Sunday, August 31, 2008

The Long Version of the Week Ending Aug. 31, by Angie Brady














This past week has provided me with some new adventures....firstly driving...oh boy! Christina went out with me and acted as navigator while I did the driving. Firstly, it gave me some experience behind the wheel in this place of crazy drivers...by the way, the number one cause of death in this area is car accidents...scary! Secondly, it gave Christina a break from trying to navigate while driving. I have a problem of trying to read street names like Sheik Mojid Bin Sawr Al Qasimi Street or Abdulla Bin Salim Al Sabah Street or Sheik Saleem Bin Sultan Al Qasimi Street. Then...these names are on round-a-bout signs along with the Arabic writing with other names that are telling you which way to go. Most intersections are round-a-bouts and not real turns. It's a real challenge. Christina & I have driven around round-a-bouts several times just to try to get on the correct roads. The day that I took Brady & Liam to school for their assessments I drove by myself. I was very pleased that I arrived at the school with just one minimal problem. Going home, however, was another story. I thought I would do some grocery shopping for Christina. After leaving the grocery store, I spent 2 hours trying to find my way home. I knew I was close several times. Finally Christina arrived home and talked me through it on the cell phone.

The shopping here is unbelievable. High end stores from European and American countries have a big presence. We went to the Mall of the Emirates....the famous giant mall on Sat. It was big and beautiful. I loved all of the shops that carried clothes and items from the Mideast. I feel like I need to be listening to Yo Yo Ma's Silk Road Adventure while writing about this.

This is where the famous indoor ski area is located. It was an unbelievable sight to see people skiing and tubing in an indoor arena. Christina & Billy & the kids will celebrate Brady's birthday there in the next week. He will be 8 tomorrow.

There were also water fountains spurting from the ground dancing to synchronized music. The boys played in water fountains until a security guard came to scold us for breaking the rules that we were unaware of. We were scolded but did not cause an international incident.

When we left the Mall of the Emirates we were lucky to secure a wonderful Indian taxi driver who was willing and happy to take us on a tour to see the Jumeirah Palm Island, the 8th Wonder of the World (island shaped like a palm tree); the Burj Al Arab (The world's tallest and most luxurious hotel)...the first 7 star hotel. We also saw the construction project of the tallest building in the world to be completed in 2010. Another taller building is being planned to begin construction in 2010. Dubai is truly a cosmopolitan city. People from everywhere in the world work and visit here. The taxi driver pointed out that the skyline of the city was not in existence 3 years ago. EVERYTHING is new! The architecture is very modern. We drove along the road along the Gulf through Dubai to Sharjah. These emerits are side by side but getting from one to another can be a very long haul during rush hour.

We attended mass at a Catholic Church in Sharjah. The congregation was almost all Indian with other people probably from Asia & the Philippines. There were only 2 other Anglo's besides us in the full church. People arrived early and said the rosary before mass. The whole altar area & most of the church was white marble. It was beautiful and bright. Most of the songs were familiar and the mass was sung by the priest, which does not happen very often anymore in the US accept for very special occasions. The people sang heartily...a pleasure for me. The Indian women had beautiful traditional dresses of many colors. As I said before in an earlier entry, the women are of great interest to me. Of the men, I have yet to gain any understanding except that they come from a different planet when they get behind the wheel.

The wealth here is another aspect of this area that is really amazing. The families, average 7.7 persons per household, and have servants, not usually one but possibly many. There are nannies and house keepers...some acting as both. There could be a few nannies in homes depending how many children are in the home. I see the nannies everywhere we go. They are generally with the children trailing behind their mother. I don't see much joy in their faces and feel like they are sad. They work hard and are away from their homeland and really have tough jobs caring for these children. The guide book stated that abuse of these house helpers sometimes exists but there is no recourse for them. The advice is that they work harder to get along with their employers. The country is now working on human rights issues. I really don't know much about that yet.

Enough for now.

Saturday, August 30, 2008

Photo Upload Issues

If anyone knows a secret to posting photos here I'd love to know it. I have 15 additional pics to share with the previous post but the system asks me to try again later. Any ideas? Should I just post them at shutterfly and provide a link here instead?

