MEN IN WHITE ROBES

I am hiding today in a little corner of a coffee shop.  I am waiting for someone to join me to have a long talk.  The sky has clouds today and I am on cloud nine. (I totally know that is corny to say, but I am just giddy today!!)  I went to bed last night at 8:30 and at 11:30 my phone rang and once again ... my world changed forever.  It was my brilliant guy calling to tell me he is packing us up and moving us to Washington DC because he got THE JOB.  After 5 months of unemployment and after walking this path... that has been so amazing and wonderful and hard and sometimes seemingly never ending... We have direction!!  I know this sounds so crazy, but it is so true... I wouldn't trade these past months for anything... at the same time not wish them on any one either. What an incredible way to leave a place that I have grown to love and call home. 

All that to say, the processing continues and I think I need to pick up the pace!  I think I am leaving sooner than I want to.  So, this post is about Men in white robes... or better known around here as disdashas.  I know the one thing I am going to miss is the diversity of dress.  I love how free people are here to express themselves in their cultural dress.  I love how you know where a person is from by the way they dress.  I remember feeling so out of place when I first began to walk around in this sea of black and white.  The women of course in their abayas and all black... and the men in their white robes with different colored styles of head wraps/hats.  So, while I am sitting in my hiding place I am observing the very essence of an Emirati man... His face is well manicured, He likes coffee, He likes his buddies, He likes his smokes, He is always wearing shades and he is always, always, always fixing his head wrap.  : ) Oh and one more thing.. he loves his PHONE!!!

I was remembering the times I went to Dubai to this particular shopping area.  They had a DOME cafe' in the center of the mall.  Seriously, EVERYTIME, I have gone, I've seen these same men sitting in the cafe', in a group of about 8 Emiratis talking, smoking and drinking coffee.  I don't know why but I loved seeing this over and over again.  It was something that was so consistent that it became a familiar thing to me.  I took numerous mental pictures of this one older man... I thought he would be a great subject for a photo shoot.  I often wondered what they found to talk about each and everyday they met.  
The other thing I was thinking a lot about through my years here is how do cultures get their style??? Seriously... how did this region pick the abaya and dishdasha when the Pakistanis and Afghanis picked these long shirts with baggy pants under them??? How did jeans become a staple in America??  What made them think that this was more comfortable than pants???  Also, how did the guys get the pick of the lighter colors?? Things that make you go HMMMMM.....

I am going to MISS walking in this sea of black and white... and watching them fuss over themselves looking just right.