Archive for December, 2008

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Answers to questions

December 2, 2008

Yes, English is an official language here. So everyone speaks it to some degree, although with one of our security guards (in the apartment building) if you get beyond “hello, sir” and “goodbye, sir” he’s lost. The other security guard is from Nepal and was delighted when Paul said hello to him in Nepalese. His English is better, so Paul talks with him sometimes. At the college, all instruction is done in English, although the ladies (as the students are called) come in with varying levels of English and much of the instruction is to get them up to speed in the language.

The standard work week is Sunday through Thursday. Friday is the holy day. Most people have Friday off, except for the construction workers, service workers, retail clerks. The malls open in the afternoon on Friday. Some people work 7 days a week, but it may be by choice. They are here to make money to support their family back home.

Germany will be appearing in future blog entries. I won’t be taking my computer, but Paul will have his and we are supposed to have internet access in our hotels. I will be whipping my camera out frequently. It is supposed to be 39-44F in Heidelberg, so we may not have pictures of snow.

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Back by a popular demand of one

December 1, 2008

We got off the beaten path and into a busy neighborhood. You can see how the pedestrians just walk freely out into the street. No one here knows about “look both ways before crossing the street.”

The woman above is wearing distinctive clothing that is not local, but is definitely Muslim. I have not found out, yet, what nationality this style of dress indicates. Notice the Hardee’s advertisement with the juicy burger.
Here we have a Wimpy burger joint. The woman in yellow and her companions are in African style dresses. Notice the guy with a box on a handcart. Before I took this picture he was actually out in the middle of the road. And by the way, where’s Waldo?
Above is the sandlot, now empty, that had an untold number of cricket games going just yesterday.
I tried to take this picture to show the woman with the beautiful shayla with blue beading and sequins on it. She is in the center of the picture, just heading into a door. This neighborhood is predominantly East Indian, so it is rare to see an Emirati here.
Yes, this is a TGI Thursdays restaurant. There are also TGI Fridays restaurants here, but Thursday is the end of the week, so someone took advantage of that fact. Kinda like the Southern Fried Chicken restaurants that look suspciously like Kentucky Fried Chicken, right down to using SFC in their signage.
Here we have the Tourist Star trading company. There was also a Tourist Cafeteria in the neighborhood with hamburgers and fries on the menu. There were a lot of little hole in the wall food joints, most of which looked pretty questionable. I don’t think they have invented the Food Inspector here, yet.
Someone was kind enough to feed the pigeons.

We ventured into this neighborhood for a reason — the search for sewing supplies. Our efforts did not go unrewarded. We found a tailor supply shop and I bought a bunch of stuff and we chatted with the owner. I will definitely be going back as a loyal customer.
We often see public service type advertisements around town. Things like “UV rays can harm your eyes.” I particularly liked this one – Say no to Obesity. If I had only known it was that easy. “NO!” and the pounds just drop away.
Even better, I should fight obesity. Just haul off and let it have one right in the kisser! Just like any bully, it will turn tail and run away.
I took this picture of this mosque just because it is beautiful. Mosques are usually white, so to see one with a little color and interesting decoration was a pleasant change.
Here is a better, closer shot of the Burg Dubai, world’s tallest building for the moment.
And, one last shot showing several buildings and how each one has to be unique. They definitely don’t do the same thing twice.