Feeling the Folktales on Your Holiday This Year
Often when on Dubai holidays, or indeed any other for that matter, it can be possible for you to miss out a sufficient dose of local culture. Folklore is an undeniable part of all cultures, enjoyed (and later studied) across the globe ever since its initial creation. Here follow a few from some of the world’s most popular holiday hotspots.
Dubai’s deserts are home to the striped hyena, a creature that is infamous across the world for the often frightening myths and legends associated with it. Usually symbolising stupidity, treachery and evil, hyenas have been given the traits of demons, werewolves and even vampires (sucking blood is apparently a particular favourite of theirs). They are said to be ridden by witches or magicians at night by the Baluch and inhabitants of northern India. However, striped hyenas are also linked with love and fertility, resulting in parts of their bodies being used in traditional love medicines.
Antigua
Antigua holidays reveal a rather different kind of folklore. An interesting custom is the antlion charm. Known as “jampeepee” (or “John-pee-pee”) by the locals, the insect is summoned by reciting a chant (“Jam-pee-pee! Jam-pee-pee! Mammy call you for funjee and saltfish”) and gently trailing a stick around the edge of its pit. According to local folklore this is all in aid of sharing the national dish, which once fed Antiguan ancestors before finding its way onto hotel menus.
The Maldives
Most Maldivian folktales revolve around the place’s dependence on the tuna fish and coconut tree. Tuna was allegedly brought to the islands by the brave seafarer Bodu Niyami Kalefanu, while coconut trees grew out of the skulls of the late first Maldivian settlers thanks to the intervention of a powerful sorcerer. These certainly make Maldives holidays more interesting!