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.

They're Moving the Road

They're moving the street outside my office 6 feet to the left. It's hard to may be see it in the picture. It's a one-way frontage road along one of the main arteries of Dubai, Sheikh Zayed Road. On the right of the red & white barriers is where the current street runs. On the left is where the new road will go.

Why? All is a mystery.

Surrounded by Poverty

An ironic thing about living in Dubai (and anywhere in the Middle East) is the amount of poverty that surronds you. Especially in Dubai - where the mad pursuit of luxury is the key them around here - it was a surprise to me to see the levels of poverty all around me.

The majority of the immigrant population here are laborers. Laborers are here by the millions - and queues continually forming for more to come. They work in the massive construction sites, are factory workers, are housemaids or nannies, take care of the gardens, work the fast food restaurants, deliver your dinner. Pretty much the same list of jobs you'd take as a high school or university summer job. Labor immigrants come primarily from the Sub-Continent (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh) or the South Pacific (Phillipines or Indonesia).

In both of these areas, the standard of living is like nothing we live with in the US. It is quite normal for a family of 10 or more (parents, grandparents, and children) to live in small one-room homes. During the night, sleep rolls are spread out as bedding for everyone. People sleep with arms and legs twined about each other through the night. Come morning, the beds are rolled up and the room becomes kitchen/sitting room for the rest of the day. And this is the working class not the poor. Usually people aren't starving (unless some natural disaster has occurred). But meals are simple (rice, fish or veg) and do not vary much from day to day.

For those laborers that come to Dubai, they come for the opportunity to send money back home to help take care of the grandparents and children. There is no minimum wage in Dubai, but there are laws about what an employer must provide for someone coming here to work for them. According to the law, employers must provide housing, transportation, clean water, food, and medical care - in addition to their salary. Their salary is anywhere from $200 - $500/month - depending upon job.

For many laborers, they are provided with a communal room/apartment. The room usually has 3 to 5 bunkbeds (depending upon size). Often there is a little cooker/kitchen area, a shower and bath room on each floor, and sometimes a TV or social room. Of course there is story after story of how this is not the case, it is true that people can be treated inhumanely. But these employers are breaking the law and as with everything there are horror stories. And when you consider what many of these people came from - we might find it overcrowded and lacking privacy whereas they may find it to be comfortable.

If the laborer is working in a household, they often will have their own small room with private bathroom located in the house (or just outside the front or back door). When you see these little small rooms for the first time, you wonder how could anyone live in these rooms. Our maid's quarters would qualify as a bedroom in the US. You can comfortably fit a single bed in there, but a double bed would fill the room. There is a private bath with shower off to the side. Up until now, it has been our basement/gararge storage area. And although it's perhaps more spacious, I wonder if it's a bit lonely.

And when you're surronded by this - and you hear what are the circumstances of people back home, it feels like you can do just a little bit to help them by "hiring" chores done. From the beginning, we've had someone coming over to clean the house. At first it was a couple days a week - and then we went to daily. We pay her about $220/month for a few hours cleaning each day. She nearly doubles her salary - and then we find out that she has to give this to her employer to re-imburse him. Although I wonder if he keeps only part of it - otherwise why would she do this? And when she works for us on Friday (her off day) - she gets to keep the money. We also have a man who comes by on Thursdays to wash the cars (and boy do they get dusty in one week). He washes both of ours and the neighbor's next door, too. We each pay him about $40/month. Really, he's a poor car washer, but we can't stand to fire him because we know he needs the money - and it's a way for us to help. And we have pool service come by twice per week, but I don't know what he's paid since we pay a fee to the pool company (but probably he earns $200 -$300/month).

Recently our housekeeper approached us about an alternative situation. She had a neighboring friend who was losing her place to live (the family were headed back to Lebanon). And her friend really wants to stay - since she has to support her son back home. And would we be willing to take on this woman as our maid to live in our maid's quarters? And with all the families moving out - she really worried about finding a new place. And even though we like Myla, she is unpredictable and can go for several days or weeks without showing up if something is going on at her own house. So, we said yes. And now we're getting a live in maid.

It feels odd. But I do feel I have a different perspective on live-in help than I might have had when we first moved here. It feels a bit like we have the means to help - and she needs to work - so we should.

