A Book Fair in a Land of Oil

Yesterday the 19th Abu Dhabi International Book Fair wrapped up after six days of cultural events and professional programs, children's activities, book signings, and panel discussions, all staged inside the National Exhibition Centre at the outskirts of the capital. Aisle after aisle of colorful stands crammed with books and other publishing-related merchandise ran the length of the main hall, a space whose exposed pipework, unrelenting lighting, and lofty ceilings contrive to remind one of an airport hanger.

Embedded within this principal area were smaller venues dedicated to the fair's many sideshow offerings: a brightly clad children's corner where youngsters could make bookmarks and watch puppet shows; several forums for seminars on everything from translation to digital publishing; a high-tech soundproof box designed to give performing poets an illusion of solitude as they recited their work for an audience listening through headphones outside; a miniature fair-inside-a-fair for antique books, maps, and prints, many selling for thousands of dollars (the sale of the world's third-largest Quran here was one of the fair's most publicized transactions); and a stylish show kitchen where twice a day a rotating lineup of chefs demonstrated their culinary techniques to the public.

My own part in this collage of activity was to staff the press center, after having spent the last month helping out at the office of the fair's organizers. The ADIBF is run by a company called Kitab ('book' in Arabic), a joint venture project between the Abu Dhabi government's Authority for Culture and Heritage and the Frankfurt Book, which was established a year and a half ago to help bring the existing AD book fair up to speed with industry trends and, more importantly, to put Abu Dhabi on the cultural map as a publishing hub in the Arab Gulf.

The first of these goals has certainly been accomplished, and with aplomb--the fair was a model of professionalism and class, with neatly labeled stands, a bulky catalog of over 600 exhibitors, multilingual cordless translation earpieces available at every lecture, and an endless supply of free wireless internet and coffee (the bread and butter of any journalist) for the media.

The second goal is more problematic. No matter how much money the Abu Dhabi government is willing to divert to publishing enterprises here, whether they are startup operations just getting off the ground or local branches of major international publishing conglomerates, the publishing industry in the Arab world suffers from several significant ills that money alone won't fix.

The distribution network here is woefully underdeveloped for both the local and regional markets. In Cairo, for example, each major Arabic publishing house in the city sells its books only at its own bookstores, while differing censorship laws, customs regulations, the lack of a formal ISBN system, and general disorganization have typically impeded the migration of books across national borders.

Another problem is the rampant disrespect for copyright law that plagues the Middle East, whether manifested in the cheaply bound copies of AUC Press manuscripts fished from the trash bin that used to appear at sidewalk bookstalls in Cairo or the branded logos freely slapped onto everything from shoes to soda to lend them an air of first-world authenticity. It is difficult for Abu Dhabi to attract top authors and publishers to settle here when there’s no guarantee that their books won’t turn up in a back alley selling for half the market price.

Finally, it’s incredibly difficult for authors to make money off their books in the Arab world. The fact that many publishing houses here lack a standardized system of advances and royalties for ensuring that authors profit off their work, coupled with the effects of the two factors mentioned above--the absence of distribution networks and widespread piracy--means that even the most successful authors rarely earn a living from the sale of their books. Of course this doesn’t dissuade many creative minds in the Arab world from continuing to write anyway, plugging away late at night after a day spent practicing dentistry (like Alaa Al Aswany, author of The Yacoubian Building) or some other mundane profession. But without the possibility of financial returns to encourage them, no doubt many would-be authors turn away from writing and opt instead for more lucrative careers, and who can blame them?

The Abu Dhabi government is not unaware of the obstacles it faces in turning the emirate into the global publishing hub it envisages. Many of the informational sessions and panel discussions at the book fair focused on just these issues, and next year, in a bid to show its commitment to cracking down on intellectual property theft, the capital will play host to the annual International Publishers Association copyright symposium. But even for this country, which has built its reputation on defying predictions and accomplishing the unthinkable, there is a long way still to go.

Ten Things I Like About Abu Dhabi

1. The small scale of the city. Without traffic, you can drive from one side of Abu Dhabi to the other in fifteen minutes. The streets are laid out in a grid pattern, so even though every street has two or three names (take 4th Street, which is usually called Murour Street and occasionally referred to as Old Airport Road, or 11th Street, better known as Defense Street but labeled on signs as Hazaa Bin Zayed the First Street), it’s virtually impossible to get lost.

