Surprising as it sounds to us, we now have completed our first year in the UAE! Belgium is not a distant memory, but we are adjusting more and more to life here. To say we’ve “adjusted” is a bit too optimistic but we’re doing well.

The last entry addressed things we’ve done that one can do just about any time during a visit to the UAE/Dubai/Abu Dhabi. This time, things that happen once a year and we have attended are the subject. Clearly there are things that are happening early and often in Dubai. We don’t get to many of them if you look at the big picture of the number of events, but what we have done we’ve enjoyed.

The Dubai “Duty Free” Tennis Championships – March

The venue is a small stadium not too far from the airport. The permanent “Irish Village” and another “Village” with restaurants are just around the corner. The tickets are apparently sold to businesses ahead of time with open ticket sales only available a few weeks ahead. Not knowing what was in store, we got tickets (on line) for the first day what amounts to upper deck seats. As it turns out there are only two (unless you go with a sponsor/corporate group) – A and B. A is a very small section with a couple of rows right in front all around the stadium. There are no seat numbers. B is the rest of the stadium. Like A there are no seats, so finding a spot gets quite cut-throat as far as trying to save seats if you need to get something to eat/leave for some reason between matches and the next one is a “big name” player. As Richard was with me, we were able to accomplish having great seats in the cheaper section for Roger Federer’s first match.

Feeling successful and with the seats still available, we went to the next day’s session (at this point it’s only possible to get tickets at the stadium) and I went to the third day on my own. The ticket prices increase each day and the last two days with the semi-finals and finals sell out quickly. I think it is well worth going the first couple of days – you get to see the best players (who may not make it to the finals). The tournament takes place in March of each year. There is a women’s tournament – again with top players – the week prior. I understand that it is even easier to get tickets for this event.

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Emirates (Airlines) Festival of Literature – March

This was a wonderful experience – even the resident reader was impressed with the authors coming to speak. We got miserably lost on the way to one of the events that was off-site from the host hotel, but other than that, I really enjoyed it. The poetry reading in the desert (and buffet dinner) was an exceptional experience. Definitely need to read more during the coming year, so I can make a more “informed” choice on sessions to attend.

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Art Dubai – March

This is held on the grounds of a hotel with three large areas with local, regional and international art. My first visit was alone on “Ladies Day”, the first day of the show. This means exactly what it sounds like – women only unless you are representing the art gallery or are the artists. I got a pass after attending a luncheon where Art Dubai organizers made a presentation. I went back with Richard and took a short tour of one of the displays. We aren’t really in the art market, but there were many lovely and/or interesting things to see.

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Global Village – November – April – “How Can We Make You Happy?”

This was probably our favorite sign – it pointed to the information center – we never got there, so we’ll never know.

Admittedly, we knew that the Global Village was going on from the time it opened in early November, but managed to wait until the next to the last day to go. Had we been in the shopping mood, we no doubt could have gotten a lot of bargains as the vendors all had reduced prices and obviously didn’t want to take their wares home.

Restaurants had one area and food booths were scattered throughout the grounds as well. There was a large children’s area and a “5-D Prehistoric Aquarium” – both of which we skipped. At one end was a very large carnival/fun fair park. A timed lighted fountain was set up in part of a creek that also had the typical boats “abras” to ferry people about.

We concentrated on the areas dedicated to the Middle Eastern/Sub-continent countries. Each country had a walled-in marker type area with a stage for the cultural music/dances that were held throughout the event.

The areas we actually visited were: The UAE – which also had a cultural center area by the main entrance, Yemen which had a LOT of stands selling different kinds of honey – my favorites were labeled “for married only” and “for children” – who knew honey was so specialized?  We also wandered through Pakistan, Kuwait, Bahrain, KSA (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) and Egypt.

Next year we’ll probably go earlier during the event and it will be a good thing to take people who come on their second visit.

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As I said, many events go on all of the time here, and we only go to a few. No place is  perfect – despite best efforts, but to date we’ve been pleased/impressed with the few we’ve attended.

Despite promises to myself to be conscientious about writing a little each month “no matter what”, close to two months have passed – and I was writing about December. One of the excuses is that I like to add photos and in the days of the photo chip instead of film, so it’s taken a while to sift through the hundreds of photos taken during our trip to Japan and the visits of family and friends during the past few weeks – it is also because I’m too lazy to figure out how to post even fewer well chosen illustrative photos directly on the blog page.

I will get back to the trip to Japan, but not today. We are just through our first visitor season – the weather in the UAE is lovely, the sun is out (but for the two-day sand and wind storm and a couple of VERY windy days last week) and people are taking us up on the open invitation to “come see us in Dubai”!

Sarah falls somewhere between resident and visitor. She can’t officially be included on Richard’s resident visa, but home is where the stuff is and aside from her portion of the stuff in storage around the world, she has as many things here as in her dorm room in Portland. So after our trip to Japan we were back in the UAE on the morning of 30 December.

One of her good friends from Belgium arrived on the morning of 2 January, so we had to think of things to make her visit worthwhile – work in new things for Sarah who has only been here once before and still allow “alone and beach time”. So what to do with two twenty-year olds who are used to being able to drink (legally) and not be too much of a “hanger-on” – we were picking up the tab for much it, after all.

