Regardless of whether you live in America or the UAE, two things are still true - first, you should never run anywhere after donuts and coffee. And second, if you need coffee Starbucks is an option in your city, you should run from Dunkin.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Running on Dunkin
As you can see from the picture below, Dunkin Donuts is customizing its "America Runs on Dunkin" campaign for different nations, including the UAE.
Regardless of whether you live in America or the UAE, two things are still true - first, you should never run anywhere after donuts and coffee. And second, if you need coffee Starbucks is an option in your city, you should run from Dunkin.
Regardless of whether you live in America or the UAE, two things are still true - first, you should never run anywhere after donuts and coffee. And second, if you need coffee Starbucks is an option in your city, you should run from Dunkin.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Healthcare in the UAE
by Cindy
With so much talk in the USA about health care, we thought we would give you an idea of our experiences and insurance coverage here in the UAE. We knew from talking to others that we expected it to be comparable to the USA. We were even in touch with one woman who had her first child in Dubai and seriously considered returning to have her second in the UAE rather than in the USA. While we do not have the need for obstetric services, we can tell you about some of our experiences thus far and how we have paid for them.
Heath Care Experiences
We have already blogged about my first visit for a head cold. We have since figured out that you can buy most 'prescription' medications as 'over the counter' drugs here so when we get sick, we just head straight to the pharmacy for the antibiotics rather than to the doctor for the prescription. Insurance pays for all of the medication, but even if it didn't, they are about $10 for a week's supply.
We needed malaria pills for our upcoming trip to Kenya - we just walked over and got those from the pharmacy as well. The campus clinic didn't have the yellow fever shot so we had to go into town for that one. We were not sure what to expect but it was comparable to a free health clinic in the USA. We waited for about 20 minutes, got our shots (in separate male and female rooms) and then were finished. It took us longer to drive there and back than it did at the clinic.
The birth control I took in the USA is not available here so I have had to switch to something new. I visited the highly recommended American Hospital of Dubai to check on my options and was pleased to find that the recommended options here were in line with those of my Dr. in Lubbock as well as my dear friend Elaine, who is an OB-GYN, and patiently answers all of my questions. The clinic was clean, very well equipped and full of expats. In no way would you have known or felt you were in a foreign country if it was not for the dozens of different languages being spoken around you.
There was another Dr. who came highly recommended that is much closer to our apartment that I did visit once. While I found her to be professional and competent, the facilities and staff left much to be desired.
Health Care Coverage
We have insurance coverage through the University that runs us about 9,664Dhs / $2,633.34 annually. We have a 70 Dhs / $19 co pay when we go to a physician that is not on campus. After that we have 100% coverage and that coverage is Worldwide!! I'm not sure what Obama is pushing there in the USA but at least I know I'm covered no matter where I go!
A couple of other notables - any birth control or birth control consultation is not covered by insurance. And (our parents should stop reading here) "Emergency Medical Repatriation and Repatriation of Mortal Remains" is 100% covered. So even if something unfortunate happens to us, we can be buried in Texas.
With so much talk in the USA about health care, we thought we would give you an idea of our experiences and insurance coverage here in the UAE. We knew from talking to others that we expected it to be comparable to the USA. We were even in touch with one woman who had her first child in Dubai and seriously considered returning to have her second in the UAE rather than in the USA. While we do not have the need for obstetric services, we can tell you about some of our experiences thus far and how we have paid for them.
Heath Care Experiences
We have already blogged about my first visit for a head cold. We have since figured out that you can buy most 'prescription' medications as 'over the counter' drugs here so when we get sick, we just head straight to the pharmacy for the antibiotics rather than to the doctor for the prescription. Insurance pays for all of the medication, but even if it didn't, they are about $10 for a week's supply.
We needed malaria pills for our upcoming trip to Kenya - we just walked over and got those from the pharmacy as well. The campus clinic didn't have the yellow fever shot so we had to go into town for that one. We were not sure what to expect but it was comparable to a free health clinic in the USA. We waited for about 20 minutes, got our shots (in separate male and female rooms) and then were finished. It took us longer to drive there and back than it did at the clinic.
The birth control I took in the USA is not available here so I have had to switch to something new. I visited the highly recommended American Hospital of Dubai to check on my options and was pleased to find that the recommended options here were in line with those of my Dr. in Lubbock as well as my dear friend Elaine, who is an OB-GYN, and patiently answers all of my questions. The clinic was clean, very well equipped and full of expats. In no way would you have known or felt you were in a foreign country if it was not for the dozens of different languages being spoken around you.