Mostly Pictures Here, and the Skinny on Booze






Hello All,
If you've asked for more photos, we've got some here:
Brady & Liam's new school bus, which has drop down DVD machines
(we are currently on the wait list for bus service)
Liam in kitchen
Catholic church in Sharjah, St. Michael's
Shop signs with Arabic
Ski Dubai (we went just to look and gather info., will actually ski some time soon)
Lebanese restaurant overlooking Ski Dubai
Mall of the Emirates (they claim it's the biggest in the world)
Burj Al Arab - famous sail-shaped building in Dubai
Hotel on the Palm Jumeira (famous palm shaped island in the Gulf)

As for your questions about alcohol, it is true that there are no bars or liquor stores in Sharjah where we live. But imagine Louisville, Colorado, 12 miles from Boulder, and that's our relationship with Dubai, where there are many bars and hotel restaurants serving from fully stocked bars. We also can get a personal alcohol license to purchase alcohol from a state-run store in Dubai, for consumption in our homes. However, this is not available until October, when the Ramadan fasting period is over.

Enjoy the pics from Grandma's camera, and I'll write more soon when I've gotten over the inconvenient cold that's currently wearing me out. By the way, no alcoholic cough remedies here, but I did pick up a completely root-based remedy at the pharmacy which was 100% effective for my cough.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Four Cool Events: By Brady Watts






Number One: The Swimming Pool Fire

We were out at the swimming pool called the Wanderer’s Club having fun. I was diving for diving stuff. But then we saw flames bursting up above the pump house and then they died down really fast. Then, all there was, was smoke. We ran out of the swimming pool through the bridge and out. We were right in between two poles. After a while the firemen came running in with fire extinguishers and a hose, spraying it and putting the fire out. It was cool watching the firefighters but it was scary thinking about the whole thing burning down. We had dinner then at the Wanderer’s restaurant, a great dinner, I had pasta, and then we went home.

Number Two: The Dubai Drums

Last night we went to the Dubai Drums. It was very cool. At first, there were just two people with a guitar playing for two songs (Spanish style). But then the whole band came out and played with the guitar people and it was very fun. After that in the second half they gave people lots of drums to drum with them. They told us to do what we felt was the right beat to fit the people around us.

Number Three: Australian International School of Sharjah

Yesterday we went to the school for an assessment. Our Grandma arrived in the signing up room and then after a little while everybody who were the teachers brought us for the assessment. It took a long time. It was a test that we had to do. I did it on paper but the rest of the class did it on the computer. I didn’t know how to use the computer and the teachers were really kind of surprised you know. One day later we found out that I passed the test and I could be in the grade I wanted to be.

Number Four: Arabian Wildlife Center

First we started driving. We forgot that was the wrong turn. We turned at the wrong time and we got lost. But soon we caught up and arrived at the Arabian Wildlife Center. It was really cool with dark places with bats, little windows to see the habitat and another place where you just looked out the window where there were jaguars right next to the walkway. We never had to go outside. It was a long walkway which went squiggly with lots of turns and sometimes we went through vines hanging from the ceiling and we saw not only the habitat but we were inside the habitat looking at all the birds in the desert around us. After that we got to see how the big waterfall was coming down from part of the desert. It was cool. Before that even, we saw bats. They were flying around behind the glass, hanging from the walls of the cave behind the glass and looking as if they were going to land on one of our heads. It was a great place and a great time.

The four cool events were very awesome! I hope you had a great time reading this story. Bye!

Monday, August 25, 2008

Angie's First Week, by Angie Brady (Christina's mom)

