Friday, October 27, 2006

post vacation details

Well, we are just back from a week in Sharjah and Al Ain. Sharjah is an emirate to the north of us...so close to Dubai that they are kind of blending together as construction expands the sprawl. It markets itself as the cultural capital of the UAE because of it's many heritage and arts attractions. It's much more conservative a culture, and still dry, unlike Dubai or Abu Dhabi. We were in the older area of town, which was interesting to say the least. The kind of place where you have a restored historical fort next to a normal looking highrise bank building next to a crumbling slum where the poorest labourers live. I would stay in this same location again, actually, because it was a facinating mix of places and people within walking distance of the galleries, historical and heritage areas, and souks, but I would NOT stay in the same hotel. we were right above a taxi stand and a square with a tent market selling cheap goods where hundreds of the local Indian and Pakistani men came to socialize and hang out every evening. So very noisy 24/7, very crowded, and extremely difficult to drive in and out. Strangely, the traffic and the crowds disappear about a block in every direction! Also, the restaurant in our hotel was terrible. I actually got sick one night we were there, though fortunately it came on quickly and did not last long and I was fine for the remainder of the trip.

We saw many more men holding hands and walking with their arms around each other than you do in Abu Dhabi. Actually, we saw very few women on the street period! I don't know if the population in this district was made up more of men who left their families at home to work here, or if it was just because more of the women were at home or running home-related errands, due to the more conservative mindset, rather than out on the street with the men. We saw very few other Western expats there.

We paid a visit to the central souk and ended up buying a couple of Caucasian carpets--deep reds and greys, and bolder tribal patterns. The souk is also known for its jewelry stores...I don't think I have ever seen so much gold in one place in my life! Beautiful Asian styles, totally unlike the things you see at home. We also visited some historic buildings and a couple art galleries.

After 3 nights there we travelled on to Al Ain, an oasis city in Abu Dhabi that borders on Oman. *Much* nicer accomodations there--the only options in Al Ain are 5 star!--and it is a quiet, peaceful, relaxing city. Unlike the other places we've seen in the UAE so far, the city is made up of low rise buildings, and since it is an oasis there are lots of trees and working date palm farms. There is also a mountain--Jebel Hafit--that we could see from our hotel room balcony. The woman we had our first UAE job interview with lives there, so we got to meet her in person; she took us up the mountain and out for dinner one night and met us for coffee the next day, where she introduced us to some other librarians that live and work there. We visited local coffee shops, the Al Ain Palace Museum, a couple of the oases, the Al Ain National Museum and Sheik Zayed Fort, and also managed to find time to relax by the pool and hang out.

So for the most part a very good vacation.

Almost every woman I saw had lovely henna for Eid. I wonder about it though...whether it was wholly natural or not. The colour was such a uniform mahogany, and often little to no variation from fingers to hands to wrists and forearms. It would be sad if adulterated henna was the norm here. I still haven't gone out and found a salon to do henna on me, so i don't have any personal experience yet. Mostly the very flowery Gulf/IndoArabic style, with a lot of dipped fingers.

Lots of the little girls were out in their sparkly new Eid clothes...so cute!

Monday, October 16, 2006

where we were this evening

Turkish coffee, shisha and chocolate...mmmmm....

Saturday, October 14, 2006

crazy streets

Well, since we have a new car it was time for me to bite the bullet and start driving. Not a wholly comfortable proposition. Traffic here is....well....slightly less than sane. Especially during Ramadan when everyone is lightheaded from hunger and dehydration! Tailgating is routine, as is speeding and merging without warning or ensuring you have enough room. Add to all this the fact that if an expat and a national get in an accident, the expat is automatically at fault...and...you have a recipe for nervousness! However, after a couple of successful short trips to the mall and the grocery store, and a drive from Michael's work back home (a half hour highway drive), I am feeling a little more confident on the road. So far so good! Michael has created a video about the car...take a look for it in our video postings at http://darcyandmichael.blip.tv.

So far I have learned that the concept of "letting someone in traffic" is definitely not understood. I tried to let someone merge my first trip out and caused confusion, to say the least!