There was another Dr. who came highly recommended that is much closer to our apartment that I did visit once. While I found her to be professional and competent, the facilities and staff left much to be desired.
Health Care Coverage
We have insurance coverage through the University that runs us about 9,664Dhs / $2,633.34 annually. We have a 70 Dhs / $19 co pay when we go to a physician that is not on campus. After that we have 100% coverage and that coverage is Worldwide!! I'm not sure what Obama is pushing there in the USA but at least I know I'm covered no matter where I go!
A couple of other notables - any birth control or birth control consultation is not covered by insurance. And (our parents should stop reading here) "Emergency Medical Repatriation and Repatriation of Mortal Remains" is 100% covered. So even if something unfortunate happens to us, we can be buried in Texas.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Open Doors. Open Minds.
by Cindy
Today we had the opportunity to visit a local mosque that gives tours to non-Muslims. In Dubai the Sheikh has established The Centre for Cultural Understanding - an organization that sponsors the tours as well as breakfasts and lunches "to increase the awareness and understanding between various cultures that live in Dubai." The title of the blog comes from the tag line on the brochure - "Open Doors. Open Minds." Made me wonder if they had the same marketing company as the Methodists.
Here are some pictures from our visit and yes, the sky really is that blue here.
Everyone mush wash their hands, face, arms, head, and feet before prayer. Men wash here (sitting on the stools) and women wash in a separate area inside the mosque.
This mosque will host about 1200 people. This room is for men and there is a smaller room off to the side for women. Men are supposed to go to the mosque for prayer, but women are permitted to pray either at home or at the mosque.
In case you need to know the prayer times.
And of course - women must cover up!
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Women - Part 2
OK - so we've had a few questions about how women are treated over here. Let me see if I can answer one of these and give you some insights into the culture over here. I'll try to get to some more in the days to come.
So the first question is: "Do men and women receive equal treatment here?" A: No.
Women have separate lines at the bank, the post office, and at government offices. There are even women-only days at the beach and women-only cars on the Metro. So is this equality? No. Is it discrimination? No, it's not really that, either.
Now I realize that there may be a few of you reading this who are supporters of women's rights and think that men and women should be treated equally all of the time. The very idea of separate lines to stand in and separate seating on the Metro is offensive to you. Well, they don't see it that way over here. There are separate lines for women at many places of business because people over here realize that women have an important role in the home. They want to minimize women's time away from the home. That's why there is a separate women's line that gets served before the men's line. It's more chivalry than discrimination.
There is also the idea in this culture that men and women should only be together if they're family. Otherwise, there is a temptation for an inappropriate relationship to develop. So the sexes are segregated. Some of you may think this is going overboard, but here, it's just seen as being extra cautious.
Finally, women have separate lines at businesses, separate cars on the Metro, and separate days at the beach because people here acknowledge that men make the world a harsh, rough, and coarse place. Ask any woman who has grown up with all brothers and she'll tell you what it's like to be in an environment with mostly guys. So over here in the Middle East, they acknowledge that women probably wouldn't want to spend their time in the predominantly male world outside of their homes. Therefore, they have women-only stuff.
So, is it equality? No. Is it discrimination? No, it's not really that, either. In many ways, women receive preferential treatment. As two Westerners who have been taught to value "equality," we were prepared to call what we have seen "injustice." But instead, what we have found is a culture that treats women with consideration and respect. We do still occaisionally hear stories on the news of injustice, but we don't believe that this is the day-to-day reality for most women here. On the whole, women are cherished and protected. They are not treated as property; but they are highly valued.
So the first question is: "Do men and women receive equal treatment here?" A: No.
Women have separate lines at the bank, the post office, and at government offices. There are even women-only days at the beach and women-only cars on the Metro. So is this equality? No. Is it discrimination? No, it's not really that, either.
Now I realize that there may be a few of you reading this who are supporters of women's rights and think that men and women should be treated equally all of the time. The very idea of separate lines to stand in and separate seating on the Metro is offensive to you. Well, they don't see it that way over here. There are separate lines for women at many places of business because people over here realize that women have an important role in the home. They want to minimize women's time away from the home. That's why there is a separate women's line that gets served before the men's line. It's more chivalry than discrimination.
There is also the idea in this culture that men and women should only be together if they're family. Otherwise, there is a temptation for an inappropriate relationship to develop. So the sexes are segregated. Some of you may think this is going overboard, but here, it's just seen as being extra cautious.
