My First Wedding - Part I

by Cindy

I got invited to my first local wedding and I am so excited!  It is actually the wedding of one of my students with whom I have stayed in touch since her class ended.  She's traveled quite a bit to America so we often touch base about American things and after the wedding, she'll be moving to Boston where her finace is in graduate school.  There is even a possibility that I will get to see her this summer in Boston.

As for the wedding, I got the invitation on February 23rd for a March 3rd wedding at the Atlantis Hotel.  The short timeline is very typical.  The "maid of honor" hand delivered the invitation to my office. 

Once I had the invitation in hand, I had a million questions to ask and had to start planning.  First order of business - text another student of mine and have her meet me at Starbucks so I can ask all of my questions and get the inside scoop.  This young lady is my "go to girl."  I ask her all kinds of things and she's great with helping me bridge the gap between my American culture and the local culture.  I wish I could have recorded the conversation because it really would be worth listening to but here are the highlights.  Anything in quotes is literal (I swear!)

• The invitation says to show up at 8:30, that's what they all say. "I should show up at 10 or 10:30 that would be best."
• I need to wear a gown - full length, red carpet kind of gown.  "If Beyonce or Angelina Jolie wore it on the red carpet, you would be fine wearing it to the wedding."
• I need to wear diamonds (her assumption here is that I obviously own diamonds).  However, I need to "be sure that they are of good quality, particularly clear.  If they are not clear, someone might say something."  My student usually wears her necklace to weddings - it is 16 carats.  [At this point our converstaion digressed as to whether cars or diamonds are a better gift to give and which is a better investment.]
• I do not need to bring a gift, only the close friends of the bride will get her a gift.  "I especially do not need to bring her a gift of housewares like we give in America."  [By this time two other ladies had joined us and one of them thinks that housewares is a nice idea.]
• I need to wear my hair in a nice way.  One of the girls looks me over and says, "not like it is today."  Up or down is fine but it needs to be nice.  They verified that I had made a hair appointment (I had).
• I need to wear a lot of makeup.  Again, I got a look over and she reiterated "A LOT of makeup."  I need to wear eyeliner (I usually don't) and they all agreed that "cat eyes" would look good on me.  I should make an appointment at the salon on campus and they can put my makeup on in an appropriate way.  The current style for the local women is less makeup but still A LOT more than what a Westerner would normally wear.

Some of my questions were around what "must" I do, what "should" I do and what must I "not" do:

• Once at the wedding, I must go up on the stage and greet the bride.  The bride will not come off of the stage so if I don't greet her, she won't know I am there. 
• I probably should stay to eat if but I don't have to.  The food is usually pretty good so it is worth staying.
• I can stay until the men come (the men and women have separate parties) if I want, either way is fine.  I will know when they are coming becasue all of the women will put on their abaya.  I was told I should probably get an abaya, too.  If I stay until the men come, not only will I stick out because I am a Westerner but I will also not be covered so I will stick out even more.  [One of my Western friends advised me that unless I have an abaya, I should leave.  She said she stayed and felt totally naked.]
• I should take a friend with me (this is very common) because I will get bored just sitting there.  While I might be excited for this wedding becasue it is my first, the ladies all agreed that local weddings are really boring and that American weddings are much more fun.
• I should not sit close to the speaker or else I will not be able to hear for two days after the party.  The music is that loud.

So, the wedding is this Thursday night - I will let you know how it goes!

Water

by Cindy

Our water is cheap! I often forget this when I travel and gasp when I have to buy water that is $4/bottle. Even in Tanzania, it was somewhat expensive.

Today I bought this water, about 1.5 liters and it was 1.50 AED or $0.40. That seems reasonable to me! (I tried to give the bottle some perspective by placing it next to my grande mocha.)

The Westminster Connection

by Cindy

While Jeff and I were in Lubbock, we had the privilege of befriending many wonderful college students.  One of the students that we met during that time was Kim Taylor (now Kim Taylor-Gontier).  We have been fortunate to keep in touch with Kim since her graduation; including her moves to Dubai, London, Malaysia and now back to the UK.  Kim was visiting Dubai with her husband, Regis, this past week so we were able to meet Regis and catch up with Kim over a "Friday Brunch."  Even though Kim has lived in Dubai in the past, she had never been to a Friday Brunch so we had a good time sharing the Friday culinary tradition in this part of the world.

We look forward to many more culinary adventures on their future trips to Dubai!