First stop was dinner at the Rivington Grill, at the Souk Al Bahar, a footbridge away from the Dubai Mall. You can get there by taxi or through the Mall, just follow the signs for the “Dubai Fountain”, and go outside and across said footbridge. A friend has told me that there is a restaurant inside the Mall that allows a better view – especially for us shorter people. This restaurant, however, doesn’t take reservations, and as our visits to the Burj Khalifa involved a timed entry, it seemed prudent to book the restaurant that takes reservations and stand up to take photos. The Dubai Fountain has three “shows” around the lunch hour and then starts up again – every half hour – until 9 or 9:30 pm – I think. Always best to look up times.

Is it worth going up the Burj Khalifa? We can say we’ve done it, which is about the only reason anyone goes up. I’ll no doubt go up again, but certainly only with visitors. Just so you know NO ONE goes to the “real” top of the building. The top 40 stores are unoccupied as the wind causes this part of the building to sway – and you don’t want to experience that. You can, however, get to the 148 Floor – where there is a nice gift shop, soft sofas, a welcome soft drink and cookies, seats near the windows and a small terrace where you can take photos. Most of the terrace is glassed in, but there is an open space so you can take clear photos. The top floor also has the photographers who will pose you so when the pictures are processed; it appears you are dancing on balconies, about to fall off, etc. The “At the Top” option is quite expensive (400 dh), but you get in right at your indicated time. The “falcon eye view” from the 124 Floor is cheaper, but you may be stuck in line – up to 30-40 minutes, I’m told. If you go to the higher floor, you are only expected to stay there about half an hour and then go down to the 124^th floor where you can stay as long as you want

Another expensive “Is it worth it?” stop is the Burj Al Arab, the sail-shaped hotel that is also on the Gulf. This is truly the “high priced spread”. I treated Sarah and Nat to (non-alcoholic) High Tea and we went for dinner and drinks, on separate visits, with Charlotte and our friends, Dorie and Neil. Last year, the “Culinary Flight” dinner was our celebration of my completion of another decade.  So this is definitely a special occasion stop – if you want to spend a LOT of money. As the Burj Al Arab is the most famous “landmark” apart from the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, you can decide. We’ll probably only go with visitors and/or for very special occasions. I like it, Richard isn’t sure it’s worth the money, but has enjoyed going there.

We went to the Dubai Museum quite early in our stay here. The most significant thing about it is that is it housed in the oldest fort in Dubai, complete with an original “wind tower”, early air-conditioning. What we try to book for guests is a visit to the Sheik Mohammed Centre for Cultural Understanding (SMCCU), also in “Old Dubai”. This is part of a reconstructed building complex with a small souk/market (the real textile market is a short walk away and there are calligraphy museums and our latest (and for the caffeine addict in us) a great find – the Coffee Museum. This is a small unassuming place where Arab style coffee and Ethiopian coffee are served on the first floor and upstairs is more coffee paraphernalia and a coffee bar where an accommodating young man makes you a cup of (really great) coffee in one of about a dozen different coffee makers. There is also a small art gallery and a couple of restaurants – one is a Tea House and the other offers camel meat meals.

The SMCCU, for us, is worth a visit for the breakfast, lunch, dinner or brunch meals – the different meal depends on the day of the week. While you eat traditional Emirati food, there is a question and answer session with an Emirati. So far, we have only heard one woman, but she is very interesting. Clearly, Emiratis who deal with the public go on the offensive as far as distancing themselves from the Muslim extremists. This woman does a very good job of distinguishing the teachings of the religion and tradition/customs.  She also spends the last half-hour of the 90-minute talk on clothing. It is a rare opportunity to talk to an Emirati and ask questions. They also offer Arabic language classes; tours of the mosque in Dubai and other cultural events.

The gold and spice markets are across the Dubai Creek if you take one of the abras (small boats) – luckily, it’s a short ride, you get great views of the dhows, larger boats, both the brown ones for the tourist dinner cruises and the blue ones that go out to large cargo ships.

The ferry ride from the Marina to the Dubai Creek (or vice versa) runs more often during the tourist season. It runs at least twice a day in each direction all-year-round. Charlotte and I were the only passengers in the “gold class” section and were invited to meet the captain! Such fun! It is a good way to actually get out on the Gulf and also see the city from the water. You also pass by Sheik Mohammed’s yacht, the 7^th largest in the world, and see construction going on in the Gulf. Please check my entry from 9 June 2014 for photos.

The Atlantis resort, for me, has mixed reviews. If you stay there, I think it would be hard to remember that you can get off of the Palm, the man-made building development that extends out into the Arabian/Persian Gulf. There are scads of things to do – aquarium, opportunities to swim with dolphins, a water park, etc. For those of us who take people out to “see” it’s a bit different. The good news is that despite the somewhat hokey “Atlantis” theme to the aquarium, it is a nice facility where you can lounge on floor pillows in front of the larger tanks for as long as you want. Also up to four tickets are half-price if you can show that you are a resident. Sarah and I agree that it is more enjoyable than the big aquarium at the Dubai Mall, although going by for a look at the public side of that aquarium is definitely worth the time. The restaurants at the Atlantis are relatively reasonably priced for a big hotel and the service and food quality are good. On the “okay” list is the shopping at “The Avenues” – really not worth a trip out there to do. Also what is disappointing is that unlike the other big fancy hotels which allow people who eat at one of the restaurants in to see the lobby area (there is a big blown glass sculpture); only guests of the hotel are allowed to go into the lobby – really? To make a long story short, I had some back and forth with the public relations office about this, but to no avail, so I missed the photo op.

