This and that in Dubai

Dubai catches a lot of flak for being so over the top. In fact, a derogatory term that gets thrown around when something is way over the top is “so Dubai” as in that new building in (say) Delhi that is trying to be pretentious, fancy, and over the top is “so Dubai.” Dubai does do one thing well and that’s malls. The two biggest are the Mall of the Emirates (MOE) and the fairly new Dubai Mall. The MOE is several years old and is the one that has the ski slope. I’ve never been there skiing, but have gone to the mall quite a few times for movies, dinner, and shopping. It’s huge and quite fancy. The Dubai Mall is next to the Burg Khalifa, formally the Burj Dubai, which is the tallest building in the world at some 828 meters or 2,717 feet high. After a monetary bailout from the oil rich next door neighbor, Abu Dhabi, the tower was renamed Khalifa after the current president of the UAE – a member of the Abu Dhabi royal family. The building is made up (or will be made up of when it’s all complete) of retail, residential, and commercial space. Above the 124th floor is corporate office space. It also contains the highest mosque in the world on the 158th floor. Hmmm, I wonder if you’re Muslim and are at the observation deck and the call to prayer came, could you head on up to the 158th floor to pray???? When complete the building will hold around 25,000 people. Meanwhile, the mall is one of the biggest and has a huge aquarium inside. One wall of the aquarium makes up part of a long hallway within the mall. I must say it’s a bit surreal, but also pretty cool, to walk down the mall and look over to see several sharks, rays, and huge fish swimming by! I haven’t been to the aquarium or the Burj observation deck; however, I’ll do both before I depart Dubai. I’m waiting on someone to come to visit to give me a reason. There is also an ice skating rink in the mall which I have been to. One thing about both malls that I find “so Dubai” is that the mall contains all kinds of shops for everyone. There are shops that cater to the skate boarding crowd near a Nike or Adidas store, which is near a home furnishing store, which is near a toy store, which is near a Rolex store, which is not too far from a Tiffany’s or Versace store. At the center of the mall is a food court with all the American chains like Mickey D’s, KFC, Subway, and a Chili’s or Fridays. When a Taco Bell opened up in the Dubai Mall last year lines where unbelievably long and that’s all people could talk about! Between the Dubai Mall and the Burj is an awesome water display that has an amazing fountain show that draws huge crowds.

Unfortunately, two of these attractions have had some problems. The Burj ( which means tower in Arabic) has the third highest observation deck in the world at the 124th floor, but it is the highest OUTDOOR observation deck (of course….so Dubai!). That’s pretty good but not that much higher than other skyscrapers that the Burj surpassed to become the highest. The building itself is around 160 floors so no one quite knows why the observation deck is so low – so to speak. To get to the observation deck it’s quite expensive…about $30 but twice that if you want to avoid the lines and go VIP style (so Dubai!). I haven’t been yet but will go at some point and hope the elevator doesn’t get stuck as it did not long ago. That story also made world news headlines! Apparently, the elevator free fell a short distance and was then stuck between floors for about an hour or so. On another note, when the Burj officially opened in January, they put on an amazing fireworks show with the fireworks being shot up about and off the sides of the Burj. Since the school is located a few miles away, several of us watched the show from the highest roof of the campus where we had an amazingly clear view. It was quite impressive and not as “so Dubai” as I was expecting. The city is in a recession after all!

Mall emptied as Dubai Aquarium starts to leak

Visitors to the Dubai Aquarium can pay to swim in its shark-infested waters, but shoppers in the Gulf state almost had the chance for free when the attraction sprang a leak. A crack developed in the vast glass tank, which houses 33,000 fish including 400 sharks and stingrays swimming in 10 million litres of water. The aquarium is one of the world’s largest and the centrepiece attraction at the Dubai Mall.
“The crack was pretty big. They stopped the water getting out quickly but a lot of the nearby shops on the ground floor got water damage. I don’t think any of the fish got out. We didn’t have sharks in the mall, luckily,” said an assistant in one of the nearby shops. The incident is the latest mishap to befall one of Dubai’s flagship projects. Earlier this month, the observation deck of the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, was closed to the public when a lift broke in the 828m tower. Visitors were left stranded in the lift shaft for 45 minutes before begin rescued. About 100 shops in the mall adjacent to the aquarium were evacuated as emergency services and a maintenance team moved to stem the crack in the 75-centimetre-thick glass. The full extent of the damage is still not known.
In a statement, the mall stressed that its maintenance team had immediately fixed a leak in one of the tank’s panel joints. The area around the aquarium remained closed yesterday afternoon, with security guards claiming that routine maintenance was going on. “The leakage did not impact the aquarium environment or the safety of the aquatic animals,” said a spokesman for the mall. “The Dubai Aquarium works with international experts in aquarium management and upholds the highest safety standards.” The aquarium has been a huge draw with locals and tourists since the Dubai Mall opened last year. The attraction boasts the world’s largest acrylic viewing panel at 272 square metres. Visitors can even pay to scuba dive in the tank.
The Dubai Mall and Burj Khalifa are both managed by Emaar Properties and form the core of a $20 billion (£13 billion) development to establish a new modern centre for the Gulf state. Dubai’s once-booming real estate market collapsed last year with up to 50 per cent wiped off property values in the last 12 months. The city is also mired in a deep financial crisis. Dubai World, a major state-owned conglomerate, rocked international markets in November when it admitted it would be unable to repay $26 billion of debts. Despite these difficulties, Emaar is pressing ahead with development of the Burj Khalifa. A luxury hotel and apartments designed by Italian fashion giant Giorgio Armani is scheduled to open in March. The new owners of the building’s exclusive residences will continue moving in throughout this year.


Dubai kiss court case highlights culture clash
By Daniela Deane for CNN
March 18, 2010 -- Updated 1135 GMT (1935 HKT)

An Emirati man riding a camel passes by foreigners sunbathing on a beach in Dubai last spring.