Marhaba! (Hello)Note Two:It's now been a week in the U.A.E. Besides adjusting to jet-lag, Brady, Liam, & I have experienced many new things.
First the food...Most of you who know me, know that I am pretty adventurous so this is a great culinary taste adventure. Dates...off the tree are awesome! Camel milk...well, a little to grainy in flavor for me. Yogurt is not only delicious but sold in the typical sizes that we are familiar with and also sold in 1/2 to 1 gallon containers. I saw many ladies putting the large buckets into their carts. The yogurt selections in the grocery stores are huge. Desalinated water is also something new...maybe not too far off in the U.S. future. It has a slightly different taste. Christina tells me that the water has more calcium from the salt removing process. Thus, she is using bottled water. I read an article that the U.A.E. uses 150% more water per capita than the people in the U.S.
On our first full day here, Tuesday, we slept until noon and just vegged out the rest of the day until Christina came home from work. We took a ride and went to the coast to see the Gulf and eat dinner. We saw our first camel resting comfortably on a rug at the beach. A gentleman was waiting for some folks like us who were looking for photo-ops. We had no money with us so there were no photos. However, Brady managed to get on the resting camel before we could tell him we were not taking photos this time. The camel wasn't the most friendly guy, making noises and raising his lips to show his teeth....I think this is just normal camel behavior. I'm just glad he did not decide to spit. We were able to enjoy our first dip with our toes into the Arabian Gulf in Sharjah, not called the Pursian Gulf in this part of the world. No swimming as we did not see any women in the water...only a couple dipping their toes. There are rules about beaches that determine what days are permitted for Women & Men. We haven't seen the costume for women for public beaches. Christina is going to check that out. I did see some Muslim women in the Chicago Triathlon last year and an Arab woman in a magazine report in an outfit they referred to as a berkini. I'm not sure of the seriousness of that term. We ate at a little restaurant across from the beach and had our first Arabian food: One bread type pizza covered in spices and another more typical to us with shrimp, tomatoes, & cheese. We shared an Arabian type salad. Many men were out walking and a few women with men. On our drive home and every day since, there have been men congregated in front of stores at tables or on the ground or just standing around talking. Imagine that....no bars! Getting together in the evenings when the sun sets appears to be a favored activity here. The world comes alive after dark. Men socialize, women shop, and life is abuzz.
On Wednesday and Thursday we rested during the days and went out on exploring missions with Christina after work. Getting around here is very time consuming and exhausting. We went out on one mission to find a store called "Lucky" and and never found it...Lucky, huh? We went home. We toured the Australian International School where the kids may go to school....easy to find. We visited supermarkets for shopping. It's better than going to Trader Joe's. I could spend hours just looking at the merchandise.
On Friday we went to a huge beautiful mall. The U.A.E. weekend is Friday & Saturday. I believe that shopping is a national pass time, maybe because it is a cool activity. Most women are accompanied by men. I am continually interested in the women. They are dressed in a variety of gowns. Most are dressed in black and have veils on their heads, some have their whole face covered, and some have the lower half of their faces covered or only a small slit for their eyes. I also saw some women totally veiled with a see through veil. Some veils/dresses were jeweled and others had beautiful embroidery. Colorful veils were worn by some women. Since the population is made up of people from Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, and a variety of other Asian and Arab countries, there is a large variety of dress customs. The Indian women look so pretty in their beautiful gowns with beautiful patterns. There were people who look like me but only a small fraction.
At the mall we spent 2 hours at a Lego building exibit where the boys participated in a building project. This event celebrated 50 years of Legos. We ate at a food court: Brady had sushi, I had a Beirut combination plate, Liam had Burger King (the toy), and Christina had a baked potato. Something for everyone. There was a host of other new foods. I'll never get to try them all before I leave here. Weight Watchers is on the back burner for now. I guess I'll have to make several trips. Before we left the mall we went to see Space Chimps in a theater with assigned seats.
Holy men called Muezzin give the call to prayer every few hours on a p.a. system to the whole neighborhood. There are mosques everywhere in every neighborhood, one less than a block from home. When I hear the Imam's chant, I sometimes feel kind of prayerful and other times I burst into my own rendition of the Imam's sung prayer...I can't control myself! We can't quite tell if they are taped prayers coming over the loud speakers or a real person singing them. Then there are the roosters down the street. I think there are three of them. They cocadoodle doo day and night. There are also wild cats who lay in the shade during the day and can be heard meowing and possibly fighting every night. With the air conditioning on all of the time these noises are not bothersome at all. Oh, and the dust....it never ends. Sand is everywhere..yeah right, it's a desert, which leads us to camels. We've seen camels out in the desert. I believe most of them domesticated. I haven't yet enjoyed the scenic view of a camel train traveling over the tops of sand dunes. I'll keep looking. Have I watched too many movies?
I'll continue in my next note.
Ma is-salaama (Good Bye)

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Arabian Harvest








The kids and Grandma have been here three days and we've experienced three regional foods since then: dates, olives and camel milk.

