Ramadan is over Sunday next week. I don't know if I'm going to make it to then without starving to death.
I don't mean to whine, but, as a westerner, it kind of sucks to be forced by law to follow the ramadan diet. In what feels like the billionth week I have lost so much weight that my stomach is actually concave. It's not that I don't want to cheat. It's that I can't. Places that sell food aren't open during fasting hours and I only have a tiny refrigerator (currently stuffed with dates) and a little kettle that makes hot water. So even if I could buy food during non-fasting hours I have no where to put it or make it.
For the muslims, it's not that bad. They have family spending the entire day cooking food for iftar. They stay up until the wee hours of the night eating. I have a narrow window to get food and then I have to eat it all in the 3 hours between the breaking of the fast and when I have to go to bed.
Yesterday, as an example, I had four packets of oatmeal and two cokes for breakfast. Then, 2 hours before the breaking of the fast, I found myself laying on my bed trying to not throw up because I was so hungry. Literally the minute the fast was up I was at the food court buying dinner and snacks. Over the course of 3 hours I ate an entire medium pizza, two garden salads, two rolls, two nectarines, 3 plums, 8 cookies, two oatmeal bars, half a bag of yogurt potato chips (and I don't even like potato chips) and before I went to bed, another packet of oatmeal because I was still hungry.
I would buy cookies and snacks to eat during the fast except you have to keep everything in the refrigerator or else it goes bad in a day. Even my oatmeal turns into these disgusting clumps and I have to break it up before I can fix it, and it doesn't taste quite right. Cookies will turn into a crumbly mush about 12 hours after the packet is opened. And I've found from past experience that I will eat an entire box of cookies waiting for the fast to end, causing me to have a stomach ache for the rest of the night. Part of the problem is the heat and humidity, and that's compounded by the fact that there's no air conditioning in my room unless I'm here. I've gone to work and come back 10 hours later only to find my grapes shriveled up like raisins in the short time I was gone.
Oh well. Just 8 more days. I can survive that...
Saturday, September 12, 2009
dates
I just got back from the fruit and vegetable market. AH took me so I could buy some dates. I've been kind of obsessed with them since I had them Thursday night.
It's kind of surprising how many different types of dates there are. That's why I enlisted AH to help me. We went to the stall of his date person (there are at least 50 date vendors in the market). He told me to sample some dates (I had to sneak into the back room to do this since I'm technically not supposed to be eating) and figure out which ones I wanted.
I had a local date, a date from Saudi, a just ripened date, a date that's supposed to be eaten when drinking coffee, and a date for people who aren't supposed to have a lot of sugar. There were also yellow dates, red dates, dates in various stages of becoming dehydrated (the less raisin-ish the date the less sugar it has), dates in a fancy package for giving to guests, light brown dates, dark brown dates, dates from Kuwait, dates from Turkey, dates for cooking, dates for dessert, dates covered in chocolate with the pit replaced with an almond, dates for drinking tea, dates for kids (small and super sweet), and dates "for the health" as it was explained to me. And that was only the first part of the stall.
I ended up getting a mix of dates, and the guy didn't charge me for them. He said since it was my first time to the market I was considered a guest, so it would be rude for me to give him money. He said next time I come I can pay.
Then AH drove me around the rest of the area. Back 10 years, Abu Dhabi had a souk right in the middle of the city. But, about 7 years ago, the government decided that was not the impression they wanted to give people of the city. So they moved the souk out to this area called the port (though, there was only one boat there). AH said it was hard for the vendors at first because people didn't know where the souk had gone and so not many people were showing up to buy stuff. But now it's crowded (though, more so at night than when we went).
Besides selling dates there are also fruits, vegetables, and a fresh fish stand. It's funny to watch the emiratis "shop". They pull up to a vendor's stall, stay in the air conditioning of the car, order what they want, and then the vendor stacks what ever has been purchased into the car. The emirati doesn't have to even turn off the engine. This is quite different from the souks I've been to in other parts of the world, where the streets are so narrow you can barely walk through them.
AH showed me the carpet souk (he said he would take me if I wanted to buy one), a place that sold baby stuff, the abaya shops, the shops for men's traditional dress, and what he called a nursery. The nursery looked to me like a few palm trees in the sand, but maybe they didn't have much due to the season.
I also found out some interesting things about the men's traditional dress. A head covering that's a turban is considered "young wear" and is worn, traditionally, by younger guys. Collars are kuwaiti style, saudis wear robes with buttons. In the summer everyone wears white, but in the winter men will wear different colored robes. A head covering with one rope hanging down the back is traditional emirati. Two robes is Saudi. The ropes are a nod to the old days, when they were used to tie a camel's legs together so it couldn't run away (or run far). The more detail of the robe (collars, cuffs, etc.) the more formal it is considered.
