"When men are most sure and arrogant they are commonly most mistaken, giving views to passion without that proper deliberation which alone can secure them from the grossest absurdities." - David Hume I don't mean to panic, but I will withdraw my money tomorrow. All of it. Most likely, by the time I actually publish this, I will have withdrawn my money. That would be the "smart" thing to do.
I will withdraw my money as soon as we get paid next week as well. If we get paid. That's the bigger concern. Not whether I can access the little amount in the bank currently, but whether I can access my full pay - the amount that will tide me over for seven weeks until we get paid again - next week. If we get paid. That feels like a big "if" at the moment.
Rumor has it, that the locals have received letters implying that their may be problems accessing their money soon. We live on rumors here. Rumors and acute observation. Granted, the rumors are based in logic, but they transform this bubble we live in into a real place, and remind us that we still live in a "developing nation" and that the media is in fact censored.
The fact that the foreign media finally exposed our dirty little secret over the Thanksgiving weekend gives our rumors more weight - because it confirms last years' rumors and last years' observations. We kept waiting for traffic to resume after the New Year last winter. Last year, after the 25th of September, we waited and we watched. There was a global recession, of course we would be affected. You want to talk credit? You want to talk loans? You want to talk excess? All of that had a name and it was "So D----i." Of course we would be affected.
But traffic persisted. The cranes kept moving and building continued. We speculated: "Perhaps they will go home for holidays and will not return" or "perhaps they will stay out the school year, and then go home for the summer and not come back".
It was a feint idea - in the back of our minds. The holidays came and went. Traffic was light - relatively. I read the local paper, there were stories of financial disturbance, but they were rare and not shocking. Of course the real estate holdings of the overseas branches were affected, but the economy here was fine. Nothing earth shattering. But there was less traffic.
Reports came out of the United States, of course they mentioned that two-thirds of the US economy is related to consumerism. My logic followed thus: if two-thirds of the US economy is based in consumerism and the US economy is reeling, and the majority of the economy here is founded in consumerism (I do not know in what other categories real estate and tourism fall into) then there will be similarities. Of course there are.
Why are people surprised?
There are whole buildings in my neighborhood, the thriving downtown - little India, whose storefronts are empty. Empty buildings in the Bur?
"To Let" signs hanging on the apartment buildings.
I walked to the store this weekend as I often do. There was trash on the ground. Bottles. Paper. Cigarettes. Empty water bottles. This place is trash I thought to myself. I hadn't thought like that since I was in Kuwait. The ground is never this dirty here. There are people out working to clean up the streets early every morning - everything is always clean. I hope this is not a sign, I thought. It was raining.
Yesterday I walked to the store. There was still trash on the ground. It was just as messy. It was still raining.
There is less traffic here, less traffic than there was last spring. Last spring there was less traffic here than there was last fall. The license plates here still begin with the letter K.
My license plate begins with K and I have been here for over a year. When I first arrived, I guesstimated that the city went through at least one letter rotation per year. With 35,000 people moving here a month (at the time), the transition to the next letter was quick. When I first got here, we were well into the Ks by mid year. The license plates here still begin with the letter K. We have not yet moved on to the letter L - in over a year.
I was speaking with a friend over dinner tonight. She told me she was surprised that the malls were not yet decorated. She spoke of how gorgeous the malls looked last year. She wondered if it is a sign.
The media has put this city on front street. An economic downturn created by excess began nearly 14 months ago, and people are surprised that the city built on excess is affected.
The traffic has been light for one year. The license plates are no longer multiplying by the second. Students are leaving the schools and jobs are uncertain. There are, in fact, at the airport - cars. There is trash on the streets, collecting dirt and water.
Tomorrow is December 14 - "D Day" - "D" as in "Debt".
It is raining in the desert.
I will withdraw my money as soon as we get paid next week as well. If we get paid. That's the bigger concern. Not whether I can access the little amount in the bank currently, but whether I can access my full pay - the amount that will tide me over for seven weeks until we get paid again - next week. If we get paid. That feels like a big "if" at the moment.
Rumor has it, that the locals have received letters implying that their may be problems accessing their money soon. We live on rumors here. Rumors and acute observation. Granted, the rumors are based in logic, but they transform this bubble we live in into a real place, and remind us that we still live in a "developing nation" and that the media is in fact censored.
The fact that the foreign media finally exposed our dirty little secret over the Thanksgiving weekend gives our rumors more weight - because it confirms last years' rumors and last years' observations. We kept waiting for traffic to resume after the New Year last winter. Last year, after the 25th of September, we waited and we watched. There was a global recession, of course we would be affected. You want to talk credit? You want to talk loans? You want to talk excess? All of that had a name and it was "So D----i." Of course we would be affected.
But traffic persisted. The cranes kept moving and building continued. We speculated: "Perhaps they will go home for holidays and will not return" or "perhaps they will stay out the school year, and then go home for the summer and not come back".
It was a feint idea - in the back of our minds. The holidays came and went. Traffic was light - relatively. I read the local paper, there were stories of financial disturbance, but they were rare and not shocking. Of course the real estate holdings of the overseas branches were affected, but the economy here was fine. Nothing earth shattering. But there was less traffic.
Reports came out of the United States, of course they mentioned that two-thirds of the US economy is related to consumerism. My logic followed thus: if two-thirds of the US economy is based in consumerism and the US economy is reeling, and the majority of the economy here is founded in consumerism (I do not know in what other categories real estate and tourism fall into) then there will be similarities. Of course there are.
Why are people surprised?
There are whole buildings in my neighborhood, the thriving downtown - little India, whose storefronts are empty. Empty buildings in the Bur?
"To Let" signs hanging on the apartment buildings.
I walked to the store this weekend as I often do. There was trash on the ground. Bottles. Paper. Cigarettes. Empty water bottles. This place is trash I thought to myself. I hadn't thought like that since I was in Kuwait. The ground is never this dirty here. There are people out working to clean up the streets early every morning - everything is always clean. I hope this is not a sign, I thought. It was raining.
Yesterday I walked to the store. There was still trash on the ground. It was just as messy. It was still raining.
There is less traffic here, less traffic than there was last spring. Last spring there was less traffic here than there was last fall. The license plates here still begin with the letter K.
My license plate begins with K and I have been here for over a year. When I first arrived, I guesstimated that the city went through at least one letter rotation per year. With 35,000 people moving here a month (at the time), the transition to the next letter was quick. When I first got here, we were well into the Ks by mid year. The license plates here still begin with the letter K. We have not yet moved on to the letter L - in over a year.
I was speaking with a friend over dinner tonight. She told me she was surprised that the malls were not yet decorated. She spoke of how gorgeous the malls looked last year. She wondered if it is a sign.
The media has put this city on front street. An economic downturn created by excess began nearly 14 months ago, and people are surprised that the city built on excess is affected.
The traffic has been light for one year. The license plates are no longer multiplying by the second. Students are leaving the schools and jobs are uncertain. There are, in fact, at the airport - cars. There is trash on the streets, collecting dirt and water.
Tomorrow is December 14 - "D Day" - "D" as in "Debt".
It is raining in the desert.
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