Random Photos

Isn't this cool? I can't remember what it it's called. A leaf something. We saw it at the aqaurium in the Dubai Mall a couple of monts ago. I was totally fascinated watching it float around.

Updated: A leaf seahorse. Thanks, Mimi :-)




Here's Lyra with Mrs. Nasser, her KG2 (which is 5-year old KG) teacher. We liked Mrs. Nasser.




I like the timing of these two shots (see the one below). The three of them must be looking at the same thing.






Cutie patootie.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.






Here's the Burj Dubai. Now that the window are on, it looks beautiful in the sunshine. Supposedly there will be an opening on September 9. But they're still putting on windows - so that "opening" won't really mean the building is done.

Note: That "small" building to the right is a 50-story hotel called The Address.

Food Chains

If there's one way that America is spreading it's culture, it's through food chains. Of course everyone expects McDonald's, Burger King, and Starbucks. No doubt - they're here. But I was surprised to see how common Baskin & Robins (called B&R here), KFC and Dunkin Donuts is outside of the US. If anything, these restaurants are MORE prevalent than back home. You cannot go anywhere in Dubai without having a B&R nearby.

TGI Fridays is also everywhere. And Chili's, Pizza Hut, Applebees. I've never been to any of them here. Nothing against them, just feel a bit like I should be focusing on local food rather than stuff I can get at home.

The ones that really surprise me however are the chains that barely exist back home. Fudruckers, Gloria Jeans Coffee, and Tony Roma's for example. They must be focusing more on their international expansion. And Caribou Coffee - it's huge here and back home I just think of it as a Minnesota chain.

And where are the Taco Bells (one just opened) - they have definitely missed out on an expansion opportunity. Too busy selling the Beef-a-quita-rito to the masses in America, I guess.

Last week I was in Qatar. Across the road from my hotel was an Arby's, TCBY and Dairy Queen. That's the first I've seen any of those.

It's not all American chains - there are lots of local places, too. But Americans feel right at home here when it comes to junk food.

Cultural Differences

Moving here - there were obvious cultural differences that we expected to encounter. We had some minimal cultural education - and read a lot about arab and muslim cultures. No matter how much education there was, there are some surprising differences that I just wasn't expecting. Like:

1. How to "nod" your head. In India, they have a little head "bobble". Kind of side to side. At first, I interpreted this to mean "whatever" or "if you insist" - instead it means "Yes." I still find this a little confusing in a conversation and have to remind myself that it means "yes."


2. What to do with toilet paper. In many of the older buildings with traditional plumbing - you are expected to throw your used toilet paper in a bin and not into the toilet. There are no signs instructing you to do this - it is just expected that you will. If you forget - you run the risk of serious plumbing clog. New buildings and plumbing are now built to handle toilet paper - but if in doubt, best to not flush.

3. Using a toothpick without covering your mouth is considered extremely rude and disgusting. You might as well be cleaning the toe jam from between your toes as far as people here are concerned.

4. Honking your car horn is a subtle message that means, "Hey, just to let you know I'm here." Even though I know it's not meant to be rude I still cannot stop myself from responding with ire. "YES - can you not wait 10 seconds for me to get out of my taxi?!?"

5. When we moved to England, I discovered that Baked Beans was a common pizza topping. For that matter, so was sweet corn. Hmmm - just had never really considered ordering a baked bean pizza. Here, pizza toppings are limited to non-pork options (for obvious reason). So, really difficult to order Pepperoni or Sausage - and if you do it's some sort of beef pepperoni or sausage which just doesn't have the same flavor.

6. You would think that answering the telephone and saying good-bye would be the same around the world. I mean, you can pick up your phone and call anyone in the world, so why don't we have the same telephone curtesies. In the UK, at the end of a telephone conversation, I never figured out what I was doing wrong, but it always felt like I'd say good-bye and then they'd say good-bye, and then rather than hang up - they'd hang on the line. Finally, I learned to say "Cheers, bye" at the end of the call - and that seemed to work, they'd hang up. Here, when people answer the telephone they always say, "Tell me, Julie". If they can see me on caller ID, that's how they answer the telephone - not even Hello. Or if after they say hello and I identify myself, then they will say "Tell me, Julie".

7. Tassels on men's dress shoes is 100% American. I cannot think of one single culture where the men have tassels on their dress shoes. If you see a man anywhere in the world with tassels on his dress shoes, you don't even have to ask - he's an American.



5.

Lyra's First Piano Recital

Lyra's piano teacher, Miss Elena, is from the Ukraine. She is one of the most soft spoken people. But I noticed at the recital that all of her students had been taught how to come in and bow before taking their seat (I missed that in Lyra's entry) and then to bow again when leaving.

She has infinite patience with Lyra. Every lesson, she reviews the positioning of the fingers, keeping her knuckles soft, positiong her hands as if they were holding a tennis ball. Every lesson.

