Ila Aliqa Abu Dhabi!

I had Thursday off to supposedly relax and organize myself but I spent doing much of the latter. I couldn't sleep much last night and I woke up early this morning. Our Internet connection has been terrible today. I've had trouble emailing and many webpages won't load properly. Typical of Etisalat. We pay 189 Dirhams a month ($47 USD) for 512 connection speed and it's crap most of the time. I went on my bike for 30 minutes today and treated myself to an hour long Chinese massage and accupuncture treatment. Only costs about $35 - heck of a deal! So we leave in about 3 hours - seems surreal though. So it will be about a 9 hour flight to London Heathrow and then about 12 hours to Vancouver. We will share an aisle seat to stretch our long legs.


Below is the weekly round-up of stories from our region. See you later!


Index to video news stories from the UAE's Gulf News newspaper

Mind Your Language, Behaviour and Dress in the UAE

Skilled Expats Hit by Inflation

Oil threatens Fujairah fishing industry

Under the Abbaya: Female Producers in Saudi Arabia

Liwa Festival is more than just about dates

Government to clean up toxic landfills near capital

Rubbish piles near Abu Dhabi

Million dollar holiday at Emirates Palace

One week to Go!

We'll be Canada in one week from today.  The temperature and humidity have started to climb so we're lucky that it was temperate for this long.  We moved into our apartment two years ago today - sure doesn't seem like it.  I just realized that this is my last full weekend of being in my thirties - yikes! Poor Darcy is struggling at work with doing original cataloging of Arabic material.  I'm trying to finish some projects before my last work day on the 23rd.

Below is the weekend wrap up of stories from our part of the world:

GCC Cruises into New Naval Age


Swirling Standstorms Blind Pride of Fleet

Small Emirate Shares Giant Plans

Abu Dhabi Grows

Pricey Oil Helps Abu Dhabi This is interesting but one sided video news story of our fair city.   A majority of the unskilled laborers are from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh and heir living and working conditions are atrocious.

Temperature Shoots Up to 52 Degrees Celcius


Registering for New National UAE ID Cards

Etihad Boosts Emirate's Future with 41 billion dollar deal
that's a big gamble to take!

I am fed up with this congestion!

Dubai vows to eradicate lewd beach behavior

Face scan system launched at Abu Dhabi airport 
Another historic first for the UAE...


Ninety years ago the Arabs gave their opinion and were ignored

The Last Supper
We've not visited this restaurant yet despite it being not too far from us.

40 Arrested in Malls for Cross Dressing


Fast Rate of Construction and Increasing Vehicles Add to Heat in UAE

Date are More Important than Oil

Using Ancient Skills to Craft Modern Designs

North Braces for Labour Surge

Library 2.0 and PDA in the UAE

I've spent much of this weekend with making my library more Web/Library 2.0 friendly.  I've been tweaking our public online catalog and creating my library's profile in Facebook.  It's kind of fun work but I really wanted to finish these projects before I go on vacation.  Speaking of which the countdown is now two weeks and counting!  The weather is getting more humid but it's still not as bad as two summers ago when we arrived.  We've been cat sitting for a friend for one month now and the short ten minute walk to their apartment is still doable.

Below is the weekly news wrap up of interesting stories from our neck of the woods.

Mild Weather Lengthens Gulf's Tourist Season

Abu Dhabi Plans a new TV Channel

Buses Bulge with Passengers

Keeping Abu Dhabi on the Move

Tradition and History


Capital Plans Network of Exercise Paths 
there are some interesting comments by women near the end of the article.

Inside Abu Dhabi's Shisha Cafes (video)

Public Kissing Can Lead to Deportation
the government needs to make their obscenity laws publicly available.

Public Decency in the UAE

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

What happened to June?

I don't know why time seems to pass so quickly here. Work is hectic and both of us seem like either circus clowns juggling several ongoing projects or fire fighters trying to put out blazes at work. Then the weekends come and we collapse in a heap on the couch and catch up on our various RSS feeds, blogs and emails. Then there are the usual weekend chores and errands and then it's back to work on Sunday. I also managed to watch some George Carlin clips on You Tube this weekend.
The city feels a little emptier with many Western expats having departed for summer vacation. Darcy and I will have to wait another three weeks and change before we fly off to the cool confines of Western Canada.
The outside humidity continues to rise and the last weekend our apartment windows were crying. The cold a/c inside and the hot, humid weather outside cause the glass outside to form heavy condensation. We could hardly see out so we curled up on the couch and watched movies. No point in venturing out to face the harsh elements.
Below is the usual weekend wrap-up of exciting news from our area: I knew that this was going to happen and I doubt that the entire 2 km stretch of beach will be fully operational either. That's a common occurrence here. Delay hits opening of Corniche beach. But the beach sounds nice and it's about a 20 minute walk for us.
UAE sheikh in belt beating case. This story was not reported in any local newspapers here.
'Jewish settler attack' on film.
UAE's eco footprint highest in the world.
Arabic newspapers lash out at US, UK terror alerts.
US luring more students from UAE.
Afghan men make a name in the UAE as expert bakers. There's an old four story walk up building across the street from us. It has a bakery that looks just like the one in this story. We've always wanted to take a photo but we've been too reluctant to ask.
New buses on streets of Abu Dhabi
First Abu Dhabi F1 grand prix in autumn 2009Naturally this will have some negative spinoffs like hotels jacking their prices for the race.
Road signs to assist new drivers in capital
Where there’s a will...
It's late here now so we're off to bed. I'm getting my first medical check up in over two years Monday morning so hopefully everything will go well.

hazy but not lazy days

Summer is almost upon us and yet it doesn't quite feel like it. The skies have been very hazy for over one week and the humidity has been very low. But that's resulted in a lot of dust and sand in the air. So I've been battling a cold for ten days but I should be able to resume exercising on Sunday. Luckily Darcy's strong immune system has kept her from getting sick like me.
Many faculty at my work have left town for summer vacation so the library will be a bit quieter. Most of our friends have left town too. But I still have a lot of projects to work on including creating a Facebook profile for the library. Two new librarians start work on Sunday so that will ease everyone's workload a bit.
Darcy and I went to the Emirates Palace on Friday to see the Picasso Exhibit. It is the second exhibit that has been sponsored by Arts Abu Dhabi. The venue is terrific, world class exhibits and (for the moment) they're free of charge. I don't think this could be duplicated in many places around the world. We spent about 2.54 hours looking at the interesting art. Some of his workds were obviously pretty far out. The bronze goat statue had a bit too much detail from a certain are for my taste! We bought the official exhibit catalogue to add to our home library.
Below is the weekend update of what's going on in our neck of the woods. As always some stories underline the lack of infrastructure and regulations here. Shamal will be replaced by summer
UAE residents say system needed to locate places in emirates
This is a fun story.Emirati superhero goes globalThe superhero's website is here.
Rats nibble at UAE history
District cooling strains supply
Waste water to provide workers’ comfort at home
Rural and suburban census begins
Chat between drunk men sparked terror warning
The Captain's Cafe that is mentioned in this article is very close to us.The shisha brotherhood
We enjoyed reading this story about how people end up living where they do. Our careers have taken us to far away places!Why 'Where' Is More Important than 'Who' or 'What'
Our weekend routine continues with going to Marina Mall to relax at Caribou Coffee and then grocery shop at Carrefour. Ila aliqa!

