October Half-Term in Weymouth

Yesterday we packed up our buckets and spades and a football and headed for the beach. Since it was the only sunny day forecast for the coming week I thought we should make the most of it. Despite the cold the beach was fairly crowded, because of the half-term holiday I suppose. Still it was nice to see everyone wrapped up against the cold instead of half naked hehe. Town was really packed as well. So anyway the kids had a great time alhamdulillah, made sandcastles and dug holes and generally ran around (so did I run around, to keep the cold at bay). Zudie wouldn't let me have a race with Zeno, started screaming at the mention of it, and also started crying and screaming 'No!' when I tried to play football. Although a lot of his autistic behavours have lessened some of them are still hanging around. I chased him for a bit although he was protesting and acting upset he ran away from me and eventually started laughing. Got him to chase me as well which he did enjoy. As usual Zeno lost interest in his own family and tried to join in with the other groups of people dotted around. Sometimes this is okay sometimes it is a disaster. He started chasing after a toddler and made as if to stop him going near his sandcastles and the parents got a bit jumpy - Zeno doesn't differentiate between a toddler or a teenager in these instances and can come across a bit aggressive. Although when he started chasing a couple of little kids and the girl turned around and slapped him he was very restrained and just laughed and didn't respond.

I'm noticing more and more the unpleasant looks I get whenever we go out in Weymouth. I've started avoiding looking at people because of the hostility I sometimes get. It happened in town yesterday and also when we went for a drive to Corfe Castle the other day. The stares definitely cross the line beyond curiosity into aggression. It's not as if I was dressed all that differently from everyone else there (I do love my jilbab and elbow-length hijab, but I only wear that in London) apart from the hijab tucked into my neckline - just normal clothes from a chainstore, long and warm as suited to the weather. It's worse when it's kids. Once in town these little boys were staring (about 6 or 7 yrs old they were) until one of them blurted out "look Dad it's one of them Muslims!". Of course I gave him a big smile but my heart sank. They must have heard a lot of sensational conversations about Muslims to come out with something like that. Same with the boys (teenagers) who passed by the house when I was sweeping the yard and shouted something about immigrants and getting out of the country. It's unpleasant and dispiriting. Shouting abuse from a speeding car is also a very popular pasttime down here at the mouth of the Wey, that has happened on a number of occasions.

Of course there are all these occasions of racism (which it boils down to even though I could 'pass' for English by my looks and voice), but there are also some very nice people, friendly and helpful. I know that sometimes they are being particularly nice precisely because of the hijab, and whenever I've had the chance to talk for a few minutes with such people they usually express dismay and shame about the muslim-bashing in the media and just among the general population. And thank God for those people who continually restore my faith in human nature.