Shammal winds have blown away February

Wow!  Where did February go?  I haven't blogged in a while but the monotony of work and seemingly short weekends have continued to speed up the passage of time.  I've spent this weekend recuperating from a bad cold.  I seem to get them two or three times a year due to the awful climate here.  Dust storms, humidity and breathing in cold and moldy smelling air at work play can play havoc on your alergies, sinues and lungs.

Work continues to be busy for the both because our libraries are terribly short staffed.  Budget cuts and recruitment issues are the culprits.  The global recession (it seems to be becoming more like a depression) has affected the UAE's (especially Dubai) construction and real estate sectors.  The media's initial stories of it being a healthy market correction are long gone.   Abu Dhabi seems to be bailing our their neighbors since we have cash in hand.  Dubai has been paying for most of their projects with loans.   

Darcy and I have made some travel plans.  We'll be staying at the Abu Dhabi Resort, Sir Bani Yas Island for three nights to celebrate Darcy's birthday.  They have a year long special (stay 3 nights and pay for 2).  Information about the nature reserve island, with a short video is at http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/08/11/04/10256726.html. 

We also bought  our airline tickets for our summer vacation. We'll be in Canada from July 2 to August 5.  Prices for flying overseas have dropped from last year but domestic flying in Canada is the same inflated fare as last year.

Sandstorms sweep across region - February was a windy month!

Commuting in style on luxury bus - we want to try this but we've yet to find a schedule online

Luxury bus service a hit with commuters on opening day

Island is haven for rare birds

Survey puts unemployment at 4%

Hotels in Abu Dhabi cutting room rates

Laid-Off Foreigners Flee as Dubai Spirals Down

F1 park stalls for lack of financing - the headlines last fall said that this short downturn was a healthy market correction!

Taxi fares leap 30% in Abu Dhabi

Oil tanker burns after ship collision - this happened near Dubai

Call for greater online cultural dialogue

George Mason confirms closing - this was a surprise in light of more universities opening up campuses here.

Israel/Gaza conflict

The Israeli/Gaza conflict has obviously dominated headlines here and it really made its presence known here this weekend.  Shopping malls had large donation drop offs for goods, a 7 hour television telethon raised 86 million U.S. dollars and large, peaceful demonstrations took place in four emirates.  We watched the 4,000 person rally that started close to our apartment on Saturday.
The global recession continues to impact the UAE's economy and the early comments about it being a healthy market correction have proven to be completely wrong.
Meanwhile the winter break continues for many universities and it gives us a chance to work on projects. We discovered that the new ultra luxury Abu Dhabi Resort Hotel on the Sir Bani Yas nature reserve island has a special (stay 3 nights and pay for 2).  I'd like to take Darcy there for her birthday in March.   Speaking of traveling, I should also get my annual airfare money in a week or two.  Is it that time already to start thinking about planning our summer vacation?!


Marches show solidarity

Telethon raises Dh315m

Thinkers to converge on capital for future summit

Film follows sacred journey


Rubbish piling up on Islands off Abu Dhabi 

Bucking tradition, western style

Marketing culture for global export

Freej Folklore to ‘change the way people perceive Arab theatre’

Warning: e-waste can turn nasty

Film follows sacred journey - this looks like an interesting movie.  Unfortunately we learned that the premier showing was at the Emirates Palace was by invitation only. Naturally no details were given about how to get tickets and there has been no information about its release to the general public.  Typical poor marketing as it could be a good opportunity for Westerners to learn more about Middle Eastern history.  See the link below for more info about the central character Ibn Batutta. 

Who was Ibn Battuta?

Abu Dhabi fossil sites surveyed

Park and fly takes on a new meaning

Ghost town on the horizon

Reading still popular, despite internet -  I should mention the significance of these last two articles in my library information literacy classes that I teach to our students!

Thousands flocked to National Library in '08