Yabba Abu Dhabi

Porsche Club

2012-01-09T18:20:00.080+04:00

My friend's 1996 Porsche 911. He wants a 2010 GT2.

Last Friday night I was fortunate enough to be invited to the Porsche Club event at the Yas Marina F1 Track. A friend of mine invited me to come along and it seemed like an opportunity that I couldn't pass up. I felt fortunate to be a part of such an event, but I felt completely out of my league.

I've been to the Yas Marina track a number of times for a variety of events and have been around the track a number of times, always on a bicycle. and sometimes even for triathlons. I felt out of place because not only was I one of the only people in the room who didn't own a Porsche, when people started talking about the specs on their cars, they might as well have been speaking another language. Plus, phrases such as, "That's the next Porsche I want to get," or even "My next Porsche," don't naturally come into conversations with my friends unless we're being ironic. Still, everyone was really friendly and more than happy to let me wander around taking pictures of their cars. There were even some Porsche SUV's out on the track.

For the actual driving, there are three levels, Novice 1, Novice 2, and Intermediate. The intermediates have been driving around with the club for a few years. (Previous to the fairly new Yas Marina Track, they used to rent out airport terminals.) The intermediate drivers got free reign to drive as fast as they wanted and were given three straightaways where they were allowed to pass. The Novice 1 and Novice 2 drivers followed an instructor in groups of four and were recommended to watch the driving lines and braking patterns. Unfortunately, while my friend is usually in the Intermediate group, he had to stick with the Novice 2's because of an issue with his car's clutch plate.

Even so, the ride was pretty cool. This video is of one of the laps we took around the track with a finish in the pit.

With the problems his car was experiencing, we were only able to do one of the 50 minute Novice sessions. The cost for this event with about 12 instructors and rental of an F1 Track for the evening? Even with the sponsors (Pirelli Tires and the Porsche dealership in Dubai) each member had to pay 1100 dirham or about $300. Considering the typical repair on a Porsche is way more than that, it's a pretty good deal. To quote my friend, "You have to have a monthly budget for repairs when you own a Porsche." I'll bet you do. I'm just glad that I got the chance to ride on the track in one and am hopeful I'll get another invitation.

Volvo Ocean Race

2012-01-07T18:19:00.000+04:00

The Volvo Ocean Race, a 9 month sailing race around the world, is in Abu Dhabi right now. The boats are docked on the breakwater near Marina Mall and there is a little village set up for them. I took the kids there yesterday and there were tons of activities for them to do. There was a simulator and a 3D Movie to give everyone the idea of the sailing experience.

Only one of our kids was big enough to submit to torture.

This is the boat that is currently 5th out of 6.

In addition, they had a lot of rides for the kids including a gyroscope, hamster balls which the kids could walk on the water in, and a jumpy castle.

This is the best I could do to keep my kids from fighting.

They even had stuff like free trials of stand up paddle boards and dinghies that you could take the kids out in. Because it wasn't crowded, I was able to take out the paddle board by myself then again once each with my kids sitting on the front.

Paddling in the Abu Dhabi bay.

The village will be open until January 14th when the race commences and heads for China. It was a lot of fun and all the activities were free. Parking was limited, but you can park at Marina Mall and just walk there pretty easily. I'd recommend getting there early because parking filled up by the time we left at 3:30. We hope to go again next weekend and highly recommend that you check it out.

Egypt

2012-01-06T01:51:00.000+04:00

Breakfast after our first night in Egypt

Without getting into too much detail, we went to Egypt over the winter break. The first thing I'd like to mention is that there was no reason to worry about going to Egypt with regards to any kind of political instability. There was only the usual hassles (challenges?) with traveling in a developing country. Since this was the first time my wife and kids have been traveling apart from visiting family, I was a little concerned, but there was little to worry about.

We arranged for our tours through a Japanese hostel in the center of Cairo, the Venice Hosokawaya hotel. about 75% of the people staying there were Japanese. The staff spoke English and Japanese and the place was run by an Egyptian man who lived in Japan for 14 years and is married to a Japanese woman.They can arrange for both Japanese and English language tours.

You'll have to ask my son where these hieroglyphics were. It's all a blur for me now.


The street outside our hotel in Cairo.

Relaxing in the Sleeper train.

After sightseeing in Cairo, we got dropped off at the train station for our overnight trip to Luxor where we transferred to our Nile cruise. The kids really enjoyed the sleeper train. Traveling with a family of four was really convenient because each compartment holds two people and there was a door between our compartments that opened up to make one large compartment for four.

An old-timey boat in the Nile.

The swimming pool on the deck of our Nile Cruise.

This guy happily drove us and posed for this picture. Then he asked for a tip.

Christmas hit our Nile cruise ship.

After we arrived in Luxor by train, we were met at the station by a driver who took us to our cruise ship, let us rest for a while, then took us on a tour of Luxor. The cruise was pretty nice, thought I was in the minority of English speakers. Most of the people seemed to be either on a Spanish-speaking tour or from a group of eastern Europeans with the rest of us on our own. We were able to make friends because if we didn't meet on the boat, we were generally in the same tours on land seeing the same sights.

Once our cruise ended, we took the train from Aswan to Giza where we saw some pyramids. We all had a pretty good trip while meeting some new friends. I now feel confident with our ability to travel as a family without anyone freaking out.

No heads at Luxor Temple.

Family hijinx at an Egyptian Temple

Tia really getting into the Temple at Abu Simbal.

Pyramid magic makes you fly.

Khalifa Waterpark

2011-12-16T22:45:00.000+04:00

I'm just catching up after a busy semester teaching and studying. So many adventures have gone unwritten about and so many amazing tales will never be told in this blog. Instead, I will write about the time about a month ago in which we went to Khalifa Park with some friends and went to the water park there.

The place isn't very big, but for the money, it's a great value. The park has a lot of shade and a lot of rides for the kids. Because it's small, parents can relax while easily keeping track of their kids.

There's a winding tube river the kids can play on.

There's a game inwhich kids dump water on each other's heads.

The kids can pretend to surf on a motorized surf board that moves around.

There's the usual assortment of slides.

They have free bumper boats for little kids.

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There's even a water balloon slingshot for the kids to launch water balloons at each other.

Overall, we had a pretty good time and I would recommend taking your kids to Khalifa park for the water park if you get the chance.

Emirati Mothers

2011-12-03T14:46:00.002+04:00

In honor of the United Arab Emirates 40 year anniversary, the President, Sheikh Khalifa, made several decrees. Perhaps the most meaningful was that children born to an Emirati mother and non-Emirati father are entitled to Emirati citizenship. (Children of Emirati fathers were always entitled to citizenship regardless of the nationality of the mother.) Previously, these children were not entitled to the benefits of being Emirati such as free education and access to high paying public sector jobs.

While it may seem obvious to western countries that children of nationals should be granted citizenship regardless of the gender of the parent, this is actually a very progressive move on the part of Sheikh Khalifa. It has brought hope to women in other Middle Eastern countries such as Qatar who are waiting for similar rights. Hopefully, this decree can be the start of that.

Festival of Thinkers 2011

2011-11-22T12:19:00.048+04:00

Two years ago, I had the amazing chance to participate in wonderful event at my school called the Festival of Thinkers. Not only did I get to see some top minds speak, I was able to moderate discussions with some of them. This event is sponsored by the Higher Colleges of Technology and run every two years. The last one, in which I participated was well run as far as I was concerned and was planned by Abu Dhabi Men's College. The school sent out emails asking for volunteers and they got a number of people who willingly helped the VIPs around and made themselves available to ensure that everything went smoothly.

This year, the mails asking for volunteers never came. I had considered volunteering this year, but was kind of busy so never made any inquiries. Boy, did I luck out.

When Fidel Castro's son asks you to change his flight to Cuba, you do it.

About two weeks before the event, the mails were sent out telling people that they had to stand in a hotel lobby for 7 hours and direct guests to the right bus going to the right place. Little consideration was given to people's teaching schedule or their knowledge of Abu Dhabi. Those expected to direct the VIPs were not given the information they needed. They were put on the spot by people used to first class service and asked to change flights, and organize tours on short notice. To top it off, some teachers who were keen to be a part of the event and even requested to be a part of it weren't even asked. In the end, through no fault of the teachers, the dignitaries must have come away from the UAE with a fairly negative perception of the country.

What was the difference between this event and the last one two years ago? The last one was organized by the Abu Dhabi Men's College and this one by the Abu Dhabi Women's college. ADWC has a notoriously bad reputation for organization and taking into consideration outside obligations of those working for it. I feel that it is a shame that this event was so poorly run this year so as to give everyone involved a negative opinion of the Festival of Thinkers.

Train Sleeping

2011-11-21T19:13:00.001+04:00


These Japanese people would be lucky to only get a fine.

A friend sent me this article a few days ago but I'm just getting the chance to post it. Apparently, there is one more thing to worry about when traveling to Dubai: sleeping on the train. A student who was visiting her parents in Dubai fell asleep on the train was woken by a man holding a ticket for 300 dirhams (about US$80). She was unaware that this was on a list of 31 offenses with fines ranging from 100 dirhams to 2000 dirhams. Also on the list is a 100 dirham fine for eating, drinking or chewing gum (chewing gum?!?) on the train. If this was the rule in Japan, Japan rail would be able to buy several new trains a day with the proceeds.

Musundam 2011

2011-11-13T12:46:00.051+04:00

Last week was Eid Al Adha so we figured that we would get out of town for a few days. Since we enjoyed our trip to Musundam last year during Eid, we thought that we would do the same thing.

Luckily, this year getting through the border wasn't as much of an issue as it was last year. We were able to get through in about an hour and headed to the same beach that we went to last year about 20 kilometers past the border.

Our tents on the beach. The beach didn't have any rocks last year.

We did a half day dhow cruise last year so thought it would be nice to do a full day cruise this year. Because I wasn't sure about how many people were coming, I didn't have the chance to make the booking for Sunday until the Thursday before. Normally, I don't think this would have been an issue but with the holiday, they were booked up. They said that they could probably get us in on Monday. I said to let us know if Sunday opened up. I called on Saturday night and told them that I was in Musundam and that were planning on coming for the Sunday full-day dhow cruise that we had booked and they said no problem, we'll see you tomorrow. I reasoned that if you just show up, there will probably be someone who reserves and doesn't show up.

Tia all ready for some snorkeling.

Lucas taking over the boat steering duties.

Just after this picture, the two of us leaned over the bow of the boat and I shouted, "I'm the king of the world!"

The boat cruise itself was pretty good with some time to take a swim, do some snorkeling, and look at some coral. Lunch was provided and we got to see some dolphins.

Some dolphins or sharks or something.

After we got back, we were in time for some relaxing on the beach and swimming at our campsite.

Tia showing some crabs that we caught.

We stayed two nights then headed to Dreamland the next day. The trip was fairly tiring, but it was good to get away for a few days.

F1 Events

2011-11-12T16:26:00.002+04:00

Some guy making a sand sculpture.

With the Formula 1 races being this weekend, there are a lot of events around town. Fortunately for me, I live pretty close to one of the focal points. As last year, they have a F1 Fan Zone in which kids can drive down little mini streets or drive around the Abu Dhabi Track in video game simulators. There are slot car races and other challenges. I thought it was pretty good last year and my kids got to do a lot of the things because we got there early. This year, I complained that it wasn't as good, but I think the problem was just that it was too crowded.

Tia and some car.

Signs said that it opened at 4:00 on weekends and 5:00 on weekdays, but when we got there at 4:30 it wasn't open. By the time it opened at 5:00, it was crowded enough that we couldn't easily visit the attractions. Also there were some technical difficulties with about half of the simulators and the remote controlled cars in the center of the plaza weren't up and running yet so my kids couldn't do either of those. Looking back, it is still pretty good and is worth visiting if they get everything running smoothly though remember that it really opens at 5:00.

Later at night, I went back to see Fatboy Slim perform on the beach at no charge. I thought it might be fun to check that out and was impressed with how cool the whole thing was. I didn't bring my camera so didn't get any photos or video. Once I got there and saw the signs saying no cameras allowed with people checking bags, I was glad. I think that security must not have cared, because it seemed like almost everyone was taking video and pictures. Regardless, I was glad to get the chance to dance around.

Fatboy Slim is happy to be here.

I found it interesting the number of people who brought little kids to the show that started at 11:30. Once I worked my way up closer to the front, there weren't any kids, but I did see a woman in an abaya with her husband (?) who looked really uncomfortable to be there. Fatboy Slim showed a lot of video to accompany his performance and one song had a lot of male and female nudity. It wasn't anything graphic, but you could clearly see their naughty bits When those videos first came up, there was a lot of cheering and it made me wonder how he got away with that.

I had a really good time. I wished that I had taken some photos to post up here, but oh well. I'll make sure that I bring my camera the next time Fatboy Slim comes around to Abu Dhabi and puts on a free show.

Carlton Traning Camp

2011-11-11T12:45:00.000+04:00

Anyone who lives outside of Australia probably has not heard of Carlton Football Club but apparently it is the most successful team in the Australian Football League. Last Friday, the Carlton Football Club completed a successful training camp in Abu Dhabi. They stayed at the Emirates Palace and "utilized the world-class training facilities the Palace has on offer." Previous to their visit here, they spent two weeks training in Qatar. This trip was meant to promote tourism in Abu Dhabi for Australians. There were some suspicions that since Emirates Airlines have their name on the stadium that Carlton play in that they might be announcing that they will sponsor the the team.

Tia's unimpressed to be near some guys that only Australians know.

One of the team members taunts Lucas after Lucas told him that he'd rather be playing baseball.

What this meant for my family is that because my kids play Australian Rules Football, they got to participate in the training camp for kids that Carlton sponsored. It was really fun watching the team run training drills then make themselves available for pictures and autographs. After that the team ran drills with the kids for about a half an hour. To finish things off, they handed out caps and balls to each kid in attendance.

Tia showing her impressive kicking skill as some guy looks on.

The thing to remember with this whole thing is that this is the equivalent of your favorite American Football team or favorite Rugby team coming to town to run a training camp for the kids and only about 50 people showing up. It was a really fun time and well run.

Eid al Adha Holiday

2011-11-03T20:53:00.000+04:00

The Imam needs to see this moon before you can book your holidays.

For the Eid al Adha holiday, we are never sure exactly what days off we will have until it is a little too late to actually book a holiday. Because of the dates that Eid was presumed to fall on, we knew that we would get Sunday (usually a work day), Monday, and Tuesday off (November 6th - 8th). The question remained whether we would also get Wednesday and Thursday off to make it a full week. In the past in similar situations the teachers and students have gotten the time off so a lot of people took the gamble and booked week long vacations.

Last Tuesday we got notification that we were only getting the three days (plus weekend) off to make this a mere 5-day holiday. This was no big deal for me because I had only planned on going camping for a few days. Others were not so happy. To add to the insult, many of the other colleges around the UAE were off for the whole week. A lot of teachers and students had already booked holidays. Since students were unlikely to cancel holidays, that meant mass absences and not much chance of any teaching going on.

