How Hot is It?

People ask us from time to time - is it hot over there? Yes. Hot like you can't even imagine. Hot like Phoenix or Vegas. Stupefyingly hot. It was 115 degrees Fahrenheit on the day that we left Dubai for summer vacation (July 16). And that wasn't a record, it's seasonal, typical even.

And no, it's not a dry heat. This place is like Houston - only more humid. Yesterday morning - 94%. Last night when I was playing golf, 90%. Our windows drip condensation all summer long and our glasses fog up when we walk outdoors.

OK - enough about that. We do have a lot of wonderful air conditioning here - and since the Sheikh pays my electricity bill, it's really not a huge problem.

For your enjoyment, here are two slightly more amusing ways you can know that it's hot over here and everyone knows it:



What appears to be an egg is actually a magnetic advertisement encouraging people to use public transportation. The print on the egg white says, "It's always a cool 20 degrees C on the Metro." The whole story about this advertising campaign is here.

And this picture was taken by a Texan who lives in Qatar (which is another country here in the Gulf). She's baking cookies inside her car. They cooked in about 3 hours. They were apparently a little crispy on the outside and slightly gooey on the inside.

It is starting to cool off a little bit for fall, by the way. It was 80 this morning, and we're expecting a high of 98. :)

She's Kind of a Big Deal

by Cindy

This week Jeff and I happened upon a birthday party for Caitlin's 1st birthday. While we don't know Caitlin or her family, she's apparently kind of a big deal. Caitlin's family rented out a hotel ballroom that will seat 350 people [we know this because it is the same ballroom where our church meets each week]. One of the funniest things is that Caitlin's party is going to last until 2AM. I'm pretty sure she won't still be awake and I doubt her mother will be either!

I'm wondering if my brother Kevin and his wife Kim are planning this kind of shin-dig for Reagan's (my niece's) 1st birthday party in December...

Sex and the City 2

by Cindy

I had a chance to see Sex and the City 2 on the plane on the way back home. For those of you who might have missed it, the movie is set in Abu Dhabi, which is about 90 miles down the road. For those of you who have seen it, I thought I would share some perspective on how well they did. For those of you who might be waiting to rent the movie, I promise no spoilers!

• The movie was not filmed in Abu Dhabi but in Morocco.
• They were supposedly staying at the Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi - Emirates Palace is a LOT nicer than the hotel in the movie.
• There is a scene where taxis pull up in front of the hotel - our taxis are much nicer. They are all very clean, new and never smell.
  
• The hotel room cost $22,000/night. That is probably about right (if you're staying at the real Emirates Palace Hotel)!
• The hotel room came with a butler for each guest - again, that sounds about right.
• Upon arrival everywhere the ladies are offered Arabic tea or juices - that always happens. This is a very hospitable place.
• There is a scene where the butler mentions that he flies to see his family every three months, when he can afford the plane ticket. In reality, it would be more like every three years.
• One of the things that happens in the movie is Sara Jessica Parker's character leaves her passport at the souk (market) but doesn't realize it until days later. She returns to the shop to look for her passport and the shop keeper has kept it safe for her. That would totally happen. When we moved here, I left my purse on the bus over a weekend and it was found and returned to me.
• Jail would absolutely be the punishment for having sex on the beach. The fact that Kim Cattrall's character got out of jail means that she had "wasta" [which means "influence"]. The fact that the trip was basically revoked after her stint in jail is a reasonable response here.
• Kim Cattrall's behavior at the sheesha bar and in the scene leading up to the beach would be totally inappropriate here.
• There is another scene where Kim Catrall's character is wearing shorts and a spaghetti strap top. You would never wear anything like that, it is very insensitive. Most of the clothing in the movie would be considered inappropriate here.
  
• There is a scene in the souk where covered ladies pull the American women into a room and reveal that they, too, are wearing the latest fashion. That is so true! Under the abayas and shaylas women over here wear clothes right off the runway!

