BOUSHRA ALMUTAWAKEL, YEMENITE PHOTOGRAPHER ON IDENTITY AND SYMBOLISM OF THE HIJAB.. I ASK WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO OUR SISTERS IN AFGHANISTAN AND IRAN ?

 On the day Kabul in Afghanistan succumbed to the Taliban forces, there was a collective groan of agonized voices around the world.. What will happen to our Afghan sisters? It also highlighted what is happening to our Muslim sisters elsewhere.. for me, the question that haunts me, what is happening to our Iranian sisters? Educated, Elegant and Expendable as per the Mullahs 

Someone sent me a photo of Mother Daughter Doll in Hijab and it was very powerful .. I thought the photographer might be Irani because of the deep sensibilities that portrait depicted but it was the work of Yemeni photographer, Boushra who now lives in Paris with her husband and four daughters.

Born in Yemen in 1969, Boushra Almutawakel found that she possessed a passion for art, expression and dialogue in her youth. After studying abroad during her college years in the United States, Boushra returned to Yemen in 1994 and has become an internationally hailed photographer and visionary who is helping bridge discourse between Western and Middle Eastern cultures through art.

Even though her photographs had been exhibited in the west for years, I had not come across the Mother Daughter Doll in hijabs or the Hijab series... Congratulations, proud daughter of Yemen!

(the haze divides the road that leads to Yemen, I was on the road from Salalah in Oman to the Yemeni border, but was not allowed to proceed beyond this)

The Question now is ?

What will happen to our Afghan sisters?

Ask our Iranian sisters and for them Hijab had become a symbol of oppression by the Mullahs and their government and they cannot wait to shed it, unless to use it as a fashion scarf like many westerners do.

As a good friend of mine from Karaj, Iran said to me over an Iranian derived North Indian dinner at a restaurant called Hyderabad in Kuala Lumpur : I am glad they forced me to learn about Islam, now it is so easy to reject it.

Congratulations, France.. you have always given refugee to artists fleeing oppression, lack of liberty, and not to mention civil wars.

Many names come to my mind 

Oodles of Jewish intellectuals and artists who had to leave Algerie, Moroc and Tunisie

Enrico Macias, Claude Challe, Patrick Bruel...

Albert Memmi, whose books on his Tunisian childhood, I enjoyed very much 

Among Arabs fleeing their lands, and Muslims from Iran, Kurdistan and other places, the name of Amin Malouf stands out.. there are many Maghrebi French writers living in France..

IT IS OUR DUTY TO PROTECT FRENCH CITIZENS, ERUDITE DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT MACRON JULY 2021

Few days ago President Macron had a televised speech to the nation in which he touched on many aspects especially the control of Covid 19 and its restrictions and relaxations.

 Leaving the USA and being in France one realizes that the low general standard  of knowledge and easily manipulated population that exists in the USA. In the social media videos are circulated to prove that Covid 19 vaccines are a method of population reduction and that the usual culprits (Microsoft, Soros) have some hidden agenda. The fact that the videos are so blatantly false with grand pronouncements which even a high school student here would know to be false, but they are popular in the usa and circulated ad nauseam. 

Currently, the polemic discussions about Vaccination in the USA, fired and fumed by right wing media commentators (who refuse to disclose whether or not they have been vaccinated?) who talk about liberty and freedom .. but they do not take into account the liberty and freedom of others. 

In Miami, the right wing Cuban Americans talk about their fight for freedom as long as they can deny others who also would like to taste that freedom. 

something Macron said stood out in my mind.  WE ARE NOT FORCING YOU TO TAKE THE VACCINE, BUT WE HAVE THE RESPONSIBILITY TO PROTECT THE HEALTH OF FRENCH CITIZENS. 

Starting very soon, in places where there is a possibility of spread of the virus, supermarkets, cafes, concert venues, a health passport would be required which would be issued free of charge to french citizens. Those without these health certificates are those who refuse to get them, then they would have to find their venues elsewhere. Thus the health of the french citizens would be protected.

The day after his speech there were more than one million appointments made for vaccines. The French government hopes to vaccinate 90 per cent of the elderly, 70 per cent of the middle aged and 30 per cent of the adolescents. 

Congratulations to France..

My heart goes out to millions of people around the world so desperate for vaccines.. willing to risk to travel to other countries in the hope of getting vaccines..

I was told by a friend in the Rental Car business that the demand for rental cars are so high by the vaccine tourists in Miami that his business is booming ..

HOW IT FEELS SO GOOD TO TRAVEL AGAIN.. A SENSE OF FREEDOM WITH SLIGHT ANXIETY ABOUT BORDER CROSSINGS

My sister from Cuba wrote, dont forget to wear manga larga/large sleeve shirts and make sure that once you get to your destination, immediately wash them.

That was to be my least of the worries.

The sensation of calling for an Uber driver to take me to the airport, the last time was at the end of November and it was for a short flight. This is my first long haul international journey in 18 months. 

The approach to the MIA Miami International Airport looked so welcoming. David, the Uber Driver had been in Miami for five years, we had a pleasant chat about our lives in Cuba.

