Shayla, Abaia and Emarati Women

Ugh. I can't believe this is my third post of the day. This is what happens when you don't have Internet at home and try to work on your blog at work. Your attention is scattered in all directions and you forget to mention some important things.

When I first came here, I didn't know what the proper names for the clothing women are wearing here, so I call them burqas, but that's not what women wear here. Usually, women wear a scarf over and around their heads, which are called shayla. Some women would cover up their whole face, only leaving their eyes exposed. But most of them wear their shayla over their heads and tucked the end around their faces. They also wear a robe called abaia. They are black and some of them are beautifully decorated. In the UAE, they don't wear bruqa. Some of the students here take off their shayla at school and leave their abaia open at the front. But as soon as they leave campus, they usually cover up again. I just wanted to clarify that. I will ask some of my Emirati friends if it's okay for me to take a picture and post them online, then you will know what I mean.

Oh, and some of you may ask, do the women in the UAE like wearing their shayla and abaia? I ask the same question too. Some of them will quote what their leader say and it's something along this line: A piece of chocolate that is wrapped up is more desirable than one that's not. There are very very few Emarati girls who don't wear a shayla and a abaia. I honestly don't know if they mind or not. I speak to a lot of other ex-pats working at the university about this, and there is a general consensus that there is a peer pressure to wear them. Girls who don't wear them become outcasts. And some of the students are pushing for stricter dress code, such as zipping/buttoning up the abaia (since a lot of students don't and you can see exactly the kinds of designer duds they have underneath). It's a very interesting cultural phenomenon, I think.

The students at the university are very polite. I've had the nicest time sitting at the reference desk. They are very courteous and grateful for any kind of help I can provide them. Very different than the experience I had with North American students. I am sure there are some snotty students in this university as well, but as far as I can tell, most of them are sweet and well-mannered. I enjoy working with them. I like it a lot when they come into my office to ask me for help!

I will be teaching next semester and I am nervous but looking forward to it. One of the things my colleagues and supervisor tell me is that these students are raised in a very different culture than my own. We (as in North Americans and other 'Westerners') for the most part are raised as independent individuals where students are encouraged to ask questions even in the high school level. In the UAE, girls are raised to be passive and not question anything that was told to them, especially by men. One of the challenges for librarians in this region is to teach information literacy skills. To be information literate, one MUST question the authority and the reliability of the information. One must be critical and not accept anything at face value. Therefore, in some ways, we are almost 're-programming' how these female students see and understand the world, which is going to be a very interesting challenge.

Anyways, I think this will be my final post. Let's hope I find Internet over the weekend sometime... the good news is that I finally got my passport back today. I can start applying for Internet. Yay!