So now I have two packs of dates to eat and am a little wiser in understanding men's clothes, which will be helpful next time I have a meeting at the base...
It's kind of surprising how many different types of dates there are. That's why I enlisted AH to help me. We went to the stall of his date person (there are at least 50 date vendors in the market). He told me to sample some dates (I had to sneak into the back room to do this since I'm technically not supposed to be eating) and figure out which ones I wanted.
I had a local date, a date from Saudi, a just ripened date, a date that's supposed to be eaten when drinking coffee, and a date for people who aren't supposed to have a lot of sugar. There were also yellow dates, red dates, dates in various stages of becoming dehydrated (the less raisin-ish the date the less sugar it has), dates in a fancy package for giving to guests, light brown dates, dark brown dates, dates from Kuwait, dates from Turkey, dates for cooking, dates for dessert, dates covered in chocolate with the pit replaced with an almond, dates for drinking tea, dates for kids (small and super sweet), and dates "for the health" as it was explained to me. And that was only the first part of the stall.
I ended up getting a mix of dates, and the guy didn't charge me for them. He said since it was my first time to the market I was considered a guest, so it would be rude for me to give him money. He said next time I come I can pay.
Then AH drove me around the rest of the area. Back 10 years, Abu Dhabi had a souk right in the middle of the city. But, about 7 years ago, the government decided that was not the impression they wanted to give people of the city. So they moved the souk out to this area called the port (though, there was only one boat there). AH said it was hard for the vendors at first because people didn't know where the souk had gone and so not many people were showing up to buy stuff. But now it's crowded (though, more so at night than when we went).
Besides selling dates there are also fruits, vegetables, and a fresh fish stand. It's funny to watch the emiratis "shop". They pull up to a vendor's stall, stay in the air conditioning of the car, order what they want, and then the vendor stacks what ever has been purchased into the car. The emirati doesn't have to even turn off the engine. This is quite different from the souks I've been to in other parts of the world, where the streets are so narrow you can barely walk through them.
AH showed me the carpet souk (he said he would take me if I wanted to buy one), a place that sold baby stuff, the abaya shops, the shops for men's traditional dress, and what he called a nursery. The nursery looked to me like a few palm trees in the sand, but maybe they didn't have much due to the season.
I also found out some interesting things about the men's traditional dress. A head covering that's a turban is considered "young wear" and is worn, traditionally, by younger guys. Collars are kuwaiti style, saudis wear robes with buttons. In the summer everyone wears white, but in the winter men will wear different colored robes. A head covering with one rope hanging down the back is traditional emirati. Two robes is Saudi. The ropes are a nod to the old days, when they were used to tie a camel's legs together so it couldn't run away (or run far). The more detail of the robe (collars, cuffs, etc.) the more formal it is considered.
So now I have two packs of dates to eat and am a little wiser in understanding men's clothes, which will be helpful next time I have a meeting at the base...
Friday, September 11, 2009
a night out in Dubai
I had a meeting in Dubai yesterday with some customers from Pakistan. Because they flew in to see us, we took them out for iftar.
My colleague, AH, made reservations at the Palmyra restaurant in the Atlantis hotel. I was looking forward to the experience as I've never been to iftar before. I wasn't disappointed. However, our dinner almost got canceled because some idiot in my company started to worry the dinner could be seen as a bribe. We were like dude, they already bought stuff from us. And it's really, really rude to not take a customer out for dinner when they've flown to see you on their own dime. But, the lawyers at my company have to justify their existence I guess.
The restaurant is in a hotel owned by the Jumeirah group. They built the first 7 star hotel, the burj al arab, which is on the same property as the Palmyra. The iftar consisted of 6 food stations, sort of buffet style, with all kinds of middle eastern food. For drinks I had what was described to me as "rose juice" (roses squished into water...it was interesting) and "fruit juice" (juice of local emirate fruits, each country has their own special juice they serve at iftar and everyone is supposed to drink that juice to break their fast). One of my customers tried to talk me into drinking this purplish pink concoction (milk with roses in it) but luckily I'm allergic to milk.
I had the best hummus ever, a dish that consisted of pumpkin and chick peas all squished together like hummus but it was orange and tasted like pumpkin. Dr. T said I had to eat at least one unhealthy thing (a lot of food for iftar is fried) so I had this pastry with a sweetened cheese in it. I was a little worried about eating it because I brought it back to the table and everyone was like "ooh, what's that thing?" but it was good. I could go on and on about the food (we were there for almost 4 hours eating) but I will spare you. Except to mention that I also ate a bunch of dates, and I always thought I didn't like them, but they are actually quite good so I'm going to buy some next time I go food shopping.