London, England (CNN) -- The locals wear long, all-covering robes. They pray five times a day in one of the city's many mosques. Each year, they celebrate Ramadan, fasting from dawn to dusk. Many expatriates, instead, love to hang out at the beach, often in skimpy bathing suits making the most of the year-round sunshine. They go to beach-side cafes to drink and eat with friends, enjoying the tax-free lifestyle of the sunny sheikdom-by-the-sea. Only rub is expatriates overwhelmingly outnumber locals -- by more than eight to one. Welcome to Dubai, the tiny, sun-drenched, desert sheikdom where a whopping 85 percent of the population hail from somewhere else, demographics unheard of anywhere else in the world. And although the unusual co-existence is largely peaceful, friction can bubble up, like in the recent case of a British couple facing up to a month in jail for kissing in public.
The couple, a British man living and working in Dubai, and a British female tourist visiting the Persian Gulf city-state, were arrested in November accused of kissing and touching each other intimately in public -- violations of law against public indecency -- and consuming alcohol. The couple have been granted bail pending appeal. A hearing is scheduled for April 4. Dubai's foreign population has soared in recent years as expatriates, courted by the country, flocked to the booming emirate to work.

"It's one of the countries in the world which has had the most rapid structural transformation we've ever seen for an economy," said Nasser Saidi, chief economist of the Dubai International Financial Centre Authority. "If you look at it like that, you start to understand the dynamics of the economy, why you need to attract a vast population from across the world." The population changes have challenged the now vastly outnumbered Emiratis, though, raising concerns among the local population that the breakneck modernization of the sheikdom threatens their deeply conservative social and religious identity. The case is the third of its kind involving Britons in under two years. Expats who live in the emirate say authorities seem to be increasingly sensitive to such culture clashes. "Expats need to know that no matter how modern and open-minded this country is, it's an Islamic country," said Heike Moeckel, a cultural consultant at Embrace Arabia, an Abu Dhabi-based, Emirati-owned company providing cultural training to expats and Emiratis alike. Moeckel said "the amount of ignorance" by expats to Islamic traditions was the "biggest obstacle" in her work. She said there were beaches in Dubai where a local Emirati woman would not dare bring her children because of the dress code and behavior there, considered "completely inappropriate" by local people. The British couple at the center of the current case were dining with friends at Bob's Easy Diner, one of a stretch of cafes on a popular strip behind the city's Jumeirah Beach, when an Emirati woman with her family reported their behavior to police.
"It's very easy to make an economy out of different kinds of people with different religious backgrounds and nationalities," Shahidul Haque, regional representative for the Middle East for the International Organization for Migration, told CNN. "But it's often very difficult to develop a social fabric with the same populations."
"That's a huge challenge for any country," Haque said, adding that incidents like the couple kissing "happen for social and economic reasons," rather because of religious differences.

The economy of Dubai, a once tiny pearling village with limited natural resources, was built by expatriate labor. And the high number of expats needs to be maintained to ensure growth, experts say. Oil sales account for less than five percent of Dubai's economy now. The majority of its income comes from service industries, retail, trade and tourism. Asked if the Dubai economy could continue to grow without its large expat population, chief economist Saidi replied no. "It's clear they need them," he said. Saidi said that although the population of the emirate is very young and growing fast, it will take "a couple of generations to build up the skills needed." Until such point, Dubai continues to need -- and court -- its foreign workers, despite culture clashes like the one with the British couple.
"The local labor market cannot provide" what is needed, Haque said. "You either have to depend on foreign labor, or reduce the economy."

"And no country wants to shrink their economy."

Random Dubai 2

“High Falootin”

My long time friend, Frank Thomas (for those in the know) passed through Dubai for a night on his way to Cairo from Jakarta at the end of school last year. We only had an evening to hang out, but of course we did it up right! With him was Ms Kennedy and it was the first time that I really spent some timewith her. What a wonderful woman, and I can now plainly see why she is so important in Frank’s life. With only one night in Dubai there was only ONE thing to do and that was to have Afternoon Tea in the Sky Bar of the Burj Al Arab, Dubai’s swankest hotel and the only 7 star hotel in the world (self proclaimed, I might add). As one might expect, reservations must be made in advance, but I was able to get us in with only a week’s notice and at a pretty decent time – 4:00! At about $125 a person, maybe it was luck or maybe it was economic hard times! The place is popular with tourists and local residents. I have to say it was pretty cool to experience this for the first time – from the valet parking to the pictures next to the Rolls Royce on the way out. The Rolls are for the high ‘rollers’ – those that spend $5,000-10,000 a night get a chauffeur driven Rolls at their disposal! When I say popular with the tourists, I mean a popular destination to come to eat, drink, or stay if you have the money. There are no ‘sight-seeing’ trips to be had nor can one pop over to use the ‘facilities!’ The Burj is built on its own island and one has to pass a guard’s booth and have them check off the reservation before you are allowed to pass. [Funny side note: one of the best views of the Burj is from the water park that sits right in front of it. As you are climbing up the tower to the biggest slide in the park…… “viola”….there is the most amazing view!]

After the pictures and chillin’ in the lobby for a little while, it was up the escalator to the lobby floor. As one rides up the escalator, you pass giant aquariums. On this day, a diver was cleaning the glass and giving a wave to the guests! On the lobby level, you can also have afternoon tea for only about $80, but who would be that ghetto? It was to the top for us! After taking the glass elevator up to the 27th floor (not that high), but the entire inside of the hotel rises the height of it with no floors blocking the view up (what’s that called- an atrium?). Once at the bar, we were seated by the window. The ‘tea’ includes a glass of champagne, fresh fruit with cream, and then an assortment of cold drinks (soda, iced tea) and regular tea along with plenty of finger foods like little pastries, cheese, sandwiches, etc. Following this there is dessert. Except for the champagne, it’s all you can eat and you can stay as long as you want – at least on that afternoon. We were there for about two hours. The Sky Bar does have a great view of Dubai’s coastline and one of the Palms, the giant peninsula shaped like a palm tree with villas, hotels, and other buildings on it. We non-chalantly gawked, walked around, took plenty of pictures and talked about how ‘far’ we were away from Wando High School (in Mt. Pleasant, SC)-both literally and figuratively- and all the places we’d been since we both left the US for the international teaching world. (The next day Frank and Ms Kennedy were off to Cairo, and I was leaving the day after for Bangkok and Lao!)

