Headed Home...Now What

by Cindy

The summer is upon us and many people are traveling back home. Here are some of the funny things that our friends have told us that they crave and want to get back to:

Heading back home this summer? What's your first stop?

• Cracker Barrel!
• Anywhere that sells decent clam chowdah.
• Tim Horton's for an iced cappuccino - pure bliss!
• Wings, definitely wings.
• My sister's place in Cambridge, MA - for Maine lobster and a champagne toast!
• Lobstah!
• Walmart to buy a 6-pack of Dr. Pepper.
• The lost luggage counter...my bag will be lost again this time.
• Target
  
• Lennies (awesome brewpub in Bloomington, IN) .

Middle East Jokes

by Cindy
We have all seen the emails that start, "You know you're from (fill in the blank) when (blank). We have one along those lines that I thought I would share to give you an idea of some of the crazy things we see/do around here.

You know you've living in the Middle East too long when:

• You give your friend of the opposite sex a hug in public and worry that you'll get deported for inappropriate conduct.
• You feel shocked that the male cashier actually touched your hand when giving you your change back.
• You can't believe the legal speed limit is only 60 MPH instead of 75 (120 kph).
• You can make a left hand turn.
• You momentarily freak out when you see birds eating in public in daylight during Ramadan.
• You are not shocked to see that the server brought you 1 kg of rice when you asked for a single serving.
• You start cutting lines before others do it to you.
• You find that you know more Hindi and Filipino words than Arabic words.
• You need a jacket when the temperature drops below 20°C [68°F].
• When someone tells you "see you tomorrow" and you immediately answer "inshallah".
• You start complaining when there is no Hummous or Falafel on restaurant menus.
• You are at the mall and expect to hear the call to prayer.
• You are shocked when you get exact change back at the grocery store.
• You are happy to run into a taxi driver who: a) who knows how to drive, b) knows the city, c) speaks some English.
• You do not find it strange that people ask "where you from?" but never ask you for your name!
• Nobody looks at you funny when you are educated but speak pidgin English so that you are actually understood.
• Flashing your high beams makes the car in front of you magically disappear.
• You can make u-turns almost anywhere.
• You are at the DMV asking about the women's only line.
• You are driving on the highway, in the left lane and a huge pick up (NOT a Land cruiser) starts tailgating. You think to yourself, "Why hasn't he flashed the brights? I'm not getting out of his way until he flashes me."
• You get a perverse sort of pleasure in asking every single cashier what the return policy is, just to hear them say 30 days with the receipt. You nearly pass out when you are told 90 days and if I change my mind, I can just bring them back.
• You can spot a camel grazing on a sand dune at 300 yards while driving by at 120 kilometers per hour.
• It’s normal for a stranger to ask if you are married.
• You make sure to leave 2 hours between appointments, due to traffic.
• You've forgotten how to wash your own car or pump your own gas.
• You think the uncut version of "Little House on the Prairie" is racy.
• Your idea of housework is leaving a list for your housekeeper.
• You give directions by land marks instead of by road names.
• You wear a jacket inside and take it off outside.
• You understand that wadi bashing isn't a criminal act.
• You have to repeat your order six or seven times: Whopper, Fries, Coke....and then after all that you open the bag: Big Fish, Onion Rings, Apple Pie, and Fanta.
• When you think it's normal to have a box of tissues on the restaurant table instead of napkins.
• You walk around Walmart for 10 minutes looking for the produce weigh station.
• You realize that you have checked EVERYTHING off your list. From shopping in ONE store!
• You hardly notice the two men who just walked by you holding hands, but you feel somewhat concerned about the old married couple coming towards you holding hands!
• You think a co-ed swimming pool is strange.
• For a total of about $50, you can get a Moroccan bath, a manicure, a pedicure, a facial, a massage, and a hair treatment, and then follow it up with a tasty and ample Indian dinner for your family of 4. And while you are doing this, you are fully aware that, within a 10 minute drive, you could also spend your annual salary in one sitting on the very same services.
• You know that "same-same" definitely isn't.
• You don't know what your own street address is. In fact, you don't know the name of the street that you live on!
• When someone complains to you about another person's job performance or behavior, you immediately ask for that other person's ethnicity or nationality.
• When you order "tea", you mean hot tea, not iced tea.
• When you forget how to clean up after yourself. For example, it doesn't even occur to you to clean up the table after eating fast food at the mall.