Then AH and I left our customers (they were headed to the airport with Dr. T - in fact, they had so much fun at our iftar they almost missed their flight home) and he took me to the Burj Al Arab. It's funny, when that place first opened I told a bunch of people I worked with on TRAILBLAZER that I was going to go there some day. Finally made it...
We went to the Skyview Bar. AH goes there all the time and was able to get us a reservation on an hour's notice (impossible for the mere mortal). He then yelled at me for trying to order the house wine (there was a $75 per person cover just to get in) and had his waiter bring me some wines to sample (go me, I picked the most expensive one, $200 for one glass, Jeffy, see how you've spoiled me). We got the best table, with a view of the city, and they brought us snacks like these little cheese quiches, cucumbers and olives, and this sushi thing which was smoked salmon wrapped in tamago, with caviar on top.
A long conversation ensued on a number of topics. I found out AH's family is very famous in Pakistan (they are like the bin Laden's of Pakistan) and that's why he has so much pull in the UAE. We both love to talk about architecture frameworks so that was a couple hour conversation. Then we came up with this little side work project that, if we can pull it off, is going to be a huge deal in the middle east. My favorite story that AH told was about his crap work issued laptop (he uses a mac). He said that the only reason he still has his work laptop is that when his 1 year old son cries, if he puts him in front of the laptop, he'll start banging the keys and forget about crying. Well, the story is funny if you could see him acting that out, and if you knew what our work laptops were like (pieces just randomly fall off of mine, and in the past 6 months I've replaced the keyboard, memory, and the mouse, which I actually had to replace twice).
Finally AH's wife called and said she was heading back home from her mom's, so we headed home as well. We got this poor cab driver who was not happy about taking us to Abu Dhabi (it's an almost 2 hour trip, and it was in the wee hours of the morning by this point in the story). AH asked him if it was his last trip of the shift and the cabbie said yes. We were like uh oh. The cabbie fell asleep 3 times that I saw, and then we almost ran out of gas.
The cabbie of course waited until we were in desperate straits to look for a gas station. Here's a description of the road between Dubai and Abu Dhabi: sand, construction, more sand, unfinished overpasses, sand, more sand, some road work, construction. We took this little, I wouldn't even call it an exit as much as a random turn-off that just happened to connect to the highway. We drove around this weird installation that had all these armed guards. I was getting a little worried. Then we finally found a gas station and the cabbie's credit card didn't work. I was exhausted and hot by then (running around in a suit and real shoes, the first time I've not worn flip flops since arriving here) so I was like just give him some money for the gas. But AH said we shouldn't, and miraculously, after about 10 minutes of arguing, the cabbie's card started working again.
As we pulled into Abu Dhabi we were almost in a major accident because the cabbie was speeding like crazy and the police, for what ever idiot reason, decided to set up a blockade around a blind corner to make sure everyone had on their seat belt. Our cabbie didn't, but the cops didn't notice, probably because we almost hit them swerving to avoid hitting the stopped cars in front of us. I think AH was saying some really bad words in Urdu, but every word in Urdu kind of sounds like a bad word to me.
The best part of the story is Dr. T called us when we got into the cab and said the pakis want both of us to work on their project in Islamabad. I was worried they wouldn't like me because I'm american and a woman, but they were incredibly nice. In fact, one of the guys, who is a general in the paki army, told me "you should come to Islamabad because it's not as dangerous as everyone says". I suppose, being under the protection of a general, that's probably true.
Then he said "We are a civilized society. You will not see our women covered up." That was an insult to all the emiratis in the room, since here all the local women must wear a burqa that even covers their face (though some don't cover their eyes). This area of the world never fails to confuse and amuse me. The stereotypes of most people in the middle east are totally true, but then not true at all.
My colleague, AH, made reservations at the Palmyra restaurant in the Atlantis hotel. I was looking forward to the experience as I've never been to iftar before. I wasn't disappointed. However, our dinner almost got canceled because some idiot in my company started to worry the dinner could be seen as a bribe. We were like dude, they already bought stuff from us. And it's really, really rude to not take a customer out for dinner when they've flown to see you on their own dime. But, the lawyers at my company have to justify their existence I guess.
The restaurant is in a hotel owned by the Jumeirah group. They built the first 7 star hotel, the burj al arab, which is on the same property as the Palmyra. The iftar consisted of 6 food stations, sort of buffet style, with all kinds of middle eastern food. For drinks I had what was described to me as "rose juice" (roses squished into water...it was interesting) and "fruit juice" (juice of local emirate fruits, each country has their own special juice they serve at iftar and everyone is supposed to drink that juice to break their fast). One of my customers tried to talk me into drinking this purplish pink concoction (milk with roses in it) but luckily I'm allergic to milk.