By now it was almost dark, so we headed over to a mall that is built in the design of an old Arabic market (souq) as it provides, in my opinion, the best view of the Burj at night. The Burg is usually lit up in a purple-lavender color that is quite beautiful. Those that know Frank know that he can shop with the best of ‘em, so he picked up a few items from a store specializing in Indian handicrafts. We wanted dinner so we got the equivalent of Arabic takeaway…a rotisserie chicken, fries, salad, and hummus from a small café next to mosque. We ate it back at my apartment instead of at the little restaurant as one would normally do because it was still over 100* at 9:30 that night! All in all, a really great fun visit, but way too brief! But at least Frank made it to a place where I was living; he owed me! I’ve been to Jakarta twice.

Randon Dubai 1

"You People" I was recently involved in a fender bender on my way home from school one evening. I had stayed late to work out a bit and then play in the weekly floor hockey game. The FH was so much fun and I was debating whether or not to play the last game or just head home. I opted to head home and on the way I was involved in the accident. (I guess I should have stayed!). I pulled out on a main street as I’ve done a thousand times, careful to see that no cars were close in the lane that I needed to get into as I have to make a quick U-turn to head in the opposite direction to go home. For those not in the Middle East, it is very seldom that one can make a left hand turn in this country. You have to use U-turn spots or round-abouts. I had plenty of room as I pulled out and got over into the lane I needed to be in. I didn’t account for the SUV that was flying down the road like a ‘bat out of hell!’ He was on me before I knew it, and as I gunned my engine and attempted to dart back over into the right lane, the SUV’s front right headlight area crunched into my left taillight area. I kept driving until I got to a side street to pull over and as I got out of the car, I saw that the person who hit me (from behind) was a local Emirati. My first thought was, “Uh Oh!” For those of us who are used to driving in the non-Middle Eastern world, this means nothing because unless there are usual circumstances, the person that hits a car from behind is usually at fault. Well, not here if that person is a local! There is a food chain here and Emiratis are at the top in almost all cases…even for the most heinous of crimes locals are not prosecuted/blamed/charged as others in the country. Unfortunately, as a white Westerner I fall somewhat under them but am above most Asians, Africans, and probably all service workers, so if they would have hit me………..? The local was a young guy and got out of the car saying how people don’t always pay attention while they are driving. I didn’t know if he was referring to me or him! Then he proceeded to tell me not to worry, “You people always have the insurance to…fix your car, fix my car!” When the police got there, he spoke to them in Arabic, they never asked me anything, and wrote me out the traffic ticket and ‘pink’ insurance slip which means ‘you’re at fault and you pay.’ I mentioned that the guy was speeding (his English wasn’t very good, but better than my Arabic) and he said, maybe but that he didn’t see it. I said there were no skid marks, no attempt to slow down, etc but again he said he’d not seen the accident and that it was my fault, but not to worry….the insurance will take care of everything. Three funny things did happen: 1) As we waited for the police, the young Emirati in a nice, clean, WHITE dishdasha tried to knock his bumper off. He did this mostly with several stomps of his sandal (I helped a bit). He had to finish it off by loosing up something with a wrench and this was funny as he was trying to do so by reaching up under the car without getting his outfit dirty! I had to chuckle to myself. I knew I was about to get ‘f’ed in this, so at least I had this little moment! 2) On impact I got jerked up and then back and my neck seemed a little stiff when I got out of the car. I think this was just because of not sleeping well, playing floor hockey, etc so I moved it around to crack my neck and after two pops, it really felt good! I think the wreck gave me ‘reverse whiplash’ if that’s possible! 3) I have to say, that even though I got screwed, the Emirati and policemen were really nice. I guess the local was glad that I wasn’t hurt. After getting the ticket and pink slip, I wished the policeman a “Ramadam Kareem” and he kind of chuckled. It’s the holy month of Ramadan after all, so Muslims are celebrating after sundown. No need to leave the scene in a huff for me. And he had to work while others are eating and celebrating…..and he did get to the accident site fast which usually isn’t the case.

Next up was a visit to the insurance company, which took a week since they are on Ramadan hours and were only open from 9-2:30 (must be nice!) They gave me a choice of what garage to leave my car with and wait for the adjuster to OK the repairs. As the garage guy looked at the damage and took pictures, he asked how in the world I had gotten the pink slip. I said that I’d gotten hit by a local, and he went “Oh, that’s why!” As I write this, my car is in the garage and might take weeks to repair.

After twice ordering the wrong bumper, I finally called and said I was coming to get the car until the correct parts were in. They tried to stall and I just insisted that I’d be there by 5:00 and I was driving it off the lot. When I got there it was practically finished except for the messed up trunk. After another week, they called with the correct part they needed, I took it back in and had it back in two days.

And then the nightmare of re-registration, paying fines, and impending impoundment started….but that’s another story!

Summer, Part 2~ SC and beyond

At Safeco Field in Seattle for a Mariner's game.

After a great visit to Bangkok and Lao PDR, I was ready to get home to South Carolina. I can’t tell you how much I look forward to unlocking my condo door and walking inside to spend time. I have to admit, I love the way it looks after all the work I did on it during my year off. There is still more to do and the ideas keep on coming from all the HGTV that I watch during the summer! However, this summer I decided to be lazy and not do anything. The summer went something like this: after a few days in the Upstate to visit my sister and her family plus other relatives it was two weeks in Mt. Pleasant, a week at the beach in Garden City, SC, a few days back in Mt. Pleasant and then an 8 day trip (which turned to nine!) “out west” in Seattle and Bend, Oregon. Then, it was back to Mt. Pleasant for two more weeks before heading back to Dubai.

The first two weeks in Mt. Pleasant were a bit nondescript with me mostly being lazy and getting acclimated again to a life of not working, not having to adhere to any particular schedule, and watching a lot of Wimbledon on my computer via a Spanish website since I had a glitch with Comcast and didn’t have any cable for a week! In addition, I didn’t even have a digital converter box to receive the local stations. When I wasn’t watching Wimbledon, I was watching my new favorite show via DVD~ Dexter. I love it! In that week I watched two complete seasons and can’t wait for season four to begin in September. Now, instead of waiting for it to be released on bootleg DVD in Asia, I’ll watch it week to week on Showtime via my Slingbox which allows me to watch cable TV through my computer from the US (and my cousin’s house!)

