Sometimes it’s hard to find the inspiration to write posts that aren’t entirely dribble.  Today it was easy. 

I read about Nayla Al-Khaja on Whitney Hess’ blog Pleasure and Pain this morning.  She is an incredibly brave award winning film producer and director from Dubai.  In fact she is the first producer and director in the United Arab Emirates.  In order to get the education she wanted she had to travel to Canada for school.  She could not travel alone as a woman so Nayla arranged her own marriage (and subsequent divorce) in order to travel to Canada to study film.  She became a professional woman.  As a result her brother and father have disowned her as a bad Muslim.

Ayla is telling stories about what she knows best, life as a Muslim in the UAE.  According to Whtiney Hess, “Ayla’s next film is about how Arab women go on their first date. Dating is a taboo, done in secret.  She’s (Ayla’s) 30 and has a 10:30 curfew. She can’t travel anywhere alone, basically she ran away to be here.”

Wow!  What a story.