High-End

One thing we've discovered is that since Cindy and I teach at a private University, we've got some rich kids running around. And I mean rich. Here are a few stories - all of them are true.

Exhibit 1 - Cindy is teaching her class - talking to her students about how some companies differentiate themselves from their competitors by becoming "luxury" brands. She uses Mercedes-Benz as an example. Her students are taken aback and say "Mercedes are for common people. Lamborghini and Aston Martin - they make luxury cars." [this is an actual quote] . Here's a shot of some nice "middle-class" kids' cars.

FROM RIGHT TO LEFT - MERCEDES, INFINITI, INFINITI, BMW, AND LEXUS.

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Exhibit 2 - Cindy is still talking about brand differentiation in her class and is explaining that Emirates airlines (one of the national airlines over here) markets themselves as a luxury airline with great service. The students respond with, "A real luxury airline is Marquis Jet, not Emirates airlines."

At least they get the concept.

Exhibit 3 - Cindy notices one of her 18-year old sophomore students carrying a nice purse. Cindy thinks, "I wish I could find that bag in black - it's exactly what I've been looking for." So after class, Cindy heads back to her office, finds the bag online, and discovers that it's a $14,000 Hermes. FOURTEEN THOUSAND!!!

So basically, I'm saying that while the girls are all wearing black abayas and headscarves, they're carrying Gucci, Chanel, or Louis Vuitton bags. They have designer jeans and heels poking out from under the abayas. The Emirati guys have Gucci, Louis Vuitton, and Jack Spade messenger bags. Not everybody rolls like that, but definitely more than at any school I've ever been to. So that's kind of crazy. We've got preppy Arab kids. It's like the SMU of the Middle East.

Ramadan - Part II

by Cindy

This is a typical greeting you might receive during Ramadan. The other common greeting is a picture with your family or just your kids. Look and sound familiar?

Ramadan

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic year. It is the Islamic month of fasting, when Muslims refrain from eating and drinking from sunrise until sunset - with the intention of learning patience, modesty and spirituality from this practice. It's a time when Muslims (the UAE is about 96% Muslim) ask forgiveness for past sins, pray for guidance and help in refraining from everyday evils, and try to purify themselves through self-restraint and good deeds. The celebrate Ramadan because they believe it to be the month in which the first verses of the Qu'ran were revealed to the Prophet Muhammad. The closest thing I can compare it to for Christians is the observance of Lent.

The dates for Ramadan change each year because Muslims follow a lunar calendar rather than a solar calendar, but this year, Ramadan lasted from August 22 to September 19. Next year, Ramdan will move forward by about 11 days.

So what is Ramadan like for Muslims? Here are four of the most obvious ways. First, most Muslims wake at around 3:30 or 4am to have a substantial breakfast before morning prayers at around 4:30am. Second, the workday is shortened for everyone (by law) from 8 hours to 6 hours. That way Muslims who are fasting can get in a little siesta. Third, after sunset and after evening prayer, at around 6:30pm, everyone will break their fast with a large dinner, called an Iftar. Ramadan is a time of the year to be with family and friends - similar to the way Christians want to spend Christmas with family - and so most families gather each evening for their Iftar or afterward to spend time together. Everybody ends up becoming a little more nocturnal during Ramadan.

So what is it like for non-Muslims like Cindy and I to live here during Ramadan? Well, it's different. Because most people are active in the morning and evening but sleeping during part of the afternoon, most businesses change their hours. For instance, Cindy and I have been car-shopping and we were surprised to hear that most dealerships are open from about 9-12 in the morning, and then again from 9-12 at night. Most stores and shops have similar hours. So it takes some planning to get used to the adjusted schedule. It was a little hard to convince ourselves to head out to car-shop at 9 at night - usually that's when we're winding down for the day - but that's what we did.

Also, because most people are fasting, it is considered highly offensive for people who aren't fasting to eat or drink in public during daytime. Restaurants are required by law to close during the daylight hours (some will still do carryout, however). And the University where I work has a special room set aside where non-Muslim faculty, staff, and students to go to eat their lunches and snacks. Not a big deal, but you just have to plan what you're taking for lunch a little more carefully - you can't just run over to the campus Burger King like usual.

