The Abaya

by cindy

There is a lot of discussion about the abaya - pros, cons and everything in between. Whether you approve or not, the ladies who wear it do have a good time with their abaya. While I only recently saw this article, it was published back in the summer during the World Cup.

http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/saudi-arabia/saudi-women-sport-world-cup-themed-abayas-1.643723

Grocery Carts

by Cindy

At one of the big stores here, Carrefour, we pay to use the grocery cart. It seems absurd to some people but I think it is a pretty good system. I put in a dirham (basically a quarter) and the grocery cart "frees itself" from the other carts. When I am finished, I attach the cart to another cart and my coin will be released. I get 100% of my money back and it forces shoppers (who want their money back) to put the carts together. We don't have the issue of carts all over the parking lot like you find in America.

"Western Beverages"

by Cindy

Here in the UAE alcohol is fairly difficult to buy. For my city/emirate, it is illegal to transport alcohol unless you have an alcohol license. Most people don't go to the trouble because the likelihood of getting caught is slim to none. In an effort to do the right thing, I went to the trouble and trouble it was!

I do most of the grocery shopping and errand running so Jeff and I decided that it made the most sense for me to get the license. I spoke with our HR department here at the University about what needs to happen. The head of HR gave me directions to the Police Station and a checklist of things I would need - multiple visa pictures, copies of my passport and visa - and I needed a "No Objection Letter" from my husband.

I head out one morning around 9 AM and find my way to the proper office. The gentleman there was quite helpful in explaining step by step what I needed. [For the sake of explaining my story, I will call this guy Ahmed.] First, I needed to go downstairs to pay for the police clearance form and bring my receipt back upstairs to get the actual form. I went down to the cashier who sent me to the line next to him. Once at the front of that line, the guy took my 50 AED and gave me what looked like a gift card. I then went and stood in line at the cashier who took my "gift card" and gave me a receipt (definitely not sure what that was all about). I went back upstairs to Ahmed with the receipt.

Ahmed then gave me the police clearance form. I needed to take this back downstairs and get it typed in Arabic. I stood in line at the type writers and they told me I needed to go across the street. I wasn't sure what for but the typing place across the street was on the map the University gave me so I assumed the University figured this might happen. Once to the typing store, I wasn't sure what I needed so I just handed them my whole stack. They, too, couldn't figure out what I might need so they typed up Jeff's 'No Objection Letter' in Arabic. I paid 50 AED and headed back to Ahmed because I'm really not sure what I should be doing. He looks through my paperwork, seems to nod at the 'No Objection Letter' in Arabic and tells me to sign it. [At this point I'm really wondering what the letter actually says. It makes no sense that I would sign a letter that says I/my husband have no objection to me drinking alcohol. Isn't that obvious since I'm here trying to get a license to buy alcohol?!?!?!] Ahmed again sends me to the Police Station type writer line. This time the guy completed my police clearance form, collected 15 AED and sent me to the police line. While in this line, an officer came and got me out of line and told me to go to the top floor, Ladies Only Room, and they would take care of me there. (At this point I'm thinking why didn't I think of that? Ladies Only lines are usually short and efficient.) Once in the Ladies Only Area, she took my paper work and told me to come back in two days. But first, she said, call to make sure everything is ready. It was about 1 PM by this time and I had reached my limit! I didn't figure I would be able to tolerate this for two days in one week so I put off my return.

In the mean time, we had a party at our house so I made a run to the liquor store without my license and seriously questioned whether I would ever return to the Police Station to finish the process!

After a couple of weeks I was thinking I could stomach another trip to the Police Station so I did call to confirm my paperwork was ready. They said it was and told me it had been ready for a "long time."

It has now been about a month since my first visit and I am bound and determined to do the right thing and get my license. I again head to the Police Station around 9 AM (parking is easier in the morning) and head back to the Ladies Only area. They can't find my paper work. She tells me I need to head downstairs to see my friend Ahmed. I go back to see him, he recognizes me, and tells me I have to go back to Ladies Only. I return. They find someone who speaks better English and try to get me to start the whole process over again. "No way Jose" as we say in Texas! I show them my receipt from last time and so they know that they are the ones who have lost the paper work. They want to know who I worked with last time and I try to describe her. They respond with "the fat one?" Yes, the fat one. [This is how we work over here, while it might seem rude, we were both immediately able to identify with whom I was working.] Somewhere in the midst of all of this , they take me back to the Director to try and figure out what to do. I return to the front desk and the lady keeps saying, "I'm sorry but we don't have your paper." She's going through the five papers on the top of the pile and ignoring the rest of the pile. She finally picks up the whole pile and guess what...my paper work is in the pile. "Oh, your paper work is in Arabic!" "Yes, it is, you told me that you require it to be in Arabic." Shukran, Shukran, Shukran I tell her, grab my paperwork and head back down to Ahmed - the one person who seems to know what is going on.

