Trying to relax during Ramadan

Luckily I've been able to work a couple of normal 6 hour work days during Ramadan.  Unfortunately I also caught a cold.  There are a lot of sick people as fasting all day and a lack of sleep for a month can wreak havoc on your body.  Not much exciting news has happened here besides finding out where I can get our vacuum cleaner serviced.  It's always an adventure to find a store here because there are no street addresses. We did not feel the earthquake or its aftershocks.  That's a good thing. 

We have gone out three times for Iftar now.  Twice to a friend's place and last night at the Emirates Palace.  All were very enjoyable and we had way too much to eat!  I just learned that the new iPod Touch has been unveiled.   Darcy says she wants one for Christmas.  We're looking forward to our two night weekend getaway next week at the Bab Al Shams Desert Resort.  They have a Ramadan special until the end of September.  We also need to start planning our proposed trip to Morocco in December. 

Below is the usual list of selected stories that we've found on our RSS feeds....

Who speaks for Islam: Part II

The changing face of tradition

Vimto's appeal is undiluted - I love this drink!

Text messaging spikes 84% first day of Ramadan

Malls cater with late hours for Ramadan

University warns of overexpansion

Festival draws region’s talent to capital

Building a city from the sands

Author laments architect’s departure

Survey recognises Abu Dhabi’s environmental credentials

Buildings cleared as tremors hit UAE - fortunately we didn't feel anything but we have noticed a few hairline cracks in our walls....

Increased seismic activity in Iran could affect fault zones in UAE

Selling the Abu Dhabi dream

Emiratisation and the curse of entitlement

Abu Dhabi TV takes tribes series off air

Bidoon offered chance of citizenship
 
Registration plan for stateless

Khalifa urges promotion of moderate Islam
 
Crisis looms in Sharjah
 
Adnec green move fruitful
 
Ringtone menace upsets worshippers in UAE mosques
 
Abu Dhabi residents getting an earful from construction
 

Less than 3 weeks until our vacation starts!

Nothing really exciting happened here this past week.  My hometown football team (Edmonton Eskimos) lost its season opener but won its first home game.  My hockey team (Edmonton Oilers) made some big trades and the team has a new owner.  It's great to be able to listen to (in some cases) live press conferences and local radio sports talk shows over the web! 

Last week I had my *consultation* with a doctor that a friend recommended.  He's lived in Abu Dhabi for 34 years so he must be one of the longest serving doctors here.  Unfortunately health care here is similar to the U.S.  It's more like sick care than preventative care.  There are no routine medical check-ups but only consultations.  Health insurance doesn't recognize the term check up so you basically see a doctor when you're really sick.  So I paid 200 dirhams for routine blood work and a urine sample.  They forgot to check my weight and blood pressure.  I'll have to mention that when I call to get my results.  Darcy and I realized that we haven't had a proper physical done by a doctor since we left Canada in 2000.  The doctor asks you about your physical and mental health and then proceeds to do a thorough exam.

On Friday we visited the city's newest mall called Khalidiya Mall.  But as one newspaper article suggest (see below)  we didn't buy anything.  It's very close to us but it's the smallest of the four major malls in Abu Dhabi.  It has the same types of stores but there is no book store.  Shame!  But the mall had a decent Mexican restaurant.  so we had a late lunch there and Darcy ordered a marguarita but it was non alcoholic.  So we think that there are now three Mexican places in the city including Chilis.  Not a great variety.

Below is the regular news round up for the week:

Earth rise on the moon. This is incredible!

Sheikh Khalifa selects design for Adnoc’s new 75-storey head office.  It's about time too!  Ironic that the wealthiest company in the UAE has probably had the oldest office building for years.

Hot spell to continue in UAE until northwest winds arrive.  But remember that it never officially gets above 49 celcius.  Otherwise the laborers would not be able to work.  So the temp NEVER reaches 50 - riiight!

Dusty winds bring temperature down a few degrees in the UAE.  Whew - the temperature is down to around 40 celcius!

Shopping to beat boredom and the blues.  We can think of other things to do besides shop.

Abu Dhabi in 24 hours.  This is nice...

Taxis suffer as bus business booms

Atlantis rises from the palm

Workers find relief in midday break

Capital seeks to tighten the taps

Navy commanders meet in Abu Dhabi.  Let's hope sensible people in the U.S. and Iran will prevent an altercation in the Gulf. 

FNC debates anthem lyrics

The unofficial lyrics

Sheikh Khalifa selects design for Adnoc’s new 75-storey head office

Canadian urges tax on fossil fuels

Judges debate deportation order for indecent gesture in public

Abu Dhabi public beach opens.  We've not yet seen how much of the park is really open for business.

New town to keep heat at bay

Operation stereotype

Gearing up for a new semester

I resume my primary job of teaching library information literacy classes on January 27. I taught 67 in the fall to 943 students so I predict I'll teach about 70 this term. I begin the week with teaching library resources to the new Islamic Studies class so that will be interesting.

Abu Dhabi has begun building a green city called Masdar City. There will also be a new post secondary institution aligned with this development called the Masdar Institute. For me these initatives are fare more interesting and vital to the region and the world than most of Dubai's engineering marvels (biggest mall, tallest building, etc.).

Our fair city continues, I think, to quietly upstage Dubai by hosting an Islamic Arts exhibition at the Emirates Palace. It should be an educating experience too. It's too bad that we couldn't have also built a new Museum of Islamic Art like Doha did.

I won't say too much about Bush's trip to the UAE. I think it was a short vacation for him to see the area for the first time. It's unfortunate that Bush had to be the first sitting President to visit the UAE. His only speech during his week long trip was at the Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi. The next day Bush traveled (by car?) to Dubai. All residents of Dubai were told to stay home or at least not drive so that Bush's convoy would not get stuck in traffic. It was strange to see photos of Dubai's empty streets - imagine shutting down a city of over 1 million people for 1 day!

Enjoying the December Holidays

It doesn't seem like we've worked much this month due to many secular and religious holidays. We're busy creating our video about our trip to Oman. It'll be ready in a few days.

I returned to work after a nice ten day break and discovered that a reporter for a newspaper here wrote an article about my recent conference co-presentation. It was the Information Literacy Network's Professional Development Conference in Dubai. The title of the newspaper article is Don't Just Google It. It sums up the point of educating students to use reliable sources and not be dependent on solely using Google and Wikipedia.

Our Christmas tree is up and we have some presents under it. Darcy has baked gingerbread and shortbread cookies. Tonight she made hot apple cider. She has to report for work on Christmas Day but hopefully she can come home early. If not then I'll do my best to cook dinner that night.