We had better luck at the Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi where we walked around the lobby and the public grounds (and didn’t have to have a meal there). It’s quite impressive and was designed by an architect known for his designs of palaces in the region and saw this as an opportunity to give those so inclined to build a palace an idea of what they might get. The only area where we couldn’t go was the beach area and of course the rooms. There is a vending machine in the lobby that sells gold ingots – where else but in the UAE? They have these at the Atlantis and the Madinat Jumeirah (both in Dubai) – there might be others but these are the ones that I’ve seen.

Photos from Sarah and Natacha’s visit:

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The Falcon Hospital in is a working hospital that cares for the much prized birds of prey. I know that there is one in Qatar, but I’m not sure that it is as publically accessible. There are tours twice a day most days. A brief explanation of the need for the facility, some history of the use of falcons (originally migratory birds captured by the Bedouins for a few months every year for hunting as they migrated over the region) to the “sport” birds they are today. Hunting is prohibited in the UAE because the native wildlife is considered endangered. Falcons are the only type of animal allowed to ride in the cabin into or out of the UAE. Do not be surprised if you see bird in First or Business Class with its own seat – really. After the general introduction, we were escorted to the clinic – there were a number of birds who had been groomed and were waiting (hoods on – they can hear, but seeing other birds makes them nervous). The veterinarian put one of the birds out and then showed us how the beaks and talons are trimmed, the wing-span of the bird, etc. He also showed how they used feathers of the birds from previous molting to replace damaged feathers for a season. There is also an operating theatre and separate areas where birds are kept (without hoods) to molt and sometimes stay during the hot months. This is not easy to find and we missed our first scheduled tour. It’s interesting and worth one visit as this type of experience (including a photo opportunity with a falcon on your arm) is unique.

Masdar City, near the Abu Dhabi Airport, is a work in progress. The idea is a sustainable environmentally friendly city. The modern wind tower was interesting, the building materials as well. The particular highlight was the electric cars that take you around the city. Currently there are only a few residents and offices, but interesting nevertheless.

We also have discovered that one of the very nice resorts, Al-Maha, near Abu Dhabi, has a non-guest package that allows people to book a lunch and if available one or two activities on the resort. We have opted for the “Wild Life Ride” which allow for some up close viewing of the native gazelles and Oryx that are living on the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve, where the resort is located. Lunch fees include the entrance to the preserve that is government owned. The resort uses only a portion of it.

We took Richard’s mom to a Camel Festival (although the ceremonies were not on when we went), but she did get to meet a few camels up close and personal. We then went to Al Ain to see the oasis filled with date palms, Sheik Zayed’s palace and the Al Ain Museum – places we think ARE worth a visit if you have time and transportation. I’ll write more on the once a year events in a later entry.

We also made visits to the Sheik Zayed Grand Mosque, one of my favorite places in the area. Really wonderful for photographs. This isn’t a comprehensive list of things to do and this only covers the things that are year-round. Hopefully it will give you an idea of what is available.

Photos from Richard’s mother’s visit:

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Time marches on and it’s already almost the end of January. I’m behind several entries, seem to have time during the next couple of weeks, so hopefully I’ll catch up before too long.

December started with heading to Jordan for the Region 9 meeting for FAWCO, the umbrella organization for American/International Women’s Clubs Overseas. I write up-dates on citizenship issues for their website. As a new member to the region, I was looking forward to the meeting in Amman. Richard came along and went back to Petra to do some hiking and exploring while I was at the meetings. We were there about five days. I met new people, got to know others better and all in all had a fabulous time!

The theme of the conference was “The Displacement Dilemma” as the region – Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey have taken in more their share of refugees, principally from Iraq and Syria. The situation has reached critical mass as quite frankly there is no more room at the inn. The UAE does give lots of money to (I believe) principally Jordan, but haven’t taken in the refugees. There were speakers from a number of individuals representing different organizations who work with refugees – housing, emergency services, supplies, etc., the US Department of State, the UNHCR and a Turkish graduate student studying the situation.

We also had the opportunity to visit the Collateral Repair Project (CRP). It provides emergency services to refugees – food, supplies, blankets, etc. They are a private organization, so are able to provide services almost immediately without having to deal with the red tape of governmental organizations. We did some volunteer clean-up at the center, purchased knitted hats from their knitting group, donated knitting supplies and were rewarded with a home-cooked Iraqi dinner. Yum! Donations were made not only to this center, but clothing, craft supplies, were given to other places as well. I only went to the CRP.

Meeting the people at the CRP was truly a highlight of the trip. The Center director, Amanda, gave a drinks party for us at her home. One of the CPR teachers invited us to her home to meet her mother and we had refreshments. A lady who is a Syrian refugee with a darling daughter we all fell in love with invited us over for tea. Her husband was on  his way  home and so we got to meet him as well. This was really special as I don’t know when I would otherwise get an opportunity to visit people’s homes. One is extremely isolated from the Emiratis in the UAE. Not so in Jordan.

One of the women who is living in Doha brought orange scarves left from one of their meetings. Orange is the color that the UN picked to represent their anti-violence against women campaign, thus the orange scarves in many of the photos.