The good news came at 3:45 today in an email: we were going to have the full week off. Unfortunately, the damage was done. Some teachers who had previously planned on traveling canceled their trips, losing deposits.While none of this really surprises me, I do think it could have been handled better. Giving everyone the week off to start with would have made everyone happy and helped to avoid the resentment. Alternately, had the powers that make the decision announced the dates earlier, students and teachers would have been prepared to be at school this coming Wednesday and Thursday. At any rate, I'm not about to complain about a week off.

Haloween Parties

2011-10-29T21:22:00.000+04:00

Tia in front of the traditional Halloween race track.

The past two years some friends and I have arranged trick or treating in the apartment building that we live in. This year, I was too busy to organize it so we found a party for the kids to go to held at the Al Ghazal Golf and Rugby Club near the airport. While this party was only marginally related to Halloween, it involved kids, dressing in costumes, running around, and eating candy so was a pretty good deal for 25 dirham each. They had a few people in costumes running around and, some jumpy castles, games and a little track with motorized bikes for the kids to ride. Even though the kids didn't get to knock on doors and beg for candy, they had a lot of fun The bonus was I didn't have to be responsible for organizing everything.

My son ans Smurfette with some kid.

If that's not enough, they get to do it all over on the 31st after school. For the school organized party, I found it interesting that in respect for the local culture the kids were asked not to dress as witches or wizards.

Security

2011-10-19T19:05:00.001+04:00

Something that users of free wireless services found in airports, restaurants, and cafes may not be aware of is that while they are busy chatting to friends via Facebook or sending email is that their internet usage can easily be tracked. Also, hackers can set up seemingly innocent free wi-fi hotspots and give them innocent sounding names such as "Free Airport Wi-fi" with the sole purpose of getting sensitive information.

Avoid this message and see all your favorite American shows on Hulu with a VPN.

What's more, search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Bing, collect and store i.p. address information with the purpose of targeting advertising. Sure, the thought of someone at Google having access to all the times you Google your own name may not creep you out, but a lot of people may get anxious with the thought that there exists a record of them cyber-stalking their favorite actress after they come home from a night out.

This can be avoided through the use of a Virtual Personal Network otherwise known as a VPN. Simply, a VPN is basically a virtual tunnel through your internet service provider that comes out in a different place. The data is encoded so there is no way that anyone can detect where the usage is coming from or even what it is.

Listen to Pandora streaming radio outside the U.S. with a VPN.

An added benefit to this is that when using a service that allows you to code your internet usage, is that you can change your computer i.p. address to another country to access services available to only that country. For example, the Hulu allows you to watch American television shows for free and the internet radio service at Pandora allows you to create customized radio stations to suit your own tastes. Unfortunately, these completely legitimate websites are unavailable to those outside the United States. With a VPN, you can change your i.p. address to access these services.

Also, a VPN can help with services like making cheap international calls with Skype that are blocked in the UAE. While Skype is no longer illegal in the UAE, the site is still blocked at the request of Etisalat, the main internet an telephone provider in the UAE.

Two good sites are proXPN and Witopia, but unfortunately, if you are in the UAE and don't already have a VPN, these sites may be blocked. If that is the case and you wish to look into what a VPN can do for you, the blue banner at the top of this page should get you there. In my opinion, better security for your computer and a more accessible internet is definitely worth checking out.

35-Car-Pile-Up

2011-10-18T22:06:00.000+04:00

The culprit in the 35-car pile-up: fog.

Once again, fog caused a large accident on the roads in the U.A.E. Please note that it was the fog that caused the pile-up and not the dangerous driving in foggy conditions. Luckily, there were only 35 cars invloved this time as opposed to the 127-car pile-up earlier this year. Also, no one was killed like in this 18-car pile up. Still, these accidents all have only the fog to blame, not the tailgating at 85 miles per hour with 100 yard visibility.

Pet Hotel

2011-09-24T21:37:00.000+04:00

While I believe in animal rights, sometimes treating pets as more than animals can reach absurd proportions. Here is an interesting article from a week or two that talks about a luxury hotel for pets. While the price for the "Junior Suite" at 115 Dh ($40) isn't outrageous, rooms go up to 395 Dh (About $110) per night. Also, it does seem silly to provide dogs and cats with gourmet meals and plasma screen TVs in the rooms along with "movie time." I'm guessing most pets don't know the difference.

This article brings to mind an article from the parody newspaper called "the Onion" entitled, "Study: U.S. Pets' Healthcare better than Rwandan humans.'"

Milkshake

2011-09-18T16:41:00.035+04:00

See Kim Kardashian's milkshakes for yourself at the Dubai Mall.

The big news for Milkshake fans is that Kim Kardashian will be coming to Dubai next month to open up her store in Dubai Mall named Millions of Milkshakes. If this announcement doesn't get that Milkshake song from about 8 years ago in your head, then the article title in the Gulf News, "Her Milkshake Brings Dubai to the Mall," will.

Ms. Kardashian's reality show will follow her to record her reactions to her first time in Dubai. Apart from her celebrity, she describes her excitement over traveling to the Middle East for the first time and future business ventures that she would be open to such as acting in a Bollywood movie or open a Dash store in Dubai or Abu Dhabi. We can only hope.

National I.D. Deadlines

2011-09-16T22:03:00.000+04:00

Once again, the government offices in the UAE have put the hammer down and are giving the final, final deadlines for which everyone must have their Emirates I.D. If you remember, the UAE government has previously stated that everyone must have their Emirates I.D. by the end of 2009. Then it was changed to January of 2011 After having gone through the process in May of 2010, I knew there was no way that they would get it done.

The deadlines according to this article are as follows:

The northern Emirates have until December of 2011. Sharjah has until February 2012. Abu Dhabi has until April, 2012. Dubai has until June 2012. Anyone who does not have their id by that time will be fined 20 Dh (about $7) a day. We'll see how final these final deadlines are.

Horror Story 2: Escape from Dubai

2011-09-11T16:30:00.032+04:00

The alleged finger-giver.

Some people may remember the story I talked about from last May in which a visiting surgeon from England upset an Emirati driver and was accused of giving him the middle finger. (For my version of the story, click here.) Well it seems he was given his passport back and told he could go back to his job in England as long as he promised to come back for the trial for allegedly giving the middle finger to another diver. If you read the original article in the Independent, it's pretty doubtful that he even did it.

Well, the court date has come and the good doctor has, (surprise, surprise) decided that it is not in his best interest for him to come back to face trial for this, knowing that there is no way that the court will believe his word over the word of an Emirati. You can read the article in the National for full details. (Thanks to Neil for pointing out the article in his blog.) He seems like a good man that was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I feel that the UAE does itself a great disservice when they allow their citizens to make (likely) false accusations over trivial matters. Not only have they lost a doctor who was considering a post here, they have done a lot of harm to the reputation of the UAE as a desirable place to travel or do business.

Currency Collection

2011-09-10T19:52:00.001+04:00

Our friend Said with his currency collection.

A few months ago, one of the security guards where we park our car showed our kids his currency collection. He has always been nice to our kids and has a friendly smile for us so my wife gave him some Japanese money for his collection.

A few weeks ago, I got a call from a reporter at the National asking if we know him, if we gave him money, and questions along those lines. As it turned out, they did an article about him and we were the only people still in Abu Dhabi that the newspaper was able to contact. It was nice to read the article and learn about the extent of his hobby. (For the article, click, here.) Unfortunately, he no longer works at the same place, but he was nice enough to save a copy of the newspaper for us. I was able to pass along a few more bits of currency from my travels. I know that this isn't big news, but it's nice to see how much his hobby means to him and that we were able to help him with it a little.

Amman and Jerash

2011-09-07T22:02:00.000+04:00

Finding the hotel took a bit of work. Having forgone the expertise of a taxi driver the moment I decided to rent a car, I was on my own in finding my hotel. Luckily for me, my passenger did a good job of finding the area I wanted to go on my map of Amman. I was able to get close and find a place to park near a bus station. Since it was in the middle of the city and no one was parked there, I had a feeling that I didn't want to leave the car there for long. I was able to park and call the hotel to get directions. As it turned out, I was only about half a mile away so I walked to the hotel, checked in and has someone come with me to guide me to the hotel down the one-way streets. I was able to park my car right in front of the little family-run hotel because it wasn't the type of place where the guests show up with rental cars.

The older fellow that helped show me the driving directions asked if he could come to Jerash with me the next day and thinking that I could use a little local knowledge, said sure. It was nice to have the company, but as it turned out, he was Canadian originally from Iraq so didn't know the roads very well. This became apparent when he he wanted to stop literally every mile to ask directions. It was nice to have someone who could speak Arabic to ask directions, but I'm not exaggerating. Every mile. Even when I was pretty sure that the major road that someone had told us to take two minutes prior was going the right way, he had to stop and ask directions. And he refused to look at the map.

I forgave him once we arrived at the Roman ruins of Jerash. He was good company and I was impressed with how well he kept up with all the walking around I did, considering he was 70 years old. I was less impressed with his ability to take photos of me in front of ruins without centering on me. After a while I would tell him no thanks when he offered to get a photo of me and would just do the self photos. I did enjoy his company, but on the ride back, once I got close to the hotel and his asking for directions wasn't working out (he would ask directions then mistakenly tell me to go the wrong way), I pulled over, got out the map and despite his protests, found the hotel while refusing to ask for directions.

A photo of me taken by my friend with some amazing stuff directly above and behind me and out of the frame of the picture.

How do you say in English? A rotunda.

Can you believe how historical this looks?

Pretty ominous with the clouds in the background, huh?

This must be some sort of theater.

The hippodrome where they used to race chariots.

That night I went out walking in the neighborhood shopping streets and smoked a shisha pipe near my hotel directly across the street from an old Roman theater. It was a nice way to spend my last night in Jordan. With the Eid al Fitr holiday going on, everyone was dressed up, out on the streets, and in a festive mood. It was a terrific atmosphere.

Relaxing at a cafe near the hotel with a Roman theater behind me.

The next day I packed up, checked out of the hotel, and made my way to a beach resort on the Dead Sea. I had planned on going to Mount Nebo where Moses saw the burning bush, but without my passenger to ask directions every mile, got lost. In getting lost, though, I saw some of the most incredible scenery and drove down the curviest mountain roads to the Dead Sea seaside.

Once there, I went in to the resort soaked in the salty water and alternated between the salty sea and the chlorine infused pools. I dug up some mud with some other people and spread this mud on myself like the others.I did this not for the softer skin that it was supposed to give me, but because how often do you really have an excuse to rub mud on yourself without everyone around you thinking you're crazy.

I thought I'd check out the spot where Jesus was baptized. Unfortunately, that was closed for the day so I just headed for the airport. I returned the rental car, gifting the person who cleans the car the sunglasses that I left in the drinks holder. Without further ado, so ended my wonderful trip to Jordan.

Jordan Road Trip

2011-09-03T21:28:00.004+04:00

The morning I picked up the rental car from a local five-star hotel, I felt a great feeling of freedom. I could drive where I wanted without worrying about paying a taxi driver. Also, I could stay at a place as long or as short a time without feeling like I was on the clock. In the end, the car rental was about as much as a driver would have been and I lost the benefit of local knowledge, but I also gained solitude without having local knowledge crammed down my throat.

I headed to Aqaba, Jordan down on the Red Sea just over the Saudi Arabian border. The roads to Aqaba were well marked and on the way, I saw signs for Wadi Rum, a place I had been told that I should also make a point of visiting. The driving was pretty easy with few cars to compete with. I had to stop at a checkpoint. I can always appreciate a guard with a sense of humor and got a kick out of being told that I was on my way to Syria. The guard just gave me a friendly smile when I gave him a confused look and waved me on my way.

I found a diving place that had been recommended to me and made my way down to the Red Sea to look at some wildlife. Because it must have been low tide, the coral was just below the surface and the water only to my knees. What was meant to be a swim among the coral ended up being a wade. I was able to get some reasonable pictures and after about half an hour decided to move on.

This is the Red Sea which is a very deep blue.

Here are some coral during low tide that I was able to wade among.

I made my way back to Wadi Rum and signed up for a two-hour tour. I had been told that there was nothing like it in the world with the sands and the cliffs and that I shouldn't miss it. My conclusion: Meh. It was definitely scenic. I will concede that I didn't get the full effect because the lighting during sunset is supposed to be beautiful and the solitude of camping overnight is supposed to be the amazing part of it, but having camped in the desert and having seen the beautiful cliffs of Musundam, I felt I got what I wanted out of my two hours. I was supposed to pay about $65 for the tour, but because a French woman who was there came with me, we each had to pay about $50. The problem was that the two hour tour is supposed to include a lot of getting out and exploring. With our tour being in the middle of the hot day, we didn't feel like exploring very much. This meant for an unhappy French woman who was a bit upset when our tour was looking to be only an hour. To be fair, the guide explained this to us and she didn't have the English to understand, so I could see both sides. The upshot was that we got a bit more sightseeing because of her complaining.

This is a scene from Wadi Rum.

Here is a natural bridge that was an extra on my two-hour tour because of a complaining French woman. (Thanks!)

On the way back, I decided to go up a little road that led to the top of a mountain and what I thought was a nice view. It turned out to be some guy's driveway. As I was turning my car around to head back down the windy road, the guy living there came out and invited me for juice and apples from his orchard. The next thin I knew I was sitting with him, his wife, and their very limited English. After a while, their son and nephew came walking up the hill to act as an interpreter. They then gave me some mint tea but with it being the last hour of Ramadan, meant that the whole pot of mint tea was for me. After a bit, I made my exit, impressed by the hospitality of strangers and made my way back to Petra with a belly full of tea and a bag full of apples.

That night I went to Petra by night which was the canyon and the Treasury lit by candlelight. I booked an extra night specifically so I could see it (it is only available Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights from 8:30) so was really looking forward to it. It was kind of neat and I felt worth the $20 that I had to pay for it, if just for the ambiance. Some local guys played some music and read a passage about the ancient city while drinking more mint tea and a dog begging food from me and the people nearby. I don't know if it would be for everyone, but I thought it wasn't too bad. My camera didn't have much to say about it, though.

This is the best that my camera could do with Petra by night. The Treasury is lit by candle light here.

The next day as I was checking out of the hotel, the other guest who was staying there happened to mention that he was on his way to Amman to catch an 8:00 pm flight and with that I offered him a winding ride through the countryside and recruited a navigator. He was very helpful in reading the maps and amiable in stopping at random castles to have a look around. It was nice to have the company of a fellow traveler and to have someone who was willing to wander around looking a scenery. I think he got a little nervous over my driving down the windy roads headed to the Dead Sea, but he never complained. Well only in a Canadian sort of way, but not actually visibly.

When we did get to the Dead Sea, we were able to climb down from a place off the road and do some floating. The water had an oily quality to it that I'm assuming was from all the salt. We were warned not to get any in our eyes or mouth and of course I got some in my mouth. Even though it was only a tiny bit, it kind of burned my lips and had a terrible taste. Sure enough, it is impossible to sink and was even difficult to keep my legs under me. Floating on the water was a unique sensation with which the novelty wore off after about 20 minutes.

This is a random castle that I came upon while wandering in the Jordanian countryside.

This is a portion of Kerak Castle. Highly recommended.

