Once Upon A Burning Summer Day

 This post is not intended to offend anyone.

These are just a few scenes that caught my attention and aroused my curiosity.

-She took a big towel and dipped it in the pool. With water dripping all over the sunbathers, she went and spread it over her “madam’s” knees. The “madam ”, who chose what she thought is the coolest spot in the burning heat of the Ghor, and who was nevertheless sweating her head away, discreetly lifted her dishdash up to her knees to welcome the soothing waters. Meanwhile, in the pool, the madam’s husband was flirting with a foreigner in her bikini. The Mrs. Was proud. To her, it sounded like her husband was speaking perfect English, and that was all she saw in that scene. In another part of the pool,the children were playing. The eldest, a girl of around six,was splashing her brother of four with water. Her  arm, heavy with the weight of her  six gold bracelets jingling and glowing under the sun.

-He sprinkled his son’s head with a few drops of water. The two-year old was being carried around the pool by an African looking maid (Not a common scene in Jordan, but she did look Sudanese or Ethiopian). The maid, clad in a bathing suit but armored with knee-length gymnastics body suit underneath. The mother watching from the pool side.

I don’t have any social problem with that. It’s a perfectly innocent moment, but as my friend put it: Next time the husband’s looking at his son’s vacation pictures,the conversation will go towards the maid,not the mom: “Remember how frantic Omar looked when he first went into the water, remember when he swallowed the water and it came out of his nose, Almassa?”

-I have, yet, to see  a “modest” bathing suit that is actually modest. It hasn’t been done, yet! The more you try to hide, the more you end up revealing. The more you try to distract people’s attention, the more you invite curious eyes. Fashion designers, and material manufacturers, who have managed to create space suits, self-warming clothing, and fire retarding outfits, have not done this, successfully, yet! If it’s baggy, it’s hazardous, if it’s tight, it’s not modest. Period.

August 2006