Christmas in Sharjah

This Christmas Eve and Christmas Day was unlike any other Christmas I've ever had before. On Christmas Even, Julie and I spent two hours at the Tasjeel Station, changing the registration and exporting the car from Dubai to Sharjah.  Our new car is a 2002 Renault Scenic.  It looks like the lovechild of a minivan and a sedan.  It is our car and we decided it fits us perfectly.  We will no longer be bound to Industrial Area 15 where we live.  When we got back from Tasjeel we came home and had internet installed into our flat.  After four months of "simplified" living, our newly acquired residence visas are providing some much-anticipated and appreciated luxuries.  We finished our night sleeping on our mattress in the living room sleeping under the lights of our Christmas tree.  

On Christmas morning, Julie and I woke up early and opened presents and she made green eggs and red milk.  Ironically, my morning at school consisted of proctoring the Islamic midterm exam for my class.  Definitely not the same as opening presents with a foot and a half of snow outside and a nice warm fire inside.  After a hectic day at school, Julie and I got ready to have a couple of friends over for dinner.  We had a nice meal of roasted chickens from Emirates Flower restaurant and a zucchini-egg-parmesan cheese dish that Julie made.  Lastly, I got to talk to my family (and the Hendersons) on my parents new webcam.  Unfortunately, their microphone didn't work.  It was still nice seeing the snow outside, the Christmas tree, and Junior (oh, and my family too...).  Being here it has been weird even thinking that it is Christmas-time.  Even with Christmas trees in the malls and lights out on some buildings, with the lack of Christmas spirit and atmosphere it hardly felt like an actual Christmas.  Nevertheless, we had some nice Christmas miracles.

Pilgrim Wafers

One of the most astonishing aspects about religious practice is how powerful individuals are in shaping the sacredness of a person, place, or object.  Without the support and devotion of individuals, tradition and religious belief are left hollow and lifeless.  If an elder or priest declares something as sacred, it will not retain its supposed sacredness without the popular reception and support from groups and the individuals themselves.  On the other hand, there can be a sacred object that a guardian of a religious tradition never considered sacred (or even deemed it inappropriate or evil) until mass devotionalism arises around it.  What this ultimately means is that nothing religious can ever be considered "religious" or "sacred" over an extended period of time without the piety and homage dedicated to a person, place, or object.  It must be believed to be sacred for it to retain its sacredness.  This is one of the primary areas where religions derives its power; power that ultimately rests in the hands of the individual (which is not the case in politics or other realms of human activity where more structures inhibit this radical power of the individual).

I thought a lot about religious devotionalism when we were in Prague in relation to a few different sites of pilgrimage.  The Loreta complex was a former convent and pilgrimage center for Bohemian Catholics.  Tradition says that in 1626, the Santa Casa (Mary's home in Nazareth) was under threat from sieging Turks.  The night before the house's impending demise, it was miraculously transported by angels to Dalmantia and then to northern Italy.  The news quickly spread throughout Europe and many copy cat shrines popped up throughout the continent.  Although initially opposed by the church hierarchy, they eventually encouraged the practice during the Counter Reformation due to the Santa Casa's popular appeal.  The chapel itself was surrounded by cloisters that were built for pilgrims.  They are still lined with shrines and smaller side-chapels.  In the Church of the Nativity was a statue St. Agatha who was sexually assaulted for her faith and had her breasts cut off (her breasts were being carried on a plater by a wax angel underneath the painting of her).  St. Apolena had her teeth smashed in during her martyrdom and is now invoked for toothache.  Her wax angel had dentist's pliers with a tooth in it.  The oddest shrine was definately St. Wilgefortis--the patron saint of unhappily married women.  Tradition says that she was the daughter of the king of Portugal and was due to marry the king of Sicily.  Praying that she would be able to uphold her vow of virginity, God intervened and she grew a beard.  The king broke off the marriage and her father had her crucified.  In her shrine, it was easy to first mistake her as Jesus dressed in drag.  At the Loreta, we also started our pilgrimage route with the requisite box of Pilgrimage Wafers from the gift shop.  Mine were coconut flavored.