The other big difference is Iftar. Since most of the country is fasting, dinner becomes a major event every day. Restaurants and hotels go all-out for Iftar buffets. We hear that most Muslims put on weight during Ramadan (kind of like the holidays back home :) - I'm waiting to see if gyms run post-Ramadan specials). Even non-Muslims attend Iftars - and the meals are pretty impressive. Below are some pictures of some of the simpler Iftars that we went to with fellow faculty members. We also went to a couple of full-on five-star Iftar buffets. More than anything, we enjoyed the Iftars as a way to get together with people and start to make some new friends.

Enjoy the pictures and let us know if you have any questions.






































PS - The bald guy in the foreground on the right is Kevin, the guy who led us to the "teahouse." [If you missed that story, look for the post from earlier in September entitled "Misadventure #1"].

My Crib

Housing has been the one big frustration for us in this move. We feel like everything else has been "as promised," but housing has not. We were told before we moved that we would be in a 2-bedroom apartment or townhome on campus. We saw pictures, talked to people, and felt like it would be a nice place to live. We were excited.

After we arrived, we found out that our housing was not ready and that we would be in a hotel "until some construction is finished." We were told that it should be a matter of weeks, but could stretch into months. I could make this story longer, but that is the gist of it.

The hotel that we stayed in was OK. It was clean, it was across from the beach, we had two meals per day provided. About a dozen of us from the University were at the hotel. There was a bus to and from school each day. So we made it work.

After one month of hotel life, we are now on campus. They still do not have the two bedroom ready for us but the one bedroom is nice and we are very glad to be on campus. So the bottom line is that we're "happier" with our housing situation, but not completely "happy." Nevertheless, we like our new place. We have a 10 minute walk to work or a five minute bus ride. Here are some pictures.

OUR APARTMENT: J06

BATHROOM - WE'LL HAVE MORE TO SAY ABOUT THE BIDET IN FUTURE POSTS :)

KING SIZE BED

DINING AREA

KITCHEN - NOTE THE TINY EURO-STYLE WASHER-DRYER COMBO

THE LIVING ROOM (FROM THE DINING AREA)

So there you have it. Hope you enjoyed the tour. If you need more pictures, see Cindy's Facebook page. Adios.

Lost and Found

by Cindy

Before we moved into our apartment, I accidentally left my purse on one of the shuttle buses. Once I realized I had left it, I called and left a message for Henri, the gentleman in charge of transportation. It was a Thursday (the weekend here) so I knew I was going to have to wait until Sunday before I heard anything back. I didn't have my passport in my purse but I did have every other type of identification along with several hundred Dirhams in cash. On Sunday afternoon when I boarded the shuttle bus, the driver said to me, "miss, wait right here" and he took off running (in 100+ degree temperatures). He showed up in about 10 minutes, dripping with sweat, and had my purse in a bag. I told him thank you and started to sit down on the bus. He said, "no miss, please go through everything to make sure it is all there. Please count all of your money and look for everything." I had no idea how much money should have been in the purse but I went ahead and counted all of it (he corrected me when I got two of the coins mixed up) and confirmed (multiple times) that everything was there. Once I had convinced him everything was there, he wanted me to be sure and let his boss (Henri) know that he had returned everything to me.

I was amazed on several levels. One, that my purse was returned to me with everything in it. Two, that I was not worried about it at all because I really knew it would be returned to me without anything missing. Three, the kindness of everyone involved and four, the realization that if something had been missing, small or large, this bus driver would have been deported and never allowed back into the country. He takes his job very seriously and it is the lifeline to his family back home. They work long, hard hours but do it with a smile on their faces and an incredible thankfulness to have a job. While some of the circumstances around the workers over here troubles me, they have an incredible attitude and sincere thankfulness for their jobs.

I know that if I had left my purse on a shuttle bus in the USA I would never have seen it again. Here, I got it back with everything in it. I like that, I like the UAE.