The airport was not at all crowded. I had come few hours early expecting delays in checking in, security etc. A confident AA agent checked me in within a few minutes, even though there was a long line waiting at the Special Check in section. He asked do you have the Spanish Health clearance, he barely glanced at it, issued me my boarding passes. and TSA Pre Check was so quick that i was surprised. 

That set the tone for the journey. Relaxed and without anxiety and also enjoying the excitement to the full.

I walked quickly to the Centurion Club and recognized the person at the desk and also a lady who just joined: they both said, how nice to see you. I blurted out: It feels so good to be traveling again. 

A nice glass of Sauvignon Blanc, tasted californian not New Zealander.. one of my favourite servers at the Cluba, Linda from Pinar del Rio, greeted me with the warmth of a sister.. we chatted for a little while while she went to get me something to eat and drink.

 

whether people realize it or not, living in the United States adds unnecessary kind of mental emotions and when covid came, these worries (a pity for people who believe in microsoft putting data collection or magnets by aliens or just plain people who refuse to see the science) were multiplied and all the pleasures that USA can afford to give you disappeared as well. If you were not involved in some human projects helping others, the past year would have been a hell for those living in the United States in addition to the pronouncements of the Imbecile in Chief with whose departure country quietened down a little with improved survival of patients with Covid.

At the Centurion lounge, seeing people, who may not mean much in your every day life, but with their appearance and the feelings that they give you, make you realize that they do mean, and they are capable of eliciting and donating certain emotions to you .. was the beginning of the reclamation of a normal life of a traveller I had led ever since graduating as a Medical Anthropologist.

In the USA, appearance count as I took my seat IL, on this 777-200, one is impressed but the onboard service was nowhere a match: it is much like a Mexican restaurant looking like a lovely adobe house from Mexico but inside serving mediocre Tex-Mex cuisine.

This is what was served for a reapas on this flight. Ah well.. glad I had a nice small meal at the Centurion Club

On arrival at JFK, I would have preferred the Flagship Lounge but it is incredible that almost all the lounges at JFK a premier airport was closed. JFK terminal 8 American Lounge at least offered a little Hummous and French Onion Soup to make up for their meagre throwaway from Miami to JFK

Terminal 7 was a reminder of the poorer countries in Africa and their airports. There was nothing about the airport that welcome a recommendation. Please avoid terminal 7 if possible, unfortunately used by Qatar British Airways Iberia and other One World Airlines. The security agents were ignorant and rude and the agent who checked me into my Iberia flight would have not been able to get a job as a janitor in his native south american country, perfectly ignorant .. and I was flying IBERIA and I would have expected slightly better attention. It is possible that all of a sudden rush for travel and inexperienced personnel working are not up to steam. Both flights from Miami as well as the one to Madrid was full to the hilt

The aircraft was an older model and like the aeromozas working this flight, looked tired and haggard. They were very busy and the flight was a very quick six hours plus a few minutes to Madrid, and in the excitement of travel, one was willing to forgive 

The flight left promptly and flew over what looked like the Hamptons and off to the Atlantic Ocean.

Lots of precautions about Covid, and we were offered fresh towlettes to wash our hands an encouraged not to use the bathroom often and in fact, most of the bathrooms were closed, causing quite a bit of confusion and inconvenience

I enjoyed my fish dish, a drop of VIlla Conchi Cava which was described by the French vinotheque as 

Accords mets

Riz / Salades et crudités / Poisson / Comme apéritif / Plats légers

Dégustation

• Robe :Bulle fine et persistante / Cerise
• Nez :Fruit mûr / Intensité haute / Net / Arômes fruités
• Bouche :Structuré / Frais / Fruité / Agréable / Arome intense

As the plane was descending into the Madrileno skies, we were treated to coffee and fruits.. ah Well.  Qatar Airways, I miss you very much..

I was connecting to a flight to a regional airport in France and all EU flights left from the Satellite which has no services whatsoever. Fortunately a security agent let me into the main terminal and a pleasant agent at the Iberia Dali Lounge allowed me to use the Lounge.

In the future, the airlines wont give you any food but you can get catered meals at the Lounge?

I enjoyed the breakfast .. savouring the croissant and the mushrooms .

As I was in the lounge for quite a few hours, i enjoyed the lunch offering of Curry with cashews and chicken as well as rice . I am not in the habit of drinking wine at Lunch time , so a good cup of coffee was sufficient. The regional flight to a regional airport was on a regional airline, at least i had the seats next to me vacant and I dozed off the entire short flight before entering France 

For the first time in this journey the French Police asked me for my vaccine certificate and I knew this small airport well and within minutes was at the quay to catch the navette to town. One had to pay with credit cards as they do not wish to handle cash, and the lady was patient and got my credit card working, the system in France slightly different, with usage of Pin numbers

This is the street where my hotel for the night was situated, just a short walk from the Railway Station and all the coffee shops and bistros offering the public drinks and food and snacks .

I talked to quite a few people. Bangladeshis afraid of their status refused to speak English with me, but they couldnt speak French either and they softened when they realized I was not from the Immigration...A moroccan receptionist with whom i regaled about the food of Morocco..a half drunk french man who commented on my french skills..

I am travelling once again..