I would say that as a whole, they did a decent job representing the culture here. The over-the-top wealth was shown as well as some of the things in American culture that clash with the culture here. I didn't think the movie was all that great but it does give you a brief glimpse into culture here in the UAE. It's worth a rental at least.

Book Club - Part 1a

written by Cindy but compiled by Jeff

OK - so you may have read our last post about the books that we're reading for our book club on campus this fall. If you would like some additional book recommendations, we're providing a list below. Now we won't be reading these in our book club, but either Jeff or I have read all of these and we think they're excellent sources of information on the Middle East. Whether you like history, fiction or politics, I think we have a book for you:

• From Beirut to Jerusalem, Thomas Friedman - a good overview of Middle East politics including the creation of the state of Israel, the PLO, Hezbollah, the Lebanese civil war, and the Intifada. If you haven't read much about the Middle East, this is a good place to start.

• City of Gold: Dubai and the Dream of Capitalism, Jim Krane – a fast-paced, thoughly-researched history of Dubai and the United Arab Emirates. A great book if you just want to know about where we are and want to know how Dubai became a modern boomtown.
  


• Three Cups of Tea, Greg Mortenson – story of a US citizen who traveled in Afghanistan and Pakistan and has begun to build schools in the region. A great read with a compelling story line about providing education to kids who live in remote and underdeveloped areas.

• War for Muslim Minds, Giles Kepel – Covers the roots of radical Islam, the development of the neoconservative political agenda in the US, and responses to Islam by the US since 9/11. Also another reasonable starting point if you haven't done a lot of reading on the Middle East.


• The Accidental Guerrilla, David Kilcullen - Good discussion of modern counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency military strategy. Author is an Australian who advised the US State Department. This reads like a graduate-level book on counter-terrorism. Excellent, but not a light read. If you don't like to listen to or watch the news, this one's not for you.


• Arabian Nights - is a collection of Middle Eastern and South Asian stories and folk tales compiled in Arabic during the Islamic Golden Age. It is also known as One Thousand and One Nights. Obviously, this one is fiction (as opposed to the others on the list). It's a classic - you need to have this on your bookshelf (and have read it). Well, at least the abridged version.
  


• Infidel, Ayaan Hirsi Ali - Ali is the Somali-born member of the Dutch parliament who faced death threats after collaborating on a film about domestic violence against Muslim women.


• World is Flat, Thomas Friedman - an international best selling book that analyzes globalization. Not specifically about the Middle East, but just a good book that will help you (assuming you're an American) see how business is becoming more global - and why that's both good and unavoidable.
  

If you have any additional books you think we might want to look at, let us know. Or, if you have any you want us to read and offer our perspective, we can try to do that as well (but we make no promises on how soon we will get it read)!

Book Club - Part 1

One of the things that we do over here is that we're part of a book club. We meet with about 12-15 people once a month to discuss a book that we've all read together. We love these meetings and so you may have heard us talk about the great conversations that we have there. This fall, we're focusing on books that deal with Dubai and/or Arabia. Since this is the topic for the fall, and since many of you are reading this blog to learn about life over here, we thought that we would invite you to pick up the books too. Feel free to comment on our posts about Book Club, to drop us a line on Facebook about the book, to send an e-mail, or give us a call (Jeff's old mobile number is now a Vonage number that rings over here - just call before noon Central time if you decide to call - that way it will still be a decent hour over here).

Our first book will be City of Gold: Dubai and the Dream of Capitalism by Jim Krane. It's about Dubai's transformation from a fishing village to a global metropolis in the past 30 years. Here's a link to the book on Amazon. If you want to read it with us, pick it up and start reading. We'll be meeting with our group here to talk about it on Sunday night, October 10. Enjoy.

Junk Mail

by Cindy

When we moved, we transferred our "permanent" address to my mother's house. That really only consisted of the two credit cards we kept and the life insurance policies. Otherwise, we canceled everything. So, how is it that we have received mail EVERY day since we arrived in America? That's makes no sense to me.

