Tales from the Thousand and One Nights

I love this place!

2012-01-19T06:19:00.000-06:00

by Cindy

Jeff has posted about our dry cleaning prices before. We get great prices, they pick up and deliver and when you are not home, they leave it anyway. They'll just collect their money next time. They're nice people and everyone still trusts each other. Have I mentioned before that I love living here?!?!?!

It's a Small World

2012-01-18T07:23:00.000-06:00

18 January 2012
by Cindy
I said I would update/re-post this blog every time we met someone who knows someone we know or something of that sort. So here goes...

When Jeff and I were in Lubbock we would annually host The Traveling Team in our home. This is a group of post-college young adults who travel around to US college campuses mobilizing students to go abroad. You can read more about there here. One of ladies who came through our home years ago has since married, had children and now lives in our city with her family! We are fortunate to get to have dinner with her family from time to time and catch up. Who knew that a connection from years ago would come full circle!

December 2011
by Cindy
Even though we live 8,000 miles away from Texas, there never seems to be shortage of people we meet who know someone that we know. And occasionally, we have a friend in common who is a very good friend of the person we just met. I've been keeping a running list but I thought I would go ahead and post the list and then each time we someone who knows someone, I will repost. Meeting all these people certainly makes 8,000 miles seem not too far and helps us to realize that it is a small world after all!

Our friend Katie who we know from LateNite in Lubbock went to seminary with our pastor and his wife. When Katie came to visit us, she walked into our church here and said, "hey, I know them!"
A couple in our small group, Dianne and Kent are very close friends with our friends Marcy and Bob, from Lubbock.
Our children's pastor is from Snyder, TX.
There is a gentleman here from Denver City, TX (!) who we run into quite a bit.
Our pastor and his wife went to college with our friend Emily who we know from Irving, TX
Our friend Susan, from Lubbock, had a patient at her dental office who is the mother-in-law of a pastor at a church here in Dubai. We visited the church when we first arrived and the pastor knew our names before we knew his!
A fellow church member, Laura, went to school at Lubbock Christian University and was in Lubbock at the same time Jeff and I were there.
One of our elders knows our friend Greg at Asbury Seminary.
The craziest one of all (to me at least) is our friend Josh. Josh was here with his friend Todd, who we've known for several years. It turns out that Josh is the half-brother to my former step-brothers and sisters. So we're kind-of related. We didn't figure that one out until after his visit but it is a very small world!

So, if you think about moving away (or your kids or parents tell you they are moving away), don't fret - it is a small world after all.

Bulk Shopping

2012-01-12T05:43:00.000-06:00

by Cindy

Jeff just posted about our food prices. I thought I would also post about our bulk food. The things you buy in bulk here are different that what you find in bulk in the US. Here we have all kinds of frying oils and they come in containers that have to be close to two gallons. We also have rice. This just amazes me because 1) it reminds me of the animal feed on my uncle's farm and 2) I couldn't eat this much rice in a lifetime, even if I tried.

An entire aisle devoted to rice

How long would it take you to eat this much rice? It's 40 kg or 88.18 pounds of rice!

Not IF but WHEN

2012-01-09T05:27:00.000-06:00

by Cindy

The driving here is nuts, really nuts. People don't wear their seat belts, they pass on the shoulder and if they think you are going too slow, they flash their headlights at you and that means, "move out of the way." There are a lot of reasons for all of this and we'll save those for another blog. But, the driving is crazy enough that Jeff and I always talk about when we get in wreck not if we get in a wreck. Sure enough, we got into a wreck. We are so fortunate that it was a very mild fender bender and no one was hurt. We are also fortunate that the person who hit us admitted his fault and everything was resolved without incident. You definitely hear horror stories and wrecks as well as assessing blame.

Not only are Jeff and I thankful that no one was hurt, we are thankful for our very, very safe Volvo which has been fully repaired at this point.

Bargain Shopping

2012-01-05T10:33:00.001-06:00

In case you wonder what types of food we have available - and what we pay - here is a recent graphic from our paper here showing food prices here in the Emirates as well as in the US, the UK, France, and Australia (click here for an article from our newspaper - or click on the picture below to enlarge it). Prices here in the Emirates are in red, prices from the US are in yellow. All of the prices here are in UAE dirhams, so you can either mentally divide by 3.67 or you can just look at the percentage difference to get an idea of the prices. Enjoy.

Mission Impossible 4 - Location, Location, Location

2012-01-02T03:05:00.000-06:00

OK - I don't know if you've seen thee new Mission Impossible movie. Whether you have or not, we thought we'd take a few moments to blog about the real star of the show - DUBAI. What did we think about how our city was portrayed in the movie?

Sand Storms - They're worse in Lubbock, TX than in Dubai. Seriously. Let's consider some evidence... Where is the only place I've ever seen the streetlights come on during the middle of the day because of dust? Lubbock. Where is the only place that I've lived and had little piles of dirt in my window sills after the dust blows? Lubbock. Where is the only place I've ever tasted the grit of dirt in my teeth during a dust storm? Lubbock. OK - final question - a 'haboob' - the Arabic word for 'intense dust storm' - in the Wikipedia entry for this term, where was the picture taken that illustrates this type of storm? Lubbock. I rest my case. [special shout-out to my panhandle friends from Spearman, TX for having a picture on the 'haboob' entry, too].
Cityscape - The city is bigger than it appeared in the movie. Mission Impossible 4 made it look like we only have one tall building. Not true. In addition to the 2,723 foot-Burj Khalifa (almost twice as tall as the Empire State Building), we have 17 other buildings over 1,000 feet - more than any other city in the world. And for those of you forward-thinkers who like your measurements in meters, Dubai has 63 buildings over 200 meters - again, more than any other city in the world.
Development - The city is more developed than it appears to be in the movie. There are no camels on the streets [I won't tell you which one of my family members I had to set straight on that - I'm embarrassed that this individual asked me where we tied up all the camels]. There is no market with dirt roads within walking distance of the Burj Khalifa. We do, however, have the biggest mall in the world right next door...


Tom Cruise on the Burj Khalifa

And one more interesting tidbit for you - the Indian billionaire in the movie who is supposedly hosting a party at his mansion in Mumbai? Well, that was actually the Jumeirah Zabeel Saray - a hotel in, you guessed it, Dubai. It's on the Palm Islands, actually.

Needless to say, people here were way excited about the movie. In the theatre, when Tom Cruise told his team that they were headed to Dubai, everyone cheered. We hear from friends that on opening night, people cheered EVERY TIME Dubai was mentioned. It's a great city.

Ring us up the next time you're passing through - we'd love to show you around.

Kitsch Kristmas

2011-12-26T10:57:00.001-06:00

Cindy and I had a great Christmas this year. We spent Christmas Eve with some friends from campus - at church and then at their place for a wonderful Christmas Eve dinner. On Christmas Day, we opened presents, had a friend over for breakfast, and then headed off to Christmas Dinner. So far, so good...

Then, for Christmas dinner, we drove out to the city of Hatta - a little over an hour away into the mountains. We didn't know it yet, but somewhere on that drive we crossed over into the Twilight Zone. We had a great time with about a dozen friends from campus, but I have to admit that it was a little like celebrating Christmas in a parallel universe. First of all, the decorations were very Christmas-y and there were a lot of "Merry Christmas" wishes exchanged, but our mountain lodge dinner setting was still in the desert. Hmmm. That's odd...

Then, when Santa came in, he wore the red suit that you would expect, but his coloring gave me the impression that he arrived on a camel from Oman or Yemen, not on a sleigh from the North Pole. His helpers (carrying bags of gifts) were definitely in Yemeni tribal dress. They all seemed excited to play the part. I should have asked them how "elf" translates into Arabic.

The hotel had a choir to lead everyone in a sing-along! So we sang maybe four traditional carols - led by the Philippino and Pakistani kitchen help and waitstaff. Great voices, but...wow.

After Santa and the singing, a magician came in to perform for the kids - typical card tricks and sleight-of-had stuff. And of course he gave out gifts after his tricks. Did I mention that the magician was a Malaysian Elvis impersonator?

I can't tell you how many times Cindy and I looked at each other and said, "Where ARE we?"

Merry Christmas!

Jeff and our colleague Earl helping out the Malaysian Elvis.


The Yemeni Santa - and his helpers to deliver toys to the children.

Kitsch Kristmas Karols

Winter

2011-12-22T07:44:00.001-06:00

Here's a short video (just over 4 minutes) from a local guy who wanted to document the cityscapes and landscapes of the United Arab Emirates. We like it and think it does a great job of capturing how beautiful it can be here - especially during the winter. We hope you enjoy it.

Emirates Winter from Lewis De Mesa on Vimeo.

Dates

2011-12-07T09:38:00.015-06:00

by Cindy

Just about the only indigenous plant life in the UAE is the date palm tree. Dates are to the UAE what chips and salsa are to Texas. They are everywhere. We eat them straight off the tree, we serve them to guests when they come into our home, we munch on them when we have a craving for something sweet. We dip them in chocolate, stuff them with nuts and now...put them in chicken. Jeff found a great recipe in the paper this week and (rather than suggesting I make it) he made it for dinner while I was out for a run one evening. Major points for Dr. Baker!

We thought we would pass along the recipe to give you a 'taste' of life in the UAE.

Chicken stuffed with dates
Serves 2

3 tbsp olive oil
1 garlic clove, peeled and finely chopped
1/8 white onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 tsp cumin seeds
8 large dates, pitted and chopped
2 skinless chicken breasts
2 oz. cream cheese
small bunch parsley, leaves picked and chopped (or 1/2 tsp dried parsley)
1/8 cup flaked almonds
salt and black pepper

Heat one tablespoon olive oil in a frying pan over a medium-low heat. Add the garlic and onion and cook for eight to 10 minutes, until softened and light golden brown.

Increase the heat slightly and add the cumin seeds, followed a minute later by the dates. Stir well, season with salt and black pepper and cook for a further three to four minutes. Remove the pan from the heat, tip the mixture into a bowl and leave to cool.

Using a sharp knife, slice into the side of each chicken breast, to form a pocket.

Beat the cream cheese, parsley and flaked almonds into the cooled date mixture, taste to check the seasoning and spoon into each pocket.

Heat two tablespoons of oil in a frying pan over a medium-high heat. Add the chicken breasts and cook for three minutes on each side, then reduce the heat and continue to cook for a further seven to eight minutes, or until the chicken is completely cooked through.

Remove from the pan and serve with your chosen accompaniments – wild rice works well.

Enjoy!

Happy 40th Birthday to the UAE

2011-12-03T22:48:00.001-06:00

by Cindy

We just celebrated the UAE's 40th birthday on December 2nd. It's hard to believe that the country is only 40 years old but it's true. I was telling a friend this morning that it serves as a reminder to me that while things are not perfect here, they have come a long way in 40 years. After all, they only got electricity in the 1960's!

One thing very common here is for the government to do things for the people during / on a holiday. So Ramadan, Eid and National Day (among others) often are met with big announcements that are intended to bestow blessings on the UAE people. This year for National day, there were three big announcements:

1) All government workers will get a 35-45% pay raise. This is after a 70% raise in 2007 and another 70% raise in 2009. On the surface, this seems like a good thing - who doesn't want a raise, right? However, one of the issues we have here is that there is already a great disparity between the pay of government jobs and private sector jobs - with government jobs being extremely high-paid. One of the implications of this is that very few Emiratis want to work in the (relatively low-paid) private sector. This is a cause of concern for the government (which therefore must employ a huge percentage of the Emirati population). This is a big issue that the government here will have to wrestle with for some time.

2) The Abu Dhabi government allotted 2,500 plots of land for people to build their house. The government provides land (for free) to all Emiratis to build a home once they get married. So 2,500 people on the list for land for a house just got their land.

3) All children of Emirati mothers will now be Emirati citizens when they turn 18. This is a very big deal. Very big. Prior to this announcement citizenship was through the father only. That is, if you had an Emirati father and non-Emirati mother, congratulations, you're an Emirati citizen. But if you had a non-Emirati father and an Emirati mother, no dice. You weren't an Emirati citizen - you could only take the citizenship of your father. This meant that you were losing out on the opportunity to have government jobs (see #1 above), gifts of land (see #2 above), free university education, free healthcare, etc, etc. So this change was proclaimed by the papers here as an expansion of women's rights and a real blessing for many.

