So, following our exploration of the Naboodah house, we got back in the car and headed northeast again. These pictures are of the Sharjah coast line, sort of. There are three teardrop shaped bays. Here you can see the oil drilling structures in the background.
Similar to Dubai Creek, there are dhows and piles of cargo being shipped to India or other areas of the Arabian Gulf.
I’m not sure if this sign was in Sharjah or Ajman, but I thought it was interesting that we were on Sharq street. I’m easily amused and entertained. The houses in the background are referred to as villas. Here, you live in either a villa or an apartment. They don’t use the word “house.” The villas always have a wall around the perimeter of the property. Seems a little secretive, but it makes for a neat appearance and you don’t have to be concerned with whether the neighbor keeps his yard nice. I would have said “mows his lawn,” but that’s not common here.
Road Trip #1 – Leaving Sharjah
October 6, 2008Road Trip #1 – First Stop – Sharjah part 2
October 6, 2008Welcome to the House of the family Naboodah. This is part of the Sharjah Heritage Center. It is a restored house of a wealthy family.
The house is a series of rooms that surround an open courtyard. There is a partial second floor and walkway all around the top.
The extended family lived here and each of the doors above lead to a bedroom for each of the sons. There was also a game room for the children, a kitchen, a storeroom/pantry. I’m not sure why the toilet was upstairs, but it was.
Majlis seating is basically cushions and pillows on the floor. (Majlis = parlor or living room — where men would gather to shoot the breeze, drink coffee and smoke shisha). It was odd to see a wooden bed frame with the mattress up off the floor (just like a Western bed) with majlis seating down on the floor. (Sorry that I don’t have pictures of that. You’ll have to imagine it.)
(By the way, shisha is a very fruity tobacco smoked with a waterpipe.)
These are the lovely lattice works inside the rooms. These are on the top of inner walls just above eye level and provide ventilation between rooms. They are made out of gypsum.
Road Trip #1 – First Stop – Sharjah
October 5, 2008So, we hopped in a car with two of my co-workers and headed out to see something beyond Dubai. Dubai and Sharjah are two cities that are right up against each other. We can see Sharjah from the college. So, even though we had left Dubai, it was a case of little change in scenery because there is no break. The same with Ajman, which is on the other side of Sharjah. We navigated successfully to one of the historical sites in Sharjah. Here are the resulting pictures:
This is across the street from the Sharjah Heritage Center. I took it for the contrast between the new tall buildings in the background and the older, shabbier buildings in the foreground.
The Heritage Center is a large area of historic buildings which include an old style souk (market). Old style, if you don’t count the air conditioning.
This is the entrance to the Islamic Museum, which was closed. We are not sure if it was closed due to the holiday or some other reason. It was easy to see what was closed, because there were large padlocks on the doors.
Again, contrast of old and new.
As we entered the heritage center, there was a large courtyard area. As you can see, we did not encounter a lot of other tourists. It is still too hot for there to be a lot of people venturing out.
I’m not sure exactly what this was – possibly a replica of a city gate. That was closed off and propped up with poles (not looking too sturdy), so we did not venture behind it to discover what was there.
This is the outer wall. It is constructed of pieces of corral (as in corral reefs, of which there are many here). When you don’t have forests, you make structures out of other stuff!
This is the aforementioned large courtyard showing the outer wall and the modern world beyond.
I have more pictures of other things we did that day. Will post them separately in days to come.
A trip to the beach. (Accidentally)
September 29, 2008Kanga has this week off for the end-of-Ramadan holiday, “Eid al Fitr”, so yesterday we and a couple of her co-workers took a little trip to some of the smaller northern Emirates: Sharjah, Ajman and Umm al Quwain. We saw a few museums and other sites, many only from the outside since they were closed for the holiday. It was still a fun trip and very interesting; we will have many ideas about what we want to go back and see on future trips. One of the highlights of the day was a wrong turn we took on the way from Ajman to Umm al Quwain which took us into the area of Hamriya, an area mostly dominated by industry and shipping since it is a designated “Free Zone” of Sharjah. “Dominated” is not really a very descriptive word in this case. It is a very large area with only a few industrial compounds, but even fewer homes. However as we passed through the area of the houses we noticed that we could see the Arabian Gulf nearby, so we decided to take a look since we hadn’t seen it up close yet. (Yes, the ARABIAN Gulf, NOT the ‘Persian’ Gulf. Not on this side of it at least!)
