sChmo0kler

Sitting here in a busy airport lounge waiting for the boarding call for the last leg of my  10 and half hour trip, I’ve finally taken the time to notice the differences and similarities among the people I’ve seen and have basically been traveling with.

One can easily distinguish travelers from Middle East with their traditional garbs.  Although it varies from gulf state to gulf state, at least you see them wearing their tradition everyday unlike majority of the people in the world.  But I see a lot of contrasts here as well.  Women wear the traditional abaya, either with face cover or not, some even without hair protection.  You see them all clad in severe black but toting the latest shiny designer handbags with dark, big, glittering sunglasses and adorned with full-blown heavy makeup.  Nothing wrong with it really, it’s just glaringly conspicuous.

Then there’s the ever-present population from India & the subcontinent.  With their colorful saris and gold accessories, the women are always identifiable whether here or in Europe.  Men are almost always in trousers with shirts, whether long or short sleeved, and with or without neckties.  I was actually hoping to see them match the dresses of their female counterparts. 

A lot also from Africa, some of them donning their multi-hued dresses & head cover, others attired in the latest street fashions, with lots of eye-catching accessories.

Asian tourists abound, especially from Korea and Japan.  They usually travel in packs dressed in their most casuals or their formal bests.   I see the occasional traditional businessmen but mostly, groups whether old or young. 

Europeans and Americans are always a mixed lot  here in Middle East, I often see  more of the former than the latter.  Some women wear the skimpiest clothing I wonder how they don’t freeze from the chilly airport airconditioning.  But then again they probably come from countries with zero degrees for months end!  Scandinavian beauties abound as well as Slavic hunks and the typical backpacking American. 

Not to forget of course my countrymen.  I guess I’ve probably seen the entire spectrum of the travelling Filipino.   From the most well-heeled family to the contract worker out to gamble for work abroad.  Appearance-wise, well, we never wear our traditional dresses anymore.  They’ve become costumes for us now, worn only for formal occassions.  It makes me think now actually, how nice it would be to see our sayas & kamisas, ternos, barong tagalogs mingling with abayas, dishdashas, kurtas, saris, etc… But then again, thinking of the hassle of travelling and the changes in environment , it may not be too practical at all =)

These are just first impressions i see, rushing all around airport to airport. What I hear is another matter. How i wish I can master several languages!  Although I’ve been taught Chinese from 1st to 6th grade, my mandarin is almost non-existent! But, I think that’s even better than my Korean.  Because  for 2 months while I was working in Manila, I had Korean lessons on speaking, writing and reading but I  can only recall 3 phrases now.  And 2 of the 3 mean the same thing, which is thank you!   So… good luck with my Arabic!

Boarding time…And as it turned out we were only like 12 in the plane from Doha to Muscat.  This ended my whirlwind one-week travel from Muscat to Davao and back via so many stops with quick sightseeing, no wonder I crashed 14 hours straight upon hitting my pillow… And thank God I got back safe and in one piece, all ready to go at it again =)