Ty and Virginia in the UAE

Virginia's Final Blog

2010-07-12T16:12:00.002+04:00

Whew! I know: too much time between blog posts. Well, there’s a good reason for that. I think most of you who read this blog are aware of the exciting changes that happened to Ty and I in the past few weeks.

While Bruno and Madeleine were visiting us, I got an early morning phone call from the British Council’s SE Asian office. I’d applied for a job there (as well as a transfer to Abu Dhabi with the company I was already working for). Meanwhile, Ty had applied for a summer mentoring programme with the British Council in Abu Dhabi. The week after Bruno and Mado went on to Istanbul, I had 2 interviews and Ty had his the following week.

The first one, for the current company, went super well, and I had a glimmer of hope that Ty and I would be able to move to Abu Dhabi and live the good life there. It would have been a whole new context for us: a vibrant city, great restaurants, culture, concerts and so on – the complete opposite of MZ (I’m not saying that MZ doesn’t have its charms, but 18 months in a conservative town in the middle of the desert can be, um, challenging). Also, Ty would have been able to find work in Abu Dhabi.

The second interview, with the British Council, didn’t seem to go as well. A telephone interview, patched through a satellite phone from Rangoon, Burma (aka Yangon, Myanmar), in the middle of a work day – meaning I’d had to juggle my schedule quite a bit – made for less than ideal conditions.

In Ty’s interview, he learned that the man who was hiring him was relocating to Burma.

Two weeks later I got a job offer… via a patchy satellite connection. We were suddenly faced with the realization that we were moving again. And this time to a country that is one of the more, shall we say, unstable in the world (in case you were wondering, the current company didn’t want to grant me the transfer – which is, I guess, their loss).

Another week, and Ty had his job offer, meaning that he would have to move to Abu Dhabi for two months before leaving for Yangon.

We were pretty psyched about getting into the British Council. They are located just about everywhere in the world, and are the industry standard when it comes to ESL learning and testing. They also train English teachers (Ty got his CELTA from the BC in Abu Dhabi).

As you can imagine, everything went into overdrive. We had to hurry up and wait, hurry up and wait, as we began the process of moving to yet another foreign country. For those of you who have done this, you understand too well just how frustrating the process can be.

But then, things just started falling into place: Ty’s boss in Abu Dhabi, who was also moving to Burma, offered to add our bits and pieces and boxes of books and such into his container shipment; my current company agreed to end my contract in 2010 instead of 2011 without penalty; our friends and neighbours in MZ helped us get rid of our furniture and other things that we weren’t taking; our friend Paul agreed to take care of our cats until their transport could be arranged – yes, they are coming with us – I just have to get a house in Yangon first!; our dear dear friend Nawaf willingly dropped everything at a moment’s notice to ferry me everywhere I needed to go, and to help smooth out the paperwork procedures for our visas. There suddenly seemed to be people everywhere who had been to Burma, or who knew people living there. Suddenly, instead of stepping off the ledge into the unknown, we were surrounded by a support network that we didn’t even know existed.

Everything has been a bit surreal, and I’ve had the feeling that my last week here has been a mirror image of my first week, as if I am walking backwards in the sand and erasing my footsteps.

In about an hour, I will pick up my suitcases and walk out of Ty’s Abu Dhabi apartment. Tomorrow, I will arrive in Yangon, Myanmar and a whole new adventure will begin.

Before I leave I know that I need to write out the things I will miss from our time in the desert:

My teachers: Aziza, Gharam, Nihal, Rose, Blair, Ruqaya, Suheir, Najat, Nawal, Muneera and Latifah will always have a special place in my memories. I learned so much from them (including a dirty joke or two), and was always amazed at how willing they were to work with a crazy blonde kid with weird ideas about things to do in a classroom…
Arabic hospitality: It’s true! All you have to do is compliment someone on an article of clothing and it will be handed to you… or a similar one will be bought for you. But it goes beyond the material. I knew I had been accepted when I started being kissed (sometimes up to three times on each cheek!) at every greeting.
The sand of the Empty Quarter: It’s incredibly soft… and fun to play with. It was too hot (55 degrees!) to visit the desert again before I left.
Camels: They rock!
The food: One of the memories I’m taking with me from the UAE is about 20 extra pounds (so easy to hide under an abaya!). I don’t know if I’ll ever taste such incredible food ever again (the food in Burma is apparently best described as “pungent”)
The philosophy: I’m not a particularly religious person, but I have completely taken on the ideas of Inshallah (if Allah wills it) and Mashallah (what Allah has willed). We’ve written about it before, but the idea behind not having complete control over everything was an eye opener. And, while moving, it was almost reassuring to know that I couldn’t control everything… and that maybe some things were best left up to someone else. Strangely, it all fell nicely into place. I also have to mention "tolerance" here -- while elsewhere, we may feel fearful of Islam and its followers, most Muslims are unbelievably open and tolerant of other faiths. It shouldn't be surprising, but it is another lesson I've learned.
Friendships: In a very different crowd from the expats in Korea, we found our niche, somehow, with some very interesting characters out here. The best part was that, on our absolute final day in MZ, we got to say goodbye to all the people who had meant the most to us – for some reason, they hadn’t all left on vacation yet!

Allll righty -- I have to get going now. All the best.

Next stop: Burma!

... and the City

2010-05-18T17:39:00.003+04:00

So, there's been a lot in the press lately about Abu Dhabi. First off, yes it is true that you can buy a gold bar from a vending machine in the Emirates Palace Hotel. I haven't yet seen said vending machine, but I've been to the EP Hotel quite a few times ~ not to stay, of course, but because it also houses art exhibits.

In other news, Sex and the City 2 is being blocked by censors here. Why would this be newsworthy? Well, the movie is set in Abu Dhabi. Originally, it was supposed to be in Dubai, until the script was reviewed, so Abu Dhabi offered itself up as the location, I suppose until they actually read the script. The actual filming was done in Morocco, but the storyline still revolves around Abu Dhabi.

I think it's great that Abu Dhabi is being promoted, but isn't it the wrong kind of advertising? I mean, really... could there be anything less appropriate for this country than a movie like Sex and the City? Via internet, I've watched the preview, and a few selected scenes, and cringed at such things as Carrie saying Abu Dhabi (or just the Middle East) is like Disney's Aladdin "but with cocktails". Umm... what??? I think of many things when I think of Abu Dhabi... "cocktails" is certainly not one of them! [errr, not technically true, as Abu Dhabi is where we go to buy alcohol in regulated shops with our government approved liquor license. Actually, Abu Dhabi also makes me think of "tofu", "fresh tortellini" and "that special cat food we have to get for Sonagi so that she doesn't puke on the bed every day"]

Or a scene where she's walking in a spice souq in "Old Abu Dhabi"~ it's quite obvious that the producers or whoever just went through the script with a red pen and crossed out "Dubai" to replace it with "Abu Dhabi". If you want to wander the alleys of a spice souq in an old city, you'd better hope that you're actually in Dubai (or, um, Morocco....).

Actually, speaking of the spice souq reminds me that we still have to talk about what we did with Madeleine and Bruno - if not only so that you can see that the UAE does have fun things to do that won't be on the movie screen!

I had taken a few days off work so that we could all spend some time together in Dubai, so we headed up there for a quick visit.

Our first adventure was to Ski Dubai, the indoor ski hill attached to the Mall of the Emirates, where Bruno, Madeleine and Ty hit the slopes. It was the first time we'd actually gone closer to the place than just looking through the window, and it was a real treat.

Ty - The slopes at ski Dubai were really good (speaking from my mountains of experience of course). Having only gone snowboarding once in Korea it took me a while to get kitted up, and then even longer at the little practice slope trying to get the feel for it again, while Bruno and Madeleine had already made a couple rounds.

They came down and convinced me I’d be fine up on the slope that looked much bigger, and steeper from the bottom than I thought I could handle.

But after a few false starts, I was zooming down the slopes and spent far less time on my bum than the last time I’d tried this in Korea (but as much time trying not to kill myself by going way to fast). I REALLY do love snowboarding.

I think I actually enjoyed it more at Ski Dubai even though the slope isn’t that long – about 500m compared to the 4 or 5 km ones I went down in Korea. The reason is that the snow was nice and powdery, not all icy, and also there were very few people on the slopes… one point I looked down from the top and had the entire thing to myself.

It was quite a surreal experience stepping out of that snowy land and straight into the luxury of the Mall of the Emirates, and then stepping from that into the desert heat outside, before heading to the hotel apartments just of of Dubai Creek (the same place we stayed with Virginia’s mom.

From the hotel we headed, of course, to the souq, followed by supper overlooking the Dubai Creek. At the souq, we went straight to this one place, where the shop owner knows us (it's probably rare for them to have a return customer!), and is more than happy to let us take our time demolishing his store as we unfold every single pashmina... and he's happy to give us good deals too.

We went over to the spice souq, but most of the shops were closing up for the evening, so we headed back the next day, with both Ty and Bruno tasting and smelling everything.

We stopped quickly at a small museum with a courtyard where you can relax with tea and coffee, and which seems worlds away from the chaos of the narrow, winding streets of the old town.

Heading out of town, we decided to take Bruno and Madeleine to the Atlantis Hotel on the end of the Palm Jumeirah island. Arriving there, we were quite disappointed to learn that the big aquarium was no longer free, and you had to pay to get in! A brief discussion revealed that we'd all rather spend the money on ice cream, which we did.

We arrived back in Madinat Zayed in the early evening and the thought crossed our mind that we weren't quite sure that there would be enough for them to do in such a small town for 4 days... however, the best was yet to come.

And The Bride Wore...

2010-05-15T13:49:00.002+04:00

I finally got to go to an Emirati wedding!

I've been invited to a few but didn't really want to go until I actually knew the people getting married. I guess it's a bit weird (from a UAE standpoint, anyway), since everyone gets invited and a few people were baffled as to why I wouldn't want to attend the wedding of a total stranger.

Anyway, the bride was one of the ladies I work with at one of my schools. She is Emirati, from a good family, and quite possibly one of the most beautiful people I've ever seen in my life ... one of those ultra rare people who just looks like an actress, or some visitor from a planet of pretty people. The best thing about her, though, is that she is also very nice. She's the type to link arms with you in the hallway, or say something funny. She's also a brilliant teacher and, as a very wealthy Emirati who is still working as an independent woman (perhaps not anymore, now that she's married), she was also a great role model for the students. Most of the teachers here are from Jordan, Syria, Egypt, and the Emiratis don't tend to stick around in teaching -- it's a demanding job that doesn't pay as well as some of the civil servant posts they can get instead.

When I heard she was leaving school to get married, I knew that this would be "the" wedding to attend.

I went with two other teachers to the wedding, dressed to the nines in a purple caftan with gold embroidery (really, I kid you not). I spent somewhere in the neighbourhood of 45 minutes on my makeup, since I knew that everyone would be super glam.

We arrived at the wedding hall, which was enormous, and set up with about a billion tables, each absolutely full of gold plates. The focal point of the room was a big stage/runway set up, where a woman sang loudly in Arabic, while 2 20-something girls in long tight dresses and jingle belts danced traditional dances (like the hair dance, the camel dance, and a bit of belly dancing -- but in long sleeves and high necks, no bare midriffs here!). The music was louder than a nightclub, with each of us shouting directly into each other's ears to be heard.

Within seconds, the wait staff (an army that possibly out-numbered the guests) had us seated and served with coffee, water, juice and tea in gold-rimmed glasses. We also had our appetizers, a plate of some kind of weird jelly thing, bread, and 3 kinds of chocolates, with custom labels. I learned that the point of the evening was to eat and drink, watch the stage entertainment and wait for the bride.

In one corner, a big projection screen showed a non-stop loop of perfumes in glass and pearl bottles, and close-ups of jewellery -- large pendants, diamond earrings, a row of watches in their silk-lined boxes. These were, I learned, the bride's gifts, set up in display cases and filmed for our benefit (at some weddings, all the gifts are on display, and you walk around and look at them). Anyway, her gift room looked like the inside of a jewellery shop. The teacher I was with told me that this was one of the most luxurious weddings she'd ever been to --as both families are rather important.

As we were in the women's section, it was a great chance to see everyone without their abayas and sheylas, and all dressed to the nines. It seemed that everyone had gone to the salon that day and had their hair and makeup done. Dresses were absolute dream creations - everyone from the smallest 5 year old to the oldest woman looked like a princess. Most of the dresses would have been custom made, so nobody needed to suffer the embarrassment of showing up with the same dress as her cousin. I sat with other staff from the school, and realized that, in some cases I was seeing my co-workers' hair for the first time - very few women were veiled or in hijab. Even if the non-Emirati style was more subdued (and what you'd expect to wear yourself to a wedding), everyone had cracked open the makeup case for the evening...

The teenagers were taking turns getting up on the runway and dancing their way up and down it. Each one of them was dressed as if for prom or, say, the Oscars. It was a very glittery night.

The wait staff came through, removing our plates of appetizers and filling the table with plates of rice with herbs and spices, a plate of curry, a rather strange glob of grey slop (errrr harish? or something -- wheat boiled with chicken broth), and a large platter of meat. The meat was, of course, camel. I knew that Ty would never forgive me if I didn't at least taste it, so I held my plate out for a slab (by the way, it's stringy). After that, we got plates of dessert, more coffee, more tea, hibiscus juice, and the tables were cleared, and two ladies came to every table with a selection of perfumes to try.

As everyone checked their watches, the teenagers started up their dances again, and everyone turned their chairs so that they could be ready for the bride's entrance. At midnight, a voice over the loud speaker began reading a poem for the bride. And finally, the double doors of the hall opened, and she entered, led by her brother.

Her dress was an amazing concoction of strings of crystals and frothy tulle that looked like it had been sewn right onto her body. And I think that sucker was heavy too -- she took two mincing steps at a time, at which point two Asian ladies in black suits pulled her hem forward and arranged her long sparkly train. Then, another two steps, and then another arrangement, and so on, until she was finally up on the runway and walking towards the back of the stage. It took her about 15 minutes to get from the door to the end of the stage, at which point her brother, obviously not wanting to be the only man in the room, sat her on a beautiful white couch, and walked briskly back to the exit (which only took him about 15 seconds....).

But, it wasn't over yet. She now had to stand up and, taking mincing steps, walk all the way up and down the runway (another 10 minutes), waving and smiling and kissing as her helpers arranged and shifted the hem and the train with each step. Installed back on the couch on the stage, we had a chance to go up and hug and kiss her (and of course, I wanted to see her dress up close....) and wish her good luck, before heading home.

You know, you hear all about brides being "princesses" on their wedding day, but this was really the truth. My friend was absolutely beautiful in her gorgeous dress.... and it was truly something to be seen in real life. I'm so glad that I got to see one of these lavish weddings -- and am doubly glad that it was someone I actually knew.

CELTA, WOMAD and more

2010-05-08T16:15:00.001+04:00

Things are very busy this side and have been for a while. About a month ago I finished up with my CELTA, managing to get a Pass B grade, which is a pass with distinction. The course was an incredible experience, too little sleep or proper food, 4 hours of driving a day, but well worth every moment. It’s very practical, with a chance to use the new theory immediately each week, as we taught classes of paying adults during the course.

I’ve come out of the CELTA feeling like a new person, and comfortable handling a class of adults well. Along the way I made good friends, both with trainees and with a few students. AND this coming week I have an interview with the British Council in Abu Dhabi. Hold thumbs.

In the interim we’ve had Madeleine and Bruno over from Germany for a week, arriving at the end of our second Abu Dhabi WOMAD experience.

Thursday, 22 April we made our way through to Abu Dhabi after Virginia finished up at work, booked into the Novotel, and headed out for the Corniche, where the flags were once again flying and WOMAD would again be held.

Overall, of the three nights, I enjoyed this one the most, particularly for the African flair of the evening. The night opened with a wonderful fireworks display, followed by the Drummers of Burundi, a mainstay of WOMAD since it began in 1982, who set the scene with their magical, and brutal drumming. The Zawose Family from Tanzania followed, with more drumming and tribal dancing, and the added touch of having gathered and coached school children from Abu Dhabi to appear (fairly) seamlessly on stage with them after only 2 weeks preparation.

Later Le Trio Joubran, from Palestine, played traditional oud music with flamenco like flair,and an exceedingly fun French ska group had people up on their feet clapping, dancing and laughing to circus-like music.

On the Friday we slept in a bit, lounged around a bit, then took advantage of the beautiful weather and made the hour long walk along Corniche, stopping along the way at our favourite restaurant, which is surrounded by fountains and is just across from the beach.

It turned out to be a more social night. One of the CELTA students I’d become friends with, Salam, who is from Syria, joined us at the start of the evening. We also met up with Grant and Diane, and bumped into many folks from MZ.

Two groups were pretty, enjoyable, Trans-Global Underground who were a random mash-up of sounds from all over the world, including Western, African and Asian music styles, African drums, meet Latina dancing and singing, meet rap style chant, meet the most beautiful sitar (I’ve been trying to convince V to play the sitar since). And somehow it all blended and worked together.

We were then in for Sierra Maestra, a Cuban ensemble from Havana, which had Salam, Virginia and I dancing, and Virginia reminiscing nostalgically about her trip to Cuba.

Early Saturday morning Madeleine and Bruno arrived and booked into the hotel. After catching up on sleep, we took them to the Emirate’s Palace.

We wondered around, had a look at the models of the development happening on Saadiyat Island (i.e. the new Louvre and Guggenheim museums etc.) and looked around the Embroidery exhibition (which was the highlight of Bruno’s trip) The afternoon was topped off by extravagant coffees… Madeleine and I opted for the camel-milk cappuccino, while Virginia got the gold leaf sprinkled one! (which left the rest of us with digestive tract related questions involving sparkles; which unfortunately remain unanswered).

That evening it was back to WOMAD. Now our group numbered five, Salam having joined us again.Musically it was a bit of a strange evening, as headliner Damian Marley (youngest son of Bob Marley) fell ill and cancelled, leaving a scattering of disappointed dreadlocked fans, wondering around aimlessly, perhaps looking for something to ease the pain.

It was also extremely sand-stormy, so after watching a few groups, tummies full of shwarmas, ears full of beach, we headed to the more sheltered workshop tent, where we were in for a treat.

On the first night we’d heard the group, Hanggai, and although we hadn’t seen them live as we were at the opposite stage, I’d decided to buy the CD immediately. The workshop in the tent was being held by them, a Chinese group from the province Inner Mongolia.

The tent obviously was a far more intimate setting with us all watching and listening while lounging on beanbags. They turned out to be fantastic, mixing traditional Mongolian throat singing and a more modern rock feel. By the end we were all on our feet asking for more, and when they finally left, it was to a standing ovation.

The evening was unexpectedly topped off when Salam offered to take us sightseeing in Abu Dhabi, which we’ve never had the chance to do at night. We went past the Emirate’s Palace again, and then around the back of the marina, where we had wonderful views of the skyline and bay, and then were taken on a tour of the dock and shipping yard where Salam works.

