Bss & Brn (formerly) in Al Ain

Best soccer defender ever

2011-03-04T15:52:00.000-05:00

Abu Dhabi National Day

2010-12-03T20:56:00.003-05:00

Cool Al Ain Sidewalk Image

2010-12-03T20:45:00.002-05:00

Very cool chalk 3d image by Leon Keer and Peter Westerink in honor of national day.

Flight Paths

2010-11-12T21:39:00.003-05:00

Today, just for fun, I sat down and listed all the flights that I took during the three years that I lived in Al Ain: 49 flights in 19 trips (involving 18 airports). Since it almost always took three flights to get from the Emirates to home (and then three back), they added up quickly.

Then I got curious as to how many miles were involved. So I put all 49 of those flights into the Great Circle Mapper: 115,000 miles (or 184,000 kms). The great thing about that site is that it not only displays the distance but a map of the routes that you enter. So the flight paths of all the flights that I took look like this:

Dubai's Power Future

2010-11-10T08:47:00.004-05:00

Given that

1. the US is the Saudi Arabia of coal

and

2. Dubai plans on generating 20% of its electrical power from coal

Does this mean that in the future we could hear Arabs complain about funding religious fundamentalists in West Virginia? Hmm...

Really?

2010-08-13T15:02:00.002-04:00

On Wednesday I was looking at the BBC web site and noticed that this story was the most read that day: US school road marking spelled wrongly. Really? I do not understand this at all.

I mean, first, how is this even news? A word is misspelled in North Carolina and it is suddenly world news? Isn't there anything more important happening in the world? Was it that slow a news day?

Second, why is this so popular? It isn't as if the word school spelled "shcool" is hard to find. It isn't even hard to find pictures of it misspelled on the road. Is the BBC going to start reporting on cute pictures of cats next?

Third, why exactly would it be surprising that a road crew would misspell a word? Are road workers known for their great erudition? If so, I missed that. This isn't even a good effort on that front. Check this one out if you want to see dedication to the craft.

I just do not get it. The only possible explanation that I can come up with is that somehow BBC readers believe that this says something about America, but that belief would be even stupider than misspelling school. So it must be something else.

Cool language learning tool

2010-08-13T14:42:00.002-04:00

I have no idea if this site is blocked in the UAE or not, but I have found a very cool new site for learning languages: LiveMocha.com. It is actually a language learning/social networking site. The site gives you lessons to study (you can choose from 30+ languages). When you submit a written or audio assignment, native speakers of the language you are learning post reviews of your work. You can also review the submissions of people who are trying to learn your language. I have only tried the Arabic so far, and while it is not perfect, it is helpful. And the feedback from the Arabic speakers has been great.

رمضان كريم

2010-08-11T09:48:00.001-04:00

الله اكرم

Living in the UAE is like...

2010-07-31T21:03:00.002-04:00

living in Alabama. At least, according to this map, which matches up US states with the nation with the closest population. (But by life expectancy, it is like living in Oklahoma.) It also has pretty much the same GDP as Alabama ($195 billion vs $199 billion).

Come to think of it, they are both on a gulf. The people of both are religious and conservative. It is hot both places.

And, I'm pretty sure a lot of the people in both places would be offended by the comparison.

Interesting New Site: Toogle

2010-07-23T12:42:00.005-04:00

I just heard about Toogle - a new site that takes the first Google image search result and converts that image into ASCII art.

For example, the search UAE Flag Map give us:

Incorrect Arabic

2010-04-19T20:28:00.002-04:00

I took this picture of a notice on the bulletin board at the university where I work:

It is well intentioned, but poorly executed. The notice is an advertisement for Expressions, "ECU’s minority publication that strives to provide an alternative voice to address the special concerns and problems of minority groups on campus". Clearly, the editorial staff were trying to make a statement about their inclusiveness by writing "Expressions" in several different languages. I wonder how mis-writing the title in Arabic makes Arab students feel.

What's New?

2010-04-08T09:17:00.004-04:00

So, anything interesting happen lately? For us, the answer is yes. Introducing R, the newest member of the family:

He was born just a few weeks ago. He was a little jaundiced at first but it cleared up the first week. He and Bss are doing fine.

Needless to say, we are very proud of our new gift from God.