Hopefully that gives you a sample of life here in the UAE and how the government bestows blessings on its people.

Happy National Day!

The Deep Sea

2011-12-01T07:43:00.003-06:00

by Cindy

Jeff and I went deep sea fishing in the Persian (Arabian) Gulf recently. It was a beautiful morning on the gulf with weather that was not too hot and good company. The sea was quite choppy and we had a few with sea sickness, myself included, so we didn't catch much at all but it was still a lot of fun. Here are some shots:

Dawn over the city. Offshore drilling platforms on the right .

Jeff catching our bait fish.
Our captain is the guy with the white hat.

The sunrise over Sharjah. It was beautiful.

Jeff catching a tiny barracuda.

2011 Thanksgiving - Part II

2011-11-26T07:41:00.000-06:00

by Cindy

Jeff and I were fortunate to have been invited to four different Thanksgiving dinners this year. We stopped ourselves at two or else we would have been exercising off way too much pecan pie! The second dinner we attended was with some of our faculty friends. This time of year the weather is amazing so we just move the party to the back yard.

Thanksgiving 2011 - Part I

2011-11-24T12:18:00.000-06:00

by Cindy

Today we got to celebrate Thanksgiving with the foreign exchange students here at our university. Our friend hosted the gathering and I cooked for it. It's nearly impossible to cook for 20 people with a tiny oven and one rack. I kept reminding myself that people have been doing this for years and it could be a lot worse...

The meal turned out fine and we enjoyed hanging out with the students. Not all of them are from America so some of them enjoyed turkey and all of the fixins' for the first time. Mashed potatoes were a hit all the way around - I think they translate to "yummy" in any culture.

Our host, Gary, trying to convince Jeevan to try some of the food . He was skeptical as he's never seen any of this food before!

The inside crew.

Thanksgiving UAE style - outside.

Tomorrow - another Thanksgiving feast with our faculty friends.

Visitors!

2011-11-20T12:34:00.000-06:00

by Cindy

November 16, 2011 UPDATE - At the request of those who read our blog and comment (thank you Carolyn and Trish!), here are some additional pictures of the indoor ski slope. We don't have any of the indoor roller coaster, sorry.

The slope is actually a L shape. The lift curves and this is headed up to the top/upper half.

Looking at the top half of the slope. The lift is in the middle and you can ski down to the left or right of the lift.

Skiing down the 'expert' side.

There is a lodge half way up, at the turn, where all of these pics were taken. This is looking back down the slope, right before the lift curves. You can see the windows at the far end, the mall is on the other side of those windows.

Looking back down the slope, the lower half. Again, the mall straight ahead through the windows.

The upper half of the slope.

Looking down the slope with a part of the lodge on the right of the picture.

Overall, the slope is not big at all. Sabra and I were taking 10 minutes for a round trip of riding the lift up and skiing down the slope.

November 14, 2011
We have been very blessed this fall to have visitors. Jeff and I had a great time showing them around town and seeing and doing things we have not done before. We would love to have more of you come see this amazing place we live!

Here are some fun pictures of the new things for us:

Ski Dubai - I'm guessing you have heard of it. First of all, it is located in a mall - very typical of Dubai. You "rent" your clothes, boots and skis. For the clothes, you just pull them over whatever you happen to be wearing that day. When my brother and Eddie skied, they had on shorts underneath their outfits. It was really weird to ski indoors when you know it is 100 F degrees outside. I will admit, Sabra and I got really, really cold and quit early (they keep it at -1 C). Very strange experience but glad I did it.

Ferrari World - the world's largest indoor amusement park is pretty cool but take note, the world's fastest roller coaster is only open on the weekends! Bummer.

Burj Khalifa - the world's tallest building.

Seawings - we got to take an aerial tour of Dubai on a seaplane, it was really cool.

The Star of The Show

2011-11-19T07:58:00.000-06:00

by Cindy

Jeff was asked to lead a lecture on Decision Making to the student workers on campus. His picture was plastered all over the campus. Jeff think he looks fat but appreciated our friend Nick who told Jeff that his arms look big and muscular.

Ko Yao Noi, Thailand

2011-11-17T08:01:00.000-06:00

by Cindy

Jeff and I were fortunate to travel to Thailand for a few days in early November. We didn't plan for it but it definitely turned out to be a second honeymoon. It was secluded, romantic and quite fabulous! We rested quite a bit, swam in the Phang Nga Bay, kayaked through a mangrove forest in the Ao Phang Nga National Park, enjoyed the sweeping vistas, learned some Thai cooking, partook in a couple of wine tastings and just really enjoyed ourselves. I can never get too much one on one time with my husband so I enjoyed every minute of the trip! Here are some of the pictures - if you ever get a chance to travel to Thailand, I highly recommend it!

The view from the pool. Wow!

Our view at dinner each night

Us with the real chef.

Watching a movie each night while overlooking the bay. It was rough, we know.

Our villa was amazing, we called it our "tree house"

Our yummy creation - Pork and glass noodle salad

Eid Al-Adha

2011-11-11T08:36:00.000-06:00

by Cindy

We have just finished celebrating the Eid Al-Adha holiday here in the UAE. Eid Al Adha is the holiday celebrated by Muslims to commemorate the willingness of Abraham to sacrifice his son Ishmael (not Isaac as Christians believe) as an act of obedience to God, before God intervened to provide him with a sheep— to sacrifice instead.

One of our friends passed along a picture she took of some stamps she saw in Lubbock, TX - celebrating the Eid holiday.

It's a little bit hard for me to translate since it's in calligraphy but Allah is definitely in there.

So, as we would say here, Eid Mubarak (blessed Eid)!

The View from the Top

2011-10-26T12:53:00.000-05:00

This photo was taken last week in Dubai. We have fog from time to time in the mornings since we're on the coast, but above it all, things are absolutely gorgeous.

Beat This Neiman Marcus

2011-10-26T12:51:00.001-05:00

by Cindy

If you are looking for that "one of a kind" Christmas gift for your significant other, I have the gift for you! I checked the 2011 Neiman Marcus catalog and they don't even have this available!

This is definitely the gift that no one else in your neighborhood will receive. The gift requires very little water or food or much upkeep and actually keeps on giving. The keeps on giving part might be the downside of the gift actually, because the gift is smelly and snorts and spits a lot but no one else has one, I promise! The gift? A camel! It will set you back about $1,000,000 (yep, that's six zeros).

So, to help prepare you for your gift buying, I have a few tips for you:

Lessons with your Camel:

Hiss to make the camel stand
Click to make the camel sit
Call him with a cry of "hay hay oooay"
If you want him to slow down, pull the rope
Never confuse your camel with a horse and say, "whoa". This will make him speed up and running without stirrups puts weight on the rider's spine
Sing to your camel to make it forget its thirst
Don't beat him. He will remember it for 10 or 12 years and bite you in your sleep

And don't worry, once you buy your camel, you can attend camel boot camp to learn basic knowledge of camels. As I said, it's a 'one-of-a-kind' gift.

Merry Christmas to Me!

2011-10-22T14:05:00.000-05:00

by Cindy

This summer Jeff and I tackled the storage unit we have back in America. I have a love/hate relationship with the storage unit. I like to see my 'stuff' that is familiar to me and my 'stuff' allows me, in some weird psychological way, to stay attached and grounded in America. However, it seems ridiculous to pay for storage on stuff that, by the time I get around to using it again, will be ruined or non-usable. So, this summer we went through it, gave a few things away and shipped a few more things to the UAE.

When we moved to the UAE, we were not sure what we would want or need so we made the best guess. Now that we've decided to stay indefinitely, we wanted to have more of our 'stuff''. We shipped two bikes, a lot of golf stuff, kitchen gadgets and my pots and pans. I have missed my kitchen gadgets and pots and pans. I love kitchen gadgets. Every time I would go into Crate and Barrel here I would get home sick because I would see all of these cool gadgets and think excitedly to myself, "I have something like that..." Which would immediately be followed by a sad thought "...back in storage in America." But no more! I now have all my kitchen gadgets and pots and pans.

More pots and pans than two people need.

Enough space for pots and pans for two people.

The obvious next task will be finding a place for all of these goodies!

The Office

2011-10-16T23:07:00.000-05:00

The university where we teach opened a new building for the business school this year. It's a great space for us with great classroom space, new offices, and great technology. Here are a few photos of our new space.

Hallway outside classrooms

Jeff's Office

Cindy's Office

Jeff again.


Classroom (40 seats), where both Cindy and I teach.

Student Lounge

Milk - It Does the Body Good

2011-10-12T14:04:00.001-05:00

by Cindy

We have all kinds of milk here. Maybe America does too and I never paid attention but just the other day I noticed you can get a variety six pack of milk - raspberry, strawberry, banana, camel, date and regular. Wow, who knew. I didn't get the six pack but I did try three of them.

Camel milk (we do live in the desert after all) is gross. My brother and I agreed, it tastes like dirty milk. The Banana milk tasted like you would expect and was pretty good. It would really enhance a banana milkshake. The date milk (we have date palm trees all over the UAE) was not very good. It tasted like sweet milk with a bad aftertaste.

If you are not as adventurous with your milk selections, we do have 'regular' milk for you. 'Regular' milk comes in Skimmed, Low Fat, Full Fat, Double Fat or Double Cream. I presume Full Fat is Whole milk. I have no idea about the other two, do they take the fat from Skimmed and Low Fat and add it to Double Fat and Double Cream?!?!

The other notable thing is that the Skimmed only comes in the 1/2 gallon equivalent. They don't even make it in the gallon equivalent.

Get Your Guns Up!

2011-10-02T01:44:00.002-05:00

by Cindy

We had an article in our paper recently about Randa Ayoubi. You probably don't know her by name but you might know of her work. She is the creator of Rubicon, the multimillion-dollar animation and production company that has partnered with Paramount, MGM Studios and CBS Television Network. She is considered one of the most successful businesswomen in the Middle East.

If you still don't know her or her company, maybe you've heard of 'Ben and Izzy'? It airs on the Cartoon Network. The plot revolves around the tumultuous relationship between an American boy, Ben, and his Jordanian friend Izzy, and although its purpose is to be entertaining, it became a symbol of a bridge between the West and the East. The cartoon was described by The New York Times as "perhaps the most memorable "pitch stunt" among the nearly 300 proposals for series that Cartoon Network sifts through each year".

Still don't know her? That's fine. What you probably really care about is that she holds a BS in Computer Engineering from Texas Tech University!

Country Music Reviews

2011-09-30T08:34:00.000-05:00

by Cindy

Our newspaper here is not dissimilar from yours. We have the news along with all of the extra stuff - food reviews and recipes, movie reviews and music reviews. I was quite surprised last week when we had Country music reviews in our paper. I even double checked to see if it had been written by someone local or if it was from a foreign news source that had just printed in our regional paper. It was local, totally local.

The reviews seem to be okay, not terribly kind but not too harsh either

This really had me wondering...We just had another really big Virgin store open in one of our (many) malls so I dropped by to see if they sell country music. To my surprise, they had a small section. It seemed to be mostly old school - Willie Nelson, Johnnie Cash, Dolly Parton and Kenny Rodgers. A few more recent artists in Faith Hill and the Dixie Chicks along with 'The Best of Ally McBeal'. [Go figure on that one.]

I guess the bottom line is that you can in fact get country music in the UAE!

Homesick

2011-09-27T08:36:00.000-05:00

by Cindy

I really don't get too homesick but when I do it is for two things - cold weather and Christmas.