We were all more than ready for bed when we came walking into the hotel at two that morning, especially as we’d be taking Bruno and Madeleine on the whirlwind tour of Dubai later that day.

Madeleine and Bruno in the UAE

2010-05-03T21:06:00.003+04:00

Just a few photos to show how much fun we all had with Madeleine and Bruno here for a week...

We went to WOMAD in Abu Dhabi

We went to Ski Dubai

We went to the Dubai Creek

We all saw lots of camels

We all enjoyed the dunes of the Empty Quarter (but especially Bruno)

There will be detailed blogs about all of this... and more... in the next week.

Where have we been?

2010-03-31T19:33:00.003+04:00

Uh... hello there...

Yes, yes, I know. It's been too long since the last blog.

See, the thing is that I just haven't been able to find the motivation to write about things lately. You see, the blog just sort of became the victim of some very evil procrastination.

And so, some updates...

Ty has been doing the CELTA course since the end of January. He's one week away from finishing and doing an amazing job!!! So yes... congrats all around.
The only thing with the CELTA course is that it is a very intensive, time-occupying thing to do. Add to that his commute: 1.5 hours to Abu Dhabi 3 or 4 times a week, returning home in the dark. This means that we get to see each other at 7:15am, when I am leaving for work, and sometimes at 11:00pm, if I stay up to wait. That, and a few afternoons when we've been able to see each other for about 10 minutes. Other than that, it's just been the weekends -- and both of us have been too busy with assignments and such to do much outside the house.
Work has been keeping me busy during the day, so it's been nice to have quite a few relaxing evenings where I get to turn my brain off, and read, and talk to the cats, and avoid dusting anything.
Yeah, we've been hit with quite a few evil sand storms lately. You sweep up the sand in all the corners, put the broom away, and come back to a fresh pile of sand. Okay okay... not *that* bad, but as you know, I would never exaggerate in a million years.
Good news! Our friends Madeleine and Bruno are coming to visit in April! Their visit coincides with the WOMAD festival - so we will be checking that out, and then showing them around Dubai for a few days, before attempting to entice them back to Madinat Zayed to, um, look at camels and sand.

And so... welcome back to the blog... we promise to be better about updating it now. :)

No. Really! We will update it again soon!

The End of Mom's Visit

2010-02-20T14:43:00.013+04:00

Mom left a week ago... time to stop procrastinating and blog about the rest of her visit!

Having someone visit is a great excuse to do all the touristy things you've been putting off. Sure, there are tons of things to see in the UAE, but had it not been for Mom coming here, we probably wouldn't have managed, for example, to see the Burj Khalifa in its first month, and before it was closed to the public!

We've always been curious about the Sheikh Zayed Mosque, but just haven't managed to get there. It was a grey, rainy day when we went, and the place was already crawling with tourists. Every female visitor must wear an abaya and sheyla. I think my Mom looks cute like that:

Anyway, it's a huge mosque, bigger than the Taj Mahal, and containing the biggest chandeliers, the biggest prayer rug, and incredible inlayed decorations on just about every surface.

After a few days in Al Ain, visiting my step-sister (during which time, Ty and I were being good and studious), Mom was back with us for the final few days of her visit. As a special treat, I'd booked us in for a few days at the Jebel Dhanna beach resort.

To get there, we took the long way round, stopping at a few old forts and admiring the oases and general desert scenery...

Not the main road... don't worry!

... including a herd of mommy and baby camels.

If you click on the photo for a bigger version, you will see that some of the camels are wearing "bras" to keep the calves from nursing

Once at the resort, we took in the beauty of the beach, the grass and the water: What a big difference from the sandy expanses of the Empty Quarter!

Low tide - perfect for collecting shells and rocks

View from the hotelBeing beach bums

After enjoying the beach and the buffets for 2 days (and after thwarting my mother's attempts to rob hermit crabs of their homes - every time she collected shells, I had to rescue the ones that were crawling away from the pile and return them to the ocean!!!), Mom headed back to Canada.

Relaxing on the beach before her 2am airport transfer, and 30+ hours of international flights and airports!

Mom's visit ... continued

2010-02-14T14:46:00.008+04:00

In actual fact, Mom is already back in Canada. Busy times and computer issues kept us from further blogging...

The Official "First Day of School" Photo, actually taken on the second day of school

Ty's CELTA course brings him to Abu Dhabi 3 or 4 times a week. It's pretty intense! At least for his first week, though, he had some company on the drive to AD, as my Mom and I were eager to play tourist in Abu Dhabi.

Our first Abu Dhabi adventure was the Guggenheim exhibit at the Emirates Palace Hotel. A few of you know that my Mom is an artist, so it seemed like a good idea to bring her to see one of the art exhibits in town. The Guggenheim specializes, of course, in contemporary art, which is not her cup of tea, but which grew on her as we wandered around, looking at Pollocks and Kandinskys and the like.

Not the Guggenheim exhibit, but a different one about proposed developments on Saadiyat Island

Not a Jackson Pollock, but Ty in the kitchen....

Not a Kandinsky, but a vibrant display of colour and form nonetheless...

She was so inspired that a few days later, as we were stuck inside due to a sandstorm, she painted her own little abstract art piece.

My Mommy's artwork

From the Emirates Palace, we headed to the Marina Mall which, unfortunately, was a little bit on fire. No worries, nothing can stop shoppers in Abu Dhabi, so we continued wandering through the mall with the rest of the shoppers.

Our next trip to Abu Dhabi took us for a quiet evening along the Corniche, including supper at a neat little cafe that is in the middle of a spiral fountain, with a view of the Abu Dhabi skyline. Our walk along the beach was thwarted by extensive repair work along the Corniche as they rebuild and expand the waterfront. Yes, well, at any moment of the year, I think there are about 17 million construction projects on the go in both Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

This is not a picture of repair work along the Corniche, but some buildings that are going up across from the Emirates Palace

A few days later, we went to the Camel Festival again. This time, it was for shopping!

Let me know how many weavings of tanks you might need....

We wandered around the pretty kiosks, full of Bedouin handicrafts and took in the traditional dancers.

It's a bit hard to describe... two lines of men face each other. They are holding long sticks that they wave up and down while they chant.

If you were Harry Potter, this photo would move, and you would be able to fully experience the camel dance

Between them is a whole crowd of men and boys, dancing with sticks or twirling fake guns. Every so often, they go into the "camel dance", where they move their heads and sway down to kneeling positions as if they were camels. It's actually rather hypnotic (and I'm hoping we have a video of it too!).

Liwa and the Camel Festival

2010-02-01T10:55:00.005+04:00

With Ty starting his CELTA and now unable to join in our fun, we booked our friend Nawaf for a day of visiting the area around MZ. My work colleague Karen joined in on the fun too.

We started off by poking around one of the Liwa forts before heading off to the desert.

Tal Moreeb (Moreeb Dune) is the largest dune in this area -- I mean, big enough to have its own name!).

This photo shows my Mom standing at the bottom of a part of the dune,
and it isn't even the highest part!

We ran around in the dunes, then went to check out the Liwa hotel (which was, of course, my first "house" here).

From there, it was on to the Al Dhafra Camel Festival. We were immediately invited into a tent, where we were fed sweets and tea - the full-on Bedouin hospitality experience!

It was really nice! We couldn't stay long, though -- just enough time to get a taste and check out the souk really quickly, before heading back home. We'll definitely be going back later in the week!

Dubai Weekend

2010-02-01T09:33:00.007+04:00

And so, we kicked off my spring vacation with a weekend in Dubai. My Mom has been to Dubai several times, including almost 30 years ago, when it was nothing but a road in the desert, so we knew we had to make it special.

We started off with an evening around the Creek and good food and great shopping. We had booked a "hotel apartment" so we had a big condo to return to each night.... 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a kitchen, a living room... and all for just over $150 a night! Unbelievable in one of the most expensive cities in the world.

Our plans to ride the new Dubai Metro were thwarted on Friday morning as... well, everything is closed on Friday mornings. We took a taxi instead, first heading to the big Palm island and the Atlantis hotel to look at the big aquarium, and to dance around in the huge hallways.

After that, we went to the Mall of the Emirates for lunch at a South African restaurant overlooking the famous indoor skihill.

On then, to the Burj Khalifa - riding the Metro (which was awesome!).

First, though, we went to the Dubai Mall (the largest something something mall in something... with the largest indoor aquarium or something again) to meet up with Grant and Dianne, who had lived with us in the Liwa hotel and worked in MZ. Now, they live in Sharjah and Grant had reserved our tickets for the Burj a week earlier to make sure that we could watch the sun set from the top (funny fact: The sun sets 30 minutes later when you are so high up!). As you can imagine, the whole Dubai skyline looked tiny from the top of the Burj!

Supper was a real treat (and here's a hint if you are ever in Dubai) at TGIFriday's, which has a patio overlooking the big musical fountain at the base of the Burj. Every 15-20 minutes, we were treated to a wee musical number, with lights and water coordinating along. Another great find by Grant and Dianne!

Exhausted from our long day (I mean, if Ty and I were tired, you can imagine my poor Mom!), we returned to our lovely little apartment to put our throbbing feet up.

The next day, we headed back to the Creek for more shopping and a wander through the Gold Souk and the spice market.

Our Dubai weekend was finished up with a nice visit to the Ibn Battuta Mall, a huge shopping complex based on the historical journey of a 14th C explorer who went from Morocco to China, and all the way up to northern Turkey and Timbuktu!

Really spectacular: Each part of the mall is themed to one of the places he visited.

Mom's Visit So Far

2010-01-28T11:39:00.005+04:00

Alright, so Mom arrived on Sunday evening, and it's been a pretty cool visit so far.

After only a few days, she's already been to the camel racetrack, watching a herd of camels being herded by SUVs.

She's toured the new Tilal hotel (and had supper there).

Najat is one of my favourite teachers.... I'm rocking my Emirati kandura in this photo...

She got a special breakfast from my teachers (2 kinds of foule, falafel, hummus and bread). She helped us host a wine and cheese (and she even cleaned up afterwards!).

An awesome group shot of some of the teachers in front of my school. The one in the purple, on the far right, is Gharam, who I've been working with for a year. The lady who is completely covered in black is Mira, the Principal. Aziza, another of my wonderful English teachers, is standing just in front of the principal, also wearing black. You can see my Mom poking her head out on the left.

And last night, she and I got to hang out at my principal's "farm" (like Bedouin tents in the desert, with sheep and camels and stuff).

A very friendly camel!!

Today, we are off to Dubai for a few days.... with more photos to come!

Where have we been?

2010-01-22T08:13:00.002+04:00

I know, I know... we've been bad bloggers. But really -- it's been a bit of a slow month!

Ty has been doing his CELTA pre-assignments (he has pages and pages of homework, and the course hasn't even started yet!) with a vengeance. I've started my MA with less of a vengeance (as I'm still waiting for a textbook to arrive and the first few units were reviews of basic concepts).

At both of my schools, mid-year exams are underway, meaning that I've been doing lots and lots of correcting: Which really isn't blog-worthy. One thing that is blog-worthy is the "breakfasts" that the teachers have before they start correcting: Picture 12-15 women, sitting on the floor, with plates and plates of salads, hummus, falafel, bread, exotic mixes of grilled veggies ("This recipe is from Jordan/Syria/Tunisia," they say as they fill your plate to overflowing). Besides being incredibly delicious, the breakfasts (eaten around 11:00) are also wonderful bonding experiences. Maybe the coolest thing, though, is that, when everyone is relaxed in an all-female setting, the hijabs and veils start coming off, and you actually get to see what everyone's hair looks like (long, highlighted, curly... and everyone suddenly looks 10 years younger).

The big news, of course, is that my Mom is coming to visit for a few weeks. During that time, we'll take her to Dubai (we have tickets to go to the top of the Burj!), and Abu Dhabi to see the Guggenheim exhibit at the Emirates Palace, as well as a few local events, including the famous Camel Festival, which is happening a 5-minute drive away.

This event made news last December when Sheikh Hamdan (who sometimes parks his helicopter in the soccer field behind our apartment building) paid almost $3 million for a camel there. Anyway, this year's festival is sure to be quite special as Sheikh Hamdan has done a lot in the past few months, since his arrival at the palace in Liwa, to bring attention to the area.

Of course, I'll also drag my Mom to school with me, so that she can have a breakfast or two...

The Burj Dubai/Khalifa

2010-01-13T16:53:00.003+04:00

Last week, 4 January 2010, the Burj was finally opened, making it officially the world's tallest skyscraper. Dubai put on its “let's show the world that we can put a good show” gloves, and staged a grand opening ceremony. The ceremony, which can be watched here, included vast amounts of fireworks being let off from the building itself, from top to bottom, a huge sound and lights show, and an accompanying, co-ordinated water show from the Dubai Fountain which lies in front of the building.

At the ceremony the Burj Dubai was newly renamed Burj Khalifa, presumably after the current President of the UAE and Emir of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.

The building has broken a large number of records, including, at 823m, the tallest man-made structure ever built. It trumped all previous record holders of various categories (tallest skyscraper, tallest structure, tallest freestanding structure) by over 200m. It is 160 storeys high. It also holds other stranger records such as world’s fastest elevators, and both the world’s highest mosque and swimming pool.

It is quite something driving into Dubai and seeing this futuristic building looming over absolutely everything, including buildings much taller than any in South Africa. We can’t wait to get up to the top as soon as we have the chance. (Hopefully it will be open for tourism while Virginia’s mom is here!!)

Just after it was built, this guy took a camera to the very top and made a video looking down from the top. It's worth a look, especially if you've ever been to Dubai.

*pics courtesy of wikipedia

Final Azerbaijan Blog: The Weird and Wonderful Moments

2009-12-30T17:34:00.003+04:00

Even a month later, there are moments from our 9 days in Azerbaijan that come back. I'm sure that there are certain things that I'll never forget:

The crazy funikulyor up the hill in Baku. For 20 qepik (about 25 cents), you can ride a ridiculously rickety funicular up to.... well... to the higher part of the town, a collection of cemeteries from different uprisings, and monuments. You will also find some very hungry cats up there who will climb into your backpack to get your lunch...
The Old City of Baku. The Old city is beautiful, clean and so full of history inside its city walls that it is hard to describe. Everywhere there are old buildings, old streets, old people.
The cats! Everywhere we went, it seemed, there were friendly stray cats. On our last day, we stopped for lunch and, as happens in Azerbaijan, got a private room with a space heater. We were soon joined by a mother cat and her kitten, who happily shared our cheese with us, as they toasted themselves by the electric fire.

The bus to and from Sheki. Instead of taking the luxurious "Western" bus, we hopped into a mini-bus for the 5 hour trek from Baku to Sheki. Lumpy seats, no shocks, a bumpy road with hairpin turns, a chain-smoking driver, a quick stop at a restaurant with a bear in a cage outside, and views of shepherds leading flocks of sheep over rolling fields... One of the weirdest bus rides I've ever taken in my life.
Qobustan rock carvings. We had a private tour (for about $4 each) through the museum and up into the caves to look at rock carvings that were, in some cases, 20,000 years old.
The fire temples around Baku. First off, we stopped at a naturally occurring phenomenon of the side of a hill that seemed to be completely on fire... and it was incredibly hot. You couldn't stand near it without getting singed. And it's been burning for thousands of years. The more established Fire Temple has been a favourite place for Zoroastrians for ages. In the rooms, we stared at 1st century swords and jewellery -- in glass cases without backs, meaning we could have simply squeezed our hand behind the case to grab at them.
The "wishing mosque". I'm not sure who the famous poet was who was buried here, but the mosque (in a rather unpicturesque village by an oil field) is absolutely gorgeous. If you visit his grave (I was in the women's section, following a group of women around and around the bars surrounding his grave, as they prayed), you can make a wish. As you are leaving, a woman may grab you by the hand and drag you over to a lady behind a counter who will hand you a bag full of candy.
The bathroom in Xinaliq. Okay, we've talked a lot about Xinaliq but we haven't really touched on just how, um, primitive the bathroom was. A mud floor, over a hole in the ground, with slippery rocks to stand on. And it's freezing cold on your nether regions. And to get there: you get to slide down either a muddy path (in the sunlight) or a hard frozen slippery path (at night, holding a tiny flashlight). Finally, on the last morning, I just simply refused to go at all. Hmmm, nice view out the little window, though (snowy mountains and a frozen river).
Butchers/sacrifices etc. So, yes, we were there during the Muslim Eid that is known for its sheep sacrifices. These were done, it seemed, every 100 metres or so on the 150km drive from Baku to Quba. A collection of (live) sheep in a pen, or meandering around the side of the road, and one (dead) sheep hanging in a tree. In general, Azeris want the freshest meat possible, choosing butchers over pre-packaged fare. This meant that there were butcher shops just about everywhere, with both live and dead animals on display. One of our lunches in Xinaliq arrived in the same way: we got back from our horseback ride in the snow to a bloodstain and 2 feathers in the snow -- and had chicken for lunch.
Televisions, everywhere. No matter where we were, there was always a TV blaring. The shows tended to be endless loops of funniest home videos and randomness like how to turn a lighter into a water gun... We did spend an entire evening drinking tea and watching TV in Quba.
The random 11th century castle. We wrote about this when we wrote about the people. The size of it and its perfect condition, its spot in the middle of a shanty town, our tour guide, and the odd jumble of ancient artefacts lying around, including the carved floor-plan, just waiting to be slipped into one of our backpacks, made this an unforgettable stop on the trip.
The food. Of course, with animal carcasses hanging all over the place, Ty was in heaven (especially once said carcass was cooked and dipped in a special blend of spices). What, you may ask, did the world's most finicky eater survive on? Every meal is served with a pile of amazing bread, at least 2 different cheeses, and a plate of cucumbers, onions, rocket, parsley, cilantro and so on. I also discovered incredible oddities like hot yogurt soup (actually very delicious) and that bread spread with smetana and honey is the best breakfast in the world.
Our caravansary hotel in Sheki. For about $50 (which is expensive in that part of the world), you can have a "suite" (sitting room, fireplace, bedroom, bathroom) in a caravansary. These were the stopping points on the Silk Route where the camels could be stabled downstairs, while the people had rooms upstairs. Quite thrilling to be surrounded by something so vibrantly old.

I'm not sure if we've left anything out, but don't worry... the next time you see us, every sentence will inevitably start with "In Azerbaijan, we...." and you'll be sick of hearing about the whole thing anyway. (edit… I’ve added a few parts to what Virginia wrote, and realised we’ve left a few places out… but I think we’d carry on writing forever if we allowed ourselves more space. For now I leave you with the car full of apples, of which we saw two – Ty)

Anniversary, Christmas, Luke's visit, and Al Ain

2009-12-27T12:45:00.003+04:00

Well, it's been a busy week.