Carry Me Back to Old Virginny

A Ride on a Pirates' Ship

Last Thursday, Lyra and I went out to eat while Russell had Guys' Night Out. We sat outside at the marina and watche a parade of pedestrians on the sidewalk. It was a pleasant evening to be out. As it got darker, we noticed the lights of an amusement area that was set up on the other side of the marina.

Lyra wondered how far away it was. Is it 20 meters? No. 20 Blocks? No, somewhere in between there - maybe 2 blocks. I could tell it was her way of hinting that maybe we could head over there after dinner. I told her we could and asked her what ride she'd like to go on if we went.

"The Boat," she answered without hesitation. I could tell this was a ride I could probably stomach - so agreed that we could go on after dinner. "If it makes your stomach upset, I could go by myself," she volunteered. As we continued to watch in the distance Lyra queried, "I wonder if I could scream as loud as they can." I assured her she could - but to please not try it now.

When we wandered over to the amusements, we checked with the ride monitor if he'd allow Lyra on. He nodded and we went to go get our tokens. I'm sure you've seen these rides at the carnival before. They look like a boat with about 5 or 6 rows of seats on each end facing toward the center. When the ride gets going it rocks back and forth - like a big swing. If you're lucky to be positioned on the far outer seats, you end up looking straight down during the upswing of your end. Our boat was a pirates' ship complete with crows nest.

Lyra and I were the only ones to get tokens, so we had full choice of where to sit. We positioned ourselves toward the middle. I was feeling a bit nervous that the full-on downward tilt from the end seats would be overly scary. But she seemed in a wild mood and was ready for the thrill. As the boat started swinging - I got nervous all of a sudden that Lyra would be flying out of the ride - so I grabbed her around the shoulders. And then she started screaming - and she was just as loud as the others.

Gradually, we picked up height and Lyra yelled, "I feel like I'm going to pee my pants. Every time I look down, it feels like I need to pee. Do you feel like you need to pee?" The next few swings were hilarious as she screamed each time, "Oh no, I'm going to pee my pants." Then she told me, "Just don't look. Close your eyes. It's much better that way." But of course, she couldn't keep her eyes closed and continued screaming and having a ball.

As we got off, we both were laughing and looking for another thrill ride. She wanted to go on the swings which are on a chain and then spin around in a circle, but I was too nervous that she'd slip out. We checked on a few other rides, but the other monitors wouldn't let her on. So, in the end, she went on a kiddie roller coaster. She looked at it and wistfully said, "I just wish it was going a bit faster." Yes! Another coaster rider in the family.

Things I Like

OK, so not to be a total crumudeon. Here are things I like. Let's see if I surprise Russell with any of these.

1. Curling up in bed with Lyra when she can't fall asleep.
2. Peanut Butter
3. Russell waking up early to visit with me before I leave for work.
4. Drivers who give a friendly wave when I've just let them merge in front of me.
5. Discovering a book that just makes me want to read and read and read until I'm done.
6. A really great salad (cottage cheese, blue cheese sprinkles, a little ham, some pickled beets, chick peas, and a sprinkle of chow mein noodles).
7. My little red sports car.
8. Finding a parking space right by the door.
9. Kids with good manners.
10. The ring of the bell during yoga meditation.
11. Basil's cute little pink tongue sticking out while he sleeps.
12. Sticky, gooey cinnamon rolls.
13. Changing into lounging clothes after a day at work.
14. The trumpet (or trombone) flourish to signify All Things Considered is on.
15. Laying on the couch at Dad & Susie's with nothing to do.
16. Brandy Manhattan at DiMarini's on a dark winter Friday evening.
17. Scoring a baseball game.
18. Having a housekeeper.
19. Thunderstorms with lots of big giant cracks of thunder.
20. Watching Lyra and Russell when they don't know I'm there.

Things I Don't Like

Want to pull my chain? I admit I'm probably arming all of you with dangerous information.