Dates: Liam and Gram harvested dates from our tree, while Brady preferred to stay indoors and build castles with the giant appliance boxes I put in the dining hall with tape and rope. The date palm tree only fruits once a year and the locals pick and freeze the fruit and bake with them throughout the year - so we decided to do the same.

Olives: Olives are served with everything called 'Arabian', such as Arabian salad or Arabian breakfast, and they're available in staggering variety in big pails in their own section at the supermarket. Here in my kitchen I've got green ones from Jordan and black ones from Lebanon. The prices at the store are less than half of what you'd pay in an American grocery store and the variety is amazing.

Camel Milk: My local grocer has a big dairy section, a whole third of which is devoted to camel milk. I haven't gotten courage to take photographs there yet, as it is crowded with local women, mostly in traditional clothes, and I'm not sure whether I'd cause offense. I did snap a picture of the milk once I got it home and we had a good talk about the qualities of this 'alternative milk' over dinner. Brady says it vanilla-ey, or like soy milk, Gram says it seems grainy. I think it's best mixed into my coffee. Liam said no thanks to the local item, claiming loyalty to the stuff that comes from cows.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Arrival Report, by: Angie Brady (i.e. Grandma Brady, Christina's Mom)

We arrived last night on time at 10:00 U.A.E. time. Getting through customs with the customs assistant was easy. The limo service that was canceled by Christina showed up to pick us up. Good thing. The two limos were loaded with luggage before we were in contact with Christina. She was waiting at another location for us. After all the confusion we were on our way...two limos loaded with luggage and Me. Christina's newly rented car loaded with the most precious cargo...Brady & Liam. It took a very long time to get home because the limo drivers did not know how to get to Christina's house in Sharjha. They kept pulling off the road and stopping to make a cell phone call to Christina. When they did that, she had to pull off and talk to them and then she became confused about the correct roads to take home also. Street signs are just starting to be used in the U.A.E. so most streets are not identified with signs. Finally, we made it home after midnight. We all enjoyed dates off the date palm in the front yard, took a tour of the house and went to bed. I noticed that I had a room mate before I went to sleep. There was a little lizard at the top of the wall next to the ceiling...too high to do anything about. Lizards are good for catching insects so I guess he's a good room mate to have.
I woke Brady & Liam at noon today.... a little tired. Christina had set an alarm for me to get up at 9:45 because the internet company was coming at 10 and the cable guys were coming at 10:30. The alarm clock malfunctioned and I woke to the door bell (gate) ringing. I let the internet guys in in my pajamas. They said that they would come back. Of course I said that they could stay...One can hardly live without the internet these days.
My first impression is very favorable. The house is beautiful, the limo drivers, cable & internet guys all very nice people. The men workers at the airport look very handsome with their white gowns and head pieces. The women at the airport all had their heads covered but were obviously well manicured with make-up, bracelets, waxed eyebrows, polished nails, and glitter at the edges of their head coverings.
I glanced through the Dubai traveler book and could see that there is much to do and see here. Parks, Museums, Beaches.....And oh my gosh.....the shopping! Don't get nervous Bernie.
It is very hot here today. An hour before we landed at 9 pm. it was still 110 degrees in Dubai. It was 102 when we landed. There were water misters at the airport that you pass through while walking to the exit. I'm not sure that they do any good.We are staying in the house today doing a slow recovery after the long journey. The boys did great! Eating was the biggest challenge on the plane. Every time I tried to help Brady with his food some spilled on him. Fluids were spilled at every meal.The tight quarters on the plane are very difficult for kids for eating as well as their grandmas. That's it for now.

Monday, August 18, 2008

Kids are Here!

Brady, Liam and Grandma got here last night, their flight was early, and I met them at the airport. While we loaded into the taxis at midnight, Brady was already peeling off his shirt because of the heat. It's been hot here this last week, around 110 degrees and hotter on most days. It is so hot that lipstick in your purse will get soft while you wait just 6 or 7 minutes for a taxi. I am told that we will settle into a gorgeous late fall and winter though, where the high is around 85 and dry, for about five months from November to April. We'll look forward to it.

The kids and Grandma picked and ate ripe dates from our tree when we arrived at the villa. Brady and Liam then combed the place from top to bottom and gave it the seal of approval, 'good house mom'. When I left for work this morning they were all out cold and I set an alarm for Grandma because the cable guy is coming.