In the UAE we don't have government-run mail service. We have UPS, FedEx, DHL, and Aramex if we need to ship something to or from the UAE. We also have couriers if we need something delivered locally. That's really about it. The strange thing is that we can't really have the government-operated mail service like in the US because we don't have street addresses in the UAE!!! Nobody has them.

Technically, I have a PO box but it is actually the University's address so all University mail goes to the PO box. If you asked me for my street address I would have to tell you something like, "PO Box 26666, American University of Sharjah." That's it. There's no street.

It's hard to give directions with this kind of system - or lack thereof. If a delivery person doesn't know where my University is, I might elaborate by telling him "Universtiy City in Sharjah" or "take Emirates Road, follow the signs to University City, then go to AUS. It's near the Sharjah Airport. At the campus guard gate, ask for my apartment number." Although this does seem odd, works (and it isn't a huge money-loser like the USPS).

Dream Season

Maybe you grew up watching the TV show "Dallas". I know that I did. Friday nights I was glued to the TV for the Dukes of Hazzard, Dallas, and Falcon Crest. [maybe I shouldn't have admitted that - but oh well, there it is - it's true]. So I've been thinking about "Dallas" a little this summer.

One of the odd feelings that Cindy and I have had this summer is how familiar it feels to be back in America. We have lots of friends, we are enjoying seeing family, we know lots of great things to do and great places to go.... And it feels like we could step back into our lives here without any problem. Same people, same places, same everything. And it would be like our year in Dubai never happened. It would be one of those things where we'd ask each other, "Did we really do that? Did we really live there? Did we meet all of those people? Did all of those things happen?" It would be like the "Dallas" dream season [season 8, if you recall, was simply one of Pam Ewing's dreams].

That's how the summer in America has made us feel - like our life in Dubai is a million miles away and not quite real. Friends who've lived overseas - including several military veterans - have said the same thing about their overseas experiences. It seems like a whole different life - not completely real.

Of course, we know our life is real. I have plane tickets, pictures, and paychecks to prove it. And of course our time in Dubai isn't like Pam Ewing's season-long nightmare - we've loved our time in Dubai. We've met some great friends. And of course we know that we're going back in about two weeks. But it has been a strange feeling to live in two places. When we're here, our life in Dubai doesn't seem quite real. And I suppose that when we get there, America won't seem completely real, either.

Tanning

by Cindy
One of the most common comments we have received arriving in the USA is "I thought you'd be a lot more tan." What people don't really seem to understand, though, is that it's hard to get a tan in Dubai in the summer - it's entirely too hot to be outside. If you come back in December, we will be tan and be spending our weekends outdoors, on the golf course, and at the beach. Think of it as the opposite of the USA - we spend the winter outside when it's nice and the summer inside when the weather is "bad" (i.e., too hot).

To give you an idea of what the summer is like, here are some weather statistics for Dubai. As you read these, keep in mind that we have about 80% humidity during the summer.








Since most of our readership is from Texas, I thought I could use Houston for comparison. Even if you haven't lived there, you know that Houston is known for its hot, humid weather. So here are the details on Houston. Note that Houston is about 10-15 degrees cooler than Dubai.





So, no, we are not tan during the summer - we seek air conditioning or better yet, leave the country all together. Even the locals leave.

When we are in the heat, there are a few things that help:

• Multiple showers per day
  
• Waterproof mascara unless you want it to melt to your face
• Drink about a gallon of water per day
• Don't wear glasses - they fog up when you walk outside
  
• Wear light colors - it's cooler (and they don't show sweat stains)

Unfortunately, we can only dream about being able to wear shorts.

What They Do Right

by Cindy

We have enjoyed seeing so many friends and spending so much time with family while back in the USA. We really enjoy talking about our experiences and love all of the questions we get from everyone. We get a lot of repeat questions (which we're happy to answer) but there was one question that we hadn't been asked before - and it really stood out to me.