I Don't Like:
1. Dishes put away so that the big item is teetering on top of the smaller one(s).
2. Same dish falling out of the cupboard onto my head or foot.
3. Getting downstairs and realizing that I left something in my bedroom (up on the 3rd floor).
4. People who won't hold the lift when they can hear you walking toward the open door.
5. The same people who hit the "close door" button as you are getting off so that the doors slam onto you as you exit.
6. Drivers who "dash around" in rush hour traffic just to get ahead of one car.
7. Someone who's willing to do a half-assed job and let down the members of their team.
8. People who stir up hate and fear.
9. Mint/Menthol lip balm.
10. Cars that don't allow you to adjust the shoulder belt height (cutting across my neck).
11. When someone believes that others are beneath them or less deserving than them.
12. Cough drops.
13. Waking up before my alarm and not getting back to sleep.
14. Even worse, falling back to sleep and oversleeping my alarm.
15. Filling my car with gas.
16. Putting folded laundry away.
17. Answering the phone.
18. Clutter.
19. Saying good-bye to visitors.
20. Watching medical dramas.

Flamingos

The UAE sits in the migratory path of flamingos as they are traveling from Iran & Iraq toward East Africa. Prior to the massive expansion seen in Dubai, there used to be a bird sanctuary (Ras al Khor) that sat on the outskirts of town. Now, the sanctuary is still there, but it's no longer on the outskirts of town. It's in the middle of town.

On a clear day (which today is NOT) I can see from my office over to the sactuary that is on the horizon. Today, the horizon is a beigey haze of dust (have I ever mentioned how dusty this place gets?) As Dubai has expanded, the limits of the sanctuary have been redrawn (smaller of course). Now they're planning some housing development called Flamingos. And wouldn't you know it will border right onto the water. But still - a fairly generous plot of mud and salt flats have been set aside for them.

We regularly travel past the bird sanctuary. There are a few byways where you can pull off to stop and then go out to these "hides" that have been built out into the mud flats. We've always said, "next time we'll need to stop and see." And finally - a few weeks ago - we did! It was lovely. We were able to get quite close to the birds as they were standing there eating. Every once in a while a small group would head off and with their long spindly legs it looked very much like they were marching in unison. A few would take off or soar by our hide and then land nearby. The feathers on their underwings have really stunning colors.

The hides that were built use a traditional Arabic building style called wind tunnels. In the days before A/C, these were built to help cool the houses and buildings. They look like super fat chimneys sticking up above the rooftop levels. As winds go by, they have cross-walls that catch the breeze and direct it down into the building. We were amazed to find how effective they were at keeping the bird observation buildings a super comfortable temperature on a hot day. We're anxious to go back now that the super sweltering days of summer have set in to see what it's like on a 40 degree day.

Turkey

Our first day in Turkey. I forgot the charger to my camera so was only able to get a few shots from the first day.

We were surprised to see this sticker on the wall of the first place we stopped for lunch.


Sultanahmet Mosque


Tradition states that if you put your thumb into the hole of this column - if it comes out wet then you will be healed.
Old stones and columns used to build the underground cistern that stored water for the city. The rumor is that this stone was a piece of rubbish that was used. It is the face of Medusa and it was installed on its side to indicate that the new Christians in the city did not believe in her anymore.
On the ferry to Prince's Island where we took a phaeton ride and stopped for yummy fish.

Easter

For Easter, we had a couple of friend over for egg dying and easter hunt the next morning. The girls had fun coloring eggs, the moms had fun hiding them, and the dads jumped in the pool (sorry any neighbors who may have been woken at midnight).

Russell grilled racks of lamb - his new speciality! Yum. Coming to a cook out near you - that will be an oft-repeated dish.

Liz showed the girls how to color on their eggs with crayons and leave decorations on the eggs after they were dipped in dye.

Plenty of eggs for each of the girls to dye. Lyra was a bit worried that the Easter Bunny would hide her eggs and then the other girls would find them. So, we had to make sure that she put her name on the 3 or 4 that she'd like to make sure she kept.
Peter always enjoys being part of the action. Here he is curled up near the step up into the dining room area.
Jim & Liza
Kyle & Liz
And us! Unfortunately, no pictures of the egg hunt. At 6am, I was woefully unprepared for pictures. Needless to say the girls were running everywhere in search of their goodies.

Later, when everyone went home, I know that some didn't take their fair share of the eggs. We made two batches of egg salad plus several mornings and lunches with boiled eggs. I'm sure we had at least 2 dozen eggs from the morning.