Overcoming My Fears

Call me unsophisticated if you want, but I had never used a bidet before. I was a little intimidated by the one in my hotel bathroom. And now I have one at my apartment. They're everywhere over here. All the cool kids have them. So I decided that I should learn how to use it.
It took me about 30 minutes of online reading and a YouTube video to feel prepared for this. But I have to admit that I like it. It still seems a little strange, but if being clean is your priority, this is definitely the way to go.

MY BIDET.

Longhorns are Everywhere!

by Cindy

When Jeff was applying for the job here in the UAE, one of the first things we did was to check on the location of the closest Texas Exes association. It was important to know that we could watch NCAA football and more specifically, Longhorn football. We were very pleased to find that there is a Texas Exes chapter in Dubai and in Abu Dhabi (90 kilometers away).





After we found out what date we were to arrive in Dubai, we contacted the local chapter and discovered they had a Happy Hour scheduled just five days after we arrived! We met up with about 30 other Longhorns and friends at the Dubai Marina and Yacht club.

They get together once a month for happy hour or other occasions. We will be gathering again in a few days for an Iftar. Since the Happy Hour, we have met two other Longhorns on campus who will be joining us!

Misadventure #1

OK - so there was a group of about 6 of us - all new faculty and all of us ready to get out and see a little of the town (Sharjah this time, not Dubai - Sharjah is the neighboring city and is more conservative and traditional - it feels like the Middle East, not like flashy, modern Dubai). So Kevin - an instructor in the Philosophy department and one of those people who's never embarrassed about anything - suggested we go down to the "old souk" one evening ["souk" is the Arabic word for market]. It was about 8:30 or so. We needed two taxis to get us all there, and Kevin, who wasn't really too detailed about describing where the "old souk" was located, jumped into the first taxi with Cindy and I. The other cab left with only vague directions.

Kevin found out the cab driver was Afghani, and proceeded to tell him in broken English/Arabic/Dari that Hamid Karzai, the president of Afghanistan, was a drug lord and shouldn't be able to stand for re-election. Fortunately, the cabbie laughed, so a potential crisis was averted.

After we arrived at the "old souk," Kevin thought we should go into this "tea house" while we were waiting for the other cab to arrive. He'd seen this "tea house" before and had wanted to visit. So Cindy, Kevin, and I go in, walking past a room full of Emirati men mostly in their 40s, 50s, and 60s. Picture them in their white dishdashas and headdresses, and us sitting in the adjoining room. So the guys in the other cab call us because they're lost (you're probably no more surprised than I was). So, Kevin walked into the other room and asked if one of the gentlemen in there could talk (in Arabic) with our (Arabic-speaking) Lebanese friend in the cab and the (Indian) cab driver to give them directions to our "tea house." It took about 10 minutes to get them into the general vicinity, at which point our friends hopped out of their cab and walked the last several blocks in the 95 degree heat.

After our friends arrived, we all had some more tea. The Emirati gentleman who helped get our friends over came in with another Emirati and we had a nice conversation (mostly in English) with everyone for about half an hour. The Emiratis were truly kind and we enjoyed talking with them.

So, Kevin at some point becomes curious about why there really aren't many waiters at the "tea house" and why there weren't any menus. So he asks, "What is this place?" It's hard to translate, but basically, our Emirati hosts explained that it was a meeting place for the leading men of the city - somewhere between a private club and a city council meeting. There weren't any waiters, only the Emiratis' personal servants.

So we're pretty sure they haven't seen any Westerners in the "tea house" in years. We're also pretty sure they haven't had any women in there in years - much less a Western one with no abaya and no headscarf (Cindy was in a t-shirt and jeans).

Now rest assured that everything was fine and that no one was ever uncomfortable. Furthermore, our hosts were fantastic and we enjoyed that little slice of culture. Maybe Cindy can even run for city council next year. But make no mistake, Kevin's on our list.

Church

So we went to church today for the first time. The church is called the United Christian Church of Dubai. It's an evangelical, nondenominational church - you can check it out at http://uccdubai.com/ and even listen to the sermons if you want to. We've included some pictures below [the first picture is from the back of the sanctuary after the service, and the second is from where we were seated].