When we back to the UAE from our visit to America this summer, I lit some candles around the house and attempted to freshen things up a bit. The candle I chose for our bedroom was 'Creamy Pumpkin' from Bath and Body Works. I always put the 'bedroom candle' on my nightstand that way I can even smell it when it's not lit. Plus, Jeff's not big on smells so it's away from him. This 'Creamy Pumpkin' candle has really thrown me for a loop! To me, it smells like Christmas. When I smell it, I feel like I should be able to walk into the living room and see the Christmas tree. I think I should be able to walk outside and feel a cold chill in the air. It seems that when I go to the mall, Christmas carols should be playing in all of the stores. The candle makes me homesick - it hits right at the only two things I really miss.

In case you are not familiar with where we live, it is in the desert, in a country that does not celebrate Christmas. When I walk into the living room, I don't see our Christmas tree but I can hear the call to prayer. When I walk outside, I do not feel a cold chill (I never have and never will for that matter). I think the temperature today was 102F. When we go to the mall, we don't hear Christmas carols but we do hear R&B songs and the call to prayer (go figure, I know).

So, even though we had just returned from America I found myself homesick. 'Creamy Pumpkin' went back into the closet and I replaced it with 'Autumn.' I seem to be doing much better now.

Election Day!

2011-09-23T09:00:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow - Saturday, September 24 - is election day here in the United Arab Emirates. There are 469 candidates (including 85 women) who are vying for spots on the Federal National Council (FNC), the highest elected body in the UAE.

There are 40 representatives on the FNC. Representatives serve 2-year terms. Each of the seven emirates that compose the UAE are represented on the FNC according to their population (similar to the way that the number of representatives a state has in the US House of Representatives is determined by that state's population). Here, the FNC has the following number of representatives from each of the 7 emirates.
8 are from the emirate of Abu Dhabi,
8 are from Dubai,
6 are from Sharjah,
6 are from Ras al Khaimah, and
4 from Ajman,
4 from Umm Al Quwain, and
4 from Fujairah.
Not all of the 40 seats on the FNC are elected, however. Each emirate elects exactly half of its representatives, while the remainder are appointed by the ruling sheikh. Currently, of the 40 seats, there are 8 women (20% of the FNC, with 3 women from Dubai, and 1 woman from each emirate except Umm al Quwain).

As far as voting rights go, the UAE does not yet have universal suffrage. This year does, however, represent a significant expansion in voting rights from the previous elections. Furthermore, the UAE has a far larger percentage of its citizens eligible to vote than many of the countries in the region. In this election, 129,247 individuals (out of approximately 978,000 Emirati citizens) will vote. These individuals are chosen by the rulers of the emirates in which they live.

The FNC is not a legislature that develops and votes on laws. Rather, it functions in an advisory role to the rulers of the country. Drafts of laws and the nation's budget are discussed, with recommendations passed on to the rulers. Additionally, the FNC provides oversight of the various Ministries of the country (Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Foreign Trade, etc.).

Here are a few campaign posters. I have no idea about the platforms of the candidates. Since all off the voters are Emirati, all of the campaigning and materials are in Arabic.

This guy has prime advertising space in front of a mosque.

A better angle of the advertisement near the mosque.

Signboards on the median.

One of the female candidates. Notice here that all candidates have a number (visible in the other candidates' ads, too). At the voting booth, candidates are either selected by entering the number or selecting the photo of the candidate.

Family Time Part IV

2011-09-21T10:44:00.000-05:00

by Cindy

We concluded our American Tour with time in the DFW area to see my family. I'm fortunate that my mom, dad, brother and some extended family all live in the Metroplex area. Unfortunately, I got confused about what day we left town, so I was not able to catch up with extended family this year. The only friend I was able to catch up with was one I haven't seen in 7 or 8 years so it was nice to see her.

We enjoyed our time with family over long dinners, Labor day weekend at the lake and playing with my niece who has grown quite a bit this past year. Jeff and I always try to get in some American Football while we are in town so we enjoyed the LSU vs. Oregon game this summer at Dallas Cowboy stadium. My brother even got us some tickets to a suite for the second half of the game. It's nice to have connections! In Arabia, we call that 'wasta' which translates to 'influence'.

Here are some pics from our trip:

At the game with my brother and his wife.

Before the game started.

From the suite - joining us were Chavi and Dan.

Reagan, 21 months, ready for the LSU game.

My nieces, Reagan and Haley, 6 years. Swimming at the lake.

Reagan swimming at the lake.

The squirrels eating corn at the lake. They even have their own lounge chair!

It was just like any other church dinner...

2011-09-12T22:41:00.001-05:00

Last night, Cindy and I attended a special dinner at the Atlantis hotel (on the Palm Islands) here in Dubai. The dinner was hosted by the Jebel Ali Churches Council, and the purpose of the event was to honor and give thanks for the rulers of Dubai who allow Christians to worship here. Sheikh Mohammed, the current ruler of Dubai, graciously granted land in 2000 (in a part of town called Jebel Ali) where churches could be built. His predecessor, Sheikh Rashid, made a similar grant years earlier in another part of town, and actually laid the cornerstone of one of the buildings there. I'm not sure exactly how many churches exist in these two church complexes (20+), but I do know that there are a variety of churches represented, including evangelical, Anglican, Orthodox, and Catholic churches [There are other churches that are part of the church council that meet outside the church complexes as well - including the one that Cindy and I attend, Redeemer Church of Dubai - which is presently meeting in a ballroom at the JW Marriott - http://www.redeemerdubai.com/]. You can find services held in a host of languages as well - English, Arabic, Tagalog, Spanish, Hindi,...and others.

Last night, there were about 200 people in attendance at the dinner, which included a handful of members of the Dubai royal family, members of the UAE National government, and members of the Dubai Ruler's Court. Most of the attendees were pastors, church leaders, and other church members. The Emirati dignitaries were presented gifts of appreciation, a few people made brief speeches, and then we had dinner. The program for the evening, and a couple of pictures appear below.

Let us know if you have questions or comments.

Golf in Dubai

2011-09-06T20:17:00.002-05:00

I've started playing more golf since we arrived in Dubai. There are several guys at the business school who play, and so it's a nice way to be social. The golf courses in the country are - for the most part - outstanding. Green fees range from about US$50 up to about $200. [Don't worry, I have a discounted membership at one of the golf clubs that brings down the cost considerably for me :) ].

The courses are worth the high green fees, though. The layouts are challenging, the courses are well-maintained, and the service is outstanding.

Now the fact that golf can be played at all is almost a miracle. The environment is pretty inhospitable, as you can see from the picture below. This is the Emirates Golf Course, the oldest in Dubai. This picture was taken the year the course opened, in 1987. The city has since grown up around the course. The course is still there and hosts the Dubai Desert Classic each year - a European PGA Tour tournament, and also one that consistently attracts the top Americans. A more recent picture of the course (with the cityscape) appears below.

And in case you're wondering just how much water it takes to turn the desert green like this, a recent article in The National, an Abu Dhabi newspaper, revealed that one of the courses there uses about 1.8 million gallons per day during the summer (and "only" 1.3 million per day during the winter).

Family Time - Part III

2011-08-28T14:28:00.000-05:00

by Cindy

We have spent that last two weeks of our "American Tour" in Lubbock, Texas. It has been a great time to catch up friends and for Jeff to continue in his research. We have been blessed by a dear couple who has allowed us to stay with them the entire time. Their hospitality has no limits and we couldn't be more thankful for them. They are a blessing to us and Jeff and I always say 'we want to be just like them when we grow up.'

Jeff has been able to work on research, start some new projects and continue to maintain relationships with other faculty at Texas Tech. Since Jeff is technically still on the faculty at Tech, we have been able to enjoy the Recreation Center and the pool while in town so that's been a bonus for me while he works each day.

I was blessed to have a friend come to town and visit me while in Lubbock. She's a friend I know from my time in Lubbock so it was a blessing for us to walk down memory lane and also consider the ways we have been blessed and grown since leaving Lubbock. We are looking forward to her visit to the UAE later this fall and her upcoming wedding in January. (Jeff and I are especially excited about the wedding - Yosemite Park in January. We will get a real winter!!) We have had more coffee, lunches and dinners than we ever expected. From friends who happen to be in town for the weekend, to friends who moved back to town the weekend we arrived, we have been blessed with catching up with so many people.

While neither one of us have any biological family in Lubbock, we have realized what a wonderful church we had and still have in Lubbock. The people of Westminster have loved on us even after being gone for two years. We have certainly felt as though we are among family while in Lubbock.

Emirati Youth Feel the Pressure

2011-08-27T14:25:00.000-05:00

by Cindy

Even tough we live 8,000 miles away, we still follow the US news. In addition, because the UAE is tied so closely with Europe, we follow their news as well. Many of the social and government issues in America are similar to those in Europe and even those in the UAE. There was a great article in our UAE paper that touches on many of the social issues that are making headlines in America and Europe:

Retirement age for women and men
Women in the work force
Working for the government vs private sector
Working hours for the government vs private sector
The pressure to marry and arranged marriages
How the government is going to pay pensions

While the article is long, it does a great job of hitting numerous topics. We think you will enjoy it - Emirati Youth Feel the Pressure.

A Little Bit of Texas

2011-08-24T20:11:00.000-05:00

by Cindy

Today a dear friend bought me a gift to take back to the Emirates with me. A key chain with a pair of boots and spurs. She even bought it from Cavender's! If I ever lose my keys at school, I think they will find me. After all, there are not many people in the UAE who know about cowboy boots.

Wings

2011-08-21T22:02:00.000-05:00

by Cindy

We can't get two things in the UAE - BBQ and wings. We've had BBQ twice now and today Jeff and I got our wings. We don't even have to look at the menu - Potato wedges with cheese, a dozen boneless with mango-habanero sauce and eight boneless with asian zing. We even got a bonus - the potato wedges now have bacon on them! We'll take all the pork we can get while in the USA!

Rudy's BBQ

Buffalo Wild Wings

Oklahoma?

2011-08-17T14:46:00.001-05:00

by Cindy

We have a rental car for our time in Lubbock. We were disappointed when we noticed the license plate. Really? Oklahoma? Ugh.

The upside is that the car smells like blueberry muffins.

Hummus

2011-08-14T12:04:00.001-05:00

by Cindy

Hummus is apparently a big deal in America. When we left two years ago you would see if around some but I've seen it more in the few days that we've been back that I ever had before we left. It really hit me when we got served Forty Spices hummus on an American Airlines flight from Boston to DFW.

We eat hummus all of the time. Jeff and I have a joke that there is a 100% probability that hummus will be served at every meal we attend on campus (he does teach business statistics after all). However, our hummus is the plain kind - no red pepper, no garden herb, no forty spices or sun dried tomatoes or what ever else you guys have in it. We might, very rarely, have garlic in it. And we eat it with bread and only bread, what American's would call "pita" bread. No veggies and not smeared on a sandwich like mayo or mustard. I guess in our own snobbish way, we are hummus purists. After all, it originates from the Levant and hummus is a transliteration of حمّص‎.

Family Time - Part II

2011-08-11T13:50:00.000-05:00

by Cindy

We are in Midland visiting with Jeff's parents. There isn't much to do in Midland but Jeff was able to get the BBQ he's been missing. This place was legit - you pick your meat out of the smoker and pay by the weight. Jeff picked 1.5 lbs of meat!

Family Time - Part I

2011-08-09T08:05:00.001-05:00

by Cindy

We have been fortunate to catch up with Jeff's brother and his family over the past few days. We have enjoyed the cooler weather in Boston, rain and a day to the beach. Fortunately the jet lag hasn't been too bad and we have enjoyed hanging out with the kids in the early mornings when we are all awake.

Next stop - Midland, TX to see Jeff's parents.

Mine and Jeff's handiwork

Haddon, 6 yrs

Jeff and I joined the kids at swim lessons

Haley, 10 yrs

Haley, 10 and her brother Hudson, 3 months

Haley decorated Jeff's birthday cake

Living in Dubai is Like Living Without a Past

2011-08-05T23:23:00.000-05:00

by Cindy

Here is a fun and short article about Dubai that a friend shared with me. She was intersted in my comments (along with others) so I've added my brief comments, too.