The Totalitarian Impulse

2010-04-01T08:34:00.002-04:00

First, let me be clear, I'm not calling either Tom Toles, the Washington Post cartoonist, or Robert Wright totalitarians. I'm sure that if a conservative had suggested that the government find some way to jail someone for doing something that wasn't illegal, both would be horrified. I'm merely pointing out that this impulse to abuse power is deep within all of us.

Unfortunate Ad Placement

2009-09-21T10:37:00.002-04:00

I'll say it again, I love interesting juxtapositions. But this story/ad combination from the Wall Street Journal is quite unfortunate, what with Steve Jobs recent health difficulties and nearly skeletal physique:

So, which is it?

2009-09-14T14:36:00.005-04:00

I've seen people who argue for President Obama's health care plan do contradict themselves, but seldom as quickly (six and a half minutes) as David Corn does here:

If there is something that supporters know will be unpopular, then they state that whatever it is, it isn't in the bill:

"...nothing like death panels in this bill...".

But if you question them on something that is, then suddenly...

"there is no bill yet.", with the implication that it is unfair to point that out, since we don't know what the end product will be.

To quote the Coens, "Well, which is it, young feller?"

Write What You Know...

2009-09-09T17:47:00.007-04:00

I was looking for some photos to demonstrate a new JavaScript lightbox slideshow widget I wrote at work, and came across my scans of Emirati notes. Perfect! So, here it is:

Emirati Money

These are scans of the available denominations of Emirati notes. The unit of currency in the United Arab Emirates is the dirham. There is no one dirham note; one dirhams come only in coins. A dirham is worth a little more than 27 cents.

You can see it in the context of our website here, where it works much better. (Blogger apparently doesn't like you to include JavaScript and styles within a blog post.)

Breaking the Irony Meter

2009-07-08T19:39:00.003-04:00

Just a few posts apart at Boing Boing:

Abusive "coal-thugs" try to break up anti-mountaintop-removal festival

"At one point the most vile of the thugs threatens a man and his child verbally and with a throat slitting gesture. Simply appalling."

Absolutely true. Wishing death on those you disagree with is simply appalling. Which makes this post just 12 hours later... Well, decide for yourself.

Thai Yellow Pages Ad

2009-06-05T08:29:00.000-04:00

Funniest Star Trek humor since

2009-05-06T06:08:00.003-04:00

William Shatner's get a life sketch on SNL, and I say that as someone was planning on taking Friday afternoon off to see the new movie as soon as possible:

Trekkies Bash New Star Trek Film As 'Fun, Watchable'

Banned! Or Can I Start a Blogfight? - Updated

2009-05-05T21:50:00.009-04:00

Update - Nevermind, the comments did show up.

I'm not sure, but I seem to have gotten myself banned from commenting on a blog - I think that this is a first for me.

The blog is Lounsbury's subblog at Aquol. I usually don't read his stuff that much, since the things that he writes about don't usually interest me and he employs the "if you disagree with me, you are an idiot". (Well actually it is almost always a "f***ing idiot".) I have no problem with strong opinions, but that sort of argumentation is just very unpersuasive to me. Those with that attitude are unwilling to listen to those who disagree with them. So I don't think that I've ever commented there before.

But on the 2nd I noticed his latest post about the Chrysler bankruptcy negotiations, and I was interested. He condemned the institutional investors as dumb for rejecting President Obama's proposed reorganization plan. Several people submitted comments disagreeing with his position, explaining points to the conflict that he had not addressed, including that fact that the institutions, who represent many people, have an obligation to safeguard as much of their investors money as possible. I submitted one as well but it was held for moderation and still hasn't cleared moderation as of now. He responded by calling us "f***ing morons" with "idiotic and incoherent" libertarian ideas. He stated that since this is a crisis, the normal rules don't apply.

So in response I wrote "You do realize that your 'To hell with the law, this is an emergency' is exactly the same justification that the Bush Administration used for most of their unpopular policies don't you?"

He replied telling me I was "reading comprehension impaired" for not understanding "Moral hazard" and a "hypocritical knee jerking git".

I tried to place two comments in response and they both seem to have disappeared down the bit bucket - not even the warning that they were being held for moderation like my first. So I'm going to try to summarize them here:

You do realize that explaining the concept of moral hazard to libertarians is like explaining the concept of snow to Inuits, right? I mean, you are so much smarter than us, you must know this. But then again, you do not seem to grasp that sticking to one's principles is the exact opposite of hypocrisy, so maybe you don't realize that. I mean, here is an article from Mises.org explaining the concept. You do know who Ludwig von Mises was right and what he means to libertarians? Or do I need to explain that too?