2. Great Asian food. From Pakistani and Indian joints with barebones décor that serve the most delicious curries you’ve ever eaten, to a tiny Nepalese place whose specialties are dumplings and an all-you-can eat platter of rice and chicken, to the logic-defying Asian Garden that does decent Filipino and Chinese grub while still managing to crank out the best Thai food I’ve ever had, to an Indonesian dive where the hygiene is dubious but the chili beef is mouthwateringly good, to a sushi bar in a dumpy hotel that even Japanese diplomats and oil wonks consider worth their time, to a simple Korean restaurant where the freshly made kim chee on offer changes daily according to the whim of the chef, to a Vietnamese spot with a mind-boggling menu of fresh juices and iced teas and wonderfully comforting giant bowls of phô soup, Abu Dhabi boasts an enormous and diverse selection of excellent Asian nosh.

3. The beach. I’ve never been much of a beachgoer, generally finding it preferable to spend the afternoon inside with a book and a cup of tea than to outfit myself in skimpy pieces of slippery cloth, slather on half a tube of SPF 50, and pass several hours lying uncomfortably on rough, hot sand and battling sun and wind to read the same book that I could have read much more easily indoors. But there’s something to be said for having beautiful, pristine expanses of beach only a ten-minute drive from your home, especially in a climate where warm temperatures and sunshine are guaranteed all but two months a year.

4. Cheap taxis. I complain whenever I have to pay for a cab, but to go all the way across the city for $5 is pretty reasonable.

5. Intermissions at movies. Having a few minutes in the middle of a two-hour movie to stretch your legs, use the bathroom, or refill your popcorn makes any trip to the cinema that much better. I don’t know how many movies have been ruined for me because I spent the last 20 minutes of them waiting desperately for a chance to relieve myself. Here I don’t have to.

6. Champagne brunch on Fridays. Okay, so the ubiquitous alcohol-sodden buffet brunches that a majority of hotels in Abu Dhabi and Dubai host each Friday except during Ramadan have become infamous for producing soused Westerners who stagger out at four in the afternoon and do inappropriate things in public places, but they really are a lot of fun. Heaps of fresh seafood, salad bars of Arab mezze, endless desserts (the brunch at the Intercontinental in Abu Dhabi has a chocolate fountain!), plus all the usual breakfast and lunch offerings, washed down with (in some cases) unlimited glasses of bubbly. Decadent, unhealthy, and expensive, and definitely not for every week, but oh so enjoyable.

7. The outdoors. For about half the year, the camping, hiking, and offroading to be found in the UAE and neighboring Oman rival anything in the American Southwest. Rugged mountains, jaw-dropping canyons, singing sand dunes, herds of half-wild goats wandering across the road—what more do you need? Not to mention the fact that you can camp anywhere, with no pesky National Park Rangers forcing you to relocate after you’ve already pitched your tents because you’re not in a designated campsite.

8. Diversity. The number of different nationalities represented in this country of 4.5 million is astonishing. In one day here, between friends, coworkers, and taxi drivers, store clerks, etc., I might easily interact with people from at least 19 different countries: Argentina, Australia, Canada, Egypt, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Lebanon, Pakistan, the Philippines, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Switzerland, Syria, the UAE, the UK, and the US. Not to mention those nationalities that I personally encounter less often but who still have a strong presence here, like Bahrainis, Bangladeshis, Ethiopians, Indonesians, Iranians, Irish, Italians, Japanese, Jordanians, Kuwaitis, Malaysians, Omanis, Palestinians, Qataris, Saudis, and Yemenis. Whew!

9. Safety. The occasional murder or rape makes the news now and then, but by and large the UAE is an extremely safe place to live. Despite the lack of a visible police presence in most areas, I feel comfortable walking around by myself in Abu Dhabi at any hour of the night.

10. The call to prayer. It can be annoying at times when you’ve just stepped outside the office to make a phone call or you’re trying to watch a quiet movie with the window open, but hearing the haunting, minor-key cry of the muezzin echoing through slumbering streets to summon the faithful to the first morning prayer at 5 a.m. is an experience never to be forgotten. God is great, God is great. There is no god but God, and I witness that Muhammad is His prophet.