Here I am admiring the beautiful scenery.

Me floating in the Dead Sea with Israel faintly visible in the background.

After the Dead Sea, I took my navigator to the airport to catch his flight, but not before having him find the general area of my hotel on the map of Amman. While navigating the unfamiliar roads and driving at the same time was a challenge, with stopping to look at the map every two minutes or so, I was able to get in the general vicinity of the hotel I had booked in the city center and get directions from there. Even the hotel staff were surprised that I had made a booking there and were curious as to how I had heard of the hotel (booking.com). Checking into the one star-hotel I had reserved online in the city center of an impoverished country then began the third and final stage of my travels in Jordan.

Petra Jordan

2011-09-02T23:47:00.003+04:00

I arrived in Jordan on Saturday morning and got a pre-arranged taxi from the airport in Amman, Jordan down to the hotel I booked just outside the gates of the old city in Petra. The ride was about 2 or 3 hours and cost about $100. I thought that was fair for the price, but realized that taxis were going to dig into my budget a bit much. To add to it, the taxi driver spent about half of the ride down to the hotel planning my next few day's itinerary for me. I was non committal, just anxious to get down to Petra so I could check out the ancient city.

Once I got down to the city, I found that it cost about $80 for a one day pass and about $90 for two days. Even though it was a bit pricey, I figured that I might as well go for the two days. Once inside, I was harassed by people trying to sell me horse rides, donkey rides, carriage rides, and a number of other souvenirs. I get a bit tired of all that pretty quickly so that combined with the hour listening to a pushy taxi driver and little sleep the night before, put me in a negative mood.

In the end, I took a donkey ride up to the Monastery, one of the highest structures and felt that was well worth the $12 for the ride up to the point where I gave the kid whose donkey I rode a little extra money. I thought the old city was tremendous and over the next two days, had a great time exploring the place. Here are a few of the highlights.

The Treasury.

The Monastery.

A whole bunch of buildings carved into mountains.

The Gardens. Right there, just in the middle of nowhere.

This donkey just wants to be left alone to enjoy the ruins in peace.

Go up those steps on a donkey? That's just crazy.

If I had to do it again, I would have rented a car from the airport and driven myself to the hotel. Also, the donkey ride to the top was well worth the 10 Jordanian dinar I paid. The second day was good once I learned how to shoo away the people selling things. The city, while expensive was definitely worth the price of entrance.

In the end, I found Petra near the gate of the old city to be the worst of the pushy vibe. Once I rented a car and gout out into the countryside on my own, I found a different story...

Eid in Jordan

2011-08-27T22:20:00.018+04:00

With Eid beginning in the middle of the week, the UAE government decided to give all government workers the whole week off. This means that with the weekends, I got a full 9 days off. Unfortunately, my wife and kids are still in Japan and I was scheduled to pick them up in the middle of the night mid-week. Because of this, I had dismissed any notion that I could go anywhere until a friend pointed out that I could risk pissing my wife off and suggest she get a cab.

Sure enough I did that and she didn't seem too annoyed at the suggestion. I was even tentatively able to arrange for some friends to pick her and the kids up from the airport. From yesterday morning I began the journey of researching flights, hotels, and things to do in Jordan. Though calling a series of friends, coworkers and former coworkers who had traveled to Jordan, lived in Jordan, or were from Jordan, I was able to put together a fairly decent itinerary. Because I'm traveling on my own, I can travel pretty lightly and stay in minimalist accommodations. I just hope that my wife hasn't changed the locks when I get back.

Registration Renewal Failure

2011-08-26T22:20:00.000+04:00

I had to get the registration on my Jeep renewed. Because it is Ramadan, I figured that it would be closed during the day. Since I was finishing work around 2:00 and I work near the car registration place, I would go to see what the hours were and come back when they were open. When I got there, I found that not only was it open, there were tons of cars there. Since I was already there, I thought I might as well get in line. Having been through the procedure a number of times before, I parked my car, went in to pay for the inspection and came back out to my car. After sitting in the middle line for about 15 minutes, my power brakes went out. This had never happened before, but there I was, surrounded by cars with no way to get out in line for the car inspection. I thought that since I had paid for the inspection already, that I might as well go through with it (not that I had a choice) and at least I would know if there was anything else besides the brakes that I needed to get fixed.

Thinking that the heat might have had something to do with the brakes giving out, I turned off my idling car for a few minutes hoping that the engine being off might get them working again. Regardless, I was going to need to get my car repaired, but I thought that if I could at least pass the inspection, I wouldn't have to worry about that part of the registration. After sitting in a sweltering car for a few minutes, I realized that I was going to need the air conditioning so I started the car. Only it wouldn't start. The battery which had been the one to jump start my SUV and a friend's car had finally decided that smack in the middle of the car registration line was the place to finally give up.

After some beeping from the cars behind me, another driver from the line next to me cutting in front of me, and about 10 minutes of panicked waiting, I got the car started again and figured that the overheated brakes would have to remain overheated. As I pulled up to the inspection, and handed over the car inspection paper, I wasn't really expecting my car to pass. I was just hoping it would make it through the series of inspections without conking out.

After the inspection I could tell that it failed based on the look on the inspector. I parked my car with the engine running and went inside to get the results of the tests. The results? Naturally I failed. However, the reason that I failed wasn't that I needed a new power brake cylinder or a new battery. My jeep failed because the paint on the hood and a few of the fenders was faded and didn't match that of the rest of the car. Not only did I have to get the other bits fixed, I had to have half my car repainted. Nice!

Welcome Back

2011-08-20T23:24:00.001+04:00

Search Amazon.com for jumper cable

After two months of not working and enjoying life back in Wisconsin, I've returned to find my apartment floor with water from a dripping air conditioner and the water in the apartment turned off. In addition, the wind had blown both covers of my vehicles off so they were covered in sand and the truck had a dead battery. After moping up the water, calling someone to fix the air conditioner, and getting the water turned back on, I went to work on jump starting the truck. Having little experience, the first time took a while, but after jump starting a friends' car twice, I feel pretty confident in what I'm doing now.

Work has been pretty uneventful. Ramadan hours are from 9:00 until 2:00, but I don't see many people there before 10:00 anyway. Besides, because we can't eat or drink publicly, everyone sits in the break room drinking coffee or tea much of the day. There isn't much to do since we don't know our schedules and therefore don't know what classes to prepare for. Not that it would matter much if we did, because most of it would change the first few weeks after classes start. At least I have a nice easy routine to ease myself into.

Zoos

2011-08-14T04:08:00.004+04:00

The UAE has a number of zoos, many of which are supposed to be pretty good. While I haven't been there, my kids have been to the Kid's Park Zoo for school field trips. From, what I've heard, this zoo is pretty good with play areas for kids and a variety of animals.

The best zoo in the UAE isn't in Abu Dhabi city, it's in Al Ain, a city in the Emirite of Abu Dhabi. The Al Ain Wildlife Park is a great place to relax and is a pretty good zoo. They also have special exhibitions like the animatronic dinosaurs. There is a pretty good selection of wild cats like lions, cheetahs, and leopards. The less predatory animals have a free range to roam. One thing can be said for the Emiratis, they like their exotic animals.

Unfortunately, even with the great zoos in the UAE, there are a number of "private zoos" created through illegal traffickng. Many people may remember the story of the cheetah roaming the streets of Abu Dhabi from May of this year. That was a funny sort of story that made international headlines, but it wasn't an isolated case. December of 2010, a similar case happened in Sharjah, one of the northern emirites. Animal trafficking has become so prevalent in the UAE that the head of the Dubai Zoo has called for a regulatory body to crack down on the practice.

That aside, there are a lot of little mini zoos in surprising places, like Dreamland water park in Umm Al Quwain or Khalifa children's park. Sometimes there are little petting zoos outside of museums for no reason or in cultural villages. Many festivals will provide camel rides or pony rides. The Emirati cultural love of animals helps to ensure that children living in Abu Dhabi will have plenty of exposure to them.

Yesterday's culture

2011-08-12T04:08:00.005+04:00

I kind of touched on this when I wrote about Liwa, but if you really want to get a feel for what the UAE and Abu Dhabi specifically were like, you need to get away from the cities.

Near Liwa, there is an annual Camel Beauty Contest right around Christmas. The purpose of this is to promote and preserve the culture. One of the criteria is "camel toe cleavage." I haven't made it out there the past two years, but hope to go this year.

Also, out in the desert near Liwa you can sometimes see guys taking out their falcons for a fly. I haven't ever been asked to try one out yet, but if you ask nicely, I'm sure they'll let you take one out for a spin.

Also, I'd like to mention the Abu Dhabi Natural History group. Shortly after we first got here we attended an event put on by them. We saw a video shown regarding the pearl diving history of Abu Dhabi. Something that we hadn't signed up for but something that I would have loved had we been equipped for was the camping on the beach followed by the pearl diving expedition the following day. This group has lectures every month with occasional camping trips or events.

Even though the cities of Abu Dhabi seem to be trying to shake the image of a nomadic culture by building as many modern structures they can, it's nice to know that there are some people that maintain the old ways.

e-X-cess

2011-08-10T04:07:00.004+04:00

It may be a bit of a repeat of the previous entry, but yes, the UAE likes things big. Not only is Abu Dhabi competing with the rest of the world, they're competing with Dubai. Sure they had the world's most expensive Christmas tree, but in the same hotel you can get $20 slice of cheesecake covered in gold shavings. In fact, the Emirates Palace is proud to advertise that they use five kilograms of gold a year of gold on their deserts. The UAE has the money so why not spend it?

Abu Dhabi uses an excessive amount of water, but those parks aren't green from the rain. Every day while driving to work, I can see the sprinklers watering the parks and road medians. Sure there are the ads telling people to conserve water at home, but no one really takes those things seriously, do they?

The cars that you commonly see driving the roads of Abu Dhabi are almost out of a movie, Ferraris, Rolls Royces, Lamborginis, or even a number of fancy cars with names that I don't even recognize. As for cars that would normally turn heads such as Porches, Hummers, Cadillacs or Lexus? A dime a dozen. I've been accused of being obsessed with cars by more than one person and maybe I am, but my obsession has to do with the vast amounts of money spent on flashy cars rather than any sort of appreciation for the car itself.

Even promotion has to be excessive. It is understandable for a country with such incredible wealth to want to shake the image of being a couple of tents in the middle of nowhere. This would partially explain the obsession with breaking every world record possible. Any time there is an event at the school, the administration wants to make sure that every seat is filled and the cameras and video are out in spades. Because our campus is a point of pride in the the UAE, our school library is decked out with all the biggest and latest technology for all the visiting dignitaries to see. Our school even hosts the Festival of Thinkers to promote thinking and innovation among students in the UAE with some top names among intellectual circles.

Sure there are a lot of excesses here, but for a newly formed country determined to shake off the image of a backwards settlement of nomads, they have a lot to overcome.

World Records

2011-08-08T16:06:00.012+04:00

Not only is Abu Dhabi competing with the rest of the world, they're competing with Dubai. Nothing helps to promote a place like breaking a world record and Abu Dhabi has been working hard to ensure that it gets it's name on the map. Some of the ways in which Abu Dhabi is number one include:

The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque has the largest hand-stitched rug, the the largest dome of its type and, I believe, the world's most expensive and gaudy chandelier. The Emirites Palace Hotel is the world's most expensive hotel and was home to the world's most expensive Christmas tree. In addition, the Emirates Palace Hotel was the host of the sale of the world's most expensive license plate. Let's not forget the world's fastest roller coaster at Ferrari World that opened up in November 2010. Nearby there are two buildings being built that are connected by the world's highest bridge connecting two buildings, higher than the bridge connecting the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur. The Capital Gate is the world's furthest leaning man made tower. Visible from most of the Corniche is the former world's tallest flagpole, second only to a flagpole in North Korea. Both flagpoles are soon to be beat out by a third under construction. The company that produces these record-breaking flagpoles in located in Dubai and will only break records a meter at a time. About an hour drive from Abu Dhabi is the world's largest mobile home parked in the middle of the desert near a number of oversized novelty vehicles.

I'm sure that I'm missing a few, but those are some of the main ones I came up with. I would of course be remiss if I didn't mention a few of the world records achieved by Abu Dhabi's irresponsible little brother, Dubai.

The most obvious is the award for the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa. To give the organizers credit, they didn't just break the record by a few meters or by adding a qualifier by putting up a tall antenna, they smashed the record by over a hundred meters. The world's tallest building is next to the world's largest shopping mall. The qualifier of this one is that it is the world's largest mall by total space (as opposed to leasable space of which the Dubai Mall is sixth). I'm not sure, but I'm assuming that the Burj Khalifa isn't included in that. We wouldn't want to forget about the world's largest dancing fountain on the plaza outside the Burj Khalifa and the Dubai Mall. Something else that Dubai gets a lot of press for the the world's longest indoor ski slope, located in the Mall of the Emirites. Dubai also has the world's most expensive racetrack containing the world's largest video screen (and in my opinion the world's worst five-star hotel).

Clearly, both Abu Dhabi and Dubai have shown their prowess in world record breaking. It remains to be seen if can continue with this furious pace of impressing the world.

Visitors

2011-08-06T16:06:00.005+04:00

Living in Abu Dhabi has many advantages. It has been great for my family and friends having a place to stay and a tour guide to personally show them around the UAE. (For a good visitors guide, click here.) I really do welcome visitors because it's always nice to get the perspective of people I know and to show them how I live. Living in a city in a region that most people have not been to means getting loads of people coming to stay. People have had to book their stay at our place months in advance to ensure the best times (i.e. when I have off work). My mother was disappointed this past January because other friends of mine were coming at a time she wanted to.

We love having people come because it gives us the excuse to do some sightseeing of our own. Having a few weeks off and going around with friends from out of town makes makes us feel like tourists in our own city. Also, we have a great chance to experience hospitality and sleep on some futons when we visit exotic locations like Milwaukee.

Urban

2011-08-04T16:05:00.006+04:00

If you've read any of my previous posts, it should be quite clear by now that Abu Dhabi isn't a tiny little outpost in the middle of the desert with nothing around. It is an urban area in the middle of the desert with nothing around. Honestly, if you never left the island, you would likely never know you were in a desert. It is hot and sometimes there is a bit of sand in the air on windy days, but it is also humid, a very lush city with large buildings, hotels and restaurants.

The city has a busy central area called the Tourist Club Area where many of the hotels, restaurants, and bars are. The area around Hamdan Street is a busy central area with lots of stores and restaurants. Abu Dhabi is a big bustling city that you could expect to find in any modern country.

Traffic

2011-08-02T04:04:00.007+04:00

This is a picture of an actual traffic jam in Abu Dhabi from last September. While this example is an extreme case, it is pretty typical of the type of traffic one can expect here. The side of the island I live on is a lot better, but it can still get busy. Scenes like this are why I tend to take a taxi if I'm going over to this side.

Recently, police have started giving people 500 dirham fines (about $170) to people who are stopped in the intersection in a red light. If you try to get across the intersection, you'd better make sure that you can get all the way through.