We started the week off by celebrating our one-year anniversary. It's hard to believe that it's been a year already -- and we're still amazed at how much our lives have changed in that time. We celebrated by running a bunch of errands in Abu Dhabi (romantic, I know)... before heading for supper in a nice restaurant in the city (a bit more romantic, I tell ya).

The week was really marked by two events, though: Christmas (which you all know about) and our friend Luke's visit.

First off, I wasn't expecting Christmas to be such a big deal here. Being a Muslim country, and remembering the situation from when I lived in Saudi as a young girl, I thought Christmas would just go by without any notice at all. Instead, we were surprised to see Christmas lights up all over Abu Dhabi, as well as huge trees in the shopping centres. No Nativity scenes or anything, of course, but quite a few Santas and snowmen.

At school, we had been warned not to do any sort of celebrating, but then found that our Arabic teachers were the ones approaching us and wishing us "Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year". We went through the school with cookies and candy canes, and everyone seemed really happy. See, they include us in their celebrations (like Eid), giving us food and gifts, so it would have been offensive for us *not* to have reciprocated.

Now, for Luke's visit: When we were in Mokpo, we befriended this awesome Scottish guy. Now, his parents live in Dubai and he is back in Scotland. For Christmas, he came to visit us, I mean, visit his family... Ty went up to Dubai to see him, then brought him back to our place. Although he was only here for 2 days, he got to see a lot of the desert life around us. Here are a few of his photos:

The boys got up at 6 am and drove out to the desert to catch the sunrise. I was, of course, going off to work and couldn't join them. Anyway, when YOU come visit us, you can do the same thing!

For the actual Christmas weekend, we went to visit my step-sister and her family in Al Ain. Al Ain is a really lovely town - not as big a city as Abu Dhabi, and not as small as Madinat Zayed. Built around a big oasis, it's always been a rather important place in the UAE history (the ruling family is from there).

Seeing as my past five Christmases have been in odd places, doing odd things (like surfing in Mexico, or singing until 5am in a Korean karaoke room), it was nice to have a "normal" Christmas with kids opening presents around a tree. It was a great, relaxing weekend, and a perfect way to finish off a rather hectic week.

Azerbaijan – Xinaliq

2009-12-21T22:31:00.001+04:00

We decided that the magical two days we spent in Xinaliq needed a space of their own.

You’ve already met the gun-toting Ali Baba Schoemaker, who we met in Guba. He was a beginning, on our…

Road to Xinaliq

After tea at the family home in Guba, the screeching of tyres that announced his arrival, and then accelerating off along the bumpy road in a way that left our cheeks behind, we began to see the scenery change. Villages sped past. The intense greenery was slowly replaced by dustings of snow in the trees. We climbed higher, the road became more windy, more bumpy. Then more icy. The snow deepened. The hills became mountains.

On we sped, hovering between fear of flying off the road, and awe at the white peaks, and deep valleys; into which we were likely to plunge at the slightest error from our confident driver.

We stopped to peer, we stopped to chat to men wisely putting chains on THEIR vehicle, we stopped to make our way over a place where an avalanche had taken the road. We waited as a heroic and triumphant Ali Baba willed the Lada through this mess, climbed back in, and soon enough, through ever deeper snow, wound into the valley where, up one steep side, Xinaliq lay, and has lain for 4000 odd years.

Xinaliq Moments

The people were what really made the trip special for us. Each, especially those mentioned in the blog before, contributed to the moments we had.

Here is a sampling of what Xinaliq had to offer in moments: both strange and beautiful.

Faiq eagerly took us around the little village.

First were proudly shown their new cell tower at the top of the world,

and the local mosque, that’s it behind the hard working kid with the rake.

We later saw the local tea shop.

and the dung fires to be used for cooking, and heat,

and we saw the cemeteries, where people have long been buried.

We saw and met people, alive and well. People of the earth. Men who work as shepherds up the steep hills in deep, deep snow, and kill chickens or sheep for lunch in the town square or at the front door (the freshest meat we’ve eaten I’m sure), patch roofs with clay and straw, and now corrugated iron. Women who busy themselves at dawn fetching in pails of water, cook on dung fires, with babies at hip, or children under foot, make bread in mud ovens, make tea, make clothes, make every necessity conceivable. Late into the night they work, but working is living, and living is working. They seem content.

The children run and play and slide in the snow. They laugh. They work too. And go to school… sometimes. Sometimes, especially if they are girls.

They laugh, and have dirty hands.

We had jam, boiled down, half sugar half cherries, fit to melt your teeth out of your mouth. But good. You drink your tea though it. Your babies teeth on it. If you’re older you either have gold teeth or none. If you’re older still, you crochet warm shoes for babies, or make prized Persian rugs to hang round the house. Or - once mom has tightly swaddled baby, with strong arms, and tied this bundle with rope, the secured baby to a handmade cradle with yet more rope – if you are older still, you swiftly bang the cradle from side to side, child flying from one side to the other.

No lullaby is needed, not here. Grandma may not murmur and granddad may not sing, but bashing does the trick it seems. And if not, if baby later awakes and cries, a handful of salt from a vat, brought around to the family and guests to be blown on by each, then tossed over grandma’s shoulder… the older people here seem to know a thing or two. Baby didn’t make another sound.

We walked around some more that day and the next. We had hours on horseback, with Faiq and his staff always just ahead or to the side. All this time we were blown away by what we saw.

When all was said and done we left Xinaliq, not as easily as we’d come in, and, even after only two days, with changed hearts and minds, and not all that far from shedding a few tears.

Azerbaijan - The People

2009-12-14T17:19:00.011+04:00

Instead of doing a chronological blog like, "On the first day, we went to Zfghqtry and saw [whatever]", we're doing things a bit differently.

The one thing that marked our adventurous 9 days in Azerbaijan the most was the people we met. For the most part, they ended up being a part of the adventure - either by leading us there, or already being there, just being themselves. Everyone seemed ready to lend us a helping hand, offer us a cup of tea, drive us somewhere, or chat away (in either Russian, Azeri or broken English) about the history of Azerbaijan. Really, this trip would not have been the same without....

Rashad, the airport customs guy

So, we arrive in the Baku airport and are immediately surprised to discover that while a Canadian passport holder only needs to pay $65 to get a visa and waltz on through, a South African needs a letter of invitation, stamped by Foreign Affairs. Patience on our part, coupled with a few phone calls on his (and perhaps the fact that it was 1 am and we were the only people in the whole airport) got Ty a 10-day visa.

Tea shop woman

On our first day wandering in Baku, we stopped for tea (of course). Throughout our trip, stoic stares turned into smiles. This lady chatted with us (in Russian) for 45 minutes with a big smile on her face. We learned, from her, that the best way to communicate "We are married" to anyone wasn't to show them our rings, but to hold our arms our and circle our wrists in imitation of the traditional wedding dance.

Our Carpet Guy

His name is illegible on his business card and unpronounceable in English, I think, but this guy quickly became one of our friends in Baku. He first waved us into his tiny shop in an old Caravansary (where Caravans would stop for lodging along the Silk Road) to "Look! No buy!" and, of course, immediately began unrolling carpets. We protested at first, then realized that he really was just showing us the different styles to be found throughout the country, and educating us about the regions and history of Azerbaijan. We went back to visit him 4 times over our trip, and yes, bought a carpet from him (one that was unrolled the first day, that I asked him to hold for me). He apologized for his poor English - really, it was fine - and told us stories of working for the Soviets, and living in northern Russia for 3 years with the military.
During our last visit, he showered us with gifts: Two traditional hats (hanging on the wall in the photo), evil eye charms, a blingy cell-phone bag.

The band

Leaving his shop on that first day, we could hear music. We'd stumbled into the rehearsal of a traditional band. We sat and watched and listened. Random people got up to sing, and the tar player attempted to speak with us. Later that night, when we returned to watch them play for real over supper, we got the nods and smiles that instantly make you feel like you're "with the band", and instantly cooler than all the other tourists (uhhh, what other tourists? We were the only tourists in the entire country, I think). Sadly, we didn't get to see them again, for Ty to learn how to actually play the tar he bought in Quba.

Ali Baba Shumacher, the "Jinguo!"

To get to Xinaliq, we had to entrust our lives to the incredible Ali Baba. He first greeted us by jumping out of his screeching Lada Niva and proclaiming "I am Ali Baba!". Thus endeth his English. All other communication was by the exclamation "Jinguo!", which we later learned meant "Devil!". We sat with his wife (who also didn't speak any English) and drank tea while he put special tires on his SUV, then were surprised when he placed two gun belts full of (homemade) bullets on the table next to our teacups!

A bit of miming revealed that they were in case of bears.

And so our drive began. A fresh snowfall on a narrow (and dare I say crumbling-into-the-abyss) road leading into the Caucasus mountains, while Ali Baba (aka Mr Shumacher, no speed limits in Azerbaijan, methinks) chatted on his cell phone and yelled out "Jinguo!" every 5 minutes made for an all-too-tense ride. I think you could probably take my fingerprint impressions directly out of the edges of the seats, since that's what I held onto -- oh, did I mention the lack of seatbelts?

Funny thing, though, we were relieved when, at the end of our 2 days in Xinaliq, Ali Baba arrived to pick us up.

I wouldn't have trusted those snowy and - at one point - covered by a rock slide/avalanche roads to anyone but him.

And, on the way home, we finally got to see the gun in action - as he stopped, jumped out, steadied his gun on the open window of his door and fired at (and missed) a vulture with a 3m wingspan.

Faiq and his family

There is, surprisingly, much to be found on the internet about Xinaliq (<-- this link will bring you to some incredible photos, remember though, we were there in winter and deep deep snow), the tiny mountain village where we did our homestay.

For two days, we lived with Faiq and his family (including his sister, his wife, his baby son, his brother, his brother's wife, his brother's baby daughter, and his parents).

A shepherd by trade, Faiq was always ready with a big smile and a "Yes" to every question. The guy who organized the homestay, Kheyraddin, chooses the neediest families for his scheme so, we found ourselves in a dung-heated house with no running water. Faiq walked us around the village, organized a snowy horseback ride, attempted communication via an Azeri-English dictionary, loaned me boots, showed us his wedding video and shared all aspects of his life with us: We even slept in his bed.

For the most part, the language barrier meant that we could only sit and watch as their normal life (cooking, washing, cleaning, bringing in dung, starting fires, taking care of the babies, and yes, watching weird Turkish TV) went on around us.

Our greatest ally, it turned out, was Faiq's father who is mute: His lifetime of speaking through signs and charades made it easy for us to communicate with each other. He explained the plot of the Turkish TV show, made sure our tea was served promptly, and gave heck to anyone who blocked our view of the wedding video.

Mohubbat

Faiq's cousin/nephew/somehow related, living in Xinaliq for the school while his parents work in Quba. The first evening, he stared at us shyly over the table. A simple gift of a Pez dispenser (now on display on a shelf in Faiq's home....) broke the ice.

The next day was spent, literally, breaking the ice as Mohubbat showed Ty how to play in the snow - he actually left a group of his friends behind to follow us around the village. Later that evening, we taught him to play a few pen-and-paper games like tic-tac-toe, which kept Ty and him busy for the next 3 hours.

The morning we left, he snuck back to the house to say goodbye.

Kheyraddin

Having organized the Xinaliq trip through Kheyraddin's website, we were really looking forward to meeting him. Born in Xinaliq, Kheyraddin is a local boy who's done good. He has lived, studied and worked around the world, from Cairo to Chicago. Usually, Kheyraddin doesn't get the chance to meet his "tourist clients" but, somehow, we got to spend a full day in Quba with him. He patiently answered all our questions about Xinaliq over lunch, and took us to the music store where Ty bought his tar. He even came out the next morning to see us off -- shame we don't have a photo with him!

Kheyraddin's Xinaliq homestay scheme is a sideline job for him, but one that has had a very positive impact on the people of Xinaliq, where the average earnings are less than $50/month. Yes, you can get there by yourself, but why would you want to? He arranged everything in advance for us - transportation (including Ali Baba!), homestay, horses, hotel in Quba - we were coddled from start to finish!

Sonalieyev, our hotel guy

One of the deciding factors for actually buying the tickets to Azerbaijan was finding a hotel that was not a) a booked-out hostel or b) super wicked expensive. Through Lonely Planet, we were able to find several links to hotels, but of the five that I e-mailed, only one actually responded. That was the Aldstadt Hotel in the Old City of Baku. It is located within the city walls, and is literally 2 minutes from the Maiden Tower and the historical bits. There were, however, other advantages, such as coffee or tea that seemed to be available at any moment and Sonalieyev, who drove us around for two days, bringing us to see the petroglyphs at Qobustan and the peninsula around Baku (think fire temples, a mosque where you can make a wish, and a surprise 11th century fortress in the middle of a slum).

Wherever he drove us, in his Lada, Sonalieyev regaled us with stories of life under Soviet rule, people who discovered oil while digging pits for their toilets, and the current reign of Heyder Aliyev, Azerbaijan's democratically-elected-president-who-has-huge-pictures-of-himself-everywhere-and-who-everyone-thinks-is-a-hero-and-who-gives-interviews-from-his-private-jet-in-a-country-where-corruption-is-rather-widespread. Ahem. To paraphrase one of his statements, Sonalieyev was laughed at for studying English when the Soviets were around (he speaks Azeri, Russian, Armenian, English and a smattering of other languages), but now he's the one who is having the last laugh, as he cashes in on the tourist trade. He somehow seemed to know everything about every spot we stopped at, and everyone who worked there.

We brought him halvesi from Sheki and he, making good on a promise, gave us a jar of his wife's homemade jam (to be enjoyed with tea, of course).

The ladies at the church in Kish (oh, and the skeletons too)

There's really only one reason to go to Kish, a village located 5 km away from the town of Sheki: It's the site of one of the oldest churches in Europe. Originally a pagan site where a church was built in the first century AD (just think about that for a moment....), the "Old Albanian Church" is worth the time and effort to see.

For less than $1, two ladies in black cardigans will bring you in, and happily show you the 2m tall skeletons that lay partially uncovered around the site. They'll point to the English signage and the unguarded 2000-year-old pottery jugs and newly excavated jewellery on display around the place, show you where to make your wish (against a part of the original wall - if your coin sticks, your wish comes true) and take your picture, then invite you back for tea and homemade homegrown mulberry jam. Once there, you might be lucky enough to be joined by the brash, gold-toothed director of the church site, whose family has been caretakers of the place for generations.

Because of the Norwegian government's interest in the site, the whole place has been transformed - they've rebuilt the church roof according to pre-1600 techniques. Students do homestays there in the summer and many of the locals, the director included, have enjoyed free English lessons as well.

But why the Norwegians? Those huge skeletons, and the carvings at Qobustan (that we also saw) are, according to a famous (and fascinating) Norwegian archeologist Thor Heyerdahl, proof that Scandinavians originated in the Caucasus mountains.

The Old Guy with One Tooth at the 11th Century Fortress in the middle of a slum

On our last day in Azerbaijan, Sonalieyev brought us around to see the sights around Baku. On our way back to Baku, he asked us casually if we would like to see "a tall old tower". We kind of shrugged and said, "Sure, why not?". After driving through a bit of a dodgy neighbourhood, we looked up to see an immaculate medieval looking tower. The gate was locked, so Sonalieyev went off to find the groundskeeper while we looked around the site.

The man who arrived, an old guy with one tooth, unlocked the padlock and led us inside. The banter began, in Russian, but by now we were used to answering people's first questions with "South Africa" and "Canada", since it was inevitably "Where are you from?". As he pointed out the relics that lay haphazardly around the site (no guard rails, no labels - this is not a typical tourist place), he would pause from time to time to say something about South Africa or Canada and continue talking about something he'd seen on TV. At one point, he looked at me, raised his arms and said, "Wayne Gretzky, the Great One!" and "Ottawa", but he was more interested in yelling "De Klerk" and "Pretoria" and "Mandela" at Ty as we toured the ramparts of the fortress.

Once again, we were baffled and impressed by the knowledge that the people of Azerbaijan have about the rest of the world, while the rest of the world (ourselves included, before this trip anyway) can barely even locate them on the map and have no idea of the richness of their history and culture.

Honourable Mentions:

Gifts from people we met in Azerbaijan

The guy who drove us from the airport to our hotel in his old, creaky Lada with grinding gears (hmmm, this isn't a real licensed taxi, is it?), calling the hotel to make sure we still had a reservation and stopping at a money changers (at 2am), then helping us to count our money before we left by showing us on a huge calculator how much we should get.
The waiter in Quba who mimed "fried eggs" for us in the morning and introduced us to the concept of rose syrup in our tea.
The Jewish waitress in Baku (Azerbaijan is a predominantly Muslim country) who treated us to two pints of local beer and a pack of cigarettes, in a rather posh restaurant built into the Old City walls.
The souvenir kiosk guys in the Old City of Baku who held onto things for us (we'll be back in a week!), with a special shout-out to the guy who gave us a rapid-fire history lesson and nicknamed Ty "The Boer".
The teenage waiters at the restaurant between Baku and Sheki who probably thought Ty was a rock star, because of the hair.
Surly (he was surly) and Eyebrow (he was nice), at the Caravansary in Sheki.

But really, the best part of all the people of Azerbaijan was their sincerity. It wasn't like any normal touristy place we've ever been, where a friendly smile is little more than a ploy to make you enter their shop and spend your money. Each person we crossed paths with was honestly happy to see us, and eager to share the story of their little history-rich treasure of a country.

OMG – I can’t believe we forgot the vodka store guy in Sheki!!! (and yes, we regret not buying, or even tasting, any the whole time, even though it was about $3/bottle)

Azerbaijan - The Places

2009-12-11T09:59:00.004+04:00

You might need to click on the map to make it bigger....
Note: City names have variable spellings and weird pronunciations, for example, Quba is listed on this map as "Kuba", but it is said "Guba".

Nov 25 - 26: Baku - wandering around the Old City, the Maiden Tower, the waterfront, shopping and exploring, and making friends.
Nov 27 - 29: Baku to Quba, to Xinaliq (where we spent 2 nights in a homestay in a small mountain village with no running water, went horseback riding in the snow, and came away feeling worlds away from reality).
Nov 30: Baku - around the walls of the Old City.
Dec 1: Baku to Qobustan (to see petroglyphs) to Sheki by bus.
Dec 1 - 3: Sheki to Kish (to see a small 1st century church in a remote village) and back to Baku
Dec 4: Driving around Baku to see fire temples, oil fields and an amazing 11th century fort

In the coming week, we will tell you about the people we met, and the incredible adventures that we packed into only 9 days....

UAE National Day

2009-12-08T19:38:00.004+04:00

Before we write about our absolutely amazing vacation in Azerbaijan, I need to write about the UAE National Day.

The United Arab Emirates is a rather young country, brought together by the late, great Sheikh Zayed in 1971.

This is the image of Sheikh Zayed that is found everywhere in the country. Younger photos of him show a young, happy guy, usually holding a falcon or standing next to one of his racing camels. When I asked someone why they didn't use a nicer picture of him, I was told that he had to "look like a leader".