The next church

 that we visited was Panna Maria

 Vitezna in Mala Strana.  The highlight of this church is the Bambino di Praga, a wax effigy of a three-year-old Jesus enthroned in an elevated glass case.  In 1628, he was donated by a Spanish bride.  Too this day little baby Jesus has collected nearly 100 outfits that are frequently changed by the Carmelite nuns from a nearby convent.  He is attributed as having miraculous healing powers and still remains a popular pilgrimage site in the area and in Europe.  The "cult" around the Bambino extends beyond his miraculous significance to his own visual culture, with goods ranging from calendars with Jesus in twelve different outfits, to children's books and movies, and statues and other little relics.

Our last "pilgrimage" was in Sedlec, just outside of Kutna Hora, an hour southeast of Prague by train.  Walking from the train station, we passed Nanebevzeti Panny Marie, with what used to be a famous monastery next-door.  Now, the monastery houses Phillip Morris' offices and the History and Presence of Tobacco Museum.  Beyond that is the largest tobacco factory in Europe.  About a ten minute walk away rests the monk's graveyard and an ancient Gothic chapel.  In the 12th century, soil from Golgotha was scattered throughout the cemetery.  It soon  became the desired burial grounds for nobility throughout Bohemia.  The earth was rumored to d

ecompose a body quicker here than anywhere else, some times in three days.  Bones mounted until the cemetery was overflowing with them.  Beginning in 1511, a half-blind and deaf monk began stacking bones outside the chapel to make room for new people to be buried. By the 19th century, there were over 40,000 full sets of human bones.  In the 1870s, the church authorized Frantisek Rint to do decorate the subterranean ossuary with the bones.  From the entrance, you see the bones lining either side of the staircase.  On both walls, they are arranged into crosses, cups, and and other "decorative" motifs.  As you walk down the stairs, the letters IHS are written in bones (Latin for Jesus Hominum Salvator--Jesus the Saviour of Humanity).  In the main chapel, there are bones EVERYWHERE besides the alter at the front.  Four of the corners are filled by four pyramids of bones that rise nearly five meters from the ground (they are now caged off to prevent tourists from stealing "souvenirs").  In the floor is the artist's signature, surprisingly, written out of bones.  One of the walls is covered with the Coat of Arms for the Schwarzenberg family.  The center is dominated by a skull with an arm reaching out from behind the coat of arms, gouging out the eye (which represents the family's victory over the Turks in 1599).  The centerpiece is a chandelier that uses every bone in the human body.  As the pictures can show better than words, it is one of the oddest places I have ever been in my life.  Being in a place like this, you automatically jump to the question what would motivate a person to do this?  But any attempts to find a definite answer to the question "why?" only seems to diminish the sheer oddness and mystery of a place like this religious site.

   

                  

       

Praha - Prague - Praha

In Prague, we spent our time wandering down winding streets. We meandered through streets packed with people and with no one at all. We forwent Prague’s pubic transport system in favor of our feet, walking to any and all parts of the city that we wanted to see. This included churches and cafes, castles and convents, and museums and bookstores. Rarely were we lost since our meanderings rarely had a clear destination. Unlike many other European cities, Prague received virtually no damage during World War II, so the winding medieval streets are still preserved, now closely lined with buildings from the 18th to 20th century (and even before in some cases). Our walking was made even more special because of the time of year that we were there. Although Christmas is celebrated in Dubai as a completely commercial holiday, it is not the same as when it is part of the country’s larger religious and cultural heritage (As an aside, what’s more odd, celebrating Christmas in a formerly communist country or a Muslim country? Just something to think about…). In several of the town squares there were Christmas markets with local and mass-produced handicrafts, hot dogs, mulled wine, and tridlnks (dough rolled on a device like a long roller-pin and then roasted over fire and served with cinnamon sugar and almond slivers). At the largest market in the Old Town Square there was a huge Christmas tree with five different types of lights and a stage with nightly performances ranging from Czech and English Christmas carols to a kids presentation with a Barney-like St. Nicholas and angel for St. Nicholas’ Day. The other things that took some getting used to was the short sunlight every day, only from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM and how cold it was compared to Sharjah.