The FAWCO group went to the Citadel, the temple that overlooks the city. I didn’t get to the amphitheatre, but could see it. We got there close to closing, so skipped the museum as well. I have heard good things about – it’s simple but interesting.

One of our group members, who lives in Abu Dhabi, had met an art gallery owner a few weeks prior to the conference. This lady invited us over for refreshments and to see her gallery. Very nice interesting local art – not all fro m Jordan, but Syria, Iraq and other places.

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Richard came along, but spent a couple of days in Petra while I was at the conference. We got there a day early and hired a taxi to take us to the place where it is believed Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist. It is a particularly narrow point in the Jordan River – quite strange to see Israel – you could have walked across the river at this point – but there is a line of stones that no one crosses (there was a guard to make sure). We attempted to go to another site, but it was closed and quite honestly more for an outdoor person than this writer. The driver tried to make up for it by taking us to a local hot spring. It was literally that – a natural hot spring. Local truck drivers pull over to the side of the road, visit the hot spring, then are on their way. Quite different than the vacation/camping area near the hot spring we’ve visited in the UAE. It was kind of an adventure as there really wasn’t a path, both the driver and I stepped in the spring – yes, it is HOT – but it was a fun detour nevertheless.

We made an obligatory stop to stock up on bath products from the Dead Sea. They are quite nice and it turns out this was the same store we stopped in a few years back during our first trip to Jordan.

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Richard really enjoyed his days in Petra. He got to hike around – got a little lost – but found the locals entertaining – and some actually helpful. The less than helpful one was a guy who thought Richard needed to ride either a horse or camel around Petra (Richard didn’t agree). The man’s kids were cute, but not very helpful for directions. A young woman, who learned her English by selling things to tourists, was helpful so he felt obligated to buy a couple of stone statuettes and necklaces made from camel bone to thank her. I’ve never quite gotten the reddish stone dust out of his socks, so we have yet another souvenir…

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If the people we met are any indication, Jordanians are kind, generous people. It is clearly not a rich country, but its people are treasures.

As you know, Richard officially works in Abu Dhabi, so hitching a ride is no problem for me. This trip we got a look at two very different events – on the same weekend.

We are not really Formula 1 racing fans, so we have never looked into getting tickets for the race. That being said, this is clearly a big event in the city of Abu Dhabi. The race takes place on Yaz Island (remember that the city of Abu Dhabi is a series of natural and man-made islands connected by bridges). The track runs around a large hotel where they sell special viewing packages – if you decide you don’t want to sit in the stands.

The Galleria, the mall right next to Richard’s office building on Al Maryah Island, took this opportunity set out a display of “super cars” – as Formula 1 cars can’t be driven on the highways. J It was impressive to see these cars as we’re not likely to frequent any showroom that sells them. Richard didn’t even know that they actually make Bugattis any more. The cars are cordoned off with most having a security guy next to them, just in case people decide they want a really close look. Another display was of carpets based on designs of a Middle Eastern designer, Norma Kamali. The queen of the UAE has taken an interest in a project of having the designs transferred to carpet designs that are made by a women’s cooperative in Afghanistan.

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The other event was the premier concert of “Ibn Battuta, Traveler of Islam” composed and performed by Jordi Savall, a Catalan composer and musician (viola de gamba), best known for  performing and arranging music written prior to the 12^th Century.

Ibn Battuta was an Arab writer and explorer who travelled more than 120,000 km over a period of 29 years. The music is to represent the countries he visited on his travels. This piece is the first part of the composition – the second part is to debut next year. It consisted of seven sections played with “traditional” instruments with singers from Turkey, Syria, Greece, France and Morocco singing in Arabic with narration in both English and Arabic. Savall himself, while clearly the conductor, kept a low profile with the other instruments and voices playing a larger role in the composition. While most of the music sounded like music from the region, it also had sections that sounded like the “cante ondo” of the gypsies of the Iberian Peninsula and oddly, Andean music due to the long flute that sounded like a quena.

The concert took place in the theatre of the Emirates Palace Hotel. We had heard that this hotel was first constructed as a palace for the ruler of the UAE, whose palace is on the property next to the hotel, but apparently it was built as a luxury hotel, but designed by someone who has designed palaces in the region. It has 302 rooms and 92 one to three bedroom suites. We did spot a “first” for us – there was a vending machine that dispenses (providing you have your credit card) gold ingot-shaped pendants with different souvenir designs of the hotel and/or the UAE. The prices averaged around +/-1000Dh or around +/-$272.

Because of timing we decided to have dinner at the hotel and tried “Emirati” food at the Mezlai restaurant. The main course we chose was grilled seafood, but the appetizers were probably more “typical” as they were foods that were clearly designed to stick to one’s ribs – kind of different dip type things – the consistency of hummus – with bread.

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In the “because you asked” category –

Grocery shopping is rather easy – I go to a “Spinneys” grocery store for most of my groceries. It’s a couple of buildings down the marina from our building. I walk – outside or inside – depending on how hot it is. I can always use the exercise and carrying groceries for two a couple of times a week is no real problem. I’ve been known to stop by the Starbuck’s on the way back. (I think I was asked about the prices at Starbuck’s here – my regular order of “iced grande Americano” goes for 14Dh, about $3.81)

Because the tap water comes to us via the desalination plant, we use bottled water for drinking. There is a convenience store that is closer to our apartment, so I generally go there to pick up the water. They deliver, but would end up tipping the guy a lot considering the price (6-pack of 1.5 litres is 8.5 dh – about $2.31), again, it’s not far and exercise is a good thing.