I have been thinking about it ever since our friend Tim asked, "What do they do right?" I think it is a great question and I appreciated his openness to the idea that the USA does not do everything perfectly and can probably learn a thing or two from the rest of the world. So, what does the UAE (and in some cases, the Middle East) do right? Here are our answers (in no particular order):

• Much stronger emphasis on family
• Fewer ambitious, driven people
• Very little bureaucracy in government
  
• Zero tolerance for drinking and driving
  
• Inshallah [see our post from July 15]
  
• Better infrastructure (definitely in Dubai and Abu Dhabi - but not always in Sharjah)
  
• They openly acknowledge national/cultural/racial differences. What I mean is that everyone has stereotypes whether they admit it or not. In the Emirates, people are honest about having them rather than pretending that they don't exist. Maybe you're not sure you like this last one - but we always appreciate honesty.

So that's a quick list of what I think they do well in the Emirates.

Vacation

We decided to stop off for a couple of weeks in Italy on the way home from Dubai. We went to Rome, Cortona (in Tuscany a little south of Florence), Florence, Venice, and Milan. We loved seeing the Imperial Roman ruins (especially the Colosseum) and the Vatican in Rome. We stayed at a great inn in Cortona where we had two days of cooking classes. It was amazing. We highly recommend adding a little culinary adventure to any Italian holidays you may be planning. We took in most of the museums and galleries in Florence, drifted through the canals in Venice, and saw the Last Supper in Milan.




The churches that we visited deserve at least a separate paragraph. Be sure to visit the impressive Gothic cathedral in Milan (and be sure to go up on the roof). The Byzantine architecture of St. Mark's in Venice was totally different from everything else we saw and just as impressive. The dome and campenile of the Florence Duomo provide maybe the best city views in all of Italy. Finally, in Rome, be sure to visit St. Paul Outside the Walls. It's almost as impressive as St. Peter's and there aren't any crowds.

We have a few more pictures on Facebook if you want to see more of our trip.

Reentry

by Cindy
We have been back in America for a few days now and have been able to see friends, family and meet our new niece. We are still a bit jet lagged but are coming around more and more each day. Here are some random thoughts/happenings since we have returned:

• I am noticing covered women more and more. Maybe there are just more of them in DFW than when I lived here but I have seen them at the grocery store, in the mall, and at the gas station. I like it, it feels like home.
• I didn't really like pumping my own gas and having to turn off my car, specifically the AC, while doing so. I prefer full service.
• I drove in the left lane on the highway yesterday and no one flashed their headlights at me but I kept expecting it.
• I got my Texas drivers license renewed and was wishing for the "women's only" line.
• I went to the grocery store and was overwhelmed with all of the choices. I felt a little bit like that guy in "The Hurt Locker."
• Jeff and I both feel like we have two homes - we feel at home here in DFW and in Dubai. It is weird that we are living two separate lives.
• In some ways the old neighborhood has changed - the trees are huge - and in some ways not at all. We pass by houses and I think of people from years ago. I'm thankful that I can catch up with a few on FB and others in person while I am here.
• A dear friend of mine gave birth to her first child and I was blessed to (unexpectedly) be there for that.
• We have been having a good time sharing our story of how we got to Dubai and all of the experiences of the first year.
• I'm enjoying listening to the radio and the songs that are new (to me).
• We have had BBQ, wings, peach cobbler and homemade ice cream. Cream gravy and sausage are still on the list.

We are looking forward to all of our time in America, hopefully we get to see some of you while we are here!

Housing Prices

For those of you who are curious, here is a table of housing prices in Abu Dhabi (click on it to enlarge). It's a relatively expensive place to live. Abu Dhabi isn't quite London, Paris, or Tokyo expensive, but they're close. If you want to do the conversions, 1 dollar = 3.67 dirhams.

