Nostalgia, the Library, and Extrapolation

اِسْتِقْراء

root: ق-ر-ء / form X verbal noun / definition: extrapolation

The three-day conference I attended over the weekend and the start of the week meant that my readings and homework took a backseat—or, more accurately, fell out the boot of the metaphorical car I was taking for a joyride.

(Can something be more accurate and more metaphorical at the same time? Sounds like a question I don’t have time to answer right now.)

Oud and cigarette smoke hang heavy here in the humid air and evoke a nostalgia for something or somewhere; it’s a memory I can’t quite recall or perhaps one my tireless imagination has invented, as I often feel like I’ve lived lives I extrapolated from the lines of poetry, or dreams, or photographs. It’s possible, somehow.

And speaking of nostalgia, I wrote about it in Arabic using terms much more flowery than the ones above for one of my classes, just as I wrote another metaphor-dense piece in which I lamented over the fact the campus library closes at 10pm. I wrote of mirages, meadows, and of dreams planted in the past that will never sprout…

(Now, how am I meant to answer when someone asks me if I’m a dramatic person? Another question time denies an answer to, للأسف.)

But my evenings—like the one spent watching a blood-red moon rise over the water and listening to waves lapping against the shore—are a welcome break from the over-enthusiastic air conditioning units of every indoor space.

In those indoor spaces though (cold as they are), I have managed to get a decent amount of work done for my PhD (slow as progress may be), so meeting my supervisor yesterday didn’t feel like a performative dance of avoidance tactics.

I really do have a lot of work to get through tonight. To read more about what I’ve been up to here in Doha, you can become a member and unlock exclusive posts where I talk more in-depth about my experiences!

I’ll see you soon.

!إلى اللقاء