I'd describe it as contemporary-style worship. We sang about 7 songs, 3 of which we knew, and 2 of which were hymns (When I Survey the Wondrous Cross and A Mighty Fortress is Our God). Then there was a message - some solid expository teaching - the sermon was about 35 minutes long, and then we took communion together. The entire service was probably about an hour and twenty minutes. There were about 400 people in our service (the English one) and the sanctuary was almost entirely full. It wasn't standing-room, but there weren't more than a few empty seats. There was a Chinese and an Arabic service going on at the same time elsewhere in the building. One of the couples that we met said there were several other services that met at other times during the day (Filipino, Indian, etc.).

In the English service, there were the usual Americans, Canadians, Brits, Aussies, and Kiwis, with a fair number (maybe 1/3 to 1/2) of Africans, Indians, Bangladeshis, Singaporeans, and other folks from around the globe.

So how was it? It was a great, comforting reminder of home. The best comparison I can make is that it was like the first good, familiar American meal that you have after you get back from a long overseas trip. You sit down, relax, relish each bite, and just soak in the whole experience. It was really great.

Anniversary

So our anniversary was this week - on August 26 - we've been married 9 years and it's been great. We decided we needed a little slice of Americana for the anniversary, so we skipped the upscale Dubai cuisine and went to Chili's. Cindy got fajitas and I had a burger. Both were AMAZING.

We've been doing well on food - no American meals since day 1, but we were just wanting something familiar for our anniversary. Here are a couple of pictures.

Miscellaneous Observations

by Cindy
As we have begun to get settled and started classes this week, I have made a few mental notes that I thought I would share.

1. Everything here is about face to face contact. They are not as big on email, texting and using the phone. As a result, you walk a lot more. At least it is a healthier alternative since it is not the most time efficient.

2. I'm going to have to trade in my three inch stilettos for a smaller heel (see #1).

3. Every floor is made of marble, I have yet to see a carpeted room. The marble is beautiful but painful on the feet (see #1 and #2).

4. All of the bathrooms have a western toilet / bidet combination. This means that the floor is usually slightly wet (with clean water).

5. This is a formula for disaster: #1 (walking a lot) + #2 (stiletto heels) + #3 (marble floors) + #4 (wet floor) = disaster. Nothing has happened yet but I live in fear every time I go to the bathroom.

6. My 10th grade geometry teacher taught me that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. That is still true but I think the formula needs a variable for air conditioning. It may be that the path from my office in the Library to the Business building is a nice straight 30 degree angle. But, I can walk from my office, through the main building (right angle) and then to the business building and get some A/C in the middle of the walk. That's the path I choose every time! Whatever path takes me through the most A/C is the path I am taking.

The doctor

by Cindy
Shortly after our arrival, I got pretty sick with a head cold / sinus infection. I knew I was starting work soon so I wanted to go to the clinic, get some antibiotics and just get better. I was coughing all night long so Jeff wasn't getting any sleep either.

Jeff was able to figure out where the clinic was on campus so we walked over...
2 minutes to fill out paperwork
2 minutes of waiting until they called my name
5 minutes with the nurse while she took vitals and typed my blood
2 more minutes of waiting
5 minutes with the doctor while he confirmed that I was in fact sick and he wrote my prescription for an antibiotic, cough syrup and nose spray

3 minute walk to pharmacy on campus

1 minute to hand over prescription and her to fill it
1 minute for her to explain that our insurance doesn't kick in until September 1st so we need to pay for the meds out of our pocket. No problem, I just want to get to feeling better. I instantly felt better when the total for the meds was 52.50 Dhs / $14.30!!!!

So to sum up my doctor's visit: It took under 30 minutes and less than $15. I already feel much better and I'm not even finished with my antibiotics yet.

Jeff and I spend more money and stay longer at Starbucks than we did at the doctor!!!

Cereal

by Cindy
For those of you that know Jeff and I well, you know that we love cereal. Morning, noon or night, we are happy with a bowl of cereal for any meal. Prior to our departure, our evenings were filled with many goodbye dinners and we were looking forward to arriving in Sharjah and having cereal again.