As an example of something in the table, a 4-bedroom house in the Khalidiya section of town - which is nice, but not where the Sheikhs live, not on the water, and not on a golf course or anything like that - will run you $7,940.75 per month in rent. A two-bedroom apartment is $4,991.33 per month in rent. Those are in dollars, people. It's difficult to buy over here if you're not a citizen, and the legal system here isn't that efficient at handling property disputes. So if your employer doesn't provide housing, you would probably rent.

The Working Man

The government of Dubai just released some statistics about its workforce. Here are a few of the highlights:

• Unemployment is 0.8%
• The workforce grew last year by 7.2%
• More than 80% of the workforce is male
• 56% of Emiratis are not in the workforce (by choice)
• 23.9% of Emirati women work outside the home
• Of Emiratis who work, 58% work in government positions
• Emiratis make up only 3% of the workforce (the rest are expatriates from the Indian subcontinent, southeast Asia, and Western countries)
  

The full story is available on the website of The National, an Abu Dhabi-based English-language newspaper. Here's a link.

You can Get Everything at the Mall

Faithful readers - study the picture below closely - especially the stencils at the bottom. This photo was taken at one of the malls here - Mirdif City Centre, to be specific. What you'll notice on the sign in addition to directions to various stores, the bathrooms, and the movie theater is the arrow pointing to the mosque.

Yes, there is a mosque at the mall.

In fact, there are mosques in (or very near) all buildings. They're at the mall, at car dealerships, at government offices, at the golf course, and on campus. Some places have a full-on mosque, but others just have a small prayer room. But in either case, know that there is one in every building. If you're in the city, you are never more than a five-minute walk from a mosque.

It seemed a little odd when we first arrived - a mosque at the mall? Really? But for devout Muslims, I can see why it makes total sense. When you're supposed to pray five times a day, this is what's necessary.

Now I have to let you all know that the mall doesn't totally clear out when the call to prayer sounds. Not everyone runs for the mosque. Most people seem content to pray later, at home, or perhaps to skip it.

Mostly now we just think it's different. Without the five daily prayer times, it's just something Christians never picked up on. Prayer rooms in every building probably isn't a bad idea, though.

Arab Beauty Queen

One of the students here at American University of Sharjah was just crowned Miss Egypt. She's lived most of her life in Dubai, but her family is from Egypt. If you're one of our readers back in the States and you think that all women in the Arab world wear burqas, you've got a slanted view of the world. The story is available by following this link.

Inshallah

One of the first Arabic words or phrases anyone learns over here is "inshallah". It means "God willing" or "if it is God's will". Everybody says it over here. What you may not realize if you're not living here - and if you haven't heard this word very much - is that there are two ways in which the word is used.

The first usage is the one that makes Western expats roll their eyes whenever they hear it. For instance, when a student says "I'll bring you that assignment this afternoon, inshallah", most Western professors interpret that statement as "I'll bring you that assignment this afternoon, as long as my friends don't call - and as long as there's nothing good on TV - and as long as I don't take a nap - and as long as nothing else comes up." So there's probably a 50-50 chance - at best - that the assignment actually gets turned in that afternoon.

This usage is common with adults, too. One of the (Western) department heads here at my university asked his (Middle Eastern) administrative assistant on a Thursday if she could get copies of an exam run for him by the following Monday. She replied, "Yes, inshallah." These two individuals have a pretty good working relationship so he responded with, "When you say inshallah, do you mean, 'Yes, I'll get it done' and you're just adding 'inshallah' because that's what you do culturally, or do you mean it the way students mean it? Because one of the reasons I'm giving you this five days early is because I definitely need it done by Monday. " Completely unflustered, she said, "It will be done by Monday, inshallah."

It's common to hear inshallah at government offices, when you call to get the cable TV turned on at your apartment, when you need a repair person, etc. And so most of the time, it doesn't create a real sense of optimism that things are going to get done in a timely manner.