Talking to taxi drivers, the amount of traffic seems to have tripled in the past two years. Hopefully, the construction of Salam Street due to finish soon, this will ease up. It is set to be the region's longest tunnel and should provide some much needed relief to the traffic congestion.

Shisha

2011-07-31T16:02:00.006+04:00

I'm not a big smoker, but going down to the cafe in front of my apartment for a shisha is great. For those of you deprived folks who don't know what shisha is, let me explain. Shisha is a moist, flavored tobacco that is smoked from a shisha pipe or "bong" and is quite relaxing until you try to fall asleep. While you are smoking it and chatting with your friends, time goes very quickly which explains why I see people still sitting at the cafes at 5:30 on a Friday morning.

I don't smoke shisha very often, but when I do, I drink Turkish coffee which might explain the difficulty sleeping. Plenty of women can be seen puffing along on on a shisha pipe. Even friends who don't normally smoke have smoked while here and became instantly addicted. If you get the chance, try it, you'll like it. Don't be afraid. (If you do want to try it, here is a link to some pipes. Unless you're chicken.)

Ramadan

2011-07-29T16:02:00.003+04:00

With the Holy Month of Ramadan starting in a few days, this seemed to be especially appropriate. Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam and is an important part of the faith. Lest I display my ignorance by getting any further into the religious aspects, I'd like to talk about how Ramadan affects life in Abu Dhabi and what that means to me. (For a very interesting perspective on Ramadan, please read this Saudi Arabian woman's post.)

Ramadan is the 9th month of the Muslim calendar with is a lunar calendar. This means that the year is slightly longer than a standard year and the months shift about 10 days earlier each solar year. During this month, people aren't allowed to eat or drink from dusk to dawn. This has become an increasingly difficult challenge in recent years with the month of Ramadan gradually shifting to the beginning of summer when the hours of sunlight are the longest.

While, non-Muslims aren't required to fast, it is still illegal to eat or drink anything publicly. Don't even chew gum or smoke while driving because the chances are you'll be pulled over and fined. This makes things like exercise in 100 degree heat nearly impossible. Does this mean that I will be arrested for taking a drink while running on a treadmill in a public gym? No, but as a courtesy, you should ask those around if they mind you drinking. The chances are anyone exercising will understand.

It does mean that no restaurants are open during the day so plan ahead when you're going to be out. When out with small children who are not required to fast, bring your own food and drink. They can eat and drink, but it's best to be subtle about it.

Also, shops will have Ramadan hours specific to each shop, so don't count on being able to get much done. Mostly places will have hours in the evening after everyone has had their meal, but even that is kind of random.

Finally, while people try to be a bit more courteous during this month, most people are pretty cranky due to being thirsty, hungry, caffeine and nicotine deprived and probably tired from being up all night. Try to keep that in mind when dealing with anyone. Ramadan Kareem!

Quality

2011-07-27T16:01:00.006+04:00

To be honest, quality in Abu Dhabi is a mixed bag. There are five star (or even "seven star" hotels) where you'll be treated like a king. There are restaurants with fine cuisine from around the world. However, if you want your internet hooked up in a timely manner or that leak in your ceiling repaired, you might have to wait or have someone come back a few times to do a proper job.

You never know what to expect. Things could be done with care and diligence or they could be done in a slipshod manner that gives the impression of negligence. A good example of this was when we stayed at the Meydan Hotel in Dubai. The interior of the hotel was amazing. Beautiful design and spacious layout. Yet, we had to deal with something stupid like loose bathroom fixtures on the verge of falling off.

In Abu Dhabi on the Corniche, there are beautiful brick walkways with the occasional deep pit that will be there for weeks at a time. The problem has to do with maintenance. When something is initially built in Abu Dhabi, appearance is everything, yet no thought is given to the practicality of maintaining the elaborate pattern of bricks on the sidewalk or the super spongy surface at the playground that needs to be replaced annually.

Another issue is that the level of quality expected differs between the customer and the person doing the repairs. Many people in Abu Dhabi expect things to be repaired to developed world standards while the people doing the repairs have never lived in the developed world and have no idea what those standards are. If the water turns on when you turn the faucet, so what if the fixture is a little loose? In the UAE, laborers are paid developing world wages to do work at a developed world standard. Until that changes, quality will be variable.

Planning

2011-07-25T16:00:00.007+04:00

Many people will agree that planning is not a strong thing here. Emiratis I have talked to admit that this is a cultural weakness. However, even I have to admit that there is a sense of organization to the long-term planning in Abu Dhabi. The Plan Abu Dhabi 2030 is the prime example of this. There are communities that are being built up now and others with a target to start construction after 2015.

There are plans to build replicas for both the Guggenheim museum and the Louvre. Reem island is being set up as a "city within a city" and is going to be the new business district.

Infrastructure is another aspect of planning gone well. The city was working on the roads of Yas Island and Sadiyat Island years before there was anything there. There are five lane highways that go out to what is now the Formula One track and Ferrari World but went out to nowhere. They still don't need five lanes, but at least the planners recognize that the need will be there eventually.

Of course, not all infrastructure projects are implemented smoothly. Around the time I arrived, the city had just begun the Salaam Street tunnel project without any warning. One day the road was open and the next, it was closed, causing difficulties for many businesses which had no time to make arrangements for customers to access the premises. Hopefully, the organizers of the projects will consider the people the projects affect in upcoming planning.

Obesity

2011-07-23T15:54:00.006+04:00

With all the fast food available combined with a general aversion to exercise, it turns out that there is a bit of an obesity problem in the UAE. While the statistics are nothing shocking, obesity is a problem usually associated with the US and it is easy to forget that the potential is pretty good for the same issues.

The difference here is that many Emiratis aren't even aware that there is a problem. In a survey done by a health organization, despite over 2/3 of the people questioned being overweight, 3/4 of the people thought that they were normal weight. In addition, 99% of the people questioned thought heart disease wouldn't affect them even though it is the number one killer in the UAE.

With the recent wealth in the UAE, Emiratis have everything done for them. In addition, there are few sports programs in local schools and little health education. Colleges are beginning to require some health classes, but by the time students reach this point, it's a bit too late. This article talks about some of the ways in which Emiratis are being made aware of the problem and programs that are being implemented to help people live a healthier lifestyle.

While getting people as a whole to move towards being healthy may not work, I have seen positive changes with some overweight students who are in the school's gym a few times a week. Even though it isn't that common, it is nice to know that people who want to change are being given the tools.

National Identity Card

2011-07-21T15:53:00.009+04:00

As I mentioned previously, a mobile phone number is practically a national i.d. number in Abu Dhabi in that it is needed as a reference for any service here. The National i.d. card is actually an i.d. and is necessary for services such as registering your car or checking into a hotel without a passport.

Last year, the UAE government-created agency, the Emirates Identity Authority decided that every person in the UAE would need a national identity card by January of 2011. Anyone without it would be denied vital services, the most vital being car registration. The card itself is a useful form of i.d. and had a chip that can be scanned for ease of use. The process of getting one, however, is not so easy and has cause a few big issues.

Luckily, I could see that there was big trouble ahead and got to work on it in May 2010. Even so, I had annoying problems. You can read about my experiences here and here. Eventually, they must have realized that having two centers in a city of over a million and taking 30 minutes per person wasn't going to get the job done so they allowed the process to be completed at typing centers around the city.

The form needs to be filled out online and the large population of poor immigrant workers and laborers don't exactly have access to computers. The influx of people trying to get their card before the deadline caused a backlog of work at the centers. This caused issues with passports and other sensitive documents needing to be stored on premises.

As of now, I don't know what the process involves. I'll have to find out. I recently read a blurb in the news saying that while children didn't need identity cards before, they are now required to have one. I'm not looking forward to doing this again. A few weeks ago, a coworker desperately needed to find someone to cover his classes because he finally got his appointment to get his i.d. card and had to go or wait weeks for another appointment. The Emirates Identity Authority has now determined that enough people have their cards (only about six months past the deadline) where that can require them for vital services. We'll see how that goes.

Mobile Phones

2011-07-19T15:41:00.003+04:00

Without saying too much, about it, this is a country that runs on access to mobile phones. I'm not really saying much new that I haven't already said, but Japan has nothing on this place. I thought my students in Japan were mobile dependent, but here every student has at least on mobile phone. Most have several. Blackberry is a popular brand. One student had the others in his class laugh at him because he didn't know that there was a fruit called a blackberry. I'm surprised that there was only one. Upon seeing that one student had three phones, I asked him why. his response was that the Blackberry was good for messaging, the Nokia good for calling, and the i-phone good for playing.

The students are constantly accepting calls or messaging during class. I was strict about it at first, but I like to give them the benefit of the doubt. If I ask it tends to be an important call from the student's father or a call from the hospital about a sick cousin. While I realize that most of the time it's not true, I don't want to risk it. When confronted, students will say that it is part of their culture. (a little known fact: the dessert nomads used mobile phones for constant communication)

Even in going to the doctor, you need a mobile phone. The first question the staff ask is, "What's your mobile number?" It's like a national i.d. number and will be used to find your case history in the database.

To be fair, there are reasons for the students having more than one phone. A student who I asked said he had one phone that his employer provided, but it was monitored so he couldn't use it for personal use. I'm sure that mobile phone use has increased worldwide. I need to check my Twitter account and ask some Facebook friends first to be sure.

Liwa

2011-07-17T15:40:00.004+04:00

What can I say about Liwa? Well, first of all, it's an oasis in the middle of the desert. It is a small town with nothing near it for two hours of driving. There is a large resort that has seen better days but is still fairly nice. I know a guy that will take me out on a dune bashing tour in the desert. There are a few forts that are nothing special but easily accessible. Camping is pretty secluded with some cool dunes, most notably the Moreeb dune which has an annual drag race up it.

With such a mediocre rating, then why do I love this place so much and keep going back? There's camping about an hour out of town between Al Ain and Abu Dhabi. There are plenty of resorts and five star hotels with much better facilities. There are plenty of desert tours that will take you on a wild ride through the desert. For me, the attraction is the link to the past, simpler life of Abu Dhabi and the UAE. The people out here may be under a centralized government, but this is the frontier. These are the true desert nomads out here. The Emiratis that you talk to here are more genuine and will offer to show you a part of their culture.

I found the same when a student of mine from another part of the UAE invited me to come to Dibba and showed me his favorite camping spot. There is a sense of genuine hospitality that I get when I go to Liwa and if you get the chance, you should go there.

Khalidiyah

2011-07-15T15:38:00.005+04:00

I don't have that much to say about Khalidiyah apart from it being the section of town where I live. Naturally, it is important to me and a big part of what Abu Dhabi means to me. It is next to the Corniche and is on the side of town that is not quite so busy. There is a nice shopping mall nearby and a couple of parks within walking distance of my apartment. With Khalidiyah not being as developed as other sections of town, there is a push to develop it and it likely won't be as nice as it is now, but more people will be able to live here and wish that it is was less crowded and developed.

Journalism

2011-07-13T15:37:00.003+04:00

With the influx of people into Abu Dhabi over the past few years, not only is there a need for newspapers in English, a number of events and cultural magazines have sprung up to help people get the best out of the city.

The collective city of Abu Dhabi seems intent on proving it is not only a modern city, but is more modern than Dubai. Some of the best examples of this can be found in the local magazines. Time Out is a series of city guides that started in London about 30 years ago and is available in about 50 different cities. Time Out Abu Dhabi has been around for a few years and is a good way to find out about events. About three years ago, Abu Dhabi Week started and focuses on the people of Abu Dhabi. Abu Dhabi Tempo is a recent upstart and has a focus on the lives and opinions of the local youth. All three of these publications have their own niche and are good for what they are.

For people looking for the news of the day, The National focuses on the news of the UAE. I actually prefer the Gulf News because I find their articles to be better written. The Gulf News has much more regional news. Also, I've recently discovered that the National doesn't archive it's links. Al Jazeera English is pretty good, but I haven't really been checking them out. They seem to be a world news organization with a Middle Eastern perspective on the news. From what I've seen they seem fairly unbiased and are a good source of news to see what those outside the U.S. feel about certain events.

With all of the sources of information available for news and events of Abu Dhabi, I feel fortunate to have found my own little niche as a source of information.

Islam

2011-07-11T15:37:00.008+04:00

It would be silly for me to get into a big description of what Islam is in my blog when there are many, much more informed sources than me. (One of the more interesting articles that I found dispels common misconceptions of Islam and can be found here. For a list of books on the subject, click here.) I would, however, like to describe how Islam affects life in Abu Dhabi.

I don't live near a mosque, so I rarely hear the call to prayer. Friends of mine live directly across from a mosque with the speakers for the call to prayer directly facing their front bedroom. The 5:00 am call makes that room unusable as a bedroom. While I don't think I'd like that very much, I do enjoy hearing the call to prayer, especially when the person doing it has a good voice.

Naturally there are a lot of mosques in Abu Dhabi, but for non-Muslims, the religion isn't forced upon us. There are things like laws against co-habitation of non-married couples, and laws against Muslims drinking, but on a day to day basis, I don't notice. There is even a Catholic church here with services in a dozen different languages. So while Islam is an important aspect to many of the people here and is a visible part of life here, it is by no means the oppressive regime that it is often made into by certain media outlets.

Hamdan

2011-07-09T15:36:00.012+04:00

Hamdan is a great part of town to walk through and a great place to find all the little shops. This is the place where all the people you see working in the restaurants and shopping malls live and shop. At the request of some visiting friends, we went to the Hamdan area of town for a walking tour.

We saw a lot of little shops selling cheap electronics and cheap clothing. There are tons of mobile phone shops and beauty parlors. There were a number restaurants selling good food at a reasonable price. It was a part of Abu Dhabi that I never really see. For me, the place to go to get goods is in the shopping malls or in the hypermarkets like Carrefore and Lulu. Of course that's fine, but if you need a new inner tube for your kid's bicycle, or even a bicycle that isn't overpriced and low quality, you need to seek out a shop where the staff specialize in kids' bicycles.
Because parking is insane, it's a good idea to park off one of the main streets and walk if you are going in. From what I've seen, it's a good place to find some good deals. Unfortunately, I hate shopping, so will likely never spend the time to find out.

Green

2011-07-07T15:33:00.004+04:00

Believe it or not, in a city built in the desert, there is a ton of green space. Granted watering the grass daily with desalinated water isn't so environmentally green, but it looks pretty. Even the medians on the major roads are grass covered. The medians of the major highways are lined with palm trees. There are parks everywhere.

When the weather is nice, there are a number of parks and fields to take our kids. Even at the side of busy roads, there are places to park your car and playgrounds shaded with trees for the kids to run around. All of the shrubbery is beautifully landscaped as well. "Turning the desert green" seems to be a motto of Abu Dhabi and it is one that they take seriously.

Family

2011-07-05T15:32:00.005+04:00

The people of Abu Dhabi place a large emphasis on family and community and the commitment to the layout of the city shows this. During the nicer weather, it's common to see the parks and beaches filled with large family gatherings cooking out and enjoying each other's company.

In addition, there are any number of activities and events targeted towards families and children. During the Formula One Races, they set up a huge screen and show movies on the beach. WOMAD is a great event for families as were the Football Village and and F1 Fan Zone during the Soccer Club World Cup and the Formula One races.