Finally, women have separate lines at businesses, separate cars on the Metro, and separate days at the beach because people here acknowledge that men make the world a harsh, rough, and coarse place. Ask any woman who has grown up with all brothers and she'll tell you what it's like to be in an environment with mostly guys. So over here in the Middle East, they acknowledge that women probably wouldn't want to spend their time in the predominantly male world outside of their homes. Therefore, they have women-only stuff.
So, is it equality? No. Is it discrimination? No, it's not really that, either. In many ways, women receive preferential treatment. As two Westerners who have been taught to value "equality," we were prepared to call what we have seen "injustice." But instead, what we have found is a culture that treats women with consideration and respect. We do still occaisionally hear stories on the news of injustice, but we don't believe that this is the day-to-day reality for most women here. On the whole, women are cherished and protected. They are not treated as property; but they are highly valued.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
by Cindy
A couple of weeks back, Jeff and I headed to Abu Dhabi for the Middle East International Film Festival. We're not really uppity, film-festival-type people, but it sounded like it might be fun and we'd never been down to Abu Dhabi.
So, I told my students we were going to Abu Dhabi for the weekend and asked if there were any "must sees" and any restaurants we should check out. My students recommended visiting the Emirates Palace Hotel and it was magnificent. Opulent. Classy. We actually had a couple of film showings here so we were able to walk around and enjoy it a bit. It is stunning and the size of any hotel in Vegas. Just to give you an idea of how nice the hotel is, since Abu Dhabi is the capital of the UAE, this hotel was built to house Heads of State when they visit the country. Read a little about it at the link above. Here are some pictures.
This was our first time to a film festival so we were not sure what to expect but we very much enjoyed ourselves. Hilary Swank, Orlando Bloom, Naomi Watts, Eva Mendes, and - love him or hate him, Michael Moore - were all here.
Mostly, we did a lot of reading because we chose to watch all international films - Chilean, Indian and French films. The one thing we learned is independent films are more about the character than the plot. It took us a couple of films to figure that out but we enjoyed the change. We would definitely go to a film festival again. The Manhattan-based Tribeca Film Festival also sponsors another festival in Doha, Qatar that we might try next year.
The highlight of our trip to Abu Dhabi was not the film festival or the city but a dinner invitation at the home of one of my students. When I mentioned to my classes that we were going to Abu Dhabi, she said she was from there and would send me an email later in the day with restaurant ideas. Well, she called later in the day not only with restaurant ideas but also with an invitation for lunch on Friday!
Once we had accepted the invitation, I had to call around and ask all kinds of questions - what do we wear, what type of gift do we take, how do we know when to leave, what should we be sure and not do, etc. It is great to have so many people around who have been through similar experiences! The expected dress was typical conservative dress that we have here in the UAE, so I wore a dress and Jeff wore slacks and a dress shirt. We took a box of chocolates for a gift and we were set.
Once we got to Abu Dhabi and checked into our hotel, I called Reham to let her know we were still coming and to get directions to her home. Her father insisted on picking us up at the hotel so we met them in the hotel lobby. They live in a nice apartment building (just about everything here is high rise living). We didn't see all of the apartment, but if I had to guess, by American standards, I would say it was a 4 bedroom and 2.5 or 3.5 bathroom - maybe as much as 2000 sq. ft. The living and dining areas were both pretty large - bigger than our house in Lubbock.
When we arrived, lunch was on the table it was a feast!! I would compare it to Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner!! There was SO much food and they wanted us to eat every piece of it. We tried everything and it was all delicious. We had soup, a middle eastern salad, roasted lamb chops, roasted chicken leg quarters, baked eggplant, baked salmon, potatoes, veggies, some rice rolled in cabbage leaves, and zucchini stuffed with rice and meat. After dinner, there was dessert, which consisted of grapes, oranges, and kiwis. Then, there was coffee, tea, and sweets (baklava and cookie-type pastries). Then, there were chocolates.
The one funny thing about the afternoon (that stretched into the evening) is that we could not figure out how to leave! Since they had driven us to their home, we were not sure how to suggest that they could now drop us back at our hotel. We ended up staying for 6 hours! It was great conversation the whole time and never seemed like we were there that long. We learned all about Egypt (their home country), how the UAE has changed in the 30 years since they arrived, banking in the UAE and even life on the AUS campus. My student is a sophomore and it turns out she has a brother who is a senior. We enjoyed connecting with the students as much as the family. Jeff is hopefully headed to the driving range with Reham's brother, Ali, this week or next.
When I saw my student in class the next week, she smiled and casually mentioned to me that in the Egyptian culture, when you are ready to leave, you just stand up and leave. I laughed and told her "thanks for the pointer."
It was a wonderful afternoon / evening for which we were grateful. It was an experience to remember and we hope to have many more.
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