When we rounded the block going towards the water we discovered there was a lovely public beach area, and even more lovely water bordering that. Both Kanga and I took several picture with our cameras, but they really do not do the place justice! It tremendously beautiful. That water was so blue and there were so many sea shells on the beach. I haven’t seen a beach that pretty in a very long time.
If you come visit us sometime a trip there is a big must. besides being lovely it was deserted except for us! It was a pretty out of the way place so it may be relatively unpopulated anytime of the year.
Kanga took pictures of it and of other stops on our day trip that she will share as well.
Here is the address for the web album and a few of the pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/pauliancastle/TheBeachAtHamriya#
(Posted by Daddybird)
Awkward restaurant experience
September 27, 2008So last weekend we went to a restaurant in an expensive hotel to meet up with the Mac Users Group for Iftar (meal that breaks the daily fast). The cost was Dhs 158 each (somewhere in the neighborhood of $40.00 each). These dinners are usually buffets with a range of rice and meat dishes (and not much in the way of veggies). They had salmon, so I was happy. I will let Paul fill you in on the rest of that evening. I only mention it to set up the rest of this story.
A couple of nights ago we went out to walk in the neighborhood and Paul wanted to drop into the Iranian restaurant that he had seen on one of his earlier explorations of the area. We ended up approaching from the backdoor, rather than the front due to signage confusion. It was locked, so we started to go in search of the front door, but they opened it and said “Yes, sir?” So, they let us in the backdoor, then asked if we had reservations. Oh, oh. We did not. However, they proceeded to put us in a private room. The buffet was the usual meat and rice fare – no salmon ;-( So, as the evening progressed and we were getting the private room treatment, we began to wonder what this meal was going to cost us. It was a whopping Dhs 108 for the two of us (approx. $27 total).
We’re not sure if they put us in the private room because they didn’t have any other tables available, or because we were caucasians, or because that’s what they do with people who don’t have a reservation… It may have been to segregate us because there were no women in the main room. Restaurants often have “family rooms.” They are very concerned with separating “bachelors” from women (because of ogling). Family rooms tend to be noisy and full of kids running around poorly supervised, so I’ve decided that the next time someone says they are putting us in the family room, I will beg them not to. I’d rather be in a room of staring men than one full of uncontrolled children.
Saturday Misadventure
September 25, 2008So, following our Friday adventure, we had an interesting Saturday. We had two missions we wanted to complete – find the quilting store to buy sewing supplies and go to Homes R Us (yes, that is what it is called) to order our bed frame. The quilting store is in Bur Dubai, the area of the city that is across the “creek” from us. Daddybird figured out what bus line would take us there and we got on the bus without too much trouble. This particular bus had display screens on the ceiling telling you what stop was next, HOWEVER, the display was off by several stops, so we exited the bus way too early. It was hot and we walked quite a ways trying to find the landmark we were seeking, then walked all the way back in case we had gone the wrong way. So, Daddybird studied the map in the bus stop shelter, which was air conditioned, thankfully. We got on another bus and were able to get within a couple blocks of our destination. We found the quilting store, which was interesting in itself. It is a small retail space. It wasn’t really designed for shoppers to come in and browse. It was clearly an Indian family business and they were set up to actually make quilts right in the shop for you, apparently. Anyway, I was successful in buying some thread, needles, seam ripper, etc.