a week of surprises

My workplace held its annual end of year dinner party for its employees. They had a multitude of prizes to give away and last year I won an espresso coffee maker. Guess what? They pulled my name again and I won a Sony Ericsson mobile phone/walkman! It's a beautiful phone and it's loaded with bells and whistles but I decided to give it to Darcy. Her phone was getting close to 3.5 years old and I liked my Motorola.
We agreed that if the Apple's iPhone ever goes on sale in the UAE then she can buy one and give me the Sony. Plus I'd like to get Apple's 32 GB iPod Touch. But the price has to come down as it's now more expensive than the new generation 3G iPhone. I'd also like it have bluetooth and a few other options so I'll wait for the next version t oome out.
My Arabic class at work wrapped up and it was fun. The class began with 25 people and finished with about 6. Naturally I didn't practice speaking, writing and reading. I'd like to take classes in the fall, if they're offered. But I know that work will be extremely busy. Speaking of work, I've got the first draft of my library's online video tour. It took a while to do and I'm now working on a video for the women's library.
The weather has been surprisingly less humid compared to past years. I actually went for a walk outside after dinner tonight! My glasses have only fogged up twice this spring. But the humidity peaks in early fall so the weather will eventually deteriorate. Below is the local news roundup... Architecture in Abu Dhabi
UAE ID card coming soon for expats
Abu Dhabi is a city to watch
New luxury Ras Al Khaimah Island planned
Proposed UAE VAT would be unpopular
SUV sales booming in the UAE
Abu Dhabi's Parking Woes
Killer Whales Spotted near Abu Dhabi
And lastly there's this article: Middle East Media Coverage criticized. I'm currently reading Fisk's book titled The Great War For Civilisation.
So that's all for now. We're going to bed now and enjoy the beginning of the weekend...Ila aliqa

Catching up on the news...

Marhaba! The spring semester has now ended but the summer term begins next week. I'll be teaching a few classes and working on other projects. Darcy is also very busy at work but the days continue to pass quickly.

A couple of anniversaries have come up for us. May 30th is the fourth anniversary of our engagement. We arrived in Abu Dhabi two years ago on June 2. It doesn't seem that long ago.

A couple of weeks ago Darcy and I visited Ajman, the smallest and poorest of the seven emirates in the UAE. We stayed one night at the Ajman Kempinski Hotel. The Petroleum Institute offered its employees a discount for staying there. Apparently Ajman is only the second emirate (after Dubai) to allow 100% freehold by foreigners. So we could buy property there. It's about a two hour drive north from Abu Dhabi and we were surprised by the amount of construction going on there. The hotel had a fantastic beach and our room had a nice view of the Arabian Gulf. One interesting feature of the hotel was the shoeshine station. See the photos below.

Abu Dhabi has a new newspaper called The Nation. It's been publishing for about one month now and it looks promising. Apparently it's the emirate's first English language newspaper. I've subscribed to a couple of its RSS feeds. The UAE ranked fairly well on a listing of peaceful countries

This is a sad story about a ghost town in the UAE. Below are other articles from the same newspaper about a few interesting stories. Awareness of pollution continues to be an issue but not enough action is being taken. There's also pollution being caused from construction.

Public transportation in Abu Dhabi continues to deteriorate as the city's population increases. I'm so lucky to be able to to take a PI owned bus to work every day! Plus housing prices continue to spiral our of control. We're going to see the Picasso exhibit at the Emirates Palace. It's still amazing that we can park for free at a conditional 7 star hotel and pay no entrance fee to see exhibits there! The Emiratization program continues to encounter some problems -especially in the all important tourism industry. Until next time, Ila Aliqa...

To Turkey and Back

It took us a lot longer than we had planned to make the online video of our trip to Turkey. You can also watch it on a bigger screen at our video blog (http://darcyandmichael.blip.tv). Images from the video doesn't do justice but hopefully it captures a bit of what we saw. We bought a few things with the more expensive items being a carpet (of course), drum, ceramic plates, and silk. We didn't know that apple tea was so popular in Turkey. More so than Turkish coffee, to Darcy's surprise. ;) Trip highlights for me were the Hagia Sophia and the Green Mosque. But we saw many wonderful places.

The big drawback during the trip was that poor Darcy got very sick with the flu the night we departed Abu Dhabi. She had no appetite and was very weak and tired for most of the trip. It was also frustrating for her as she wanted to do a lot of exploring but she didn't feel well. But we did see the important things that we had wanted. We do want to go back and see more. Ideally we'd like to take a trip every spring, summer and fall/winter.

The weather has heated up here daytime highs are approaching the mid 40s centigrade. I got into our car last weekend and took off the windshield visor and the car's temp inside read 51 celcius or about 130 farenheit. The humidity is still quite low - like being in Arizona. But it will get miserable here when the humidity comes. The windows will start crying as the high humidity causes condensation to stream down the windows outside and obscure your view. A small price to pay I guess for living in this part of the world.

We let our Gulf News newspaper subscription lapse a couple of months ago but Darcy signed up on a couple of its news feeds. One municipal story is about our fair city improving its infrastructure. Abu Dhabi will apparently open its newest public beach on Canada Day (July 1). But things that open here seldom mean that they are even partially operational. We've been tracking progress on this beach from our apartment bedroom window and there is a lot of work to be done! Work began in earnst last October with several bulldozers digging up the sand one night. But work soon slowed to a crawl. The photos in the article are showing the most developed beach areas. They show the flatest stretches of "beach" with several unwrapped palm trees. I don't see how it can pass health and safety regulations in seven weeks.

