I FELT LIFE HAS TO BE LIVED, YOU COULD MEET TROUBLE RIGHT AT YOUR DOORSTEP. SO WHEN I WAS SELECTED TO NURSE IN THE GULF I HAD THE CHOICE OF SAUDI ARABIA OR THE SULTANATE OF OMAN. I DECIDED ON THE LATTER AND ENDED UP IN THE MUSTASHPA SULTANI / ROYAL HOSPITAL IN THE SULTANATE OF OMAN. IT WAS WHERE I FELT THE FIRST STIRRING WITHIN MY SOUL I LOVED THE FOLKS BOTH THE NATIVES AND THE COSMOPOLITANS AROUND. I REALLY BEGAN TO LIVE LIFE AND I WAS STRANGELY IN LOVE WITH LIFE ITSELF. DANCING AND MUSIC WAS LIKE FOOD FOR THE SOUL. THE MORE I DANCED THE BETTER I FELT,SOMEHOW THE MUSIC, RHYTHMS AND SONGS WAS LIKE A NARCOTIC THAT YOU EITHER LOVED OR HATED. BEING LUCKY ENOUGH TO BE INVITED TO PRIVATE FUNCTIONS AND TO THE AL BUSAIDI HOUSEHOLD WHERE HUMOOD WAS VERY SWEET WITH HIS COMPLIMENTS REMARKING THAT ONE SHOULD FOLLOW ONE'S HEART. ANOTHER KIND FAMILY THE AL HAMZI CLAN WERE WONDERFUL TO ME AND TREATED ME AS THEIR ADOPTIVE DAUGHTER AND TO THIS DAY I STILL MAINTAIN MY TIES WITH THEM.
I ALSO HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO MINGLE WITH THE BALUCHIS AND ZANZIBARIS BESIDES THE OMANIS. THE HOSPITALITY AND THE GENEROSITY OF THE OMANI PEOPLE WAS WONDERFUL BE THEY MY PATIENTS OR ORDINARY VILLAGERS. THEY WERE ALWAYS RESPECTFUL AND THE GREETINGS AND PLEASANTRIES COULD TAKE A WHILE BEFORE YOU GOT TO THE BOTTOM OF THE MATTER!
MARSEIRAH ISLAND WHERE THE BRITISH EASTERN RELAY STATION WAS SITUATED WAS UNTARNISHED PIECE OF ISLAND.THE SANDS OF THE SPRAWLING WIDE BEACHES WERE SHEER GOLDEN WITH NO ONE ELSE IN SIGHT FOR AS FAR AS THE EYES CAN SEE. IT WAS VERY ETHEREAL WALKING ALONG THE BEACH AT DAWN WITH THE COOL CRISP AIR AND THE SKY WITH HUES OF RED, ORANGE AND BLUE. TINY LITTLE YELLOW CRABS WOULD SCATTER ALL ABOUT THE SANDS IN SOME GREAT HURRY. IN THE DISTANCE THERE WOULD BE GATHERING OF BEAUTIFUL PINK FLAMINGOES.
FORTUNATELY,IN THE WARD AN EGYPTIAN DOCTOR ASKED WHAT I WOULD LIKE AS A GIFT TO WHICH I REPLIED A PAPYRUS WOULD BE LOVELY AND A VIDEO ON THE DANCES OF THE MID EAST WOULD MAKE MY DAY. HE CERTAINLY GOT ME A PAPYRUS DEPICTING TOMB PAINTING OF DANCING GIRLS IN ANCIENT EGYPT AND A VIDEO OF ORIENTAL BELLYDANCING WITH SEVERAL DANCERS OF THE 70'S. AS AT THAT TIME THERE WAS NO WHERE INSTRUCTIONAL ON BELLYDANCE IN OMAN I STARTED TO OBSERVE THE WAY THE MEN AND WOMEN DANCED AND GET IDEAS OFF THE VIDEO AND FRIENDS THERE AS WELL AS FROM TRAVELS TO JORDAN AND OTHER REGIONS WITHIN OMAN.
MY LIFE IN OMAN AND TRAVELLING TO COUNTRIES AROUND THE REGION CERTAINLY MADE AN IMPRESSION ON ME. THUS,BEGAN A QUEST OF LEARNING MORE ABOUT THIS DANCE WHICH I FELT DEEPLY WITHIN AND FELT EVER SO NATURAL. IT WAS LIKE I WAS ON THE THRESHOLD OF REDISCOVERING MYSELF FROM A TIME LONG AGO THAT LAY HIDDEN IN THE SUBCONCIOUS OF MY MIND.
ARRIVING IN NORTHERN IRELAND, AND DISCOVERING THE JOSEPHINE WISE ACADEMY OF ARABIC DANCE WAS A FANTASTIC COINCIDENCE. ESPECIALLY, BEING ABLE TO DO A DIPLOMA IN THIS DANCE FURTHER COMPOUNDED MY BELIEF THAT EVERYONE IN THEIR EARTHLY JOURNEY HAS A DESTINY IN LIFE TO FULFILL TO BE OF SERVICE TO HUMANKIND. I ALSO BELIEVE THAT WHEN THINGS HAPPEN ALONG A COURSE OF MAPPED OUT EVENTS THEN THAT IS THE CALLING OF ONE'S DESTINY AND PURPOSE IN LIFE. IN MY INSTANCE THE DESERT CERTAINLY REKINDLED THE FLAME WITHIN AND I FELT NURTURED IN THE DEEP GOLDEN SANDS TILL THE RHYTHM WITHIN MY SOUL BEGAN TO VIBRATE WITH ANCIENT LONGING AND YEARNING. IT WAS TO ME A PERSONAL BLOSSOMING AS THAT OF A ROSE IN THE DESERT WHO HAS FOUND HER SPIRITUAL UNION THE VERY REASON FOR BEING.
IN NORTHERN IRELAND I FELT IT RIGHT THAT THIS LOVE OF EXPRESSING ONE'S SOUL IN DANCE SHOULD BE SHARED WITH OTHER KINDRED SOULS. THE BENEFITS ARE MANIFOLD PHYSICALLY, MENTALLY AND SPIRITUALLY. THAT IS MY PURPOSE NOW TO EMPOWER, BRING JOY AND FUN, SELF-ESTEEM AND ENCOURAGE CROSS CULTURAL TIES IN THIS LOVELY PART OF THE WORLD.
BISMILLAH
KRISTYENE