Dubai the Ghost Town

Is Dubai's economy disintegrating before our eyes? Is the former boomtown only a few more failed investments away from bankruptcy? The NY Times seems to think so, although from my perspective here on the ground, I'm not so convinced. I was in Dubai earlier this week and I saw little evidence that the emirate is in trouble. The "mostly clear" roads described in the Times article were certainly nowhere in evidence as we battled traffic for 45 minutes on our way to dinner at a Sri Lankan restaurant only one neighborhood away from where we'd started. The brand new Dubai Mall filled up with shoppers as soon as the workday ended, and even if this can be attributed in part to the steep discounts (up to 75 percent) currently offered at many retail outlets in honor of the month-long Dubai Shopping Festival, it was still a sign that Dubaians aren't hoarding their dirhams so closely that they can't still indulge in frivolous consumerism. In the end, it may be exactly that enthusiasm to spend, spend, spend that Dubai is famous for that saves them, keeping their economy alive where that of the thrifty Americans failed.

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Getting Away from It All

For much of the year here, high temperatures make any outdoor activity more strenuous than lying on the beach unpleasant, if not downright unsafe. Going jogging in 115-degree weather is a good way to give yourself heatstroke, not to mention a nasty sunburn. But from November through March, the Gulf transforms into veritable amusement park of natural wonders, many within half a day's drive of Abu Dhabi and Dubai. At the northern tip of the country, along a coastline owned by Oman, the magnificent rocky fjords of Mussandem are a prime spot for snorkeling, dolphin watching, and rock climbing. Southwest of Abu Dhabi, the Liwa Oasis has one of the most beautiful expanses of wind-swept sand dunes you'll ever see, perfect for offroading if you have the necessary motoring skills or for staging reenactments of Lawrence of Arabia if you don't (remember the part where the guy disappears into a pit of quicksand?). And east and northeast of the capital, a crest of craggy mountains, scarred throughout with deep flood-canyons known as wadis, offers ample opportunity for camping, hiking, and all sorts of au naturel adventuring. For five months a year, with the right equipment and a bit of initiative, the Gulf is a genuinely good place to live.

Last weekend, for instance, Chris and I and four friends packed tents, sleeping bags, and plenty of food into the back of two cars and headed into the mountains that straddle the Omani-UAE border east of here. We followed the paved road until it abruptly ran out shortly after we crossed into Oman, then rattled up a winding dirt road for 30 minutes, past tiny tin-sided houses inhabited by goatherds and up into a wadi hemmed in by jagged rock walls 200 feet high, until the trail became too rough for our Mazda and we were forced to stop. We pitched our tents and spent the night in the lee of a massive tumble of boulders that at some point in the not-too-distant past had been swept down by a rush of water from the clifftop above, carving out a secondary gorge much shorter and steeper than the one we had been following. Our guidebook warned us against camping in a wadi, especially in the winter months when flash floods can be sudden and devastating, washing away everything in their path, but like all overconfident novice outdoorsmen, we didn't listen.

In the morning we all piled into the second car, an SUV better suited for bumpy terrain than the Mazda, and continued up the wadi into the heart of the mountains. As we drove, we passed many more ravines like the one we had camped beside that cut rocky channels between the wadi floor and the cliffs overheard, suitable for traversal only by goats. Acacias, the only trees that seemed able to grow in this arid, high-altitude ecosystem, squatted crookedly along the flat wadi floor like hunchbacked old women with tangled hair.

We were on the lookout for the start of a hike described in our guidebook, so when we spotted a set of makeshift stone stairs climbing in short switchbacks from the road to the top of the cliff, we assumed that we had found it. A man in a faded tunic holding a large plastic water jug was standing at the base of the steps, so we asked him in Arabic if it was possible to go up here and how long it would take. After assuring us that it was only a ten-minute trip to the top, he beckoned us to follow him and began a swift ascent up the stairs. We were out of breath and sweating when we caught up with him where the stairs ended at a broad plateau, yet to our guide it was as if he had climbed nothing more challenging than the staircase in my parents'
home in California--and with several gallons of water on his back, no less.

The plateau where Muhammed lives was once inhabited by bedouins, who left after the nearby freshwater well dried up.