There is also a small grocery store across the street where we get a few items from time to time, usually because it’s faster to get back from the metro if we cut through this store – which is really important in the heat of the summer.  It’s kind of the Dean and Delucca idea – really upscale and expensive- thus we don’t do regular shopping there.

Other larger grocery stores are here too, but not in my neighbourhood/close walking distance – Carrefour, Marks and Spencer, Waitrose, Geant, etc. When we are in Abu Dhabi, there is a co-op grocery store in the Abu Dhabi Mall where I shop. Most US and British brands are available. A lot of the food, including fresh food is imported, so it tends to be expensive. Eating out is of course costs more, but proportionally to the cost in either Belgium or the US, I think it’s not as expensive.

While most of the fruits and vegetables are familiar, there are things like rambutan, fresh almonds and the wide variety of dates (who knew there are more than 100?) that let you know you’re in another part of the world. That garlic is only sold in bags of 10 and the cooking oil selection is probably the biggest variety of any section with possibly the exception being the selection of juices, lets me know that there is something about the local cooking that I’ve missed. Due to the large population from the Philippines and the sub-continent, plus Emirati cooking, I’m sure the markets in other areas of town look very different. We haven’t visited the outdoor markets (near the Dubai Creek), that have a different clientele and so what is sold will no doubt reflect this.

We’re off to Jordan next week. I have a FAWCO Conference and Richard’s office manager informed him that no one gets to carry over more than a week of vacation days to the next year, so he’s being “forced” to take time off. We’ve been before several years ago, but it is a very interesting place, so we’re looking forward to the return visit.

As I seem to (finally) be spending more time IN the UAE than outside, I’m again starting to get out and do things here – some more interesting than others (and to others).

I have a couple of friends that I met during our stay in Brussels (Waterloo) and have gotten together with them a few times. Melody lives in Dubai. She was in a fashion show of a friend’s shop a few weeks back and invited me come and watch. I sat with a lovely Australian woman, Karolyn, who has taken me under her wing and been taking me around to see things and meet up with some of her friends. She lived in Abu Dhabi for several years and now lives in Dubai. I also see Julie who lives in Abu Dhabi (my other friend who used to live in Brussels). When we can get together, I hitch a ride with Richard and spend the day with her. I also have seen women I met through FAWCO, the umbrella organization for the American (and international) Women’s Clubs around the world. It’s a start.

The Wafi Mall, where the fashion show I attended took place, is located by the Raffles (the same chain as the one of Singapore Sling fame) Hotel. I actually won one of the gift certificates from the shop, so got a dress and something for Sarah plus the promotional discount on offer for the day. Richard thinks that the architect who designed the mall got the wrong memo as to where it was being built as it has glass pyramids and a definite Egyptian motif. In contrast, there was some sort of Russian culture promotion, so giant-sized matryoshka greet you in the main atrium. This is close to where my new friend, Karolyn, lives, so we may be due for a return visit.

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Clearly coming to the UAE was different than the last international move. We knew we were on the short list to move when Sarah graduated from secondary school at the end of June 2013. So, no, we didn’t really have time to deal with the “empty nest syndrome” – we were too busy getting ready for the move to the UAE. Accordingly, what has been significantly different upon our arrival here is that we didn’t have to look for a school (Sarah was in kindergarten when we left Maryland), plan our housing accordingly and automatically meet new people while getting her settled. Although I didn’t join the American Women’s Club of Brussels right away, we were in BE for six months before that happened, once I did join, it was easy to meet people because they have a clubhouse. I’m still trying to find out if the ex-pat women’s organizations are able to do more than meet socially. This is something that I definitely miss about the AWCB, the variety of things that one could do. I think some financially support charities here – I’ll let you know what I find out.

I also have had my first experiences with medical care here. There is a clinic with an entrance just off the Dubai Mall, and even though I now have a driver’s license, Richard uses the car most days, so I can get there by metro. We have insurance through Richard’s office and like in Belgium there is socialized medicine. Unlike Belgium, I didn’t have a co-pay – even for prescriptions. I don’t know how it works as far as who is paying for this, but I didn’t pay anything out of pocket for visits with two different doctors. I have heard that emergency services for non-Emiratis are limited, and thus not a good (to really bad) experience, but I don’t know first hand. I also think that Richard’s office may have better coverage as a number of people have less of a selection as to their health care providers.

Now to the really mundane – you know that I’m really running out things to write about because this involves furniture shopping. To help legitimize this paragraph, I think that buying furniture is a sign that you actually are living somewhere. Despite promises to myself that we would NOT buy any here, we got a couple of small book cases for Richard – the haunting images of storage units in Maryland, Oregon, Waterloo, plus the family antiques in Richard’s mother’s house loom large here. He has been warned that once they are filled he either has to start sorting and discarding or stop buying books – yeah, like I know this is going to happen. He does seem to realize we have reached our furniture/book case limit – at least in theory. I think I’ve got +/-18 months before we have this discussion again…

Other than that the “yes, I live here, but still feel more like a tourist activities”:

• taking the brand new tram to the other side of the Marina – Jumeira Beach Residences (JBR) for a quick look at the local beach access (it’s been open less than a week, so has some glitches, but certainly the best way for us to get to that side of the Marina)
• double take looking at the gold plated Porsche near the Jumeira Beach Hotel (the one that looks like a wave near the Burj Al Arab Hotel) and
• spotting a white-haired Japanese-American woman sporting Elvis-inspired blue suede shoes that she got on sale – wait a minute – that’s me!