Article

I like the article. I think it's accurate and for me, I know this is weird, but there is something attractive about "escaping from their culture, who long to forget their history, and who are content to live without the past." I am sure at some point I will again long for those things and desire to return to America. But for now, for me, I really like it here. I like the idea that the city/UAE is re-inventing itself, as are all of the people here, and I enjoy being a part of it.

The trick to all of this of course, is figuring out how to explain this to people who are still in America. They definitely don't get what's attractive about all of this.

Ramadan

2011-08-03T11:18:00.000-05:00

by Cindy

Ramadan has started. We've posted a couple of times about it before so I won't go into the details. The biggest difference for those of us who don't celebrate is that we can't eat or drink in public between sunrise and sunset. So, many businesses adjust their hours during Ramadan. I saw this sign at the mall today:

I'm glad I don't work in a restaurant or cafe!

KFC - UAE Style

2011-08-01T07:20:00.000-05:00

by Cindy

Thankfully, we can get fried chicken here. It's just a good and just as greasy and satisfies the urge when the urge hits. However, there are so notable, okay major, differences between KFC in America and KFC in the UAE. Take a look at the photo, can you figure them out? HINT: You are looking for two things:

Were you able to figure it out? We get hamburger buns (!) instead of the awesome biscuits you get in America. AND, they don't have mashed potatoes and gravy here, we get rice instead. At least the chicken tastes good!

Bible Study - Filipino Style

2011-07-26T10:03:00.000-05:00

by Cindy

We have a very large group of Filipinos at our church and they have a large weekly Bible study gathering at the hotel where many of them work. Jeff was blessed to have the opportunity to teach at one of their gatherings a few weeks back. Jeff and I are fortunate they all speak and read English because neither one of us speak or read a word of Tagalog!

Year Two in Review

2011-07-24T08:58:00.000-05:00

by Cindy

I've been thinking about this post for a few days now and I have to admit, even just thinking about it has lifted my spirit and put me a very thankful mood. When I think about the past year, I am nothing but thankful and appreciative for all that is "our life."

Everyone always wants to know how long we are staying and we always reply that we love it and don't see ourselves leaving in the foreseeable future. People often respond with a one syllable response of "oh" or a simple response of "that's good" or "that's nice" but I can tell they are thinking something different in their heads. I do wish that I could more clearly communicate how much we love it; enough so that people would lay down their preconceived perception of this land and really listen to what we love so much about this place. I guess it is a "you have to see it to believe it" kind of life and kind of place. So, even though you may not believe me, I wanted to give you 'Year Two In Review" (in no particular order):

We were thankful to have our friend Katie, whom we know from Lubbock, come visit us for a long weekend.
We are looking forward to my brother and Eddie coming to visit us in September.
We enjoyed an amazing trip to Prague with our friends Chris and Sal. They are great travel partners and we look forward to many more adventures with them.
We summited Mt Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Africa. Who would have thought!?!?! In 2009 we visited Kenya, Africa and everywhere we went we could see Kilimanjaro in the distance. It is a beautiful mountain and quite inviting. As I read and researched the mountain, I realized that climbing it really was something within my reach. I knew it was a life long dream of Jeff's so it was really a joy for us to be able to do that together and for him to achieve something he's dreamed of doing. (My toenails are still recovering.)
We had an amazing trip to the Andalusia region of Spain with the Angell family. Again, great travel partners and I am sure we will travel with them again. Sadly, Mintaka leaves for college this year so future trips might be without her. [Although, you can't help but excited for her to leave because she's so excited about it all - she beams from ear to ear any time you ask her about it. Her mother, on the other hand, wells up with tears any time we talk about it.]
We have enjoyed a year of our book club, reading books about Dubai, books from authors here at our University and currently reading through some American classics. I am so thankful for the stimulating conversation and the ability to have civil and intellectual conversations with people who often have very different views than I hold.
We got to spend Christmas evening with the Angells, too, watching A Christmas Story.
I attended my first local wedding, it was amazing. After the wedding, the bride moved to Boston and I hope to catch up with her in early August when we visit Boston.
Jeff and I attended a cooking class in Spain. Bring on the paella and gazpacho!
At work, I have the opportunity to develop a new class using a great software. This is a great opportunity for me to learn and help bridge my career between academia and ERP software.
I received a full, three year contract to work.
We've had a great small group in our home which has allowed us to meet many new people and grow closer to like minded people on campus.
We had an amazing Easter sunrise service on the shore of the Persian Gulf!
We've been able to invite friends to church with us and have them attend church as well as Jeff's 'Sunday school' class he taught (we actually go to church on Friday so it's called Friday school).
I'm looking forward to Jeff preaching at "big" church this week. It is unfortunate that so many of our friends have already left for the summer.
Jeff and I celebrated an early 11 year wedding anniversary trip to Ireland. It is a beautiful country and has everything we don't have - cold weather, hills, grass and rain.
We have shared numerous amazing dinners with so many of our friends. We are fortunate to have so many great restaurants and world renowned chefs in Dubai. Along these same lines, we have had more 3-4 hour dinners in the past two years than our whole life combined.
We've been able to celebrate all of the great American holidays on patios and in back yard gardens - Thanksgiving, Christmas, 4th of July, Mardi Gras, Easter, etc. with our American friends.
We've been able to travel to out of town conferences with students.
I baked endless amounts of cookies, fudge and other sweet treats to share with our friends at Christmas - even though many of our friends don't celebrate Christmas.
Jeff and I were able to travel to Oman and hike through "The Grand Canyon of the Middle East"
I have enjoyed monthly dinners with 'the ladies' which are always a good time.
Jeff and I are fortunate to be able to spend so much time together - we walk to and from work together each day, we eat lunch together most days and we spend evenings and weekends together. We do not have work schedules that require time from us outside of 8-5, M-F. We have an amazing marriage; one for which I am more and more thankful for each passing day.

I really could go on and on and on. We are blessed beyond our wildest dreams. When we considered this job 2.5 years ago, I could not have predicted that life would be so good. 'Year Two' has been amazing and I'm looking forward to more years to come.

Who's Heard of Tennessee?

2011-07-21T22:01:00.000-05:00

by Cindy

I was a bit surprised to see this sign at a restaurant:

Tennessee? Really? Do you seriously think people who live in Arabia and people who are from Asia can find Tennessee on a map? And since when is Tennessee known for its beef?

But this sign, it says it all. Texas. Legendary.

Texas, Our Texas

2011-07-19T21:54:00.000-05:00

by Cindy

I have a couple of friends here that always as me, "what's up with you Texans? What's so great about the state of Texas?" One of those friends has never even been to Texas so I tell her she can't knock it until she tries it. The other friend, however, recently visited Austin. She brought me back two pictures:

A postcard from Texas. Needless to say, she had a good time. We'll be having her going away party soon. :)

And a photo from Amy's Ice Cream. I couldn't put the above postcard on my desk so the photo of Amy's got added to the other photos in my office, thus the shout out to Andrew and Rayla and Haley and Haddon.

Texas, Our Texas! all hail the mighty State!
Texas, Our Texas! so wonderful so great!

PF Changs

2011-07-17T21:46:00.001-05:00

by Cindy

For whatever reason, PF Changs is a big hit over here. We have two, both located in malls, although everything here is in a mall because of the heat in the summer. Recently the ruler of Dubai, HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, was spotted with his buddies at PF Changs.

He's the one on the right.

It is not at all uncommon to see our various rulers out and about. As part of the culture here, leadership is very accessible.

What Things Cost - Part 1 - Dry Cleaning

2011-07-14T08:09:00.004-05:00

One of the things people ask us about from time to time is how much things cost over here. Here's one example. Last night we got some clothes back from the cleaners. Here's what we had done and how much it cost.

6 Shirts -                   24 dirhams
2 pair of slacks -       12 dirhams
2 pair of golf shorts - 8 dirhams
                                ------------
Total                         44 dirhams ($11.98)

And it's just like in the US - everything comes back on hangers, in the plastic bag/covering/whatever it is. So this is cheaper than what cleaning costs back in the US. The other nice thing about here is that the cleaners will pick up at our apartment and deliver. No extra charge.

Marriage is in cleaner hands

2011-07-12T09:37:00.005-05:00

by Cindy

People always ask us about moving back to America. We love it here and can't imagine ever leaving. I admit that it is often hard to explain to people why we like it so much here but this article is a humorous perspective on one of the reasons people love it here - domestic help. This easily could have been me writing...

Race and Employment in the Emirates

2011-07-09T08:23:00.000-05:00

In America, people are taught that all races are equal and it is never appropriate to discuss someone's race openly. Instead, all of life and business is supposed to proceed without any acknowledgment of a person's ethnicity, nationality, or skin color.

It's different here. People discuss race - openly. People over here say things like - "Whatever you do, don't try to bargain in that shop - he's Lebanese and you'll lose." Or "Be sure to get to the meeting early (but not too early) - they're German." And of course, everyone over here knows that the Brits like to enjoy a pint (or two or three). These are stereotypes, I know, but ones that are openly used here.

Now, the things that I am about to say may sound shocking to you - my mostly-American readers. So please hear this as a description of how things exist in the culture, not as an endorsement of this system. I'm just trying to get you a little understanding of how people here view the world and the people in it. What follows is the social pecking order - from those who feel that they rightly belong at the top, to the ones clearly at the bottom.

Gulf Arabs - this means Emiratis, Qataris, Saudis, Kuwaitis, Omanis, Bahrainis. The Gulf Arabs are proud of their common Bedouin culture, proud that the Arabian peninsula is the birthplace of Islam, and are proud to speak Arabic, the language in which the Quran was revealed. The Gulf Arabs aspire to work as merchants and business-owners. Emiratis generally want government jobs - which are incredibly high-paying and almost exclusively reserved for them [the Emirati guys in the picture below stamping passports at the airport all make six figures]. All of the Gulf Arabs want to work in white-collar jobs. Blue-collar work is beneath them.

Western Expatriates - this group includes Americans, Brits, Aussies, Kiwis, South Africans. Expatriates from these countries generally work in professional roles from banking to healthcare to education. You'll also see them as hotel managers, airline pilots, financiers, and restaurateurs. [There are a few western expats here who are French, German, Spanish, Italian, etc., but most are from the English-speaking countries that I listed]. These expats generally work in white-collar jobs. Blue-collar work is too low-paying for anyone to move here from Western countries. And with literally millions of people in south Asia and southeast Asia who are willing to work for almost nothing, there's no need to hire Westerners for blue-collar jobs.

Expatriate Arabs - this group includes (a) the Levantine Arabs (Jordanians, Lebanese, Palestinians, Syrians), and (b) the North African Arabs (Egyptians, Libyans, Algerians, Tunisians, Moroccans). These are all working-class Arabs. The Gulf Arabs look down on them as not being true, Bedouin, desert Arabs (from the Arabian Peninsula). Some will rise as high as VPs at banks, or hotel mangers, and a few oversee large family-owned conglomerates. But these people almost never hold the top position at any company in the UAE. Many of these people, however, are lower-level managers, clerical workers, or administrative staff.

Indians - Indians are the single largest ethnic group in the UAE - 50% of the population of around 5 million are Indian. Indians can be found at all points on the social scale, from upper management positions, to small business owners, to clerical positions, to blue-collar laborers.

Philippinos - they get an entire category to themselves because they hold most of the service-industry jobs here in the Emirates. They are primarily salespeople at malls, waitstaff at restaurants, and domestic workers (maids/nannies). Some also hold clerical, professional, and or managerial roles - but the vast majority are service industry workers. Most are here working so that they can send money to their families back home in the Philippines - sometimes as much as 80% of their salaries.

The photo below is from the Starbucks on my campus. The English "Starbucks" is just out of the frame to the left of the Arabic text for "Starbucks Coffee" Check out the Emirati guys sipping coffee - and the Philippinos working behind the counter (and also notice the Christmas menu on the wall!).