There is a moral hazard at play here, but it is the exact opposite of what you are arguing. The UAW has run the American auto manufacturers into the ground. This is not a controversial or even libertarian position - just scroll through Mickey Kaus's blog (Kaus is moderate to liberal Democrat, whose plan to save the car industry is to institute national health care to free the companies crushing financial burden to their retirees). Yet they are the ones being rewarded and bailed out by President Obama's plan. At best his plan is only going to buy them a few more years. And they don't want to go to bankruptcy court because the judge can void their contracts. Maybe that is fair, and maybe it isn't but the situation is a heck of a lot more complicated than you think it is. Heck, even us idiots on this side can see it. How come you can't?

If it turns out that I'm not really banned, then I'll update this to reflect that. And if I am, that is fine too; I've always taken the position that one is allowed to do as one pleases.

Strange Creature found in Doha

2009-04-24T09:59:00.003-04:00

Looking for something else, I came across this:

The report is based on the statement of an Arab expatriate lady who said she had seen the strange figure near the Oryx statue while walking in the area.
Quoting the woman, the daily said she took a picture of it in spite of being terribly frightened.
“She was very soon surrounded by a large number of people who also attested to the fact of what she had seen . But it suddenly disappeared out of their sight when they tried to go near it,” the report added.

I'm not sure how the Weekly World News missed out on this. The photography is even evocative of it. You can imagine how "surprised" I was to discover that it seems to be a hoax.

F1 + Ski Dubai = Carbon Overload

2009-04-22T06:22:00.005-04:00

In honor of Earth Day, what might be the most carbon un-neutral event ever: a Formula One race car at Ski Dubai (warning - this may also be the louded YouTube video ever, so you may want to turn your speakers down first)

Bonus points would be awarded if the car were flown to Dubai.

Up Jebel Hafeet in 3 minutes 29 seconds

2009-04-04T00:00:00.003-04:00

The UAE's Mohammed Ben Sulayem drives a Nissan GT-R up the World's Greatest Driving Road to set the first official record.

What does a trillion dollars look like?

2009-04-03T12:07:00.001-04:00

A visual demonstration

Who Said It

2009-04-03T11:48:00.000-04:00

Ghandi or Angelina?

Score: 55% (6 out of 11)

You say that, but what do you really mean?

2009-04-02T22:22:00.006-04:00

Words all too often stop us from communicating. The same words can vastly different things (just ask my sister who told her English in-laws that she fell on her fanny [see here for what she meant and what they thought]).

In a similar vein, I thought that this article in the CSM is very interesting:
10 terms not to use with Muslims :

The Clash of Civilizations.
Secular.
Assimilation.
Reformation.
Jihadi.
Moderate.
Interfaith.
Freedom.
Religious Freedom.
Tolerance.

I'm a little surprised that "crusade" wasn't on the list. I guess that the author assumes that we know that one already. Read the whole thing.

Wow. Just ... Wow

2009-04-02T20:39:00.004-04:00

What is wrong with the world today?

Fire kills child, 3, and parents as police prevent neighbours from trying to rescue them

A pregnant woman, her husband and their three-year-old son were killed in a house fire early yesterday as police who arrived before the fire brigade prevented neighbours from trying to save them. The woman screamed: “Please save my kids” from a bedroom window and neighbours tried to help but were beaten back by flames and were told by police not to attempt a rescue...

“I thought the police were there to protect lives. At one time they would have have gone inside themselves to try and rescue them.

“When a family is burning to death in front of your eyes, rules should go out of the window – especially with kids. Everybody wanted to try and help.”

Doesn't this infantilization of society have to stop at some point? I'm sure that it was dangerous to try to help. But shouldn't adults be ~~aloud~~ allowed [D'oh! Thanks for pointing this out FR] to choose to risk their life?

h/t Ann Althouse

Another example, from the US this time:

A Queens [New York] judge ruled yesterday that subway employees do not have to do anything but pick up their phones if they see a crime — as he threw out a suit against the MTA and two workers who did nothing more to stop a rape.

A conductor saw the rape from the window on his train, and a station agent in the booth witnessed a screaming woman being dragged down a staircase inside the desolate 21st Street station of the G line. But neither one left the safety of their assigned posts to help her.