There are a number of organized sports leagues for kids. Ice hockey and Australian rules football are just two of them, but I know people who send their kids to tennis, ballet, and karate lessons. Abu Dhabi is a safe place for children and a great place to raise a family. I have to say that the family friendly atmosphere of Abu Dhabi is one of its greatest strengths.

Education

2011-07-03T15:31:00.005+04:00

Early on in the history of the UAE, His Highness Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan decided that education was important so he helped to set up a system of free, government-run institutions to educate the next generation to lead the country in developing its natural resource, oil. Today, we have the Higher Colleges of Technology which has men's and women's colleges in each of the Emirites. In addition, there are a number of private institutions such as Zayed University and Khalifa University. It's a great attestment to the vision of Sheikh Zayed that he realized the importance of educating the people in order to wisely use the wealth that was given to them.

Years later, there may be a little bump in that road because it seems that you can lead a horse to water, but if he already has everything he could possibly want without getting a degree, it's hard to get the motivation for him to study. Many of the students have been brought up never wanting for anything so they don't exactly have the drive to study hard to succeed. They'll likely succeed no matter what they do.

Another thing to remember is that the idea of education is pretty new to this region. Most of the students' grandparents were likely desert nomads. Even if a family recognizes the importance of education, they really would have little idea of what is involved with formal education and what teacher expectations are.

High schools aren't preparing the students for post-secondary studies, either. A recent study found that 90% of high school graduates in the UAE are not prepared to start a Bachelor's program. A large part of this is due to the pressure put on teachers of other nationalities. Student essays are filled with stories about how students complained a test was too hard and the teacher was required to write another one, how students complained about a teacher and he was replaced, or how a student undeservedly passed because his father was the teacher. With this going on, it's no wonder that students are unprepared for the reality of teachers in college.

As I was unofficially told, our college preparation program is not just preparing the students by educating them, we are the first line of people meant to teach the students life lessons such as turning up to work on time, doing their work , and dealing with others in a respectable manner.

Of course, it should be said that I'm dealing with low-achieving students. Many of the students in Bachelor's programs who are serious students. In a addition, I have a few students who are wonderful to deal with and are genuinely interested in learning and bettering themselves. It is good to know that His Highness Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan had a vision for the future.

Driving

2011-07-01T15:30:00.007+04:00

One of the things that friends who have visited me in Abu Dhabi have commented on is the driving. I've talked about this to the point of obsession so there isn't really that much more that I can say, but I'll summarize here: Driving in Abu Dhabi is pretty bad. I've heard from friends that it's much worse in other Middle Eastern countries. One friend who has lived in New York said it is similar to driving there. I can believe it. I understand that driving in other places is worse. That doesn't change the fact that there are reckless people on the roads of Abu Dhabi who needlessly create situations that cause accidents.

A very good example of this happened last April when the driver of a car going 140 kilometers an hour (85 miles an hour) in heavy fog hit the car in front of him and caused a 127-car-pileup. The fact that a driver was going this fast wasn't as much the issue. The issue was that three weeks later in similar conditions a coworker was driving and had a number of people pass him at what he estimated to be 140 miles an hour. The same thing happened in 2008. People aren't going to learn.

I have any number of examples that it isn't worth getting too in-depth in: people turning left from the far right lane, drivers deliberately side-swiping another car because they didn't like something the second driver did, people tailgating at high speed on the highway to intimidate drivers, I've seen some pretty impressive driving. This was enough for me to determine that I wanted to have a gas-guzzling SUV for my wife and kids. Even my Jeep feels like it doesn't have enough metal protecting me from the front bumper of some guy's land cruiser but it will do.

Many people attribute this phenomenon to the variety of cultures bringing different driving customs to Abu Dhabi into one big melting pot. That may be so, but I have a theory that explains a majority of the problem: a lot of people here drive like a**holes.

Concerts

2011-06-29T16:03:00.003+04:00

The Abu Dhabi Tourism board has been working hard to get people to visit and what better way than by having top-named talent visit. Some of the names that they've had in the past year include Prince, Guns 'n Roses, Aerosmith, Eric Clapton, George Michael, and Stevie Wonder. Even if you're not looking for the best hits of the 80's, there are a lot of current favorites.

Snoop Dog, Shakira, Christina Aguilera, Rihanna, Beyonce, The Killers, The Kings of Leon, Kanye West have all come to Abu Dhabi. There are loads of other events like WOMAD, the three-day world music festival originally created by Peter Gabriel. WOMAD was on the beach about a ten-minute walk from my apartment and free of charge, ideal to take my kids to.

Even though I don't get out to shows as much as I'd like to, having all these options is terrific and it's nice to know that I live in a vibrant city with all this entertainment.

Buildings

2011-06-27T15:28:00.006+04:00

In the UAE, there area some wonderful, modern buildings. Many of the buildings that get the attention of the world news are in Dubai, but Abu Dhabi has its share of architectural marvels. With its desire to show the world that it is a modern country along with the vast amounts of capital, the UAE must be an architect's dream come true.

Of course Dubai has the iconic buildings such as the Burj Al Arab and the Burj Kalifa, while Abu Dhabi has the Emirites Palace Hotel and the Zayed Grand Mosque, but there are a number of fantastic buildings in both Dubai and Abu Dhabi that don't get as much attention. The Yas Hotel is pretty incredible with a Formula One racetrack running through it. The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority has a unique design that is supposed to be energy efficient (though I'm sure it doesn't help that all the lights are left on every night because it's pretty). The "perfume bottle" building is also an iconic Abu Dhabi building. The Abu Dhabi Exhibition Center leans more than a certain tower in Pisa and due to the twisted nature, every pane of glass has to be independently crafted and fitted into place.

There are a lot of amazing buildings and dozens more currently under construction. In the next decade, look for this cityscape to change dramatically.

Athletics

2011-06-25T15:27:00.006+04:00

When most people think about Abu Dhabi, few would think about Athletics as being one of the first things that they would talk about. Six month out of the year it is too hot to go outside comfortably much less exercise. However, when I first arrived here almost two years ago in the month of August, I met a great group of people who are into triathlons.

My first year there weren't that many events, but once the first Abu Dhabi International Triathlon came around in March of 2010, suddenly it seemed like there was an event going on every other week. From this past September, there was a half-marathon, swimming festival, and a few charity runs. That isn't even including the monthly triathlon in Ghantoot or the Yas Marina Triathlon held on the Formula One track. Plus for truly grueling international competitions, there is the Abu Dhabi Adventure Challenge, a six-day swim, kayak, desert biking, rock climbing desert hiking event.

In addition to all the competitions, there are the weekly group workouts with the Abu Dhabi Tri Club. Also, the Yas Marina Formula One track is open to cyclists and runners (Yas Training Nights) every Tuesday night FOR FREE! It's worth heading out to the track on a Tuesday just to get a close up look at it.

With all that is going on, any fitness-minded person can find loads of things to keep themselves active in the middle of the desert.

Presentation Ceremony

2011-06-19T11:12:00.004+04:00

The other week, when we were asked to contribute some money for the cleaning staff and security at our school, I had no idea what we were in for. I genuinely appreciate what these people do at our school as they have some of the worst jobs and don't get paid all that well. I was heartened to know that we collected a significant sum of money. Today we got to reap the benefits of our rewards: a presentation ceremony.

Now despite what many people may think, it wasn't cheesy or uncomfortable at all. In fact it was quite the opposite. The ceremony was held in the entrance hall of the college. When I arrived, security were lined up in one line and the cleaners in another. As each of their names were called, the person in question marched up to get their envelope of cash to the applause of everyone. It was almost as if this spontaneous act of generosity had been organized beforehand. Fortunately, a photographer was on hand to document the occasion.

At first my hands grew tired in applauding the service of the many workers as they walked up to bask in our appreciation. Then it occurred to me: We were not only applauding the workers for their fine service, we were applauding ourselves for what fine generous people we are and how kind we are to the underclass. At this realization, I began to applaud thunderously in the knowledge that we are good people. Sure we could have just given each of the security and cleaning staff the money with a kind note, but what better way to let everyone know about our generosity? I only hope that the photographs that were taken end up in one of the local publications so we can be an inspiration to others with our magnanimous deed.

Year End

2011-06-16T11:18:00.002+04:00

Today is the last day of the semester and the last day that all the teachers are here. The grades need to be finalized and handed in. There is a sense of finality to everything as everyone says their goodbyes until we come back in August. Many people are leaving early while some hang around while watching the clock count down to when we can eventually leave. Due to the different amounts of leave people have and the dates people have chosen for their break. Some people will be here next week. I am one of those people. While I don't have loads to do, I will dutifully come in next week, say my good-mornings to my fellow stragglers, drink my tea, and plug myself into the internet.

Surgery Follow-Up

2011-06-12T21:34:00.005+04:00

After the ordeal with losing my wallet in the taxi yesterday, I didn't mind waiting 45 minutes in the doctor's office to get the stitches taken out. It seems that this was the last visit barring any complications. I'll spare everyone from the gory pictures, but it looks like I'll have a pretty ugly scar.

The thing that I wanted to point out is that the whole thing, including consultation, bloodwork, X-rays, medicine, surgery cost me 150 dirhams (about $40). I paid more in cab fares related to this procedure than I did any medical expenses. Granted, I have health insurance paid for by my employer, but even so, that wasn't much of a deductible. Also, it's been less than a month since I went in for the initial consultation. It just goes to show that health care can be fast, easy, and inexpensive.

If people are interested in the doctor I went to, have a look at the comments section of this post.

Lost Wallet

2011-06-11T22:03:00.005+04:00

I went to the doctor today to get the stitches taken out of my arm. When I got to reception, I realized that I forgot my wallet in the taxi. Something about the situation suggested that it was going to be a long evening.

I stopped a taxi to get the call center and then asked them to try to contact the driver. They told me to grab a taxi and come into the Trans Office. Luckily, I had the change that the driver had given me from my first ride to pay the second driver.

When I got there the security guard told me that the customer service was away and would be back in about 20 minutes and I should have a seat. I then called the service number again and told the operator about my problem. When I told him that I was in the lobby, he told me to come back to the call center office, which was apparently a big "Screw you" to the security guard that told me I couldn't go back there.

The operator was extremely helpful. I was fairly impressed that with knowing the time I was picked up with the location picked up and dropped off and with the amount of the fare, they were able to get the driver and call him right away. All that information is relayed to the central computer from the taxi meter.

The driver came back with the wallet and seemed overly concerned that I would think he tried to take the wallet when it had fallen to the side of the seat. I suppose that his job could've been on the line. I then gave him money for his drive to the Transport office, the ride back to the doctor's office, and a chunk of money to thank him for bringing my wallet back.

I should mention that my wallet contains my national i.d, my driver's license, a few credit cards, my bank card, my Jeep registration card and the insurance card I need to give when I go to the doctor. Considering that I'll be on a plane in 10 days, replacing everything would have been nearly impossible. Everyone at the doctor's office seemed to suggest that I was pretty lucky to get it back. I'm just happy for the help that everyone gave me.

Nightswimming

2011-06-07T17:35:00.004+04:00

Recently it has become so hot that it is too uncomfortable even to go swimming during the day. Right now, at 10:20 pm, it is 93 degrees, just about right to go swimming. This past Friday, since the kids didn't have school the next day, we went to the roof to go swimming. Here are a few shots.

Skype

2011-06-06T09:41:00.006+04:00

I remember when I first moved to Japan that I would get my discounted pay phone calling card and walk to the only pay phone in the neighborhood that I knew could make international calls and make my bi-monthly call home. It seems pretty primitive now, but in the days before high-speed internet, it was expensive to stay in touch.

Nowadays, everyone uses Skype or some other internet-based calling software. Skype is a great way for people overseas to stay in contact, but until recently, it was illegal in the UAE. That's not to say that no one used it. Most people can find a way around the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority's (TRA) blocking it. What most people in Abu Dhabi don't realize is that Skype isn't actually illegal anymore. (Click here for details.) Now it's Etisalat blocking it. The TRA has shifted the responsibility of blocking Skype to the internet providers. Now there is a possibility that they may allow its use, but that remains to be seen.

Surgery Recovery

2011-05-31T17:13:00.003+04:00

I'm at home typing this so I suppose that means everything went well. I arrived at the hospital just before 7:30 as I was told. I wasn't allowed to eat or drink anything before the surgery including water but I had pills I was told to take at 7:30 so I dry swallowed those. The Emirati receptionist wasn't there so the nurse had to check me in and test my blood pressure and check out if I was going to have a reaction to the anesthetic.

I was brought into the operation theater by wheelchair, but hat to walk the 10 20 meters to the table where the anesthesiologist asked if I wanted general or local anesthetic. I wasn't sure if he was joking so I said local. After thinking about it, I was glad he knocked me out anyway because I would have probably gotten bored.

I think the surgeon came in after they gave me the gas to knock me out. It was hard to tell with everyone wearing masks and me being all goofed up from the preliminary drugs. I didn't talk to him after, either, but I'm pretty sure that he was the one who did the surgery. You can see the picture of the plates taken out of my arm. The longer one was the one taken out of my arm today and the shorter one was taken out in Japan two years ago.

I remember waking up but I don't exactly remember how I got back to the room or into bed. I'm pretty sure my wife was there doing origami the whole time but not entirely certain.

Having not eaten for about 15 hours, I started eating the breakfast bars I brought from home. After a while,they brought me a big lunch and I ate a lot of that. The nurse was a bit surprised that 1) I ate most of the fish brianni that they brought me from a nearby Lebanese restaurant and 2) the choice of meal they bought me.

By about 1:30, I'd had enough of "The Best of Most Shocking Video 3" and Angry Birds is hard to play one-handed so I buzzed the nurse and asked if I could go. They said as long as I could walk, they would have me sign the papers and I could go.

I was glad they didn't make me stick around for a few days like in Japan. I was surprised with the amount of responsibility put on the patient. I had to make sure I brought my own anesthetic and chest X-rays and showed up when they wanted me there. I couldn't imagine hospitals in the States or Japan trusting people enough. When you take into account how much more irresponsible many people here are, it is mind-boggling that hospitals here trust patients with all that.

Surgery

2011-05-30T22:33:00.004+04:00

About three and a half years ago I broke my arm mountain biking. I mean really broke it. We're talking both the radius and ulna broke completely in half with a bit of the ulna poking out. A few surgeries and a bone graft later I still have one more plate to take out. The ulna wasn't entirely healed when I left Japan so I had to leave it in and hopefully have it removed later. Because I won't be able to make it to Japan this year to have it removed before the bone begins to grow over it, I decided to look into having it done here.

The insurance company told me to have a doctor write a recommendation then they would likely cover it in the UAE or Japan, but definitely not the U.S. A good friend told me to talk to a coworker who recommended a great bone surgeon. With how slowly things here go and in the medical community specifically, I figured that by the time the whole process was completed, I'd be lucky to be scheduled for surgery by fall.