This friendly man, whose name is Muhammed and who turned out to be not Omani as we had originally thought but Pakistani, lives in a house made of stones without running water or electricity, where he tends a flock of goats six months a year for a rich man in the UAE. The other six months he spends in Pakistan with his wife and seven children, but since he is unable to find work in his native country, he is forced to return to the goats year after year. Every Thursday he travels to Dibba, the closest town over the Emirati border, to buy food and supplies. On lucky days, he hitches a ride from someone passing through the wadi; the rest of the time he walks four hours on foot to get there. He told us all this over cups of sweet tea lightened with goat's milk as we sat in the shade of a shelter he'd constructed from thatch and watched the goats nibble at the sparse patches of grass that dotted the plateau. Then he took us to see the cistern where he collected rain water for washing, the nursery where he kept the baby goats, and the ruins of a village built by the bedouins who had once occupied this spot.

The basic necessaries of life: a cooler, a propane water heater, baskets and bags for storing food, and two plastic stools.

Muhammed's solitude was startling in its absoluteness. Other than a battery-powered radio, he has no contact with the outside world. Days must pass without him speaking to or even laying eyes on another human being. His life is simple, governed by the habits of his goats and by making sure that his basic survival needs are taken care of: food, propane for his water heater, fresh water from the tank beside the road. It was hard not to make the comparison when we arrived back at our own posh digs in Abu Dhabi later that night. Just as sleeping on the ground for a night makes you appreciate your mattress at home like never before, witnessing another person's solitude that's so much more complete and unrelenting than your own can serve as a valuable reminder of how much worse off you could be. Muhammed didn't seem unhappy with his lot, yet I bet he would have given anything to have the weeks of leisure in a modern, comfortable apartment with a fancy TV, a video game system, books, well-stocked cupboards, and expensive furniture that I've so impatiently dismissed as a waste of my time.

(Cow)Boys in Beemers

The young men of the Emirates love their cars like I imagine the cowboys of the old west loved their horses. In fact now that I think about it, that comparison seems particularly apt for this country, where the rule of law often plays second fiddle to the demands of honor and pride, males hold uncontested authority in all matters within the public sphere, and the prevailing ethos on the streets is may the stronger man win. The reckless confidence of the twenty-something Emirati barreling through Abu Dhabi at 80 mph in his shiny Land Rover, starched white dishdasha clearly in evidence through the tinted windows, seems to have much in common with the devil-may-care attitude of the young gunslinger in the wild west, boots gleaming, stirrups jangling, hat rakishly askew, who gallops into town with a bravado born of the certainty that no one dares challenge him on his own turf.

Both of these notions are obviously stereotypes, the second popularized by the Hollywood film industry and the first no doubt arising from the animosity I feel toward the speeding Land Rovers that endanger my life every time I venture onto the roadways of Abu Dhabi. But the fact remains that cars have become for many young Emirati men an essential part of their public persona, as important to crafting the image they present to the world as their traditional clothing.

On a rainy day last weekend, perhaps two dozen young men and boys convened in the intersection in front of my apartment building for what can only be described as a modern-day rodeo. For more than an hour, those among the group who were old enough to drive (and probably some who weren't) used a circle of wet pavement to show off their motoring chops before a crowd of eager onlookers:



Skidding, as it's commonly known, is a favorite pastime on Abu Dhabi streets. After banning skidding contests and threatening skidders with fines, jail time, and loss of license did little to diminish the activity's popularity, concerned authorities proposed building a track where skidding enthusiasts could practice their hobby without risk of hitting other cars or pedestrians (both have happened recently not far from where I live) and without disturbing residents with sounds of squealing tires and roaring engines.

One Abu Dhabi police officer suggested that skidding could be a way to combat the boredom of being young, male, and Emirati in a society where wealth and prestige are handed to you from birth on a silver platter. Is that the real explanation, or should we simply say that in any society, at any point in history, boys will be boys?

New Mailing Address

Anna Ziajka
P.O. Box 93752
Khalidiya Post Office
Abu Dhabi
United Arab Emirates

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The Fairer Sex

During the first half-year I lived here, the acquaintances I made were overwhelmingly male. My roommates are male, most of the National newspaper reporters with whom I socialize on a semi-regular basis are male, and my boyfriend, my companion for most of my leisure-time activities, is--of course--male. Although I had frequent opportunities to observe the female citizens of Abu Dhabi at malls, grocery stores, and through the tinted windows of their Land Rovers, my contact with other human beings who share my anatomy was nearly nil.