Ahmed smiles when I appear with my paper and let's me know that I have completed the first (!) step. At this point, I am afraid to ask how many more steps there are, I might likely walk out never to return. He explains that the first step was the police clearance and the second step is the application. I need to go downstairs and pay 100 AED for the application and return with the receipt. I head down to the cashier (straight to the cashier this time and not the "gift card" guy) who takes my money and gives me receipt. Back up stairs.... I hand the receipt to Ahmed and he in turn gives me an application to fill out. There is a part of the application where the employer is supposed to sign and verify how much I make each month. I had been told by the University that I would have to bring this form back to them. I fill out the application and put an amount in the salary field and pray that Ahmed doesn't ask me to go back to my employer. I think he feels sorry for me this time so he lets it slide and begins to process my paperwork.

Side note: I had to put on the form that I am a housewife since that's what my visa says but the law is that I can't have a liquor license unless I have an income. Technically your liquor license allows you to buy a certain dollar amount of alcohol each year and that amount is a % of your income. The more your annual salary, the more liquor you can buy.

A guy was reading over Ahmed's shoulder and he pointed out that I shouldn't be able to get a licence since I am a housewife. Ahmed, however, knew that I worked (we are buddies at this point) and that I teach at the American University. I was actually tracking with their conversation (in Arabic) so I spoke up and said in Arabic that my husband and I are both teachers at American University. They were shocked when I spoke Arabic and I think I gained some 'street cred' with them at that point. No guarantee on whether I said everything correctly but they knew what I was trying to say!

Once my application was complete Ahmed sent me back downstairs to actually pay for my license, 500 AED. Straight to the cashier this time, not the gift card guy and back to Ahmed. Now Ahmed pulls out the license and I know we might be reaching the final stage. I start quietly singing the Hallelujah chorus. Ahmed is quite meticulous abut putting together my license. He glues my picture into the back and then staples it in , weird, I know. Puts a few stamps on it and tells me we have to wait for someone to sign it. Ahmed is sitting around waiting and waiting and waiting. Eventually the guy who leaned over Ahmed's shoulder earlier makes a phone call on my behalf and a man appears to sign my license. Finally! I have all I need. I thank Ahmed profusely and run for the hills! I am finally legit. If the liquor store wasn't a 1.5 hour round trip I probably would have gone and bought a bottle of wine to celebrate!

The infamous receipts.

The pic inside, glued and stapled.

Side note: one thing that you may not know is that visa photos have to have a white background, you can't smile and you have to have your hair behind your ears. Next time you see some picture on the news of some supposed bad guy, remember the pictures don't really do our looks justice!

Black Suburbans

by Cindy

I have no idea who these VIPs are or where they are going, but a whole bus full of them surrounded by black suburbans forced us to stop while they sped by. Apparently the universal escort car for VIPs is the black suburban.

[Of course, over here, the official motorcade is followed by hangers-on driving their white Land Cruisers and white Mercedes-Benzes. And of course, everyone knows that if you have to drive yourself, you're not a VIP.]

El Paso

by Cindy
Apparently they have heard of El Paso here in the UAE. I didn't know the city was famous for chicken.

Fit for Kings and Queens

by Cindy
Buying new living room furniture? Somthing fit for the Queen that you are? Try some gold couches...

The couch looks like it is glowing!

Texas Chicken

by Cindy

I think you will recognize the logo. There is no way we would have something with the name "church" in it so they chose the (obvious) next best choice - Texas. They deliver, too!

Atlantis

by Cindy

We joined some friends last week for brunch. The big things to do here on Fridays (a day off for us) is to go to brunch. It is an all you can eat, all you can drink, all day affair. For this particular brunch, our reservation was at 1 PM and we got back home at 7:15 PM that night. It is always a good time when we go. Here are some pictures from the famous hotel - The Atlantis - where we had brunch. There is only one other Atlantis in the world and it is in the Bahamas. Our hotel is located on the tip of the Palm Island here in Dubai.


























These are architecture models of the hotel.