The housing prices continue to escalate in Abu Dhabi. It looks like we arrived here on the cusp of the escalation. A table in this article suggests that we should be paying upwards of 100,000 AED per year for our three bedroom place. The situation seems desperate for many people with lower incomes. There is a sad story about the living conditions for bachelors. Check out photo number 4 from these shots that we submitted by the public. Not much rain fell in Abu Dhabi but it was cloudy last week. We learned that this was the result of cloud seeding!

I'm still taking the Arabic language classes at work. The class has dwindled in size but it is interesting. I hope that I can retain some of what I've learned as the class ends in a month. Ma'Salamaa...

Our Spring Break Trip to Turkey

Click to Play

The sights of our ten day trip to Istanbul, Princes' Islands and Bursa in April 2008.

Air Show and other uplifting stories

Our weekend got off to a different but exciting start. On Thursday Darcy's employer (Higher Colleges of Technology) hosted an event for all its staff and family members. It was called Desert Evening and it took place in an HCT owned camp about 70 km west of Abu Dhabi. The day became very blustery and it was not fun being in the desert and experiencing shamal-like winds! (ed. by Darcy--he's wrong. It was fun. Wouldn't want to do it every day, but it was neat to experience.) There was a water truck that was spraying the sand in the camp courtyard. But it was neat to see the sand being blown off the tops of dunes. Plus it was a nice change to be out of the city. The music and food were good and there was a short fireworks show at the end. (ed. by Darcy--because it is not HCT if you don't have fireworks. Preferably indoors. You think I'm making this up, but I'm not.) People could have gone dune bashing or taken rides on ATVs up the dunes but that was too much excitement for us.

On Friday we walked across Corniche Road and watched the finale of the RedBull Airshow. It takes place in ten cities around the world. Watch the videos from Abu Dhabi at the bottom of their website. We were far away from the planes zipping around the pylons at speeds of over 200 mph. But we could see some of the incredible acrobatics!

Below are some interesting stories about goings on in our city:

This article says that it's getting more difficult to find taxis in Abu Dhabi. We agree and we live across the street from a bus/taxi depot.

The demographics of the UAE's workforce are unlike those of other countries in the world. This article discusses the problem.

Dubai Media Inc. just finished filming the Arab world's largest drama production. The title is Sera'a Ala Al Remal or Wars on Sand and we hope that it will have English subtitles.

Here's a story about another mammoth construction project that is long overdue in Abu Dhabi.

This article will likely promote much discussion about drinking among Muslims living in moderate GCC countries like the UAE.

A three day annual conference was recently held in Abu Dhabi's Emirates Centre for Strategic Studies and Research. It was about political reform in GCC (Gulf Cooperative Commonwealth) countries. A variety of speakers had interesting comments about the speed in which the national governments are changing or not changing.

Your Life Work: Librarian

Learning Arabic

Marhaba!

I've now attended five Arabic classes at work and they've been fun. I don't have the time to do all the required practice but I did teach myself, while cleaning the floors, to count from 0 to 10. It took me about half an hour and now I have to learn how to write the numbers in Arabic. I can say a few simple words in an introduction type conversation.

This article is a bit old but it talks about the R&D that Abu Dhabi is spending on alternative energy. For that it won the 2008 Cleantech Award (shared it with Google actually). My interest has turned to electric cars as there are some new companies selling them. The first two are Canadian owned and operated but they've been handcuffed by the Canadian government from selling many domestically: http://www.zenncars.com
http://itiselectric.com
http://www.revaindia.com
http://www.teslamotors.com
This is a funny story about camels. Good on the UAE for supporting the Terry Fox run! I would never have thought we'd be in third place for fundraising.

Darcy's birthday dinner at the Emirates Palace last weekend was nice. We got there at 7 pm which was early so we were the only people there for about half an hour. Very classy place so we'd like to try the other restaurants there over time. The privately Islamic Art Exhibit was very interesting and it took longer than the two hours that someone recommended. We bought the coffee table book catalogue as a souvenir.

Bshoofak Ba'dayn...

Hockey Night in Abu Dhabi and other strange stories...

I better get everyone caught up on the local news here. I can't believe the excuses some people have against self serve gas pumps! But if you thought that was silly then read this article about carpooling. At least it's not happening in Abu Dhabi - yet....

I'm not sure what to think about not living in a democratic country after reading this article. I guess it could be a lot worse though. There have been elections for Emiratis to elect around 30 members to form an advisory council to help the Sheikhs. There was a terrible 60 car accident in Abu Dhabi emirate last month. The culprit was not the fog but idiotic drivers. So we now have the dubious distinction of having one of the worst traffic accidents in the world.

I forgot to mention that we saw a hockey game in town a couple of nights ago. It was Hockey Night in Abu Dhabi as we watched the third and final game played between former NHL players battle with the UAE all-star team. The former included the talented Claude Lemieux while the local team had a couple of good Emiratis. It was a high scoring game and the score was something like 11 to 8 for the NHLers. The Abu Dhabi Ice Rink's seating capacity was about 1,000 and there was no sound system or organ. It had the feel of being in an old arena in small town Alberta but it was refreshing to be in a cold environment. Darcy wore a toque and I took a photo which appears on her Facebook avatar.

We're into the last half of the semester so that is a relief. Our trip to Istanbul is coming up quickly. It's already April - where has the year gone?!

Enjoying the last long weekend of the academic year

Marhaba!

That's the secular Arabic greeting for hello. I've seldom heard it spoken so I guess Muslims prefer the religious salamalikom greeting. I've started taking Arabic classes at work. After two sessions I can say a few greetings like good morning and good afternoon/evening. There are two classes a week for two hours in total that will run through early June. I don't know how much information I'll retain but it's fun to be learning a new language.

Yesterday was the Prophet Mohammud's birthday so we got the day off. It flew by as we relaxed and then did some household chores. I treated myself to a Chinese massage, accupuncture and cupping treatment. I've only had two this year due to being busy at work and getting chiropractic treatments. My MRI that I had done last week stated that the spondolethesis had vanished and my L4 disk showed improvement. But the L5 disk is still degenerating. I continue to do my daily morning stretches so this is the best that I've felt in almost two years.

I was sick with a cold for two weeks that was likel due to people being sick from the sudden change in weather. We had some foggy days (see Darcy's last post) due to the weather warming up. But I'm back to normal and working out again although my left elbow is still feeling the effects of being hyperextended.

Darcy is doing well. We finished watching the BBC's Planet Earth series. It was spectacular! Now we're watching Absolutely Fabulous. It's got some funny moments and I think this is the most British comedy that I've ever watched. We still have a ton of dvds to watch so it will my turn next to pick a series. We watch them at night as we enjoy our tea and dark chocolate.