I had the best hummus ever, a dish that consisted of pumpkin and chick peas all squished together like hummus but it was orange and tasted like pumpkin. Dr. T said I had to eat at least one unhealthy thing (a lot of food for iftar is fried) so I had this pastry with a sweetened cheese in it. I was a little worried about eating it because I brought it back to the table and everyone was like "ooh, what's that thing?" but it was good. I could go on and on about the food (we were there for almost 4 hours eating) but I will spare you. Except to mention that I also ate a bunch of dates, and I always thought I didn't like them, but they are actually quite good so I'm going to buy some next time I go food shopping.
Then AH and I left our customers (they were headed to the airport with Dr. T - in fact, they had so much fun at our iftar they almost missed their flight home) and he took me to the Burj Al Arab. It's funny, when that place first opened I told a bunch of people I worked with on TRAILBLAZER that I was going to go there some day. Finally made it...
We went to the Skyview Bar. AH goes there all the time and was able to get us a reservation on an hour's notice (impossible for the mere mortal). He then yelled at me for trying to order the house wine (there was a $75 per person cover just to get in) and had his waiter bring me some wines to sample (go me, I picked the most expensive one, $200 for one glass, Jeffy, see how you've spoiled me). We got the best table, with a view of the city, and they brought us snacks like these little cheese quiches, cucumbers and olives, and this sushi thing which was smoked salmon wrapped in tamago, with caviar on top.
A long conversation ensued on a number of topics. I found out AH's family is very famous in Pakistan (they are like the bin Laden's of Pakistan) and that's why he has so much pull in the UAE. We both love to talk about architecture frameworks so that was a couple hour conversation. Then we came up with this little side work project that, if we can pull it off, is going to be a huge deal in the middle east. My favorite story that AH told was about his crap work issued laptop (he uses a mac). He said that the only reason he still has his work laptop is that when his 1 year old son cries, if he puts him in front of the laptop, he'll start banging the keys and forget about crying. Well, the story is funny if you could see him acting that out, and if you knew what our work laptops were like (pieces just randomly fall off of mine, and in the past 6 months I've replaced the keyboard, memory, and the mouse, which I actually had to replace twice).
Finally AH's wife called and said she was heading back home from her mom's, so we headed home as well. We got this poor cab driver who was not happy about taking us to Abu Dhabi (it's an almost 2 hour trip, and it was in the wee hours of the morning by this point in the story). AH asked him if it was his last trip of the shift and the cabbie said yes. We were like uh oh. The cabbie fell asleep 3 times that I saw, and then we almost ran out of gas.
The cabbie of course waited until we were in desperate straits to look for a gas station. Here's a description of the road between Dubai and Abu Dhabi: sand, construction, more sand, unfinished overpasses, sand, more sand, some road work, construction. We took this little, I wouldn't even call it an exit as much as a random turn-off that just happened to connect to the highway. We drove around this weird installation that had all these armed guards. I was getting a little worried. Then we finally found a gas station and the cabbie's credit card didn't work. I was exhausted and hot by then (running around in a suit and real shoes, the first time I've not worn flip flops since arriving here) so I was like just give him some money for the gas. But AH said we shouldn't, and miraculously, after about 10 minutes of arguing, the cabbie's card started working again.
As we pulled into Abu Dhabi we were almost in a major accident because the cabbie was speeding like crazy and the police, for what ever idiot reason, decided to set up a blockade around a blind corner to make sure everyone had on their seat belt. Our cabbie didn't, but the cops didn't notice, probably because we almost hit them swerving to avoid hitting the stopped cars in front of us. I think AH was saying some really bad words in Urdu, but every word in Urdu kind of sounds like a bad word to me.
The best part of the story is Dr. T called us when we got into the cab and said the pakis want both of us to work on their project in Islamabad. I was worried they wouldn't like me because I'm american and a woman, but they were incredibly nice. In fact, one of the guys, who is a general in the paki army, told me "you should come to Islamabad because it's not as dangerous as everyone says". I suppose, being under the protection of a general, that's probably true.
Then he said "We are a civilized society. You will not see our women covered up." That was an insult to all the emiratis in the room, since here all the local women must wear a burqa that even covers their face (though some don't cover their eyes). This area of the world never fails to confuse and amuse me. The stereotypes of most people in the middle east are totally true, but then not true at all.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
timing is everything, and nothing
Today I had a meeting with the new base commander to brief him on some potential new projects. I wore pants today instead of making him look at my knees again. I got to the briefing room 30 minutes before I had to start to make sure the room was set up and the AV was working. My colleague N did everything because I think he was afraid I would screw something up.