Swimming

Not surprisingly, since we've moved here we swim a lot more often. As a result, Lyra's pretty comfortable in the water. I've always felt that swimming lessons were one of those must-do things every parent should enroll their kids into. And I still feel that way - but so far, we haven't had Lyra in any lessons (other than about 3 lessons we went to when she was 1-year old, but the pool water was only 75 degrees and that was just too cold for both of us). Since moving here, we have a pool in back and a pool at the health club, plus practically everywhere you go here there is a pool. So far, Lyra has been learning by just horsing around in the water - with a few tips and pointers thrown in here and there.

Last year, Lyra made the leap from needing a swimming vest to being comfortable swimming around without one. She still didn't venture too far away from the side of the pool, but was willing to swim about 5-10 yards toward us. And for the most part, she still needed to be in water that wasn't over her head.

This year, it looks like Lyra will learn to be a lot more comfortable swimming down into the deeper areas of the pool. She's been able to tread water a little bit and is feeling more and more comfortable with diving for pool toys down into the deep. Sooner or later, I still want her to get some swimming lessons, but for now - I'm just glad that she's getting a lot of opportunities to swim and get comfortable in the water.

Over the winter, we've had a bit of a break in swimming. Our pool out back doesn't have a heater - and I was surprised how many months of the year it's really out of commission. Part of it is that it doesn't really get a full day of sunshine until mid-April and that's about when it's warm enough for me. Russ got into it sometime in late March I think. Then in about late September or mid-October it's again too cold. So a good portion of the year where we really don't use it. We've thought about getting a heater - would cost about $1,400 or something like that. But never did it - and now there's only one more winter left in our stay here.

The pool at the health club is temp controlled - so we can use that a bit more. But after about November and until the end of January it's too chilly for swimming - at least for me it is. So, we do have a couple months of the year where we don't swim that much.








Sorry for the recent pause in blogging. I've had a few issues getting pictures to post onto my entries. And rather than figure it out, I've been a bit lazy.

Cats and Dogs

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

View from my chair

Here's what I look at every day from the chair at my desk.

This is one of the stations for the Dubai Metro. A couple months ago, the Dubai Metro put all their station names up for sale. So, companies, individuals, or anyone who wanted could put in a bid to have the naming rights for different stations. I haven't heard who won - so couldn't tell you what the name of this station will be. But just like everything around here - they probably will never go by their official name.

Our street is 23b Street. No one, not even taxi drivers seem to know the name of our street. Well, maybe some of the taxi drivers, but not all of them. So, how do we tell people where we live? We start from a commonly known landmark and then give directions. Our street is "from the Spinney's roundabout take the road to the t-junction, turn left and our street is the second left".

So, this station will probably be known as "the station opposite the Fairmont hotel".

These Are NOT Some of Her Favorite Things

Last night at bedtime, Lyra came up to my room while I was changing into some PJs to lounge around. When she came in my room, I was already changed and she said to me:

Lyra: Wow, that was quick. Have you already brushed your teeth?
Me: No, I'll do that later. (Thinking of the glass of wine I was going to have after her bedtime.)
L: I always like to do the hardest things first.
M: What are the hardest things?
L: Well, not really hard, but the things I don't like. Like brushing my teeth and brushing my hair. I don't really like to do that, so I do that first.
M: What about putting on your pajamas?
L: That's easy. But I don't like putting my pajama top over my head. That makes me feel weird.
M: Well, if you don't want to wear a pajama top, that's ok, too. (Knowing that there's no way Lyra would go for that - she likes to have her PJs on.)
L: No, I can put them on quickly or sometimes they can unbutton.

As we were in my room, I was getting my clothes out for work the next day and sorting through my sports bag to get fresh clothes for yoga. When we were done getting everything ready for the morning, I said to Lyra:

M: I'm glad that's sorted! That's one of my least favorite things to do.
L: Why?
M: I just don't like to have to put away all my clothes that I wore today and then figure out what I'm going to wear tomorrow. I'm glad to have that done and ready for the morning.
L: I like choosing clothes. But I don't like putting clothes away, do you?
M: No, not really. But I like having my room tidy, so I try to put them away.
L: I don't like folding. That's why I like to wear dresses. Because it's only one thing and then when you take it off, you only have to fold one thing.
M: (hmm, interesting insight - I didn't know this) Well what if you have to wear bloomers or shorts with your dress? Then you need to fold two things.
L: Well, I guess that's the thing about nature.
M: (not exactly sure, but thinking she means - well, that's how it is sometimes). You're very good at folding. I'm surprised you don't like it - usually we like things that we're very good at.
L: Yeah, but I don't like it. But Baba does. He likes folding.
M: (nearly laughing) Hmmm, I don't think so. He does it because we have a lot of laundry, but I don't think he really likes it.
L: I think he does. And so does Myla (the woman that come to clean the house).
M: Well, Myla probably doesn't like it either. Not many people do.