Abu Dhabi's Zayed Mosque officially opened late last year and I took a tour of it through my work. Darcy had attended a women's spa that day. This article has some facts about the third largest mosque in the world. It was spectacular.

Here's an article about plans to develop Lulu Island which is very close to us. This story is about a fort that is also in our neighborhood. Our apartment is behind the set of buildings in the middle of the photo.

It's now halfway through the semester and in less than one month we fly to Istanbul. So time continues to pass very quickly for us. Before we know it we'll be getting ready to fly home for our summer vacation. Happy Easter to everyone....

Wrapped in Fog

The above photo is a reader-submitted picture published in the Gulf News showing current UAE foggy conditions, which are expected to last a few more days at least. I could hardly see more than a block ahead of me on parts of my drive to work this morning, and when I got out of the car I could feel the fog like rain on my face! I think it's lovely, although I'm sure many people are now grumbling about the "cold".

Success at last!

So, booking our hotels in Turkey has been more "interesting" than we anticipated. Our first choice hotel in Istanbul, the Empress Zoe, was already full by the time we tried to get a room there (our travel guide advised to "book well ahead"...with 2 months to go we thought we had enough time but apparently not!). We chose another Istanbul hotel, plus a hotel on the islands and a hotel on the Asian side of the water, and tried to book through their online reservation forms. No confirmation, no reply. We tried calling to follow up, but couldn't get through. We tried emailing the email addresses posted on their websites. No reply. Michael got referrals and information about a travel agent here in Abu Dhabi and one in Turkey, but even they would not respond to our calls and emails!

This afternoon, however, we learned that to dial into Turkey you need not just the country code, area code and phone number, but also an "international dialling code" unique to the country you are calling out of. We've never called a country that required one before, so we hadn't realized we needed it. After looking up that code the phone numbers for all our hotels suddenly worked like magic, so we were finally able to talk to live people and reserve our rooms.

In Istanbul, we will be staying at Turkoman Hotel. This hotel is close to our first-choice location and close to the big attractions like the bazaar, the blue mosque, and Topkapi. Then we will move to the islands for one night, and stay at the Halke Palace Hotel. After that we will ferry over to the Asian side and spend two nights in Bursa at the Efehan Hotel.

We are greatly relieved to have our rooms booked after 2 weeks of trying. We will be in in Turkey over ANZAC day, so even though the main focus is Galipoli we assume it is a high -demand season all over. We were starting to wonder if we were going to have to sleep on the street!

As for the rest of life...we attended a presentation on the ABC's of Carpet Buying hosted by the American Womens' Network this past week. We now have a better idea of some of the things we should be looking for--and watching out for!--when carpet shopping. We also went over to Pat's Antiques Exhibition this week. The woman who owns this business shows her wares a couple of times a year; some are small touristy things that you can find many other places, but many of her things come direct from Oman. We decided to splurge a bit and buy an Omani Mandoos (marriage chest). Pat said she believes this chest is between 80-100 years old. The decoration is done with hammered metal and metal studs and is quite beautiful:

Schadenfreude

Mean I know, but SO nice to read from afar rather than close up:

Libraries brace for effects from latest Florida tax cut: looks like the good days of Bond Issue-feuled expansion are over...

Supporters of African-American Research Library protest budget cuts : note the tidbit about the library director getting fired with no notice, and then reinstated at my old library, South Regional, as Assistant Regional Manager. TYPICAL Broward County.

Tax Rollback strains Broward's joint-use model. Love the last paragraph--again, totally in line with personal experience of the quality of BCL decision-making.

Planning our vacations

We've just about settled our summer vacation in Canada. It's still hard to fathom that it costs $100 US dollars more round trip per person to fly 1000 km from Vancouver, BC to Edmonton than from Abu Dhabi to Istanbul. Air Canada and Westjet are ripping people off! Anyway we'll stay at the same hostel in downtown Vancouver as last year.

We're also planning our April trip to Istanbul and we may end up staying at the Empress Zoe Hotel. It's at the top end of the mid range hotels in the Lonely Planet book for Turkey. It's not cheap at nearly 140 Euros a night for the top level room but it looks very nice! We've got ten days to spend so we may travel to the Asian part and spend a few days there.

Yesterday I participated in the annual Terry Fox run. It was fun and my back held up. Actually I feel much better since seeing a chiropractor for the past month. The run this year was bigger than last year. It was for a great cause and in my view Terry Fox was one of the greatest Canadians who ever lived.

On the weekend we received in our newspaper a nifty magazine full of photos taken of Abu Dhabi from the air. Now I know why there was a helicopter that flew around for a few days in December. The online article shows some of the photos and our apartment building is one building away from the big blue one (tallest in the city) in many of the pictures. It's the headquarters for the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, which is apparently has the world's richest sovereign wealth fund.

Last bit of news is that apparently negotiations were, or still are, going about awarding contracts for the city's new souq. They're either digging a heck of a deep hole and/or they're taking their sweet time with the construction. It looks like nothing has happened with that massive site since we moved here.

Another weekend goes by too quickly....

It's Saturday night now and the weekend, as usual flew by. This past weekend was typical of sleeping in both days, reading the newspaper, browsing our favorite websites, watching some dvds from our numerous boxed sets, doing household chores and grocery shopping.

There are many things that we need to do and would like to do. We still have to plan our trip to Istanbul in late April. We're finalizing our plans for flying to Canada in late July for three weeks. Speaking of traveling, here is an article about the booming air traffic in the Middle East. I guess one reason for that is so that people can visit all the theme parks that are opening now and in the future.

I joined an online usergroup called the Emirates Natural History Group. I get alerts when there are free activities at the city's Cultural Foundation. The building is withing walking distance of our place. The sandstorm yesterday blew in sand from the beaches onto the Cornich road and also knocked over some signs. The temperatures have dropped but unfortunately we have to keep the windows closes. Otherwise sand will blow inside.

Emirate Palace in Abu Dhabi is hosting another vanity license plate auction and this story discusses it. Where else could an outrageous event like this happen - besides Dubai?! I came across a blog about events in Abu Dhabi. It's new and it's not clear who the author is but it looks promising. Many blogs and sites about the UAE usually focus on Dubai.

