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Visiting Authors

October 29, 2010

Posted by Kanga.

Wednesday was an extraordinary day. The Sharjah International Book Fair is happening currently. In addition to hundreds of publishers and book vendors, this year they have visiting authors from around the world. I was pleased to have the opportunity to hear Samar Dahmash-Jarrah speak. She is a Kuwait born Palestinian and has lived in several of the Middle East countries. She’s an experienced journalist. When 9/11 happened she was living in the States. Even though she is a shy person, she felt it impossible not to speak up and clarify that not all Muslims hate America and not all Muslims are terrorists. This led to her doing a lot of public speaking and media interviews. She then embarked on a wonderful project in which she collected questions that Americans wanted to ask Arabs, then (self-funded) travelled to several Middle East countries and asked these questions of random Arabs she met. These questions and answers are published in her book – Arab Voices Speak to American Hearts (2005). I have yet to read this book, but I will. She is currently teaching an honors course at the University of Southern Florida and is using Facebook to connect her students with Arabs around the world to continue the conversation, if you will. Individuals talking to each other is the best way to take the fear out of the “stranger.” They are no longer strangers.

So, that was a really excellent day, but it got better. There are other authors in town for the book fair – Lisa Dempster (Australia), Zohra Saed & Sahar Muradi (Afghan/Americans), Marsha Qualey (Cairo), and Octavia Nasr (former CNN senior editor of Middle East affairs). So, the Twitter community had a tweetup, of course. Here we are:

Below is PK Gulati, Octavia Nasr, Jenny Saleh, and Zohra Saed.

(published from my iPad)

Posted in Dubai | 3 Comments »

Random Sights

October 16, 2010

Posted by Kanga.

This sign and all it’s warnings seems a little overwhelming.

I’m glad to know where to get accurate I N F O R A M T I O N.

I suspect that the members of the Sunset Beach Community Church would be surprised to find that their left over t-shirts ended up in the bargin bin of an Asian grocery store in Dubai.

A new vending machine appeared in the mall across the street.

And, how do you know which perfume you want to buy? Well, there are samplers, of course.

Posted in Dubai, oddities | 2 Comments »

Magic School Bus

October 7, 2010

Posted by Kanga.

This picture may seem quite pedestrian to you, but this sight caught my attention. Two and one half years ago when we moved here, school buses were not yellow. It was extremely rare to see a yellow school bus. Somewhere along the way, the regulations changed and now they are everywhere. They also have stop signs mounted on the left side that are extended when the bus stops to pick up children. However, none of the other drivers know what that means and they just drive around the bus without stopping.

An even rarer sight – a bumper sticker. This is the one and only that I have seen. The print is quite small, so you have to be very close to even see it. It says “I may be slow…but I’m ahead of you.” Which is not particularly pithy here. Impatient drivers here do not pause long enough to read something like this. They are too busy speeding around slower cars.

Posted in Dubai traffic | 1 Comment »

Location, Location, Location

September 18, 2010

Posted by Kanga.
If you look at any pictures of the newer buildings of Dubai, you will notice that each is designed to stand out. There are all kinds of shiny bits, curves, twists, and angles. Taller, grander, more striking. The problem is that these buildings are built next to each other. I doubt that when the architecture firm makes the model to show investors or owners what the new building will look like that they include the neighboring buildings, but perhaps they should.

Here’s a prime example of a new building squeezed in to a space where it cannot really be appreciated.

Posted in construction, Dubai | 1 Comment »

Dubai Aquarium

September 9, 2010

We stopped by the Dubai Aquarium to purchase annual passes and took a quick walk through.

It was Otter nap time.

At first we thought these were beavers, but they lacked the appropriate tails. They are nutria.

This crab was quite large and tasty looking.

Posted in animals, aquarium, Dubai Aquarium, video | 1 Comment »

Ramadan, Iftar and Cultural Understanding

September 7, 2010

Posted by Kanga

Thursday evening we joined 9 of our Twitter friends and others at the Sheikh Mohammed Centre for Cultural Understanding for a dinner and cultural exchange. The purpose of the centre is to help visitors (both tourists and residents) better understand Emirati culture.

First a little explanation for those who might not be aware – Ramadan is a month long fasting experience that occurs once a year. During daylight hours, muslims refrain from eating and drinking. At sunset, the call to prayer sounds and the fast is broken with a meal called iftar. The fast is usually broken with water and a date (the fruit – either dried or fresh), then prayers are said and a full meal is eaten.

Here are some of our friends, Mita, Lin, Dru, Maddy, Mohammed, and Khalid.

Here is the food. Biryani, Fareed (aka Thaleed), Harees, Vegetable Magooga, and salad. It smelled delicious! Tasted delicious, too.

After dinner, we ladies covered in abayas and sheylas. Men were offered the option of wearing kanduras, but I don’t think any took the opportunity. Then we were off to the mosque.

Once inside the mosque, Nasif, a volunteer at the centre, explained what goes on inside and the basic tenets of Islam in a very pleasant and humorous way.

The whole point of this is one of cross cultural communication, to dispel myths and misunderstandings.

Along with dessert, we got a little fashion information. This is a type of veil called a niqab. (This is what all the fuss is about in France and a few other countries that assume if a woman is veiled she is oppressed. Wearing a veil is not required by Islam and is discouraged by the UAE government, as in, if a woman wants a government job, she cannot wear a veil. In the UAE, women wear them for their own individual reasons.)

And this is what is called a burqa (burka) in the UAE. It is a leather face guard designed to shade the eyes and face from the desert sun. It is usually worn by the older generation.