Barracuda

by Cindy

Even though the sell of alcohol is highly restricted in the UAE, you can find alcohol here. You have to drive about 30 minutes outside of town to a place called Barracuda. It is funny because everyone knows where it is and when you ask people how to get there, they tell you to drive on the road until you see the airplane in the field and then turn left. The directions seem nuts but here's a picture of the airplane - you can't really miss it! It is an old Russian cargo plane sitting by an old landing strip.

The store looks like a huge duty free store on the inside. The outside is a pretty dull building without windows and by the sea. Inside people push shopping carts around (often one for the man and one for the woman) and fill them completely. Since it is a bit of a drive, when people "make a run" they really stock up. When you check out, everythig is wrapped in black bags to conceal the prohibited product.

We're Not in Texas Anymore!

by Cindy

We really don't see too many pick up trucks here in the UAE. We have tons of SUVs but no F150's or Silverados. However, the other day I did see a Chevy Silverado on the highway and more importantly, it had some "decoration" that you definitely would not see in Texas!

The pictures on the back window are those of the founding father of the UAE and the rulers of the UAE. Think Thomas Jefferson, Abe Lincoln and George Washington!

Crazy Drivers

You may have seen this by now, but some local guys made the news recently by turning one of the local expressways into a playground for their SUVs. As you watch the burnouts, doughnuts, and two-wheel driving, remember that this is the main expressway through Dubai - it's 7 lanes in each direction - and it's obviously during the daytime. Here's the link.

This is not typical behavior. It made the news here - and some of these guys went to jail.

PS - When you get to YouTube, you might want to check on some of the other, similar videos that are recommended on the right side. All funny, but crazy, crazy, crazy. There's a huge car culture here (OK, not really cars, but mostly big white SUVs) and guys love to go "dune-bashing", racing, and do stunt driving. Watch the videos. It's nuts.

Not Quite a West Texas Thunderstorm, but Close...

by Cindy

Lately I have been jealous of my West Texas friends who have posted on Facebook about the great spring storms. Generally speaking we get one kind of weather here - hot. To quote Robin William's charter in Good Morning Vietnam, "What's the weather like out there? It's hot. Damn hot. Real hot." Yep, that's where we choose to live. On a rare occasion, the region does get rain. This storm below made it to Oman, about a 3-hour drive from here. So it didn't really happen here, but it was pretty close. Enjoy the pictures.

Return to America

by Cindy

I was fortunate to go to Boston this past week for my brother in law's ordination. [Thanks Derek for planning it so we could make it!] It was my first trip back to America since we left nine months ago. I was not sure what it might be like but here are a few of my thoughts and observations:

• We took in a Red Sox game and it felt very American. I was comfortable in the crowds, knew to stand for the 7th inning stretch, knew the words to "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" and the food smells were familiar.
• Everyone in Boston speaks English. I don't know if I heard another language the whole time I was there. On my layover in NYC I finally heard other languages and realized that I missed hearing all of the tongues from the different tribes.
• I still prefer to shop in America. I am more familiar with sizes, brands and styles in America. In Dubai we have European styles, sizes and brands and Jeff and I are not yet comfortable with those.
• I felt rushed at the restaurants in America. I like the Dubai style of waiting around and really enjoying your meal.
• The weather in Boston and NYC was amazing. I actually got cold a couple of times in Boston. The weather was cool and crisp and the sky was so blue. Their summers are like our winters. Makes me wonder why in August, I'm trading Dubai heat for Texas heat!
• I didn't miss the morning call to prayer (currently around 4 AM) but I did miss the birds waking me up each morning.
• I was thankful to be able to wear shorts in public!

All in all, I missed Dubai while I was gone. Even though I was gone for a week, I was ready to get back. I love where we live and love the people we have met. Dubai fits me more than any other place we have lived thus far. It was nice to see family but I'm glad to be home!

Dates

Probably the most popular fruit here in Arabia is the date. They taste like a fig/raisin/prune, and they're about that color, too, once they're fully ripe. They're about the size of big grape or sometimes as big as your thumb. We've eaten them in more places than I can remember, but we didn't really understand how they grew until now.

Dates grow on palm trees, and they start growing around December and ripen in the summer months. They're getting closer to ripe right now. So here are a few pictures that we took around campus of the dates ripening.

