The blogfather nails it:

In a previous day, in a different culture, such men would have been afraid of being called cowards for failing to help a woman under such circumstances. Nowadays, they’re probably proud of acting “sensibly.” (For the record, the story says their names are Harmodio Cruz and John Koort.) And in a different world, Judge Kevin Kerrigan would have been ashamed to describe picking up a phone as “prompt and decisive action.” But he probably thinks it is.

Well, we all seek our consolation where we can

2008-08-25T20:53:00.003-04:00

Matthew Engel really, really, really dislikes America: Fool’s gold consoles unloved America (free registration required)

...a Scandinavian [journalist] sat opposite me in the press room [after the US lost the Olympic softball final to Japan]. We exchanged conspiratorial smiles: the Americans had lost and that always goes down well with everyone else at the Olympics...

American unpopularity at the Olympics is hardly new. It is a natural response to a great and sometimes overweening power. But it has grown: many sports journalists remember the we-know-bestism that pervaded the badly run Atlanta games in 1996; and the effect of George W. Bush’s presidency on America’s global standing is well-attested.

Of course, you remember that it was these same members of the US softball team that a) ran the Atlanta Olympics and b) single-handedly elected George Bush, so who wouldn't be happy that these evil young women lost. I'm surprised that Mr. Engel, a journalist of 35+ years experience and his no doubt just-as-sophisticated-unlike-us-hick-redneck-Americans colleague only smiled and didn't cackle with glee.

My own theory is that the US has never quite grasped the give-and-take character of world sport. Countries devoted to soccer, cricket and rugby play regular international fixtures; they win some and lose some, and learn to live with that.

Yep, countries devoted to soccer are world renowned for their gentle dispositions. I suppose that there is hope, as some of the European fans seem to be trying to teach our more boorish fans how to properly conduct themselves. Let's keep our fingers crossed.

Others stand aghast as they try to follow the logic of NBC, the television network that is the Olympics’ chief paymaster. It is basking in a ratings triumph for these games, so I suppose they are not interested in bleats from me. The fact remains that they declined to show live both the opening ceremony and the 100 metres, the two seminal moments of the games. The desperate had to turn to the internet. Meanwhile, the remotest reaches of the world were sharing the experience.

I'll admit, I'm just a simple redneck from eastern North Carolina, not a brilliant, sophisticated European journalist with more than 30 years experience, but what the heck, I'll try to explain NBC's logic, at least regarding the opening ceremony: The US East Coast is 12 hours behind Beijing. The West Coast is even further, 15 hours behind. So, if NBC showed the Opening Ceremony live, it would have been shown at 8:00 am Eastern time on a Friday. You know, the sort of time when many people are either already at work, traveling to work, or getting ready for work. Instead, they decided to show the Opening Ceremony at a time when most Americans would actually get to share the experience. I somehow was able to enjoy the event despite that fact that it was not live. (I wonder, does Mr. Engel refuse to listen to recorded music because he isn't sharing the experience with those who were there when it was recorded?)

The consolation for Americans is that they believe they are triumphant. The medals table is unofficial and, indeed, frowned on by the Olympic Charter, which insists the games are "between athletes . . . and not between countries". Nonetheless, its format is well established: the number of golds decides the placings, with minor medals used to settle ties. At least, it is well established outside the US.

The American media add up the golds, silvers and bronzes, giving them equal weighting, which is ludicrous. By an amazing coincidence, this puts the Americans on top, well ahead of China. The normal method has the US far behind. But guess which way plays better in Peoria?

Finally, some straight talk that we can all get behind! It is about time that someone in the media told all those silver medalists the truth: You are just the first losers! And you bronze "winners"? You suck. Only the winners in this world count. Devil take the hindmost! To hell with the Olympic Charter! The country that won the most gold is the best!

I could be wrong, but I'm fairly certain that the US press has a) honestly reported that China won more golds this year and b) always listed the countries by total medals.

I'm also a little uncertain as to why it is "ludicrous" to list them that way, but then apparently I'm just not smart enough to see this self-evident truth. Presumably, by Mr. Engel's reasoning, if country A won five gold medals, no silver or bronze and country B won four gold, 10 silver and 10 bronze, then country B should be shamed at its feeble effort - to suggest otherwise is "ludicrous".