The week at Garden City was great. My extended family and I rented a house that slept 15 people. The house was on the front beach with part of Murrells Inlet behind it. The weather was great and there was lots of sunning on the beach, beach walks, and hanging out and enjoying each other’s company. For the older kids (myself included!) there were trips to a water park, an amusement park, and the local pier with arcade. I also met up with an old roommate from back in the day (Rob N. for those in the know). He was in North MB for a few days, and it was great to catch up with him.

The House of Pain in the water: Annsley(10), Brooks(7), and Blake(51/2)

After a quick trip back to my condo, it was on to Seattle (Bainbridge Island to be exact) for most of a day and night and then on to Bend, Oregon to visit my good friends and colleagues from Colegio Nueva Granada in Bogota, Colombia – Joe and Trina (for those in the know). Bend is in central Oregon in what’s called the high desert and with incredible snow-covered mountain views. Joe and Trina hope to either buy or build a house in the area but this summer they rented a place that had unbelievable views. It was so cool to sit upstairs and stare out at the views and watch the sun set. After dark and after their darling little girl had been tucked away for the night, we would sit in the warm Jacuzzi in the cool night air (low 50’s) and just catch up on the year while looking up at a sky filled with stars. Bend is such a cool town and one I hope to visit in the future. On unexpected surprise was a 2 hour road trip to a small Oregon town to meet another CNG friend of ours for breakfast. Susan O. (for those in the know) was driving from Portland to Boise and we decided we all had to meet up. Trina found the tiny town of a meeting place on a map and the meeting place on line. The small town was barely a blip on the map and the diner a ‘country café’ type of place out of the movies. When we walked in on the Saturday morning the “he-man” locals – farmer and rodeo types – were sitting around a big round table eating hardy meals! We had lunch for about an hour, caught up on all our lives, and then we all hit the road again. Susan O had to get to Boise, and I had a plane to catch back to Seattle.

An ex-basketball player/ex-student for three years in Colombia and current good friend of mine Alex L. picked me up from the airport and we headed to my cousin’s (Linda Ann) house on Bainbridge Island. Alex had driven up from Salt Lake City to hang out and explore the Seattle area for a few days. I was really looking forward to some nice cool Pacific NW weather, but instead, found myself in a heat wave that had the weather in Seattle similar to that of SC except for the low humidity! The nights were still pleasant, but the days were hot especially since not many people have AC, including my cousin! Alex has a Jeep so down went the top and off we went exploring, mostly to parts of the Olympic Peninsula…the coast and Hurricane Ridge for those familiar with the area. What a beautiful area of the country! We also caught a Mariner’s game, sought refuge from the heat ‘over the pass’ to a national park and lake, and along with my cousin Katie, took a late night dip in Puget Sound in its 55* water. For those that might remember the chronicles, Katie is my cousin who spent a year with me in Nepal and attended Lincoln School. Claire, her sister and recent HS graduate, was around for a day before taking a trip to Idaho with HS friends. Usually these three cousins are part of the ‘family’ that joins in on the beach week, but schedules didn’t quite work out this summer for that to happen.

After an unexpected night in Detroit because of a canceled flight, it was back to Mt. Pleasant for two weeks. Most of the time was spent getting organized to leave ‘home’ for the next 10 months, meeting up with friends and seeing relatives one last time. These two weeks were gone in a blur and before I knew it, I was on the plane to begin Year # 3 in Dubai. As usual it was a great summer that ended as it has the last few times I been home: flying out of the Upstate of SC after leaving my car at my sister’s house and visiting with them the last day. Lately, the tradition has been to head over to my aunt and uncle’s house on the farm where my cousins come over and we swim in the pool, eat a meal, and hang out one last time before I go to the airport. What a great way to end the summer for me.

To the USA people, see y’all next summer. (And Frank, I better see you in Dubai at some point this year!) To the ‘internationals’ – perhaps our paths will cross somewhere in the world this year!?

Alex and his baby...his Jeep! Taking the ferry from Bainbrige Island to Seattle Doing the "Karate Kid" stance and trying not to fall off the driftwood log! Check out

the sky....and the picture does it no justice; it was amazing

Attention: Cougars!.....and I don't think they mean older women on the prowl!?

Mt. Olympus on the Washington Peninsula

Hiking on Hurricane Ridge on the Peninsula Unfortunately, the snow capped mountains in the background aren't in the picture. ....but they are in this picture!!
Peace ~

Summer: Part 1 ~ Lao PDR

**Pictures will be placed soon!

After a failed attempt to get a visa and join friends on a trip to Iran, I decided to journey to Lao PDR (People’s Democratic Republic) to check it out. It’s a place that I’ve wanted to travel to and I’ve never heard one negative thing about the country from anyone who has ever traveled there. From them the advice is always the same, “Go now, before it becomes like Thailand!” Now, I love Thailand, so if that’s the recommendation on Lao I figured I better check it out. So I did, and believe me, it did not disappoint. For those that don’t know Lao is a landlocked country in SE Asia. (For that reason alone, it could never really become like Thailand because it doesn’t have beaches and palm tree covered islands that remind one of a tropical paradise). It is mainly bordered by Thailand on the west and Vietnam on the east. As was most of Asia, at one point it was a monarchy and Luaang Prabang, a city in the central part of the country, was its capital. In the 70’s it became a communist country and remains that way today, though its communism seems to be more like China then that of the former Soviet Union. Until about 10-15 years ago, most of the country was closed to tourism, so while Thailand and Vietnam flourished, Lao remained a simple, laid back place. The capital, Vientiane, is unlike any other capital city in this part of Asia. It’s very laid back and small-town like. And instead of having a population of 10 million like some of the other capital cities, the entire country’s population is about half that amount. Much of Lao is tree covered mountains which make for striking scenery and the Mekong River runs pretty much the length of the country and along its western border with Thailand. It’s colonial past goes back to Indochina (Lao and Cambodia) and France, so there are quite a few reminders of the French…. architecture, baguettes for breakfast, and street signs in Lao and French. That is the past; English is the tourist language now! And the tourists are starting to come as the secret is out about Lao as a destination.