During our trip to Abu Dhabi last month, I got to catch up on reading the English language daily, The National. One of the topics that caught my eye – and Sarah’s – was an article about divorce in the UAE. Sometimes I read it on-line, but I do love to pick up an actual newspaper.

Apparently the UAE has the highest divorce rate of the region. Authorities don’t want extensive coverage as they feel it makes it look like divorce is “easy” to obtain and people won’t work at staying married. Don’t read between the lines, this is just because an article title caught my eye, not for any other reason.

One of the articles that had to be read because it was entitled, “Couple Split After Bitter Third (emphasis added) Divorce”. Say what? It seems like they should have figured out that it wasn’t going to work before this point. The mother was given custody of the six-year-old twins. What intrigued Sarah was that the father was awarded “custody” of the three older sons, ages 22, 24 and 26 years of age. What amused her was that the article was placed under a photo of a pair of racing camels;

This brings us to several aspects of the divorce and customs in the UAE that I hadn’t really thought about. First, custody of the children – had the younger children been older, they, too might have ended up with the father, however, under one school of Sharia law (don’t ask me how many there are or what makes them different) – under the Maliki school of Sharia, which states that the mother can keep custody of male children until age 11 and female children until 13, until sufficient evidence proved that she was unfit to look after them. The intriguing part for Sarah was that the sons in their 20s would be a part of the child custody battle, even if they still live at home. Apparently “children” live at home until marriage and thus are supported by the parent and are included. Who knew?

The woman was also awarded Dh4,000 a month in expenses. The husband was also ordered to provide a house for them in Abu Dhabi consisting of no less than a bedroom, living room, bathroom and kitchen, all furnished appropriately. Until the house was provided, he was told to pay her a Dh2,500 a month housing allowance. Neither was happy, and was appealing the decision.

It seems that divorce is not as easy as the “I divorce you” three times scenario, especially when there is a sizable dowry, children and property to be dealt with. The couple has to show that they made an effort to reconcile and settle their own affairs prior to coming to court. This makes the final order easier on everyone involved if they do .

The following is basically the entirety of another National article that was published as apparently there were questions that arose after the article that I previously cited.

Muna Al Raeesi, head of legal aid at ADJD, said that when a husband and wife divorced for the first time, there was a waiting period known as “idda”, which is designed to give the couple time to reconcile without finalizing the divorce procedure.

The waiting period lasts for three of the wife’s menstrual cycles to ensure she is not pregnant. If she is pregnant, it lasts until the child is born. If the couple decides to reconcile during “idda” then the marriage contract is restated. During “idda” the woman is not allowed to marry another man.

When seeking a second divorce, or “baynoona sughra”, a new contract is required along with a dowry if the couple decide to reconcile.

A third divorce, or “baynoona kubra”, is considered final.

The exception to this rule is if the woman marries another man and that marriage ends, either by divorce or his death, at which point she is permitted to return to her former husband and can then – if desired – go through the three divorce procedures again.

Ms Al Raeesi said there were instances where couples had tried to seek a fatwa allowing them to return to each other after the third divorce.

She gave an example of a Saudi woman who came to legal aid, who had returned to her Emirati husband after their third divorce. The couple had obtained a fatwa from Saudi Arabia that said the third divorce happened in anger and therefore did not count. But under UAE laws, which follow the Maliki school of Fiqh, this was not recognized as legitimate grounds to ignore the third divorce. The couple took their case to the courts of First Instance, Appeals and Cassation. All ruled that their third divorce counted and they could not remarry.

Ms Al Raessi clarified that in cases where someone states to their partner, “I divorce you three times” or “you are divorced, divorced, divorced”, it is only considered one divorce.She said the three divorces must take place in separate incidents.

Read more: http://www.thenational.ae/uae/courts/abu-dhabi-legal-expert-explains-the-three-divorce-rule#ixzz3CRTGw9I7

Ex-pat couples can also file for divorce her, but because such matters reside in Sharia law courts, I’d think it would be easier to try to file in one’s original home country. There are also a number of articles involving the problems women have once they are divorced, but that’s a topic for another day

 The Dubai Museum

It was time for a little history/culture, so we took a taxi to the Dubai Museum, located in the Al Fahidi Fort, built in 1787 and is the oldest existing building in Dubai. It’s in a historical area near the Dubai Creek and the trademark skyscrapers are off in the distance (which is a refreshing change).  The admission price is only 3 dh, about 75 cents.

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We didn’t spend a particularly long time in the upper rooms – the heat and humidity were particularly oppressive that day – just long enough to take a few photos. One of the most interesting parts of the fort are the “wind towers” which were the early form of “air conditioning” as it “caught” the wind and detoured it down into buildings.

The main exhibit is reached by entering the “modern” area and heading down a winding staircase. At the bottom you find various displays of “Old Dubai” – traditional market stalls, a Bedouin exhibit, the traditional ways of making a living – fishing and pearl diving are also highlighted. There were workmen working on a “dhow” the larger traditional ship of the area (you can still take rides on these – cruising the Marina and Gulf, some of the less traditional ones have an air conditioned area and offer dinner on board).

