So now what?

Just a note to let you know that I have not ceased being the Roving Royal Researcher I said was going to be, there has just been some bureaucratic delays. I am essentially waiting for the paper work and the contracts to be processed and as any one who has worked in the Middle East can testify, this may take some time. The difficulty, I believe, lies in different attitudes towards time. Westerners like to think of time as a commodity that can be purchased, saved, spent, wasted, squandered, and compensated. In Arab culture, time is something outside of us that flows like a river around us sweeping us along. In English, we say we will meet at 3:00 o'clock. In Arabic, one says, we will meet in 3:00 o'clock. Time is often viewed less precisely. I recently ran across a list of "You Might Be Arab If ..." statements. One read: "You might be an Arab if you show up two hours late and still think its early." I shared that with a few Arab friends, both of whom confirmed the truth of this.

So, now what. I continue working for the Mosaic Foundation until my contract comes through and then its off to the wide world of researching archives throughout the wide, wide world. I will keep you posted.