I spent a few days in Bangkok doing the usual….eating Thai food, shopping the street markets, getting foot massages, and soaking in the culture and mild weather. (OK, it was 90* and humid, but that’s still 15-20* cooler than the temps I left in Dubai!). I also arranged my trip to Lao. I couldn’t quite get the flights I wanted and almost pulled the plug to hit a beach in Thailand, but decided to just take what I could get and go. Am I ever glad that I did! I flew to Luang Prabang and landed in the town’s small airport. I booked a hotel room ($25/night with satellite TV and AC) in the center of the town and near the river at a desk in the airport and then caught a “taxi” into the town center. I use the term taxi lightly as it was really a three wheeled tuk tuk with a long bed in the back! Pretty cool right away!! My hotel was a family run guesthouse and quite nice, especially for the price that I was paying. I walked down to the Mekong River and ate lunch at a small, simple restaurant with amazing river views. One amazing sight was watching a really nice mini-van come across the river on this makeshift pontoon raft! I couldn’t believe it; I mean, one mishap and it’s good-bye to the minivan. There are no bridges across the river in this part of Lao so it was this way or stay on the other side. After lunch I just wandered around the town admiring all the Buddhist temples, architecture, and just observing ‘life’ as it happened. I also planned my sightseeing for the next few days. That evening I took a sunset boat ride up the river and back. Aside from the beauty and peacefulness, it was interesting watching fisherman throw their nets out and watching kids playfully swim or bath in the river. I also had to try out a Loa massage [no shirt, pants stay on!] ($5/hour), because ‘when in Lao.’ It was quite rough and at times I about shed a tear but managed to keep it together. Of course, the end result after all the kneading is a most relaxed feeling. The next day was a ½ day trip up the Mekong to this cave with thousands of Buddha statues and a stop at the ‘whiskey making’ village. The boat ride took about two hours and it was basically the same path as the sunset boat ride, only much farther up the river. The scenes were the same except there were quite a few other tourist boats taking touri up the river to the caves! The boats are wooden, narrow and low to the water. I was number 11 on the boat sign up sheet! I only mention this because numbers 1-10 got into a boat that had been ‘pimped out’ with high-backed cushioned seats. My boat, with numbers 11-17, had these small wooden chairs that one finds in a first grade class with not even a cushion to sit on….totally ghetto! The caves were pretty cool (I love a Buddha statue – the various sizes, shapes, and styles all the better to see!), and the whiskey village interesting. One kind, the red kind, was good; while the clear one was nasty, strong, and probably like moonshine! I decided not to buy either, but I was tempted by the whiskey with a small cobra in the bottle! But then I thought, “What would PETA do?” and I didn’t buy it. Instead, I supported the village by buying some hand woven material (could be wall hangings, tablecloths, throws – who knows) that I really didn’t need, but it was so cheap and of pretty good quality. What can I say, I just feel the need to ALWAYS help out the local economy. Needless to say that my family and friends will benefit from all this economic support! That afternoon, I went on a road trip to a beautiful waterfall. The 45 minute ride in a van to the park where the waterfall is located made it quite clear that I didn’t want to travel by road from Prabang to Vientiane (some 8-10 hours)-the capital and point out of the country. The roads were up and down, way too curvy and stop and go and I was in the back seat. Needless to say, I couldn’t wait to get out of the van! The waterfall was not that high but still spectacular and there were pools to swim in just down from the falls. The water was surprisingly cool and it felt good to jump in after trekking up hill for 20 minutes to get to the top of the waterfall. The funniest thing was watching some young monks (in just their shorts) daring each other to swing on a rope, off a rock, out over the stream and drop into the water. From what I could observe, only two of the three swung out on the rope, but all three had been in the water. After a little while, they got out of the water, put on their orange robes, and walked back down the trail! I guess monks just want to have fun – like everyone else. Although the van picked me up at the guest house, it dropped everyone off at an intersection in town just as it started to pour down rain. It was a typical monsoon season storm…rumbling thunder and a heavy rain. I was stuck, so what to do…..get an hour massage and last out the storm! That night I scoped out the elaborate night market and planned out things to buy before leaving. I also planned my next day’s adventure – a full day mountain biking trip.

The bike ride was booty pain causing but really nice. We road on main roads, gravel roads, and small trails. There was a stop in another textile village, which I again supported(!) and lunch on a raised wooden platform in a field. We also took a small boat across a stream to a small village which had no roads. The houses (huts really) were typical, either raised up on stilts or low on the ground (depending on the ethnic group living in it). On the ride back we stopped at a little road side stand and had fresh pineapple. The area was a pineapple producing area and they were everywhere.

The next day I decided to try my skill at being a “mahut” (pronounced mahout) which basically means an elephant handler. On the tour was an Australian family with three kids, one of which was a 12 year old boy. That boy was on the elephant’s neck the entire riding time. We road the elephants around a bit, through the river, and then had time to feed them. Then it was our turn to sit on the elephant and guide them with our kicks to the shoulders….left kick to go right, right kick to go left, and a kick on both shoulders to go straight. I, of course, had an unruly elephant that didn’t want to do what I said, but the real mahut was up behind me, so it was all good. After eating lunch at the elephant reserve, we rode the elephants down to the river. This time I was on the neck and felt as if I was gonna fall off each time the elephant turned its head to grab some leaves or a bush. The experience was cool but quite treacherous especially when we were heading downhill! Once we got to the river, it was really cool as we just sat on the elephants as they bobbed up and down in the water and scrubbed down their necks and head. We all agreed on the ride back into town what a great experience the day had been. I had ridden an elephant a few times before but always from a seat on the back. For most of this, I was riding on the neck and had to get on and off the elephant by stepping on its bent leg and swinging up over the neck. Cool stuff!