Of course, we do still have to take taxis to go out anywhere where we will be drinking. There is an absolute zero tolerance policy for drinking and driving, due to Islamic views on alcohol consumption. Being caught in a car with any alcohol in your system at all is an invitation for legal problems. Apparently the current city taxis are going to be phased out during the next year, which will mean that taxi fares will go up by a lot. But then if you double the price of a one or two dollar taxi ride, you ar still getting around pretty cheap!

This weekend was a pretty busy party weekend for us. The tradition of Ramadan house parties continues even if bars do now open during the holy month. On Thursday night, the cast of The Flesh Game met for a belated cast party/potluck dinner. Our director had gifted us with a bottle of champagne on the final night of the show, and this is the first time we had been able to get together to drink it! Last night we were at the home of a couple we met through the PI (the husband works there) for dinner and drinks. They've posted some pictures on their blog...if you'd like to see us and some of the people we know here you can click here.

Other than that, we are looking forward to our vacation trip to Al Ain and Sharjah at the end of the month. There are supposed to be a lot of good souqs in Sharjah, so we are hoping to get some Christmas shopping done!

Monday, October 09, 2006

Celebrating Thanksgiving and a new addition to our family

Happy Thanksgiving to our friends and family in Canada! Darcy cooked a delicious dinner and we had nice Chilean wine. Big news is that I drove home our new car on Saturday. Darcy had a name picked out for it - Galahad. The car is really nice and it seems really strange to be driving a brand new vehicle! I have to pay the interest free loan back over four years. The price was about $28,000 USD which is pretty good. We took some photos of the car and we're in the process of making a video of our new addition to the family. Stay tuned...

Thursday, October 05, 2006

a new bike!

Well I continue to spend money like there's no tomorrow. Last weekend I went with my work colleague to Dubai to the only reputable bike store in the UAE. It's called Wolfi's . I decided to buy a road bike as my previous bikes have been mountain bikes. This way I have two different types. I had no intention of buying one but I test road two (rode around the block) and really liked the light weight feel. So I decided to treat myself (again) and bought a Scott CR1 . The gave me free clip shoes and clip pedals. But I also needed to buy one pair of shorts, fancy bike shirt, gloves and a helmet. But I think it's worth the high price tag in the long run and I told Darcy that she can spend that much on herself too.

I'll put the bike in the car and drive to work sometimes to ride near the university. My colleague rides out there and there's not too much traffic yet. It's a new development area and It's flat like South Florida so I should be able to get a good cardio workout. The timing is good as the Calypso cardio machine that I've been house sitting for will be picked up in a few days. I can also bike on the corniche bike path that follows the water. It's about four miles long but I'll have to watch out for pedestrians. People often walk on the separate bike path.

The citation for my journal article is:

Article title: A Library of One's Own: A Survey of Public Access in Florida Academic Libraries
Subjects: Academic libraries, Library resources, Public access, Polls & surveys
Author(s): J Michael Shires
Document types: Feature
Document features: Tables, References
Publication title: Reference & User Services Quarterly. Chicago: Summer 2006. Vol. 45, Iss. 4; pg. 316, 11 pgs
Source type: Periodical
Text Word Count 7261
Abstract (document summary): Public users represent a small but growing clientele in academic libraries. Many academic librarians grapple with the issue of serving public users, partially because of shrinking academic library budgets and growing user demands. This article presents data from a 2002 survey about public access in Florida academic libraries. A Web-based survey consisting of nine questions was sent to sixty-six libraries, of which thirty-six responded. Results show that while a majority of publicly and privately funded academic libraries allow public users to access their resources and services, many do not actively promote themselves to the community at large.

I'm still waiting for the new car to arrive. It should be ready to be picked up by this weekend. The big news for Darcy is that she auditioned for another play called Old King Cole and won the part of Lord Dan. The character is called a principle boy where a woman plays a man. It should be interesting for her. Since she has a role that means that I will be a stage hand in the play. I'm not sure how good I will be....