Lyra LOVES this

It's Raining Mud!

We've been having quite a bit of rain lately. Well, quite a bit by Dubai standards. According to the weather service, the storm patterns off the Indian Ocean are coming in further north than they normally do - and so we're getting more rain. And it's quite nice, actually. It's been keeping the weather a bit cooler and vastly more pleasant this spring than last (can you really call it "spring" when your temps are in the 90s and near 100?) On the east coast of Dubai, it's much more common to have rain - and there are actually some cities there that are quite green and lush. But the Hajar mountains run down from north to south and usually all the rain falls before the storms can get over here to us on the west.

I heard the rain around 3am this morning as I was in bed. Usually, when it rains here, the rain lasts for about 15 - 20 minutes. Long enough for the rain to pick up all the sand and dust in the air and rain mud all over everything outside. It's not the cleansing soaking rain that we're used to in the mid-west. But today, it rained for several hours - a slow steady rain. And by the time I was up this morning there was enough wetness to actually start to feel like things were getting cleaned off a bit.

Yesterday, there was a small sand storm, so everything (EVERYTHING) was coated in a fine dusting of fine powder. So, at first, the rain was just creating little mud puddles on everything. When I got into my car and switched on the windshield wipers the sand was whipped up and smeared all over the windsheild. However, as I drove in, the rain got heavier and did a nice job of washing off the front and top of the car - the sides are still in need of some serious washing down.

When I look out over the gulf, there look to be some huge storm clouds out there. I'm not exactly sure which direction they're moving, but if it's coming this way, we're going to have a doozy of a thunderstorm today. I missed the last one when I was traveling - so it would be great to see huge booming thunder & lightning.

Is Yoga a Cold Prevention Remedy?

For the past couple years, I've barely had a cold. I've been feeling clever thinking that my yoga routine has been keeping the colds at bay. Many yoga practitioners swear by the benefits of yoga for preventing simple diseases (like colds) - and even in helping to alleviate more complex things like asthma. When I'm not traveling, I try to go to yoga 4 times a week.

But then last week, I started getting a cold. Since I've been travelling, I haven't been going to yoga as regularly as I normally do, so I'm left wondering if my drop off in yoga left me more vulnerable or if it was just my imagination that yoga was keeping the colds at bay. Certainly, since I've returned home and re-started my yoga routine, I seem to be doing better again (that is until yesterday when I felt the full-on return of aches). That could also be because I went to the water park on Friday in brisk windy 70 degrees. Who's to know.

There are two poses that are supposed to be particularly good at helping your immunity.

The shoulder stand (no, this is not a picture of me) is called the "queen of poses". As you do this pose, you are tucking your chin into your chest and massaging your thyroid gland. This is supposed to help release a lot of toxins from your thyroid - which can only be good, right? When I first started doing this pose, I'd actually get a bit claustrophobic because having my chin tucked in so far made it more difficult to breathe. So, you do have to figure out how to breathe a bit differently, which forces air into new parts of your lungs - also helping to clear areas of your lungs that don't normally get much air.

If you're good at this pose, you should hold it for 1-3 minutes. Usually, I end up holding it for about 1 minute in my classes (or some variation of the pose).
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One word of warning, this pose requires some warm up - so don't just try it - first do some full-body stretches beforehand..
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The headstand is another great pose for helping your immunity. Yoga theory holds that there's great benefit in being upside down (inverted). It helps to direct blood into different parts of your body and forces different breathing (as in the shoulder stand). The headstand is particularly great for helping to deliver blood to your head - specifically to your pituitary gland. This gland helps regulate several hormones in your body and can be a great source of benefit for many different symptoms. But specifically for colds, it helps to clear your chest of congestion and directs a different pressure onto your diaphram to breathing into different areas of your lungs.

This pose doesn't require much warm up - but you may want to do it against a wall if you're worried about falling over.


So, the next time you feel a cold coming on, give these two poses a try for a couple of days and see if they help.