Next we set off to figure out how to get to our next destination. After standing/sitting in the heat, watching the buses go by and being unsuccessful at flagging down a taxi, I was getting dehydrated. I suggested that we go to a shopping center I had seen as we got off the bus and get something to drink. Which we did, but since it is Ramadan and one cannot/should not drink or eat in public before sundown, we each took our drinks into the restrooms and drank them there, out of sight. Next, we ended up back at the same bus stop waiting for buses/taxis. We got on a bus that Daddybird said showed on the map as going right by our destination. It did indeed go right on by our destination at full speed. So, we ended up staying on the bus all the way to the end of the route which went out into the industrial area and the labor camps.
These pictures aren’t particularly good, but what can you do when you are in a moving bus? As you can see, it is somewhat bleak in the industrial area. Large areas of open space between industries.
The picture above was taken at the end of the bus line. There did seem to be some civilization out there, so it wasn’t like being completely stranded, but in the heat, those buildings were a very long walk away.
Here is Daddybird at the end of the bus route. There were three buses. The one we came in on. The one at the front of the line that had no driver and the hood over the engine was up, which is never a good sign. And the bus in the middle, which we were able to take back the way we came after a short wait. It took an hour to get out to the end of the line and about an hour to get back.
This is a picture of one of the labor camps. It is not a very good example, but the best I could get from a moving bus. They actually call them labor camps (for Westerners that is a loaded phrase). Employers here are required by law to provide housing for expatriate employees. There are an astronomical number of expatriate construction workers, housekeeping workers, etc. Many employers have these apartment buildings out in the boondocks and bus their workers into work. The livability of these accommodations varies greatly. Some are clearly well maintained, others are very slum-like and overcrowded. There were some where the air conditioner was missing and there was just a gaping hole where it should be. I cannot even imagine how hot it would get inside. There is clearly room for better regulation of worker accommodations. I’ve noticed a tendency here to declare that something be done without a clear delineation of what that means – like how many people to a room, building maintenance, air conditioning, etc.
I’ve heard people remark about how bad these labor camps are and I agree some are very bad. But, I also think what American employer would provide housing and transportation for manual laborers?
So, Daddybird and I seem to be bad tourists, or maybe just accidental tourists who get on the wrong bus and see things 99.99% of tourists don’t see. It’s not a bad way to go, I think. (By the way, our adventure cost us 2 bus fares each which is about $1.10 each. We’re not only accidental tourists, but cheap ones, too. Just try to find a 2 hour tour for $2.20.)
P.S. We did make it to the store eventually and ordered our bed frame which is now in place and beautiful.
A good day
September 23, 2008If you are already jealous of us, this is a blog entry you might want to skip. Two good things happened yesterday. #1 Our electricity/water/sewage bill came. Not many people would say that is a good thing, but for one month it came to Dhs 217 (approx. $59.00). Our water bill alone back in Ptld was $50.00/mo. So, considering that we have the air conditioning going 24/7, $59.00 is pretty amazing.
#2 We went up to the roof last night and swam in the pool. We could see the beautiful city lights from up there. It was great to swim under the stars. It was warmer outside than in the pool, so when we got out we weren’t shivering. A very pleasant evening indeed and one that bears repeating.
One of our orientation sessions was about culture shock and the stages one goes through after moving to a new country. This included an initial high followed by depression followed by a return to balance. I keep asking Paul when the depression is going to hit. We haven’t seen hide nor hair of it. Going to the immigration office gives me the heeby geebies, but that’s as close as I’ve come.
Friday Adventure
September 14, 2008
This is the entrance to the Gold Souk. I didn’t take any pictures inside. We were too busy trying to get out to stop and take pictures. As we approached, a man came up alongside us. “Sir, excuse sir, watches? good watches? Rolex….” and he had a really long spiel about the wares in a particular shop. After he ran out of watch brands, he started in on “handbags, Louis Viton …” etc. Then when we approached his shop he tried to steer us into it. This scenario played out several times. I stopped to look in a showcase window only once to see the actual wares and the salesman came to the door and beckoned us in. Too aggressive for me. Not how I like to shop. The prices on the rings that we were looking at were way out of our range. Of course, haggling is expected and that is only a starting price, but it would have taken a lot of haggling to get it to what we could afford. We will have to be much richer before going back to the Gold Souk.
