Emirate women

After meeting a few Emirate women, I noticed their gestures and mannerisms were the same as island women. I say that because of the way they spoke to each other. While at school, during recess, I'd notice how some of the Arabic teachers would whisper and look at who they were talking about. They would laugh and make "ah and oh" sounds just like island women would make. I was surprised to see this and realized that all of us women are the same.

The hand movements were the similar as well. I observed some older women putting their hands on their hips when they spoke. Even my pre school student Nwal had some sassiness when she spoke. She was clearly behaving like a woman figure (probably her mother) from home.

Homer wearing a moo moo. I had to add this for comedic relief!

Oh and clothing! I noticed some of the Emirate teachers didn't like wearing their abayas in the school. It seemed to me wearing them made the teachers uncomfortable. The teachers wore clothes underneath them so I can see how it can get very warm wearing the abayas. There weren't too many men around by the middle of the day, so it made sense why the teachers took them off. When some of the teachers took the abayas off, I realized they love to wear moo moos! That was another surprise for me. A moo moo is a Haitian word for night gown. In the Haitian culture, the women wear moo moos in the day and night. They are also mostly worn inside and at home. It was interesting to see the emirate teachers did the same. The moo moos they wore were a bit stylish. They had many different floral patterns and colors.

I found this on google. This is what Moza wore.

It took me two weeks to realize one teacher assistant was the same person. In the daytime, there was an older woman named Moza who was dressed in her complete abaya with her face completely covered. I would say good morning to her and that's about it. In the early afternoon, a woman wearing a moo moo would make short conversation with me outside during recess and brought the students bread from time to time. I didn't realize at first that Moza was the same woman that brought the bread to my class. Finally one day I gathered the courage to speak to her and realized it was Moza! I was like hey it's you! She didn't really get what I was saying because her English wasnt so great but I was happy I figured it out. I could identify most of the women out of their abayas but Moza was a completely different story.



In conclusion, I learned that women are alike no matter where we are from. We might have some differences because of our skin color, culture, language etc. but we are the same. This observation and experience helped me remember to treat people like I would want to be treated and that we are all connected in some way.