A post for Troy and Jennifer in Cincinnati: job hunting in the UAE

(Post edited for name correction--Jennifer, please accept my most abject apologies for the error! How embarrassing...ds)

Hi Troy and Jennifer,

I just saw your comment on our last blog post. I clicked through to your profile, but I couldn't see an email address there for you, so since you indicated that we could reply to you by blog posting I'm writing here.

It took us just about a year for my husband to find a job in the UAE, so we understand your frustration. Hiring processes here are very slow and bureaucratic. But it can be done.

The tendency here is towards very strict, literal interpretations of language. Be as specific in your employment profiles/job applications as possible. If the job asks for experience in Microsoft Word, and your application/profile says you are experienced with word processing software, HR may screen you out because you didn't mention the specific program instead of contacting you and clarifying your skills. If the paperwork requires a non-objection letter/certificate, and your documentation does not specifically use the words "NON OBJECTION", it will be rejected.

Also be prepared to do a lot of follow-up and, if necessary, re-applying. Your information will not automatically be kept on file, and you will often not get clarifications or updates unless you ask. In keeping with the point above, ask lots of very specific questions even if you think they are obvious or "stupid"--you wouldn't believe the things you won't get told if you don't ask.

Job turnover is pretty high just about everywhere, because the normal contract length is three years. So again, patience and perserverance is probably the best strategy.

You didn't say much about your personal experience, and you probably wouldn't want that kind of discussion posted up on the internet anyway, so if you'd like to continue the conversation feel free to email me at dsharman (at) gmail (dot) com.

Thanks for reading our blog--we're glad you enjoy it!

--Darcy

Projects for sandstorm weekends

Well, once again it's been a long time since I've posted. Day to day life is pretty boring when you're working...not much to write about when all you do is work, eat, sleep, do chores, and then start all over again.

One of the nice things about my job is that working on the department website and library OPAC is allowing me to expand my web site authoring and graphics skills. I have been a steep CSS learning curve lately, and thanks to a new coworker who has a background in graphic design I finally have enough of an idea of how Photoshop works that I can open it and understand enough about the layout to start learning by trial and error. Besides the web presence revamps at work, which should be online soon, I've used a couple of little side projects as platforms for experimentation. I helped a friend redesign her website for her freelance editing business, and this weekend, I have been working on developing an HCT Library Catalogue Google Gadget:

It probably isn't as good as I think it is, but I am inordinately proud of it all the same :) It can be added to iGoogle pages and embedded in outside web pages, too. Haven't really had a chance to test it in Explorer (I use Firefox at home), so if something looks seriously out of whack to you let me know so I can fix it!

The big news here this week was, of course, the accidentally-severed undersea cable that knocked out Internet access for much of the Middle East. We were not affected; our connection did seem slow that night but thanks to our ISP slow connections are not unusual for us even on good days. The fact that this story is such big news, though, is a testament to how much we now rely on the Internet for work and for recreation. Though some might find it hard to believe, I can live without being logged on in my spare time; all of my work is dependent on online/networked tools, though, and I'd be hard-pressed to find anything to do in the case of a network outage! I suppose I could write out catalogue records for inputting later, but that's about it.

Edmonton has been struggling under extremely low temperatures this week. We have nothing that dramatic here, but we are in the middle of a pretty impressive sandstorm. The howling wind woke both of us up quite early this morning, and visibility is very low. The intire sky is a dull beige-grey...it's like fog, but created by sand instead of moisture! Even the Corniche waters are being whipped up into little baby whitecaps, which is VERY unusual.

Out on the highways, driving in sandstorms is much like driving in a snowstorm: sands blow across the roads and you can get whiteout conditions very easily. So I'm glad we don't have to go anywhere and can stay in today. I am going to attempt a roast beef for dinner (believe it or not I've never actually cooked this myself before) and we have apple cider supplies left over from Christmas. This is the closest we're going to get to a "winter day" in Abu Dhabi so I feel like we should make the most of it!

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!

Brrrr......

It's been refreshingly cool here for the last couple of days. Last night (for the first time ever) we turned off all the air conditioners in our place! This story talks about the bone chilling weather. Another story mentions near freezing temperatures. It would be cold for many people here because, like in Florida, houses here have poor insulation. Many buildings have tiles for floors which make it really cool.

The Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council recently published a book called Plan Abu Dhabi 2030: Urban Structure Framework Plan. It talks about about how our fair city will be transformed within 25 years. It's an interesting document to read and it rivals Duabi in terms of wholescale change for an entire city. It's available online but the contents have been split into several downloadable sections.

January 10 is the Islamic New Year so we're enjoying another holiday! But there will be no more breaks until the Prophet's Birthday in late March. We will start planning our April vacation to Istanbul this weekend. And we'll also try and book tentative flights to Canada this summer. We've asked to have July 27 to August 18th off. It won't be as long a break as last summer because we'd like to plan other trips. We'd like to go somewhere this fall and maybe winter too.

Our trip to Oman's Musandam Peninsula

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In mid December 2007 we stayed four days and three nights at the Golden Tulip Hotel just outside the town of Khasab, Oman. It was a very picturesque and secluded place to relax for a few days.

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.

UAE National Day celebrations

We enjoyed out four day long weekend. On the first day we had a picnic and it was so nice to spend time outside! We had another picnic, this time at night with friends. The National Day celebrations this year seemed more impressive than last year. Authorities built an entertainment area on reclaimed land along the Corniche. We watched some Emiratis sing and dance up close. The fireworks were great and took place over three nights. Unfortunatel we missed two interesting events: seeing the world's largest flag and a marching band on the Corniche. More newspaper coverage about the celebrations are here. The festivities weren't complete without the traffic at night and engines revving and backfiring. It sounded like a warzone! But it was all in good fun and little to no alcohol was involved.

Getting ready to visit Fujarah

Darcy and I are going on a PI sponsored weekend getaway to Fujairah. We're getting a discount to stay one night at the Fujairah Rotana Hotel. We're driving our car and taking two people from work so it should be fun. We've not been there before. Work, as usual has been busy for both of us. I've finished teaching library classes for the semester. I taught 67 sessions to 928 male and female students - whew! I've also been working on a powerpoint presentation with a librarian in Al Ain. We'll be co-presenting at an Information Literacy conference in Dubai in two weeks. The weather continues to dry out and we've got three windows in our living room open right now. All our windows have been cleaned for the first time in about ten month. The sand and grime in the air quickly dirties windows here and you can't clean them yourself. Some interesting newspaper articles are about Abu Dhabi's soaring oil revenues. Another factoid is that the UAE apparently has one of, if not THE most, highest mobile/cell phone subscribers per capita in the world. There are 7.3 million subscribers out of an estimated population of 4.3 million. This is craziness! But another soaring statistics, albeit negative, is the severe housing shortage in Abu Dhabi.

catalogued!

tee hee....