If Mr. Engel can find that we have reversed our usual method, to console those poor devils in Peoria, bereft with grief over the opprobrium of the rest of the world, I'd be willing to accept his point.

This attitude reminds me of the ugly and small-mindedness of those Americans who wanted to rename french fries. It is petty and small for a man of his age to not only take glee in the tears of a group of young women who did nothing but be born in the wrong country, but to proudly boast of it. Mr. Engel, you say that we are "fools" - I say that I revel in the your hatred; we must be doing something right if jerks like you hate us.

"Gulf Arabs risk heart attacks in Olympics"

2008-08-18T20:01:00.003-04:00

So says Klaus Kallmayer, head of cardiology at City Hospital in Dubai and the German Heart Center in Breman.

A top cardiologist has warned television viewers in the United Arab Emirates to try to stay calm during the Olympics because they were particularly vulnerable to suffering heart attacks while watching sports...

"Watching a stressful sports game involving the national team can more than double the risk of an acute cardiovascular event. And the UAE's poor cardiovascular record means spectators here can be even more at risk..."

Birds

2008-06-11T21:28:00.002-04:00

The first thing that I noticed my first morning in Al Ain (exactly three years ago this week) was the song birds. This was immensely comforting. I knew then that I wasn't living in a completely alien place. I actually was surprised by how many and how loud the birds were. I tried and tried to get decent pictures of birds while I was in Al Ain, but they always managed to fly off before I could get close enough. I especially regret never getting a shot of the parrots that stayed in our neighborhood for a while. (Of course, sometimes things like parrots flying free while pet stores sold squirrels did make me feel like I was living in a completely alien place.) These were the best bird photos that I ever got in Al Ain:

For comparison, here is a bird from South Carolina:

And here is where squirrels belong:

Not pet stores. Or here:

More Fence Images

2008-06-11T10:00:00.003-04:00

This one was on the fence that separated the Sheikha Salama Mosque from the sidewalk:

That fence, along with the mosque, have been torn down now (here, here, and here for more about the demolition/reconstruction).

This one is at what used to the be Clock Tower Roundabout. That is Al Ain's main Emirates Post branch in the background. I took this while waiting at the stop light.

This one is, of course, an incense burner (and I have a mental block about what these are called in Arabic - I have been told numerous times but for some reason I can never remember it). I think that this photo is from the street that Carrefour is on.

Downtown Fence

2008-06-07T18:23:00.002-04:00

Most of the major streets of downtown Al Ain are divided (by direction of travel) by fences like this. The artwork on the fence varies, sometimes a della like here, or incense burner or mosque.

New(ish) Al Ain Blog

2008-06-07T07:30:00.002-04:00

Blogging since February, let me belatedly welcome Mr DtP, blogging at The Whinging Expat in Al Ain.

The Happiest Place on Earth in the UAE

2008-06-06T15:30:00.000-04:00

OK, it isn't Disneyland, Vanuatu, Denmark or even Tijuana, but according to a recent survey, Al Ain (along with Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain) is the happiest place in the UAE, with 56% of people reporting that they are happy. What is really interesting is that people in Buraimi, just across the fence in Oman, are happy at an 88% rate, despite having less money. I guess that it is true that money can't buy happiness.

Just a guess, but these people were probably in the 44%.

Settling In

2008-06-06T15:04:00.002-04:00

Just a quick update for anyone who is interested:

I started working at East Carolina University (the very same place that I worked prior to Al Ain) about three weeks ago, though I'm no longer in the library. This is the first time in more than 12 years that I haven't been working at a library, so it is quite strange. Bss and the kids are finishing school this week in South Carolina and so should be moving up here in a week or so. I'm still trying to adjust to not saying insha'Allah and alhamillah.

Last Call (for now)

2008-03-05T10:07:00.002-05:00

I just heard my last call to prayer here (I'll be on the way to the airport when Isha is called). It is really sad to leave, and I have to admit I had a tear in my eye as I stood there listening. This place and its sights, sounds, and smells get into your soul.

Thanks to everyone who has stopped by with comments and support and even those few who have criticized. I've had a great time. I'll still post things here when it strikes my fancy.

Here's one (actually a twofer!) for the road:

New Al Ain Blogger

2008-03-05T10:04:00.001-05:00

Telephone, newly blogging at Existential Al Ain, commented here the other day. Welcome to the neighborhood and thank you for stopping by.