At a gender ratio of almost three males for every one female in the 15-64 age group, members of my sex are a distinct minority in this country; on a busy Thursday night in the capital, you would be hard pressed to find a single female amid the crowds of South Asian men talking, eating, and smoking cigarettes in front of the lighted storefronts on Hamdan Street. Women are scarce in the Emirates, and those that do live here are hard to access. Local women shut themselves away in gated villas and only appear in public swaddled in the visually and culturally impenetrable armor of an abaya, while the majority of foreign women are employed in the service sector, so although I exchange words with them every time I eat out or shop in a clothing store, the power differential of our relative positions in society makes it difficult to transcend these determinedly formulaic and impersonal interactions. Both the statistics and the anecodotal evidence were on my side, excusing my lack of female friends.

But though I could justify the pitiful number of other females in my life, I wasn't happy about it. So two weeks ago, I set out to change that. My first step has been to join a women's a cappella group, which goes by the rather pedestrian name "Voices of Harmony" but which nonetheless maintains a large and surprisingly quirky repetoire of American pop songs that it performs several times a year at concerts around the city. The women in the group are a diverse bunch, hailing from places as far removed as South Africa and Spain as well as Britain and the U.S., and seem to be generally genial people who enjoy getting together for a few hours each week to sing, socialize, and partake of the seemingly requisite tea and cakes that are served halfway through each rehearsal by the group leader's Filipina maid. So perhaps among these harmonious ladies is a friend or two for me.

The Passing of a Sheikh

The UAE is presently in the midst of a prolonged period of mourning for Sheikh Rashid bin Ahmed Al Mu'alla, the ruler of the Emirate of Umm al Quwain, who passed away last Friday in a London hospital at age 78. All government offices and schools were closed for three days immediately following his death, and flags across the country are flying at half-mast until the end of the week--although the Saudi Arabian flag, which is inscribed with the shahada (the Muslim declaration of faith: "There is no god but Allah and Muhammed is his messenger") and thus can never hang lower than the flags around it, is exempt. Radio stations have discarded their usual generic pop rubbish in favor of somber keyboard renditions of Aaron Copeland and Elton John, and post-New Year's festivities were toned down or canceled.

If this were another country, we might worry about the succession of power in Umm al Quwain, the least populous emirate, which has had only two rulers since joining the UAE in 1971. But instead of political infighting or the threat of a coup by opportunistic Umm al Quwain residents, the crown passed peacefully to Sheikh Rashid's son Saud, while the leaders of the other six emirates looked on with benevolence and sympathy--and no doubt a bit of relief that things had gone so smoothly.

In Abu Dhabi, Shakira's Hips Don't Offend

In a move that must have provoked some scratching of heads among those familiar with this city, Abu Dhabi chose to kick off the new year last week by rocking out to Shakira, the tousle-haired, booty-wagging South American popstar best known for putting out a steamy chart-topping duet with ex-Fugees member Wyclef Jean in 2006 and for slithering half naked through mud in the music video for the first single off her debut English-language album.

And yet, performing in front of an enthusiastic if lyrically challenged crowd at Abu Dhabi's Emirates Palace arena on Wednesday night, Shakira proved surprisingly well suited to the UAE. From her superb belly dancing to the trio of Arabic musicians who joined her onstage to provide backup during several songs, the half-Colombian, half-Lebanese diva ("I am the fruit of my father's Lebanese cedar") offered much that was familiar to the people of this region. And while there was plenty of the singer's toned golden body on display, her costumes--which ranged from a beaded pink halter top and matching skirt to a studded black leather bra-and-trousers ensemble--were modest enough where it mattered to appease all but the most conservative critics. The Shakira that appeared in Abu Dhabi was not the redhot Latin siren of reputation but a talented performer whose physical allure came from her expert use of her body, not from her sex appeal.

Shakira - Abu Dhabi, New Year's Eve 2008

As midnight arrived and clouds of sparkling confetti descended on the audience, Shakira thanked Abu Dhabi first in English, then in Arabic, and finally in her native Spanish for allowing her to help the UAE usher in the new year. If it was personally significant for her to greet 2009 in an Arab country, it was just as significant for an Arab country to round off their celebrations with someone like her. But as it turned out, neither side needed to have gotten so worked up: Shakira and Abu Dhabi were a perfect fit.

Video to come once Etisalat fixes the internet in the UAE....