I spent the rest of the time in LP just walking around, watching a sunset from a stupa on a hill that overlooks the city, visiting the museum and other monasteries and shopping in the night market.

I flew to the capital, Vientiane, two half day stay which were sandwiched around a night in a hotel the Aussies recommended. The hotel overlooked the Mekong River and a monetary and was quite nice. And to boot, it had probably the most comfortable bed I’ve EVER slept on! I walked around the first afternoon and evening just getting a feel for the place. The city is very laid back compared to other capital cities and feels very small town. There are virtually no high-rise or glitzy buildings, and the pace of life much slower than Bangkok. It was a Saturday night so it was kind of cool to see what the expat and wealthy locals do on a week-end night….get dressed up and go out to eat or to a coffee bar! The next day I had a lot to see and little time and could find no ½ day tour, so I decided to hire a car and driver from the hotel for my time before heading to the airport. That turned out to be the thing to do. I was able to cover much ground and felt that I really say the city. There were other temples (some cool, some gaudy), a museum, and Vientiane’s version of the Arc‘d Triumph. Since it was a Sunday there were a lot of locals just hanging out there and in the nearby park. There were also many monks walking around with umbrellas and talking on mobile phones – which really intrigues me for some reason! I also noticed people sipping some liquid from a plastic bag and I wondered what it was. Before heading to the Buddha Park outside of town, I told the driver to wait while I ‘relieved’ myself and got both of us a Pepsi. There are few cans in Laos, mostly bottles with the vendors so what they do is open up a little plastic bag, put ice in it, pour the Pepsi (or other drink) into it, and stick in a straw! How ingenious!! The bags have holes at the top to put a finger through or as the driver did, to hang from the gear shift when not drinking from the bag. I swear in all my travels in South Asia and Africa I’ve never seen this device being used! The drive to the Buddha Park was nice and relaxing. At the park there were literally hundreds of Buddha and Buddha/Hindu like statues. Had I been there with someone else there would have been ample opportunity to pose like the statues for pictures. As it was the locals were doing just that, so I didn’t feel so bad thinking in this way. Since I couldn’t let the opportunity completely pass me by, I put my hat and sunglasses on one statue and took a picture. The next thing I know I hear this Lao guy laughing and coming over for me to take his picture with the statue I ‘defaced!’ and then others came. It was pretty funny and I (of course) got my picture taken with it. On the way to the airport, I stopped and walked across the Friendship Bridge which spands the Mekong and separates Loa and Thailand. Then it was in the car and off to the airport for the flight back to Bangkok. Overall, it was a great but rather quick trip to Lao. I’ll have to go back to explore more of the country. The country used to known as the Land of a Million Elephants but now is known as the Land of a Million Smiles. That part it true and the people were so nice, friendly, and always quick to smile.

So in closing I’ll say, “Go now to Lao, before it becomes like Thailand!” (which, in my opinion, ain’t so bad!)


After a day in Bangkok doing the usual (plus watching the start of Wimbledon), I returned to Dubai for two days. I started painting my apartment, but after doing one of the three colors that I want to do, I decided to stop and have someone else finish the job once I get back in August! Till the next blog entry…..

Peace.

Lebanon, May 2009

A Quickie to Beirut ~ May 2009

ASD had a long week-end recently and I was looking forward to just taking it easy in Dubai until some friends of mine told me about a trip they were planning to Beirut, Lebanon. I thought, cool, so within 24 hours my ticket was booked! Beirut use to be called the Paris of the Middle East. (With the cynical joke being that Paris of the Middle East is kind of like winning the NIT!) It’s quite liberal and Lebanese woman dress only slightly more modestly than the previously mentioned Russians. Beirut is on the Mediterranean Sea. Of course, there was the ‘little’ war with Israel two summers ago, and it has a war-torn recent history. Much of Beirut looks new, but built to look old with the architecture being very Mediterranean Europe. It’s just striking. There are wide avenues, outdoor cafes, and upscale shops in the heart of the city. But also in plain view are older buildings that haven’t been refurbished that clearly show the effects of war like blown out windows, a missing side, or bullet-striffed outer walls. The Med. Sea is on one side of Beirut and it has a really nice Corniche which provided an incredible place to watch the sunset and just wander. As it was the week-end, many people were out for stroll, a card game, fishing, flirting, and shisha smoking. The shisha smoke really added to the whole atmosphere as you got whiffs of various sweet smells of tobacco as you wandered the cornice. It was also cool looking at the apartment buildings and wondering which ones would be cool to live in if you lived in Beirut. The views on the ‘other side’ side of the city are the hills that are covered with buildings and beyond those the mountains that reach about 7,000 feet or so. In my Kuwait days, I went to Lebanon to ski for a long week-end, so I was just in and out of Beirut. I do remember Lebanon as having incredible scenery, and this time around it didn’t disappoint at all. We were really just in Lebanon for a day and a half, but we certainly made the most of it. The afternoon of the day we landed, the group rented a van and headed towards Byblos, a city that is some 4,000 years old (or older!). It’s right on the coast, has a little harbor with small wooden fishing boats, and men were fishing with long cane poles. The city is also famous for its Roman ruins that surround an old Roman citadel (fort). The day was sunny, beautiful with a nice breeze and was such a welcomed relief from the recent heat of Dubai. WE just wandered around, took lots of pictures, chilled in places that provided a view of the sea, and then shopped a bit I the souq (with no major purchases!)

The elections that promise a new Beirut/Lebanon are coming next month, so there were plenty of posters around and people riding around in cars waving flags and proclaiming their allegiance to one party. Over the week-end we were there, there must have been some expected rallies and/or protests because there were soldiers out like I never seen anywhere unless there was a riot or demonstration. Literally on the main road soldiers were stationed every 50 meters or so and they were armed with AK47s. Every so often there was an armed vehicle parked and ready for action. If they were there to deter any action, I suppose it worked as the city stayed quiet the entire time we were there.