Our first trip to the grocery store was simple - our list comprised of oatmeal, raisins, bread, peanut butter, jelly, milk and cereal. No problem.

Oatmeal. Check. No selection here but we did find Quaker Oats oatmeal. They had several porridge options but I'm not really sure what porridge is...

Raisins. Check. We immediately found white raisins which are just as good. They had numerous dried fruit options.

Bread. Check. Wheat bread, white bread, multi grain bread, pita bread, you name it, they had it.

Peanut Butter. Check. Jif reduced fat crunchy. Just like home.

Jelly. Check. They only had one grape option which was pricey but they had numerous strawberry options. No problem.

Milk. Check. We couldn't find skim / no fat milk but we did find low fat cows milk. They also have "full fat" and "double fat" if you are so inclined.

And finally, cereal. They don't have the full aisle devoted to cereal like we have in the States but they did have about 1/2 of an aisle to choose from. Out of that selection, about 1/3 of the aisle was Corn Flakes. They have boxes of Corn Flakes that contain 164 servings! The didn't have any Honey Bunches of Oats or any Frosted Mini Wheats. They did have Honey Nut Cheerios but no regular Cheerios. They had one box that resembled Raisin Bran but it was more like mini-wheats stuffed with raisins. It was crazy expensive, too. We settled for Corn Flakes, only 40 servings though. : )

Here is the tally:
Oatmeal 7.75 Dhs / $2.11
Raisins 9.10 Dhs / $2.47
Whole grain bread 5.25 Dhs / $1.43
Peanut Butter 10.55 Dhs / $2.87
Jelly 10.25 Dhs / $2.79
1/2 gallon milk 10 Dhs / $2.72
Corn Flakes 5.95 Dhs / $1.62

Total 58.85 Dhs / $16.03

All in all, our trip was a success. Cheap, too. If you ever want to send a care package our way, we love cereal!

The Office

I love my office. It's classy, attractive, and has new furniture. It's better than my shared office with 1960s furniture at Tech [and lest any of you think I'm kicking Texas Tech around, it's nicer than my professors' offices at UT, too].

Maybe one of these days, I'll get tired of having a cube, but right now, I'm glad to have some of my fellow new professors right next door to talk to. We're supposed to get a new business building before my 3-year contract is up, so I may move from this nice, new office to a nicer, newer one.

What I Learned on My Trip to Dubai

Hello from Dubai! Cindy and I made it in last night and got some good rest. We're trying to figure things out in the city today (Saturday) and I have some orientation stuff on campus tomorrow, but basically we're just trying to get settled in.

Sorry we don't have any pictures for you yet - you'll have to give us a couple of days to get over our jetlag and get things squared away. Besides, if I put up pictures today, you might not come back to read for a while. I need to build suspense.

So, here is a list of a few things that we learned on our trip over here. Some are just observations, some are funny, but all are about our trip. So here they are in no particular order of importance - 10 Things I Learned on My Trip to Dubai.

1. If Cindy and I ever have children and take them overseas, we will sedate them for the flight. Go ahead and judge us if you want.
2. If you have small children/infants, British Airways apparently puts you in bulkhead seating. This means that (a) if you're traveling with small children, you should consider BA, and (b) if you're traveling on BA and request a bulkhead seat, you may be traveling with small children.
3. Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones are the greatest gift Cindy has ever given me. I HIGHLY recommend them.
4. Halcion (sleeping pills) are the greatest gift my father-in-law has ever given me. I fell asleep somewhere over east Texas and woke up over the UK. Amazing.
5. UK Starbucks stores take US Starbucks gift cards. Also Amazing.
6. British Airways Rocks, Part 1 - They have good food, better legroom than any US airline that I have flown, free papers and magazines, and free wine with meals. This is in all four classes from first to economy.
7. British Airways Rocks, Part 2 - Entertainment on Demand. You have your own personal video player, on which you can choose to view any of about 50 movies, tons of TV shows, plus musical performances, news, and sports. You can play, pause, rewind, fast-forward, etc. If you're a golfer, I recommend the swing mechanics lessons from Hank Haney. If you're not into watching videos, there are plenty of audio channels. You know it's all good when they have Pat Green on the country channel. Again, this is in all four classes, from first to economy.
8. Romance novels are apparently popular in Dubai. We know this because we sat next to Fabio on the plane. OK - not the real Fabio, but the British Fabio. Tanned, toned, blonde - and with an accent. For the record, I'm taller than the British Fabio.
9. Muslim social mores do not fully extend to 37,000 feet. There were not one, but two women breastfeeding on our row on the plane. Not with a blanket or towel or anything like that, mind you, just breastfeeding. Now I'm not making any kind of statement about whether breastfeeding in public is a beautiful expression of motherhood or if it's inappropriate. I'm just saying that I wasn't expecting it on a flight to an Arab country.
10. Muslim social mores come close to 37,000 feet. Many women boarded the plane in western attire, but deplaned in burkas and veils.

