Sidewalk Holes

For the past three weeks, we've had a a big hole in the sidewalk in front of our apartment. This is especially helpful when we are trying to get the kids to the bike path on the Corniche. We now have to go into the busy road.

This is a phenomenon in Abu Dhabi that has not gone unnoticed. The National,a local newspaper has written an article about the frequency of this happening around town. (To read the article, click here.) I only hope that they can eventually finish the work that they're doing by the end of the year. At this pace they might be done in time to dig another one.

Billing

Over the past few months, I've seen the amount that I owe the internet service provider increasing. Every month have been paying the bill through my bank on the internet. Yet, when the bill comes, I it hasn't been credited. I haven't been thinking much about it since the bill usually arrives a few days after the due date. I just figured that the previous month's payment arrived after the billing cycle.

When I finally got this month's bill, I saw that I still owed for three months. Companies here don't seem to be too bothered about late payments, but when they cut off service, they do so without warning. This past February, after being reassured many times that I shouldn't worry about never having received an electricity or water bill for six months, service was cut. (Click here for that saga.) There seems to be an attitude of, "Don't worry, it will happen," but unless you doggedly pursue things like this they can blow up in your face.

When I called Etisalat, the internet and phone company, they told me that they have not been receiving the payments that my bank has been electronically deducting from my account. After a few minutes, the service representative informed me that because I added phone service to my internet service, my account number has changed. Over the past several months, I have been making payments to an account with no service attached to it. Apparently, with the dozen or so phone calls and emails Etisalat has given me asking me to change to a service that I already switched to, no one at the company thought to contact me to inform me that I've been paying money into the wrong account.

The operator told me that I would have to go to an Etisalat office to transfer the credits into my new account. Today, after waiting for a half an hour at the office, I went through the procedure of transferring the money I have been paying in my name to an another account in my name. Once finished, the service representative told me that the payments will be credited to my new account in a mere two weeks. This is a perfect example of fine Emirati efficiency at work.

Bill Clinton

Yesterday, Bill Clinton visited Dubai. He was in town to launch the Varkey GEMS Foundation in conjunction with the Clinton Global Initiative. GEMS is the world's largest privately owned kindergarten through grade twelve education organization and has its headquarters in Dubai. The owner, Sunny Varkey, has been working with groups such as the Clinton Global Initiative and the Tony Blair Faith Foundation to give educational opportunities to underprivileged children.

Because my kids attend a GEMS school in Abu Dhabi, my family was invited to the event. I would have loved to go except the event was deemed "not suitable for small children." With all the security protocals and waiting around involved, I don't think it is something that our kids could have handled, especially with a 2-hour drive both ways. With my attraction to the glamor surrounding career politicians it would have been nice to go. Also, the thought of my kids causing an international incident makes me chuckle.

Deconstruction

In order to promote the Formula One Championship and the Football (Soccer) Club World Cup, two events hosted by Abu Dhabi, the city built some temporary structures on the plaza on the Corniche and 30th Street. You can see photos of the F1 Fan Zone and Football Village from my previous blog entries. Less than a week after Football Village closed down, this is how the plaza looks now. It just goes to show how temporary things are here.I'm not really surprised that got taken down after only two events. What surprises me is that the structures were actually used for more than one.

Abu Dhabi Adventure Challenge

As I was finishing my Friday morning bike ride this morning, I saw a bunch of people running down the corniche. It was then that I remembered that it was about the time of year for the Abu Dhabi Adventure Challenge.

Without getting into too much detail, this competition involves 6 days of grueling competitions which include canoeing, running, several sections of mountain biking in various terrain (about 140 kms total), mountaineering (rope climbing, abseiling, flying fox), desert orienteering (between 70 and 120km depending on support) and sea kayaking (between 110 or 128km depending on support). For more information, click here to go to see the program on their website.

The competition is done in teams of four. The teams are co-ed and are roped together in pairs. All four people must cross each station before moving on to the next section. The whole thing is from December 5th to the 10th. Because all the teams have GPS trackers, you can even see how each team is doing in real time by going to this website.

I really can't stress how cool the website detailing this event is. If you click on the "multimedia" drag down menu on the site, you can find video, photos and an interactive map. Alternately, you can watch this youtube clip to get a feel for what's involved. I think that the fact that Abu Dhabi hosts such an event with teams around the world is pretty impressive and I urge people to check it out over the next few days.

Live Performance

Today at lunch we were treated to a live performance from a band named "Touch and Go." They were a cover band that played well enough and had a good female vocalist. While I don't think that I would have gone out of my way to see them, it was nice to have some live music.

Based on their appearance, they looked too straight-laced to be full-time musicians so I assumed that they were teachers in their day jobs. I was wondering what was up since from what I've heard, it is difficult to get a license to perform in Abu Dhabi. A few songs into the performance a woman from the U.S. Embassy announced that the embassy had arranged for them to play for us and that they were part of the U.S. Armed Forces. I'm not exactly sure why the U.S. Embassy is arranging for members of the armed forces to play in the Abu Dhabi Men's College cafeteria during lunchtime, but it made my day a little bit more enjoyable.

Residence Visa

In the Gulf news today, there is an article about labor cards and work visas. Previously three-year work permits were given which meant that workers would also get a three-year residency permit. This pertains to me as I came in on a three-year work visa. While I haven't heard anything about this at work, I'll be interested to see how this affects the three-year contracts that HCT employees are issued. I have less than two years left on my contract, but this might mean that teachers are only issued two-year contracts in the future.

The Labor Ministry has listed the positive as a savings to both workers and employers who sometimes don't finish their three years and won't have that wasted year on the visa. This rationale seems a bit weak and I sense something else going on here.In a country in which the labor force is almost entirely made up of foreign workers, I have to wonder why the Labor Ministry would make it more difficult to work here.