The photos are a little odd of the displays as they are mannequins – but I’m sure in the old days people weren’t terribly excited about being tourist curiosities, so it’s just as well.

The last section – other than the obligatory gift shop of course, is the anthropological section where models of ancient sites are depicted as well as artefacts found.

Sari Blouses

A couple of blocks away from the museum, we found the Meena Bazaar area. It’s a bit like India with only a fraction of the people. We of no sense of direction were heading away from it, but before we got completely lost, asked for directions. The lady I stopped was amused as we were heading towards the Hindu temple, not the shopping area (we went towards the tallest building we could see – we guessed wrong, as usual). She kindly walked us over to where we needed to be – we followed her and the lovely scent of the jasmine blossoms she had in her hair. Many of the shops were closed – it was Friday (the first day of the weekend here and many things are closed Friday mornings – prayer time – some places don’t reopen until the evening). The shops have street front entrances; it isn’t an enclosed structure.

A few years ago when I attended Jason (my younger nephew) and Jyothi’s wedding in India, I brought back saris for Sarah and me. The cloth had an extra piece to make a matching blouse. Needless to say, in Belgium to find a place where you can get a sari blouse made was unsuccessful. We picked a shop called “The Fashionista” – if for no other reason than a young woman came out and herded us into the shop – and yes, they did make blouses.

It has always amazed me how people can just pull out a tape measure take the necessary measurements and then whip out a blouse in a few days. Because we did this only a few days before Sarah left, hers was done first, it’s quite lovely. Mine is to be ready this week. The woman wrapped Sarah in the sari to get the full effect, but because she didn’t take the time to pin it properly, Sarah looked rather engulfed by all of the material.

Sarah was concerned about where she would ever wear it, but hey, at least it’s done so she can if she wants to. I’m sure she can call upon Jyothi to help “wrap her up” should the occasion arise in Portland. The “politically correct” atmosphere of Lewis and Clark made her nervous about being accused of “culture appropriation” – really? Anyway, I told her to wear all of the jewelry and doodads that Jyothi has given her to wear with it and say that an Indian woman gave them to her, so what’s the problem? Personally, I’m too old for some of this…

The Dubai Aquarium is accessed through the Dubai Mall (the biggest of the big malls here). Part of the largest tank can be seen without paying any entrance fee – just follow the signs in the mall and you can see it on the ground level.

As you go in, you walk inside the ropes to get a closer view of the public side of the tank, then on through the glass tunnel where the fish swim overhead. Then if you opt for the boat ride – which we did as it was recommended by our landlady – we went up two escalators and then found our way into a waiting area. When the line goes down, we go into another room and are given life jackets. Then we are seated in a rectangular-shaped craft with a “captain” who pulls you along the ropes in order to get a view from above of the aquarium tank. Just below this area is where those who want go and swim with fish (sharks too!) in the large tank. Because the aquarium tank isn’t that big from the top – it’s quite deep – it’s better than other glass-bottomed boat views we’ve had as the fish are concentrated into a relatively smaller space. I think I took more photos of my feet than the fish, but we enjoyed it.

The last stop is the “Underwater Zoo”, a series of smaller tanks with fish, turtles, tortoises, a crocodile, crabs, eels, etc. For the space involved, there are quite a lot of sea creatures. Of course our favorites were the sea otters and the Humboldt penguins!

As is expected the exit is through the gift shop – the good news is that our entrance fee gave us a 20 dh credit (about $5) towards anything in the shop. I think this is one of the better marketing ideas as people are likely to spend more and you get what you want. We combined our credits for a plush penguin similar to the Gentoo that we saw at Ski Dubai.

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One of the best things we planned for Sarah’s visit was our “Exclusive Peng-Friend Encounter” at “Ski Dubai”. Ski Dubai is where one can down winter clothing and spend several hours snow boarding, skiing, going on the chair lift and otherwise playing in the snow. None of us have any particular snow bunny tendencies, but up close and personal with penguins sounded good!

There are three different ways to see the penguins – taken from the website.  The X marks what is included.

PENGUINS ENCOUNTERS	Peng-Friend Encounter	Exclusive Peng-Friend Encounter	VIP Private Peng-Friend Experience
Underwater Viewing	x	x	x
Up-close and personal with your own Penguins	x	x	x
Training session with your new Peng-Friend		x	x
Penguins you will meet	min. 2	max. 14	14
Photos of your experience	optional	x	x
A souvenir from your Peng-Friend		x	x
Free hot chocolate		x	x
VIP room with a Ski Dubai attendant			x
Access to Snow Park			x
Access to Giant Snowball and Chairlift			x
Duration	40min	1hr 15min	1h 30min
Price per person	AED150	AED500	AED850
	US$41	US$137	US$232

One makes a (paid) reservation on-line and you will receive a confirmation that you take with you on the day. We opted for the one where you get to “meet” penguins, but without the extra time in the snow area. This currently costs the not so low price of 500 dh or $137.

You are asked to be “ready” fifteen minutes before your time – we went at 4:00 pm – and it is definitely advisable to get there at least 30 minutes before that as the lines for the snow gear can take time depending on how busy they are. The equipment for the other snow activities is checked out at the same place. Rental of boots, socks, coats and pants – they give you a voucher for gloves from the shop is included. Bring your own hat or buy one there. There are lockers and your ticket works as the key. You pay a deposit for the use of the locker, but when you return the key to a machine, you get the fee back. Remember to bring any vouchers they give you along – the jackets have pockets.