HERE'S WHAT THE PALM TREES LOOK LIKE FOR MOST OF THE YEAR.





















HERE'S WHAT THE TREES LOOK LIKE ONCE THE DATES START TO RIPEN - YOU CAN SEE THE CLUSTERS OF DATES HANGING DOWN.












HERE'S ANOTHER ONE WITH THE DATES HANGING OFF OF THE TREES.

















HERE IS A CLUSTER OF DATES. THEY'RE GREEN NOW, BUT WHEN THEY'RE FULLY RIPE, THEY'RE BROWN AND LOOK LIKE GIANT RAISINS.

Rolling Out

The last day of final exams here at the American University of Sharjah was this past Saturday, May 15. It's a lot like finals at home - nervous students not getting much sleep, bad students complaining about their grades, lots of caffeine, and everyone in a mad rush to get out of town as soon as their exams are over.

Cindy and I have noticed one thing that's different, though. In America, students would have their cars in the parking lots outside of whatever building they were taking their final exam in. The cars would be absolutely loaded down with stuff so that they could be on the road the minute that they walked out of their exam. Stereos, clothes, bedding, dirty laundry - all of it was in the car. In America, students just scrape whatever they can off the floors of their dorm or apartment and throw it in the car.

Here, we didn't see a single car loaded up for the trip back home. Now there were probably a few kids moving out of the dorm back to their folks' houses in Abu Dhabi or Ras al Khaimah or something like that, but for the most part, everyone on campus flys in. Think about it. Of our 5000 students, less than 1000 are from the Emirates. The rest are from Jordan, Lebanon, Qatar, Saudi, India, Egypt, Palestine,.... (here's a breakdown). You can't (or wouldn't want to drive) to most of those places. So that's one thing that we've noticed is different here.

Gold

In case you missed the story this week, there's a hotel in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE (about an hour's drive from Dubai), that just installed a special ATM. It's an ATM that dispenses gold bars. Seriously.

The ATM sold out the first day. Seriously.

The Obama Effect

This morning, I was reading the news on the BBC's website and came across an interesting article. It was about how America is perceived by people outside of America. America's perception has rebounded considerably from an all-time low in 2007. So I thought I would take a minute to comment on this.

Most of our friends and family back in the States are surprised to hear that Barack Obama is adored overseas and that George Bush is almost universally disliked. It's certainly true in the Arab world. There are three reasons why this is true. First, foreign policy in the Bush/Cheney era was characterized by unilateral decisions that strained relations with European, Middle Eastern, and Asian allies (decisions like withdrawal from the Kyoto Protocol, withdrawal from the ABM treaty, the invasion of Iraq, etc.). You may remember that Time magazine famously characterized Bush/Cheney foreign policy as "Cowboy Diplomacy" for the administration's willingness to make decisions without a broad international consensus. You may agree or disagree with the Bush/Cheney policy, but people overseas disliked it. Period.

Second, in the Arab world, the nation of Israel is hated. And there is a low-grade, but noticeable resentment of America because it supports Israel.* So, when America backs Israel, it's perceived negatively in the Arab world. Barack Obama is the first US president in recent memory that hasn't given Israel a blank check to do whatever they want to Palestinians. So America looks better to Arabs when America pushes Israel to be more accommodating to the Arab Palestinians (for instance, by not building Jewish settlements in Palestinian areas).

Third, the Arabs would like to have the opportunity to sort out their own problems without Western nations imposing solutions here. So when America comes in and invades Iraq, for instance, it's perceived as meddling in a family dispute.

So Obama's Cairo speech to the Muslim world, his reversal of the Bush Doctrine's "preemptive defense", and his outreach to Europe are all steps in the right direction - at least as far as non-Americans are concerned.

I'm not trying to say that Obama is great - or even that Bush was bad. Foreign policy is only one part of a President's job. But what I am saying is that Obama's foreign policy is much more palatable to the rest of the world than George Bush's was. I hope that after reading this, you can see why that's the case.