More news to come later on gender, language, driving, hired help and the grocery store, if the Cable/Internet guy shows up.

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Last Week at Grandma's

I had a sleep over with Jill and Anne it was fun. We went and saw a very cool play called Walking with Dinosaurs. Then we went home and went to sleep at Jill and Anne's. We watched TV until we fell asleep. We woke up in the morning and turned off the TV.

Then we went home and we played with our toys. We had lunch, then the next day we went to the pool with Uncle Scooby and it was fun. We got to get in the big wirlpool and got water dumped on us by the bucket. It was a great day with Uncle Scooby.

The next day we had dinner with Uncle Scooby, Aunt Janell, Grandma and Grandpa. It was a great dinner, then we went to see the neighbors trailor. It was a very cool trailor. It had a big gigantic couch that could fold into a bed, and a really fun table right next to it with a booth. That was just a super cool trailer.

We then showed Uncle Scooby, Aunt Janell, Toby, and Alaina our stepping stones. The next day would be today. We are flying on the plane at 7:50. It will be super duper duper fun.

Sunday, August 10, 2008

A Day at the COSI Museum by: Brady Watts

It took ten minutes to get to the museum.

First we went to the Space Exhibit, then we went to the movie. The space exhibit was really fun. We pressed a button and it shot a bottle up like a rocket. That was really cool. Then we saw a space probe and got to control it, we even went into a worm hole (a black hole and white hole mixed together).

The movie was a 3D movie about the Ocean. It was so cool, and I've never seen a 3D movie. Then we went to a crime exhibit. We got to solve a crime. We looked at the scene and knew what happened by looking at clues.

Then we saw this cool foam thing. The sound waves vibrated and it made the foam bounce.

I really liked the museum. We went to the ocean exhibit, and shot water out of the pumpers, and we got to go in two submarines. Both submarines looked different. One was bigger. Then a fountain overflowed.

After that we went home and spent the rest of the time there. Next time on Brady's article it will be a Santa Maria Boat, Hope you see it! And that is "the end" of the really cool article.

Saturday, August 9, 2008

So Far So Good

So far I've been doing pretty well with out my mom and dad. Well, on the first hand my dad is at home, and my mom is getting a new house out where we are moving. And I am all alone at grandma's house with my brother Liam. My sister is not here because she is at home with my dad in Louisville, Colorado.

So far we have been doing lots and lots of fun stuff at grandma and grandpa's house, like making stepping stones. I had the butterfly stone and my brother had the square stone. And so far I have been having a lot of fun talking to my mom on the phone. It is really fun having conversations on the phone. I have also been talking to my dad.

Now I drove all the way to Aunt Sarah's house, it took seven hours. My grandma lives in Chicago, Illinois, my aunt lives in Columbus, Ohio that is why it took so long. Columbus Ohio is pretty far away.

I really miss my mom and dad but I know it is going to be good here with every body else. And it's been so far so good, you know? And now that I am at Aunt Sarah's house it has really been getting fun.

The next blog will be about my trip to the museum and Santa Maria Boat. End of article...

Pictures















First, as promised, some pictures:


I just spent my first night at the villa in the suburbs of Sharjah. Though I have no land line, internet, cable or gas for my stove yet, I still managed to have a good night - watched West Wing on DVD, fixed tuna salad and microwave Ramen noodles, then took a taxi with another faculty mom named Maria to Dubai. The taxi from my Sharjah villa to the Jumeira Beach neighborhood in Dubai took 25 minutes and cost around $17. Though I look forward to getting my local license and a car, I've decided that it's great to get familiar with the area via taxi, so that I've got my bearings when I finally get out onto the road, where tailgating at high speed is the norm.

We met the single faculty folks, most of whom requested Dubai housing, and had drinks in a Cuban bar. It was much like Latin places in Colorado, only the women were much more dressed up, and there seemed to be a lot of tall gorgeous Russian girls. Then we went to a Shisha tent, a cafe where the main consumable is tobacco, smoked through a Hookah. Because Maria has lived in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait as well, she knew what to do and how to order. Though I only tried a little orange flavored Shisha (I've worked too hard to obtain my Colorado cycling lungs!!!) , I had a really enjoyable time sitting on low couches with two nice gals and taking in the others around us, many of whom were playing cards.