Dubai Jazz Festival

by Cindy

We were fortunate to be able to attend one night of the Dubai Jazz Festival to see Macy Gray and Lifehouse.  Both were really good although quite different.  We ended up with seats on the 13th row so that made the shows even better.

Kilimanjaro - Part II

by Cindy

Earlier Jeff posted some of the facts about our trip to Tanzania so I thought I would take the time to add some commentary. Our team theme was "clear and copious." Our leader always wanted to know if we were clear and copious. There were 13 of us in our group, half female, with Jeff being the youngest and the oldest being 73! The best part about it is that the 73 year old made it to the top before anyone else. The trip was great. Definitely a once in a lifetime experience. We met some great people and had a great team.

First night of camping with the summit in the background.

From the get go, I was skeptical about even taking the trip. I knew it was a lifelong dream of Jeff's and I admit, after seeing first hand from Kenya just how beautiful the mountain is, it was kind-of tempting. But, it cost a lot of money, the packing list was four pages long and we didn't have a thing on the list! What we did have was in storage in Texas so we were starting from scratch. My real (unvoiced until now) fear was that Jeff would love the trip so much that every vacation would become a climbing vacation and there would be no more R&R vacations and cooking schools (my kind of trips!). I was afraid that we would be climbing Mt. Everest or K2 next! Fortunately, we are both on the same page in that we enjoyed the trip but eight days was a bit long for us. We prefer a night or two out and shower every few days.

The trip was not too hard physically. Jeff and I work out for 30-60 minutes six days a week and we were in good enough shape to climb. Most of the "climbing" is walking a path up the mountain. There was one section on one day that we were climbing over rocks and using our hands but otherwise, it really is more of a hike than a climb. As one of our team members put it, you are more challenged by the amount of air your lungs can take in than you are challenged by the hiking. We took six days to get up the mountain and some of those days we were to our camp site by lunch so we had the whole afternoon to rest and adjust to the altitude.

The hard part of the trip was the combination of the "other" elements that you don't necessarily consider and for which you can't really train. For instance, sleeping on the ground (or trying to sleep), the cold weather, having to get up multiple times a night to go to the bathroom and having to bundle up each time (remember - clear and copious), drinking filtered water from Africa and all of the intestinal issues that come with that, altitude sickness and not taking a shower for eight days. I admit it, not showering was the part that scared me the most! I took a plethora of wet wipes and took every chance I had to wipe down and clean up in any way I could. The upside was that the weather was cold so we didn't have to worry about sweating too much. I also wore a hat full time after the first day. I cannot express to you how nasty my hair was. I would wear it in a pony tail during the day, take the elastic holder out at night and the next morning, it would still be in the form of a pony tail, even though I had slept on it! GROSS! It helped that every other woman on the trip was in the same boat but it was still gross.

We were fortunate to have amazing weather for the whole trip. It rained twice, both times while we were in the tent eating lunch. We had fog a couple of times but the next day it was clear so we were able to see the things we had missed. My favorite part was that we were above the clouds! It really was a cool feeling and a great accomplishment.

Overall the trip was a success and I am tankful that we took the time to do it. It was only a four hour flight for us and a one hour time difference. Would I recommend it? Only if you are already considering doing it. If you are thinking about it - go for it! It will be easier than you think. Jeff and I were both thankful that we already have our next trip planned so on the tough days, we were taking and daydreaming about cooking school in Seville and the sweet villa in the Southern Spain countryside that awaits us in April!

Above the clouds.

We made it up the Western Breach - above the clouds!

Camping in the clouds.

Porters and campers hiking into the clouds.

Before we got started.

Valentines Day

by Cindy

Much to Jeff's credit, he tried to make our Valentines day evening special. We talked about it a few times before we left for Kilimanjaro and I was non-committal about what I wanted to do. Valentines day was our first full day back after the climb and the first night of real sleep in our own bed so I was not sure that I would be up for a nice evening on the town. Also, because of prophet Mohammed's birthday, no one in the country was able to sell alcohol on Valentines day.

We decided on a low key evening, a taste of home and an early to bed option. For us, sometimes the taste of home is "just what the Dr. ordered." We are fortunate that we can get just about any food here, including Tex-Mex, but this time we settled on deep dish pizza - and we each had our own!

Kilimanjaro - Part 1

We're back from the Roof of Africa. We'll have several posts about our trip in the coming days, but I'll stick with a few simple details for now (since we just arrived back in Dubai a few hours ago).