So some people use "inshallah" casually, culturally, and as an excuse to not get things done. Maybe even the majority of people use it that way. But - as I said - there is another usage - one that is more than just using the word as an excuse.

Muslims use "inshallah" because they're required to do so by the Qur'an. Surah 18:23-24 says, "And never say of anything, 'I shall do such and such thing tomorrow,' except (with the saying): 'If God wills!' ." And so Muslims say "inshallah" any time they mention future plans.

As a Christian, I kind of like hearing "inshallah" in this sense because we (Christians) have the same instruction in the Bible. James 4:13-15 says, "Now listen, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.' Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that."

Christians probably don't say "God willing" or "the Lord willing" nearly as often as the Muslims that I know over here, but it's still definitely something that I hear from time to time from Christians. It's always good to hear that someone is acknowledging God.

So when I hear "inshallah" on the lips of a sincere believer who is acknowledging God's control, I like it. It's a good reminder for me - and probably for other people as well - of God's role in the administration of the universe.

The Price of Gas

The price of gas went up today. You can read the article if you want and do the math yourself, or you can trust me. Over here, gas is...

1.61 dirhams per Liter, so that's
.4383 dollars per Liter, so that's
1.65 dollars per gallon.

If you're reading this in America, I bet you're paying more.

That's for full service, too. [For all of you youngsters reading this, full-service is when someone who works at the gas station pumps your gas for you while you sit in the comfort of your vehicle]. All stations here are full-service.

Arabs and the Greatest Movie of All Time

The greatest movie of all time, The Godfather, might not have ever been made if it had not been for the Arabs. Seriously.

As I began reading up on Italy in preparation for my summer vacation, I learned that Muslim armies invaded the island of Sicily throughout the 800s and 900s A.D., eventually conquering the island and setting up the Emirate of Sicily. The emirate endured from approximately 965 to 1072. During this time period, the Arabs who settled in Sicily renamed the city of Cunigghiuni, calling it Qurlayun. The town has retained this name, which is rendered in Italian and in English as Corleone. Movie buffs remember this as the surname of the mafia don played by Marlon Brando in The Godfather. Fans of the film may also remember that members of the Corleone family pay visits to the city of Corleone periodically during the movie.

While the Sicilan mafia did not achieve national and international fame (or infamy) until the 19th and 20th centuries, the structure of their "business organizations" has existed for centuries. In the mafia, families join into larger clans which then form an even larger "Family" [such as the Coreleone Family]. For this reason, it can be argued that the Sicilians mafia borrowed their organizational structure from the structure of the Arab tribes that conquered Sicily. Now let me pause here to emphasize that I'm not at all saying that the Arabs taught the Sicilians about crime. What I am saying is that the Sicilians may have taken an innocuous social structure and adapted it for their own (criminal) purposes. In the Arab model, families form clans, which then form tribes. This is different from the pattern in most European countries where "tribes" don't really exist.

So where would the Sicilian mafia be without the Arabs teaching them about family?

July 4th - Part 2

We just got back from our July 4th Cookout. It was a Southern affair, with representatives from Louisiana, North Carolina, Alabama, Arkansas, Texas, Florida, (and a couple of token Midwesterners who heard about our food). There were about 20 of us all together. Here's a picture from after the meal. Here's the menu:

Hamburgers and Hot Dogs
Potato Salad
Deviled Eggs
Cole Slaw
Fried Okra
Mac and Cheese
Salsa, Queso, Chips
Homemade Sweet Potato Chips

Sweet Tea
Assorted "Western Beverages"






And for Dessert:

Blackberry Cobbler
Apple Pie
Blue Bell Ice Cream
Banana Pudding
Fried Oreos



It was a real-deal Southern 4th of July. Have a Happy 4th y'all!

July 4th

In case any of our faithful readers back in the States wonder what we're doing on the 4th of July, here's your answer. Relax, we're OK over here. We're still among friends.