Jamila Barlowe,
A young art curator embarks on her journey across the Middle East. Walking into something that was bound to happen sooner or later is this what they call fate or just bad luck only time will tell .....
No there's no way. How is it still hot outside? Just from walking, I'm sweating up a storm. I fan myself with some papers I have in my purse as I wait for a taxi. I'm definitely going to invest in some sort of cooling system maybe one of those portable fans
"umpf" I stumbled a little bit something done almost knocked me over. I turn around to see a little girl holding onto my leg. I look around to see where the mom is but no one is around. I bend down to get a good look at her
" Hello," I say to her but she just gives me a confused look. I smile at her but my attention was switched to a woman yelling and running toward me with a hijab draped around her head.
" ya 'iilahi , 'ant taelam 'anah lays min almuftarad 'an tahrub miniy ya farah" ( OH MY GOSH you know you are not supposed to run away from me Farah) She grabs the little girl by her arm with worry plastered all over her face. She gives me an apologetic look while picking her up then shortly walking away. I don't blame the mom for being worried or even upset. This is a very crowded place
Finally, with some luck, I'm able to get a taxi. Now that I think about it I should have learned more Arabic. I only know the basics so hopefully, that's enough to get by. At least I have my dictionary. I tell the man my address and we set off to the hotel.
When he let me out he tried his best to give me directions because to me all I saw was an ally way but from what I was able to decipher he said to go straight down till I see some sort of water then turn right, then left, then right. I rub my temples just knowing I'm bound to get lost but what's a solo trip without getting lost once but knowing me I'll probably get lost more than once. Thankfully, based on what I read crime here is very low due to the rules and regulations they have in place. But even with all the information, I tried to find very little came up. Even in the book, I read that doesn't really make any sense because even if a country has censorship people who don't live there are still allowed to publish the information well not in the country of course.
My suitcase rolls against the broken cobblestone road people can be heard from the windows of the apartments nearby kids playing and running around with pans banging together in the kitchen and older males on the balcony drinking tea or coffee while talking.
"Wait, so this is what he was talking about" I whispered to myself.
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This is nice, and I'm not even at the hotel yet. I wonder if this is some sort of common area? What did he say again right right left or was it right left right?
"There's only one way to find out" I go with the second option and thankfully it was the right one. I would have to walk back down this long path and nobody has time for that. I want to go out for lunch.
" Hello welcome to Daw' Alqamar hotel. Can I please see your identification to verify your stay?" she says with a big smile on her face. I rummage through my bag to find my passport holder that has my license cards and obviously my passport. I pull out my cards and hand her everything she types away checking to see if I booked a room. She passes my stuff back to me along with a key for the door
"You're on floor 3 room 310. Enjoy your stay!" she beams. I say thank you and walk away. Sadly, there were no elevators. This is gonna be a pain when I wear heels but at least it's only the third floor
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I take a deep breath before I make the climb and start walking. Each floor has a common area, you know, with a TV maybe some games and couches but there were a whole bunch of rules written on the wall but I didn't have time to read it
" 307, 308,309" I turn around in circles and don't see a 310. I scratch my head in confusion until I see a door. It had beautiful stained glass and a brass door. Nob, just out of curiosity I opened the door
" locked" I let the door nob go and try to look for more doors. There's no way they would give me a room that doesn't exist I walk alllll the way to the end of the hallway and there was a damn corner and there goes my room all the way at the end
"A sign would have been nice" I hear someone chuckle so I look back to see who it was. A short older woman coming out of the rooms with a cart I guess she works here. At least I made someone laugh today
I place the key into the door and it opens. A sense of relief just rushes over me. Well, this will be my home for the next month. I kick my shoes off and jump on my bed. Normally I would NEVER wear my outside clothes on the bed but no one uses the top layer blanket in a hotel. It's always the spare blanket or the two sheets on the bed. I snap a quick selfie and send it to the group chat so they know I made it, but I think everyone is sleeping right now due to the time change. wlep there's no point sitting around it's time to find something to eat. I probably should bring something back for later as well
"Do you know any good spots around to eat?" I say to the employee at the front desk and she shakes her head writing down the name of the restaurant. Once again, I thank her for the help and head out to look for the place
As I walk my way back to the main sidewalk music from somewhere fills my ear. Little kids are playing with each other while their moms are talking inside the shop. I can't help but smile at the innocents that little kids carry. I miss those days I didn't have a lot of time to be a kid thanks to my upbringing. But at least I still have those good memories right?
Finally! I find the restaurant the employee told me about it has that very homey feeling, you know, those mom-and-pop restaurants. I have no clue what they are coming back there but it's making my mouth water.
I walk in and an older woman greets me and brings me to an empty seat. I get handed a menu thankfully they had pictures on it or else I would just have to pick something random.
" sakhidh alhasa' min fadlik" ( I'll take the soup please) I say to the older woman that was waiting for me to choose. She smiles and nodded her head. I hope she understood what I said. My Arabic is not that good at all.
I check my phone and the girls haven't texted back yet. While looking up I notice some more people coming in talking to each other. I have a feeling this will be a good trip even though I just got here. This will be something new
It's a good thing I didn't order a big bowl because as soon as I got my food the place was packed within seconds. I quickly pay and exit the restaurant. What am I gonna do tonight? The sun is basically going down, even though I heard this country isn't that dangerous. At the end of the day, I'm alone and I'm a woman. Looks like I'm gonna ask around. I can't and won't stay in my room for the rest of the month
