My last big adventure was in Hong Kong. Before I went, I mapped out all the cool stuff that I wouldn't be able to see anywhere that I've called home. Like most large cities, religious sites in Hong Kong are imposing and plentiful, and my guidebook said they were worth a look. I climbed a million stairs to gawk at a giant Buddha, wandered through market places to find red temples with gold-leaf trim, and coughed my way through the incense smoke to stand in front of the golden statues of the Gods and Goddesses worshipped by a religion that I knew nothing about. I enjoyed the ornate decor, the fragrant incense, the earnest followers giving fruit offerings and being able to purchase incense for my home use, but my favorite part about visiting the temples was seeing something you would never see in Saudi Arabia: a fortuneteller.
Here in Riyadh, people get put to death for witchcraft. In Hong Kong, it costs more than a three course lunch and is well worth the price. I plunked down my 150 Hong Kong dollars, then sat down in front of the type of wrinkled, old Chinese man that would sell you a mogwai and warn you not to feed it after midnight. He opened a well-used notebook to a fresh page, then asked me what year I was born. 1978, the year of the horse. He then asked me what question I would like to ask his magic coins. I replied that I wanted to know when I should move back to America.
He put his hand on top of a cup holding three coins, shook the cup up like he was playing Yahtzee, then dumped the cup on the table. He analyzed the coins and drew a bunch of intersecting lines, making notes in Chinese. He repeated the Chinese coin toss and analysis again two more times. He made a few more notes, then looked me in the eye and told me that I wasn’t ready to go back home yet. Yep, he’s right! Magic is pretty awesome! Right now I’m having too much fun to go home without feeling any regrets of leaving. He said that I’m an old-fashioned girl who will eventually go home, but it would be best to wait until 2013. He pointed out that I love my job, have plenty of friends here that I would miss, and my boss is good to me. Right, right and right. That fortune made me feel better, like I was doing what I should be doing and feeling how I should be feeling. Sometimes it’s nice to be justified by fate.
I'm undecided if I will spend the next two to three years in Saudi Arabia, or if I'll move somewhere else after my contract ends next year. Either way, I'm glad I'm an old-fashioned girl who will eventually stay home for good.