Up until that point, this whole country was made up of smaller "Sheikhdoms" (An "Emirate" is basically a principality), and had pretty much been left alone, except by the UK (which had been aiding in their development since the time of the Trucial States).

Abu Dhabi and Dubai spearheaded the initial writing of the Constitution, then invited the other Sheikhdoms (including Qatar and Oman, who didn't join) to come together under the umbrella of the UAE.

Sheikh Zayed is still a big deal here. His image is displayed everywhere, and he's buried near an absolutely massive mosque that was built in his honour. At any function that I've had a chance to attend, the speeches inevitably contain some reference to him (I hear something like "ArabicArabicArabic Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al Nahyah ArabicArabicArabic). His son, Khalifa bin Zayed, is the current President of the UAE (and his picture is everywhere too.... but more on that later - see below).

At my schools, National Day was a rather big deal. For about 2 weeks beforehand, students and teachers spent an incredible amount of time decorating the school, making posters, and organizing kiosks for the day. On our side, at the girls' high school, we had a kiosk with pictures of the Sheikhs, a quiz about the history of the UAE, and greeting cards for students to sign.

The real treat, though, was when I went to the girls' middle school and was treated to traditional dancing by the students. The room was full of older women, wearing burqas and abayas, and the girls - all dressed up and bejewelled - danced the "hair dance" and the "camel dance".

The hair dance basically just has the girls swishing their hair from side to side. The camel dance is supposed to resemble either a person riding a camel, or a camel itself, as the girls will go down on one knee and jerk their heads back and forth.

It was a great day, and I came home loaded with presents and candy, as well as being full of yummy traditional food and a gallon of cardamom coffee..... then changed out of my kandura and abaya, grabbed the backpacks and headed off to Dubai to catch the plane!

In celebration of National Day, we bring you....

The My Sheikh Game (Official Rules)

1 - Upon sighting any Sheikh's image, players must shout out "My Sheikh!". The first person to "claim" the Sheikh is awarded one (1) point.
2 - A picture/poster/billboard with more than one Sheikh will result in multiple points, but only if the player shouts out for each Sheikh ("My Sheikh! My Sheikh! My Sheikh...").
3- Images must be visible by all players. Players who insist on always calling the 1-storey tall image of Sheikh Zayed on a couch from 1 km away down the Abu Dhabi Corniche will be pouted at.
4- Sheikhs may not be claimed if the other player is asleep, reading a map, or not currently present. Texting a "My Sheikh" to another player does not count. Players may not wake up their opponents to point out a Sheikh to claim.
5 - If one player spots an Adnoc Oil Truck, the other player loses all their points. When in Dubai, where there are no Adnocs, one of Dubai's gas trucks (i.e. Emarat) may be substituted. Adnoc trucks are not coupons and may not be saved until your opponent has 27 Sheikh points.

6 - Games last the duration of one (1) drive, and may not be kept for the next trip.
7 - Sheikhs and Adnoc trucks may only be claimed once.
8 - The winner gets nothing but glory.

Additional Rules (to be voted on, at a later date)

A) Additional points for saying the Sheikh's complete name ("My Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al Nahyan!").
B) Penalties for wrongly identifying an advertisement for mascara as a Sheikh.

Azzerbajaserhakgiikan???

2009-11-18T22:47:00.003+04:00

Sooooooo.... there's a block of holidays coming up soon. Eid #2 + UAE National Day = 10 days off.

I've decided that I have a problem. I have a, what you might call, travel addiction. I actually feel a rush once plane tickets have been booked... Weird, I know.

When one is living in Abu Dhabi, how can one go to a stranger place? Ah yes, for some of you, there may be the attraction of Djibouti or Timbuktu (Hi Mom!)... but whilst trolling the internets, when one stumbles upon flight deals from flydubai (UAE's low cost carrier - that has daily flights to Aleppo and Khartoum, and yes, Djibouti... but anyway...) and one notices that there is a deal for "Dubai to Baku for 300 dirhams" (less than $100 CDN and about 1000 Rand), one must automatically find on google where one might find this mythical "Baku".

For those of you who are too lazy to google "Baku", I will tell you this: It's in Azerbaijan.

(Ty has been calling it "Djelli-baybee" since our decision that we absolutely must go there this instant, right now, let's book the tickets and I don't care that it's almost winter there!)

And we will be there next week.

People and places

2009-11-15T22:18:00.012+04:00

There are things about the travel life which are alluring. Some which are not. I like to concentrate on those that are. It all lies in the people you meet and the place that you are. Clichéd, and more true than you know.

Quite often the people are the ones you meet along the way, having a similar experience by dint of being in a foreign country with you, or otherwise sharing with you something of there own culture that you never experienced before. The places are yours alone, or yours to share, whichever way you choose.

I'll go with the places first. And just describe one. On Friday, Virginia and I headed for the dunes of Moreeb once more (for all you constant readers, you'll know we've had some adventures up there before... from the cars of the desert rally to the racing of falcons, but most of all, to witness one of the most desolate places on earth).

We pulled off the road at a break in the barrier, and because we do not (yet) have a 4x4, stopped short on the dirt 'road' where a dune was slowly making its crossing. We had decided we’d camp out there for a night. It was easier enough to haul our things down to a dip in the dunes which would hide the nearby road from sight (not that it leads anywhere much, and who would have thought that there would have been ATVs revving up and down all night... but that gets off the lovely of the occasion).

Soon enough we had the tent up (Virginia being surprisingly spry in tent-building) and a fire going. Now you cannot imagine the quiet of the desert at night; the ringing that constantly sounds in your ears, but can't usually hear for other daily sounds, is pronounced. I kept moving my hand in front of the fire too, for when I did, the stars would blossom furiously. The Milkyway, the stillness, and the soft murmur, hiss and crackle of the fire, while at the same time there were dunes silhouetted on all sides. It's dreams that look like this, or at the least very nice storybooks, the words you used to let yourself sleep on, while your parents read away.

Of course the morning was oh so groggy. I feel that way about most mornings, but especially camp mornings, but soon we were up, poking around at the tracks that desert gerbils had left all over the site and packing up the dew-sodden floor-mats and tent. And we needed to hurry because the desert being a desert, even heading to winter, was unforgiving; piercing the morning with sudden heat as the sun rose, though we'd both shared our shivers that night.

The point. This place of beauty took an hour drive and a brief stop for firewood. Funny thing is that in a foreign place, you do take the time out to see these things, random things, just an hour away... give it a try wherever you are. The place I chose was the desert, and the person to share that with my love.

And now the people we share our space with, and the new things we can learn to love.

Halloween, is not so great an occasion in South Africa. I went trick-or-treating with friends a few times... but, well, it was us pushing the envelope because it’s not often a done thing – at least in the area I lived. Now the people you meet... and the things you can learn to love...

Halloween! Having not quite understood, but having been part of a couple for the last few years it's all easy to work out. It's not about the kids, the candy (well candy counts)... but adults, who for one day in a year forget about it all, and dress up in their best, worst or silliest, and get to be the kid they once were. Sure the kids love it and the adults doing it now were once those kids, but when you're overseas you get to see it without the fluff... It goes on without the kids, and, I’m convinced, it's kept going for that reason too – adults just love it.

Halloween is just one of the fun things added to my life by the different people I've met.

Look around wherever you are. These places and people are in every town, everywhere. Just a 'hello' away.

As an aside... now might be the (belated) time for our Halloween pics to be put up, so here they are.

I was disappointed by the final outcome of my costume, having won last years' contest as a lovely transvestite in Korea (this time I looked rather more like my varsity self than Ozzy Ozbourne), but uber-impressed with my first Jack-o-lantern, while Virginia dazzled with her She Devil outfit, and we all got into the spirit of things, with hideous dishes, great decorations, and some wicked outfits, that were impressive considering the tiny number of us out here who were celebrating.

Table decorations

My “Rats in Blood Sauce”… actually came out looking a bit too awful to try.. but were good once you took the leap

Virginia’s “Corpse Fingers”, fresh as the day they were plucked

The Prince of Darkness, and his Dark Queen (looking suitable devilish)

Dive Oman

2009-11-13T15:24:00.001+04:00

Last weekend I was back in Oman. We didn’t write about it last time, but we did almost exactly the same trip two days after getting back from the Maldives (and you can assume much of the same as happened on this trip went on then too). This time Virginia decided to have a bit of a break from people and stay at home while I headed off again.

Oman is a big country on the south-west border of the UAE, but there are two rather small enclaves (i.e. parts of a country surrounded by another country) further north. One, the governate of Musandam, is at the north-most tip of the UAE where it juts into the Persian Gulf. The second, Madha, which is rather smaller and completely surrounded by the UAE, lies between Musandam and mainland Oman on the Fujairah- Khor-Fakken road. Interestingly, there is a still tinier enclave of the UAE which is surrounded entirely by Madha - called Nahwa.

It was up to Dibba, which lies at the border of Musandam and the UAE, that I made my way for the weekend.

A group of about twenty or thirty of us had together hired a dhow for the weekend. It left from the Dibba harbour early on Saturday morning.

The landscape out there is worth mentioning. All along the coast line is the same thing. Rugged red and grey mountains which look to have been plucked directly from Mars, plunge directly into the sea, allowing for very few beaches, and even fewer coastal towns – although we passed one or two villages on our way up north.

We spent the entire day diving. Unfortunately unlike last time the water was not crystal clear, as there seemed to be a touch of red-tide, and there had also recently been an oil spill. Having said that once we were beneath the muck it was a lot clearer we still saw huge schools of colourful fish, and a few lovely turtles. One of the bigger fish, a batfish, followed us for one entire hour-long dive.

We anchored in a sheltered bay in the evening, and were treated to a feast of a supper, before packing in. It’s lovely to be rocked to sleep like that under the open sky, with the Milkyway visible overhead.

We headed back to the harbour in the morning, pausing to have a couple more dives, one in very clear warm waters, and the other could have been in a different ocean, as it was murky and cold again. On this second dive we saw about 20 poisonous scorpion fish, 4 clumped together at one point, which is rare as you tend to see few, and they tend to be alone.

It was still odd when I arrived back home to feel the way our perfectly solid bed seemed to sway underneath me, which I knew from last time would continue for at least another day.

Hippies!

2009-11-13T09:27:00.005+04:00

First off, my Mom reminded me that when I ended the Canada blog, I had actually forgotten something pretty important: On our second to last day, we went with my brother and (almost all) his family on a Jet boat in the Niagara River. It's actually really cool - one of the highlights of our Niagara experience, and yes you do get 100% soaked. If you've ever ridden a jetski, it's the same principle - just a million times bigger, in huge rapids. Really fun, and no, the photos do not do it justice!

Last week, I promised more updates. I know that you are curious to know what, exactly, we do for fun out here. Well, we've recently started learning how to play doumbek (traditional Arabic drums). After only 2 weeks, we can do a baladi and a chiftatelli - um, well, slowly and with plenty of stopping and starting. It's quite fun, especially for someone like me who has zero rhythm.

My drum is the prettiest drum in the world, and I'm being rather cheeky in this photo as I am looking at the photographer (Our friend Ridwan's wife, Yanti. Ridwan is responsible for bringing all of us together to play drums) on purpose and not being all "in the moment, with eyes closed". Actually, I do find it much easier to play with my eyes closed, since any stray thoughts or distractions generally mean I lose the beat completely.

You can find quite a few videos on youtube of doumbek players, usually accompanying bellydancers (makes me wonder how they can possibly play with their eyes open and not get distracted!), and it's pretty neat!

Final Canada Blog and a few updates

2009-11-06T18:54:00.005+04:00

And now for the final days in Canada -- almost 3 months ago!!!

Feeling a bit better, Ty and I (and my Mom) were happy to receive a 2-day visit from Nina, who was a great friend in Korea, a travel partner to Taiwan and, even more importantly, my maid-of-honour who did my hair and loaned me a white skirt for my wedding last December.

As with every lunch in Canada, or so it seems, we started off at Strega. Armed with our coupons for Niagara Falls, we decided to head down to the Butterfly Conservatory, where we enjoyed a bit of butterfly time, while also taking the opportunity to buy some really tacky gifts for our teachers (Korea and UAE) in the shop. We rounded out the day by visiting my uncle and aunt, then heading back home, where we enjoyed a few beverages and chatted about life in general.

The next day, we were a bit headachy, but managed to enjoy the afternoon at Cave Springs, where my brother-in-law works. The Niagara Region produces some excellent wines, and getting a winery tour is one of those must-do activities. We also got a tour of the B&B that is associated with Cave Springs, where Nina looked in every closet and drawer... teehee. We chilled at my sister's for a bit, before renting movies and having a quiet night in.

Our visit to Canada was now drawing to a close, we brought our rental car back and started saying our goodbyes. Oh, and Ty and I found ourselves having to motivate each other into packing! Somehow, our suitcases had shrunk and our possessions had tripled. Happily, the weight requirement for crossing the Atlantic was, like, 3 times what we had as an allowance when we moved from Korea to the UAE. Funny that - you can visit a place for a few weeks and be allowed to bring more than if you are moving -- it's always been one of those "huh?" moments for me...

Anyway, the final day, August 13, was an important day as it was Meron's wedding. We picked her up from the salon, where she had been made gorgeous, then drove out to Port Dover (on Lake Erie -- we saw 3 of the 5 Great Lakes while in Canada) where Dave and Meron were married on the beach.

After the ceremony, we chilled out a bit, and I got to chat with some people I hadn't seen in ages -- Meron's family, a few friends. There was no rest for the wicked, though, as we had a plane to catch.

Dash away dash away, back to my brother's where we headed out to get Sony e-books, and then on to my Mom's where things came full circle, with goodbyes from the same people who had greeted us a month ago: My sister and her kids. We jumped into our airport-bound bus (no comment on the shoddy service we got, though), and made it to the Toronto airport where we met up with a friend from MZ (!!). Ya, small world.

We arrived in Abu Dhabi, and once again had that full-circle feeling as Nawaf, our friend and (former) taxi driver was the first face we saw when we got out of the airport.

Thus endeth the Canada blog!!!

Now... you may want to know why it took so long for us to post everything (A valuable lesson was learned in that we won't be doing any more "details about every single day on a vacation" blogs anytime soon!), and it mostly has to do with my job. We returned to the UAE, and I started back immediately, dragging my sorry jet-lagged self through meetings. I won't get into too many details, but my job is now, roughly, 7 times the workload of what it was last year -- and I'm not even exaggerating. Half the time, I get home and don't want to do anything creative at all. And it's not that we don't have anything to write, it's just a matter of not having time.

Having said that, I also know that I love blogging and that my Korea blog has proven itself to be a sort of diary/travel journal on more than one occasion. And so, dear Reader, here is my promise to you...

There will now be two (2) blogs per week: about our new drumming circle, about the wonderful women I work with, about Oman, about watching the stars in the desert, about new educational experiences, about painting and decorating the apartment, about Ty's photo contest... and so on.

Whirlwind Tour of Canada, Part VI

2009-10-24T16:32:00.005+04:00

And on we went to Quebec City, where we would be staying with Madeleine and Bruno. Madeleine had come to visit us in Korea, so Ty was quite happy to be seeing her again. Bruno made us sushi and we chilled out for an evening of good conversation and wine.

The next day, we started off for La Pocatiere. Ty was starting to feel a bit worse, which made me quite sad as I'd been talking about my years in La Poc, and really wanted to show him around that whole area - you know, the woodworking shops, the restaurants, the villages like Kamouraska - as well as hanging out with all the people who had been so important to me while I lived there.

We arrived in St-Jean-Port-Joli in time for lunch by the shores of the St Lawrence and a quick tour of the sculpture garden, then headed on to La Poc.

It's always funny for me to arrive there - somehow it does feel like "coming home". My friends from that time had planned a barbecue for our arrival, which was amazing. It was great to meet up with them (and their kids - some of them are up to 3 now!), and sit in a backyard and enjoy the small town life again.

Ty, not feeling well, ended up sleeping the afternoon away, while I reminisced with old friends about what was happening now in our lives. It was just as well -- I kept speaking French and forgetting that he didn't understand!

The next day, we had a big breakfast (or, well, I had a big breakfast, while Ty slept until 2pm -- poor guy!). The great thing about Quebec and its food is that, half the time, the cheese that you're eating is from a small fromagerie down the road, or the bread is from an ancestral mill. It's just amazing.

Once Ty had woken up, a group of us took him for a walk along the St Lawrence, and then out for poutine. Ty had held off on eating poutine until getting to La Poc, and he treated himself to a duck and wine poutine (not the traditional gravy and cheesecurds). Once again, we found ourselves in a huge group of old friends and kids. We rounded out the evening at Miguelle's house, where a few of Les Gamines du College posed for a photo.

We returned to Quebec the next day, and Ty and I wandered around the old part of town. Of course, he still wasn't feeling 100%, and we only had the afternoon, but I was still able to show him some of my favourite parts of the old city - including a stop for ice cream coated in maple sugar and a ride up the mountain on the funiculaire.

Quebec City is celebrating its 400th birthday (!!) and the foundation of the Chateau Frontenac has been excavated to show remnants of original buildings that had been under the Terrasse Dufferin. Also, the Fetes de la Nouvelle France were starting up, so we were treated to people walking around in original dress as well.

That evening, Bruno, Madeleine, Ty and I went to a special free street performance by the Cirque du Soleil. Starting at different parts of the city, three groups of acrobats converged under an old highway overpass. It was absolutely amazing! We rounded out the evening by heading to a special film presentation that Bruno's company had worked on that was projected, outside, onto big grain elevators. We missed the performance, but made it there in time to watch the credits and see Bruno's name. A final pub visit in an old house in St Jean Baptiste rounded out the evening.

The film was projected onto the silos at the bottom of this pic

The next day, we returned to Montreal. We stopped to see Katrina, who has been working with birds of prey (Kestrals and Shrike - aka Butcher Birds because they hang their prey up on thorns and barbed wire). The captive-bred birds are all housed in large rooms, and we got to stand and watch them fly around us - really cool. The wild birds that are being studied or rehabilitated could also be quietly observed.

We headed on to meet up with The Girls again (minus Ellie). This time, Ty was treated to authentic Montreal smoked meat. Unfortunately, we were only there for one night, and had to head off again early in the morning to make it to Toronto.

When I was getting ready to move to Korea, I got to meet Brent and Stephanie, who ended up living in Mokpo, but visiting me in Suncheon a few times. When my Mom came to Korea, we got to stay with Brent and Steph, and once they'd returned to Canada, even met up with my Mom once! I was super-psyched to meet up with them, but now, I was the one who was starting to feel under the weather.

We arrived back in Toronto and found their place, then headed out together to Korea Town in Toronto. All of a sudden, we felt like we were back there -- all the signs, advertisements, etc are written in Hangeul (which we were surprised to discover we still understood). We got to a great Korean restaurant and, suddenly, knew everything on the menu and were looking forward to tasting it again! Sitting there, eating bibimbap and kimchi with Brent and Stephanie in a small both in a restaurant with a soju ad up on the wall just made me feel like I had gone back in time.

