more fun in the bathroom

I pushed on the heavy wooden door and into a mass of black fabric flying around.  One woman had removed her abaya, another had taken off just the head scarf and was washing her face at the sink.  Others were milling about, speaking in Arabic.  A small boy toddled underfoot.  I spotted a baby staring at me, so I smiled and started to wave and make faces.  Having now been in the UAE for 3 weeks, I was already comfortable with this common scene in the bathroom:  women washing, possibly in preparation for prayer, and in various stages of abaya removal.  I paused a couple more minutes to coo at the baby, then stepped around the other women to head into a stall.

As I began to close the door, I heard a twitter go through the group.  Simultaneously, I looked up to see an abaya hanging on the back of the door I was closing.

"Oh, gosh, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," I said.  "I'll get out of your way.  I just had to..."

"No, no.  I get my abaya," the woman said softly and her hand reached around the door and snatched it from the hook.

I closed the door and completed my mission, then washed my hands at the sink.  Even though there were only 4 women and me, the amount of black fabric made it seem like the bathroom was packed with people.  I dried my hands and took two steps into a small foyer area.

"You take picture with my baby," said a young woman.

I was a little confused, assuming she wanted me to take a photo of her group.  I glanced around the upscale foyer area, with a large mirror and wooden detailing on the walls.  

"Oh, sure," I said.

With that, she grabbed the baby from another woman and thrust her toward me.  Instinctively, I reached out.

"Oh my gosh, I haven't done this in a while."  I looked at the small girl, who was probably about 6 months old, and had large brown eyes and brown curls all over her head.  By the time I glanced up, a camera was staring at me and the child.  I smiled.

The little boy, about 18 months old, moved near my leg.

"You want a picture too?" the woman asked him.  He nodded his head and glanced up at me, smiling shyly.

"Oh, sure," and I squatted down, holding the baby in my right hand and putting my left arm around the little boy.  I felt a flash of fear as it occurred to me that if I dropped the baby, she would land on a marble floor.  I'm not sure how many photos they took of me and the children before I stood back up, thanked them, and pulled the door to go back into the hallway.  #ibmcsc uae