Michael and I are going to the camel racetrack tomorrow with some friends. It will be the first time we've seen camel races, and we are really looking forward to it. Pictures to follow...

Travel plans

A few days ago I signed us up to go on a work sponsored weekend getaway to Fujarah on the Indian Ocean side of the UAE. The hotel price is heavily discounted so hopefully we'll make the cut.

We've seen the new taxis but we've yet to take one. Despite the subpar service that you get with taking the old gold and white taxis they are definitely part of the city's culture. It's an experience all visitors should have in Abu Dhabi.

Here are some staggering numbers about the amount of money being spent on airport construction projects here. Staying on the topic of flying, Ethihad Airways (UAE's national airline that's headquartered in Abu Dhabi) has grown quickly. But it's not as large as Dubai based Emirates Airways and its profits haven't skyrocketed as high as Sharjah, UAE based Air Arabia. Here's an article about being able to listen to our local newspaper articles online. Amazingly the new Ferrari theme park here will open in two years in time for the first Formula 1 race.

Friday night we went out for one of the few times this fall. We just haven't had the energy to do much beyond collapsing on the couch at home and surfing the web and watching dvds. Many of my co-workers have said that their workloads have been heavier this year compared to last year. So we're looking forward to our upcoming Oman trip and possibly Fujarah. We've also got to start planning our spring and summer trips soon...

Welcome to November!

Where the heck did October go? I guess I was busy teaching classes, revising my library's website, working out at the gym and sleeping on weekends. Darcy was only working three jobs and squeezing in her weekly yoga class. The weather continues to dry out and I took my first evening walk outside in six months. It's so nice to be outside! It's major news here when its overcast and rainy. It was refreshingly cloudy today because of the tropical depression that's heading towards southern Oman.

I just read a disturing article about the Canadian Government's lack of transparency in reporting arms exports. I guess I was naive to think that this could not happen to a nice country like Canada!

I just discovered that our Gulf News newspaper has a neat PDF version that includes what they call a Smart ePaper edition. You can read the paper in a PDF like format or listen to articles that have VOIP (voice over internet protocol). Simply choose an article in the box on the right and then click on the interactive radio button on the left. Pretty neat and it's free! So we'll let our newspaper subscription run out and then listen to the news online.

Another relaxing weekend

This past week I revised my work hours to be more flexible with helping students later in the day. I think that it will work and working later two days a week allows me to sleep in a bit too. I noticed that my energy levels were much higher during the day. I'm still able to work out at the gym on Sundays and Wednesdays. I'll try and book my massage and acupuncture appointments on Thursdays. But my periformis and psoas muscles have been causing me much grief lately. It may be from working out twice a week so I'll try exercising once a week to see if there is an improvement.

My library's blog went live last week and over 100 people viewed it in the first two days. That's promising and I've since made two more postings. I have ideas about stories and library events to post but hopefully students, staff and faculty will remember to read the blog.

The weather has dried out in the past week so fall is definitely here. But it's still a bit too humid to shut off the a/c and open the windows in our apartment.

We booked three nights in mid December at the Golden Tulip Hotel in Khasab, Oman. It's in the very scenic Musandam Peninsula which forms the bottle neck of the Arabian (Persian) Gulf. They had no vacancy the following weekend for Eid Al Hada. The price is high but it should be worth it. We need to decide soon when and where to go for our spring vacation. Darcy's work needs confirmation from staff very soon.

Today we visited Abu Dhabi's fifth annual ADIHEX (Hunting and Equestrian Exhibition). I enjoyed the human exhibits of men and women doing handicrafts. It seemed a bit strange to view them as living exhibitions but you don't really see them in the city doing this. The camel racing season gets underway this weekend too so we'll want to see one before it ends next spring.

I'll end this post with yet another article about the booming construction market in the GCC region (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman). Over $1 TRILLION (USD)has been invested in real estate construction! The UAE has 390 projects valued at about $430 billion USD.

Music From The Middle of Nowhere

BCC world service played a series called Music from the Middle of Nowhere a couple of weeks ago. It's hosted by k. d. lang, and it is much more than the "discussion of her musical influences" the online description suggests, delving into the history and music of the Canadian Prairies. I caught most of the first segment, which covered Alberta, on the way to the grocery store, and found it so fascinating I had to sit in the hot car in the parking lot until it was over. The BBC has finally posted more than a brief description of the series on its website; I hope you can listen to the episode and enjoy it as much as I did

.

We also found an interesting site called Meebo, which allows you to aggregate all your chat/instant messenger accounts into one place. No more logging into multiple IM programs at once--this is all in one place AND it's webbased so you don't need to download yet more software! Michael and I have signed up and are trying it out.

We had our Eid holiday from Thursday to Monday, which was a relief. We are both feeling more than a little burned out right now. We didn't do much more than go on a picnic on the Corniche and hang out at home working our way through Michael's newly-completed collection of Director's Edition Star Trek movies. It was certainly nice to relax and not have to go anywhere, or even change out of our pajamas if we didn't feel like it!

Life continues to be challenging on the job front for both of us. I have been seconded from my secondment, if that is even possible, and am now answering phones and handling VIP event RSVPs for the Festival of Thinkers that starts next week. Feeling a little squished as I try to essentially do three jobs in the space of one. I keep on telling myself that it won't be much longer, but every time i do that something else comes up! Hopefully things will settle down relatively soon...

Eid al Fitr

The 30 days of Ramadan came to an end yesterday and the Eid al Fitr holiday has begun. Muslims celebrate the ocassion when the angel Gabriel revealed Allah's words to the prophet Mohammed where they were in turn written in the Koran. Early yesterday morning (5 am or so) we heard singing coming from the Mosque's loudspeakers. This signaled the end of Ramadan and the beginning of Eid. It was quite interesting to listen as we did not hear the joyful singing last year when we were in Sharjah.

Darcy and I have a five day break that began last Thursday. We've spent the first couple of days sleeping in and watching dvds. It's been a busy semester with a lot of uncounted overtime. So we needed time to decompress. We haves many dvds to watch including a ton of Star Treks. I've ordered the 49 disc 20th anniversary of The Next Generation tv series. I've also ordered the complete series of Deep Space Nine. The first season of the origional series has been re-issued (again) but this time it includes a completetly remastered version. But I'll wait until the price comes down a bit.