The next day, Ty and I were both feeling too ill to enjoy ourselves on the Harbourfront, so we had to cut our visit short and return home, where my Mom was ready to coddle us with tea.

The road trip from St. Catharines to La Pocatiere was supposed to be the highlight of our visit, and in some ways, I guess it was. For me, it was like traveling through time, as I followed the same path that I'd taken over the past 10 years. From Ontario to Montreal, to La Pocatiere, then back to Montreal and then, with Brent and Stephanie, a mini-return to Korea.

We were almost at the end of our visit to Canada, but the fun was not over yet.... and neither is the seemingly endless "Canada blog".

Plastic, Whales and Capitalism

2009-10-18T18:05:00.006+04:00

The Middle East International Film Festival is in town - or it was in town, not our town, but Abu Dhabi. Surprisingly, it featured quite a lot of movies that seemed to have an enviro-political bias -- which is fine by me!

In celebration of our birthdays, we decided to head up to AD for the weekend, stay in a nice hotel, and see three movies that had really caught our attention.

The first movie that we watched was Plastic Planet. Originally in German (as are most of these videos here), the film was introduced by the film maker, Werner Boote, and there was a Q&A session after.

There is no way that I can do this movie justice...

Mr Boote, whose grandfather worked in plastics, takes on the entire plastics industry in a sort of Michael Moore-ish way. He interviews presidents of plastic companies, plastic surgeons, visits a toy manufacturer in China (and later has one of their toys tested to find traces of major, illegal, toxic substances in it), trolls the Pacific ocean with a ship that collects and tests particles from the famous plastic mass, and interviews several scientists who have proven that we, you and I, have plastic in our cells. He discovers that he, himself, has lower fertility due to chemicals associated with normal contact with plastic over a lifetime. One of the scarier interviews was probably an American researcher who found odd results when their lab rats all started miscarrying. She discovered that the plastic cages had been washed with a detergent that degraded the surface of the cage, meaning the rats were now exposed to the chemicals used to make plastic: As she put it, the effect of plastic went through 3 generations - the mother rat, the fetal rat and, in the case of female fetuses, the eggs that were still developing. Scary stuff.

The movie was not super "green" or made for tree-huggers. He didn't interview the president of Greenpeace, he was interviewing scientists. We've been hearing the environmental message for long enough, and it's clear that most companies simply don't care about the effects of their noxious products. When it turns to their own bodies and their children, maybe that will get a reaction. And change.

But what can we do? I've always considered myself an environmentalist, yet I still have a house full of plastic products - I refuse plastic bags and excess packaging when I can and, now that we have a water purifier, no longer have to rely on bottled water to drink out here. It frustrates me that, in many cases, I simply don't have another option than to use products that already come encased in plastic. I think of all my friends who have kids, or who are currently expecting, and wonder how their kids might have been poisoned because we, as consumers, do not always have a choice.

The fact is simply that plastic is made up of dangerous substances. The plastic that you use today will last 500 years, and leech chemicals into the atmosphere, the ground, the water, your blood over those 5 centuries.

Umm, end of diatribe.

The next movie we saw was the incredible Oceans by the same team known for Microcosmos and Winged Migration (Le Peuple Migrateur). This time, it was all about the absolute beauty of the ocean, and the diversity of life that is found there.

First off, it was absolutely amazing visually (Ty said that he looked at me part way through the movie and I was sitting there with my mouth hanging open - and I don't doubt it!). As scuba diving is now one of my favourite hobbies, it was also quite amazing to see these amazing rare animals and realize that I've been lucky enough to actually see some of these creatures in the wild.

Of course, the movie also carried a powerful message. A rather brutal scene featuring a net trapping the same animals that had just been celebrated on screen for their beauty and rarity, and a definned shark gasping at the bottom of the ocean as it slowly dies... these are the images that remain, amongst the scenes of freedom and nature, after the movie.

Jacques Perrin has said that, in making Oceans, he didn't want to simply show how beautiful the undersea world was, since that would lead us to believe that our oceans are actually healthy. The official (French) site is here. It takes a while to load, but if you select "Medias" and "Images" or "Videos", you will be able to see photos or videos taken in the 4 years they spent making the film.

The final movie that we were off to see was Capitalism: A Love Story from Michael Moore. It was a bombardment of facts about corruption in the US government, as well as information about how things could have been different if the banks had not taken complete (deregulated) control of everything.

The preview (posted above) isn't showing the best parts. This was not just Michael Moore's usual stunts - but historical footage, interviews, and scenes where a widow finds out that her husband's death earned his employer 5 million dollars, due to a "Dead Peasants" insurance scam, where even if you've worked for a company for a short while (one woman had worked for Walmart for 18 months 10 years ago), the company - and not your family - gets the insurance payout.

Most interesting, for me, was regarding FD Roosevelt's so-called Second Bill of Rights, which would have protected Americans from just about everything that is wrong with their economic system. The irony is that FDR died before enacting any of these changes. His staff and advisors, however, were the people who were sent out to Germany, Italy and Japan to help them rebuild after WWII. The reforms that could have happened in the US ended up making these countries stronger instead.

Watching all three movies over two days has left me feeling somewhat helpless. Sure, I can continue my personal boycott of shark fin soup, but that will be as effective as my boycott of diamonds. I can refuse a plastic bag at the grocery store, but the next person in line will get the ones I didn't take. It leaves a "little guy" like me feeling like there isn't much I can do, as I'm really not important enough - I'm not the creepy treasurer from Goldman Sachs, eh?

Happily though, the weekend was not all documentaries and environmentalist doom. When we were checking into the Sheraton, we asked if we had a sea view room. They checked the computer and said, "No, I'm sorry. Those rooms are more expensive". My response? "But, but, it's our birthday week!". And they gave us the room... Then, the next day, when checking out, the front desk lady asked us if we'd gotten our cake!

Yup! I got a birthday cake from an international hotel chain! How's that for sticking it to The Man???

Whirlwind Tour of Canada, Part 5

2009-10-13T06:00:00.002+04:00

On then, to Montreal, where we met up with "The Girls" (and their Boys) from when I used to work at the SPCA. Funny how after so long, and so many changes to our lives, we are still such a strong group.

After an awesome BBQ at Heather's (and a sighting of raccoons by Ty), we headed out the next day for what turned out to be a few days worth of fun in Montreal, just condensed into one day.

We walked down St Denis street, wandered through the Old Port and Old Montreal, then went to the Gay Village, where DiverCite was happening, and all the terrasses were full of everything from families to transvestites. We rounded out the evening with an outdoor techno concert, then headed back to Katrina's place, via a detour driving over Mont Royal with views of Montreal's lights on all sides.

The next day, we went to the Biodome at the Olympic Stadium, and checked out the wildlife, before heading off to Quebec City in the pouring rain.

It was about this time that Ty was starting to feel a bit ill, so we were quite happy to have a quiet evening in Quebec with Madeleine (who visited us in Korea last year) and Bruno (who spoke English all evening, while making us wicked awesome sushi rolls).

I'll let Ty write a bit about what he thought of Montreal - and the French part of Canada in general - then continue tomorrow with the rest of the trip up to La Pocatiere....

We’ve really managed to extend this Canada blog to far more than we usually would have written, so I’ll keep it brief, and mostly let the photos do the talking.

The drive to Montreal saw the landscape go through several changes, and yet again, I was struck by the beauty, and vastness of the country. One change that I noticed far more than others on this drive was the immediate and sudden one crossing over the border into Quebec province.

If you have not been to Canada, or have not known a Canadian, it is likely that you have heard that there is a French part of Canada or that French is spoken there, but not much beyond that. I had a little better idea, having heard Virginia speak of her time teaching and living in Montreal, and Le Pocatiere. Still I was not prepared for the abrupt and absolute change after crossing the border.

The first thing you notice is that all signs are in French, place names are French, even the styles of housing suddenly changed away from what I’d become used to, to what I assume are more Francophone style houses. From Heather’s place, instead of going down to the liquor store as in Ontario to get a few beers, I ran down to the nearby dépanneur after first having to find out that this was the French for a corner cafe, and was served by an elderly woman who struggled to speak English. Out in the country everything seemed overwhelmingly French, while going through Montreal things were more bi-lingual, but still majority French.

I had not expected the line between French speaking Canada, and English speaking Canada to be so clear cut, especially after noting the sheer diversity of groups in Toronto. This split has strong political-historical basis, and from what I gathered, has plenty to do with laws in Quebec which aim to keep it’s French heritage as intact as possible. I started feeling like I’d left one country and entered another, and that feeling only grew as we headed to LaPocatiere and back to Quebec city.

Here’s some more pics from Montreal, a very arty place, full of street performers of all kinds, artists painting everywhere, plenty of eccentric people wearing anything from a wedding dresses to skimpy thongs (or both in one case). It’s an astounding place, packed with more old buildings than you can wave a stick at.

Whirlwind Tour of Canada, Part 4

2009-10-04T17:05:00.000+04:00

Are you still there? Alrighty... it's my turn to talk about the Canada visit. I know you all enjoy seeing Canada through Ty's eyes, but I got to play tourist too!

After more than 2 years away, I was struck by how green everything was... how beautiful storm clouds are... how pretty and diverse our wildlife is... and how friendly Canadians are! Yup! It isn't just a stereotype.

We left Zach's place and followed our handy dandy GPS to Charlene's house in London, Ontario. I'd never been to this part of Ontario, so it was a treat for me as well. We had a lot of fun pissing off our GPS-voice-lady by taking random turns so that we could really enjoy the wide open spaces, farmland, barns and fields.

We got to London just in time for cupcakes with Char and her kids Kaylin and Maks. It was a short visit, but we were kitted out (by Char) with some nifty Roots Canada t-shirts (that have become a part of our weekly repertoire - you know that shirt that you wear as soon as it comes out of the laundry? Yup, those are them!).

Continuing on, to Brantford this time, to meet up with Kelly and Steve (and their kids Cohen and Adella) at Steve's parents' campsite/trailer, right on the banks of the Grand River.

We had a BBQ and a campfire and played with the kids in the hammocks.

I've got to say that, if you're going to go camping, bring along someone who owns a restaurant (the food is always excellent) and someone who can sing and play a mean guitar (necessary objects for the campfire). It was awesome and chilled - but alas, too short at only one night!

We returned to my sister's house for the next few days, taking care of my abandoned-when-I-moved-overseas cat Luna, and Sunset the snake (that we had to feed mice to). Not much happened as we were laundering and repacking and getting ready for our super roadtrip to Quebec. We met up, at Strega, for lunch with Ms Wilson, one of my English teachers from high school who had taught overseas as well, and who still hasn't slowed down!

With just about everything we'd brought with us packed in the car, we started east, towards Kingston, Montreal, Quebec, La Pocatiere, Quebec, Montreal, Toronto. We spent a lot of time just driving, and it was, again, a bit of a surprise to see just how big Canada is. I mean, I've done the Montreal - Toronto thing a million times, but after living in 2 very small countries, I was certainly taken aback by how the road just keeps going and going, and the trees just keep coming and coming....

On our way to Kingston, we decided to take the scenic route of the Loyalist Highway. We did manage to get lost (and find a wicked awesome chocolate shop), but eventually found our way to Kingston and Wolfe Island - where we would spend the night. This was the only time we stayed in paid accommodation - the rest of the time, we'd been staying with friends.

The B&B on Wolfe Island - Wolfe Manor - was a refurbished and renovated former Catholic priest retreat. Everything about it oozed "haunted house" (<-- an article about the history of the house and a record of its reported hauntings)- from the cemetery in the back lot to the widow's walk on the roof to the nooks and crannies inside. The decor (like a white rocking horse at the bottom of the stairs and shelves full of Stephen King and esoteric books) also made the whole place suitably spooky. We loved it. The owner was super nice (and decidedly skeptical about ghosts himself), and even gave us a few bottles of wine to enjoy on the porch as we relaxed after our long drive. No, we didn't see any ghosts, and actually had a good laugh the next day when we saw the place in full sunlight. When arriving at dusk, it does seem like a rather eerie house.

Once again, we didn't have enough time to truly enjoy Wolfe Island - except for the amazing sunsets over the mouth of the St Lawrence.

On then, to Montreal....

Where are all the blogs?

2009-10-02T16:50:00.002+04:00

I know, we know, you are waiting for more frequent blogs. We still have to finish up on our Canada visit (after 2 months -- whew) and add in a bit about our weekend on the dhow in Oman.

Since coming back to MZ, we've been slightly busy and/or tired. Taking off to the Maldives and Oman has pushed our blogging back a bit, but so has painting the bedroom, getting new furniture, returning to work (with a much bigger workload) and so on.

A few days ago, Jakob tore one of his claws out and that's meant a bit of drama here, what with getting him to the vet's - two hours away, thanks to Paul who took him in for us - and changing his bandage (I think changing a cat's paw bandage should be a challenge on a reality show). He's fine now, but we still need to be careful with him. He's repaid our kindness, of course, by keeping us awake all night with excessive bandage licking....

And so, we promise, the next week will see the posting of all the remaining Canada blogs, as well as an update on the Oman trip, and maybe a bit more about our life here in MZ.

Thanks for continuing to read, and please check back next week!

The Maldives....

2009-09-23T17:20:00.003+04:00

( Now with full colour photo edit… :-) )

All right class, for your next blog assignment, you will write a short paragraph about the Maldives.

You may NOT include any of the words or phrases from this list:

crystal clear water that turns turquoise, then navy as the ocean gets deeper;

paradise;

perfect powdery white sand;

cocktails on the beach;

cosy wood bungalow on the beach with a 4-poster bed, complete with bed curtain things;

outdoor shower;

drift diving with a turtle, a thousand different kinds of rare fish species, plenty of white-tip sharks and spying a hammerhead in the distance… then lying around and dreaming of it afterwards;

lovely sunshine and sunburned noses;

out of this world sunsets;

living coral that you can see from the dock;

baby sharks spotted from a balcony;
stingray feeding time;

hermit crabs, flying foxes (diurnal fruit bats);

29° temperature all the time, even when underwater;

coconuts;

palm trees;

iguanas and geckos;

fresh fruit everywhere;

breakfast buffets;
special Maldivian too-spicy-to-eat supper;

private romantic Thai restaurant dinner;
cranes - the bird, not the construction thingy;

walking on a 2m wide sand spit for 1 km as waves lapped our feet and a bikini model pranced in the distance;

Italian Colada, Cafe del Mar, Long Island Ice Tea, Mexican Colada, Blue Lagoon, Pina Colada, Twilight Cocktail, Serenity Cocktail - no mint to have a proper Mojito, unfortunately;

coconut and green chilis in everything;
2-hour stopover each way in the Sri Lankan airport, which is actually quite cool (will be our next vacation, I am sure);

perfect;
amazing;
awesome;
worth every penny;
not enough time to do it all;
beyond your wildest dreams;

What are *you* waiting for??????

Pick up your pencils, and.... begin.

We went to the Maldives. It was nice.

Canada – The Whirlwind Tour – Part 3

2009-09-11T17:29:00.003+04:00

25 July

We left early in the morning, as we knew we had a long day of driving ahead of us. This time we headed west to go stay with Zach (a good friend who is still in Korea but was back in Canada for the holidays) and his family in Port Elgin.

On the way as a nice mid-drive break we stopped off just outside Shelburne to visit one of Virginia’s friends from high school (Denise). They hadn’t seen each other for about nine years, and really enjoyed being able to catch up, if only for a short hour or so.

From there we continued on west. The drive is a beautiful one. The further you go the more the landscape that surrounds you transforms to amazing farmland, that stretches further and further to the horizon. One of my favourite things about these farms is the giant old barns, either painted bright red and white as seen on TV) or collapsing… both charming in their own way. Indeed, it’s a good way to describe the entire area, charming.

I mentioned before that wildlife can and does appear everywhere. Not necessarily the big wildlife of South Africa, but in some ways it is more obvious in Canada that a tiny bit of the country is settled, while the rest is vast wilderness. The appearance of small animals in people’s gardens throughout the holiday was astonishing… these ranged from chipmunks to squirrels, to ground hogs and raccoons. Shortly before arriving at Zach’s we stopped the car to watch a small snapper tortoise cross the road (or more to it, so Virginia could wave traffic – a single car – around the tortoise while vehemently pleading with it to cross more quickly).

It later turned out that Zach’s dad keeps tortoises, which is where we learned it was a snapper.

We arrived in a scary small town called Tara (otherwise renamed by us to something like Doug and Thugsville), gave Zach a call to come rescue us, and proceeded to giggle at the unfortunate people that drove past us.

They stared so hard at us newcomers that they nearly drove off the road, and we joked about the likely-hood of inbreeding, their possible need to break things after a good game of smacky-pucky (Canadians play ice-hockey; these people I decided delighted in the joys of smacky-pucky… by the way never joke about hockey while with a Canadian, it provokes glares… oh and while I’m at it, I once asked V whether Canadians play hockey hockey, and I got a blank stare told that hockey is what happens on ice, and that there’s no other kind). Anyways, the people put me in mind of Cletus from the Simpson’s.

Zach, feeling the same way, but having gone to school with some of these people and learning their particular and peculiar small mindedness first hand, practically sped off in a bout of tyre squealing (after having arrived and run up to us to give us a hug hello).

We spent the evening relaxing at his folk’s giant farmhouse, overlooking 150 acres (?) of farmland, and a 150 year old barn, with Zach’s family who’d all gathered for his grandmother’s birthday, and were fed in the most glorious of ways, with deliciously rich farm-cooked food… lots and lots of it. Mmm peameal bacon (best new food discovery ever).

26 July

I think Zach made it his mission to take us to every lovely spot around his area, and this we spent the entire day doing. It was a day of relaxing and photography, lakesides and stone skimming, looking closely at flowers and animals and scenery, and picking fossilized pebbles from beaches. It was one of those perfect sort of days.

I’ll tell you where we went and then let the photos tell the rest.

We started off by heading through to South Hampton beach on Lake Huron (the third of the great lakes we saw) where we wandered around on the jetty and at the marina for a long while.

Then we were off to Port Elgen beach (also on Lake Huron). On the way we stopped to check out wild flowers, a pond and a lighthouse.

Then some stone skipping, pond peering, and fossil finding.

We also went for a wonderful lunch at a tiny cafe where Zach’s friend works, and then onto a little Museum in Port Elgin (where we '”canoe spotted” and also saw the Monarch butterfly pictured above).

And to round off the day we headed out to another lake (river?), where we watched a dog play on a jetty and poked around in the water for a while, watching insects do interesting things to each other.

As I said, a perfect day.

To round all this off we were taken on a historical tour of Zach’s barn when we arrived back. It was actually fascinating… the thick beamed barn held hundred year old implements, ancient cars, and even a contraption to haul the manure out by pulleys; all inside the walls of a falling down, hole riddled, dead looking building.

