Virginia's Final Blog

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

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...

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

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

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?

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

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!