Darcy and I will venture outside today and do some grocery shopping at Abu Dhabi's newest mall (Al Wahda). We will start planning a trip to Musandam Peninsula. It's the northern tip of the Arabian Peninsula but it's Omani territory. It has many fiords like in northern Scandinavia and the area is drivable from Abu Dhabi.

As usual I'll mention some interesting articles from the Gulf News. There are more new building projects in our city. Construction on the the Louvre Abu Dhabi will officially get underway soon. Then there is the 2.7 billion USD commercial and residential project. Our city's old airport is getting a new facility too. Of course we can't forget Dubai. That emirate just announced a staggering project to build a 75 km canal. They're also helping to plan a 350 km cross country railway.

Finally there was an interesting article about 138 prominent Muslim scholars writing an open letter to heads of all Christian churches. I don't know if this made major headlines in the West.

This and That....

For those of you who are interested in news from this part of the world, there's another article about Freej, the UAE's first animated series. There's also another article about the new Warner Bros. theme park and hotel deal. For us the only positive thing about this is the last sentence in the article. Apparently the UAE has the world's highest saturation rate of cell phones or mobiles (as they're called here). There are about 7 million subscriptions and the country's population is approximately 4.4 million. We've never calculated the price of gasoline here but this article says that it's $1.56 USD a gallon (3.78 litres). That's more than I thought! Staying on the topic of money, the Canadian dollar (loonie) traded above the U.S. dollar for the first time since 1974. The loonie has risen 17% this year against the U.S. dollar which is the most of any nation in the world.

The next article talks about the Global Talent Index ranking countries Middle East low in attracting and producing talented workers. Yet another survey, this time by Transparency International, ranked Middle Eastern nations low on weeding corruption. The UAE is tied for 34th out of 179 nations. Not surprising to see Scandinavian countries dominating the top. Canada placed a strong 9th place.

On a more sombre note, there is an excellent op ed piece about Iran's President Ahmandinejad's visit to Columbia University.

Interesting times

This evening we went out to a going-away get-together for a friend who is moving to Qatar. The bar we were at was an approximate 20 minute walk from our house, and the weather is finally a little drier and cooler, so when we left we decided to walk home. Well, it turned out to be an interesting walk. Not 2 blocks from the hotel the bar was in, we look up to see lights flickering in an apartment overhead. At first we thought it was a party, but it quickly became apparent that the apartment was on fire! The curtains caught just as we got close to the building, which eventually resulted in the patio windows shattering and glass and sparks falling on balconies--and spectators!--below. We got closer with the intention of going in the building to alert the watchman or security guard, but people were already coming out of the building and then, with the glass shattering, it was not safe to go near.

At first, I thought emergency workers were already present, as it looked like people were being evacuated and directed away from the building, but it eventually became apparent that the only people around were tenants and onlookers. When I realized there was no one there I called emergency, only to be told that someone was already on the way. They seemed to take a long time to get there though! The fire was still going strong long after the emergency vehicles pulled up and smoke and sparks and glass were still flying as we left.

We can't help but wonder what started it--I'm guessing either a cigarette or a candle, as is usually the case--and we certainly hope that the tenants were either not home or got out in time to be safe. We'll be watching the papers tomorrow to see if there is any news on what happened!

After all the excitement we decided to stop in a cafe I've had my eye on that was also on the way home, called Zyara. It is indeed a very cool place, and once the weather is good enough to walk outside comfortably I think I will be going there a lot. Lots of ethnic fabrics on the walls and the tables, funky decor and a Lebanese type menu. I had really good turkish coffee, and Michael had jallab, a date juice served with pine nuts that is served just at Ramadan (sounds weird; tastes good). We also had an interesting Arabic dessert made of flatbread rolled with a filling of tahini and carob. It was served with strawberries and very good!

yet more newspaper articles

Our Gulf News newspaper has had some interesting articles of late. One is about the UAE's first animated series called Freej. It means neighborhood in Arabic and Darcy had mentioned it in an earlier entry. Apparently one of its second season episodes has caused some controversy. We've been enjoying watching the first season on dvd.

There continues to be more construction news in our capital city. Earlier I mentioned the city's newest five star hotel to open. Its grand opening will be in December. It looks impressive but the Ramadan room rates are still fairly expensive at 750 AED or about $204 USD for one night.

This article caught my eye as a huge construction project has gotten underway on the Corniche. We're not sure where exactly but it may be close to us. Another big story here is the decline of the mighty American dollar against foreign currencies. The UAE Dirham has been pegged to the U.S. dollar since 1980 which means that the exchange rate does not change. However, the weakened dollar has affected savings for expats here from Asia and Europe. The devaluation of the dollar hasn't affected our savings much yet. Most of our savings are in U.S. dollars but trips to Europe and the UK would be very expensive. We hope that the Canadian dollar doesn't surpass the U.S. dollar.

Just when I was hoping that Abu Dhabi would not fall into Dubai's trap of building Western style entertainment theme parks, the capital city signed a deal to build one! Warner Bros. I guess entertainment will have a big presence in the emirate after all...

more construction news in our fair city

Ironically after mentioning not too long ago about Abu Dhabi's pace of construction not being in step with Duabi's, there appeared several stories about the capital gearing up for massive growth. The Gulf News had a story yesterday about Abu Dhabi's Vision 2030. There were more articles about the booming economy but for some reason they aren't available online. There's one article today about development in an area very close to where I work. I used to go biking around that area last year but all the construction has closed off roads for the public. So I bike inside now using the indoor bike trainer.

Here's a video that someone took of driving on Corniche road. At about the 1:10 minute mark in the video they drive past a large blue office building which is beside our apartment. I think I'm over my terrible chest cold from last week. One drawback to living here has been coping with battling many viruses. One reason may be because of so many people from all over Asia living in close quarters here. There may be more flu strains here too. I may also be more prone to chest colds from having allergies and mild asthma and breathing in the sandy air. Lucikly Darcy seems to have had a stronger constitution.

A big story in Canada is that the Loonie reached parity with the U.S. dollar for the first time in almost 31 years! The last interesting article that I saw was about the commercialization of Ramadan. It's sad but true and the phenomenon is following the pattern with the commodification of Christmas in the West.

Well, I suppose it is about time I stopped relying on Michael to update the blog and write a post myself. I know it's been a long time...I've been busy at work and tired/distracted at home but I know that's not really all that great of an excuse. Just means more catching up to do later!