Zach and I took the opportunity to be all arty with our cameras.

We were lucky to have such a great tour guide, for the entire day.

Oh! The evening we spent chatting with Zach and his folks. Just before packing up for bed, we saw a strange moth with a very definite skull on it’s back. It filled us with exactly zero sense of foreboding.

That’s it for now… I’ll let V take over and tell you about the next few days. We’ve gotta get the Canada posting done before we leave for the Maldives you see :D

Quick Update

2009-09-10T21:09:00.003+04:00

We're taking a break from our regularly scheduled broadcast of Canada updates to give you some UAE updates.

First off, in one week we are going to the Maldives!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

See, the end of Ramadan is marked with a celebration called Eid, and we have 5 whole days to run down to the nearest beachy paradise and go scuba diving with hammerheads. Yay!

Ramadan has brought its fair share of boredom -- all the stores are closed during the day, or open at strange hours (like, the post office is open from 9-11am and 9-11pm. How convenient!) Well, that and the heat that is still ever present. Sure, I'm going to work every day (sometimes rather begrudgingly, as there are no teachers or students at school yet, and the whole building is being simultaneously demolished and rebuilt and rewired and repainted....), but long afternoons and evenings have prompted me to finally apply to do my MA in Applied Linguistics and English Language teaching through the online programme at the University of Nottingham. If I get accepted, I will start in January, at the same time as Ty starts his CELTA.

So, yeah, by this time next year, we'll both be smarter than we are now.

In other news, we got more furniture in the living room, so it's looking more like a real house and we're finally going ahead and painting our bedroom. We wanted a greeny sage kind of colour, and have ended up with avocado. It's still quite nice, and we will post photos once we get the furniture in and hang pictures and such.

Canada – The Whirlwind Tour – Part 2

2009-09-04T20:08:00.001+04:00

July 18

Virginia’s mom had told us that we were going to be joining up with everybody at Andy’s for a family reunion. Boy, were we surprised.

When we got there tables and chairs had been set up in the lovely front garden, and Andy, Dominica and Mum Virginia in particular had put a huge amount of effort into making things look good (for example by putting flowers on every table), and into organising food and drinks and all.

As people started to arrive, we realised that something was up, as we kept on being handed cards that were full of money by people (some that we barely knew), which held greetings like “Congrats the newly weds.” We were so overwhelmed by the number of people there (upwards of 50), that we only properly clicked that Mum Virginia had organised this as a kind of late wedding reception, a fair bit into things… when a cake (which was heavenly) arrived with Virginia’s Grandparents’ wedding statuettes on top, as well as the tiara that was worn by her grandmother when she got married.

Having finally managed to herd us over to the cake, which was not an easy task as we had both chosen this opportune time to go to the bathroom, we stood there and grinned, feeling that perhaps a bit to much fuss was being made over us, and finally cut the cake, to the genial cries of a horseshoe of happy relatives.

The day turned out to be lovely and sunny, which was a huge relief to Mum Virginia, with wonderful food, and good people who all had a lot of fun.

I’d did get to meet one of V’s best friends Meron on the day (Kelly was there too), which was good, considering that we’d be spending the night and the rest of the day at her house.

July 19

We had a lovely chilled out day at Meron’s, just hanging out in the garden (should clarify that to yard for all the Canadians), and she and Dave prepared pork tenderloin kebabs for us… lip smacking goodness.

We needed a couple of these break days over the month and they always came at just the right time. Wonderful and relaxing.

July 20

We made an early start so we could catch the train to Toronto which would be our first trip away from the St. Catharine’s area. Wow did we fill that time.

We arrived in at Union Station, Toronto shortly before noon. The station is a huge old building, outside of which were plenty of modern buildings. Toronto is like this throughout, with old meeting new at every corner. One instance of this, and something that adds charm to Toronto, is the fact that there are bright red electric street cars (i.e. trams) still running all over the city.

It was onto one of these that we jumped, to make our way from the station to Karen and Tony’s apartment, where we would also meet up with Matt and Helen. All four are friends of Virginia’s, who she met in Korea.

Together we went touring the city by foot, and covered a great big part of it for one afternoon.

We headed through China Town on towards over to Kensington Market which is full of arty shops, selling fun crafts and clothes, and some blatantly using their fun locations to pawn off some uber-touristy things (so I bought, of course, some moose socks :D)

After an hour or two of wondering around, we made our way out towards the CN tower. The tower is certainly one of the prides of Canada and as the signs on the walls freely boast, is the tallest free-standing building in the world (553m), and has been for the last thirty years.

This begs the question “what happened to the Burj Dubai?” Well technically speaking the Burj now holds that title as it topped out at 818m just recently, and passed the height of the CN tower about 2 years ago. None the less, the CN is still the world’s tallest completed freestanding structure… for a bit longer… and thus one of the best views out there (except if you happen to have a job at the top of the Burj).

On the way up the CN you ride in a glass floored elevator, which is a thrill. And what a view it was when we finally got to the top. 360 degree views of Toronto, past the lakes; and on the day we were there it was clear enough to see the horizon, and just get an inkling of the curvature of the earth.

There are big glass panels in parts of the floor of the tower-top, and you can stare directly down to the ground over 500m below. (also you can lie down and pretend you are skydiving and afraid for your life).

Following our trip to the top of the tower, after a quick stop to a real North American hotdog stand, we met up with Karen who had been at work all day, did a bit more walking, then headed back to the apartment, and split up for a guys/girls night out. Matt, Tony and I headed out to watch a really brilliant band called The Datsuns, and could be seen making our way home (and chatting to homeless people) in the early hours of the morning.

July 21

We left Tony and Karen’s fairly early to meet up with another friend of Virginia’s, Kat, who went to university with her.

The Canadian weather had up until this point played right into our hands, providing sunny, warm days when we were doing anything outside, and rain on days when we were inside, and it didn’t matter, or was indeed a treat. This day was no exception.

We had seen that the ROM (Royal Ontario Museum) had an exhibition of the Deadsea Scrolls on, and so the three of us headed up to the museum under a gloomy sky, which would turn to a heavy rain once we’d entered the museum.

Unfortunately I’d been fairly fluey since arriving in Canada, and started to feel deathly ill at the museum. That having been said, the museum was wonderful enough that I pulled my way through and still thoroughly enjoyed the day.

I loved the Scrolls exhibition, as apart from the scrolls they had plenty of artefacts - ancient roof tiles, jars, bone carvings, and cooking pots- that were in amazing condition. The scrolls on display were unfortunately not the larger, more complete scrolls that were found in some of the earlier discovered caves (the bulk of these major scrolls are on display in the Shrine of the Book in Jerusalem, bar one which is in the National Archaeological Museum of Jordan). Rather we saw some of the tiny fragments (of which more than 100,000 were found) that were discovered outside of their shattered containers in other caves and took scientists decades to puzzle through and piece together. “The Deadsea Confetti” Virginia lovingly called them.

In the collection were various books of the Bible (fragments of all of the books of the Bible, except one, have been found in the so far discovered scrolls), many books that were not canonised into the Hebrew Bible, but none the less still religious works, and many others which contained anything, from the rules of war to a cure for leprosy.

The rest of the ROM was amazing too… and far too huge to complete in one day even though we only left at 6 in the evening. My favourite section was the was the Egyptian galley, which had, amongst tonnes of other things, an entire papyrus “Book of the Dead”, a cast of a huge wall full of hieroglyphic sculptures telling the story of a journey made by one of the queens of Egypt and the discovery of many never seen before animals and treasures, and an amazingly preserved mummy (looking at it made me feel truly creeped out for one of the first times since I was a young child – very cool).

I also saw my first real moose!! Although sadly, it was stuffed.

July 22

After a nice night of “kuiering” at Kat and John’s and then splitting with them after breakfast we headed out towards the AGO (Art Gallery of Ontario), where there was to be – alongside its mainstay exhibits – a surrealist exhibition. We both enjoy galleries as it is, but being someone who loves Dali, and any kind of slip-slidey, dream-like art, this was an absolute treat for me.

The AGO really is an impressive galley, housing a huge array of art from around the world. Definitely on a highlight of Toronto , it is one of the best, probably the best, gallery I’ve been to.

And again, we didn’t get to finish it all unfortunately, even though we spent the entire day there (it’s huge), before we had to make our way back to Union Station to catch our train back to St. Catharines on time.

Leaving Toronto we saw a news team (City TV) who were preparing to shoot. Presumably they were covering the story that the Via trains would not be runn at surprised ing because of an impending strike. Luckily for us the strike only came a few days later, and seeing as we were to hire a car from hereon out, would not effect us.

July 23, 24

The next two days we ded icated to seeing and doing everything in and around Niagara Falls. Bridget, Virginia’s niece, works at the falls, and she was kind enough to give us of a book of tickets, so that we could do everything in the area… for FREE! Thanks again for that.

We started the day by picking up our rental car (which involved all kinds of needless hassles) we went to Strega, where Ann found us for lunch.

We then took a drive down to the Falls and used the first of our coupons to do the ‘Whirlpool’. This involves taking a cable car out over a sharp bend in the Niagara river, a fair bit down from the Falls while a bored 15 year old announces in her most glaze-eyed monotonous voice, the wonders and history of the Falls. Hilarious, but hardly required as the view from the cable car is divine on its own . The currents in the bend cause a large whirlpool (and incidentally some of the more dangerous rapids around), between the steep walls of a canyon.

We followed this up with a drive down to the Falls actual and walked around at the top for a while. They really are incredible, powerful and majestic. One thing is that you can stand almost on the edge of the falls, while behind you, 20 or so meters, is a fairly busy road.

We used the second of our tickets to get down behind the falls. Given plastic raincoats, you are ushered down a long subterranean walkway, and pop out at a spot more than halfway down the falls and nearly underneath them. WOW is all I can say. They look so much bigger when you’re right under them like that.

That evening we headed to the Casino for a fun filled hour of low coin gambling.

The next morn we woke and headed back to the Falls again.. but our first stop was to sneak into the Department of Transport(?) building to try surprise another university friend of Virginia’s, Tiffany, at work. This we finally did, after being sent from office to office, sneaking through secure doors as we went.

After visiting with her a bit we headed out to do “The Maid of the Mist” which is a ferry that takes a cruise along the river, and then stops in the mist of the Falls, right inside the horseshoe, so that you feel like you have waterfalls all around , which you do. Once again, I felt speechless at the sheer power and majesty of the thing… it boomed.

From there we took a walk up Clifton Hill, which is like walking through and open plan amusement park. There are lots of fun things, like haunted houses, the World Guinness Centre, Ripley’s Believe It Or Not, and rides, right out in the street (this was definitely another of those “as seen on TV moments for me”. We stopped at an arcade for a while, and eventually won ourselves a tot glass.

In the evening we stopped by at Ann’s house again for supper (which I’m pretty sure was hamburgers, or included pork of some kind).

Mom yoys Ty at Strega

There's a marching band in my backyard...

2009-08-28T20:03:00.004+04:00

... or to be more precise, the marching band was on the soccer field that's right behind our apartment... and it was 8:45 pm.

We watched the men, all in uniforms like you see on American TV, and decided that instead of buying paint for the bedroom, we'd head out to see what all the fuss was about.

[During Ramadan, quite a few stores are closed during the day, but open much later at night. This includes the post office, which has very convenient opening hours of 9pm - 11pm *sigh*]

We headed out, hit by the heat as we left our air conditioned cocoon. We were dressed pretty casually in jeans and shirts (mine long-sleeved), and weren't expecting to do more than take a quick look around, then leave.

We went up into the empty bleachers, noticing that there were a lot of gold chairs set out in one cordoned-off section, as well as a glassed-in spot right up top. Workers and security guard were wandering around, and the sound crew was attempting to get the sound system working. The field itself was full of balloons, some decorated with the Sheikhs' faces. The marching band sat off to one side, sweating in their heavy uniforms.

We stood and looked at what was going on. Emiratis in white dishdashas shouted orders at different people, pointing and yelling into their cellphones. After about 5 minutes, a large Emirati man approached us from the gold seat section and asked, "Are you happy?" before instructing us on how to get into the gold seat part! We'd stumbled on the opening ceremonies of a two-week long soccer tournament.

We sat on the ornate chairs, alone in the section of about 20 seats, and were surprised by steaming cups of sweet Arabic tea (and speaking of steaming, we were both sweating profusely by this point). We sipped the tea and watched as a young guy in a dishdasha handed out hats and shirts to various workers on the field. Another guy came by to give us coffee, and yet another guy brought out some sweet fried bread things.

We sat there, watching as the organizers ran about, getting everything in order. We still weren't quite sure what the etiquette was for us to be sitting there, but nobody seemed to mind our presence. In fact, another stately Emirati man with a perfectly trimmed beard came up to us with shirts and hats bearing an Abu Dhabi logo (funny thing, he also addressed us first with, "Are you happy?") and tickets for a draw to be held later in the evening.

At one point, the marching band started up again, and some kids in soccer uniforms carrying flags and framed pictures of the Sheikh walked through a balloon arch, followed a line up of men in matching shirts and hats carrying placards. With our limited Arabic skills, we managed to read a few of the signs, which all seemed to correspond to cities or companies from the area. The announcer explained nicely that this was "just practice".

The stands on either side of our gold VIP section started to fill up, kids ran around with confetti-explosives, we got more coffee (the cup is filled while the coffee guy stands there and waits for you to finish, and he keeps refilling the little cup until you tell him to stop), and finally... it seemed things were starting.

The marching band came out in formation onto the field, the real procession of kids and men with placards went through the balloon arch. Behind almost each placard was either a full soccer team, or 3 people, or nobody at all - think of a quasi-Olympic parade, I guess. The band played the national anthem, and a little boy sang a verse of the Koran from behind a podium. Sheikh Hamdan, the ruler of the Western Zone (his palace is in Liwa, across the valley from the hotel we lived in) gave a speech, and everything was cleared away for a small laser light show (on the soccer field, crossing over the marching band that was still standing there). The funny thing about the laser show was that it was rather random: It started with words like "Happy Birthday" and "Happy New Year" flashing, followed by the alphabet, and then a few random shapes. We think it might have just been the demo program from the laser machine.

Finally, the soccer players arrived.

Two teams, one in red and one in white, but all with the number 90 on their jerseys (???) came onto the field, posed for photos and started playing. They were not exactly, um, the most athletic looking people. The older men sitting behind us were actually giggling once the game started.

As each team scored in turn, everyone applauded politely. I leaned over to Ty and asked, "Which team are we supposed to be pulling for?". He just shrugged. During all this, there was a very loud play-by-play (and how the announcer could do that while every person was wearing the same number is beyond me....). Happily, this game only lasted about 20 minutes.

Having sat and sweated there for about 2 hours, we took this as our cue to make a graceful exit. As we walked past the sound engineers, one of them ran up to us and asked us why we were leaving so early. We explained that we had to get up early and needed to get to sleep. He asked us to stay, explaining that the prize draw was coming up soon (he is also the one who explained to us that the match we'd just seen was the UAE World Cup team from 1990, which is why the players were all a bit older than your average soccer player, and that this was the start of a Ramadan soccer tournament, organized by Sheikh Hamdan). Finally, he took Ty's phone number and our tickets and said that he would call us if we won anything.

We returned home, our jeans damp from the heat of the evening, and were relaxing in the living room with a cocktail when... yes, Ty's phone rang! His ticket had been drawn, but we had to come to the field NOW. We both ran out the door, across the parking lot (where a group of teenage boys laughed and clapped for us) and into the stadium again. Ty was handed a bag with a wrapped gift inside, then photographed by a veritable paparazzi, then gently shooed away.

And his prize? A new cellphone -- which is amazing, since his phone is literally falling apart. And it's a nice one too: full colour, camera, video and a million other things that we haven't figured out yet.

We might head back over the next two weeks to see other games.... or just look out our living room windows.

Canada – The Whirlwind Tour- Part 1

2009-08-26T16:20:00.001+04:00

Having arrived back in Madinat Zayed after a cram packed holiday in the land of Canuckistan, we began our first few days by swapping out the previous tenant’s furniture (stove, fridge and bed being the most important), and have spent the last week shopping, and installing, repairing and reinstalling. I think we have settled in enough to begin the Canada trip blog in earnest (though we still don’t have a proper bed yet, but are sleeping on a lovely fold down couch that we bought for the spare room for when you all come to visit).

There is a whole lot to write about and it’s going to have to be done in stages.

For all those who have not been there, Canada is a fantastically scenic country, full of character, a distinct culture that is most definitely very Canadian (the stereotypes are more or less true… in that you see them everywhere, if not in each individual Canadian), and cities, towns and hamlets, each boasting a different personality.

I’ll start with the whirlwind tour giving an overall of people and places, and we can make a few specific stops along the way in the next couple days/blogs. You realise that for each day I could write an entire long entry, including historical facts, scenery, personalities etc… But that might take a year or more so to write. Here is a photo a day(ish) glance through the last month and a bit… with some random expanded descriptions here and there.

July 14

We arrived at Toronto airport after a 14 hour flight, and were greeted by the smiling family, Mum Virginia and Al, Virginia’s (Ruth’s) brother. Mum Virginia had donned an African shirt and was waving both South African and Canadian flags.

We met up at Mum Virginia’s place (after the drive from Toronto to St. Catharine’s during which I discovered the Great Lakes, or one of, skyways – amazing bridges soaring over the lakes – and what Toronto looks like from across the lake… and what Toronto looks like from across the lake where :D ). I tried pierogies for the first time, met V’s sister Ann and her kids (waving from the balcony, “hello uncle Ty”), and this was where we slept for the next 4 nights. Oh and Kelly, one of Virginia’s best friends stopped by for a bit too.

To me Virginia’s family was actually one of the highlights of the trip. The family is a lot of fun to be around… really a great bunch and a laugh a minute if not more… And Mum Virginia is the sweetest person ever.

July 15

I had a happy morning of bacon and egg breakfast. Visited and met more of the family. The plan for the day was to recover from jetlag and eat Macaroni and Cheese, so…

We went to Al’s house where I met Sheila, and three of their four kids.

From there it was on to meet V’s uncle Andy and his wife Dominica at their grand house which overlooks some of the loveliest vineyards in the region.

This was followed by a visit to Ann’s house where I met her husband Dave and learned all about micro-brewed beers and wines in Canada. We also grabbed bikes for the following day.

Of course everyone wanted to feed us at each stop, so we obliged…and then collapsed into bed at Mum Virginia’s that evening.

July 16

We woke early and took a long bicycle ride along the Welland Canal which joins Lake Eerie and Lake Ontario. To understate the size of the great lakes, would be, I believe, to understate Canada (as it would to understate the amount of fresh water everywhere, the sheer size of the country, and the people’s undying love for anything maple, anything beer and anything well remotely Canadian… any shape, size or form… Canadians love being Canadian). The lakes are massive, and a visit to their shores feels like a visit to a rather quiet oceanic beach. But I digress.

