Graphic by Carlos Alberto Escobar
Ten Meditations on Love
Ayah Rashid is a contributing writer. Email her at feedback@thegazelle.org. ...
Feb 13, 2016
- Running your fingertips along the ridges of freshly shaved palm trunks and feeling the breeze ruffle your clothes as you walk beside them.
- Hearing the melody of student chatter during a henna party the night before Eid. Sitting in the deep bowl of a beanbag and nodding your head to Urdu songs that you do not understand but are totally feeling the vibe to. Turning to your friend who is talking and coding at the same time. Stuffing your face with delicious samosas filled with potato and peas, all dipped in spicy brown sauce that burns your mouth but is sweet at the same time.
- Going to the movies with your roommate for the first time and sitting in a dark empty theater and watching her shoes light up. Laughing as she shows you how they turn on and off, marveling at how useful they would be if she ends up in a bathroom where the lights automatically turn off if you sit still for too long. Watching a movie where the actors talk in British accents that are as thick as the scones they eat but the actors are cute so you don’t care too much.
- Telling a friend that you are leaving for winter break after dinner and having that friend come tearing into the dining hall and lifting you off the ground with a massive hug as you are waiting for a hamburger.
- Finding out someone is into the same strange music you enjoy and not being embarrassed to prattle on about remixes in total nerd-fashion.
- Strolling into the newly renovated Activity Zone and appreciating that the soft Persian rugs are color coordinated with the rainbow couches in a way that you never thought even the most experienced interior designer would have been able to pull off.
- Understanding that the cats on campus will never be your personal pets and coming to the conclusion that you must be content with seeing them guard the dining hall and SuperLab’s doors.
- Finding out that you are finally not alone.
- Walking through fog in the morning and feeling like you are traipsing through white cotton candy that is just as light, just as cool, just as fluffy, and much sweeter because it’s Abu Dhabi Fog and Nothing Compares.
- They say loveis difficult to find at NYUAD and that love is found in someone that you must travel for a semester with. I’ve found love not in a person, but in the small pleasures of living in a place where I am happy.
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