For the recital, this was the first time Lyra had played a grand piano. Up until now, she has been practicing on our Yamaha Clavinova (and the Clavinova they have in her practice cubicle at the music school).

Miss Elena came up to me afterward and said, "I jahst lahve Lyra. She is so beautiful wiss her white dress and zee blahck piano."

Going to Get Beer

You can drink alcohol in the UAE, but you need a drinking license. In Dubai, if you have a resident permit, you need a license to purchase or consume alcohol. Visitors and vacationers can drink alcohol, but only on hotel properties. Technically, if you're staying with friends at their home, you're not allowed to drink on their property unless you have a license.

There are liquor stores in Dubai, but they charge about 30% duty on everything. So, usually we purchase our alcohol when we go through duty free or we go to Umm al Quwain, a nearby emirate. In UAQ, there's a store called the Baracuda where you can get booze without a liquor license and without paying duty. So, every few months or so, we head over there. It's about an hour drive.

It is hilarious to see people coming out of the shop with their shopping trolleys FULL - as they can barely steer the thing to their car. BIG smiles are on everyone's face. This time, we didn't need too much. Picked up some wine for the neighbors and also stocked up for Ramadan (which comes around August 22 this year). And since Russell & Lyra will just be getting back from the US the weekend before that, this way we don't have to rush over there - as they close for the entire month of Ramadan.

On the way, there is a stretch of road with free-range camels. Almost every time we see some on the road. So, I had my camera out and ready for some photos.

Praying

In Islam, followers are required to pray 5 times a day. The praying times are based upon the sun rising and setting. First prayer is before sunrise and the last prayer is after sunset - and the rest are spaced pretty evenly throughout the day.

As a result, prayer is a common part of life here. In the US, where we're used to religion and praying being mostly a private thing - we can get uncomfortable with people expressing their religion in public. Especially praying - for the most part we view that as a very private moment.

Most commonly, people here will pray at mosques or prayer rooms. Almost all public buildings and offices will offer a prayer room. But if they don't, it's not unusual to see someone in the corner of a room praying, or in their office, or in the case of my photo below - on the roadside.

Hello, President Obama

Welcome to my neck of the woods.



There's lots of buzz around having Obama here in the Arab world. People are excited that he's here and are looking forward to hearing what he has to say. Today, Obama is in Saudi and tomorrow he travels to Egypt.

There's a bit of controversy around the choice of Egypt for his "speech to the Muslim world". Many Egyptians are upset that it seems to validate Mubarek's dictatorship. Ah well, you can't please everyone.

I would have like to see Obama come here to Dubai - if only to compare the security to last year's totalitarian lock-down during Bush's visit.

Booking a Taxi

On the back of every taxi in Dubai it says: Call Center 800 90 90 90.

You might think that if you'd like to book a taxi you should call this number. Nope. Don't ask me what they do - maybe they take complaints about the fact that the number on taxis is not the number used for booking taxis.

No, it is a totally different number that you call to book taxis. And the only way I know to find out that number for booking taxis is to call the above number, pretend to try and book a taxi, and then have them give you the other number you need to call. I deliberately say "pretend to try and book a taxi". Because if you call them and try to explain that you know they're not the booking number, but would like to get the booking number - you'll just confuse them and maybe they'll transfer you to another department which also can't book a taxi for you. So, better to just play dumb.

This is SO Dubai.

Obviously, I've now got the booking number stored in my Blackberry.

Igor (eee-gor)

Lyra rented this movie yesterday. It's another one of those animation films with famous actors doing the voice-over. I'd never heard of it. When I got home last night - she was about 30 minutes from the end of the movie. I sat with her to watch the last bit - but mostly I was concentrating on eating my soup while sitting on the stairs and not spilling it on my work clothes.

When she was getting ready for bed, I asked her what the movie was about. Here's her synopsis:

Well a monster makes another monster. She's really really big and she doesn't know how to say anything. She talks like she's a baby. And another monster tells all the monsters that they need to be evil and that it should be dark all the time. But he was wrong. And so the big monster is trying to destroy everything, but the other monster - the one who made her - tells her that she doesn't need to be evil. And so, she was destroying every thing and then she stopped. It wasn't magic or anything, she just stopped. I don't really know how that happened.

I'm always fascinated by the details that she picks up on. Sometimes she will ask me, "Remember that movie where the dog was wearing the red collar?" - or something equally obscure. If I ask for more details, she'll sometimes be able to give a better clue. But often it will be something like, "You know, the one where the red collar was shiny and the dog was wearing it." If I'm still stumped, she pulls out the pre-teen angst - "You JUST DON'T GET IT!"

The other day - I overheard a similar dialogue with Russell and he responded with, "Don't get sassy with me - I'm trying to understand what you're saying." Tears ensued.

Lyra's especially emotional when she's going through a growth spurt. She ate three bowls of last night's soup and then a large breakfast this morning. Let this be a warning to us. Eggshell alert.