Well, that happened. Right?
It’s shocking to me sometimes the number of experiences one can have in a single 12-hour period. Yesterday morning, I made my way to Suwaidi Pearls Farm. It was a beautiful morning. There were just six of us on the Jalboot (one of the largest boats they historically used for pearl diving). It was a pleasantly small and friendly group. We learned all about the history of pearl diving in Ras al Khaimah and about how they farm oysters for pearls nowadays.
My little Pacific NW heart had a mostly-contained attack of excitement when I saw the camels on the beach!
These camels are on a farm where they’re bred, so their front legs are tied together to prevent them from running.
Pearls, as it turns out, are formed when an oyster is attacked. It’s their response to an injury of some kind - from a predator - which stimulates the production of calcium carbonate around the injury. It’s pretty incredible to know that for thousands of years such a precious commodity is a manifestation of an oyster’s immune system. Imagine if we could harvest our macrophages and turn them into necklaces.
In the wild only about 1% of oysters have a pearl. On the farm, the oysters are seeded with a small bead of mother of pearl and a small piece of mantle tissue taken from a donor shell. They are then returned to the ocean where 60% of the time, the seed will be covered in mother of pearl to form a pearl that can be harvested.
I did not feel awesome about the fact that the oyster I chose out of the tank DIED after we took its pearl. :(
Our guide was knowledgeable, friendly and had a great sense of humor about our collective lack of knowledge about oyster immune systems.
I met two incredible humans while exploring yesterday. The UAE is a diverse place. There are people from all over the world here.
Dara - on the left - was the server at the Thai restaurant where I stopped for lunch. (Also pictured is the excellent Pad Thai I had.) We struck up a conversation about life, solo travel, seeing the world, education and Thailand. When we parted ways, she gave me a big hug, asked if we could be friends on Instagram, and told me to reach out if I need anything at all while I’m here.
Faiz, on the right, drove me all over the place yesterday. He is from Pakistan. He was so kind, and even came back for me after my pearl farm tour because he knew it’d be hard for me to call a taxi from so far outside the city. We talked about government, corruption, what it means to feel safe in the place you live, the landscape of Pakistan, family and a whole host of other things.
It’s an important experience traveling (and at home) to learn to trust. Yes, you must be smart and savvy. But it’s equally - if not more - important to see other humans as people. People with stories. People with experiences to share. People who are fundamentally kind and caring. People who experience joy, sadness, grief, hardship and ease; good and bad days. There are so many ways we can share across cultures and human-made borders. When you zoom out just far enough, all the hassle and complexity we’ve created melts away and what’s left is much simpler than we are led to believe.
The number of human cultural traditions on this planet is breathtaking. We do not have to allow our differences to breed conflict the way we so often do. If we can let go of the need for there to be one way or a superior way - we can see that there are actually many beautiful ways. Does it mean there aren’t things in every way that could be better? Of course not. But improvement of one’s own way of life does not mean imposition of a single way of being on others.
After being a tourist for the morning, I spent the evening being a featured an artist at the Grand Opening of RAKFAF 2023.
And a grand opening it was.
When I said yes to this experience, the truth is that I didn’t have any idea what I was getting myself into. I said ‘yes’ without hesitation, because that seemed like the right thing to say when someone calls you and says they want to fly you to the UAE and display your photos of nature, right?
I’d never been to an international arts festival. I’d never curated a massive display in a foreign country - or in any country, for that matter. I’d never represented the US as an artist before. I’d never met anyone from an embassy or any US government official, let alone someone who can actually be addressed as “your majesty”. (More on that later). Honestly, I can’t even remember if I knew that international arts festivals were a thing. None of these experiences were even in my imagination.
But here is one of the amazing things about life: You don’t always dream of every experience you get to have. Sometimes they just show up and all you have to do is say: YES.
So here I am and every day I am here, I keep saying yes.
Right after getting off the bus, I met the team from the US Embassy in Abu Dhabi. Shortly thereafter, the US Ambassador to the UAE - Sean Murphy - arrived. (Too bad I didn’t know about his last name until this morning, or I’d have told him about my mom. Sorry, Mom.) We were introduced and chatted. Next thing I knew, I was doing a media interview. After that, I was introduced to the Consul General - Meghan Gregonis and we chatted for a while. It was a whirlwind of photographers with flashes, microphones, hubbub, music and camels (yes, there were two camels outside the entrance to the fort!). Both the Ambassador and Consul General were lovely humans, and it was an honor to meet them both and show them my work.
After an hour or so of socializing and also getting a chance to meet the US Mission Artist from last year, the Sheikh of Ras al Khaimah arrived. He is an incredible supporter of the festival here and has been instrumental in its growth over the last few years.
Here’s the thing I really did not know was going to happen. I got to meet him. He saw my photos. He toured my display. We talked about Alaska, the Aurora Borealis, Utqiagvik (I had to spell that one), Japanese Maple trees (he was interested in that photo in particular) and bees, actually. He really has a thing for bees. He appreciated my photos, talked to me about the meaning of my name in Arabic, told me the sun here is probably good vitamin D for me, and thanked me for tolerating the hot weather.
I pride myself on being pretty quick on my feet. All those years of ICU work has made me pretty decent in a crisis, you know? But I have to tell you - it took me a few minutes to find my words when the entourage of photographers, bodyguards, press, people from the US government and the United Arab Emirates royalty walked into my display. Talk about things that never entered my imagination.
Did I think of a thousand things I wish I’d said after he left? YUP.
Did I wake up this morning wondering if I represented myself well? Represented my country well? You bet I did.
Did I replay everything I can remember saying? Many, many times.
Will I keep doing those three things for the next week? Probably. :)
Do I know in my heart I did a good job? Yeah. I did.
Because even in my tongue-tied state, I chose to be my authentic self: a girl from Alaska who thinks this big, beautiful complex world is amazing and wondrous, and burns with a desire to encourage others to see it that way, too.
Will he remember me specifically? Remember what I said? I doubt it.
Will he remember the Japanese Maple tree? Or the aurora as seen from the northernmost city in Alaska?
He just might. You never know.
This is one of the powerful things about art. A picture of nature can leave an impression on you - affect you in countless ways - without the need for the many words we never think to say. And in the same way, nature can echo the unsung songs of our hearts.
My plans for today, you ask? See below :)