Well, I hope you were entertained by our stories. We'll fill you in with more info after a few days. Right now, I'm off to find some good American food for lunch. Pizza Hut? KFC? Hardees? I'm not sure. We'll let you know how it is. Adios.

Going, Going,...

Here are a few shots from our last outings with friends in Lubbock. We've posted more pictures from these get-togethers on Cindy's Facebook page.

LAST LUNCH AFTER CHURCH

LAST STARBUCKS COFFEE SEMINAR

LAST (BIRTHDAY!) BBQ

...GONE

Missing, Presumed Lost

OK - so a little speculation tonight. What do we think we will miss when we get over to Dubai? We're not really sure. We'll have to update this after we get settled in. But here's our best guess.

1. Football
2. Austin
3. Football in Austin (especially the beatdown that's coming on September 19)
4. Country Music
5. Winter
6. BBQ
7. Tex-Mex
8. Thunderstorms
9. Old South Comfort Food (fried chicken, biscuits and gravy, gigantic bowls of mashed potatoes,...)
10. Thanksgiving

That's all true, but in reality, we'll probably be able to find places to watch football and get American food. The "Missing, Presumed Lost" title of this post is probably an exaggeration. We already know of some Mexican restaurants and we know the Texas Exes meet at least once a week. And music is always available on the Internet.

The stuff we can't replace is attending Westminster, working at the Bridge, coffee seminars at Starbucks, family, and all of our friends in Lubbock and DFW. That's probably the real list.

We're curious about any guesses you have. Let us know what you would miss, or what you think we'll miss. We'll let you know.

Plan Your Trips Now!

People are asking us when they can come visit. As a general rule, you should come during the winter months. It's BLAZING hot during the summer. Really. Think Las Vegas heat with Houston humidity. In fact, as I write this, Dubai is experiencing 90 degrees and 79% humidity with heat index of 110 - AT 4:56AM! Oh, and did I mention that there are dust storms?

So don't come during summer. Unless you want to sweat. And then have the dust stick to your sweat. Winter is cooler, drier, and the dust doesn't blow.


DUST STORM ROLLS IN

OK - so now for more details. Here are some events you could plan to come for.
-Dubai Rugby Sevens - December
-Dubai Shopping Festival - December-February
-Dubai Desert Classic (Golf Tournament) - February
-Dubai Tennis Championships - February
-Dubai World Cup (Horse Race) - March
And of course, there's always the beach, desert safaris, restaurants, museums, mosques, architecture, and the city itself. For those of you who are still picturing camels, open-air markets, and sand dunes, did I mention that Dubai is modern, cosmopolitan, and trendy enough that Paris Hilton just taped the most recent season of "My New BFF" in Dubai?

And here are some dates when I will have time off from teaching. We don't know Cindy's schedule yet, but this is when I'm off.
-September 18-26
-November 26 - December 5
-December 31 - January 16
-March 19-27
-May 7-31 (kinda getting close to summer here - maybe you should re-read the first paragraph before making plans)

You can get direct flights to Dubai from Houston, LA, San Francisco, and NYC (you can fly from a lot of other cities if you don't mind connecting through Europe). Most direct flights are in the 12-16 hour range, so try to score some Ambien for the flight - or if you want to stay awake, maybe just pick up a whole season of "Paris Hilton's My New BFF" on DVD (or some other reality TV guilty pleasure).