The volunteer staff were very open and answered any question frankly. It was a very pleasant evening. If anyone ever comes to visit us (hint) we will make a point of taking them to the centre.

Then we all had camel shaped chocolates (yum) and went home.

Posted in clothing, culture, Dubai, Ramadan | 2 Comments »

Identity as Paradox

July 28, 2010

Posted by Kanga.

Identity is a bit murky in the United States, however, it is nothing to the confusion in the U.A.E. In the U.S., just being born on the soil makes you a citizen. If you are not born there, it is possible to be naturalized by going through a detailed process or marriage to a citizen. The U.S. is a large piece of real estate, in case you haven’t noticed, so there are many identities within the overall American identity – yankee, southerner, Asian American, Hispanic, Native American, African American, residents of 50 distinct states, etc. Hundreds of ways to label oneself. But, when all is said and done, you can rest in being an American. (My apologies to Canadians, Central Americans and South Americans. I admit we are rather arrogant to refer to ourselves as if we were the only Americans.)

In the U.A.E., however, it is a very different story. Citizenship was created in 1971 and was given to many residing here, although not all. Citizenship by birth is given only to those whose fathers are citizens. Very few of the children born on this soil are citizens. Citizenship cannot be attained by any form of naturalization process. Not even marriage to a citizen results in citizenship, although I did read one reference to a citizen male being able to obtain citizenship for his wife (but not vice versa). In addition to being a recipe for a dwindling citizenship, this is also the cause of identity confusion for the many of non-citizens who have lived here all their lives.

Very early on we began to meet young people who have grown up here, but have to refer to themselves as Pakistani, Indian, Canadian, or whatever nationality their parents have, even though they have only visited their “homeland.” Culturally, they are… ??? There is not a word for it, no label. Some have attempted to create a label, like Dubaian, Dubai-ite, but nothing has stuck. They must be considered expats (expatriates – legal alien residents) just like the rest of us who have only arrived a short time ago.

In the video at this link Neither Here nor There a young Sudanese woman talks about the dilemma of being an expatriate both here and in her home country.

Posted in Dubai | 4 Comments »

On a Sandy Day You Can’t See Forever

July 8, 2010

Posted by Kanga.

Wednesday we took our first trip to the observation deck of the Burj Khalifa, world’s tallest building. I say first trip, because we will probably go back at least twice more – once on a clear day and again at night. It costs 100 AED per person ($27.00) and is worth the price.

My ears popped during the elevator ride, but it was a very fast (1 minute) and smooth ride. It was almost like riding in Charlie’s glass elevator, not because it was glass, but the walls were very shiny and there were multiple video screens built into the elevator walls showing views as we moved up.

Along the way from the entrance to the elevator and again from the elevator to the exit, there were excellent informational displays about the building of the Burj.

It is summer and that means that sand is blowing around. The haze in the photos is not smog, but sand. It is just that season.

Above is the northwest view showing the Metro train station in the foreground and the Arabian Gulf in the distance.

Above is the view to the north showing the skyscrapers clustered around Sheikh Zayed Road.

Above is the view to the east of the roof of the Dubai Mall, one of the largest malls in the world.

Above is the Address Hotel and in the background is the Business Bay – artificial extension of the Dubai Creek. The waterway will eventually extend to the Arabian Gulf making a complete circuit.

Above is the view of the Dubai Fountain. As you can see it has a complex system of spouts. It “performs” to music. It is very impressive to see. Also, as you can see it has an impressive crop of algae. Below is a man cleaning the fountain. You may need to click on the picture to enlarge it to see him.

The observation deck it not at the top of the burj, but only the 124th floor. There is an outdoor deck where you can get unobstructed pictures (no reflection off the windows) and an air conditioned indoor deck.

This is the view up from the observation deck to the top of the building. Below is us on the outdoor deck, reflected in the windows.

Posted in Burj Dubai, Dubai | Tagged Burj Khalifa, tourist | 2 Comments »

Iconic carts

May 21, 2010

Posted by Kanga.

A common site in Dubai is the cart. Actually, let me clarify, it is a common site in Deira and Bur Dubai, the older parts of the city.

The quintessential sighting we had was as we came around the corner heading for our apartment building, we passed a guy pulling an empty cart down the left side of the street (our lane) while talking on his cell phone. Unfortunately, we did not have time to get a picture of that. DaddyBird was too busy trying not to crash into him.

When we first arrived in Dubai, one of our fellow “newbies” described Dubai as “first world meets third world.” That’s a pretty accurate description and the use of carts is one excellent example of that.

It makes perfect sense to see these in the souk areas because the souks are pedestrian traffic only, so a hand cart is perfectly suited to the task of moving goods around.

Naif has car traffic, but you will still see many carts here because it is the easier way to move things from place to place.

It is not uncommon in Naif to see a family or group of women who are shopping with a cartman following them with a cart full of their purchases.

This video shows two cart-men negotiating the crossing of a busy street.

The most amusing use of carts is for moving.

Posted in Dubai, Dubai traffic, Naif | Leave a Comment »

Safe Driving

May 14, 2010

Posted by Kanga

One of the first things we noticed when we arrived back in Dubai last August was the seemingly sudden appearance of signs on the back of commercial vans and trucks stating something along the line of “Am I driving safely? If not, please call…” These have existed in the States for a long time, but they were a new sight on Dubai streets. Why is this of interest? Because of the standard “sign phenomenon.” The first few we saw suffered from creative spelling and grammar. “Pleas” instead of “please.” “Safle” instead of “safely.” Unfortunately, I didn’t get those first few on film and then correct signs started to appear. We have, however, collected 22 (to date) showing various variations on the theme.