The doctor took some X-rays, had a look and told me that I should come back to have the blood work because once the insurance company approved the surgery, he had two weeks to schedule it. Last Tuesday, I went in for the consultation and blood work and figured I'd hear back a week later. On Saturday, while I was out with my kids, I got a call from the receptionist telling me that my surgery was scheduled for Tuesday, May 31st and I should be at the hospital by 7:30 am for an 8:30 surgery. Also, I needed to meet with the anesthesiologist the day before. I wasn't given an option to change the date. That WAS the date and time.

Not feeling confident that the receptionist told me everything I needed to know, I called back and was forwarded to the technician who did my blood work. She told me that I needed to take the medicine the doctor gave me an hour before the surgery. I explained that the doctor hadn't given me any medicine to which she replied that I needed to come in to the office to get the prescription, and go to the pharmacy to pick it up. As it turned out, not only was I picking up medicine for to take before the surgery, I was picking up the anesthesia injection to use during my surgery to physically hand to the anesthesiologist along with the CD with my chest X-ray on it. All of this was information the receptionist didn't feel necessary to communicate.

When I was in Japan awaiting surgery, I was in the hospital a day or two before the procedure and a few days after. In this case, I'll be going in tomorrow an hour before my surgery and leaving that afternoon. Wish me luck.

Marine Bar

2011-05-28T11:03:00.005+04:00

Thursday night I was invited to go out to the U.S. Marine bar at the U.S. Embassy by a friend who is engaged to an embassy worker. I felt honored to be able to go to their monthly event. As it turned out, anyone can go if they sign up ahead of time on their Facebook page.

The natural question that most people may be asking is, "Why are there U.S. Marines in Abu Dhabi?" They are here to protect the Embassy. Every U.S. Embassy around the world and some Consulates have Marines guarding them. Naturally, the Marines need lodging and something to keep them occupied.

The bar itself was pretty nice with outdoor seating. After a few minutes, I realized that the bar is part of the Marines' living quarters which was pretty spacious. They can leave when they are off duty, but there always have to be some of them on-duty and if they have a place to hang out, they can all hang out together. Once a month, they have an event in which outsiders can come, thus bringing the party to the Marines. People don't even have to be American, though they do have to be over 21 years old.

I asked one of them about the assignment and he said that any U.S. Marine is eligible after two years of service, though most don't know about it so few apply. They guys that I talked to liked it. They commit to three years of Embassy service, two 18 month stints.

I thought the atmosphere was pretty good with prices cheaper than you would find in most bars in Abu Dhabi. There seemed to be a number of regulars. If you're interested, check out their Facebook page and sign up to be notified of events. Be forewarned, if you're interested in going, sign up early because space is limited.

Iceland Review

2011-05-26T16:36:00.001+04:00

So there's this water park in Ras Al Khiama, but the only thing is that it is an hour outside Dubai and you have to pass another water park to get to it. In addition, the prices were significantly higher than other water parks. The press on this hasn't been great either, including mine. I was curious to go, but the distance involved combined with the high price discouraged me. However, because no one was going to the out-of-the-way, overpriced Iceland, the park dropped its prices to a more reasonable 150 dirhams for people 120 centimeters (4 feet) and over and 100 dirhams for children under that. That was enough to get us there.
Looking at the website, the place looks pretty good. There seem to be a large variety of rides with spacious shaded seating. The website makes it seem like there are a lot of cool rides and tons for kids to do. As it turns out, it was pretty good. I thought that the for the money, it was pretty good.

The rides are pretty standard fare with a few novel rides thrown in to make it interesting. The tube rides end up in a pool of water only about three inches deep making it safe for smaller children. In case there is a worry, the park loans out children's vests for a refundable 50 dirham deposit.

Lockers are available for a 25 dirham fee and are accessible throughout the day via your wristband. In addition, you can put credits on your wristband for use of the food court. The meals there are good and reasonable priced. Also, there are creepy food statues.

There are little mini tube rides and a mini children's play area for smaller children.

They even have a soccer field with artificial turf and water sprinkling on it. When people organize teams, one of the staff will come over to referee.
While I thought the place exceeded my expectations, I still thought Dreamland water park was better. I asked my wife and kids which they liked better and everyone agreed with me. First of all, it was too hot. Even the water wasn't refreshing because it was like a bath. I realize that wasn't the fault of Iceland and am not using that to judge the park. Unfortunately, the lack of green space at Iceland versus the grass at Dreamland did hurt. Literally. The ground was too hot to walk on. The artificial grass (different from the soft, spongy surface of the soccer field) really started to hurt after a few hours. Wearing sandals was an option, but some of the rides ended far from where they started necessitating me making fun of my wife looking for her sandals. Eventually, I went back to the locker to get mine and just wore them on the rides.

Secondly, my daughter is under 120 cm (4 feet). That meant she was restricted from going on most rides, even though my wife was with her, she was wearing a life jacket, and the ride ended in 3 inches of water. When I took my son to the children's area, I was told he wasn't supposed to be there because he was over 120 cm, so we pretty much had to split up most of the day. To add to the insult, on some of the rides the staff tried telling me that he was under 120 cm so couldn't get on the ride. I should point out that when paying for the tickets, they measured him at over 120 cm, charged me accordingly, and gave him a wristband color coded to say that he was over 120 cm so he could get on rides. I later noticed that the measuring stick they staff at the ride was using was a few inches off the ground.

Third, the wave pool was pretty lame. Even my 5-year-old daughter was fairly unimpressed. Sure the scenery was nice as can be seen from this photo of my son posing, but even when the waves were on they were pretty small.

Overall, it was an OK experience. The whole thing is centered around a gimmick so the aesthetics were pretty good. If the amusement park, hotel and shopping mall ever get off the ground, it might be a bit more worthwhile going there. I'm sure I'd go back were it not for the superior Dreamland water park about 20 minutes closer. I think it's worthwhile to see once, but I don't think we need to go there again.

Iceland Introduction

2011-05-24T17:46:00.001+04:00

Have you ever heard of Ras Al Khaima, otherwise known as RAK? Unless you live in the UAE or have been reading this blog, the chances are likely that you haven't. That's why the idea of a huge arctic-themed water park an hour away from the big city of Dubai might come as a surprise.

The "WOW RAK" campaign is an ongoing construction project created to get people into Dubai's lesser-know cousin. The only issue is, why would people fly to the UAE into the world-known city of Dubai only to drive an hour into the completely unknown Ras Al Khaima? To view a promotional video of the whole thing, click here. It makes the park look pretty nice and has a few things to say about the project. The video says that this is one stage of several including the construction of an amusement park and a shopping mall. As a promotion, this coming weekend, the water park is hosting a friendly cricket match featuring famous Bollywood actors from India
.

Unfortunately, there are those who might suggest that having a penguin-themed water park in the middle of the desert where there are intense water shortages in a country with a huge carbon footprint might not be the best idea. In this article in The Guardian, the author suggests that the park is making a gimmick of global warming while adding to it. Apparently, having the world's biggest man-made waterfall that uses 100 thousand gallons of water a minute of desalinated water is bad for the environment. Add that to the fact that this part of the UAE is having trouble producing enough electricity for these kind of projects. Don't worry about blackouts, though. The whole park is powered by generators.

And of course, what better way to demonstrate my objection to the whole thing than by offering them my money? Look for my review of the place in the next few days.

Bollywood in RAK

2011-05-21T14:17:00.003+04:00

It seems that Ras Al Khaima, otherwise known as RAK, is going to be the center of a big event next weekend. Some major stars from the Indian movie making capital known as Bollywood will be making an appearance and competing in a friendly cricket match at the water park called Iceland. (click here for details) The event will be Friday, May 27th and tickets are 250 Dh for standard entry and 500 Dh for VIP entry.

While this isn't big news for those that don't follow Bollywood movies, from what I understand, these actors are pretty big. The line-up includes: Sanjay Dutt, Mallika Sherawat, Irrfan Khan, Mohanlal, Bobby Deol and Neha Dhupia. There will also be a song and dance performance by some other names that I don't know about.

This event looks like it is an attempt by the owners of the improbable penguin-themed water park in the middle of the desert to gain some notoriety for something other than being a huge carbon footprint money pit of a disaster.

Rescue Team?

2011-05-11T21:00:00.003+04:00

A couple almost needed to be "rescued" from their car when they refused to unlock the doors for the police. (Click here for the article.) They were caught in the act behind Dubai Mall by police who demanded that they come out. When the man saw the police trying to pry open the doors, he decided that it was time for the couple to turn themselves in. The two are facing misdemeanor charges of consensual sex. Despite the number of times this happens in the UAE, people still don't learn.

Horror Story

2011-05-06T13:35:00.000+04:00

Doctor Joseph Nunoo-Mensah may appear to be an upstanding citizen. He has a wife and three children and is a consulting surgeon based in King's College hospital in London. His father is a senior minister and national security adviser to the president of Ghana. When the US Cleveland Clinic invited him to the UAE, little did they know that there was a darker side to Dr. Nunoo-Mensah.

The story starts on a dark Dubai highway which had narrowed because of construction. An Emirati driver who obviously had important business to attend to, came upon the doctor driving home after a day out. Not having any time for Dr. Nunoo-Mensah's dilly-dallying with driving the posted speed limit in a construction zone, he gave the well understood signal of flashing his lights. The doctor, not being able to pull over, refused to speed up, no doubt delaying the important Emirati man by minutes!

After refusing to speed up the doctor then pulled to the side at the first opportunity to allow the obviously distressed Emirati man to pass. In a show of comraderie, the Emirati man "switched the inside light on, rolled down the window and drove in parallel with [the criminal] for up to a minute."

What happened next will no doubt chill the soul. Dr. Nunoo-Mensah claims that he raised both of his hands as if to say "What do you want?" What the Emirati man saw was a different story. The Emirati man saw him make the gesture known as...the finger! Obviously shaken, but doing what any upstanding citizen would do, the Emirati man promptly obtained the doctor's license plate number and reported this heinous crime to the local police who did their duty by arresting and confiscating the passport of Dr. Nunoo-Mensah.

The doctor now faces a prison sentence and a months long wait for his trial. In the meantime, the "good" doctor must wait for justice to be served. In addition, cancer patients at King's College hospital must have their surgeries rescheduled or arrangements for other surgeons to perform their surgery. Let this be a lesson to all you evil-doers out there. For the article this horror story was taken from, click here. But beware! Don't read this before bedtime lest you have nightmares!

Graduation

2011-05-05T17:13:00.004+04:00

Today was the graduation ceremony for the Bachelor's students at Abu Dhabi Men's College. While I'm happy for the students and their achievement, what's more important is how this affects me.

First of all, there were a lot of people attending which created a parking problem. A lot of the students in my morning class were absent because they couldn't find a place to park their cars, so I couldn't have the quiz that I had planned on. That wasn't such a big deal.

Unfortunately for a lot of the Math department, the booking of the auditorium was. The Math teachers need to schedule exams for hunderds of students so it is necessary to arrange the venues months in advance. Fortunately, they plan out the schedule at the beginning of the school year and reserve the auditorium them. It tends to throw a monkey wrench in the works when the administration cancel the booking for the whole week for graduation practice and the actual ceremony a mere two weeks before the exams. The teachers were left scrambling, finding any space they could hold the exam and adjusting schedules at the detriment of schedules because the administration didn't get their act together.

On the plus side, I got a huge slice of cake that I couldn't finish. It looked nice with a picture of the college printed on it, but as far as deserts go, it was nothing too special.

Maths Conference 2011

2011-05-03T18:04:00.005+04:00

Today I attended a Math conference at the Abu Dhabi Women's College. I thought that the speakers were pretty interesting and had a lot to say about using technology to teach. Four of the main speakers weren't even in the country as they gave their presentations via Skype. This got mumbles along the lines of, "How can they use Skype when it's illegal here?" While Skype was illegal, it no longer is. It is merely up to the providers, Etisalat and Du, to block any activity. Even though everyone uses Skype, most people don't know that it is no longer illegal.

Another reason this conference was interesting was that students from Abu Dhabi Men's College were invited as well. This wasn't anything extraordinary as students have been attending this conference for years. The difference is that despite the fact that there have never been any problems, this year the students needed a chaperone to keep them away from the women. It was no big deal, though because they all left halfway through, enabling their chaperone to attend the teachers' lectures as he had initially planned.

Sand Sculpting Festival

2011-04-24T19:47:00.007+04:00

Yesterday on the plaza near my place, there was some sort of sand sculpting festival. The sculptures themselves were pretty good, but I don't know why there were only four of them plus a few other piles of sand.

There was a tribute to the bid to have Bu Tinah, an island off Abu Dhabi, included as one of the New 7 Wonders.

Naturally, any sand sculpture festival needs a demonstration of Brazilian martial arts / dance.

I went there on late Saturday afternoon when I would have thought the whole event was wrapping up. It looked like the vendors who were selling stuff were just getting set up. Because people wisely don't go out in the day in the heat, this might have just been the second of two days of competition. Who knows? All I can say is that it was worth the admission price (i.e. free) so I can't complain. It seems like events like this are always popping up around here.

Japan Fundraising

2011-04-22T22:26:00.005+04:00

Today the Hilton in Abu Dhabi held a flea market charity event to help raise money for Japan. The bureaucracy that allows fund raising in the UAE has finally given the thumbs up for the Red Cross to hold events. As a result, there are numerous events being held over the next few weeks, and my wife will be going like crazy to help organize and participate in the fund raising process.

The Japanese international School will be holding a Garage Sale, Bake Sale, along with workshops for traditional Japanese arts like origami, Kanji art, and demonstrations of Japanese drama and kendo (kendo from 10:00 to 11:00). This is scheduled for Saturday, the 30th of April from 12:00 to 3:00 pm at the Japanese School near the corner of 2nd and 29th streets, near the French School and AISA.

Also, the Intercontinental is hosting a Ladies only coffee morning on Thursday, the 28th of April from 10:00am to 2:00pm. The cost is 50 dirhams and will include refreshments. There will be Japanese crafts for sale along with a silent auction for traditional Japanese items.

For those who don't have the time or inclination to attend these events, but would still like to help out, here is a great web page that lists all the organizations that are collecting money for Japan relief in Abu Dhabi.

For those that are disappointed in the recent lack of entries regarding fun family outings, ridiculous cars and excessive extravagance, please be patient. We've been busy trying to raise money for Japan. I'll do my best to get back to researching the best place to go ice skating in the desert as soon as I can.

Holiday Leave

2011-04-21T08:56:00.003+04:00

Recently at work there's been a little bit of a drama that fortunately, I'm not involved in. Part of the agreement that we enter into when we sign a contract with Abu Dhabi Men's College is that we get the two-week semester break and summers off. This is calculated by having employees accumulate days of holiday monthly throughout the school year. We don't actually have a choice as to when to take these days, but technically we accumulate them and then are told which days we need to apply for. Effectively, we just don't have to be here when the school is closed.

This system works fine for someone like me who started at the beginning of the school year. By the time the summer break comes I have enough days accumulated to take the summer off, or at least my balance of days is zero by the time classes resume. For someone who starts mid-year there is a problem with the number of days. All of the people that started January of this year are faced with the issue of having to go into holiday debt in order to cover the number of days for a full summer holiday. In the past it hasn't been an issue because by the time January comes around, these January hires are back to zero days of holiday leave. No problem, right?

