt after a long winter. You’re cold, but you’re also sick of your coat, so you shed the layers anyway.

Sitting at a table on the way are three women students chatting over coffee. Every time they take a sip, they lift the veil covering everything except their eyes to allow for the cup to reach their lips. I catch a glance of their faces each time they do this, though their eyes arrest me from looking too long. They are wearing an Abaya, which is a long black robe covering them shoulders-down. On top of that is a Hijab, covering their hair and necks. Finally is the Niqab, which leaves only the eyes for the world to see. Eyes that are many times beautifully painted, dramatic and sensual.

(Fact: Consumption of cosmetics is said to be strongest in the Gulf States, where average per capita expenditure is currently estimated to be $334 per person annually- one the highest rates in the world)

There are also women covered head to toe, including feet and hands. They wear elbow-length black gloves and closed shoes. You can see why wearing a knee-length grey business skirt might make me feel a bit of a thrill. Qatari women, however, generally keep their hands and face free, their eyes dramatic, and they Love. Their. Shoes.

Designer, diamond-encrusted, silk-ribbon-laced, velvet crimson 5 inch heels peek out of their robes. It’s blinding. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a normal person wear heels like that back home, only runway model shows on TV. In any case, it’s a daily part of life here. They wear this to school, to work, to shop, to hair cuts, to banks, even to McDonalds and KFC (Yes! American fast food chains have bombarded the planet and Qatar is not an exception!)(Qatar’s rate of diabetes is soaring, and apparently all due to the consumption of fast foods).

I could wear a skirt everyday if I wanted to, by the way, but I choose to adhere to the diffuse guidelines of modesty; it’s not my culture and I wish to respect that.
Qatar is more or less open, although it is discouraged to wear revealing clothing, and things like miniskirts, short shorts, transparent tops, and skin-tight bodysuits will honestly get you in trouble. By trouble, I mean someone will just ask you to cover up… no stones or insults here. As for me, I don’t have to wear any Abaya, Hijab, or Burka/Niqab, and I don’t feel the pressure to at all. In fact, I’ve been wanting to buy an Abaya and wear it for fun. I like pretending to blend in, especially if I’m not forced or pressured to.

Qatar is a muslim country so there isn’t much Christmas cheer here (only at the hotels), and additionally, it’s warm and dry. Enjoy the snow for those back home!!!

Merry Christmas!

Love
Isabelle

I’m in Varanasi, one of the oldest towns in India.
Known for:
a holy upriver Ganges spot;
a large Buddhist temple;
a sculpture featured on India’s currency that is 4000-years-old (three lions back to back staring out defiantly).
(Interesting fact: These lions are polished limestone. No one has figured out yet the process to polish limestone apparently, and they have no idea how they did this 4000 years ago. Yet another morsel of knowledge lost to ourselves – not the first or the last time this has happened.)

One hour later I’m in a boat on the Ganges river, looking at a ceremony performed in honor of Diwali, Festival of the Lights. Diwali is one of the very few national holidays in which literally ALL of India participates in, no matter your background, language, religion, caste. Strings of yellow marigolds hang everywhere and lights stream down building facades. I’m sure India gets brighter from outerspace these few days. For a couple rupees a little boy puts a chunk of banana leaf in my hand with some flowers and lights the candle in the center. Lowering the leaf to the water I let the flame float away into the night, unsure of what wish or prayer I bestowed on it. The further away it gets the more it blends with the stars above, a small kiss to the galaxy.

Moving away from the ceremony, my group is taken downriver to see the pyres, or different cremation sites that take place just off of the Ganges. A bright fire burns (is that where they cremate the bodies?) and I see a wooden bed holding a beautifully adorned body. A small thought drifts by – did they ever wear such nice clothes in their life? And another thought – how many bodies does this river hold in ashes?

The group tour comes to an end with the International Conference on Universal Digital Libraries (ICUDL) which consists of a fruitful set of discussions and panels on the nature of digital libraries, after which I take off for Qatar to start a documentary on the Heritage Library, a subset of the Universal Digital Library which is a project headed by Carnegie Mellon University.

The documentary centers on this rare-books library in Doha, Qatar, to provide an example of the nature of digitizing books, maps, and libraries. Putting an entire library online for users to access 24/7 anywhere in the world is in itself a revolution, unlocking geographical access to the books, promoting universal access to knowledge (the digitized books will be available for free), and providing archival value (think destructive daylight, oily fingers, flipping pages, and the Alexandria fire). There is more, but I’ll spare you the details.

In some ways I view the Universal Digital Library as simply an amazing project, grandly democratic in its vision: to disseminate knowledge as widely as possible through a platform most of the world has some kind of access to – a computer and the internet. To digitize books and make them accessible for free is simply making knowledge available on a scale we never dreamed of before. Think of writing a thesis, article, or conducting any research for any subject: how long does it take you now to research a topic? You first start with a run-through of what’s available online. Then, you grudgingly have to admit it’s not great quality, and drag yourself to the library. You check out too many books and, moreover, you’ll probably miss the sections which would have helped you the most because the books or papers are not electronically indexed. You get my point. The Universal Digital Library is a revolution

I watch a rickshaw driver pedal by, thinking, if this guy could spare a couple rupees for public access to a computer with internet, he could have access to these books. That is, if he can read. Which is another issue altogether. Being poor, that driver uses his body to earn a living, not his intellect. And always this dichotomy strikes me – making me think of the intellectual elite I am so familiar with back home, some of whom constantly pine about not finding the time to exercise. Including me.

After seeing the shape these rickshaw drivers are in…

Namasté
Isabelle

The news I was so nervous for finally came, with no little anticipation: OBAMA WON!

My next president will be just another human being, not a messiah, but I am proud to have voted for a human being with such potential to lead with forethought, complexity, honesty, humanity, strength, and kindness. He will invariably have to make compromises to achieve higher goals, but he will also invariably be one of the most intelligent presidents we have ever had, though intelligence does not begin to describe why he will be an amazing president.

I am so proud and excited to be living in America.

If anyone has any reactions they’d like to share with me on the ground (in America or anywhere in the world) please send me your thoughts. I sit here longing to be home to share the excitement.

Much love,
Isabelle