Then, right before the briefing was supposed to start, these cleaners came in and started cleaning everything. I was like WTF? I guess the commander wanted everything spit shined before showing up. The program manager and Dr. T showed up 15 minutes late. I was in a panic by then, but they were like "the customer is always late so we didn't rush". I was told that you usually have to wait for 2 hours after the scheduled meeting to have a meeting. Sometimes you have to wait all day, and then the customer decides not to see you after all. I told Dr. T I had read in my customs and etiquette book that it is considered very impolite to show up late for anything, and he said "Yes, it's impolite for YOU to show up late."
Meanwhile, we had a moment of panic because the cleaning people had dis-engaged one of the wires going to the computer, and we couldn't get the presentation up. We ended up crawling around in a rat's nest of wires until N found the one that was disconnected. The general finally showed up only an hour late (I was told that was "a good sign"). He made a joke that "Obviously arabs could not have been behind 911. We are late for everything and would have missed our flights." I can see his point even after living here for less than one month.
The presentation went well, and we'll see what happens next. In the mean time, hopefully my company is working on my residence visa, and I'm going to renew my tourist visa for another 30 days so I don't have to take vacation during Eid. Eid is like Christmas, except it lasts 5 days, and only little kids are supposed to get gifts. There is a second Eid later this year, but that's more of a feast than a gift giving thing.
The Christmas Eid happens at the end of ramadan, and the dates are not known until the imams all agree they've seen the new moon. It's kind of weird. Everybody is on a different schedule for all these religious things. For example, Dubai breaks their evening fast 4 minutes sooner than Abu Dhabi. In Pakistan, they start ramadan two days later than everyone else (to start ramadan, as with the ending, all the imams have to agree they've seen the new moon - apparently pakistan always "sees" the new moon later than everyone else - when I ask a pakistani why that was, he said "it's because they are fools").
So, basically there's a 5 day holiday, but you can't really schedule travel, because the day the holiday starts might change if no one can see the new moon, like if it's cloudy. As some people at work explained this to me I was like dudes, they have lunar calendars that will tell you when the new moon is - why exactly do you have to see it? They looked at me as if I had suggested we sing the dreidl song. I was also told that anyway, Eid is the worst time to travel (imagine christmas and thanksgiving in the US happening at the same time) because muslims are supposed to spend the time with their family. In fact, any family.
One of the other consultants was telling me he is going to Pakistan for Eid to celebrate with distant relatives he's never even met before because his immediate family is in UK and he just got back from visiting them and doesn’t want to fly there again with his young son. When I asked why he didn’t just stay here and celebrate with just his wife and son he said “You can’t do that. That’s not the way Eid works for real muslims. Only muslims that are not serious would do such a thing.”
And, in the car on the way home, I mentioned to N that I was surprised the commander told that 911 joke. He started in on a tirade about how Osama bin Laden is not a real person, that there is no proof he ever existed, and that the US government made him up to make muslims into "bad guys". I decided to just keep my mouth shut because I was too tired to have a debate.
I may get the hang of this culture eventually, but I doubt it.
Then, right before the briefing was supposed to start, these cleaners came in and started cleaning everything. I was like WTF? I guess the commander wanted everything spit shined before showing up. The program manager and Dr. T showed up 15 minutes late. I was in a panic by then, but they were like "the customer is always late so we didn't rush". I was told that you usually have to wait for 2 hours after the scheduled meeting to have a meeting. Sometimes you have to wait all day, and then the customer decides not to see you after all. I told Dr. T I had read in my customs and etiquette book that it is considered very impolite to show up late for anything, and he said "Yes, it's impolite for YOU to show up late."
Meanwhile, we had a moment of panic because the cleaning people had dis-engaged one of the wires going to the computer, and we couldn't get the presentation up. We ended up crawling around in a rat's nest of wires until N found the one that was disconnected. The general finally showed up only an hour late (I was told that was "a good sign"). He made a joke that "Obviously arabs could not have been behind 911. We are late for everything and would have missed our flights." I can see his point even after living here for less than one month.
The presentation went well, and we'll see what happens next. In the mean time, hopefully my company is working on my residence visa, and I'm going to renew my tourist visa for another 30 days so I don't have to take vacation during Eid. Eid is like Christmas, except it lasts 5 days, and only little kids are supposed to get gifts. There is a second Eid later this year, but that's more of a feast than a gift giving thing.
The Christmas Eid happens at the end of ramadan, and the dates are not known until the imams all agree they've seen the new moon. It's kind of weird. Everybody is on a different schedule for all these religious things. For example, Dubai breaks their evening fast 4 minutes sooner than Abu Dhabi. In Pakistan, they start ramadan two days later than everyone else (to start ramadan, as with the ending, all the imams have to agree they've seen the new moon - apparently pakistan always "sees" the new moon later than everyone else - when I ask a pakistani why that was, he said "it's because they are fools").