Our guide was an assistant trainer – a very enthusiastic young man from Ethiopia who gave up his engineering career once he got the opportunity to work with penguins. Trainers and their assistants rotate the birds they work with. They try to avoid the birds getting too attached to any one human – because they would.

What the activity translates to is first going back into the penguin public viewing area (on the penguin side of the fence). Yes, one does feel a little self-conscious as those on the outside of the fence look at you enviously and wonder how “those people” got inside the fence. We then went to a private area and got to meet our first penguin – they have King and Gentoo penguins. These are the only cold weather penguins in Dubai. The Dubai Aquarium has Humboldt penguins that do not need colder temperatures. The trainer/assistant tells you how to approach the penguins – squatting or on your knees is best, so you are not looking down on them. Then we each got to hug and kiss (!) the penguin! Sarah didn’t stop smiling the entire time!

The feathers aren’t like those of other birds. The outer layer covers a much softer thick layer which insulates the penguin. You have to work your fingers through the top layer so see the other layer.

We then went to the penguin “kitchen” where you get to see the food preparation area – each bird has a trainer and assistant and its individual diet in its own cooler. Each bird is banded with color coded bands and depending on their sex, the band is on the right or left flipper.

You then mount stairs to the top/pool side of the swimming tank – the underwater viewing area is where you can see them through the glass on the lower level. You get to meet other penguins and hug and kiss them too!

Then we went to a room with charts and maps on the walls that explain the different types of penguins, and general facts about them. One of the penguins eventually comes down (with a little help from another trainer) and joins us. We are instructed as to how to feed him and then we each got a turn. You can ask questions the entire time, but this is the best place to do so. The penguins pretty much can wander around the back area, unless the gates are closed. They do get moody/grumpy during molting season as they cannot eat during this time. They lose about half their body weight. The males also lose a lot of weight when hatching an egg.

The guide gives more details about the penguin center and that it IS separate from Ski Dubai which is a much more commercial enterprise. Obviously the upkeep of +/-14 penguins isn’t cheap but they also donate $500K to $700K to other centers and research facilities.

The last penguin we saw was “Pebbles” a Gentoo – who are not as friendly/approachable as the King penguins. Sarah did get to pet her though. Word of warning – don’t stand right behind a penguin if it’s eaten about 20 minutes before – s/he will poop! (Sarah just missed this part of the activity 😉 ). Pebbles walked over a paper that was prepared with non-toxic water soluble paint and then on to a blank canvas. She did this several times and thus creating our “penguin souvenir”.

We exited through the public area by the ice sculptures and had one more photo with the penguin area “greeter” in costume. You get souvenir buttons, magnets and one free photo per person with the admission price. We bought the whole set which is on our penguin shaped USB stick J

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Did we have as much fun as it looks like in the photos? Yup! Are they adorable? Yup! And this was a very interesting tour as well. Now my biggest problem is getting Richard and Sarah to accept that we are NOT getting one of our own!

 

We’ve been off the blog radar for a couple of months now – I do better when sitting in front of a real computer with a  real keyboard – no offense to my iPad which quite honestly has saved my sanity early and often over the summer

The short answer of what we did is spend time in Europe – mostly Belgium and England. I got a day with friends in Paris – sounds bourgeois, but it is only an hour by train from Brussels, so not really.

The longer answer is we kept Sarah company as she had her first internship/office job with the Brussels office of Richard’s firm, saw friends and visited favorite restaurants. Richard and I went to England twice seeing friends, museums, performances at the Globe Theater and had a “slap up binge” with friends at a lovely restaurant. We also had a grand day out of family fun at Pairi Daiza, an animal park near Mons BE. Most importantly, we stayed out of the heat and humidity of the U.A.E. I grew up in an area (Yakima Valley of south central Washington State) where the temperatures do get to be over 100F degrees, but it is dry heat, which makes all of the difference to me. Worse yet, here it doesn’t cool off at night. I don’t know if it is due to the water holding the heat, but there is very little difference between the temperature of late afternoon and the night. During our absence we missed Ramadan and the end of Ramadan Eid celebrations. We will no doubt be around for these at least once before we leave. Anyway, no first-hand information for this year on this topic.

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This past month, Sarah, has been here for her first visit to the U.A.E. She was quite determined to dislike the weather and wondered what she would be doing for four weeks with her parental units and no friends. The wonders of the internet and getting one of her wisdom teeth out took care of part of this “down time” and much to her surprise, she found she liked the place (despite the building’s AC system malfunctioning for about ten days – not a lot of fun for any of us)! She left last night for a semester in Osaka. She has some trepidation about the placement test at the school, but hopefully that will go well. It will be a great experience anyway and we will join her at the end of December for about nine days. I haven’t been to Japan since I was twenty-seven years old – so definitely time for another visit! We did get used to having her with us, so the nest is feeling a bit empty today and the coming four months will be the longest we will have spent without seeing her. It had to happen sometime!

The next couple of entries will be catching up on what we did during August. Richard has been working most of the summer and I’m about to delve into “really living in Dubai” – I’ve physically been here, but with all of the travel outside the U.A.E. since the move, a “normal schedule” has been established yet. Stay tuned! We’ll be back!