While I’ll talk about a couple of my favorite churches and convents in the next blog, the architecture was definitely the highlight for me. St. Vitus Cathedral at Prague Castle had a majestic Gothic exterior with a huge nave with a surprisingly modern interior. Some of the frescoes depicted secular scenes and the stained glass were very unique colors. Instead of the traditional subdued colors, there were bright green, purple, pink, and even rainbow colors. St. Mikulas (St. Nicholas) church was dominated by its high-Baroque style where every part of the church was covered by some ornamentation. Surprisingly, the church accomplished this feat without feeling gaudy whatsoever. Frescoes lined the walls and ceiling depicting the life of Christ and St. Nicholas (who was being more than Santa Claus by rescuing sailors, saving women from prostitution, and pardoning an unjustly accused man). Around each corner of the alter at the front of the church were four marble statues of the Church Fathers. Their eyes were carved out in a way if you sit in the front few pews they stare down at you in judgment (this was an especially nice place to sit during the Advent concert that we went to at this church). The other interesting church that we went to was the Mirror Chapel at Klementinum, the old Jesuit college. Their were mirrors on opposite walls reflecting into each other to depict eternity. Their were also mirrors in the frescoes in the ceiling that reflected the star motifs in the floor. The stars then shrouded the painting of Mary in the ceiling. In the frescoes depicting the different stages of the Ave Maria, the angels were holding mirrors reflecting the love of God to Mary and then reflecting Mary’s love to the world. The last very special church that we visited was the Cathedral of St. Barbora in Kutna Hora, a small town about an hour outside of Prague. Funded by the mines in the surrounding areas, this spectacular Gothic cathedral was at the top of the hill at the end of town. While the spires and the numerous archways on both sides of the church were the most dramatic part, the massive nave and some of the frescoes showing the miners in the interior were also interesting to see.

Other than churches, walking around we saw some of the other nice architecture around the city. The narrow streets are closely lined by buildings that shoot straight up right from the skinny sidewalks. The buildings red-roofs are only interrupted by the Gothic and Baroque steeples. At Klementinum (after seeing the Mirror Chapel), we got to go up in their tower and see Prague’s skyline, only fragmented by the twisting and turning roads weaving throughout Stare Mesto (Old Town) and on the other side of the river in Mala Strana (the “Little Quarter” of the oldest part in the city). The other design highlights included Prague’s famous Art Nouveau on many buildings throughout the city. This nostalgic patterning had elaborate floral façades shrouding images from nature and the country’s religious and cultural heritage. It was also fun walking over Charles Bridge that was lined with over thirty statues (some of which were in the process of being preserved) as we walked over the Vlatva River from one side of town to the other. The final highlight was the fountain/statue outside the Franz Kafka Museum. There were two men peeing as their midsections moved back and forth and up and down (you can use your imagination to figure what you think it looks like).

Our trip wrapped up on a good note as we watched Kanye West’s Prague-based music video for “Diamonds are Forever” as we lay under the covers at 6:12 PM, it already being dark outside for nearly two hours. Otherwise, Julie and I had a great time eating good food, drinking coffee, and soaking up the holiday cheer. I’ll be posting soon about some of the religious practices and devotionalism associated with some of the unique places that we visited.

National Day

The day we left for Prague was UAE National Day. The country had the largest fireworks show ever in Abu Dhabi and there were numerous parades. The other thing that happens is people decorate their cards with UAE regalia and drive around town. There were rumors of cars that covered their entire windshields with a UAE flag and drove looking out the side of the car. On the last day of school before the holiday, the school also had its celebrations. All kids were encouraged to wear their traditional dress, whether this was Arab boys wearing their kandoras or Pakistani students wearing their decorated tunics. We had traditional food, students could ride an Arabian horse, and hold a falcon (worth 55,000 dirhams, about $15,000). We also had a student-teacher football (soccer) game which was fun (I’ve been playing more football than I think I ever have. A group of teachers usually plays in the gym after school on Thursday afternoons). The Head Boy also gave a talk about Sheik Zayed, the first leader of UAE whose leadership was central in unifying the country and developing the country’s infrastructure and economy.

