COVER UP

A WESTERN WOMAN’S JOURNEY INTO THE MIDDLE EAST

By

Dawn Elizabeth Neill

Emails, diary entries, letters and newsletters of life in the Middle East

PROLOGUE

Serendipity…a discovery of things by accident…

At a job fair in Toronto, I kept hearing the word “Kuwait”…and wondered where on earth it was. I knew it was somewhere in the Middle East. I knew of Desert Storm…but I did not know it would become my home six months later…unveiling people, places and events that I never would have dreamed of, let alone experience.

I had always kept a diary; but now, living in the Middle East, away from family and friends, I wrote more in my diary and began writing lengthy emails and newsletters and sent them home. Everyone kept saying, “write a book”, “keep your stories”…so, this is it: my story of a journey into the Middle East.

Although all the stories are based on true events, names have been changed to protect the individuals involved. This choice is, in itself, a “cover up”. We all “cover up” for different reasons: protection, deception… So much in Kuwait is kept under cover, unshared, unspoken; from the individual Kuwaiti’s way of life, to their families, their institutions, right on up the pyramid to their Amir.

One of the most often-used words in Kuwait is “haram” meaning forbidden, not allowed. Alcohol is “haram”, yet high ranking officials have it “secretly” brought into the country by the shipload. But this “cover up” is what makes Kuwait fascinating, alluring, a dichotomy.

As I began putting the book together, I noticed how different the west is from the east…but I also noticed how similar they are. Each individual, each nation has its own hidden agendas and issues, whether we like to admit it or not…including myself.

It is my hope that this book will help a little to bridge the huge gap between west and east. We may not understand our differences; we may fight and disagree…but in the end, we all sweat, cry and bleed…and cover up.

Consider my story a sneak peak into a world vastly different from the western side of the globe…and yet, in many ways the same.

Consider it the unveiling of a plea to embrace diversity…an open letter to both sides of the world.

Consider it a mosaic of many tidbits put together to hang on the global wall of memories and memoirs.

Consider it a discovery of things by accident…