One other point to make as I get to this part of the list. There are some jobs that people here believe that certain nationalities are suited for. If I looked at the want-ads for jobs cooking at restaurants, it would not be at all unusual for the ad to say "only Philippinos apply". You can't say that in America, but people can and do here. Here's another example. Cindy and I have a friend from America - a fairly recent college grad who was here staying with some friends for a semester after graduation. Our friend wants to eventually start her own catering business. Back in the US, she says, someone wanting to do that would ordinarily work in a restaurant for a while - waitstaff, shift manager, manager - or at a hotel as a waiter, then as a shift manager, and maybe as an events manager. Then, after a few years of experience, you know enough to start your own business. That career path doesn't exist here. Restaurant jobs aren't for Americans. They're for (mostly) Philippinos. She would never be hired here. Ever. Anywhere. It's just not done. She had to move back to the US to start waiting tables.

South Asians and Central Asians - these are the guys who do the vast majority of the manual labor here (and I mean guys - they generally do not get to move here with their families - the men come alone to work and send money back home - the ratio of men to women in the country is 2.74 to 1). The South Asians are the Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, and Sri Lankans. The less-educated, non-English-speaking Indians fit in this category, too. There are smaller numbers of Central Asians - Afghanis, Uzbeks, Turkmen, Tajiks, Kyrgyz, and Khazaks. All of these people are taxi drivers, bus drivers, truck drivers, construction workers, landscapers, and gas station attendants. They live in huge labor camp dormitories and are paid very little (by Western standards). In spite of their apparently low pay, they still manage to send a considerable portion of their salaries back to their home country to their families. And working in Dubai represents a huge financial opportunity for them.

[all photos sourced from Google Images]

Financing in the UAE

2011-07-05T11:46:00.000-05:00

by Cindy

We have some crazy stuff here. At least anyone with a business background in capitalism or a market economy thinks it is crazy. Until recently you could buy a $1.5 million dollar car on credit - yep - 100% credit. It was crazy and the banks were losing money. They have recently changed the rules where you have to put 20% down and people are balking. Business is so bad now that car dealers want the rules changed.

They also give out credit cards without verifying your income and your credit limit is not based on your ability to pay back. No wonder some people are in such trouble!

July 4th

2011-07-05T09:35:00.000-05:00

by Cindy

We got together with some of our American friends to celebrate American independence. It's too hot here to be outside for long so the get together was mainly indoors. However, we had plenty of apple pie, burgers, dogs, BBQ chicken and the likes.

Will provided the dancing entertainment

What's left of the table after Round One

Jack loving on Will and Chris keeping her distance.

UNO - that's American, right?

The brave souls who were outside

The UAE Gas Shortage

2011-07-03T02:52:00.000-05:00

You all may find this hard to believe, but there's a gasoline shortage here. Yep - you read that right - a gas shortage here in the Emirates. Now it's only affecting five of the seven emirates in the UAE (Sharjah, Ajman, Ras al Khaimah, Umm al Quwain, and Fujairah). It's not affecting Dubai or Abu Dhabi, and it's not affecting Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi, or Bahrain. But since we technically live and work in Sharjah, it's definitely a part of our world. Here's a link to a newspaper article about it.

Here's what's happening. There are four companies in the Emirates that sell gas at service stations: (1) Adnoc - Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, and then (2) Emarat, (3) Enoc, and (4) Eppco - all headquartered in the emirate of Dubai. All four companies have stations throughout the UAE.

Abu Dhabi has oil - lots of oil - 10% of the world's oil - enough oil to pump oil for the next 100 years at current production rates. So Adnoc has no trouble producing and refining oil, and then selling gasoline. So the Adnoc stations have a virtually endless supply of gasoline - which they get at cost.

Now Dubai, on the other hand, only has a little oil left - mostly offshore. Oil only makes up about 8% of Dubai's GDP [they saw this coming a long time ago and have diversified their economy quite well]. Anyhow, what this means, though, is that the Dubai gas companies - Emarat, Enoc, and Eppco - have to buy gas on the world market at market rates. But the federal government here in the Emirates has a price cap on gasoline - 1.92 AED per liter [which is $1.97 per gallon for those of you in the US]. So what this means is that Emarat, Enoc, and Eppco buy refined gasoline, then aren't able to sell it at a price that allows them to recoup their costs. Every gallon of gas that they sell hurts their bottom line. The more they sell, the worse off they are financially.

So - a few weeks ago - the Emarat, Enoc, and Eppco stations in Sharjah and the four northern emirates started running dry. The companies said it was because they were "upgrading equipment" and that supplies would be disrupted for a few weeks. Nobody ever saw any "upgrade" work being done at stations, and no additional explanation was forthcoming. Nobody has officially said this, but the concensus seems to be that Dubai just doesn't have the money to subsidize fuel for Sharjah and the northern Emirates. Or maybe they have the money and just won't do it. In either case, only Adnoc stations have gas now.

Minority Report

2011-06-25T08:21:00.003-05:00

I recently had a conversation with a friend and colleague of mine about race and ethnicity. It's obvious here in the UAE that the Emiratis are at the top of the social pyramid. That's probably no surprise to any of you reading this. And so my friend and I were discussing the uncertainty of our lives and careers here. We both agreed that if something unfortunate were to happen - like getting into a car wreck where an Emirati was injured or killed, or if an Emirati perceived that we had insulted them or their family, or if an Emirati leveled an accusation against us that we had done something unethical or illegal - we question whether we would get fair treatment in a court. We could be on a plane out of the country (or worse) pretty quickly.

Now we don't fear for this on a daily basis, but it's always there in the back of your mind. If you're in the wrong place at the wrong time - well - the Dubai dream is over for you. I told my friend, "It makes me always think about having a backup plan, a fall-back, an exit strategy. I just never know when I might have to leave. I can't trust that the system will work for me and so I feel like I live with a lot of uncertainty here." And my professor friend - who happens to be African-American - said, "I feel like I've always lived with the reality that I might not get fair treatment. I've never had a lot of faith that the system would work to protect me." We both sat there for a second and he added, "Living here must be really interesting for you."

And it is. It's a completely new experience for me to not be at the top of the social pyramid. Until I moved here, I never gave a lot of thought to what it meant to be white and well-off in America. I'm now seeing that there was a lot of certainty and security that came along with that.

I would like to believe that everyone is treated equally in the US, but I just don't think that's the case. And even if I am aware of the inequality of races in America - and even if I speak up for change - as a white person I still don't feel what non-white Americans feel. I don't feel the weight of the day-to-day uncertainty about my life, my family, my career, my reputation, and my personal safety. The insecurity that creeps in when you're not a part of the dominant social group is palpable.

Interesting, indeed.

Ireland

2011-06-19T08:57:00.002-05:00

by Cindy

Jeff and I were fortunate to spend the past week in Ireland enjoying the cooler weather and green hills and mountains. It was a great trip to yet another beautiful place. We are now back in the UAE to teach summer school (Cindy) and research (Jeff). We will leave for America on August 4th.

Here are some of my reflections on Ireland:

Driving on the left side of the road is not as difficult as it seems. I did have to remind myself quite a bit but it wasn't too bad.
Flashing headlights means the same thing in Ireland as it does in the US - beware, a cop is ahead.
Ireland really is the Emerald isle. One of our guides told us that Johnny Cash said there are 40 shades of green in Ireland and it is true. It really was magnificent. Everything is green.
The roads were SO narrow. What we think of as country roads, which are 1.5 lanes wide, are their main roads. I was amazed at how narrow the roads were and how many big tour buses pass through on these roads. The upside is that the country side has really been preserved and is not littered with infrastructure.
The Irish people are very friendly people!
We enjoyed a whiskey tasting and I must say that Irish whiskey is better than the rest! I have never liked American whiskey/scotch/bourbon but we did taste some very mice Irish Whiskey. Jameson Gold Reserve gets my vote.
I'm still not a fan of beer and definitely not a fan of Guinness. Guinness is good for baking brownies and goes very well with chocolate (try it, you'll be surprised!) Otherwise, no thanks.
For whatever reason, the food in Ireland is expensive. It was all good but really pricey.
I will take 45 F instead of 45 C all day long! We loved the rain, the clouds and the cool weather. Everyone kept apologizing for the weather but we loved it.

Here are a few pics from the trip. More can be seen on mine and Jeff's FB pages.

Jerpoint Abbey - those white things in the back are sheep

Ross Castle

Skellig Michael

Glendalough

Monster Trucks

2011-06-06T09:06:00.000-05:00

by Cindy

Jeff and I have noticed over the past few months that there are a lot more trucks on the road. Someone once told us that trucks could only be bought for business purposes but now the government allows individuals to own them. I'm not sure if any of that is true but there certainly seem to be more trucks in the country. We pass this one regularly and it makes me chuckle a little bit each time I see it. I guess Monster Trucks are not just for Texas.

It is a dually and all!

Big pipes for something...

Tortilla Chips

2011-05-23T04:52:00.000-05:00

By Cindy

We are fortunate that we can get Tostitos Tortilla chips here. I'm always amazed that they are whole, too. They come over air freight and Jeff and I both think they are less broken here than when we get them in America. Go figure but we'll take it.

Nice, whole chips. Not a single one broken.

Friday Prayers

2011-05-21T04:48:00.000-05:00

by Cindy

Whether you go to prayers or not during the week, you always go to Friday noon prayer. I would say it's loosely equivalent to everyone going to church on Sunday mornings, even if you do participate in weekly church activities. If you happen to drive by any mosque in town during Friday noontime prayers, you are likely to be trapped or not be able to get through on the road. They park anywhere and everywhere. We were returning from church on Friday right after prayer started.

They have already parked along the curb and are now parking two deep.

This is in the round about, only one narrow lane left to get through.

Notice the heads of the men. They were late so they didn't get a place inside and they are having to pray outside. That's unfortunate since it was 46 C / 115 F yesterday.

Three deep in the round about.

The Umrah

2011-05-11T00:41:00.000-05:00

by Cindy

Wikipedia says the following about the Umrah - "The Umrah or (Arabic: عمرة‎) is a pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, performed by Muslims that can be undertaken at any time of the year. In Arabic, Umrah means "to visit a populated place". As a technical term used in the Sharia, Umrah means to perform Tawaf round the Kaabaand Sa'i between Al-Safa and Al-Marwah, after assuming Ihram (a sacred state), either from a Miqat like Zu 'l-Hulafa, Juhfa, Qarnu 'l-Manāzil,Yalamlam, Zāt-i-'Irq, Ibrahīm Mursīa, or a place in Hill. It is sometimes called the 'minor pilgrimage' or 'lesser pilgrimage', the Hajj being the 'major' pilgrimage and which is compulsory for every able-bodied Muslim who can afford it. The Umrah is not compulsory but highly recommended."

Jeff and I noticed at the bank the other day, you can finance your Umrah trip with a 0% interest loan.

Russian Tortillas

2011-05-08T00:29:00.008-05:00

by Cindy

Jeff and I enjoyed some chips and queso and quesadillas for dinner this weekend. We can get everything we need over here but it does take some planning ahead since I have to go to three different stores to get all of the ingredients. The funny part about the dinner was the tortillas - while they are appropriately called El Sabor, they have Russian on the bottom of the label and were manufactured in Russia! They were really good so we're not complaining. We are thankful to be able to satisfy our Tex-Mex craving, even if it is with Russian tortillas.

Snoop Dogg

2011-05-07T00:19:00.001-05:00

by Cindy

Snoop Dogg came to Abu Dhabi last night. After seeing this picture with Snoop dressed up like the locals here, it made me wish we had attended the concert! I have to confess, when I would flip through TV channels and find Snoop Dogg's Father Hood, I would always watch. He's really quite funny.

Our News Headline

2011-05-04T08:59:00.000-05:00

I thought I would share the headline from our newspaper. If you would like to read the whole article, it can be found here. To the left and right of the picture, there are quotes from people all over our region. These are not included in the article so I thought I would pass them on as it might be different than what you see at home.