Ramadan has started, and this is the first time I'm working during Ramadan, which is interesting. We have reduced hours during the month, so we work 6 hours a day instead of 8 (well, 9 with unpaid lunch break time). No food or drink can be at our desks, of course, and there is a closed-off staff break room upstairs where we have to go to drink water or have coffee or lunch. There is one non-Muslim in our office who observes the fast. I have not tried it, though I will admit every year I think about it. I am reading the Quran this year, though. Ramadan is the time of year when Muslims are supposed to (re) read the Quran and Quran recitals take place in the mosques every night (especially around Laylat al Qadr, the night in the latter part of the month when the Quran was revealed to Mohammed). I have been meaning to read the copy my brother bought me a few years ago anyway, so this is as good a time as any to do it.

I am quite overworked right now, as I am working two jobs. My regular job at HCT Learning Resource Services, which brings new responsibilities and changes all the time, and which I really like, and my new part-time pinch-hitting assignment at HCT Abu Dhabi Women's College, which just lost all their librarians and many of their paraprofessional staff. Unfortunately it is the start of term, and Libraries are responsible for textbook distribution. On top of this our system has just instituted an entirely new online system for textbook ordering, distribution, and issuance. Double-whammy: not only do I have to get books for over 2600 students distributed to teachers who all really really think they needed them yesterday, I have to learn a new system, educate them on the new system, and deal with all the problems incurred by their insistence on fudging orders and fixing books "the way they've always done it before". Guess what people...if the way you did it before was appropriate and actually worked, we wouldn't have had to implement a new system with hyperaccountability! And you have to work with it whether you "like" it or not. Sigh. Work has just got a whooooolllle lot more frustrating. I have discovered anew my gratefulness for my permanent, central services, job.

Michael may have mentioned that I was going to a bellydance class before we went on our summer vacation. I have decided not to go back to the class this fall. The class is at too elementary a level, the students are not serious at all about learning to dance, and the teacher is, to be honest, not all that great a dancer OR a teacher. I did get something out of it for the time I was there, even if nothing but a structure to actually get me started dancing again and a space to refine some technique. However, especially given the fact the studio has moved and is now farther than walking distance from my house, it's just not worth it for me. If I am going to take classes here, I'd also rather take from an actual Middle Eastern dancer instead of one from Calgary!

So I got a couple of new technique/drilling videos over the summer and now I'm back to my old problem--getting the energy and discipline to practice regularly on my own instead of just sitting thinking about dancing, reading online about dancing, watching video of other dancers, etc. This is always my sticking point with any project; I'm much better at thinking than actually doing.

My boss at work is a yogini and used to be a yoga teacher. She's started up a small class for people at work, so I am going to that. We are practicing in her house right now, but after Ramadan we will have access to the Assembly Hall at work. Her style is more restorative and introspective than Iyengar style, which is what I practiced before. However, given how long it's been since I've actually practiced regularly it's at a good level for me right now.

Finally, I'll share the website of a popular made-in-the-UAE animated show, FREEJ. The first series of these 15-minute shorts just came out on video. I bought them a couple of weeks ago and we started watching them this week. The show is about a group of widowed Emirati women who live in Dubai's old town. It's pretty cute :) Our DVDs have subtitles but unfortunately the clips on the site don't! You can get a bit of a taste of it anyway, though. I love their traditional dress right down to the old-fashioned henna on their hands!

Ramadan Kareem

Ramadan started at dawn this morning. However, I was bedridden with battling a bacterial infection. I had been sick for a few days and I finally found time from my busy work schedule to see a doctor, get medication, and obtain medical clearance to rest at home for a couple of days. I hope that Darcy doesn't catch my bug! We were able to see the Ramadan fireworks from our spare bedroom window tonight. They were very impressive! Once again Dubai is in the news...

Ramadan and a new hotel

Ramadan starts in a day or two and I saw a good article in the Gulf News that discusses what it means to Muslims and non Muslims. There is also a new hotel that is opening in Abu Dhabi. Thanks to Sepideh for finding it. It's very close to where I work. We would consider booking a room if there was a promotion or a deal like the Emirates Palace hashad for UAE residents. Poor Darcy is still working close to 12 hour days and I'm sick as a dog....

Construction projects in Abu Dhabi and Dubai

There were two interesting articles in the Gulf News newspaper that I recently read. The first is about a huge construction project that is taking place one block away from our apartment building. Abu Dhabi is building a huge Central Market complex that we can see from our living room window. In the article's photo our building is near the far top left and to the right of the very large building. It would be interesting to see when it is completed but it will take years and we may be gone before then. The pace of erecting new buildings is much slower here than in Dubai. A case in point is a three month abandoned building near us still seems no closer to being demolished.

Meanwhile Dubai continues to surge ahead with its incredible number of construction projects. They are building cities at about the same pace that it's been taking Abu Dhabi to construct single buildings. Here's a good article on what's going on in Dubai. It boggles the mind as to what is happening about 100 miles up the road from where we live. Despite all the hype and excitement that surrounds Dubai, we are content with living is the country's more sedate capital. Abu Dhabi does have many other grandiose projects that are on the drawing board but I've not seen them in the Gulf News yet.

UAE culture

Darcy found an interesting site for the group Watani. It's a program that was developed to help strengthen the local culture in the UAE. They have started publishing a comic book called Ajaaj. Ajaaj is Arabic for "sandstorm", and the hero travels within a storm. The artwork is pretty good. You can read the first issue online if you like.

Edmonton Grand Prix 2007

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This was fun to watch during my vacation in Edmonton.

We're back!

Hello everyone! We're back to blogging after having a two month hiatus. Our six week summer vacation in Canada (Ottawa, Toronto, Edmonton, Vancouver, Vancouver Island and Jasper was wonderful. There were many highlights such as watching the fireworks in Ottawa on Canada Day, the changing of the guard on Parliament Hill and seeing my Mom and Stepdad's new place on Vancouver Island. We visited with family and friends on our trip and we managed to relax much of the time. Although it still a bit stressful at times with doing that much travelling and we unfortunately we were still not able to see all the people that we wanted.

But it was sure nice to have the long break. I carried over ten work days to use in the fall or winter. It will be difficult adjusting to the short North American vacations whenever to move back! We took many photos and video but it would take a long time to make an online movie. I did make a short video of the Champ Car race that my Dad and I attended. I'm using my Toshiba laptop at the moment so I'll have to use our Mac to upload the video.

We've both been very busy at work and I will have a full load of teaching classes (among other duites I have) this semester. My library now has four vacancies so hopefully we will get some good candidates soon. Darcy is now officially working full-time at the HCT.