I Sure Hope So or That was Awful Fast

2008-03-05T09:52:00.003-05:00

I'm not sure that four days is really enough to draw conclusions, but:

Traffic offences and accidents have dropped in [Al Ain] - with police saying drivers are being more cautious following the implementation of new unified traffic laws.

The police have not recorded a fatal accident in the city and its surrounding areas since Saturday when the law came into effect.

The cynic in me says that this is just more of the same old, same old, but then my taxi driver this morning remarked how he didn't run through a yellow/red light because of the new fines, and two of my co-workers noted (without my asking) how the new laws are making them take extra care.

Of course, my inner cynic also wonders how many thousands have died needlessly, if these sorts of rules would have made traffic safer over the years.

Last Week

2008-02-27T13:19:00.002-05:00

One week from now, at this time, I'll sitting in the airport waiting for my flight that will take me home to Bss and the kids. As I expected, I'm feeling very conflict. I want so much to be back with my family, but in a way I feel like I'm leaving home here too.

These last three years have flown by so fast. I keep thinking about all the things that I wanted to do but put off because there was always time later to get to them that I'll never get to do. Never visiting Hatta and Fujairah (the only emirate I never made it to) at the two biggest misses.

On a Happier "Note"

2008-02-25T11:34:00.001-05:00

This map of the world made out of musical notes is might cool.

A Dark Day in Al Ain

2008-02-25T11:08:00.004-05:00

Blaze claims two children in Al Ain [Warning: there are some gut-wrenching details at that link, so you may not want to read the whole story. I suspect I may have trouble sleeping tonight after reading it myself.]:

Two Emirati children - Hamad, 4, and his brother Mansour, 2, - died in a fire that broke out in their house in Zakhir area in Al Ain on Friday...

The source said the fire might have been started due to a short circuit in one of the air-conditioners.

The aunt of the victims said the children were playing inside a room. Suddenly, the other family members heard the children’s cries and rushed to the room. But the fire had already engulfed the room.

"Our neighbour who rushed to the house and we tried to rescue the children but could not see them due to the fire and heavy smoke," she added.

The family are blaming the deaths on "the delay in the arrival of the rescue team" but the police head says otherwise. I only know that when we had our fire, it took the fire department a very long time to find the house.

Crash: Car overturns killing girl [second story on page]:

A teenage girl died and her mother sustained severe injuries when their car overturned yesterday in Al Kharis [sic - should be Al Khrais] district.

A traffic police official said the car was driven by a Syrian woman, identified as N.M., who was accompanied by her two teenage daughters. The woman lost control of the vehicle while she was negotiating a roundabout.

Since the other daughter was unhurt, it seems possible that she was the only one wearing a seatbelt. Of course, she could also have just been very, very lucky too.

(Speaking of which, it is good to see that the Dubai police are launching a two-week campaign to encourage seatbelt use for children. I agree with the experts in the story, it is not enough, but a start is better than nothing.)

Then, to top everything else off, we are also apparently facing a stray dog infestation:

Residents in Al Ain have been complaining about the rise in the number of stray dogs in the city that is famous for its quiet and clean environment.

The stray dogs, they feel, are a traffic hazard as they can cause accidents by running across the streets unexpectedly.

Mohammed Al Mahdi, a resident, said the stray dogs disturb his family as well as the neighbours, especially at night. "Sometimes, the dogs attack the passersby," he added.

Ashraf Sharif, another resident, said the stray dogs seem to be diseased and urged the local authorities to initiate measures to protect the health of the public, especially children.

It isn't clear if the disease that these dogs have is rabies, which would be a big concern. It would also explain why these dogs seem to have turned aggressive suddenly. Everytime I have seen a stray, it avoids everyone like its life depends on it.

Dellas

2008-02-23T11:58:00.003-05:00

The della, the distinctively shaped coffeepot, is the symbol of hospitality and tradition.

These dellas are located in the Al Ain Palace Museum.

The coffee was cooked over coals, as in this brazier. The bowl-shaped object in the left foreground was used to grind the beans and mix in the cardamom used for flavoring.

If you are wondering, the cone-shaped objects are woven mats for plates of food to sit on, and woven covers, to keep insects off the food before it was served.

No One Likes the New Taxis

2008-02-23T11:46:00.004-05:00

It seems like the residents of Abu Dhabi have the same reaction to the new taxis that I did:

Residents in the Capital are dissatisfied with the new taxi services that were launched a few months ago.