*NOTE: Let me clarify something - Muslim Arabs have no issue with Jews living in the Middle East (or Christians for that matter). But the Arabs don't understand why there needs to be a Jewish nation - a political entity - Israel. You see, most of the Jews left Palestine (or what the Jews refer to as Judea and Samaria) in about 135AD after the Romans put down the Bar Kochba rebellion. The Jews dispersed through North Africa, Europe, and eventually North America. Then, within a period of about 15 years, culminating in 1948, the Jews suddenly decided to come back to Palestine. So after over 1800 years, they show up, kick the Arab Muslim and Arab Christian Palestinians out of their homes, and set up their country. To the Arabs, the Jews gave up their claim to Palestine by leaving for 1800+ years. That's why the Palestinians are fighting Israel. They perceive the creation of the nation of Israel as a Western-backed (UN-backed, US-backed) land grab.

On top of that, Israel is taking more land than the UN gave them in the 1947 Partition Plan for Palestine. Most Americans are surprised by this, thinking that Israel is in the right and that the Palestinians have seized land that is not theirs. This is not correct. Israel was granted a certain portion of land, and the Palestinians were granted a certain portion of land. Israel has occupied their own land as well as the land allotted to the Palestinians. [Check out a map - this map shows the area allotted to Israel in orange and the area allotted to the Palestinian Arabs in yellow. Israel presently occupies both portions. While you're viewing the map, note the ridiculous boundaries drawn by the UN in 1947 - is anyone surprised this never worked?].

Local Rankings

by Cindy

There was a fun article in the press this week. A (very non-scientific) survey was taken for certain sectors of our economy, presumably highlighting the brands for which UAE residents have a high affinity - our university is at the top of the list.

Global Days

Global Days is a two-day student organization fair at our University. Students had been telling us all year that it was amazing and that everybody looks forward to it all year. It was Thursday and Friday nights and so here's our report.

To call this a "student organization fair" doesn't do it justice. About 40,000 people visit campus for Global Days (including students, faculty, parents, and people from the community). So it's more like the county fair than anything else. There are probably 30 student organizations represented. For the most part, the organiztions are built around national identities - so we have an Emirati Cultural Club, a Russian Cultural Club, a Saudi Cultural Club, and so forth. Each club gets one or more corporate sponsors for their booth. Some organizations build their booths themselves and others hire contractors to help out.

HERE'S THE SAUDI BOOTH. THEY BROUGHT IN SOME NATIVE ARTISANS, TRADITIONAL DANCERS, AND SAUDI TOURISM OFFICE STAFF TO WORK THE BOOTH

THE IRANIAN STUDENTS HAD A GREAT BOOTH. GOOD FREE FOOD, TOO.

THE INDIAN STUDENT ORGANIZATION BOOTH

THE MAHARAJAH AND HIS BRIDE

There are also performances in the performance hall on campus by each of the groups. The Russians did a traditional Russian dance, the Indians did a few Bollywood song-and-dance numbers, the Sudanese did some traditional African dance, and so forth.

THE SAUDI STAGE: THIS IS A PERFORMANCE OF "THE SWORD DANCE" THAT IS PERFORMED BY THE MEN AT MAJOR CELEBRATIONS IN THEIR COUNTRY

AND HERE'S A PICTURE OF THE WHOLE THING. [SEE, I TOLD YOU THERE WERE 40,000 PEOPLE]

All in all, it was pretty impressive by any standard. I've never seen a student event on this scale anywhere in the States.

100 Most Powerful Arabs

by Cindy
I was reading about the 100 most powerful Arabs in a local magazine, Arabian Business, similar to Business Week. The list contained the types of people you would expect - owners of airlines, land developers, founders and CxOs of organizations, etc. The one that caught my eye was number 6 on the list - Ahmad Shugairi. I'm sure you have never heard of him but he's an Islamic TV evangelist! Yep, they have them here, too!

Easter in Dubai

Here are a few photos of our Easter sunrise service on the beach this morning. We had about 150 people there and it was a great time for all of us to be together.

Take it From Me, Parents Just Don't Understand

So one of my students met me outside of class this morning - she looked worried about something - and said hurriedly, "Professor, I'll be in class in a minute. I need to take care of something...." I'm a nice guy, so I told her it was no big deal, to come in when she was ready.

She looked a little agitated and distracted during class, so after we wrapped up and everyone walked out into the hall, I asked her if everything was OK.

"No, my mom's about to kill me."

"Really, what happened?"

"Well, I lost my phone in a taxi this morning....[pause]....and I've already lost a laptop and three other phones in taxis this year - mostly Blackberries. [Then, responding to my stunned look...] Yeah, I know I've got a problem. I'm trying to call around to find the taxi driver. I've got to find it before my mom finds out."

