Another nice video of the Emirates.

Emirates winter

Three Sheikhs

Further to yesterdays post about knowing you have been in the Gulf too long.  We had only been here a short time, we were still living in the hotel, and Bert came home from work and said we needed to go shopping for the three Sheikhs.  Not only did I understand what he wanted to go shopping for, I knew where we needed to go to purchase them.

How to tell you have lived in the Gulf too long

I saw this list on a website and thought it was funny and a little bit too close to the truth!

• You're not surprised to see a goat in the passenger seat.

• You think everyone's first name is Al.

• When phrases like 'potato peeler', 'dish washer', and 'fly killer' are no longer household items but are actually job titles.

• Your idea of housework is leaving a list for the maid.

• You believe that speed limits are only advisory.

• You expect all police to drive BMWs or Mercedes.

• You believe that the definition of a nanosecond is the time interval between the time the light turns green and the time that the guy behind you begins to blow his horn.

• You can't buy anything without asking for a discount.

• You have more carpets than floor space.

• You expect all stores to stay open till midnight.

• You make left turns from the far right lane.

• You expect gold for every birthday.

• You send friends a map instead of your address.

• You think it perfectly normal to have a picnic in the middle of a roundabout at 11pm.

• You have a moon phase predictor on your computer.

• You accept that there is no point in asking why you are not allowed to do something.

• When you expect queues to be 1 person deep and 40 people wide.

• When you realize that the black and white stripes in the road are not a zebra crossing, just bait to get tourists into the firing line.

• When seeing guys welcome each other with a kiss no longer disgusts you.

• When you carry 12 passport size photos around with you just in case.

• When you can tell the time by listening to the local mosque.

• When you start to say "Insha'allah" when you actually mean "No chance!"

• When you overtake a police car at 130 km/h. And don’t worry about it.

• When a problem with your car AC or horn is more serious to you than a problem with the brakes.

• When you can smoke a shisha in public without expecting to be arrested.

Emirati women

Yesterday I went to the diabetic clinic .  It is really where I have the most interactions with Emiratis, as I am often the only westerner there.  I am always very impressed by the high standard of care, from the lady at the front door who greets me by name, even though I only go there every second month, to the security guard who stops the traffic for me to cross the road rather than me wait for someone to actually stop at the crossing.

It is one of the most asked question from friends and family at home, are you ever uncomfortable because of dress standards.  The answer is never.  I am a reasonably conservative dresser even at home so it takes very little adjustment to fit in here.

At the clinic I had to go to womens section to get a B12 injection and there were perhaps 20 women in the waiting room.  Generally I find Emirati women very friendly, they always smile and nod from behind their veils and masks to acknowledge you, something that rarely happens if you enter a room full of western women.  I sat down, looked around and realised every single woman in the room was dressed in black, and I was wearing a bright pink shirt.  I felt like a canary and made a mental note  to next time I come to tone down the colour scheme a little

interesting perspective

Abandoned cars

Cars like this used to be much more commonplace.  I saw this one in Dubai last week.  People get into debt here and as debt is considered a serious offense here that will get you a prison term, people just get on a plane and go home and leave the car in the street.

More Abby

Abby likes to build a nest to sleep.  She is the most playful and energetic dog we have ever owned but she falls asleep with just as much enthusiasm.  She often builds a pile of her toys in the middle of the living room and falls asleep on top of them

Abby and her toybox.  She spends a lot of time rumaging around in her toy box looking for exactly the right toy or chew

40th birthday of the Nation of UAE

It really is extraordinary how far this country has come in just 40 years.  This clip has some fabulous footage of Abu Dhabi in the 1960's

Abu Dhabi awards

I am incredibly honored and humbled to let my friends and family know I have been nominated for the Abu Dhabi awards.  More info here Abu Dhabi awards  and here Abu dhabi award vision-missionAt first I was horrified when I heard that I had been nominated, it is SO not me to get involved in things like this.  But it is a huge honor, I received 29 nominations.  Seriously, just that one person nominated me is huge honor.  What is embarrassing is the nomination committee were phoning my friends interviewing them about me! 

making a difference

Two short years ago when I arrived in this country I was so overwhelmed just crossing a road was a major achievement.  It is impossible to live in a country surrounded by such wealth but also such hardship.  Laborers, and maids do it hard here. They come from the Phillipines, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to make a better life for their families back home.  They get paid shockingly low wage by our standards but they consider themselves very fortunate to have these jobs and consider life here is easier than back home.  It is a complex issue and one Bert and I struggle with constantly.

I am in a unique postion as I have access to the expat community as well as these laborers so for the past year or so I have been collecting donated goods from people and taking them to the camps.  The quantity and quality of goods we receive is astounding. 

When we moved to Al Reef I petitioned the compound managers to instal welfare bins.  Just a simple big bin at each security gate to enable residents to drop donated goods into the bins, and we take the goods to the camps.  Over ramadan we received 270kgs of rice.  I have given away thousands of dollars worth of baby goods and clothes and I cannot even begin to estimate the number of sheets and towels. 

I am incredibly proud of what we have achieved, but there is still a long way to go as the need is enormous. 

welfare bins at each of our security gates, like the camera reflection in the side mirror? I left it in because it looks funny.

Delia

Delia is more than a little camera shy and we certainly could never snap a photo of her sitting relaxing because she NEVER stops cleaning.  Delia lived next door to us with an Arabian family and was never allowed to leave the house.  She worked 7 days a week, was rarely spoken to by the family and often they never paid her.  We noticed her frequently outside washing cars at 11pm and I once saw her cleaning the kitchen window at 5am.    It is a long and complicated story but we now have Delia living with and working for us.  She says she is happier than she has ever been with us.  She has a sad and isolated past so it is good to give her time where she feel valued and can get ahead a bit financially.

She loves Abby, and the feeling is mutual, except at first Delia was bathing her daily, Abby thanked her by peeing on her bed daily. 

Two years ago today

Bert started his new job as manager of the company he is now with.  We had already been in Abu Dhabi for some months working for an Australian based company.  It became clear it was never going to be viable and it was very timely when he was offered this position.  We flew home for him to resign hand in his computer, car keys and clean out his desk and straight back to Abu Dhabi (to the news of Shellys death).

The morning he was due to start, before he had even left the hotel room he got a text message to say 40 women had baricaded themselves in their rooms and were refusing to go to work, can you please sort this out?  It wasn't a good start.

This job has been such a fabulous opportunity for Bert.  He works insane hours and is always tired and stressed but he loves it.  He loves that he is able to make a difference in so many peoples lives. 

A sad anniversary

It is two years today since my lovely friend Shelly died.
This picture was taken when she was here in Australia on holiday



A group of friends and I organised for this brick to be place in Disneyland Ca in her memory.
We really wanted it to say All you need is Love as Shelly was a Beatles fan but Disneyland have strict rules about the bricks only saying a name and date.  I didn't want to put her date of death on it, I wanted to commemorate her life, not her death.  So I told a few white lies and outsmarted the mouse and told them her surname was McKinney Love.  I know Shelly would be amused.



yikes how did it get to be November already

Im sorry I am not posting regularly, I will try harder in the upcoming week to update daily to catch up on all our news. 

My biggest problem has been that blogger keeps insisting I log in in Arabic.  It would be easier if they gave me Swahili has an option. 

We are both good, all is happy and well.  Abby is just gorgeous and we are so pleased we made the decision to get a dog.  We also have a live in maid with us Delia.  Life will never be the same! Bert went to India last weekend for the Grand Prix in Delhi so we have lots of photos and news to share in the next few days now I have found a way to log in.