Some other notables:

1. I exploded Brady's Karaoke machine when I plugged it into the wrong kind of electrical adapter. (Fortunately the DVD player I just bought is Karaoke compatible)
2. I discovered a little rotisserie chicken vendor on the outskirts of my neighborhood - I will buy one tonight hopefully and report back tomorrow..
3. Yes, my Samsung fridge does have an icemaker but it's this funny manual thing that you have to pour water into - it works great.
4. Haven't actually been inside the McDonalds, but signs everywhere advertise the soft serve cone for 1 Dirham (about 30 cents..) - that's a deal!
5. To the Bidingers, it's so great to hear news about Rosie from you guys :-)

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Setting up House: Rooster, Deliveries, Christian Paki Gardener

I've spent the last two days mostly waking up at the hotel, quickly checking email, running a shopping errand or two, then waiting for deliveries at the villa. So far I've received delivery of a Chinese washer, Egyptian stove, Samsung Fridge, TV, and six bed mattresses. The delivery guys are all Pakistani or Indian, wiry, smiley and courteous. The only problem is they give you a 4 or 5 hour window, and then they're still late. On top of this, since they do not do conventional street addresses here, I write down the name of my neighborhood for them at the store, and then the delivery guys call you at least twice when they're on the way to get specific directions. So though it's exciting to be getting all the necessities, it's a time-consuming and often frustrating experience.

I promise my next post will have interior photos of our villa, but here are more details: it has high ceilings with, big beautiful windows tinted for privacy, a quaint courtyard, a huge bathroom adjoining each of the four bedrooms, powder room off the dining room, a foyer bigger than at least two of the apartments I've had in the past, and an entirely separate housekeeper's quarters off the back of the house. All of the floors are a light beige tile and the walls are painted a cream color. Ours is one of the smallest villas on the block and I haven't yet seen any westerners. While it's exciting to really be 'going native' in terms of housing, it makes me feel a little lonesome for my colleagues and Billy and the kids while I wait there for hours at a time.

There is however some neighborhood racket to keep me entertained. The mosque which is one block over, broadcasts prayers over a loud speaker, several times a day, which are sung (or chanted) in Arabic. These only last a minute or so, but if I ever wanted to sit and watch West Wing, eat pizza and forget that I'm in the middle east, I can forget it. A rooster lives nearby as well, and he probably cockadoodles twice as many times per day as the mosque. I finally saw him when walking by a neighbor's gate. He's a beautiful plump deep red and brown bird, like from a children's book, and he appeared to be walking the grounds like a beloved pet. I can't help but think of my brother Bern in Wheat Ridge, and his neighbor's rooster - perhaps Wheat Ridge and suburban Sharjah are not so culturally different..

The prior tenants left a lot of junk behind and a very dirty kitchen. I am told this is the tradeoff for living in a spacious villa instead of a shiny high rise. So yesterday while waiting for my stove, I opened the gate and started hauling junk to the dumpster which is two villas down the road, which by the way is a sand road - not paved. On the way, a Pakistani gardener saw me, stopped me, and said 'Please, I help you'. Since it was at least 110 degrees, broad daylight, and I had a good feeling about the guy I said ok. After getting the first item (old exercise bike) to the dumpster he said to me 'Are you Christian'? I said 'yes, American Christian'. He said, 'I am Christian, my name - Elias. I help you OK?'. Now I am not sure what would have happened if I said anything other than Christian, but I am thankful for Mr. Elias. Once we finished, perhaps 20 minutes later, I said 'Please take these Dirham (about 5 bucks)'. He said, 'no, no, I am Christian, you are Christian, please no, please water'. OK, I'm thinking I'll give this guy water, and then some money. So we stood on my grand marble front porch and drank some cold water from my new Samsung fridge. After another offer and refusal of money, we established that if I ever needed any help, I should call his mobile and he would come.

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Dad goes to Colorado

Because he has to go back to sell the house in Colorado, Dad has to leave with my sister. Liam and I are staying at my grandma's house until Grandma takes us on the airplane to our new house while Dad stays in Colorado. We will really miss Dad when he leaves but that's ok because I know Grandma will take good care of us.