"Justice has been done." Barack Obama, US President

"We will not allow our soil to be used against any other country for terrorism and therefore I think it's a great victory" Yousuf Raza Gilani, Pakistan Prime Minister

"This establishes that Pakistan has been sheltering terrorists and now the country must take steps against them." AK Antony, Indian Defense Minister

"Saudi Arabia hopes that the elimination of the leader of the terrorist al Qa'eda organization will be a step towards supporting international efforts aimed at combating terrorism and dismantling its cells." Official Saudi statement

"The killing of bin Laden is a positive step that will boost the international fight against terror" Official UAE statement

"Let me make it very clear that we will avenge the martyrdom of Osama bin Laden, and we will do it by carrying out attacks in Pakistan and America" Ahsanullah Ahsan, Taliban spokesman

"We condemn any killing of a holy warrior or of a Muslim and Arab person and we ask God to bestow his mercy upon him" Ismail Haniya, Hamas

"It is certainly our hope that this would mark the beginning of the end of a very dark era" Salam Fayyad, Palestinian prime minister

Engaged!

2011-05-01T09:50:00.000-05:00

by Cindy

Engagements are big celebrations around here. Not only do your friends and family know that you are engaged to be married, but anyone and everyone driving by your house knows. Yep, this is what happens when someone in your house becomes engaged. They drape the whole house with "Christmas" lights. It is amazing.

Just Like Texas - Well, Kind of

2011-04-26T07:15:00.001-05:00

by Cindy

There was a great article in the paper this week about a guy who's restored a GMC Sierra pickup truck. Here's a link to the article: http://www.thenational.ae/lifestyle/motoring/my-car-gmc-sierra-35-is-an-heirloom-that-has-miles-to-go-yet

The best part is the picture. Reminds you of Texas, huh? Well, without the dishdasha that is.

Easter Candy

2011-04-22T10:44:00.001-05:00

by Cindy

We've mentioned on Facebook recently that we had Global Days on campus. This is a weekend where the county fair meets a cultural fair. Global Days is centered around the various countries that are represented within our student population. You walk around to the different booths / stalls and see the traditional dress, taste the local cuisine, and learn a bit about that country. While Jeff and I were walking around, he was handed a chocolate candy. A few steps later, he realized that the candy was an Easter egg. I didn't believe him so I returned to the booth and sure enough, they were giving away chocolate Easter eggs and selling big bags of them. I picked one up to show Jeff and the lady told me, "They're Easter eggs." I said, "I know, I'm just surprised." To which she responded," Why? Isn't Easter coming up?" Well, "Yes, but you don't celebrate Easter." She replied, "It's just chocolate." Yes, I guess it is. Just chocolate.

This year, I bought my Easter candy in Palestine.

Muslim Evangelism

2011-04-20T13:05:00.002-05:00

by Cindy

You might not have ever given it much thought but the Muslims evangelize just like the Christians. One evening we received a tract about Islam.

The small book was about 10 pages and each page had a paragraph on a specific topic. The topics were:

The Prophet's Justice and Fairness
The Prophet's Humbleness
The Prophet's Gentleness in Correcting People's Mistakes
The Prophet's Perseverance and Forgiveness
The Prophet's Kindness with Children
The Prophet's Kindness Towards Women
The Prophet's Cooperation
The Prophet's Mercy and Compassion
The Prophet's Simplification and Ease
The Prophet's Patience with Children
The Prophet's Claim on Moderation
The Prophet's Thoughtfulness
The Prophet's Attractiveness
The Prophet's Love for the Poor
The Prophet's Love for His Wives
The Prophet's Loyalty

We aren't planning on converting to Islam anytime soon, but I thought I would share this as food for thought for our Christian readers.

Beautiful and Perfect

2011-04-11T11:10:00.000-05:00

by Cindy

We have several friends who are of Lebanese descent. For those of you that might be uninformed, Lebanese women are considered to be the most beautiful. Case and point - Miss USA 2010 is Lebanese American. Apparently they are also Perfect. I found this t-shirt at Global Days. I'm proud to say that I have many beautiful and perfect friends!

Persian Gulf

2011-04-05T10:34:00.001-05:00

by Cindy

I'm not sure what you have in mind when you think of the Persian Gulf but here is what it actually looks like:

Here we call it the Arabian Gulf, since we are in Arabia! It is beautiful blue green water with soft white sand so going to the beach is quite popular here. The gulf is really shallow so during the winter the water gets cold (around 62 F) and during the summer it gets warm like bath water (around 97 F).

We have snorkeling, diving, deep sea fishing and dolphin swimming in the Gulf. Not what you expected, huh?

Party on the Palm

2011-04-03T09:31:00.000-05:00

We've been in Dubai for a year and a half now and we're starting to get a little jaded. Five-star hotels, Michelin-starred restaurants, top-notch entertainers, over-the-top hospitality, high fashion, great sporting events, and fancy cars don't impress us like they used to. It's all pretty run-of-the-mill for us now.

So when we were invited to a fundraiser recently that was hosted at a home on the Palm Islands, we yawned and said, "It's probably not as nice as people say it is." We were wrong.

This is one of those places where you walk in, look at your friends and say, "Seriously?" - and then try to wipe the grin off your face. You just can't believe that you're there.

Of course it has marble floors, granite countertops, high-end appliances, plenty of living space, an entire downstairs that opens to the water. Oh - and the home also just happens to include a private beach in the back yard. A friend attended with us and she whispered, "I've never been to a party at a place like this." I laughed and said that neither had we.

Enjoy some of our photos. And be jealous.

This is the GPS screen in my car. Definitely my favorite picture from the evening.

The house and the beach.

Our friend Katie with Cindy

Nice-looking couple we know pretty well.

New Digs

2011-03-25T07:46:00.000-05:00

This summer, Cindy and I, along with the other faculty members at the business school will move into a new building on campus. The new business building will be a nice upgrade in terms of technology, classroom space, furnishings, etc. We're excited to move in. Here are a few pictures of the new building.

Exterior (during construction)

Interior Hallway of Office Area

Faculty Office - When the building is finished, the glass "wall" at the front of the office will be frosted so we have a little privacy.

This is one of the new classrooms - the tables aren't in yet, but you can still see that we've got auditorium-style seating and nice technology in the rooms

This is one of the three atriums in the building. Each one is three stories tall and has the dome on top.

Magnets

2011-03-21T11:22:00.000-05:00

by Cindy

For those of you that have known me for a long time or have ever been into a house of mine, you know that I am one who loves order and prefer the minimalist style. Less is more. As such, I have never been one for "stuff" on the refrigerator. No reminders of dentist or eye appointments, no soccer schedules, no freebie magnets from the local pizza delivery joint. Nothing. Nada. Zip. I like a clean refrigerator.

This Christmas many of you were kind enough to send us your Christmas cards. It was so nice to receive cards and pictures of people half a world away and be reminded of the season. It was special to us to be included on people's mailing lists. When the pictures and cards arrived, I placed them all over our house so we could be reminded that it was Christmas and be reminded of our friends. When it came time to put away the tree and decorations, I could not yet part with all of the cards and pictures. (That in itself says something because I am not one to keep things around.) After moving the pile of cards around from place to place in the house I finally decided that I needed to make a decision on what to do with them. I know it sounds ridiculous but it took me about two weeks to convince myself that it was okay to 1) keep everything and 2) put the pictures on the refrigerator.

Little did I know that making the decision was only half the battle. Since I had never had refrigerator magnets before, I was not even sure where to find them. On top of that, add that I live in a foreign country and things are not always where you expect them to be in the store (that can be another blog for another time). I looked around in a few stores to no avail so I finally sent out an email to my local friends asking where I might find some magnets. I appreciated their feedback but there was no way I was going to get the "tourist" magnets that show pictures of the buildings here in the city, palm trees, beaches, etc. It is a big enough deal for me to do this in the first place, I can't give in completely! Thankfully one of the suggestions was an art store that Jeff and I really like. Sure enough, they had some tasteful magnets for me.

It is ridiculous, I know. I'm willing to take baby steps to get over myself. Here are my cute magnets and some of the pictures we now see each and every day.

If you are not part of our collection, we would love to add you. Let me know and I will send you our address!

My First Wedding - Part III

2011-03-09T10:05:00.000-06:00

by Cindy

I think I mentioned in my first post that the wedding invitation said the party started at 8:30 but my students told me to arrive around 10 or 10:30. Well, we were at an event prior to the wedding and didn't make it to the wedding until 11:00. Today one of Jeff's former students saw him in the hall and said, "I saw your wife at Fatima's wedding. She was late."

Oops.

My First Wedding - Part II

2011-03-05T05:00:00.000-06:00

by Cindy

I had a great time at the wedding! It was a crazy evening because before the wedding we joined some other friends at a culinary fund raising event. There we were working in the kitchen preparing the evening's meal and wearing hairnets. After dinner I exchanged the hairnet for an evening gown and headed to the wedding.

The wedding was in a ballroom at the Atlantis hotel and beyond that I wasn't exactly sure. The hotel is huge with three large buildings on the property. I really had nothing to worry about - these were the road signs leading us the right building.

We arrived at the wedding about 11 PM and the bride arrived shortly afterward. The event had about 750 attendees, all women, of all ages. We were seated at tables and you could get up and walk around all you wanted. It was a cross between a dinner reception following a wedding and a Holiday or Charity Ball. The feel of the event was joyous like a wedding but the dresses and jewelry were more like what you find at a charity ball in America. If this had been in America and men were there, it would have been called a "black tie" affair. The food was served buffet style after the bride arrived (about 11:30 PM) and was a mix of everything. Servers were bringing around juices, cokes and tea for drinks.

Along with the tables, the hall was set up with a long aisle for the bride to enter the hall and a stage for the bride to greet the attendees. The long aisle was lined with small white couches that family members sat on to greet and receive guests as they arrived to the party. The stage had a huge couch on it and the bride spent the evening on the couch. The guests took turns going up to congratulate the bride and get professional pictures with her. The below picture is taken from a corner of the room, facing the stage. The white wall was the background for the stage and the brides throne for the evening. Notice the camera boom in the picture! Along with professional photography, they were filming the whole event.

There were a few students from the university and they checked up on us regularly, made sure we had eaten dinner and that everything was okay and we were having a nice time. One student stuck with us the whole night, filling us in with details, and eventually escorted us to congratulate the bride. We posed for some pictures with her and then were escorted to one of the couches lining the dance floor to watch everyone.

Once the ladies finished dinner, they would go with their group of friends to pose for pictures with the bride and then the university age and younger ladies made their way to the dance floor. About 1 AM they announced that the men were on their way so the ladies gathered their abayas from the coat check and put on their shaylas. Some ladies had remained in the abaya all evening but most women needed to cover up before the men arrived. My friend Chris and I both commented that until the abayas and shaylas came out, you would have thought you were in America at a big party but once all of the women covered, you were quickly reminded that you were somewhere else. One thing to note is that the bride covered as well. She had a white shayla and a jacket, of sorts, that she used to cover her shoulders.

When the men arrived, they walked down the aisle to greet the bride. The fathers flanked the groom and the three led the party of about 15 men, all of whom I presume to be close family. They all posed for pictures with the bride. The scene was not much different than after an American wedding where everyone poses with the new couple. There was no ceremony really just pageantry. At some point they became symbolically married and the bride removed her shayla and her jacket; thus symbolizing that she is now a part of the family and no longer has to remain covered around them.

There was a part of the pageantry where the father (I think) of the bride or groom waved a bunch of money over the couple - I assume symbolizing a blessing - and then threw the money in the air. All of the kids came running to collect the money and it reminded me of kids on an Easter egg hunt.

After this pretty much everyone found a seat and the cake was brought out. It was seven layers and about five feet tall. I'm not sure if it was for decoration or to eat but it was HUGE! At this point many people had left or were leaving, ourselves included, so I'm not sure what happened next. The student who spent the evening with us explained that the bride and groom would each take a bite of the cake but she wasn't sure what would happen after that. It was well after 1:30 AM at this point and while we had an AMAZING time, we were ready for bed. The student escorted us out and took a quick picture of us before we left.

It really was a very fun evening and I was quite honored that I had been invited. I am sure you would like to see more pictures but that would be totally inappropriate in this culture.

You should know that my students were right, I saw all kinds of amazing gowns and jewelry. I am sure they spent HOURS on their hair and makeup. As a Westerner we did get stared out quite a bit but i think it helped that the students came to check on us regularly. It was a spectacular event and I felt privileged to attend.