This year the school has declared for various reasons that they no longer will allow employees to go into negative and their balance of vacation days must be zero by the start of the next school year in August. This means that those hired in January 2011 are out of luck. They can only go away for half of the summer. The other half they will presumably be teaching summer courses (for no extra pay) and creating resources for teachers to use.

Even people who have been here for ten years or more are having issues with this simply because their hire date was January rather than August. Keep in mind that this is almost half the faculty. The people who have been here a year or more are finding ways around the problem, but some are still waiting to confirm that their holidays as airfares rise. As for people who were hired in January of this year and were told they'd have two months off in the summer, better luck next time.

Fog Alert

2011-04-14T22:38:00.004+04:00

Mornings in the UAE can get pretty foggy with reduced visibility. This picture (taken from here) gives a good idea of just how foggy it can get. The Dubai police are looking into a state of the art fog alert system that relies on solar power to determine that the conditions are foggy and alerts drivers of low visibility so they can slow down and avoid big pileups like the 127 car accident a few weeks ago. In the article they mention that the police are looking for ways to "make the system easier and cheaper to install." I have a suggestion. Why don't people stop driving 85 miles an hour in limited visibility?

Marriage

2011-04-10T10:42:00.005+04:00

I know a few non-Emirati women who are married to Emirati men and then are by default Emirati citizens. (My apologies if I have oversimplified this. I welcome any corrections in the comments.) However, I didn't know any native Emirati women married to non-Emirati men. I've asked about this a few times, but never really got a satisfactory answer. I was under the impression that it just didn't happen.

The National has written two articles about this, dispelling my preconceptions. As it turns out, Emirati women marrying non-Emiratis is on the rise. (This article gives details of the trend.) Unfortunately, for the women involved, they lose citizenship as do their future children. The thinking behind this is that "they are viewed as incapable of making decisions effectively, and in need of protection so as not to be taken advantage of by others.”

In a second article, an Emirati woman tells her story of marrying a Scottish-Egyptian man. She expresses her very real concerns about her desire to pass on her culture to her children despite them not being Emirati citizens. She goes on to talk about the lack of equality between Emirati men and women with regards to with international marriages.

This seems to be a law that is on the verge of change as most people mentioned in the article don't have any strong feelings in support of it. The bureaucracy regarding international marriages in the UAE make marriage in Japan seem free and easy.

WOMAD 2011

2011-04-07T23:55:00.002+04:00

I think I have figured out what it takes to keep me entertained as far as world music goes: drums. I went to the opening night of the three-day WOMAD (World Of Music, Arts & Dance) in Abu Dhabi. As with last year, it is a 15 minute walk from my apartment and has two large stages set on either end of a beach. I took my daughter to see group called The Dhol Foundation from the UK and India. There was lots of drumming so I thought it was pretty good even though they brought local schoolkids on stage. I took my daughter home and by the time I came back, I caught the end of a pretty good group whose name I don't remember.

After that I went to see a Samba band that a lot of people liked, but there weren't as many drums so I found boring. Next, I saw a woman from the UK named Paloma Faith who had a nice voice, a good enthusiasm onstage and a female bassist in fishnet stockings so that was all right.

Even though it was past my bedtime, I went to see a group from India called "The Manganiyar Seduction by Roysten Abel" that a lot of people had been talking about. They were all in a tiered structure with light bulbs around it. Have a look at the picture to get an idea. There was a lot of drumming, but they took a long time to get to it. The set was basically one long song. Each time a new musician joined in, they opened some new curtains and lit up some more lights. The singing was all right, but a little repetitive. A lot of people in the audience were cheering for one singer in particular, but that might have been for his fantastic handlebar mustache. The whole thing was a pretty good spectacle with the conductor going mental during the upbeat parts. I was tired so I left at a part with no drums without seeing what was waiting for me on the top row.

And that sums up my feelings about world music.

127-car Pileup

2011-04-03T17:28:00.004+04:00

A few people have indicated that I obsess with driving and cars here. It's hard to ignore the safety risks. It's even gotten to the point where visiting friends will make casual remarks of all the near accidents that I avoid while driving and I don't have any idea what they're talking about.

Yesterday on the main road between Abu Dhabi and Dubai (the green arrow indicates the approximate place) there was an accident involving 127 cars that was due to foggy conditions and drivers driving at excessive speeds. (Note, I previously mentioned that the accident was a 95 car pile up. At the time I wrote it, the article that I used said 95 cars. Thank you to Mutsumi for sending me a link to an updated article.) Another article in lists major accidents in the past several years. This article lists the major causalities of the accident.

This isn't the first time this has happened. A similar accident happened in the same area in March of 2008 which involved 60 cars, 3 deaths, and 350 injured (see here about halfway down). Both cases were due to excessive speeding in foggy conditions. The print version of the National (I can't find the article in the online version) blames yesterday's pileup on one driver who was traveling 140 km per hour (about 85 mph) with a visibility of 50 meters.

Thankfully, not as many people were hurt as the accident three years ago. However, this is sure to put a damper on the Abu Dhabi Transit Authority's zero road fatality policy for 2011.

Credit Card

2011-04-02T21:28:00.003+04:00

About a month ago, I got a call from my bank offering me a credit card. As with practically every other credit card offer I've ever received, I naturally said, "yes." Today, almost a month after getting the call that the card was ready, I went to the bank to pick it up.

Because I dread doing anything official here, I was expecting the worst, but was pleasantly surprised. After the woman who was helping me couldn't find the card, I told her to forget about it because I wasn't interested in coming back. She went and talked to someone and as it turned out, the reason she couldn't find the card is because I had qualified for a platinum card with a 44,000 dirham limit.

As with anything in Abu Dhabi, a lot of things require a leap of faith. All I had to do was sign a check for 44,000 dirhams (about US$ 12,000) for the bank to hold on to in case I left the country suddenly without settling my debts. After getting over my initial trepidation with that, I asked a few more questions and found out that the first year is free and after that there is a mere 1000 dirham (about US$ 275) annual fee. Though, I could cancel it at any time. That was enough for me to say no thank-you.

Immediately, the woman helping me brought me into a large office with a very pleasant Emirati woman behind the desk. She offered me some water and coffee and explained to me the benefits of having a platinum card. She assured me that I could cancel at any time. Even the branch manager, a really friendly guy who had helped me earlier, came in a joked that he would be disappointed if I didn't take this great offer. Naturally I reconsidered, signed the big check, and started the process. What could possibly go wrong?

Post Office Parking

2011-03-30T16:08:00.001+04:00

Monday, I got the notice that I had received a package from the post office. (Sometimes the people at my college pick packages up for me and sometimes I get a receipt in my college mailbox saying that I need to pick them up. I haven't noticed any sort of reasoning as to whether or not they pick it up for me or have me get it myself. They just do or they don't.) Because in most cases the package is something that my wife's aunt has sent her and the kids, I usually call her and give her the routing number so she can pick it up. Yesterday she was busy with the kids being off school so I agreed to pick it up.

It's been several months since I had to pick up a package and since then, they've instituted the Maquaf pay parking system. It's two dirhams for an hour. On the one hand, it's only two dirhams (about 60 cents) to avoid a 400 dirham (about US $120) fine. On the other hand, I only need about 5 or 10 minutes and what are the chances that the meter maid will come by while I'm in there, right?

I decided that it was worth two dirham for a stress-free wait because you never know how long something like that will take. As far as I could tell, no one came by issuing fines, but at least I wasn't biting my nails the whole time I was in there.

Spiderman

2011-03-29T14:56:00.004+04:00

The big news in Dubai yesterday was that Alain Robert, nicknamed "Spiderman," climbed up the outside of the Burj Kalifa, the worlds tallest building (Click here for the article. Or you can view it here). The French man's nickname comes not from the fact that he loves Toby McGuire (though I'm sure he does), but from his vast resume of climbing buildings. Unlike most countries where he is arrested for exhibiting his talent, Alain was paid to climb the iconic Dubai structure. He uncharacteristically used a safety harness, probably because "the man" told him to and he was being paid to practice his art. To be fair, witnesses claim that he never appeared to use the harnesses. For all we know they were for appearance only and were made of black licorice.

The stunt was done to open the Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT) conference "Education Without Borders." If you look closely at the back of his shirt in the picture, you can see the HCT logo, more evidence of him selling out. He began the climb at 6:10 pm despite some serious wind and completed the feat at 12:30 am, giving him a time of 6 hours and 20 minutes. Big deal. I did it in about 60 seconds. Why should I be penalized because I has the sense to do it on the inside.

Regardless of his rejection of modern conveniences such as elevators, I have to admire his skill and athleticism. Now we'll have to wait until they build a taller building somewhere to see his next record-breaking attempt.

Al Ain Men's College

2011-03-28T21:39:00.003+04:00

Yesterday I had to go to a conference at the Al Ain Men's College for my job. I had initially intended on taking the bus but on my way to meet the bus, decided that I didn't want the hassle associated with the bus. Sure I could sleep on the way, but who knew what time it would actually get there and when they would leave. At conferences, the bus has been known to leave for home much later than the initial schedule. Plus I wanted to get to the venue early to get a chance to meet other teachers at other schools.

Well, sure enough, the bus coming from Abu Dhabi arrived an hour late. They left on time, but the driver got to Al Ain, pulled over to the side of the road, then said, "OK, we're in Al Ain," without considering that they wanted to be in a particular place in Al Ain. Sure, I could have avoided an hour and a half drive, but I did get to enjoy all the coffee and doughnuts I wanted and got a chance to catch up with some friends from Fukuoka.

The conference itself was helpful and the Al Ain Men's College campus was beautiful as you can see from the photos in this blog entry. As I've mentioned before, my family and I really like Al Ain and I would love the opportunity to live there eventually.

The drive home made me a little sleepy and I wished that I had taken advantage of the free bus ride. I was glad to have gotten the chance to look around the campus. While the Al Ain Men's College campus doesn't have the technology in Abu Dhabi Men's College, it has a more relaxed air about it and like the city of Al Ain, seems to have the more relaxed air about it that my family and I are looking for.

Ice Skating

2011-03-27T21:10:00.007+04:00

Although my kids like ice skating and practically every shopping mall in Abu Dhabi has an ice skating rink, I haven't been skating here. Sure it's expensive, but even so there is a fairly inexpensive ice rink in Zayed sports city. The real problem is that with one of me and two kids needing help, my wife was hesitant to ever take the kids. That problem was solved when my friend, Steve, from Wisconsin decided that he wanted to go ice skating in the desert and purchased some coupons on Groupon for us all to go.

The rink that he bought the vouchers for was near our place so we went on Saturday. My wife has always used the excuse that she didn't know how to avoid ever having to skate. With Steve having brought the coupons, she had no excuse for trying.

Both my kids did fine and despite some trepidation, my wife was able to move around on the center of the ice by the end of the hour. My five-year-old daugher did feel the need to lead my wife back to the side and say that she should stay by the railing, though.

The staff were helpful in offering advice and it was a good time, but the skates were not very comfortable and the ice not very well maintained. For what it was worth, I was glad we went. Now that my wife and kids have the confidence to skate on their own, we might try going out to Zayed Sports City next time.

Camping

2011-03-26T17:12:00.006+04:00

I've had a friend visiting from Wisconsin so I haven't been posting much recently. We went camping in a new spot towards Al Ain. Nothing spectacular happened. My daughter and her friend had some fun with the digital camera and here is a selection of photos. I only wish that I had access to digital cameras when I was a child hand have to wonder how my life would have turned out differently if I had. For better desert camping photos from a previous trip, click here.

Earthquake Relief Bazaar

2011-03-21T17:25:00.004+04:00

Today the students of the Abu Dhabi Men's College kicked off their charity bazaar for earthquake relief. The students worked hard to gather items for sale at the school to raise funds. In addition they had a bake sale and were selling traditional cooking to earn money. It was good to see that the students were working hard to earn money for a good cause. All the proceeds will go to earthquake victims...in Haiti.

Ferrari World for Kids

2011-03-19T20:48:00.007+04:00

Today I went to Ferrari World again, this time I went with my family. I went there in January with friends from out of town. (To read about that, click here.) Going to an amusement park with two small kids was definitely a different experience.

Even though they were too small to get onto the premium rides, there was enough there to keep them entertained.

Also, my wife and I were able to appreciate the ambiance while they drove in the mini city and over. While my daughter missed the height restriction on the mini Grand Prix track by a few inches, she was able to drive in the mini city.

There wasn't a huge variety of things for kids to do, but the things that they had could keep them entertained for hours.

Also, while the kids were busy driving around a mini city, I had a chance to wander around the scale replicas of famous Italian landmarks.

I had a chance to look around in the Ferrari museum to see some old and new cars while the kids were playing in the play area.

In addition, the atmosphere of the place was terrific. The price tag was steep with the cost for entry for the four of us being 780 dirhams (about US$210), but as a special treat for my son's birthday was manageable. Admittedly, it wasn't crowded at all and I'm sure wouldn't have been as nice if it was packed, but I can highly recommend taking kids there for the day as a treat.

Japan Relief

2011-03-17T04:46:00.005+04:00

As everyone knows by now, Japan has been hit by a terrible tragedy. Fortunately for my wife and I, our family and friends are located in the south western part of Japan. They are well away of the from the triple threat of earthquakes, tsunamis, and nuclear catastrophe. Unfortunately, many others are not and while the situation is mostly under control, they need help.

I've been hearing a lot of comments complimenting the Japanese people on how they have refrained from rioting or looting. My wife was confused by this. Ahhhh, the naivete of the Japanese who have no idea why a person would vandalize an unsupervised vending machine or loot in times of chaos. It's a sad statement of society when we have to compliment people for behaving in a civil manner.

With this tragedy, people in Abu Dhabi have been attempting to step up to raise funds for Japan. The Japanese ladies association and has been busy making traditional Japanese crafts such as origami Mother's Day cards and origami shamrocks for St. Patrick's Day. My wife spent loads of time making these things and arranging to raise money at a college in Abu Dhabi (not where I work), and selling them. The ladies raised loads of money in anticipation of the local Red Cross giving permission to raise money locally for the Japanese Red Cross for relief efforts.

Unfortunately, the local Red Cross has yet to give its decision and it doesn't look like they will anytime soon. It is illegal for any organization to raise funds locally for Japan without permission, so all the money raised for Japan relief efforts will now be given to the local university's Japanese Club. The Japanese Ladies Association also had a fundraiser planned in a local elementary school, but now it looks as if it will have to be canceled due to legal issues.

A similar thing happened in Dubai where people have been asking the local Red Cross for permission to raise money for Japan but are "busy" right now and will give an answer "later." According to sources, when the people who were trying to raise money kept calling to get an answer, they were told to, "quit calling or the answer will definitely be no."

As with anything in the UAE, I'm sure there is a very good reason why the local charities are taking the extra effort to carefully consider the pros and cons of allowing charitable organizations to collect money for the victims of this disaster. Individuals are welcome to make donations themselves. However, it is illegal for me to suggest that people make donations to the Japanese Red Cross through bank transfer. In addition, it is illegal for me to suggest that people who want to donate via credit card make a donation on the Hunger Site.