On the second day after wandering around downtown Beirut for the morning in the fashionable central district as well as a neighborhood, which I like to refer to as “will the real Beirut please stand up, please stand up, please stand up” (in reference to an Eminem song!) We were in search of a non-touristy souq and didn’t quite find it but did find this neighborhood which provided some interesting sights and a little store where I bought another Arabic coffee pot to add to my collection. On the way back to meet the others and the van for a trip out of town, we stopped by a shwarma restaurant which provided us with the best shwarma I’ve (and the others) had ever had. For those not in the know, a shwarma is a typical Lebanese/Arabic type of sandwich. The meat (chicken or lamb usually) is piled high on a vertical spit and cooked slowly. When you order the meat is carved off the spit and into a pita and then garnished with lettuce, tomato, other spices, hot peppers and garlic sauce. The key for these is that they are toasted slightly on a grill after the pita is made which prevents them from falling apart as you eat them. They were yummy!

Our destination that afternoon was twofold. First up were the famous Grottos or caves. They were huge and amazing. Lebanon was trying to get them listed on the list of the New Seven Wonders of the World, but it didn’t make it. It’s hard to describe what they were like and you couldn’t take pictures inside. You walked on a concrete path that was built along the wall of the cave quite a bit off the ground. The stalagmite and stalactite formations were very huge and quite eerily. Apparently, you can judge the age like a tree trunk and we saw some that were 10’s of thousands of years old. These are not rocks but instead ‘drips’ from the rocks that make the formations – stalagmites if the drips build up from the floor and stalactites if they are dripping down from the top. Either way it was quite impressive.

Our next stop was this cable car that took one from a town along the coast up to a mountain top park/staute/church. The ride up took only 11 minutes but since it was the week-end the wait in line was about 40 minutes. It was OK as it provided some good people watching opportunities! The funny thing about this ‘funicular’ ride is that is passes right by people apartments (in multi storied/high rise) apartment buildings. As you go by, you can actually ‘almost’ reach out and touch the balconies! Of course, if you were a voyeur, you’d be in heaven as you could see right into rooms and whatever was going on had curtains not been closed….not that I was looking, mind you!

As this was our last night in Beirut, we had to do it up right, so we went to a bar that sat right on the water (we just missed another sunset) for some drinks and munchies. We all agreed that we’d ODed on Lebanese food, so we headed to a popular street with many restaurants in search of something else. We found it in an Italian restaurant. After a meal it was time to hit a few bars and then a club. The bars were OK but rather small and very smoky. I kid you not when I say that practically all of population of Beirut smokes! A night out in Beirut wouldn’t be complete without a venture into a ‘club’ until the wee hours of morning. A club called Snatch served the purpose and we danced to techno (on the sofas no less) for a while before calling it a night and heading home. All too quickly we were back in Dubai after the three hour flight. Reality hit as we had to go to work the next day. The short, but action packed week-end did make me plan for next year. We all agreed that we are going to leave Dubai at least every other month next year on the frequent three day week-ends that are in our calendar next year. We’ll see if it really happens!?

Otherwise, school is beginning to wind down. It’s always a happy and sad time of the year - happy that another year is over and that a long vacation is just around the corner, but sad because it means that people will be moving on. By people I mean students and friends/fellow teachers. The recession has made several students unexpectantly move elsewhere that wouldn’t normally be leaving. Teachers are moving on…some just down the road to Abu Dhabi but others to Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and beyond. They’ll be missed for sure, but it’s funny when paths cross again. It’ll be as if no time has passed at all! Funny as that sounds, I swear that’s how it is more often than not. It always makes me wonder how much longer I’ll be in Dubai. In some ways, I’m ready to move on, but in others I’m content and like Dubai well enough to stay at least two more years. We’ll see. I’ll have to decide about whether to stay a forth year this summer, and that’s before year number three even begins! Alas, that is the way it works in international teaching.

A Spring Break trip to Bali, Indonesia

As you know from past blogs, this is rather long!! Pictures follow in the following blog. Enjoy!??!

Bali + two friends + a sister of one of them + 7 10th grade ASD students + countless massages + sun + surf + perfect weather and a few days in Bangkok thrown in to boot = a fantastic Spring Break 2009!

After what seemed like an unbelievably long stretch of school from January to the end of March, Spring Break finally arrived and I couldn’t wait to get on the plane to Bali. Not to complain about what I’m teaching (Yearbook), but it is a pain sometimes. It’s really just a lot of organization and making sure things are getting done (with no grading thank goodness), but at this time of the year, that one subject does dominate my time. There is always something else to do and plenty of editing. I am trying to get the book out by the end of the year for the first time EVER in the history of ASD! After returning from Egypt and the tennis tournament, almost every day after school was spent with yearbook details. The afternoon of the last day of school before the break began, I put most of the yearbook on a hard-drive and sent it off to the printers.

I had been to Bali before – for a few days during my gap year while visiting a friend in Jakarta (Frank Thomas for those in the know!). It was incredible then and I was really looking forward to my return trip. But as nice as it was then, it surpassed all of my expectations this time around. I took a long way around in getting to Bali. Since I had a ‘cheap’ air ticket to Bangkok and love the city, I decided to fly through that city. With me were my friend and fellow tennis coach Ashley and her sister, Cristin who was visiting Dubai (and along on the Bali trip) from Oregon. We only had one day in Bangkok but long enough for me to get completely metroed (foot massage, mani, pedi, shave, steam facial, etc!) Now, that wasn’t the first time for me with any of those things but what is funny is trying to explain how that’s just the way things are for expat guys in Bangkok! While in the salon, I noticed several other guys, mostly with really short hair and well built. As I listened to their conversations, I gathered that they were in the military and on R&R in Bangkok from assignments in Pakistan and Afghanistan! I guess there are lots of guys that like to be pampered by pretty Thai girls…me included!

That night my friends and I met up with a Nepal friend (Nancy Tulli for those in the know) at an Outback restaurant (one of the few that they DO NOT have in Dubai), and it was fun catching up with her after not seeing her for a few years. We taught together for two years in Nepal, and I visited her in Vienna on my gap year. The flight to Bali was at 6 AM so there wasn’t much to do after dinner except take a tuk tuk ride home after dinner. This was Cristin’s first time in Bangkok, so Ashley wanted to give her a little taste of the city that she enjoyed last year when we were there for a conference. For me it was at least my 15th time in the city….if not more. It’s one of my favorite cities in Asia, so I never get tired of returning. From Kathmandu, Bangkok always seemed like the big, modern, glamorous city with so much to do, see, and experience. I’ll give you all that and raise it with the city that is Dubai, but it has a type of culture, vibrancy, and ‘real life’ that is lost in Dubai. It also helps that I have my favorite restaurants, salon(!), hotel, favorite area of town, and I know how to get around the city, so it’s really easy to spend time there.