I feel kind of bad because I'm gonna miss my Dad and I already miss my Mom. It'll be kind of hard, but I know Grandma will take care of me.

Qasimi the Cabbie, and my "Medical"

As the days are so packed full, I'll share just the highlights from the last two days.

Qasimi the Cabbie
A teacher named Pamela Johnson and I decided yesterday (day 2) that since we had to accomplish some of the same sorts of shopping and errands, we would join forces, share taxis and get things done together. The first taxi was painless, since we asked to be taken directly from our hotel to a large well-known mall in Dubai. There, at the Reef Mall, we visited the cell phone guy, and the Home Center store, procured large bags of merchandise and went back out into the 110 degree heat to hail another taxi. We ought to have known to expect an adventure, when as we pronounced that we needed three stops, one in Dubai (Pamela's apartment) one in Sharjah (My villa), and a final destination of our hotel, our driver grunted and looked at us as if we were stinking up his taxi.

Our first stop, Pamela's apartment in a newly completed shiny Dubai high rise, was not far. But since landmarks are understood well better than street addresses which really do not exist, and since our taxi driver was new (we only learned this later), and he couldn't read roman letters on our map very well , and due to various (as yet unknown to us) cultural misunderstandings, we ended up needing to call Anwar, our dear Pakistani university housing officer, on his cellular and handing the phone over to the taxi driver (two times) in order for them to discuss the apartment location in Arabic. We arrived and requested that the sweaty grunting taxi driver stay and wait for ten minutes while we dropped Pamela's stuff off on the 11th floor. He grunted and agreed and then probably went behind a building somewhere to have a smoke. We can only guess this, since when we got back to his cab, which was full of my bedding, it was locked and he was gone, and then he came back smelling of smoke.

We then showed him my villa on an English language map. I watched him slowly read over the words on the roads near my villa, and discovered that like many speakers of Arabic, he was not proficient in reading the English letters. So I figured at that point that dear Anwar the housing guy was likely to receive a few more calls from Pamela and me and the taxi driver before the night was over. Complicating matters is the fact that there are at least a dozen streets and landmarks near my villa with the name Qasimi, Al Qasimi Street, Qasimi Square, Abdul Al Qasimi, Saud Al Qasimi, and many many more. Indeed, after combing the map for clues and matching them to the street names we passed by, and after many u-turns and discussions of where we actually were on the map and which Qasimi street we were driving on, we had to call Anwar, again twice, to accomplish our destination, my villa. Pamela and I were also sweating at this point, as the frustration over a taxi driver trying his best but failing was wearing us out.

Finally, we emerged from my villa, restated our final destination, Carlton Hotel Sharjah, and made our way back to home. Over our third hotel dinner we decided that the cabbie, whose name we never really knew, would for storytelling purposes be renamed Qasimi, out of respect for whichever Emirati leader had the good fortune to have so many landmarks named after him.

My "Medical":
As part of my contract, I had to undergo a physical exam before my employment status became permanent. This is called my "medical". Ten other new-hires and I gathered in the hotel lobby with a van driver named Samir to make the trek to the Department of Health together at 7:30 this morning. Though the interior of the clinic was clean and modern, the road and surroundings nearby were dusty, old, in disrepair, and entirely removed from bustling Sharjah. This was not ideal for inspiring confidence for those of us about to encounter yet another unfamiliar cultural experience.

The exam consisted of an x-ray to rule out TB, a blood test to rule out HIV, a vision exam and a urine test (drugs). These procedures themselves were harmless, professional and non-invasive. But some of the circumstances are worthy of mention. First of all, we faculty were escorted to the front of the line, in every part of the process, in front of however many people were waiting before us at that particular stage. It should be noted that most of us faculty are white and most of the others whom we jumped in front of were not.

Aside from the peculiarities related to our race and class in this culture, there seem to be gender issues as well. There were male and female waiting rooms for each procedure, but most of them weren't labeled well, so at least twice, Pamela and I were urged out of a room that we had just entered by mistake.