The Empty Quarter

2011-03-01T09:12:00.000-06:00

by Cindy

Jeff and I had a quick get-a-way this weekend to the Empty Quarter. I had really wanted to see it and we needed to make the trip before it gets too hot. It is about a three hour drive from our house so we set out after church on Friday and spent all day Saturday at the resort. If you are not familiar with the Empty Quarter, Wikipedia defines it this way, "The Rub' al Khali (Arabic: الربع الخالي‎) or Empty Quarter is one of the largest sand deserts in the world, encompassing most of the southern third of the Arabian Peninsula, including southern Saudi Arabia, and areas of Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen. The desert covers some 650,000 square kilometers (250,000 sq mi), more than the combined land areas of the Netherlands, Belgium, and France."

We had a nice time climbing sand dunes and looking as far as the eye can see - in all directions - at sand. It really is quite beautiful. The sand is very fine and soft and it brushes right off. For our readership in West Texas, the sand here is NOTHING like the dirt in West Texas. Running up and down the dunes is a lot like playing in snow when there is a lot of fresh powder.

My First Wedding - Part I

2011-02-27T09:12:00.000-06:00

by Cindy

I got invited to my first local wedding and I am so excited! It is actually the wedding of one of my students with whom I have stayed in touch since her class ended. She's traveled quite a bit to America so we often touch base about American things and after the wedding, she'll be moving to Boston where her finace is in graduate school. There is even a possibility that I will get to see her this summer in Boston.

As for the wedding, I got the invitation on February 23rd for a March 3rd wedding at the Atlantis Hotel. The short timeline is very typical. The "maid of honor" hand delivered the invitation to my office.

Once I had the invitation in hand, I had a million questions to ask and had to start planning. First order of business - text another student of mine and have her meet me at Starbucks so I can ask all of my questions and get the inside scoop. This young lady is my "go to girl." I ask her all kinds of things and she's great with helping me bridge the gap between my American culture and the local culture. I wish I could have recorded the conversation because it really would be worth listening to but here are the highlights. Anything in quotes is literal (I swear!)

The invitation says to show up at 8:30, that's what they all say. "I should show up at 10 or 10:30 that would be best."
I need to wear a gown - full length, red carpet kind of gown. "If Beyonce or Angelina Jolie wore it on the red carpet, you would be fine wearing it to the wedding."
I need to wear diamonds (her assumption here is that I obviously own diamonds). However, I need to "be sure that they are of good quality, particularly clear. If they are not clear, someone might say something." My student usually wears her necklace to weddings - it is 16 carats. [At this point our converstaion digressed as to whether cars or diamonds are a better gift to give and which is a better investment.]
I do not need to bring a gift, only the close friends of the bride will get her a gift. "I especially do not need to bring her a gift of housewares like we give in America." [By this time two other ladies had joined us and one of them thinks that housewares is a nice idea.]
I need to wear my hair in a nice way. One of the girls looks me over and says, "not like it is today." Up or down is fine but it needs to be nice. They verified that I had made a hair appointment (I had).
I need to wear a lot of makeup. Again, I got a look over and she reiterated "A LOT of makeup." I need to wear eyeliner (I usually don't) and they all agreed that "cat eyes" would look good on me. I should make an appointment at the salon on campus and they can put my makeup on in an appropriate way. The current style for the local women is less makeup but still A LOT more than what a Westerner would normally wear.

Some of my questions were around what "must" I do, what "should" I do and what must I "not" do:

Once at the wedding, I must go up on the stage and greet the bride. The bride will not come off of the stage so if I don't greet her, she won't know I am there.
I probably should stay to eat if but I don't have to. The food is usually pretty good so it is worth staying.
I can stay until the men come (the men and women have separate parties) if I want, either way is fine. I will know when they are coming becasue all of the women will put on their abaya. I was told I should probably get an abaya, too. If I stay until the men come, not only will I stick out because I am a Westerner but I will also not be covered so I will stick out even more. [One of my Western friends advised me that unless I have an abaya, I should leave. She said she stayed and felt totally naked.]
I should take a friend with me (this is very common) because I will get bored just sitting there. While I might be excited for this wedding becasue it is my first, the ladies all agreed that local weddings are really boring and that American weddings are much more fun.
I should not sit close to the speaker or else I will not be able to hear for two days after the party. The music is that loud.

So, the wedding is this Thursday night - I will let you know how it goes!

Water

2011-02-24T04:12:00.000-06:00

by Cindy

Our water is cheap! I often forget this when I travel and gasp when I have to buy water that is $4/bottle. Even in Tanzania, it was somewhat expensive.

Today I bought this water, about 1.5 liters and it was 1.50 AED or $0.40. That seems reasonable to me! (I tried to give the bottle some perspective by placing it next to my grande mocha.)

The Westminster Connection

2011-02-21T03:42:00.002-06:00

by Cindy

While Jeff and I were in Lubbock, we had the privilege of befriending many wonderful college students. One of the students that we met during that time was Kim Taylor (now Kim Taylor-Gontier). We have been fortunate to keep in touch with Kim since her graduation; including her moves to Dubai, London, Malaysia and now back to the UK. Kim was visiting Dubai with her husband, Regis, this past week so we were able to meet Regis and catch up with Kim over a "Friday Brunch." Even though Kim has lived in Dubai in the past, she had never been to a Friday Brunch so we had a good time sharing the Friday culinary tradition in this part of the world.

We look forward to many more culinary adventures on their future trips to Dubai!

Dubai Jazz Festival

2011-02-19T03:37:00.001-06:00

by Cindy

We were fortunate to be able to attend one night of the Dubai Jazz Festival to see Macy Gray and Lifehouse. Both were really good although quite different. We ended up with seats on the 13th row so that made the shows even better.

Kilimanjaro - Part II

2011-02-17T21:57:00.004-06:00

by Cindy

Earlier Jeff posted some of the facts about our trip to Tanzania so I thought I would take the time to add some commentary. Our team theme was "clear and copious." Our leader always wanted to know if we were clear and copious. There were 13 of us in our group, half female, with Jeff being the youngest and the oldest being 73! The best part about it is that the 73 year old made it to the top before anyone else. The trip was great. Definitely a once in a lifetime experience. We met some great people and had a great team.

First night of camping with the summit in the background.

From the get go, I was skeptical about even taking the trip. I knew it was a lifelong dream of Jeff's and I admit, after seeing first hand from Kenya just how beautiful the mountain is, it was kind-of tempting. But, it cost a lot of money, the packing list was four pages long and we didn't have a thing on the list! What we did have was in storage in Texas so we were starting from scratch. My real (unvoiced until now) fear was that Jeff would love the trip so much that every vacation would become a climbing vacation and there would be no more R&R vacations and cooking schools (my kind of trips!). I was afraid that we would be climbing Mt. Everest or K2 next! Fortunately, we are both on the same page in that we enjoyed the trip but eight days was a bit long for us. We prefer a night or two out and shower every few days.

The trip was not too hard physically. Jeff and I work out for 30-60 minutes six days a week and we were in good enough shape to climb. Most of the "climbing" is walking a path up the mountain. There was one section on one day that we were climbing over rocks and using our hands but otherwise, it really is more of a hike than a climb. As one of our team members put it, you are more challenged by the amount of air your lungs can take in than you are challenged by the hiking. We took six days to get up the mountain and some of those days we were to our camp site by lunch so we had the whole afternoon to rest and adjust to the altitude.

The hard part of the trip was the combination of the "other" elements that you don't necessarily consider and for which you can't really train. For instance, sleeping on the ground (or trying to sleep), the cold weather, having to get up multiple times a night to go to the bathroom and having to bundle up each time (remember - clear and copious), drinking filtered water from Africa and all of the intestinal issues that come with that, altitude sickness and not taking a shower for eight days. I admit it, not showering was the part that scared me the most! I took a plethora of wet wipes and took every chance I had to wipe down and clean up in any way I could. The upside was that the weather was cold so we didn't have to worry about sweating too much. I also wore a hat full time after the first day. I cannot express to you how nasty my hair was. I would wear it in a pony tail during the day, take the elastic holder out at night and the next morning, it would still be in the form of a pony tail, even though I had slept on it! GROSS! It helped that every other woman on the trip was in the same boat but it was still gross.

We were fortunate to have amazing weather for the whole trip. It rained twice, both times while we were in the tent eating lunch. We had fog a couple of times but the next day it was clear so we were able to see the things we had missed. My favorite part was that we were above the clouds! It really was a cool feeling and a great accomplishment.

Overall the trip was a success and I am tankful that we took the time to do it. It was only a four hour flight for us and a one hour time difference. Would I recommend it? Only if you are already considering doing it. If you are thinking about it - go for it! It will be easier than you think. Jeff and I were both thankful that we already have our next trip planned so on the tough days, we were taking and daydreaming about cooking school in Seville and the sweet villa in the Southern Spain countryside that awaits us in April!

Above the clouds.

We made it up the Western Breach - above the clouds!

Camping in the clouds.

Porters and campers hiking into the clouds.

Before we got started.

Valentines Day

2011-02-15T23:31:00.003-06:00

by Cindy

Much to Jeff's credit, he tried to make our Valentines day evening special. We talked about it a few times before we left for Kilimanjaro and I was non-committal about what I wanted to do. Valentines day was our first full day back after the climb and the first night of real sleep in our own bed so I was not sure that I would be up for a nice evening on the town. Also, because of prophet Mohammed's birthday, no one in the country was able to sell alcohol on Valentines day.

We decided on a low key evening, a taste of home and an early to bed option. For us, sometimes the taste of home is "just what the Dr. ordered." We are fortunate that we can get just about any food here, including Tex-Mex, but this time we settled on deep dish pizza - and we each had our own!

Kilimanjaro - Part 1

2011-02-12T21:31:00.006-06:00

We're back from the Roof of Africa. We'll have several posts about our trip in the coming days, but I'll stick with a few simple details for now (since we just arrived back in Dubai a few hours ago).

Mountain: Kilimanjaro (5,895 meters, 19,341 feet), highest in Africa
Ascent Route: Machame/Western Breach
Descent Route: Mweka
Days: 8 (6 days up, 2 days down)
Elevation Gain: 4,157 m, or 13,632 feet
Camps: Machme, Shira, Barranco, Arrow Glacier (2 days), Crater, and Mweka
Group Size: 13 climbers (plus 77 porters!)
Guide Service: Mountain Travel Sobek (yes, we liked them)

The all-important summit photo is below.

The Prophet's Birthday

2011-02-10T01:38:00.001-06:00

by Cindy

The Prophet's birthday is coming up, and it will be celebrated on Tuesday, February 15 – the 12th of Rabea’ al Awwal on the Muslim calendar. The public holiday when his birth is observed, however, was recently moved from Tuesday to Thursday so that the holiday could coincide with a weekend.

This is all a little odd to us, though, that the holiday was only recently officially moved. I realize that in America, we have holidays that are set up to give three-day weekends, but it's still funny that they only officially "move" the holidays to coincide with the weekend a few days or weeks before the occur.

Here is the article from the local paper: Public Holiday for Prophet's Birthday Moved

The Roof of Africa

2011-02-03T08:27:00.001-06:00

by Cindy

If you are reading this around the time it was posted, Jeff and I are on our way to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Africa. Last year when we went on Safari in Kenya we were tempted by the mountain every place we looked. We couldn't resist but try and climb it. Let's hope we make the 5,895 meter / 19,341 ft summit!

Here is a picture of Mt. Kilimanjaro from an airplane.

Graduation

2011-01-31T07:34:00.007-06:00

by Cindy

Our semester finally ended and we had graduation this past week. We graduated the largest class ever, 604 students. We have a beautiful hall for graduation, modeled after Albert Hall in London if you have ever been there. Rumor says that the Sheikh attended a function at Albert Hall and thought the venue was beautiful so he built one for himself. That kind of rumor is not too far fetched over here in the UAE!