While speaking to several commuters, Khaleej Times found out the reasons for their disappointment. Most of those spoken to were unanimous in their views that the taxis’ fares had doubled, registering an increase of 100 per cent compared to the old taxis.

I agree wholeheartedly. It is interesting to note that some of the people interviewed said that they are now walking as much as 4 kilometers because they cannot afford the new fares. So you have to think that this decision could quite easily increase the pedestrian accident rate, especially as the roads here a very unfriendly for pedestrians, not to mention the potential for heatstroke when the temperatures increase.

In response to these complaints and demands, Lieutenant-Colonel Mohammed Maiouf Al Kotbi, manager of drivers’ licensing and vehicles in the General Headquarters of Abu Dhabi Police, said the decision of the new taxi services came as a result of the demands and requests of the Abu Dhabi residents, as they frequently complained about the behaviour of many of the old taxi drivers. "We received so many complaints from people that the drivers of the old taxis refused to stop for passengers or that they refused to drive outside the city centre or in crowded areas," said Lt-Col. Al Kotbi.

"For these reasons people demanded a new taxi system and the Abu Dhabi Police responded by launching the new taxi service, which aims to solve the problems," he added.

Lt-Col. Al Kotbi also pointed out that the new taxi project allows for more confidence between passengers and drivers, who are trained to be cooperative and friendly. "The problem of doubling the taxi fare is unacceptable and the passengers are entitled to get a receipt for the payment and, in case of increasing the fairs, they should come to the police," he said.

As I pointed out before, the new taxis are also charging by the hour, which seems, in my limited experience, when combined with the increased milage rate, to be the cause the doubling.

I'm not sure exactly why the two systems cannot run together either; if one wants to pay extra for a cleaner car with a more courteous driver, great. But for those who cannot, why get rid of the older system? For that matter, why make us change in Al Ain for problems that we were not having? I have never had or heard of a driver refusing a fare to anywhere in Al Ain. Has anyone ever that this experience?

Not Again Again

2008-02-22T14:09:00.003-05:00

Has the world entered some temporal loop that is making us repeat the entire year of 2006? First round two of the Cartoon fiasco. Now this:

The majority of Americans fear the U.S. economy and national security could be hurt if sovereign wealth funds, the investment arms of foreign governments, put more money into U.S. companies, new data show...

A majority of Americans, or 56 percent, did not like that investment funds from Singapore, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates have taken small stakes in banking giant Citigroup Inc.

The dumbest part: "49 percent said the funds would have a negative impact on an already slowing U.S. economy." Even taking into account that most people do not understand economics, that people can believe that investment in the US economy is harmful for economic growth is almost beyond belief.

"Americans are becoming increasingly isolationist in their thinking..." I've been saying for a while now that everything that has happened with America's foreign affairs is eventually going to make the American people say "to hell with you all" to the rest of the world, and I'm afraid that this is just the beginning of that process.

Hawk at Your Own Peril

2008-02-22T04:56:00.002-05:00

Dh100 fine imposed for spitting in public places:

The local municipalities in Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and the Western Region are now imposing a Dh100 fine on those caught spitting in the streets and public places.

Engineer Omar Al Hashimi, Director of the Department of Municipal Service Affairs, told Khaleej Times that move is aimed at protecting the community from unhygienic practices.

One small problem with the article is that it is wrong that "spitting in the streets and floors of public places ... have [sic] become a problem", it is that spitting has been a problem for some time. Why else would there be signs like this posted?

Hours of the Al Ain Palace Museum

2008-02-21T11:53:00.002-05:00

As promised, here are the hours of the Al Ain Palace Museum, in both English and Arabic:

Exploitation

2008-02-20T12:43:00.003-05:00

Yesterday at the Community Blog, I posted some excerpts and a link to a very strongly anti-Dubai article from Australia. It specifically focused on the treatment of the Asian laborers who are building the mega-projects that are giving Dubai its worldwide fame.

No news article or blog post is going to settle this issue. But it always seems like these sorts of article conflate two separate issues.

The first issue is the lying and cheating that many face from dishonest job agents making false promises and employers who withhold wages, have overly dangerous working conditions, and/or refuse to allow workers to take breaks when the temperature soars. Not every worker face these problems, but far too many do. The Dubai government claims that they are cracking down on these abuses, and they may be - I don't know if they are doing enough. But regardless, no one is defending these types of abuses.