So, basically there's a 5 day holiday, but you can't really schedule travel, because the day the holiday starts might change if no one can see the new moon, like if it's cloudy. As some people at work explained this to me I was like dudes, they have lunar calendars that will tell you when the new moon is - why exactly do you have to see it? They looked at me as if I had suggested we sing the dreidl song. I was also told that anyway, Eid is the worst time to travel (imagine christmas and thanksgiving in the US happening at the same time) because muslims are supposed to spend the time with their family. In fact, any family.
One of the other consultants was telling me he is going to Pakistan for Eid to celebrate with distant relatives he's never even met before because his immediate family is in UK and he just got back from visiting them and doesn’t want to fly there again with his young son. When I asked why he didn’t just stay here and celebrate with just his wife and son he said “You can’t do that. That’s not the way Eid works for real muslims. Only muslims that are not serious would do such a thing.”
And, in the car on the way home, I mentioned to N that I was surprised the commander told that 911 joke. He started in on a tirade about how Osama bin Laden is not a real person, that there is no proof he ever existed, and that the US government made him up to make muslims into "bad guys". I decided to just keep my mouth shut because I was too tired to have a debate.
I may get the hang of this culture eventually, but I doubt it.
Monday, September 7, 2009
pandemic paranoia
Everyone in the UAE is totally paranoid about getting swine flu. Since the epidemic began 4 people have died (none of them emirates, all of them visitors from somewhere else). When you get to the airport they check you out to make sure you aren't sick. One would think that check would be good enough for my company.
But, if you thought that, you would be wrong. A consultant in the Dubai office, who sometimes comes here, just got back from a business trip to South Africa. Because he was traveling for my company, they knew he had been there. Apparently SA is on the list of countries that have a swine flu problem, at least according to my company's HR department.
The consultant went into the office in the morning, was there until early afternoon, when someone in HR spotted him and told him he had to leave the office immediately. Further, he was told not to come back until he had a letter from a hospital saying he didn't have swine flu.
So this poor, poor consultant went to 3 hospitals and 4 clinics, but no one would give him a letter. The reason is that they can't confirm someone has swine flu until they develop symptoms. So, unless he gets sick, and proves he has swine flu, there is no way to tell he doesn't have swine flu (Joseph Heller is laughing in the ether).
Meanwhile, most of us consultants in Abu Dhabi are having visa problems that no one in HR is responding to. It's gotten so bad (people's visas getting cancelled) that we have a big meeting tomorrow about it, since HR is incapable of doing something less intrusive on the work day, like responding to an email.
Of course, I'll be late for the meeting since I'm briefing a colonel tomorrow on some projects we are going to do for him. At least I'll get something useful done tomorrow...
But, if you thought that, you would be wrong. A consultant in the Dubai office, who sometimes comes here, just got back from a business trip to South Africa. Because he was traveling for my company, they knew he had been there. Apparently SA is on the list of countries that have a swine flu problem, at least according to my company's HR department.
The consultant went into the office in the morning, was there until early afternoon, when someone in HR spotted him and told him he had to leave the office immediately. Further, he was told not to come back until he had a letter from a hospital saying he didn't have swine flu.
So this poor, poor consultant went to 3 hospitals and 4 clinics, but no one would give him a letter. The reason is that they can't confirm someone has swine flu until they develop symptoms. So, unless he gets sick, and proves he has swine flu, there is no way to tell he doesn't have swine flu (Joseph Heller is laughing in the ether).
Meanwhile, most of us consultants in Abu Dhabi are having visa problems that no one in HR is responding to. It's gotten so bad (people's visas getting cancelled) that we have a big meeting tomorrow about it, since HR is incapable of doing something less intrusive on the work day, like responding to an email.
Of course, I'll be late for the meeting since I'm briefing a colonel tomorrow on some projects we are going to do for him. At least I'll get something useful done tomorrow...
Sunday, September 6, 2009
my favorite feline
I was walking through the parking lot that separates the hotel from the co-op, where I had just picked up my laundry, when I ran into my favorite feline, Lancelot.
I've never seen him not on the hotel roof so I was surprised. I asked him what he was doing and he just meowed at me. I think he followed me, but I'm not sure. I didn't feed him yesterday because he didn't show up on time (left some cheese for him but even though it was gone this morning that doesn't mean he's the one who ate it).
While we were standing on the sidewalk another cat came up and Lance boxed him on the ears. I told Lance I was disappointed in him, and he gave me a look like he was really sorry and not just pretending to be sorry like some cats who fake apologize and then do more bad things.