The Canal was built as a shipping lane between the lakes as it was felt that the trip down the Niagara river – which also runs betweens the lakes – and ultimately over the top of Niagara falls was counterproductive to say the least.

We spent the entire day whizzing along on the bikes, stopping to pick raspberries as we went, or to watch as massive cargo ships sank or rose, as they moved through a series of locks (there are eight… we saw three) which cover the 10o or so metre difference in heights between the two lakes. Oh to be cool enough to be outside for hours on end… it was heavenly.

Later that evening we went through to the Strega Cafe (the restaurant that Kelly owns) to enjoy an open mic night and meet up with some of Virginia’s friends from way back when she used to work there.

July 17

This was a day I’d been nervous about and looking forward to as well. Virginia left me with her mum so she could catch up/drink Mojitos with Kelly for the day and so I could really get to know Mum Virginia, and she could get to know me a bit better. A fearsome thing when 3 days into meeting one’s in laws. I think Mum Virginia was as nervous as I was though.

So having rid myself of V (;-p) , we went for a gorgeous drive where I got to see just how beautiful the neighbourhoods in Canada can be, and also just how green (which we found almost overwhelming, but most welcome after so much brown and sand in the UAE). First we headed out to a lovely marina, then to a tree lined 9/11 memorial, which had been supported by one of Mum Virginia’s friends.

This was on the way to Happy Rolph’s which is a petting zoo. Calling it a petting zoo underplays the place quite a bit. The walk there is a walk through thick forest with birds flying everywhere(of course including the famed Canada Geese), with a bright wide open vast lake - Lake Ontario - on one side, and earthy, tree crowded, dark little ponds teeming with life just a little way to the left. The petting zoo is just the full-stop before leaving. They did have llamas which made me very happy.

Mum Virginia then drove us through Niagara on the Lake which is probably the prettiest residential area in the world… really. I found the style the houses are built in all over Canada to be lovely. We stopped at one point where a couple were getting married at the Niagara River, to check out Fort Niagara on the American side (which is a massive stone fortress), and Fort George on the Canadian side (which never got much bigger than a courtyard surrounded by sharpened sticks).

We then headed out towards Andy’s house again and stopped to look at the Brock Monument on the way. Again, a lot of history here but I’ll leave you to look that up if you want.

Having lunched at Andy and Dominica’s for a while, I was dropped back in St. Catharines at Kelly’s place with V, where we visited a bit longer and then headed home for the night…

I loved the post boxes in Canada… One of many “as seen on TV” moments for me".

… to be continued.

Ramadan hours...

2009-08-22T19:15:00.003+04:00

As it was the first official day of Ramadan, we were a bit curious as to what might be different for us. We went up to Abu Dhabi to run a few errands - bringing no water, food or cigarettes with us (as it is illegal to eat, drink or smoke in public for this month - and yes, your car is "public").

We didn't notice anything different - except for a radio announcement by the artist formerly known as Cat Stevens (who now lives in Dubai) describing what fasting was all about. Once in town, we could see that all the palm trees had been decorated with lights and hanging stars and signs saying "Ramadan Kareem" in Arabic. I can only imagine how beautiful it must be to see the whole town lit up at night. Might it be a bit like, dare I say, Christmas?

We headed to Ikea and had only been there for about 20 minutes when the loudspeakers announced that the store was now closed and would everyone please get to the checkout. The store clerk smiled at us and said, "Ramadan hours". Apparently, Ikea is closed from 3:00pm to 7:00pm.

Being from MZ, we are used to shops being closed in the afternoons (since all the stores here close from 2 to 5 all the time), but we were a bit surprised that, it seems, almost every shopping mall in Abu Dhabi has its own interpretation of "Ramadan hours". Some will close in the afternoon so that they can stay open later, while others close in the morning. I imagine we will have to discover which ones are open at which time by trial and error.

The ironic thing is that the bottle store is open at a more convenient time (for us, anyway), meaning that Ramadan hours make it easier for us to buy alcohol than at other times of the year. We'll have to venture out into the town a few evenings this week, and let you all know what, if anything, is happening in our rockin' little town in the desert.

Ramadan Kareem!

2009-08-21T11:14:00.002+04:00

Well, we've been back for just over a week - still waiting for photos to be uploaded so that we can blog about our Canada trip. It isn't that we've been super busy since our return to MZ, but somehow we have no idea where the days have gone.

This weekend will mark the start of Ramadan, which is the month of fasting. It's going to be a rather interesting experience, I think.

As most people know, during Ramadan one cannot eat or drink during daylight hours. One also must "think and act piously". Not everyone does the fast - there are age limits and certain prescriptions for people who are traveling, or pregnant or whatever.

What we've been told to expect is a completely upsidedown life for a month - as, essentially, what might normally happen during the day (meetings, appointments, soccer tournaments) find themselves occurring sometime around midnight. The newspaper has even printed off (in between advertisements for Ramadan hotel deals) a list of suggestions for non-Muslims, including being more patient with people who are fasting and not eating, drinking or smoking in public ourselves. Colleagues who experienced this last year are actually looking forward to some of the evening Iftar parties that might be happening around town -- all you can eat and up all night...

I'll let you know how it goes!

Coming soon...

2009-08-17T06:20:00.003+04:00

We're still getting over jetlag -- we'll upload photos and descriptions of our awesome trip to Canada.

Thanks to all who made our whole vacation so memorable and fun!

The Louvre Abu Dhabi, a lesson in tolerance

2009-07-13T08:31:00.006+04:00

Yesterday, we went to Abu Dhabi to the ultra-swank Emirates Palace Hotel to see the Louvre collection. There were about 20 sculptures, artifacts and paintings, and the guide did a quick blurb at each one.

Strangely enough, a lot of the art had a sort of religious aspect to it:

"This is Buddha as he should appear before attaining nirvana"
"As you can see, the Christ child is holding a copy of the Torah"

"And so Esther visited the king, who hated Jews, in order to make an appeal for herself and her people. This is when she fainted from relief."

And so on...

There's something a bit amazing about standing next to a woman in a niqab (black cloth facemask with just the eyes showing) in a Muslim country, looking at a huge sculpture of Jesus!

But then, I shouldn't have been all that surprised. My Arabic teachers seem to know more about Biblical history than I do, and I've had a few interesting e-mails from a friend who has studied more aspects of Islam than I have (not difficult, since I haven't done much religious study). An excerpt from one of his e-mails:

I know the references in the Qu'ran...
Allahhomma
Yeshua (Jesus)
Budhon (Buddha)
Yahweh
Dus (Deus)
Yahanano-yamanan (I still don't know what this is)

Yes, it is in several practices an amazing beautiful religion. Muslims across the Middle East have quite developed relationships with Christianity and Judaism as Mohammed actually interacted with these societies, argued with representatives from them and, in the case of one church in particular, was sheltered by them while he fled locals who sought to kill him. Consequently Muslims revere and protect this one church somewhere southwest of modern day Israel, and elder Muslim scholars enjoy a regular audience with the Pope toward interfaith matters.

(I guess if anyone can shed light on Mr. Yahanano, that would be awesome!)

What you see in the news, and what we North Americans have been tainted by since 9/11, this sort of fear/intolerance of Arabs is something that I was actually surprised to have to "get over". Was it un-nerving to see veiled women everywhere (and where do you look when you're trying to talk to someone in a full-face veil)? Yes. Was there some conditioned fear response when a man with his face wrapped in a goutra walks past? Yes. But it hasn't been that difficult to overcome.

Whoever chose the exhibited pieces that we saw yesterday obviously had education and tolerance in mind, and I think it's important to continue to encourage this positivity, while discouraging some of the misconceptions that we have been inundated with, and still are inundated with, by the media.

A bit of a digression there. Sorry... Anyway, the Louvre Abu Dhabi, along with some other museums, is going to be built on Saadiyat Island, with a probable end result somewhere around 2018. Well, you heard it here first! The plans for the project are all on display as well, and it looks quite amazing, with every building looking a bit like something out of Star Trek.

And on that note: I'm not sure if I'll have time to blog from Canada, but I will try. We still haven't packed and we're at T-23.5 for takeoff... so I should get back to work!

My City, My Life (Also, My Livingroom, My Cats)

2009-07-10T15:59:00.011+04:00

Alrighty.... it's been too long since we've posted some good photos on here, and with plans for Canada next week, we decided to take a drive around town to show you where we live.

First off, though, the livingroom, and the COOLEST couch thing in the world. As you can see, we went with a bit of an orange/blue theme for everything. We had the majlis made - and it's our first piece of married-life furniture. Definitely a keeper.

The bookshelf is crammed full of random memorabilia from Cambodia, Korea, South Africa, Malaysia, India etc. The framed photos are going to end up on the wall to the right of the bookshelf eventually...

We still don't have a table, so we opted to not include any pics of the gaping space opposite the majlis area.

And then, we headed out into town...

Our first stop was the park across the street. We used to have picnics here once a week, but now it's just too hot. That doesn't stop them from watering it in the middle of the day!

And the dates are ready for harvesting!

Most towns have a sort of collection of rock sculptures, showing desert scenes, coffee pots, animals etc at their entrances as a way to welcome you there. I do love the falcon picking the bunny up by his bum while the other bunny flees in terror. Yeah, uh, Welcome!

Another item that's always found upon arriving at a new town is the "Big Picture of Sheikhs". Sheikh Zayed, who is floating up at the top there, is the man responsible for uniting the Emirates between warring clans, and then developing the economy, education, hospitals etc. He brought the country from an almost primitive way of life to one of the richest places in the world. The other Sheikhs are on a lot of the posters around here too, but their names escape me.

Into the residential area now, where we find a typical street of houses on one side, and a few camels on the other.

This is a random building in the middle of nowhere, just off the main drag, that makes us laugh. It's all small grocery stores, and a dentists, and that's about it....

And this is my school, walled in behind a big gate (so we couldn't get in to take closer shots).

Across from my school is a sort of farming area, with goats and a few shacks, all surrounded by traditional palm frond walls. Palm fronds are pretty useful building materials here, which is why this guy has a load of them (the driver was a hundred-year old Bedouin guy with a long white beard).

Downtown Madinat Zayed is pretty much just long aisles of small marts that sell a weird variety of objects. Ty's magical photo skills have made it look much more picturesque than it actually is.

About a kilometre from the bustling downtown core is a sort of camel shanty-town. Just a bunch of fenced-off, well, dirt, and tons of camels. I don't know if this is a market or holding pens before the big chop-chop (camel meat is, apparently, very good for you).

Awwww, aren't they cute?

Anything that isn't built on or irrigated into forced greenery is reclaimed by the desert. This patch is between the downtown and the camel place, next to an intersection.

Finally, our apartments, back in town. Our building is the one furthest away in this photo.

In other news, I'm determined to get my cats to be lolcats. I blame the cabin fever and too much wine last Scrabble night. Which photo do you think is best? And how would you caption it?

And on that note.... see you in a few days!

Caviar and Curry

2009-07-09T15:01:00.002+04:00

It occurred to me this afternoon, as I was preparing a snack (caviar on crackers), that our local grocery store is weird.

Grocery stores are awesome places. In Korea, there were entire aisles of ramen noodles, tuna and seaweed. You could buy things like green tea noodles, and a million different kinds of tofu. The seafood section was immense, with live fish, and giant crabs in tanks (in Taiwan, we saw live frogs for sale next to the giant crabs). You could also find $100 bottles of whiskey, but no normal cheese or butter.

Obviously, eating habits are cultural... and grocery stores reflect this. I remember being reverse culture-shocked to see how big the "bakery" section was in grocery stores in Canada.

The local co-op here obviously doesn't sell pork or alcohol (but we can go to the Spinney's in Abu Dhabi to find those items -- the pork is accessed through a door at the back of the store marked "Pork for Non-Muslims Only", almost like the Adult section of a video store), but you can buy clothes, towels and toiletries. There are entire sections full of spices and basmati rice, olive oil from Palestine and chutneys and pickles from India. In amongst these items are baffling luxury imports like garlic mayonnaise and caviar, or cheese from Ireland. The fresh produce section is non-existent, except for a small counter where you need to pick through to find the non-wormy apples (there is a fruit market in town where you can find all manner of odd fruits, like lichees or spiny melons too).

Over the past 3 years, there are certain items which, for me, have become "imported luxuries", like coffee, brown bread, not-fluorescent-yellow mustard and certain veggies, like celery and iceberg lettuce -- all universally difficult to find/very expensive outside North America -- that I will pay top dollar for when I find them.

Only a few more days before we reach Canada! And brown bread! And celery! Mmmm, my mouth is watering already.

Vacation Update...

2009-07-06T21:14:00.002+04:00

Last Thursday was the official start of vacation!

And we've been doing... well, not very much actually.

We'll be in Canada in a week (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), and have been enjoying this downtime: Getting our apartment more in order, heading up to Abu Dhabi for a mammoth shopping spree, and generally just relaxing. We're also cat-sitting for our friend, Paul. He took our terrible beasties in for 5 months (!) when we first got here, so we didn't even have to think twice about feeding his crew while he's in Australia.

The daytime temps are topping 50 these days, so we can't do much in the way of outdoor activities. Last night, we didn't turn on the aircon in the livingroom, and it hit 30+, which is what I expect we'll have in Ontario and Quebec in August. Of course, it was still 20 degrees cooler than the outside temp....

Other than that, we are getting ready to head to Canada, planning another quick trip to Abu Dhabi, and doing all the errands that we never seemed to have time for before.

Boring, I know, but sometimes the thrilling, exciting, jet-setting lifestyle has to include a bit of downtime. ;)

Khor Fakkan, Part 2

2009-06-30T15:59:00.009+04:00

The beauty and freedom of our diving experience came with a price, unfortunately: We had a long day of driving ahead of us on Sunday. We decided to drive down the coast to Khor Kalba, then through the mountains to Hatta, where we’d heard there were some interesting things to see.

The mountains out here are a bit like the surface of the moon. Sparse trees (apparently some of them are frankincense) dot a landscape that is completely desolate. Jagged rocks like dragon teeth jut out of the sand…

...and through this, a winding road takes you through surprisingly new and clean towns that are springing up along the way.

You really feel like you’re the only person out here – especially if, like us, you turn off the main road. Driving along, we met up with a herd of donkeys and, just a few hundred metres later, a herd of very pretty goats.

It’s quite amazing that, for such a small country, the landscape seems to change every few kilometers….. even the sand changes colour! Our drive, which took us from Khor Fakkan to Hatta, through to Madam, to Hayer, towards Sweihan, past Abu Dhabi and back to Madinat Zayed meant that we saw everything from farmland to mountains, to sand dunes (red, orange, yellow, grey – each area has its own sand colour, it seems), and all this in a 600km drive.

Hatta is, like Liwa, a town built around its forts. There are, apparently, cave pools (only accessible by 4x4) and archaeological digs as well to see, but we only had time for a quick stop in at the Heritage Village (it does seem like every single town here has its own Heritage Village), which had been modified with added (false) walls for some sort of a TV show. We didn’t see anything much happening but, as it was the middle of the (hot) afternoon, no sane person was wandering around outside.

We, being insane, walked up to one of the restored towers where we could truly appreciate the area and stood there enjoying the eagle eye view we had of the neighbouring farms.

On then, through a tiny bit of Oman (where I, being silly said, “Let’s stop at the next roadside shack selling clay pots”, without realizing that it was the last one, and so ended up not feeding my need for pottery things to stack in corners and/or be smashed by the cats), and on through a sandy desert, where one may wish to rent one of these charming homes.

I suppose that if you want to live in a roof-less cinder block shack in the middle of nowhere, you can just call that number – remember the country code for the UAE is 971.

Too much construction and too many highway detours made for a longer drive than usual, but we found that people were super friendly and ready to give us directions in perfect English (How is it that some Indian guy in a ramshackle grocery store in the middle of a desert village can speak better English than just about any other place in the world?), as we wound our way back home.

In another two weeks, we will be arriving in Canada and, inshallah, enjoying a few more roadtrips, albeit with slightly different scenery! And, speaking of Canada – Happy Canada Day!!! I boiled up some maple syrup and made some experimental maple candies to celebrate. As almost the only Canadian out here, though, there will be no party, really, this year.

Khor Fakkan, Part 1

2009-06-29T22:30:00.008+04:00

In celebration of 6 months of wedded bliss, we decided to take a mini-break weekend and finally go scuba diving in Khor Fakkan.

Khor Fakkan should be the name of a heavy metal band – I mean, just try saying it in a deep spooky voice while smashing a guitar – but it’s actually a small coastal city on the Gulf of Oman. We’d driven through it in January, and had pretty much decided then that it deserved a closer look.

Judging from the map, it seemed like the easiest way to get to KF was to drive through a sliver of Oman. We figured, incorrectly, that all we’d have to do would be to wave our passports at the border guards and drive on through. And we did drive through a bit of Oman (quite a lovely place, actually), until the expense of having to get a visa and extra car insurance sent us back to the UAE to drive through some rather twisty mountain roads at night.

Our first day of diving started easily with a bit of lazing around on the white sandy beach and a quick dip in the crystal blue water (I think we’ll eventually get tired of our beach hotels…) before getting ourselves kitted out. Once we had our equipment, we hopped on the boat and sped out to our first dive site, Martini Rock, which we were told would be like “swimming in an aquarium”. Just having survived some of the worst red tides in recent history, the oceanic ecosystem around the Gulf of Oman is just starting to bounce back again.

pics from the hotel beach - the pointy rock in the distance of the 1st photo is Shark Island

It was great to be diving – For the record, I’ve decided that I can only dive in tropical oceans, when surrounded by pretty fishies – and with an excellent dive club (Divers Down) that was staffed by professional, efficient and super friendly people. So, yeah, highly recommended and we’ll definitely be going with them again.

For the first time ever, we were allowed to go off on our own, instead of following a Dive Master around. This was a big first for both of us, and such a lovely way to dive. Suddenly, you become aware of exactly where you are and how you need to navigate; you get more responsible with checking your air, and communicating with your buddy to decide which way to go, and whether plans made above the surface need to change or not. Martini Rock is great because you basically swim around a central rock formation, looking in crevices for little cuttlefish, boxfish, big puffer fish and a whole host of others, like snappers, triggerfish, and a few eels.

The next dive, to Shark Island (Yes, there are sharks that pass by here, but no sharks at this time of year), brought us a new adventure as we had to navigate for ourselves into very shallow water (only about 2 m deep at some points – strange to be that close to the surface) and be picked up by the boat. We kept our eyes open for turtles, but were out of luck, instead finding a patch of hard coral, where we saw a few clownfish amongst the anemones growing there.

We had enough time for a snack before heading back for our NIGHT DIVE. I’ve had chances to do night dives before but had never felt comfortable enough. It’s a bit daunting, isn’t it? There’s the whole being-under-the-water thing, which is enough to freak most people out…. And then there’s the plunge-into-darkness, what-if-the-leviathan-comes-and-eats-me thing.

