Sana'a - Dubai - D.C.

Almost 360 degrees. I circled the globe, over Iran, Afghanistan, Russia and Greenland, landed on yet another planet, and am now sitting in my beloved Washington, D.C. apartment with my cat, wearing a red tank top. If it wasn't so cold, I could wear the tank top outside, and I wouldn't get stares. Later, I plan to run through the streets, listening to my iPod. I plan to hold Heather's hand.

Ah, to be a woman, and to be free.

Of course, all freedoms are relative. As a woman, I could still become trapped inside my head, and feel limited by the shape of my body, my capacity for professional growth, an economic downturn. But, let's face it, here in D.C., we live in relative freedom.

As my plane rose up over Sana'a, I have to say, I breathed a sigh of relief. I let my scarf drop loosely over my neck, and removed my blazer. In my short sleeves, I readied myself for a few hours in Dubai before returning home.

And even in Dubai, just three hours by plane from Yemen, what I sensed was progress, modernity, and a relative antithesis. Dubai, like Abu Dhabi, the two most famous cities in the United Arab Emirates, pride themselves on progress. Their country has used its oil wealth to offer free education, through the university level, and free health care to all of its citizens. Because of its wealth, the cities are pristine high-rises jetting through the sky, and Dubai is an international metropolis filled with a modernity and capitalist mentality that even many places in the United States might try to emulate.

A couple of hours spent people watching at one of Dubai's famous shopping malls was filled with Arab princesses, their faced bedecked in make-up, three-inch long eye lashes, diamond-laden abeyas, and head scarves sitting high on their heads to cover towering buttresses of hair. These princesses walked beside European women with bare middrifts, and women wearing loose pastel outfits, with what looked like bonnets as head scarves. A few women sported the full face veil, as in Yemen, others wore the Indian Sari, the colorful Somali headscarf, and some looked like me. It was truly an amalgamation, in every sense of the word.

When leaving the mall, we were startled by a display of fireworks outside the Sheraton Hotel. Red, green and gold sparkles lighted the night sky. We asked our driver what the occasion was, assuming this could go on every night in Dubai -- a city of money, gold souks and shopping malls -- and it would make sense.

"It is the shopping festival," he said.

Ah, yes, of course. Every year, five days are designated for the "shopping festival," which brings in large crowds from all over the world to help boost an already boosted economy. While there, for $115, visitors can visit the tallest building in the world, spend the day at the beach, or go on a desert Safari -- all in a one day.

But it's not all a Disney Land in Dubai. The place still allows public executions and one is due in the next couple days, to prosecute a man who raped a little boy in a Mosque. He'll be gunned down by a firing squad. Because of the diverse population -- and various codes of dress -- the country has a "zero-tolerance policy" for sexual harassment.

The editorial page of Dubai's English language newspaper was filled with letters from its readership condemning France for trying to outlaw the face veil.


Burqa provides a sort of protection for women. It is not a punishment.
-Muzammil, Dubai


If France calls for the veil ban for Muslim women, the Arabs should implement compulsory 'full Islamic veil' for all other religions.
SAK Jeelani, Dubai


This is just exploiting the innocent people and religion! Truly an act of discrimination from a 'so-called' human rights leader!
Asghar Ali, Sharjah


It shows the dark face of the West.
Tariq Bangash, Al Ain

And, alas, I return to the face veil again. I didn't mean to do it, and I am not sure how I feel about a legal ban. All I know is that even sitting here 9,000 miles away in Washington, D.C., the face veil still tightens my chest, and compromises my heart.