I went and got him a tuna sandwich from Subway (he likes them, although I'm not sure they are healthy for him, because I think cats are not supposed to eat bread, but I also get him olives and green peppers so that might make up for the bread, because I'm pretty sure cats are supposed to eat vegetables). Anyway, when I got back to the parking lot I started to unwrap his sandwich and he jumped up on a car and batted me with his paw. Then he let me pet him for the first time ever. Usually he insists I put his food under this air conditioning unit on the roof with only a foot of space under it (he's smart enough to know I can't get under it), and then he drags the food off and eats it. This weekend he let me get within an arm's distance of him but then he cried so much I didn't try to force him to let me pet him.
So, even though things are a little stressful at work right now, the day has ended on a very good note because Lance let me pet him. I might get him some proper cat food tomorrow, but I don't know if he'll eat it.
I've never seen him not on the hotel roof so I was surprised. I asked him what he was doing and he just meowed at me. I think he followed me, but I'm not sure. I didn't feed him yesterday because he didn't show up on time (left some cheese for him but even though it was gone this morning that doesn't mean he's the one who ate it).While we were standing on the sidewalk another cat came up and Lance boxed him on the ears. I told Lance I was disappointed in him, and he gave me a look like he was really sorry and not just pretending to be sorry like some cats who fake apologize and then do more bad things.
I went and got him a tuna sandwich from Subway (he likes them, although I'm not sure they are healthy for him, because I think cats are not supposed to eat bread, but I also get him olives and green peppers so that might make up for the bread, because I'm pretty sure cats are supposed to eat vegetables). Anyway, when I got back to the parking lot I started to unwrap his sandwich and he jumped up on a car and batted me with his paw. Then he let me pet him for the first time ever. Usually he insists I put his food under this air conditioning unit on the roof with only a foot of space under it (he's smart enough to know I can't get under it), and then he drags the food off and eats it. This weekend he let me get within an arm's distance of him but then he cried so much I didn't try to force him to let me pet him.
So, even though things are a little stressful at work right now, the day has ended on a very good note because Lance let me pet him. I might get him some proper cat food tomorrow, but I don't know if he'll eat it.
ramadan traffic
Lest you think I've exaggerated about the traffic, here are some statistics:
Between Dubai and Abu Dhabi (population around 1 million) 20,000 speeding tickets were issued the first 10 days of ramadan.
There were approximately 600 traffic accidents the first 10 days of ramadan in Abu Dhabi.
3,000 people were ticketed for not wearing seat belts. The whole seat belt thing is a big deal here. No one wears them, and the old taxis don't even have them. But statistics have shown people in the back seat get injured just as badly as those in the front if not wearing their seat belts. There are posters all over Abu Dhabi of nascar drivers urging people to wear their seat belts.
Probably the most horrifying thing I've seen in traffic is a children's school bus, on a service road that runs parallel to the highway, cross over the median (which was not a small median, but more like a big concrete curb, with 5 feet of grass, and then another curb down to the highway), and pull right into highway traffic going about 50 miles slower than everyone else. The incident is worse than you might be thinking because most of the buses here have folding chairs that are not bolted to the floor. There is a big effort underway to fix this problem (I mean seriously, they build islands for no reason, but can't provide school buses that are safe for children?) but the effort won't be completed until 2012.
The good thing is the weather has been slowing cooling down. It's only 100 degrees outside right now. Did I just say that?
Between Dubai and Abu Dhabi (population around 1 million) 20,000 speeding tickets were issued the first 10 days of ramadan.
There were approximately 600 traffic accidents the first 10 days of ramadan in Abu Dhabi.
3,000 people were ticketed for not wearing seat belts. The whole seat belt thing is a big deal here. No one wears them, and the old taxis don't even have them. But statistics have shown people in the back seat get injured just as badly as those in the front if not wearing their seat belts. There are posters all over Abu Dhabi of nascar drivers urging people to wear their seat belts.
Probably the most horrifying thing I've seen in traffic is a children's school bus, on a service road that runs parallel to the highway, cross over the median (which was not a small median, but more like a big concrete curb, with 5 feet of grass, and then another curb down to the highway), and pull right into highway traffic going about 50 miles slower than everyone else. The incident is worse than you might be thinking because most of the buses here have folding chairs that are not bolted to the floor. There is a big effort underway to fix this problem (I mean seriously, they build islands for no reason, but can't provide school buses that are safe for children?) but the effort won't be completed until 2012.
The good thing is the weather has been slowing cooling down. It's only 100 degrees outside right now. Did I just say that?
conspiracy theories
While sitting in the worst ramadan traffic with my colleague N, we started talking about how John Ashcroft can be sued for wrongful detention. It's been all over the news here. We started talking about 911. N had some interesting theories, most of which seem to be shared by people who live here in the emirates. His theories, in the order that he thinks most likely are:
There were no hijackers. Israelis took remote control of the planes, and crashed them. When I asked him how this could possibly be, he said "it's been proven they have the technology". I asked where he heard that it's been proven, he just kept repeating "it's been proven". He also said that one of the hijacker's passports was found on the ground in NYC. I had never heard that, but would like to investigate it further, as it sounds like total BS to me.