Mountain: Kilimanjaro (5,895 meters, 19,341 feet), highest in Africa
Ascent Route: Machame/Western Breach
Descent Route: Mweka
Days: 8 (6 days up, 2 days down)
Elevation Gain: 4,157 m, or 13,632 feet
Camps: Machme, Shira, Barranco, Arrow Glacier (2 days), Crater, and Mweka
Group Size: 13 climbers (plus 77 porters!)
Guide Service: Mountain Travel Sobek (yes, we liked them)

The all-important summit photo is below.

The Prophet's Birthday

by Cindy

The Prophet's birthday is coming up, and it will be celebrated on Tuesday, February 15 – the 12th of Rabea’ al Awwal on the Muslim calendar. The public holiday when his birth is observed, however, was recently moved from Tuesday to Thursday so that the holiday could coincide with a weekend.

This is all a little odd to us, though, that the holiday was only recently officially moved. I realize that in America, we have holidays that are set up to give three-day weekends, but it's still funny that they only officially "move" the holidays to coincide with the weekend a few days or weeks before the occur.

Here is the article from the local paper: Public Holiday for Prophet's Birthday Moved

The Roof of Africa

by Cindy

If you are reading this around the time it was posted, Jeff and I are on our way to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Africa. Last year when we went on Safari in Kenya we were tempted by the mountain every place we looked. We couldn't resist but try and climb it. Let's hope we make the 5,895 meter / 19,341 ft summit!

Here is a picture of Mt. Kilimanjaro from an airplane.

Graduation

by Cindy

Our semester finally ended and we had graduation this past week. We graduated the largest class ever, 604 students. We have a beautiful hall for graduation, modeled after Albert Hall in London if you have ever been there. Rumor says that the Sheikh attended a function at Albert Hall and thought the venue was beautiful so he built one for himself. That kind of rumor is not too far fetched over here in the UAE!

The ceremony is as you would expect - a few words from the Chancellor, a student shares a few words and the Sheikh speaks then they call out each student's name. The Sheikh also awards the degrees to all of the graduates. It really is pretty cool. It is like the President awarding the degrees at your university every time there is a graduation.

Here is a picture of the graduating class and of the Sheikh giving his address:

Sand Storms

by Cindy

Even though we left West Texas, we didn't leave sand storms! We had a crazy one this week. Thankfully Jeff and I were at home because it was a mess. I stole some pictures from some friends and from the local newspaper. This is just like West Texas!

From The National, one of our local papers, "The rain and thunderstorms reported were anticipated by a squall line with winds of up to 111kph (68.97 mph)," said the forecaster. "The storm lasted for about an hour and the mean wind speed was around 55kph (34.17 mph)."

My Hero

Hopefully you remember reading about our regular end-of-semester ritual here, the Grade Souk. This is when students drop by after finals to try to negotiate a better grade. [If you missed our original, full-length post about the Grade Souk, check it out last year on December 31].

Anyhow, it's that time of year again, and I thought I would share this photo with you. It's outside my friend Sal's office. Sal is my hero.

The Grand Canyon of Arabia

There are mountains here. I know you don't want to believe me, but it's true. There are real-deal mountains - not just sand dunes. Last weekend, Cindy and I went to Oman to go hiking. We hiked a trail on Jabal Shams ("Mountain of the Sun"). The elevation gain was from 2,000 meters to 3,000 meters [for those of you reading in less-developed, backward countries that haven't migrated to the metric system, that's approximately 6500 feet to 9800 feet]. So this is a legit mountain.

As far as the canyon below the mountain goes, it's approximately 1,500 meters deep and about the same distance across at its widest point. So it's not quite on the same scale as THE grand canyon, but it's still pretty big. Enjoy the photos below.


Cindy makes new friends everywhere.


The Canyon.


Cindy's new ad for The North Face.


An abandoned village at the lower end of the canyon that is a great place to explore.

A Little Scoop of Heaven

by Cindy

I have blogged before that we can find Blue Bell ice cream here. It's a strange world because my friends in San Jose and Washington, D.C. lamented how they could not find Blue Bell in their respective cities. Last night though, I found a treasure - not only Blue Bell but a pint of our favorite kind of Blue Bell.

I had to take a few bites before it made it to the freezer and I had to force myself to tell Jeff it was there or else I would eat it all. That's not nice when it is so hard to come by...