On a side note, I want people to know that it is illegal for readers to write suggestions in the comments section for places where those wishing to donate can help out, even if it is written anonymously.

Car Safety

2011-03-16T21:04:00.005+04:00

Due to the number of children killed and injured in traffic accidents, in the UAE, the Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) in Dubai has been going into schools and universities to educate children on traffic safety. Here is a list of precautions that the RTA is suggesting:

Take ten steps away from the bus after getting down
Wait until the bus leaves, then cross the road safely
Go straight home
Do not allow children to put their heads and hands outside the car windows
Children below 10 years should sit in the back seat.
Always fasten seat belts even if it is for a short drive
Educate children about rash driving
Educate children how to cross the road from dedicated spots
Explain to them how dangerous it is to run on the roads

(source RTA)

While I applaud the effort, some of the ideas seem a bit elementary. The fourth one jumps out at me as a fairly obvious one, though I've seen some kids hanging out of sunroofs, so maybe it's not obvious to everyone. The seventh one raises questions as to why children are driving in the first place. I suppose that the RTA has to start somewhere and the point that they can make a difference is at an early age. The unfortunate thing is that these kids are going to learn negative behavior from their parents and undoing it through a campaign in schools is an uphill battle. Basically, these points can be summarized as, use common sense and don't drive like a jerk.

Korean Deal

2011-03-14T14:28:00.002+04:00

Lee Myung-bak, the president of South Korea, was in Abu Dhabi recently to secure a deal to provide oil to Korea into the next century. According to this article, "South Korea is competing with China and India to secure energy and minerals reserves." The partnership between the UAE and South Korea is for the next 100 years.

This fits in with the land grab that South Korea is involved in. In 2008, South Korean company Daewoo entered a 99 year deal to lease half of Madagascar's arable land for South Korean food production. Unfortunately for Korea, the deal was later rescinded.

With the world population having just hit seven billion people, it seems that countries such as South Korea are seeing the writing on the wall and bracing for the shortages that are likely on their way in the next century. Let's hope for their sake that the Abu Dhabi oil deal doesn't go the way that the Madagascar deal did.

Abu Dhabi Triathlon (2011)

2011-03-12T22:01:00.000+04:00

This year's Abu Dhabi International Triathlon was a raging success. The event was held on the same course as last year and sponsored by the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority. While last years' event drew some top talent, this year there were even more top athletes including Craig Alexander and Faris Al-Sultan, winners of the Ironman World Championships. The attraction was no doubt due to the $50,000 top prize for both men and women.

Like last years' race, the distances were long (3 klilmeter swim, 200 kilometer cycle, 20 kilometer run) and short (1.5 km swim, 100 km cycle, 10 km run). Unlike last year, there was an added "sprint" (750 meter swim, 50 km cycle, 5 km run). To me a 50 km cycle doesn't constitute a sprint, but there you go.

This year there was a lot more interaction with the top athletes. They buzzed by me a few times throughout the day. I made jokes about seeing how many elite athletes would swear at me for getting in their way. While I never got in anyone's way, the race was pretty tight and could easily have been affected by a slower athlete. The difference between 1st place and 4th place was 32 seconds. The difference in prize money was $40,000 with 1st place getting $50,000 and the 4th place athlete taking home $10,000. You'd have to be annoyed at yourself after that.

Also, I was a little disappointed that there were less giveaways than last year. I got some nice towels and a backpack last year, but not much this year. Apart from that, I felt it was a good event that is growing in popularity. Now, I'm exhausted and am going to bed.

Livestock Tagging

2011-03-08T14:19:00.003+04:00

The UAE has begun tagging livestock to make it easier for farmers to track their livestock and obtain services. Too bad the officials didn't tell anyone they were going to do it or how it works. One man returned to his farm to find that all his goats and camels had been tagged without his knowledge or without an explanation.

It seems that this is a way for the UAE government to help the farmers produce home grown meat. Theoretically, the system sounds pretty good. It helps the UAE keep track of the number of livestock. Farmers are able to get free vaccinations and feed subsidies. It would help prevent the spread of animal borne diseases.

The only problem is that in typical UAE fashion, the agency in charge is slow to get information out and is giving answers that people don't understand. What is the procedure for selling the animal? What does the farmer do with the chip if the animal is slaughtered for meat? What happens if the animal just dies? Because the chip is under the skin, it needs to be removed by an official. I can imagine the wait to have someone come to take the chip out. With the efficiency here, you'd be lucky to have someone come out in a few days. Having a dead animal carcass rotting in the 100 degree summer heat for a few days would cause anyone to lose faith in the system.

What am I thinking? I'm sure everything's well planned out.

Water Shortage

2011-03-07T14:16:00.003+04:00

It looks like the UAE can expect a water shortage in the next ten years. The article mentions that the countries in the Middle East, North Africa (MENA) region will have to work together to avoid conflicts over resources.

Well isn't that a surprise? It seems that the parks and green spaces in the middle of the desert are sapping resources. 60% of water desalination in the world happens in MENA countries It looks like the countries are going to have to create some sort of sustainable policy towards water in the next several years. Sure, the fountains at almost every intersection look nice, and make the place more livable, but at what cost?

Gaddafi

2011-03-05T13:48:00.003+04:00

A man living in Khor Fakkan, UAE is seeking a name change. When his father named him a year after the Libyan revolution, the name, Muammar Gaddafi was a source of pride among the Arab population. Nowadays, not so much. The Sudanese man is named Muammar Al Gaddafi in honor of the Libyan ruler and is horrified to be associated with the actions of the crazy man in charge of Libya. He is undergoing the lengthy process of changing his name.

The article goes on to mention that when Muammar (not the nutty guy ordering the army to shoot protesters; the other one) was studying in Libya for a short time, teachers would never punish him for misbehaving. Now things have changed. It seems that the Libyan leader has ruined the name Muammar Gaddafi in the manner that Adlof Hitler ruined his.

On a side note, here is a wonderful quiz to test your knowledge of Muammar Gaddafi. There are ten quotes and you have to say if the speaker is Muammar Gaddafi (the one pictured above) or Charlie Sheen. I got 7 out of 10. See if you can beat my score. I you get all 10 on the first try congratulations on your crazy person knowledge.

Support for Oman

2011-03-04T13:25:00.003+04:00

One thing that can be said for the recent protests in Oman, it seems to be bringing the leaders of the UAE and Oman together. Even though travel between the UAE and Oman is pretty free (to the point that most auto insurance policies in the UAE include Oman), there has always been a little bit of a rivalry between the two countries. However, according to a recent article, His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and General Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces and Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs (basically the Vice-President of the UAE, the future President of the UAE, and the President's minister) all visited with the leader of Oman to say that they back Oman and will do what they can to keep things from getting out of hand. They also agreed to put previous differences aside, though I doubt that Oman plans to give Burami back.

Burami

2011-03-02T20:27:00.005+04:00

With the weather starting to get hot, the camping season is gradually coming to a close. Some friends invited us to go camping this weekend at a spot we have been with them before. There is a great spot just over the UAE border in Burami, Oman with some wonderful scenery and some great hiking. I was excited at the prospect of going camping with some friends in a favorite spot of ours until I read this article saying that there have been protests throughout Oman, including Burami. In addition, my wife got a message from the Japanese embassy telling people to stay away from Oman.

That's right, the stupid government protests in Oman had to go and ruin our fun. I suppose it's not so much the protesters to blame, but the tanks being used to disperse them. Unlike most of the other protests in different Middle Eastern countries, the goal is not to get rid of a corrupt government. Rather, in Oman, the people are trying to call for jobs and reform.

I have to stress that through this all, there is no indication in Abu Dhabi that any large scale protests are happening in the region. It seems that the UAE has done a good job of managing its resources and spreading it's wealth fairly evenly. I'll just have to keep my outings within the UAE borders for now.

Superbus!

2011-02-28T20:10:00.003+04:00

Creators of the new Superbus hope to aid the UAE in its struggle to be environmentally friendly and spend ridiculous amounts of money doing it. This new form of public transport will take commuters from Abu Dhabi to Dubai in 30 minutes, traveling at speeds of 250 kph (150 mph). This vehicle will travel on usual city streets to pick up passengers and once on the highway, will travel on specially constructed "Superbus only" roads. If the project is approved, this will be the Concorde of buses. The main challenges will be finding trustworthy drivers to drive the bus at these speeds and keeping guys in Ferraris from treating the special roads as their own private speedways.

The 99

2011-02-26T10:25:00.005+04:00

As a teenager, I loved comic books and read them voraciously. To this day, I recognize their value in getting kids interested in reading and in teaching values. Over the past several years, a man from Kuwait has been producing a comic called "The 99." It has been made into an animated series for kids and is soon to debut it's first Emirati superhero: Noora.

Much like the heroes Batman and Superman, the heroes of The 99 don't promote religion. However, this comic incorporates Middle Eastern historical events and Islamic archetypes. Since all of the comics I read as a kid were produced in the U.S., they tended to reflect the storylines of the archetypes in the States. One such example of this can be found with the aforementioned characters of Batman and Superman being orphans who received a calling to do good.

The creator of the comics stated that his goal, "was not only to promote good values for children worldwide, but also to reduce extremism and promote tolerance." I think this is a tremendous goal and a wonderful way to open the minds of not only the children of the Middle East, and to show the world a more accurate depiction of Muslim ideals.

F1 Exchange

2011-02-23T17:36:00.003+04:00

Those F1 fans who had big plans to attend the Grand Prix in Bahrain understandably must be disappointed that the race has to be canceled. Because the race is on March 13th in a little over two weeks, it will likely be canceled entirely and the season will start in Melbourne.

However, Abu Dhabi has stepped up and offered to switch places with Bahrain, making the Yas Marina Race track the season's opener and the Bahrain race the second to last race.

If that happens, not only will Abu Dhabi have to accomodate the fans on short notice, it also goes on the presumption that everything will be cleared up in Bahrain by November.

In addition, the Abu Dhabi International Triathlon is the day before when the race would be held. Ordinarily it wouldn't be an issue, but the cycling part of the race goes on one of the main highways to Yas Island and part of the race goes on the actual track that they would need to do practice runs. It will be interesting to see how things play out and if I get a phenomenal excuse to not do the triathlon.

Unrest

2011-02-22T21:54:00.003+04:00

For all of my family and friends or anyone generally curious about this region of the world, there is no unrest in Abu Dhabi. I generally don't like to write blog entries about the absence of things here, but due to the growing number of questions I've had from people, I felt that I should address this issue. If I had no access to newspapers or the internet, it is likely that I would not know there was anything happening. Despite the protests in Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, Libya, Yemen, Algeria, Morocco, and Wisconsin.

Alcohol-Free Coke

2011-02-18T15:47:00.003+04:00

The radio program "This American Life" has revealed that the secret ingredient of Coca Cola is alcohol. The Coca Cola company is denying this as are UAE officials. However, Coca Cola have refused to comment on the release of their new product, Bacon Cheeseburger Coke, due to arrive in stores throughout the Middle East and India next month.

Cover Schedule

2011-02-16T18:02:00.003+04:00

The cover schedule is a phenomenon at Abu Dhabi Men's College that doesn't exist for the math department. The number of math teachers is small enough that one teacher has the list and if someone is sick, the other teachers get calls and/or emails to teach the classes.

The English department has a different system. Even though this is my fourth semester teaching at ADMC, this is the first semester dealing with the system. Apparently what happens is we get an email at 5:02 pm after most people have left saying that the list is up and people need to find three class periods during the week that they can agree to teach if someone is sick and needs someone to teach at that time. Then at 7:02am the next day before most people are there, we get another email saying thanks for the fast response and that most of the slots are taken. At 7:50am, the teachers who are unaware of the system (like me) read the email and put their names down for whatever is left.

While this sounds like complaining, I got the times I probably would have taken even if I signed up at 5:03pm last night. Two interesting bits of information, though. First, I was told not to write my name in pencil because someone who wanted that time would probably erase my name and write their own. Second, as I was walking away after having written my name, I overheard a coworker who also had arrived late saying, "Oh good, someone wrote my name for me." That's right, it's not just the students who act in their own self interests.

Madinat Zayed Race

2011-02-14T19:15:00.005+04:00

Today was the big day. After getting a good night's rest in a very comfortable bed, I woke to start my 9:00am "fun ride." From what my friends who did this last year said, this was not a race. Well, this year it was a race. I actually appreciated not knowing that fact until about 20 minutes before the race or otherwise I probably would have over prepared.

As it turned out, the local Sheikh took control of the ride from HCT and invited local high schools to participate. Because the Sheikh is involved, the police were very good about clearing the road on which the race was. I heard that last year the police were given medals for their help. Because of that, the police officers were fighting over who got to help with the race this year.

The idea is to gradually expand this race into a biking festival. In fact, Madinat Zayed has five festivals including the internationally known Camel Festival culminating in the Camel Beauty Contest. This is now the sixth festival.

I think it's great that Madinat Zayed is working to promote physical fitness by getting high school kids involved in something like this. I also think it's great that HCT promoted something like this so I could have the day off to go cycling.

Liwa Hotel

2011-02-13T19:38:00.008+04:00

Sometimes by simply not putting up any resistance, you can find yourself doing activities that would usually require a lot of effort. Take for example, the bike ride that I am going on tomorrow in Madinat Zayed. One of my friends who I work with mentioned a ride organized through HCT for staff and students that he went on last year. He asked me if I would be interested and I gave him a non-committal "Sure." It started with a few forward emails and the next thing I knew, there was a hotel room reserved for me. Next, another coworker arranged for us to get a school van to drive down on Sunday.

With the transport and accommodation arranged already, I really had a hard time saying I couldn't go. All that was left was to find other teachers to cover my classes and to OK the trip with my supervisors.Some of my coworkers graciously agreed to cover my classes.
We drove down and arrived at 2:30 for check-in. The hotel itself looks pretty good, and has good amenities including a swimming pool, tennis court, and playground for the kids. Most importantly, it has free internet. I would say that this place was at its peak about ten years ago, but it is still a nice place to stay. Regardless, I can't complain when my school is paying the 1045 dirham (about US$ 300) bill for the stay including breakfast.

Masdar City

2011-02-12T21:03:00.004+04:00

The UAE has been working on Masdar City, a carbon neutral area of Abu Dhabi, for the past several years. While the goal of having zero carbon emissions has gone by the wayside, they are still working to utilize clean technologies to cut the amount of energy used by the city. I've been hearing about this project since I got to Abu Dhabi a year and a half ago, but only recently realized that people can actually go there now.
The project is due to be fully completed by 2022 when it will reach its goal of 40,000 residents. Right now it is only a few blocks big and is in the pilot stage. There are a few restaurants and cafes along with a bank and an Etisalat shop. It is interesting to go to for a visit. We parked our car and got into one of the little automated taxis that took us to the entrance of the Masdar Institute.

Once in there, you can wander around the little town to look at the architecture and get a bite to eat at one of the restaurants or a coffee at the cafe. There weren't a lot of people there today, mostly people who were there to gawk at it like we were.

Without getting into things too much, I would recommend taking the trip out and wandering around for a little, if just to ride in the emission-free, driverless taxi. Go to view the city of the future.