Midnight at the Oasis

I went with my husband to spend two days in Al Ain, a city about 90 minutes from Dubai in the Abu Dhabi emirate on the Oman border. We had spent a day there before visiting one of the highest points in the UAE, Jebel Hafeet, and the Al Ain zoo, both well-known tourist attractions. Since my husband would be busy for most of a day judging a moot court competition, I had more time to explore.

For once my Garmin with a new memory card for Middle East maps proved to be helpful, leading us through many roundabouts to the Intercontinental Hotel. We also found the Al Ain National Museum without a problem. This happens to be the oldest museum in the UAE, with displays covering both the ethnography and archaeology of the region. Al Ain was the home of the founder of the UAE, Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, whose family continues to rule the country. One of the most interesting displays was the Nahyan family tree, showing Sheikh Zayed's 19 sons. No wives or daughters are shown, possibly due to the complication of showing the Sheikh's multiple wives for the various sons, most of whom are half-brothers, as pointed out by my husband, who seems fascinated with the topic of polygamy these days. (An Emirati housewife and her Pakistani husband were recently sent to jail in Dubai for polygamy, which hardly seems fair since it's legal for Emirati men.)

Another surprise in the museum's exhibits was a video about the various archaeological excavations off the coast of Abu Dhabi, which have uncovered evidence of ancient animal life such as elephants and hippos, which eons ago traversed the Arabian peninsula from Africa to Asia when the region must have been more lush and green. Neal and I also enjoyed the display of gifts given by various national leaders to the Nahyan family over the years, most of them consisting of ornate guns, swords, coins or plaques, but the most notable being the simplest--a single bullet wrapped in what appeared to be a paper clip, from an unnamed source in Palestine. Black and white photographs throughout the museum and nearby fort documenting life in 60's were fascinating to see, a glimpse of what life was like before everything started to change.

Neal was the first to notice that there wasn't any mention of the discovery of oil in the 1940's and 50's, despite the huge impact on the region. Perhaps oil is not mentioned because Dubai no longer relies on revenues from oil as the primary driver of its economy? But this is Al Ain, part of Abu Dhabi. It makes no sense.

Sheikh Zayed's residence in Al Ain, built in 1937, is now the Palace Museum, which we reached by driving through the Al Ain Oasis, a large area filled to the brim with impenetrable date palms and narrow pathways just large enough for our car. The palace looks like a fort with an appealing assemblage of low buildings often holding only one or two rooms, downstairs for the public spaces for coffee and visitors, upstairs for the private spaces for bedrooms, all very modest in size and decoration. The largest room, with floor cushions for meetings, would barely have been large enough to accommodate the Sheikh and all 19 sons. Off to the side was a small room called "office," with a single desk and chair. Hard to imagine the modernity of the UAE today emerging from such humble beginnings just 70 years ago. I think of the luxurious lifestyle of the richest families at that time in the United States, such as the Rockefellers and DuPonts, and there is no comparison.

The nicest thing about the city of Al Ain is that it doesn't (yet) have the built-up artificial feel of Dubai. There are a few new stunning parts, such as a new sports stadium, and the roads are in the process of being modernized with new intersections and interchanges replacing roundabouts (but hopefully not the one with the huge coffeepot in the middle, a local landmark referred to as the "coffeepot roundabout"). It still has the feel of a place where history and mystery can be found if one goes looking. The landscape itself is stunning with jagged walls of rock, hardly mountains and not looking very climbable, which jut up at various points along the road, alongside the occasional oasis filled with palm trees.

I decided to venture out the next morning in search of the local camel market. Of course, there were no obvious signs or directions and the simple map the hotel gave me was useless. Using my Garmin I was able to triangulate from the local concrete factory and the nearby military college, which led me to the Al Ain Market, which I really should not have been able to miss since it was the largest set of buildings off the main road (named after Sheikh Zayed, naturally). (No surprise, I guess, that the predominant building material in the city, as elsewhere, is concrete.) Driving towards the back I found a huge open, drive-around and through area with concrete stalls housing all kinds of livestock, including goats and sheep and, yes, hundreds of camels, all shapes and sizes. This appeared to be an active market with men leading camels out for showing before a crowd in a big square area. I parked, got out and started to wander around, when several men came up to greet me and shake my hand. It was immediately apparent that we had no words in common. They motioned for me to come over to their location, but being uncertain and alone and perhaps less foolish than I might have been in my younger days, I decided I would be better off not joining them. I seemed to be the only woman as well as the only tourist in the vicinity. Nor did I try to take pictures--it was one of those times where it seems wrong, with nothing to contribute on my end.

I had a similar experience later in the day when I passed an impressive but mysterious looking facility called the "Falcon Research Center." Despite my curiosity causing me to drive up to the entrance for a closer look, seeing a gated entryway made me think that might not be such a good idea.

For my next stop I returned to the Al Ain zoo, where at least I knew I would be safe from the animals. Plus I wanted to see the new white lions that have joined the zoo, a gift from South Africa. This was a very relaxing visit and I got to see everything I missed the first time around, including the new lions, the bird house and some very entertaining singing monkeys. The daily bird show, evenings only, is surely worth a visit with the promise of falcons, eagles and more, but I couldn't stay that long.

I then met up with Neal and the moot court team back at the hotel for late afternoon tea. A law professor with law students from University of Pittsburgh law school coached the various moot court teams, consisting of college students from UAE University in Al Ain and universities in Bahrain and Oman. As you might guess, UAE University is the oldest university in the UAE, dating from the country's founding in 1971. It accepts both men and women, but all aspects of the educational process are completely separate, with separate dormitories and classes. While the teams from Bahrain and Oman were single gender, the UAE fielded a co-ed moot court team, which only made it harder for them, as the men and women had no way to get together to prepare.

Given the recent emergence of colleges and universities in the region, it should not be too surprising to discover that many of the students who attend are among the first in their families to go to college. What seems so normal for Americans is actually a huge sea change in Arabic culture. In fact, given where things stood not that long ago, I'm even more amazed at how quickly things are changing.

I'm reminded of one of my favorite songs from the 70's, my college days, sung by Maria Muldaur:

Midnight at the oasis
Send your camel to bed
Shadows paintin' our faces
Traces of romance in our heads
Heaven's holdin' a half-moon
Shinin' just for us
Let's slip off to a sand dune, real soon
And kick up a little dust
Come on, Cactus is our friend
He'll point out the way
Come on, till the evenin' ends
Till the evenin' ends
You don't have to answer
There's no need to speak
I'll be your belly dancer, prancer
And you can be my sheik

I know your Daddy's a sultan
A nomad known to all
With fifty girls to attend him, they all send him
Jump at his beck and call
But you won't need no harem, honey
When I'm by your side
And you won't need no camel, no no
When I take you for a ride
Come on, Cactus is our friend
He'll point out the way
Come on, till the evenin' ends
Till the evenin' ends
Midnight at the oasis
Send your camel to bed
Got shadows paintin' our faces
And traces of romance in our heads