Luckily, we had a guide for this dive. Paul, one of the owners, was coming down with us to guide us around the wreck (ooooh, did I mention that it was a NIGHT DIVE on a WRECK?). He was great… very calm and clear and reassuring, and helped to make what could have been a scary experience into something absolutely magical.

Once we’d gotten to the bottom, we knelt in the sand and Paul signaled to us to shut off our flashlights. Now, we were 20 m down, in the dark, next to the algae-covered hull of a boat, and it was DARK…

As our eyes were adjusting to the pitch black surrounding us, Paul started moving his hands about. Phosphorescence swirled from his fingertips, and from ours as we joined in. Underwater phosphorescence is almost indescribable. Small glowing balls – like fireflies – swirl away from your fingers, hair, air bubbles, and float up. It’s quite amazing.

Suddenly, our spooky trip in the dark had become a sort of private fairy land.

We spent the next 20 minutes or so exploring over the wreck, with Ty following Paul through a hatchway at one point. There was so much sealife (I had been expecting sleeping fishies with little pillows), like crabs decorated up like birthday cakes, several green and blue eels, a big puffer fish, and a cuttlefish catching his supper (a thing shot out from his tentacles – it was like being on National Geographic or something).

Going back to the surface gave us more time to play with the phorphorescence as we jiggled the rope, swished our fins or snapped our fingers to make the little glowy specks dance.

The next day we had two more dives. The first was a return to Martini Rock, but this time with a strong current that we had to swim against. All the fish had schooled around the rock in a big clump, facing the current. They really just looked like those fish in Finding Nemo that make big arrows and stuff. It was tough going sometimes, and we came out of the water feeling a bit tired, but once again happy with all that we’d seen.

Our final dive was a murky plunge into the area known as Hole in the Wall. It’s so named because of a short open ended cavern that you can swim through – if you are brave enough. I wasn’t, and instead I went up over the top, where I could see everyone’s air bubbles coming up through the cracks in the rock. Ty went through, and ended up stabbing himself on one of the numerous urchins (it was a very urchiny dive). As we swam along through narrow passages between the rock formations, I spotted a few neat fish, including a stonefish (that I wasn’t allowed to hug, even though he looked very sad), a few more boxfish and one big silver guy who came out of nowhere, then disappeared.

I’m going to post this now, and write the rest (our drive back was pretty cool too) tomorrow….

Mabruuk habibi!!!* مبروك حبيبي*

2009-06-18T07:56:00.004+04:00

Ty has been accepted to do his CELTA next year, starting October. This means he'll have to drive to Abu Dhabi three times a week over a few months, but the upside is that we will officially be a (very marketable) "teaching couple".... which just opens up more options for us down the road.

A big مبروك to Ty, حبيبي.

Last week, we had a rather large crowd over for a housewarming party. It was a great way to get to know people a bit better. Having spent so much time at the hotel, we are still feeling a bit like newcomers to the town in general.

Plans for Canada are coming along well too. We've got a lot of people to see, and I *am* nerdy enough to have made a big itinerary/calendar thing... Which I hope to finalize this weekend and then send it off!

*Congratulations, my love

Dubai getaway; Dune Bashing, Belly Dancing and More…

2009-06-14T10:57:00.003+04:00

Chatting with Carolyn at a party she hosted a few weeks back, the two of us got onto the topic of dune-bashing, a pastime in the Emirates involving taking your 4X4 out into the desert and putting it through its paces in the dunes . As she is preparing to leave the country at the end of the school year (July) she was determined to get out onto the dunes before it was too late. I thought it a grand idea.

And so last weekend a few of us from Madinat Zayed (Virginia and I, and two other friends, Linda and Carolyn) headed off to Dubai for a more touristy foray into the world of the UAE.

After our last wonderful, and surrealistically beautiful stay near the Dubai Creek in Deira, Dubai we decided to stay there again and Virginia booked us into a classic looking hotel; overlooking the water this time!

I searched around a bit and found a highly rated package,a Desert Safari , that included not only the dune bashing, but also a load of extras. (Orient Tours, 4x4 Desert Safari, booked though Viator.com… for those interested).

We had a mostly uneventful four hour drive through to Deira other than a photo stop at the Burj Al Arab - the famed dhow shaped building - and another to get pictures of the Burj Dubai, which when completed will be the tallest building in the world; the dry docks along the coastal Jumeirah street offer a wonderful view of the skyline, which really emphasises just how tall the building is.

At the hotel we dropped off our bags at our rooms which were huge, and did indeed offer a spectacular view of the creek, freshened up and headed out for the main event of the evening… souqs, souqs, souqs.

Once again we headed across the creek in the wooden water taxis, zipping along, and hooting loudly when another boat would stray off course or seem t0 be even slightly in the path of danger. We stopped at a fantastic restaurant which fronts out over the water for our supper (king prawns for me… yum!) and then waltzed off into the din and bustle, the liveliness which is the essence of the souqs.

With everyone headed home for holidays there was a lot to buy, each purchase bringing with it a fresh round of lively bargaining. Spices and material traded hands. Clothing and an assortment of other brightly coloured odds and ends were whisked off shelves.

At one point Carolyn convinced a particularly jocular storekeeper to give her free socks by mistake. She had said to him that she wanted his oldest ugliest pair of socks, the type you trudge around in at home, and then just burn, as he’d just pulled out huge packs of socks that he was trying to sell for even huger amounts of money. At this his face fell as if he had just presented someone with his most beautiful daughter, but that that someone had instead insisted on leaving with his deaf bulldog. When Carolyn left with another purchase, he added to the pile a pair of socks, and perhaps misunderstanding, answered a definite “Yes!” when she asked if he’d worn them before.

At a shop a little further down the busy alley, while V, Linda and Carolyn were admiringly sorting through a mountain of pashminas, the young storekeeper caught my attention… and this part of the weekend still makes me smile to thing about.

His intention it turned out after deciphering much wiggling of his eyebrows, and animated motioning towards Virginia ,was to point out just how attractive he found her. When Virginia looked up he went back to a businesslike demeanour, helped her out, and as soon as she turned back, stepped over to chat.

I never did find out just how many camels he was willing to part with for the love of my life, only that they were very definitely on offer. While only slightly tempted to start the haggling (just to see what happened you understand), I politely refused the offer. Later on in the evening we bumped into him again, where he offered me a straight out trade for his wife.

With bags full of exciting presents, and still with a wife at my side (I should probably add my own lovely wife) we headed back across the creek. Big day the next day.

After breakfast we headed out to the souqs on this side of the creek, which are older, grubbier and infused with far more personality, and so I quite enjoy them. Having once again bargained our way through the morning, we stopped at the hotel for some coffee and to wait for the desert safari pickup.

At the restaurant we encountered a massive man from Bahrain wondering about the place, beer in one hand, cigarette in the other, ghutra neatly in place (I am pretty convinced that Allah would not have particularly approved) He seated himself at our table, telling us that he’d been on the 10th floor of the hotel clubbing all night, and was pretty much still going. He also offered up his residence and hospitality in Bahrain, and to take us out in his speedboat if we visited. Just then four o’clock was approaching, along with our ride, and so we made plans to meet up the following day at breakfast. Sadly, we never saw him again (judging from the way he was going, he was very like sleeping off a devastating and persistent hangover around breakfast time the next morning).

As for us, we piled into the Land Cruiser which arrived promptly at the doors of the hotel, and headed out of Dubai towards Sharjah and then out into the desert. And it was thrilling.

The driver knew what he was doing, and so we quickly relaxed and began to enjoy the ride. Well I say relaxed… the three girls squealed and screamed with what I have to assume was terrified delight for the entire hour that we raced through the dunes. The only way to describe it really is as a sort of roller coaster ride, except that sand is flying everywhere (even over the top of the car), quite often you find are sliding sideways faster than you are moving forward, and every now and then you have to brace yourself as the 4x4 slides to a halt, six inches behind another Cruiser in the convoy whose tyre has just flown right off the rim.

When the thrilling bit was over, we pulled into a camp in the middle of the dunes. There we got to do a quick sunset camel ride. This was followed by sandboarding. Virginia was first and handled the board like a pro. I was quite surprised when I had my go that a) it was much easier than snowboarding, and b) you still fly down the slope at a speed.

All this was topped by a tasty Arabic buffet, followed shortly after by a woman whop took to the stage at the centre of the camp, and after bellydancing by herself for a while, involved us all in the festivities. Virginia and Carolyn were called up, and closely mimicked the dancer’s movements, keeping a steady rhythm. I ended up being called out of the audience alone, where what I did on stage was nothing like rhythmic, and probably looked less like dancing than a spasm of twitches beside the graceful flow of the bellydancer. It was wonderful.

As a kind of bonus to the day, from time to time we’d see photographers and a cameraman during the course of the tour, and at the end of the night a DVD was on sale with everything on it, including the bellydancing. This we promptly bought, but still have not had a chance to watch yet (I believe this is partly in fear of having to watch ourselves dancing).

On the Saturday we did some last minute souqing, and then headed to the Dubai museum which was the best we have been to in the UAE so far… and also where I’ll leave you with Virginia for a second…

When we lived in Saudi Arabia, my family went on a short trip to Dubai. I was about 7 years old, and although I don’t remember much of that trip, I know that there are a few photos from that time that have stuck in my mind. One is of me sitting on one of the wooden taxi-boats that cross the canal. The other is of me sitting on a cannon in front of the Dubai museum. And so… 27 years later, I got to re-enact that famous (well, for my memory anyway) photo. Mom, this is for you:

…I’m back. Well I know it’s been a while since the last post but I hope it was worth the wait. There will also be an update on the house warming coming soon, and some photographs of how the flat is coming along.

One last news update… I applied to do a CELTA teaching course later this year, and did an interview for it on Thursday. I’ll know sometime this week whether I made it in or not… There are only twelve spots on the course so cross fingers and hold thumbs for me.

Soooo....

2009-06-03T16:29:00.002+04:00

... I got sick of people from Abu Dhabi looking down their noses at us for living out in the sticks, and/or complaining about the long and terrible drive from AD to MZ (which most of us make at least once a week...), and decided to write this for the company newsletter.

“You live WHERE?”
by Virginia Parker
Photos by Tyrone Fowler

Whenever I need to give my address to someone in the UAE – be it for receiving my credit card through the bank, chatting with a new friend in Dubai, or to get a bookshelf from IKEA – I am generally faced with bewilderment.

“Madinat Zayed. No, no, not the gold souq area in Abu Dhabi. Here, let me draw you a map. It’s also called Beda Zayed. Wait. Have you ever been to Liwa? Have you read Arabian Sands?”

The Western Zone, Al Gharbia, comprises 70% of the total area of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and yet I routinely meet people who have spent years and years living in the UAE without ever having set foot on the shifting sands of one of the most beautiful
areas in the world. Madinat Zayed, the capital, is only an hour and a half outside of Abu Dhabi in distance, but somehow worlds away in feeling.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Abu Dhabi, but I love it for the way that I feel like I’m in Toronto, Tokyo or Seoul, surrounded by Starbucks and Second Cup, La Senza and The Gap. Out here in Madinat Zayed, we get to experience the “real” flavours and sights of the country, but without sacrificing too many creature comforts (Right, here’s no Starbucks but….). The burqa-wearing women of the Heritage Village by the Marina Mall? They look exactly like the mothers who come for meetings at my school.

And so, you may ask, what exactly is there to do out here? In the five months since our arrival, my husband and I have explored as much of this area as we can. Our experiences have ranged from the typically Emirati to the mildly absurd. We’ve seen falcon races and explored the forts of Liwa, but have also toured a fish farm located in the middle of the desert and wandered around the Rainbow Sheikh’s incredible car museum.

Mundane activities, such as the 65km commute between MZ and the Liwa Hotel (“home” for many people who are still awaiting permanent accommodation in town), become chances to see black Bedu tents surrounded by herds of camels, or glimpse a few endangered Arabian gazelles grazing on the trees by the side of the road. Smooth glimmering dunes become perfect spots for stargazing as you camp out on a weekend night.

Our students, too, live different lives from what I could have imagined before coming here. A simple chat about wedding preparations or the colour of your kandura becomes a fascinating view into the daily lives of a newly opened culture. And no, all of our girls are not just getting married after graduation. Although there are those who do, many of them have their sights set on university instead.

There are a few special events that have happened here as well. The Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, on par with the Paris-Dakkar Rally, took place last March, attracting competitors from all over the world, and providing a bit of entertainment and opportunities for some of us. There was another surprise visit a few weeks later,
this time by a camera crew from Top Gear (and yes, Mr Richard Hammond was there too). If these people are willing to travel halfway around the world to experience this part of the UAE, why don’t more people come out from Abu
Dhabi?

Of course, certain frustrations that come with small town life exist. We need to visit Abu Dhabi for some items, and there is a certain respect of traditional values that one must constantly be aware of (no knee-length skirts for me!). Life out here isn’t the most fast-paced or thrilling that you’ll find, but it is still worth the drive outside the city.
limits.

P.S. Just realized that the photos didn't load -- will have to do them from Ty's computer...

Hot times and walking to school...

2009-06-01T11:23:00.004+04:00

I'm quite enjoying my walks to school every morning. Not having a car before, I've generally walked wherever I needed to go. A great way to get from point A to point B on a lovely summer's day in Montreal, not always so great in the summer in the UAE (or for that matter, in the winter in Montreal).

Consider this, however. It's rumoured that the meteorologists of certain Middle Eastern countries will fudge the weather reports a bit. By law, nobody is supposed to be working outside once the temp hits 50 degrees, especially not on construction sites or in the middle of the desert. Some claim that the temperature is generally reported to be 47 or 48, because if it hit 50, about half the workers here would be required to stop working.... and then how would those skyscrapers get built??

I can tell you that a 30-minute walk before the sun has reached its full power leaves you absolutely drenched, to the point that you have to change all your clothes before you can even think of speaking to another person, so I can't even begin to imagine what the legions of workers picking up garbage by the side of the road, or carrying boards on a construction site, or loading trucks must be feeling....

(By the way... it isn't even summer yet!)

(Right, and another thing, don't go telling me that "It's a dry heat", because 50 degrees is HOT. And another thing, I don't see you leaning over the toaster and that's a dry heat too, isn't it?)

The heat is, perhaps, one reason why most of the people I pass on the sidewalk as I walk to school stare at me like I'm an absolute lunatic. I mean, first off, they stare at any unveiled woman... and then to have this crazy person wandering around and, dare I say, sweating in public????

Still, it's a nice way to see all of MZ - literally - I walk from one end to the other!! I also have a chance to chat with a black rooster who lives a block away from us, and to practice reading in Arabic as I walk slowly past shop windows. A few brave people will say hello to me (generally children or students), but most of them just look at me like I'm from another planet.

It's most amazing how, in all this heat, the town is still green. Sheikh Zayed's idea to "green the desert" has changed the landscape, but it takes a lot of upkeep. Each tree, each flowerbed, each median strip is built on its own sort of water reservoir that irrigates the soil constantly, and workers plant, trim, weed and care for it every day. And this greenspace runs the length of the town, providing napping space for tired workers, a picnic spot for students, and a home for birds.

Once I get to school, I am doubly happy that I managed to walk. With exams over, the teachers seem more interested in socializing than anything else. And in the Mid East - you socialize with food, and food, and food. If you get a good score on an exam, you buy everyone cake. If you pass your driver's test, you buy everyone cake. If your child wins a prize for something, you buy everyone cake... and then everyone has to wash it down with tea or coffee that is mostly sugar (I generally skip the tea/coffee). If you are anything like one of my co-teachers, Nihal, you also spend your evenings at home cooking, and then bring it all into school so that everyone can benefit - she's brought in stuffed peppers, beans mixed with veg, and a "musakha-ah" - a sort of vegetable mix. Definitely a nice change from kimchi and raw fish on a plate!

Hmmm, I've just re-read this, and it seems a bit garbled. Thanks for reading anyway... and I promise I'll learn how to cook Egyptian-style like Nihal so that I can fatten you all up when I arrive in Canada in 6 weeks.

Orange and Blue - Making it ours

2009-05-26T12:52:00.006+04:00

We've been painting and new flat for the last week, and it's been loads of fun. Everything's gone hippie in the lounge because we ended up settling on stark orange and blue for the walls. We've got a majlis (Arabic floor couch) that arrived today, which matches the walls. I haven't told Virginia it's going to be here today and am hoping to surprise her by having the rest of the room set up before she arrives home from work today.

On Thursday the rest of our furniture will be arriving from Ikea. We're loving having the cats back, and they're settling in fine.

Here are some pics of the paint job so far.

The orange wall

Orange and Blue and Virginia posing with her tools

Finishing up

Once we're done, we'll put up some more pics of our apartment. We can't wait to get our things from all over the world hanging everywhere.

Update on moving...

2009-05-19T10:42:00.002+04:00

As was so poignantly noted in one of the comments of my previous post, it has taken longer than 2 days for me/us to update you all about the big move.

Now, as I blog surrepticiously from work (I'm sure nobody is noticing my intent stare on the monitor coupled with my flying fingers), it's occured to me that I might be better off writing in point form... here goes:

The apartment is on the 2nd floor, which means it's on the 3rd floor because the ground floor is actually the 1st floor;
There are 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms, a living room, a kitchen and a loooong hallway for kitties to run down;
The best part is having Jakob and Sonagi back;
Yes, I said THREE bathrooms. And each bathroom has a bidet/face washer/foot cleaner/cat waterer thing in it;
It's all lovely, easy-to-clean tiles, central A/C, and the former tenant's "furniture", which was basically cushions and a coffee-table made of scrap wood;
Yes, we are going to IKEA this weekend....
I know, like, the cats get their own bathroom, just because we can't think of a single logical reason why one apartment needs three bathrooms.
I am walking to work (30 minutes) every morning in the "cool morning air" (think high 20s) in an effort to counter the effects of 4 months of hotel life, i.e. buffets;
Our TV (also from the former tenant) has the best channels ever.... Animal Planet, Nat Geo Adventure, Travel, BBC Lifestyle, the Style Network. We have about 400 other Arabic channels, so let me know if you want to know what "Baghdadia" is all about;
We'll start painting, Inshallah, this evening;
We've been socializing more in the past few days than we did in the past month - the whole building is filled with CfBT employees.
Three floors of apartments x 6 apartments per floor x 3 bathrooms per apartment = a lot of bathrooms for one little apartment building.
There are HUGE windows in the living room - and the other day, a wild falcon landed on the outside ledge and stared at me!
We also have a liquor license - meaning we can legally buy and transport alcohol. We spent so much on our first liquor store visit (it's up in Abu Dhabi so you have to stock up for a month, literally, you have a limit for the month that you can spend) that they gave us a free case of beer;

Yes.... we will upload a few photos soon. We just wanted to let you all know what's going on these days.

Come back in 2 days...

2009-05-12T08:49:00.000+04:00

... we're too busy moving into our NEW APARTMENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!