The View from the Top

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

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!

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

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

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!

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

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

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!

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

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...

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

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

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

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

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

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?

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

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

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

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