Paid Holiday

Not quite sure what to do with myself now. I've just finished my first intense year (on a 3-year contract) at the Higher Colleges of Technology in the UAE.

How shall I sum it up?

Well, I'm worn out for starters. A full-time job in higher education in this country is more than a 40-hour work week. And there is a lot of pressure to please (and quickly educate) the students.

I do understand Islam more now. How could I not, living in conservative Sharjah, with the mosque speakers right in our back yard? In short, it appears to me that even for those who drink Corona at Dubai's hotel bars, Islam is still a way of life, with Fridays reserved for family and prayer, Allah to thank for all that is good (and bad), and traditional clothing a symbol of the deeply rooted Islamic tradition of the region.

As for the women of Islam, at least the 18-22-year-olds I've had access to, some willingly wear the shayla over their hair and happily have drivers and avoid doing things that are manly, because they find them distasteful, and because they interpret the Q'ran as such. Other women though are watched by their fathers and brothers and are only allowed outings to the mall with their mothers, and sometimes can't even pick out their own handbags (or husbands). And yet others are shedding the traditional robes and shaylas, in favour of flashy head-scarves and clingy (but all-covering) western clothes for outings to Lebanese restaurants, Victoria's Secret and coffee bars in European hotels. Some of our students pray between classes while others send text messages to forbidden boys. For many of our students, the daily commute to college is the most freedom they'll get in life, yet for others, it's a path to modern jobs side-by-side with men and people from Christian nations. For me it has been a daily challenge to understand the conflicts without balking or being disrepectful with my questions.

The country is advancing at break-neck speed in terms of tourism, high-speed transit, modern roads, awe-inspiring architecture and so on. But the state of foreign laborers and the servant class is sometimes appalling and jarringly different from that of the expats like us and the native well-to-do Emiratis. Imagine 8 taxi drivers from Pakistan sharing an 8 by 8 room in a compound with 800 others, working 70 hours per week for 400 dollars per month. And then imagine the average Emirati household income of 275,000 dollars per year (that's an average), and the average number of full-time servants per household is 5.

Overall, the year has been an invaluable experience for me and my family, despite the stress, the workload, the obvious class issues and oh, did I mention Dubai and Sharjah's traffic? I hope you'll stay with us as we move through the next two years, get deeper into the Gulf lifestyle and travel more widely around this part of the world. Thanks for reading!

Salty Water Parks and Geckos

For much of the month of May, we'd been not doing much on the weekends, mostly because we're so worn ragged from the work weeks here, but also because we joined the local dusty swimming club, where we can wear our (my) immodest swimwear without police intervention, and even order beers at the poolside.

But when we realized we only had a few weeks left till summer break, we got re-inspired to explore around town again, and tick a few more destinations off our list. We started with a trip to the rural emirate of RAK, where we discovered a golf club that actually has a bar (still not sure how these out-of-sight places get permissions in this Muslim land), and a friend from the college was playing in the band. Seeing my normally buttoned up colleague kick his shoes off and jam on his bass guitar, as well as traditionally-dressed Emiratis with Coronas in buckets, were yet a few more cultural experiences to add to this blog.

Also unexpected has been the invasion all at once by two chubby lizards (and one baby) in our villa. Back in October we had a visit from pest control, and exactly six months later, as predicted by the professionals, the little pesky lizards have re-invaded, and they continue to cause me great distress (and Liam fantastic entertainment) when they hop out from the curtains every morning and every night. (pictures coming soon to my facebook page)

Finally, we took the kids to Wild Wadi, the world's most 'totally awesome' water park (Brady's words). Perched at the foot of Dubai's famous Sail-shaped Hotel, the Burj Al Arab, and right on the gulf, the views from anywhere in the park are amazing, and the surprisingly salty water in the attractions adds a special flavour to the terrifying rides.

Shamal

We're having Shamal, a special windy weather system that cools things down a bit, and so the temps are lower than normal. See here:

105° Fri

110° Sat

111° Sun

112° Mon

And since the weather is not too hot, we'll be visiting another one of Dubai's water parks this weekend, Wild Wadi. The Emirate prides itself on its water attractions, and according to Brady, every 3rd grader has been to Wild Wadi at least a dozen times already. So we'll be finally catching up with the Jones's (or the Ibrahims). And enjoying the cool weekend..