We made it to the airport and our plane for Bali departed on time. I was lucky to sit in the back and have no one next to me, so I was able to stretch out (sort of) and sleep for most of the 3.5 hour flight. I joined up at my hotel with the other friend, Jen while Ashley and Cristin stayed at another hotel down the beach, but only a 10 minutes walk away. My hotel was just fine. The rooms were nothing special (they could of used a little Design on a Dime) but the grounds were incredible with two huge swimming pools, beautiful landscaping (a big deal when you live in a desert!), and just across a walking path to the beach. And the beach was the stuff of paradise….wide, palm trees, blue water, and twice a day, huge waves! It was a surfing paradise! You had to put up with the beach-hawkers selling everything from jewelry, hats, watches, fruit, ice cream, drinks, and…..massages! SCORE!! My massage lady was #9! She had a classic face that you would want to take a picture of. I didn’t because I didn’t take a camera to Bali….the side effect of taking/looking at/photoshopping way too many pictures in Yearbook. # 9 was probably at least 100 (J/K!), wrinkled beyond belief from years in the hot tropical sun, and with exactly two upper buck teeth in her mouth. I swear she looked kind of like Bugs Bunny. No matter, her hands were strong and when get a foot massage on the beach with oil and sand in the mix, it not only is a massage but also exfoliation! There’s something to be said for sitting under an umbrella, sipping a drink, watching the blue waves roll in while getting a massage. I guess someone has to do it and I’m glad that someone was me! The hotel was filled with Aussie families. There must have been some kind of fall (our spring) break for school kids because there were plenty of them there. If there is the equivalent of an Aussie redneck vacation heaven, then this is it. (Bali is less than a five hour flight from Australia). I’ve never seen so many tattoos, people who smoked, wife-beater t-shirts, or heard more f-bombs being dropped in normal conversation outside of North Charleston or Myrtle Beach in my life! It was a hoot. While in Bali, I took some time out away from the sand and surf to go diving one day. The two 45 minutes dives turned into an all day trip as the dive site was on the other side of the island. It was a beautiful drive through rural Bali and it’s farmland with rice patties, banana trees, and rising volcanic mountains that are covered with greenery. In fact, the dive site has a black beach due to volcanic eruptions. The dive destination was the USS Liberty, a WWII warship. It was hit was damaged in the war and hauled to the coast as it was sinking to be salvaged and to get supplies off. A few years later, the volcano in the area erupted and the lava flow pushed the boat to its resting place about 50 meters off shore in about 30-80 feet of water. It’s hard in some areas to even tell that it is a ship, but in other places, you could definitely make the form of the ship out. There was great coral and a lot of colorful fish, a few small rays, and a few big groupers. We were unlucky and didn’t see any of the sharks that frequent the area. Another high light was going to this bay that overlooked the runway of the airport. Tables were set up on the beach and we drank beer as we watched the sunset. If you liked seafood, you just picked it out of a tank and it was cooked for you. As for me, I had chicken! We also went to a famous Hindi temple called Tanah Lot. I’d been there before at high tide and watched the Hindi pilgrims wade through the waist deep water to get out to the temple. This time it was low tide, so we were able to wash our face in the holy spring and check the place out a little better….not much better though, because as a Hindu temple, non-Hindus are not allowed to enter. Still, it was cool to get a closer look than I did three years before. Another day, my posse and I joined with the aforementioned 10th graders for a white water rafting trip that took us through the jungled hills in the interior of the island. That was a fun day as well with some pretty good rapids and a pretty big waterfall to get out and stand under. It was fun seeing my students and hanging with them for the day in a place so far from Dubai! Another teacher and her husband own a vacation house on Bali and they were all staying there. The next afternoon, I went out to see them at the house and had another dinner and long walk on the beach with that group. Since they are in a more residential district, when I left after midnight, taxis were few and far between. I had to walk awhile to get one and when I did it was rather a funny (you had to be there) moment that involved a sleeping taxi driver, my ChipCharm, and a really good looking (but not tacky looking) Bali prostitute!

Jen left a day before the rest of us, so on her last night we went in search of a bar that featured this hilarious drag show that I went to the last time in Bali. This was a Wednesday night, and sadly, the drag show only happens on Friday nights. We passed another bar and heard a Bali cover band pumping out the Western music, so we decided to stop in for a drink or two…or three…or in the girl’s case four! Ashley and I, being tennis coaches, use the song “Smack That” as our theme song, so she requested the band to play it. For y’all that don’t know, it’s an R&B/Rap song and I was thinking no way they would know this song, though it was a #1 hit in the US. Well they did! Again, another memory and ‘you had to be there moment’ that won’t long be forgotten. We walked back to our respective hotels along the beach and it was almost perfect….no one but us, starry night, moon beams on the water, and slow walking in the surf as it crawled up the beach with each wave. I love Bali!!

We flew from Bali to Bangkok for two nights. In an attempt to let Cristin experience it all, we went to the famous Vertigo Bar which is an open air bar on top of a 63 story hotel in downtown Bangkok. Though it was Friday, it had been a holiday so the pollution that usually plagues Bangkok was light, so the views were pretty good as we watched the sun go down and the night lights come on. We followed this with dinner at the infamous Cabbages and Condoms Restaurant and some street shopping. Then it was back to Dubai and the real world and work once again. Though I love my job, after the four day week I was longing for the beaches of Bali! What a great vacation. And as many great vacations that I’ve been on in my overseas time, I just don’t think you can beat a beach vacation in Bali!

Until the next blog,

Peace

**I haven’t quite figured out how to put pictures into the text in the way that I want them to appear, so they actually follow this blog.