The ceremony is as you would expect - a few words from the Chancellor, a student shares a few words and the Sheikh speaks then they call out each student's name. The Sheikh also awards the degrees to all of the graduates. It really is pretty cool. It is like the President awarding the degrees at your university every time there is a graduation.

Here is a picture of the graduating class and of the Sheikh giving his address:

Sand Storms

2011-01-30T05:30:00.006-06:00

by Cindy

Even though we left West Texas, we didn't leave sand storms! We had a crazy one this week. Thankfully Jeff and I were at home because it was a mess. I stole some pictures from some friends and from the local newspaper. This is just like West Texas!

From The National, one of our local papers, "The rain and thunderstorms reported were anticipated by a squall line with winds of up to 111kph (68.97 mph)," said the forecaster. "The storm lasted for about an hour and the mean wind speed was around 55kph (34.17 mph)."

My Hero

2011-01-20T00:50:00.001-06:00

Hopefully you remember reading about our regular end-of-semester ritual here, the Grade Souk. This is when students drop by after finals to try to negotiate a better grade. [If you missed our original, full-length post about the Grade Souk, check it out last year on December 31].

Anyhow, it's that time of year again, and I thought I would share this photo with you. It's outside my friend Sal's office. Sal is my hero.

The Grand Canyon of Arabia

2011-01-16T05:23:00.002-06:00

There are mountains here. I know you don't want to believe me, but it's true. There are real-deal mountains - not just sand dunes. Last weekend, Cindy and I went to Oman to go hiking. We hiked a trail on Jabal Shams ("Mountain of the Sun"). The elevation gain was from 2,000 meters to 3,000 meters [for those of you reading in less-developed, backward countries that haven't migrated to the metric system, that's approximately 6500 feet to 9800 feet]. So this is a legit mountain.

As far as the canyon below the mountain goes, it's approximately 1,500 meters deep and about the same distance across at its widest point. So it's not quite on the same scale as THE grand canyon, but it's still pretty big. Enjoy the photos below.

Cindy makes new friends everywhere.

The Canyon.

Cindy's new ad for The North Face.

An abandoned village at the lower end of the canyon that is a great place to explore.

A Little Scoop of Heaven

2011-01-12T22:48:00.005-06:00

by Cindy

I have blogged before that we can find Blue Bell ice cream here. It's a strange world because my friends in San Jose and Washington, D.C. lamented how they could not find Blue Bell in their respective cities. Last night though, I found a treasure - not only Blue Bell but a pint of our favorite kind of Blue Bell.

I had to take a few bites before it made it to the freezer and I had to force myself to tell Jeff it was there or else I would eat it all. That's not nice when it is so hard to come by...

I checked the receipt and I paid 10 AED/$2.72 for the pint. I'm not sure how much they are in America but I'm guessing I didn't pay much of a premium. Not that I care, mind you, it went into the shopping basket without me ever even looking at the price. Some tastes of home are worth the sacrifice!

Saudi Arabia

2011-01-10T04:58:00.004-06:00

by Cindy

I always love the game "Two Truths and a Lie." One of my truths is that I lived in Saudi Arabia, although no one ever believes me. I don't know if my desire to live abroad started back when I was a wee kid or not but either way, this is technically not my first experience living abroad. The first one was short lived and I was too young to remember much at all but we did live in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia once upon a time. I love to tell my students because they are always shocked and I can totally see it on their faces. It does give me some "street cred" with them though. We saw this shirt so I thought I would pose for a quick pic.

New Years Eve Special

2011-01-04T21:49:00.003-06:00

by Cindy

Happy New Year! I hope it has been good so far. While we didn't have any time off, we did have some friends through town so it was good to catch up with them. We rang in the New Year at a friend's house but Jeff and I are apparently old - we left the party about 12:45 AM only to find out later that the party lasted until 6 AM. Oh well, we enjoyed our sleep.

We had numerous fireworks shows around town and some fun activities, one of which I wanted to share. I know I have shown pictures of the fountains before but now I have some video for you. The fountains had some new songs and water shows, especially for New Years Eve. Watch these, or more importantly listen to them (each one is about 10 seconds). I think you will be quite surprised at the music, I know we were!!

Rollin', Rollin', Rollin'

2011-01-01T09:42:00.000-06:00

by Cindy

We were rolling down the highway with His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan Bin Mohammed al Qassimi, Supreme Council Member, Ruler of Sharjah.

Our Neighbors

2010-12-31T05:13:00.000-06:00

by Cindy

We have some great neighbors! Not only are they our neighbors but they arrived at the same time we did so we got to know each other through all of the crazy things we experienced for the first time last year. They are originally from Turkey but spent the last 10 years in Atlanta, GA. I think their friends in Atlanta spoiled them with Southern hospitality and they are returning the favor on us!

The Thursday before Christmas they invited us over for dinner. Even though they don't celebrate Christmas, they realize that the holiday is a time you spend with friends and family and since we don't have any family around, they wanted to make it a special time with friends. The food was amazing and there was a TON of it - they did justice to the spread we often have at Christmas. I wish I would have taken a picture! It was a Turkish meal with meats, cheeses, veggies, bread and everything else you can think of. Every single bit of it was homemade and our host said she had worked on it, "all day, with a few breaks." I think she was trying to be modest.

In addition to all of the food, they had downloaded Christmas music for the evening and had gifts for us! It was an evening where I was humbled by their hospitality and comforted by their friendship. It really was a great evening with friends and they really are great neighbors.

Christmas Care Package

2010-12-29T04:55:00.002-06:00

by Cindy

My dear friend Sabra sent us a sweet care package this week. I told Jeff, "I'm not sharing the Andes mints! Sabra was my friend first so I can make the rules on the distribution of goods." Childish, I know. We were excited to get queso and other goodies. It never gets cold enough here for hot chocolate so we have borrowed a rule from our friend Gloria - hot chocolate is for rainy days. It only rains a few times a year so it works out quite well. Gloria has small children who have grown up here so they don't understand hot chocolate for a cold day. She's compromised and made hot chocolate for a rainy day, I think it's great! For some reason, Sabra included some coal. Jeff and I were really confused because we know that we have been really, really good this year! I'm sure that gift was meant for someone else's care package.

Thanks, Sabra! We love care packages!!

Volvo

2010-12-27T03:55:00.000-06:00

by Cindy

When we first arrived in the UAE we purchased a 2009 Volvo S80. It was used, about 4 months, with 10,000 km on it when we got it. Even though the car is fairly new, we have had a couple of instances recently where the battery was dead so we took it into the shop. Over here, you can't just buy batteries at any store like you can in America. There are a few shops but really you have to get them from the dealer. Also, they don't last long. All of our friends have told us, no matter what kind of battery you get, it will last about 18 months. With the heat we have here for six months out of the year, that's really no surprise.

So, after having to jump the car a second time, Jeff and I decided to make a trip to the dealership. We called ahead and they told us that for a new battery, we didn't need an appointment and could just show up. We called twice to verify and got the same story both times so we assumed this was in fact the case but we were still suspicious. The last thing we wanted to do was spend Christmas eve at the car service shop.

We got there and they immediately took our information, went and got the car and checked it out. Jeff and I had time to look around the showroom at the new cars before they came and got us to say the car was ready. He handed us the keys and said, "The battery was weak, we replaced it. It is covered under warranty so you are ready to go." Really? Under warranty? Merry Christmas to us! That's my kind of customer service and my kind of warranty!

Christmas Eve Service

2010-12-26T12:09:00.000-06:00

by Cindy

We had a Christmas eve service of carols and a short message. We were able to take some friends with us and had a nice time. Our friends have a son who really enjoyed the singing, and we all think he's ready to join the choir! Also, he was ready with his hand raised each time the pastor asked a question. It was fun and a nice way to celebrate Christmas.

Merry Christmas from The Bakers

2010-12-25T01:02:00.000-06:00

We wish you a wonderful Christmas! This is how we celebrate in the UAE!

Season's Greeting from AUS

2010-12-23T06:58:00.003-06:00

by Cindy

While we don't celebrate Christmas in the same way here that we do in the USA, we do still celebrate. Here is an e-card we got from our Vice Chancellor of Public Affaris, Salem Al Qasser.

Only in Dubai

2010-12-22T09:55:00.001-06:00

by Cindy

Only in Dubai do you get this crazy mix of cultures - we have a huge Christmas tree, the iconic Burj Al Arab, santa and a snow man all in the same place at the same time. I wish I could add the music, too. It was all about baby Jesus, how He came to die, how He's the Saviour of the world and the Messiah. I kept on having to ask myself, am I really hearing and seeing all of this?!?!?!?!?

I saw it and didn't know it!

2010-12-20T22:49:00.000-06:00

by Cindy

In my previous post, I mentioned the Gold ATM. That same hotel also has an $11,000,000 Christmas tree. Yep, that's in the millions! I saw the tree and it was beautiful but at the time, I had no idea it was worth so much. Apparently the ornaments are REAL gold and REAL gemstones. Wow. Only in the UAE!

http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2010/12/16/million-christmas-tree-unveiledin-abu-dhabi/

Gold Digger

2010-12-18T09:09:00.001-06:00

by Cindy

I bet you don't have a Gold machine in your local hotel!!! Of course, this isn't just any hotel, but still, the machine does actually dispense Gold bars! Eight different selections depending on how large of a piece of gold you would like. Or given the cost of gold, how much you want to spend.

http://money.cnn.com/2010/05/27/news/companies/gold_atm/index.htm

A New Neighbor - Part II

2010-12-16T08:48:00.000-06:00

by Cindy

As I mentioned in a previous post, I took some food over to a new neighbor. In doing this, I didn't think it through really well and now I am in a bit of a predicament.

I knew it was highly likely that she would reciprocate the gesture and bring me something that is common in her culture. She did just that today - the rings are a cookie stuffed with dates. The ones with a touch of purple on then are pistachios held together with a pistachio paste. The other ones are pine nuts held together with a pine nut paste. They are all VERY good. It is all food that she had at her wedding.

Now for the predicament...When I took over the apple crisp, I took it in a disposable pan. I should have known better! What should have happened is that I would take her something in my dish and then she would return the dish to me filled with some food from her culture. I didn't think it through really well so now she has brought me something in one of her dishes and I'm not entirely sure how to get her dish back to her! I really don't think that I can give her an empty dish. If I make something else then we are in a cycle of food with me always preparing one more dish than her when the dishes are in the right place. That's not going to work either. I'm going to have to ask around and figure out how to correct my culture faux pas!

A New Neighbor

2010-12-15T08:30:00.000-06:00

by Cindy

We have a new neighbor. Well, kind of. We've had the same neighbor for awhile but over this last break, he went home to get married (arranged) so now his wife has joined him. In order to welcome her to her new home, I took some food over. However, you should know that I had to go though a mental checklist before I could show up...does she speak English? Her husband is a professor here at the University, in Jeff's department in fact, but that's no guarantee that she speaks English. He's from Tunisia so he speaks French, Arabic and English....would her husband be opposed to having a Western woman around his wife? I was easily able to figure out all would be okay when he brought her up to campus to meet everyone and show her around.

So, time to cook. I usually go with a traditional American dish - apple crisp. Most people are okay with fruit based dishes and oatmeal and cinnamon are found in many cultures so this usually gets pretty good reviews.

I took it over one day last week and I think freaked her about a bit when I rang her doorbell but she was very receptive once I told her why I was there. She invited me in, introduced ourselves, and we looked at some of her wedding photos. She doesn't have the photographer photos yet but her uncle gave her a book of snapshots before she left Tunisia to move here. It was a nice visit, about 45 minutes, and we agreed to have tea/coffee in the coming days. She really wants to practice her English with me. She's lived in Montreal and taught Marketing there but that was all in French. She hopes to be able to teach here but English is her third language and her weakest so she needs to practice. I think it's better than many people here but she's quite critical of herself.

I was able to invite her to a Christmas brunch on Monday so that should be fun. One of the ladies on campus is a Master Chef and she holds cooking classes for us every other week. This coming week, she's preparing a typical Christmas Finnish meal. I'm delighted that my new neighbor will be able to join me, meet many other people here on campus and (possibly) have one of her first experiences with Christmas.