We probably won't be back to the States for a few years, so if you want to see us, you'll need to make a trip. Sign up soon. Family gets first choice on dates.

Feelings

Probably the most frequent question we've had about our move is, "How do you feel about it?" There are a few variations - with some people asking "How do you feel about moving to the Middle East?" or "How do you feel about moving so far from family?" or "How do you feel about moving to a different culture?"

If you've known Cindy and I for any length of time, you know that we're pretty matter-of-fact about everything. That's just who we are. We're more "thinkers" than we are "feelers" and so when people ask us how we "feel" about the move, we don't always know how to respond. Mostly, we know that this is the opportunity that has been set before us, and we know that this is where we're being led, so we're going. Period. There just hasn't been a lot of "feeling" involved in the decision.

Having said all of that, I do want to point out that we're not completely robotic about the move and about our lives. Mostly, we feel excited about the move. We love traveling to new places, experiencing new things, and meeting new people. We're excited about the school, our apartment, and our new city. We're excited about new restaurants, new foods, and new activities. And while we've liked a lot about Lubbock, while we've met some great people at Westminster, and while we've enjoyed working with students, we're looking forward to heading somewhere new. We haven't met a lot of people at our age and stage of life in Lubbock, and so the past several years have been a little lonely for us. We’re looking forward to a change.

We also feel a little nervous about the move. We’re moving from a place where English is spoken to one where Arabic is spoken, and from a place where men and women are (mostly) equal to one where there is an acknowledged hierarchy. We’re moving from a place where status is earned to one where it is inherited, from a culture where change is valued to one where it is shunned. We’re moving from a culture that values the potential of the future to a society that values the traditions of the past, and from a society that values individual rights to one that prioritizes social harmony. So while we’ve tried to do our homework, we realize that we don’t truly understand the language, the customs, or the values of the people. We strive to be kind, courteous, hospitable, generous, and respectable in every situation – and we won’t know how to do that once we move. We won’t be able to understand everything, won't be able to make ourselves understood, or be able to control some of the situations that we get in. That makes us nervous.

But mostly, we feel blessed. We know that the Lord has provided for us financially – my salary package is great – in the States or anywhere in the world. We know that He has already begun to provide relationally – we have a dozen people who are “friends of friends” that we’re planning to connect with when we get over there. And we’re also being provided for spiritually – as we take our anxieties to Him and as we find places to be in community once we arrive.

So for those of you who’ve been trying to pry our “feelings” out of us…there they are. :)

What's the University Like?

OK - so I've had a lot of people ask me what the university will be like where I'm teaching. The school is called the American University of Sharjah (AUS). It's a private university with about 5000 students, and is home to the National Champion AUS Leopards basketball team [there aren't any NBA lottery picks coming from the team, but they're obviously still pretty good. The school plays about 20 varsity sports and holds its own in soccer, cricket, and tennis].

The students are mainly from the Persian Gulf region - the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Pakistan, etc. If you're really curious about where students are from, you can click on this link to see some nice pie charts.

Since the students are predominantly Arab, most of you are probably wondering about language. English is the language of instruction (my dedicated readers will recall from an earlier post that the United Arab Emirates were a British protectorate until 1971), and so English proficiency is a requirement to be admitted to the university. The upshot of all this is that communication won't be a big deal for me. Nevertheless, I do plan to start learning Arabic after I get there. I know that I generally feel like people who come to the US should learn to speak English, so I think it's the right thing for me to do to learn Arabic while I'm over there.

And for those of you who are wondering about clothes, I will dress like the typical business school professor here in the US - a suit, slacks with a shirt and sportcoat, or sometimes just a golf shirt. What do students wear? Everything from jeans and t-shirts (just like in the US) - to the traditional abaya and hijab for women (cloak and headscarf) and the dishdasha and keffiyeh for men (robe and headdress). There are more photos of the university and students here.

Next week, Cindy will be posting on the blog (!), so send some questions her way if there's something you want to know about. Also, if you see Cindy between now and then, be sure to ask her how her writing is coming. :)