Finally, for the urine sample, we were handed a sample cup wrapped in toilet paper, which we thought at first was for its usual purpose. We went into the ladies room and encountered squatter toilets. This is not the first time I've run across these 'hole in the ground' style toilets - I've seen them in Europe and Asia before. However, this is the first time I've been asked to use them to provide a sample. After an uncomfortable squat and lots of unsanitary splashes onto my shoes and pants, I emerged with a sample and brought it to the veiled woman at the desk, where I noticed that the other sample cups brought to her already were neatly wrapped in the TP we were given at the start. I can only guess that the sight of others' urine is some kind of taboo, and that carrying around the deep yellow sample for all to see is considered rude, but I've yet to find someone who'll know the answer and not be offended by my question. All in all, it wasn't a terrible experience. I only kept asking myself, why are things done this way here? Why the hole in the wall toilets? Why do we get such preference? Why is pee pee something to hide? Why when only waiting for a blood draw must the women be separated from the men? If any of these answers are revealed to me, y'all will be the next to know.

Sunday, August 3, 2008

Smooth Arrival




I am awake at 5am due to jetlag, there is no CNN on TV and the only English language channels are BBC news and cartoons. So I thought I'd put down a few thoughts on my first 24 hours in the UAE.

Safe Arrival? I arrived safe and on time, but one of my five bags did not make it. (My and billy's bikes DID make it!!) I was met by an immigration helper, who was paid by my employer to 'fast track' me through security and immigration - I don't know the cost of this, but I'm planning to hire the service for my mom, Billy and the kids so when they arrive after 24 hours of travel, they can jump the lines too. Please don't remind me that I thought the same kind of line-jumping for a 15 dollar VIP fee at Six Flags was obnoxious.

The airport seemed modern but heavily used, and I was surprised at the crowds and disorder as I collected my bags close to midnight. Once the immigration gal connected me with the Hotel bus driver, I was led (with the help of a porter) across a busy pickup area where at least 300 drivers and greeters waving name cards and hotel signs, hanging out under rows of mist blowers, clogged the way. We crossed a street, went up a giant elevator, across a bridge, then down another elevator to the parking area, where a hotel van was waiting.

Hot?
Yesterday it felt like 100 degrees and 100% humidity - only a little more uncomfortable than Chicago the day before. My linen shirt stayed clammy all day.

Skype? Due to the telecom monopoly here, Skype is banned, so our planned mode of video chat with our family and pals in the US is not an option. I'll probably be able to get Skype at the office, but unreliably. So, we're going to try MSN instant messenger - it is not yet banned.

Cell phone? Not yet. I upgraded our cell phone for local use at the mall kiosk for Etisalat, the state telecom, but now that I'm back at the hotel, I can't figure out the security code on the phone. I'll be going back to the kiosk tomorrow.

What does it look like here? Hazy with dust and sand and new construction, highrises and half-finished buildings next to empty lots with big piles of sand, and of course plenty of palm trees.

New house? Our housing seems awesome. I've been shown a villa by the University housing officer and it's fancy (pictured above). It's basically a large two-story townhome connnected to an identical one and surrounded by a stucco wall. There are four giant bedrooms, big kitchen, dining and living rooms, four full baths, separate maid's quarters, a fat date palm tree in the yard - (yes I ate one, it was delicious), and gated yard and driveway. There's a playground near by, but I have to show my work visa and passport to get a park permit for our family. Seems strange to have such controls over a public park. Maybe it's actually not public.

Food? I've been served olives with every meal so far.

Next few days?
I'll stay in the hotel for another few days until the cable and internet are turned on at the villa. In the meantime, I have to shop for a stove and fridge, washer, dryer, microwave and beds. Apparently fancy villas come totally unfurnished.

Friday, August 1, 2008

Mom Leaves, From Brady (7 3/4 years old)

Well, we're at Grandma's house and my mom is leaving at eight o'clock tonight. She is going to find a new house for us to live in when we move to the UAE. I suppose she might be in a hotel first. I'm really excited about moving and having fun there, but I'm kind of worried about not seeing my friends for a long time! I'm kind of worried about if she never finds a house for us, but she will.

I think my mom might find a new school for us too, and if she does, it's going to be a really good school. My teacher in the school is going to teach me to speak Arabic and I can teach you some if you want me too. Just call me on Skype phone.

For my birthday, I'm not going to have lots of friends yet. So what's gonna happen is, I'm going to go to an amusement park in Dubai for my birthday and it's famous and I like that.