"Wow. I hope you find it. Good luck."

So you can see that even over here in the Middle East, parents are still unreasonable with their children. :)

A Visit from the Parents

by Cindy
Jeff and I were fortunate to have my mother and step-father join us for 10 days this past week. We had my mom write some thoughts down to contribute to our blog. She got through the first few days of their visit and then didn't really finish. I added pics where she left off.

by Ron, Cindy's step-father

We saw every round about and speed bump in the country. At first they were a pain but ultimately they proved to work very well.

by Libby Choate, Cindy's mom
Dubai is one of the most beautiful and clean cities where everything is the biggest and the best.

The desert safari - over six people in a Land Cruiser backing into the sand dunes, topping large dunes and dunes so steep that you see underneath the vehicle in front of you. Riding camels (which are hard to ride!), eating Arabic food and watching belly dancers rounded out a fun evening.

The next day shopping at Dubai mall where glitter and bling are everywhere. There was a large grocery store in the mall with an escalator for the grocery carts and the people.

Then on to a wonderful meal of Lebanese food overlooking the skyline with a large waterfall. Think Vegas and lights.

On to the Blue Souk where we bought a carpet to take home. Choosing from several dozen they unroll for you to look at so you can find the exact color and size you want. This is where the bargaining takes place. The Gold Souk at night is quite a sight to see with all of the glitter.

We made a trip to the Grand Mosque in Adu Dhabi.

This is on our campus, they were amazed at all of the beautiful flowers. This part of campus is an exact replica of the Champs Elysees.

We went and saw the indoor ski slope.

We went to the Burj Al Arab and had high tea. This is a pic from a mall in town that has a nice view of the Burj.

Luxor, Egypt

by Cindy

One of the great things about being here is all of the destinations that are so close. We were able to get over to Egypt for a weekend! We left after work on Thursday (our last day of the week) and then took the red-eye back on Sunday (our first day of the week). Luxor was a great city with so much history. Many sights didn't allow cameras so we included what we could. We are looking forward to a trip back to Egypt to see Alexandria and Cairo.

Luxor Temple is located on the East bank of the Nile River and was founded in 1400 B.C. Ramses II built the entrance pylon and the two obelisks, one of which was taken to France and is now at the center of the Place de la Concorde. It had an incredible Avenue of the Sphinx.

Karnak Temple - comprises a vast conglomeration of ruined temples, chapels, pylons and other buildings.

Carbon Footprint

by Cindy

I had a friend ask us how "green" we are here in Dubai. I thought it was a good question so here are our thoughts and observations -

First and foremost, Dubai is a desert. There is no natural flora here, at all. There are parks and they are very nice but the government has to pour 250,000,000 gallons / day on them to keep them green - most of the water is desalinated water or gray water. The water out of the tap is desalinated but doesn't taste great, I think this is the biggest market in the world for bottled water. [On that note, a 20 oz bottle of water will cost you $0.36 which is nice from a consumer perspective.] I think this is the largest carbon footprint in the world, due to all of the AC we have here. We have six months that are miserably hot and humid (it was 102 degrees with 92% humidity this week and it is only March!) so there really isn't anyone who doesn't have AC. We have cheap gas and a lot of SUVs (along with all of the high end cars).

Wilderness? Yea, it is called the desert. See Exodus.

As for recycling, it is picking up steam. We do have recycling bins around campus and a few around town. There is a big recycling plant that has recently opened so I think you will see it move in a positive direction. The place is clean, very clean, which is really nice. The downside to the cleanliness is that we have foreign workers / laborers who clean everything. It is borderline slavery but definitely indentured servitude. They also take care of the parks so the parks are immaculant and always have flowers blooming. It is a very sterile looking place and part of that is due to everything being a light color because light colors reflect heat. I do often ask myself, whose wise idea was it to build a city in the middle of a dessert but I suppose people have done it all over the world...and even in America, Las Vegas is a very popular destination!

Here are some pics from campus to give you an idea of the flowers all over the place.

Marriage Counseling - Dubai Style

by Cindy

While we have enjoyed our time over here, some things make you laugh out loud and others have us rolling our eyes. We thought we would share a newspaper clip with you - I'm sure you are not hearing about this in your press (double click to enlarge).