Second theory, is that the Israelis planned 911. N repeated the insane rumor that no jewish people were killed 911, and that they were all told not to come to work. I pointed out to him that I had a friend who was jewish who was killed in the second tower. N looked at me, and with no hesitation at all, said "Maybe no one told him. Do you know any other jews that were killed?"
Third theory is that the US government planned the attacks. While the US government was more than incompetent at preventing the attacks even though they had plenty of evidence (and had an asset that tried to warn them THE DAY BEFORE that something was going to happen at the WTC) I said I couldn't possibly believe that what he was saying was true. But many people here believe it is true, and that it was done so the US could invade Iraq and Afghanistan.
I am amazed that someone who was born in the US (though not raised there), with a college degree, could believe these things. I also am curious to find out why the UAE hates jewish people. Israelis are not allowed in this country, and until a few years ago, if you had a stamp in your passport from Israel they wouldn't let you in.
Regarding the US's culpability in the attacks, it doesn't help matters much that news stories have been breaking here about the poor conditions in the Iraqi prisons (prisoners beaten, tortured, and then let go with no charges being brought against them) which in the media at least are being reported as worse than those under Saddam Hussein. It isn't that people here are outwardly prejudice against americans (like in Athens, when I was there) but there is definitely a mistrust.
And the french apparently hate us too. N told me that a french guy has been saying bad things about me on the base (something about my "loose morals" which is insane for reasons not even worth going into here), and I said "why would he say things like that about me, when he doesn't even know me?" and N replied "because all french hate americans".
I brought up the fact that it was ramadan and it didn't seem like any of the things we had talked about were indicative of charity and being better people. N concluded the discussion by saying no real muslim believes in jihad unless they are first attacked, and that committing suicide, especially as a suicide bomber, is totally against muslim beliefs and is stated as such in the koran. I did know that, but mention it here for those who didn't.
Anyone interested in reading the news here can check out www.thenational.ae. The articles about ramadan are pretty funny (e.g. if food or drink touches your throat during the ramadan fast you have to either feed 60 people, do 60 hours community service, or donate money for 60 poor people). An interesting blog I found about jihad is www.jihadica.com.
There were no hijackers. Israelis took remote control of the planes, and crashed them. When I asked him how this could possibly be, he said "it's been proven they have the technology". I asked where he heard that it's been proven, he just kept repeating "it's been proven". He also said that one of the hijacker's passports was found on the ground in NYC. I had never heard that, but would like to investigate it further, as it sounds like total BS to me.
Second theory, is that the Israelis planned 911. N repeated the insane rumor that no jewish people were killed 911, and that they were all told not to come to work. I pointed out to him that I had a friend who was jewish who was killed in the second tower. N looked at me, and with no hesitation at all, said "Maybe no one told him. Do you know any other jews that were killed?"
Third theory is that the US government planned the attacks. While the US government was more than incompetent at preventing the attacks even though they had plenty of evidence (and had an asset that tried to warn them THE DAY BEFORE that something was going to happen at the WTC) I said I couldn't possibly believe that what he was saying was true. But many people here believe it is true, and that it was done so the US could invade Iraq and Afghanistan.
I am amazed that someone who was born in the US (though not raised there), with a college degree, could believe these things. I also am curious to find out why the UAE hates jewish people. Israelis are not allowed in this country, and until a few years ago, if you had a stamp in your passport from Israel they wouldn't let you in.
Regarding the US's culpability in the attacks, it doesn't help matters much that news stories have been breaking here about the poor conditions in the Iraqi prisons (prisoners beaten, tortured, and then let go with no charges being brought against them) which in the media at least are being reported as worse than those under Saddam Hussein. It isn't that people here are outwardly prejudice against americans (like in Athens, when I was there) but there is definitely a mistrust.
And the french apparently hate us too. N told me that a french guy has been saying bad things about me on the base (something about my "loose morals" which is insane for reasons not even worth going into here), and I said "why would he say things like that about me, when he doesn't even know me?" and N replied "because all french hate americans".
I brought up the fact that it was ramadan and it didn't seem like any of the things we had talked about were indicative of charity and being better people. N concluded the discussion by saying no real muslim believes in jihad unless they are first attacked, and that committing suicide, especially as a suicide bomber, is totally against muslim beliefs and is stated as such in the koran. I did know that, but mention it here for those who didn't.
Anyone interested in reading the news here can check out www.thenational.ae. The articles about ramadan are pretty funny (e.g. if food or drink touches your throat during the ramadan fast you have to either feed 60 people, do 60 hours community service, or donate money for 60 poor people). An interesting blog I found about jihad is www.jihadica.com.
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