Even as xenophobia and racism continue to be a problem at the school and in the larger country, it constantly amazes me how a country can be made of such an ethnically and nationally diverse population. Out of the 5.5 million residents, Wikipedia says that 42% of the population is Indian, 17% is Emirati, 13% is Pakistani, 7.5% is Bangledeshi, 11% is Western, and 9% is Arab from other country’s in the Gulf. Such a diverse population is brought here because of UAE’s vibrant economy. And even as the country has achieved such substantial development and is working towards increased tolerance, sharp inequalities and divisions still exist. It has been noted that Dubai and the UAE is a microcosm for what is happening in the larger world. As the world is flattened, more people who were not in contact with each other now are forced into contact. The question is whether we will build and maintain barriers around our identity or connect amidst these differences of religion, ethnicity, nationality, etc. How the UAE and the rest of the world wrestles with the issue of identity will determine the shape that our world takes in the next century. As National Day and similar celebrations around the world encourage tolerance and connection over shared goals of peace and unity, the real work comes in actually upholding these ideals, if one wishes (or, more realistically, has the opportunity) to participate in the global world (and its all-encompassing economy).

Burj Dubai

Dubai is the fastest growing city in the world. There are numerous statistics about Dubai that show just how impressive this is. There is something like 70 percent of the world’s cranes and 80 percent of the dirt-moving equipment that is currently being used in Dubai. One evening, we were leaving Ibn Battuta Mall and saw the 20+ story apartments going up adjacent to the mall. Down about 8 meters, dozens of men worked on the steel reinforcement for the foundation of this building. They were putting in one-meter thick steel bars that went out at least 10 meters from the building (and these were just to support the foundation!). I just cannot believe how such huge buildings are being built on sand. When I think of what happens when you even walk on sand, how it spreads out from either side of your foot, a skyscraper can be built on it. It just seems like the sand would slide out from under the building (especially with the rising risk and no planning for earthquakes…). An acquaintance working at an architecture firm described how they build by saying that if you continue to push down on sand hard enough it eventually provides adequate support for a building.

The second thing that continues to amaze me is how the work seems the be built for quantity not quality. We are living in an apartment that is not even a year old. There are already cracks in the walls, leaks in the drains, and a water heater fell from the ceiling in the bathroom onto a teacher last year. And this is a new building. When we have arrived, one the buildings that is going up just across the street was just starting the foundation. Now, they are working on the fourth floor. And it is only about six or seven men that are doing all of the work. The building, as with most buildings, is built with steel forms and cinderblocks for the walls. But they have gotten this far in only three months. Not only are the living accommodations built with cinderblocks but the Burj Dubai, the tallest building in the world is also being built with cinderblocks, at about a rate of a floor per week. Cinderblocks! For a building that is nearly half a mile high on a sand foundation, it’s hard to believe. Also, it seems like there is minimal forethought behind lots of the development that is taking place. For instance, Dubai and Sharjah have no sewer system. All of the sewage is removed by trucks outside the city on a very frequent basis. Just one example although these types of scenarios seem to pop up frequently. Nevertheless, it is astonishing that the country does seem do develop so quickly, given its 37-year history, that is being celebrated today.

The last remarkable thing is the fact that there is a city here at all. For millions of millenia, virtually no people lived here. It is a desert. The land could not support more than small bands of Bedouins. Now there are 5.5 million people living in this land that could not support people outside of a global era. The country has even began to buy property in Sudan, Kenya, and Uganda to grow food for its residents. CNN recently described it as a new form of colonialism where they are using local land and labor to produce food to be shipped to the Middle East, leaving none for these frequently famine-ridden countries. Anyways, lots going in the UAE.

As for me, school just finished off yesterday for National Day and Eid Al Adha. We have almost two weeks off so Julie and I are heading to Prague for nine days. I'll be writing more when we get back.