We think this may have been the Old Souk. It was not open. It may just be closed all of Friday (holy day) or it may have openned after sunset. We wandered into the Spice Souk, too. They were not open for business, but we could smell the wares. Yum.
Next we walked down the waterfront of Dubai Creek. The boats are tied up 4-5 deep along the edge.
Along the creekside there are piles of goods to be loaded on the boats and shipped to India or other areas in the Persian Gulf.
Notice the sophisticated way the goods are secured to the boat with wooden pallets and various poles. Pretty amazing.
Here’s a shot of Paul, the goods piled along the creekside and the buildings along the street. A bit of a contrast between the piles of tires, boxes, etc. and the high rise hotels with a creek view.
Some of the goods looked more like garbage.
Then we came to a section where there are small boats that take people on tours of the creek (bay/inlet). The hawkers were out trying to encourage us to take a ride. It was a mild evening, only 100F, but we will wait for this until the weather improves.
Above is one of the tour boats. Below is the second section of goods waiting to be loaded onto boats. It seemed to go on forever.
As we were walking along this section I noticed an entire motor and transmission among the goods to be loaded. Maybe this is where it came from? This stripped and abandoned car is a very unusual sight.
Here is one of the painted camels. Notice the falcon motif. The falcon is to the UAE as the eagle is to the USA. There is a little boy standing under the camel, not a fifth leg.
You can probably guess why the we liked this camel.
Here is a building with the lighted holiday greeting “Ramadan Kareem” which is something like It’s Ramadan, be generous! You see this a lot in shopping malls.
We had another adventure on Saturday, but that’s a tale for another day.
Transliteration
September 11, 2008
Here is a picture of my name plate. Notice that it has my name transliterated in Arabic above it. (Read from right to left.) I especially like the long flat part. I’m not sure if that is how the letter is written or if they were lengthening it out to match the length of the English.
There is a lot of transliteration here, especially on store names. For example, Baby Shop is not shown in Arabic with the words for “baby” and “shop, ” but is spelled out in the Arabic letters that come closest to Baby Shop. They don’t have a “p,” so it is probably Baby Shob. A classic example is a furniture store called “2XL,” which in itself is a strange name, but it is transliterated in Arabic as “2eksl,” again no “x” in the alphabet.
I got new business cards, too. They are in English on one side and Arabic on the other. I took pictures and was going to post them here, but then thought twice about the wisdom of posting my contact info on a blog. Duh. So, you will just have to imagine what they look like.
Living the Travel Channel – Jumeirah
September 9, 2008
First let me apologize for posting so many posts in one day. It is difficult for me to get time to post things as my work schedule is hectic and I feel guilty taking time to do personal things. However, today I am putting an extra long day because I can’t leave until my ride leaves, so I am taking advantage of it.
These pictures are of the Madinat Jumeirah Resort area taken on August 27th. Our “convocation” ceremonies were held here in the conference center. It was quite a “to do” complete with a multimedia/laser/pyrotechnics show. There really were fireworks, I kid you not.
The resort has a conference center, a hotel, several restaurants, and a souk (shopping area) all around these canals.
Around town are camels and Arabian horses like this one similar to the painted cow art project that started in Chicago. This camel had the continents and oceans on the other side.
You might notice that some of these pictures have a hazy look around the edges, as if I were photographing Barbara Stanwick, but it is only because it was so humid (and I mean SO HUMID) that the lense was fogged up. It is interesting to live in a place where the condensation is on the outside of the windows not the inside. Sign of a bad day = water dripping from the airconditioning vents and condensation on the outside of the windows.
It is a very beautiful place and I look forward to going back on a more hospitable weather day.