This is the famous glass sculpture in the hotel lobby.

Weeping Windows

by Cindy

We have this phenomenon here that we call "weeping windows." If you're from the Deep South, or somewhere else that it's ridiculously hot, and ridiculously humid, you may be familiar with this.

Essentially, it is so humid outside and so cool inside our homes that condensation forms on our windows. It is not just a little bit on condensation though, it is the entire window on every window in the house. One morning this week it was especially bad. It looks like our windows are really dirty or that it might be raining but what you are seeing is the condensation.

By the way - check out the nice greenery outside. While we do live in a desert, the campus is really nice - more like a park than anything.

Home Improvement - Part 1

We've been working around the apartment and thought we'd share a few pictures. In these, you'll see our living room - with new paint on the walls (the color is 'Stone Harbor' satin - a beige), new furniture (mostly Ikea), and some new art on the walls (the group of three with the Arabic script). Of course we've still got photos of family and friends, books from home, and some art from home as well. Enjoy the photos.
















































We're working on the bedroom next - check back in a few weeks for that.

Directions

by Cindy

We often receive directions on how to get places - but not directions like you would expect with a street and house number. Here is something that we received recently - very typical.

His house is located at Al Taawun Area, behind Al Khaleej Newspaper, Al Andalus building (ZEST Laundry in the ground floor), flat 901.

So here's my American interpretation of the directions:

1. It is in the Al Taawun Area. This is just like New York when they talk about the Bronx, TriBeca, etc. If I am not familiar with the area, it should be easy to find on a map.

2. His building is behind the newspaper building. This assumes I know where the newspaper building is, it is a large enough building to find, etc. This is a BIG assumption. There is no point of direction as in, "The newspaper building is North of his building." We never get directions using the points of the compass. Ever.

3. His building is called Al Andalus and it has a ZEST laundry center on the ground floor. His building does have a name but it is probably on one door, one place in the building. Unfortunately, it is not in neon on the outside of the building. The ZEST laundry might be helpful but you will probably only see that from one side of the building and it is possible that it is a small joint that's only eight feet wide. It is not that ZEST is big and easy to find, it is that ZEST is something familiar to him. It would be like living next to Wal-Mart and instead of telling people to look for Wal-mart, you tell them to look for the mom-and-pop Chinese restaurant in a strip shopping center.

4. He lives in apartment 901. Assuming I am in the right building, this SHOULD be easy to find.

Needless to say, it is possible to spend a lot of time being lost in this country.

Back for Year 2

by Cindy


We were fortunate to have such a long summer break this year that when we returned to the UAE it was as if we were arriving all over again. At least this time we were familiar with most things but I did try to pay attention to things that I missed and things I was happy to return to or even just things that are different that maybe I hadn't really noticed until after being back in America for so long. So, here are my random thoughts:


• In the UAE, you see a pickup game of football/soccer or cricket in any available green space. If you want to play, you just walk up and join in. I like seeing the games around and l live that sports can unite people anywhere in the world.

• I have noticed that the ring tones on phones are totally different in the UAE that they are in America.

• In the UAE, everyone stops at red lights and slows down at yellow lights. You get a heavy fine for running red lights here. You also get a heavy fine for speeding but everyone does that so I am not sure why the red light cameras deter offenders but the radars on the road do not deter speeding.

• Every car in the UAE has to have a monitor that alerts you when you hit 120 kph. Each car varies in exactly how it lets you know that you are speeding but our car beeps at you for a full 10 kph, from 120 to 130, and it is ANNOYING! I did not miss this at all.

• Similar to ring tones being totally different, smells are completely different between the two countries. I had actually noticed this when I returned to America so I stocked up on candles that smell good to me. In the UAE we do not have seasonal smells like fall or Christmas or things like that. I stocked up on pumpkin spice, apple cinnamon and other familiar scents.

• I love hearing multiple languages all around me. It is fun to be back in the UAE and hear so many tongues. It is even more fun when you can figure out what language people are speaking and you understand a few words. I love it!

• We have taxi's everywhere and that is nice, convenient, and quite cheap. It is always nice to be able to take a cab if you do not want to drive.

• One of my favorite things about the UAE (which probably comes as a surprise to many) is that I am not the majority. I love that when I look around me, most people are not white and do not speak English as their first language. I like being in the minority and always considering that other people do not think the same way I do. From a spiritual perspective, it is a great reminder to me that every tribe, tongue and nation will one day come together to worship.

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.