I checked the receipt and I paid 10 AED/$2.72 for the pint. I'm not sure how much they are in America but I'm guessing I didn't pay much of a premium. Not that I care, mind you, it went into the shopping basket without me ever even looking at the price. Some tastes of home are worth the sacrifice!

Saudi Arabia

by Cindy

I always love the game "Two Truths and a Lie." One of my truths is that I lived in Saudi Arabia, although no one ever believes me. I don't know if my desire to live abroad started back when I was a wee kid or not but either way, this is technically not my first experience living abroad. The first one was short lived and I was too young to remember much at all but we did live in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia once upon a time. I love to tell my students because they are always shocked and I can totally see it on their faces. It does give me some "street cred" with them though. We saw this shirt so I thought I would pose for a quick pic.

New Years Eve Special

by Cindy

Happy New Year! I hope it has been good so far. While we didn't have any time off, we did have some friends through town so it was good to catch up with them. We rang in the New Year at a friend's house but Jeff and I are apparently old - we left the party about 12:45 AM only to find out later that the party lasted until 6 AM. Oh well, we enjoyed our sleep.

We had numerous fireworks shows around town and some fun activities, one of which I wanted to share. I know I have shown pictures of the fountains before but now I have some video for you. The fountains had some new songs and water shows, especially for New Years Eve. Watch these, or more importantly listen to them (each one is about 10 seconds). I think you will be quite surprised at the music, I know we were!!

Rollin', Rollin', Rollin'

by Cindy


We were rolling down the highway with His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan Bin Mohammed al Qassimi, Supreme Council Member, Ruler of Sharjah.

Our Neighbors

by Cindy

We have some great neighbors! Not only are they our neighbors but they arrived at the same time we did so we got to know each other through all of the crazy things we experienced for the first time last year. They are originally from Turkey but spent the last 10 years in Atlanta, GA. I think their friends in Atlanta spoiled them with Southern hospitality and they are returning the favor on us!

The Thursday before Christmas they invited us over for dinner. Even though they don't celebrate Christmas, they realize that the holiday is a time you spend with friends and family and since we don't have any family around, they wanted to make it a special time with friends. The food was amazing and there was a TON of it - they did justice to the spread we often have at Christmas. I wish I would have taken a picture! It was a Turkish meal with meats, cheeses, veggies, bread and everything else you can think of. Every single bit of it was homemade and our host said she had worked on it, "all day, with a few breaks." I think she was trying to be modest.

In addition to all of the food, they had downloaded Christmas music for the evening and had gifts for us! It was an evening where I was humbled by their hospitality and comforted by their friendship. It really was a great evening with friends and they really are great neighbors.

Christmas Care Package

by Cindy

My dear friend Sabra sent us a sweet care package this week. I told Jeff, "I'm not sharing the Andes mints! Sabra was my friend first so I can make the rules on the distribution of goods." Childish, I know. We were excited to get queso and other goodies. It never gets cold enough here for hot chocolate so we have borrowed a rule from our friend Gloria - hot chocolate is for rainy days. It only rains a few times a year so it works out quite well. Gloria has small children who have grown up here so they don't understand hot chocolate for a cold day. She's compromised and made hot chocolate for a rainy day, I think it's great! For some reason, Sabra included some coal. Jeff and I were really confused because we know that we have been really, really good this year! I'm sure that gift was meant for someone else's care package.

Thanks, Sabra! We love care packages!!

Volvo

by Cindy

When we first arrived in the UAE we purchased a 2009 Volvo S80. It was used, about 4 months, with 10,000 km on it when we got it. Even though the car is fairly new, we have had a couple of instances recently where the battery was dead so we took it into the shop. Over here, you can't just buy batteries at any store like you can in America. There are a few shops but really you have to get them from the dealer. Also, they don't last long. All of our friends have told us, no matter what kind of battery you get, it will last about 18 months. With the heat we have here for six months out of the year, that's really no surprise.

So, after having to jump the car a second time, Jeff and I decided to make a trip to the dealership. We called ahead and they told us that for a new battery, we didn't need an appointment and could just show up. We called twice to verify and got the same story both times so we assumed this was in fact the case but we were still suspicious. The last thing we wanted to do was spend Christmas eve at the car service shop.

We got there and they immediately took our information, went and got the car and checked it out. Jeff and I had time to look around the showroom at the new cars before they came and got us to say the car was ready. He handed us the keys and said, "The battery was weak, we replaced it. It is covered under warranty so you are ready to go." Really? Under warranty? Merry Christmas to us! That's my kind of customer service and my kind of warranty!