The other issue is the general working conditions that the all these laborers face: low pay, dangerous jobs, years away from family, crowded living conditions, and so on. It is these that are much tricker.

It seems to me that many of the Westerners act in a paternalistic fashion towards these (second-type) issues, not just about these issues in Dubai, but about 'sweatshop' factories that manufacture clothing in Asia and elsewhere. But the men who are coming here to work in Dubai are adults, capable of making their own choices and deserving of respect for those choices. If they are honestly told and so know what the situation is like here and still agree to come to work here, then they must have decided that being here, as unpleasant as it is, is a better option for them.

Now I have to admit, that is a horrifying thought. It breaks my heart that people will choose to go through what they do here because it is the best choice. Denying these people the chance to work under these conditions might make us Westerners feel better about ourselves, but it isn't helping the laborers if they just have to go back to the worse conditions that they were trying to get away from.

Take the example of Kathy Lee Gifford. In 1996, she was castigated and humiliated because it was reported that her clothing line was made in Honduran sweatshops. But a careful examination of the facts revealed another side of the story. The average worker in Honduran apparel sweatshops made "$13.10 per day, yet 44 percent of the country's population lives on less than $2 per day". So basically a bunch of Westerners got to feel better about themselves while putting poor people in an even worse position.

In the West, this exactly what our ancestors did when they went to work in the mines or in sweatshops, because the alternative was worse. I'm glad that my ancestors were willing to do those things, and that there were people there to give them those opportunities, instead of letting them starve.

It is very simple to call what is going on exploitation. It may sooth your conscience. But it isn't going to make things any better.

Zayed bin Khalifa

2008-02-20T12:24:00.002-05:00

Zayed bin Khalifa Al Nahyan
Al Ain Palace Museum

Zayed bin Khalifa was the grandfather of Sheikh Zayed. He was born around 1840 and ruled the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.

This painting of him hangs in the Al Ain Palace Museum along with many other portraits from Sheikh Zayed's family. (It helps to be able to read Arabic for these, since all the names are only written in Arabic.)

Reaction Times

2008-02-20T02:06:00.002-05:00

Also via the EclectEcon, try your hand at a test that times your reaction speed from the BBC.

Understanding European Geography

2008-02-20T02:01:00.002-05:00

Via the EclectEcon, try your hand at Lufthansa's Virtual Pilot Game.

East of Al Ain

2008-02-19T12:40:00.003-05:00

If you head out of Al Ain to the east, past the Intercon, past the go cart track, there is this flat, rocky land just before the Omani border. The landscape is very different than the area to the north and west of Al Ain. Out here there is almost no sand, and the beginnings of the Hajar mountains on two sides.

Not Again

2008-02-19T00:39:00.002-05:00

So, is is time to stock up on Danish Flags again? Prophet cartoon sparks boycott call:

A Kuwaiti politician on Thursday called for a boycott of Denmark after 17 Danish newspapers ran an illustration of the prophet wearing a turban shaped like a bomb, with a lit fuse.

"We must impose a total political and economic boycott of Denmark," Waleed al-Tabtabai told the Kuwaiti parliament...

[Elsewhere, Hamas] called for those responsible to be put on trial.

Since no laws were broken by printing the cartoons, I'm not really sure what Hamas thinks that the charges would be.

Do you think that it is unreasonable to assume that every one of these people think that it is unfair for the Israelis to engage in collective punishment of the entire population of Gaza for some of them launching rockets at Israeli towns? It seems like a safe guess to me. So why exactly is it that it is proper to attempt to punish the entire country of Denmark in this way?

Sheikh Zayed's Private Majlis

2008-02-18T11:42:00.003-05:00

One of the interesting things to do in Al Ain is visit the Al Ain Palace Museum, where Sheikh Zayed was born and worked as the Ruler's Representative of the Eastern Region of Abu Dhabi before becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi in 1966. The palace has been restored with lots of old furniture and artifacts like dellas, swords, khanjars, and cooking pots. It is probably not completely to its original condition (e.g. I'm betting that the air conditioners are not original). But it still is very interesting (and best of all free). They even have some Emirati clothing that visitors can try on (even wooden burqas for the ladies).

New Taxis

2008-02-17T12:35:00.003-05:00

As part of getting ready to go home, I have sold the car, so I'm back to riding in taxis, something I haven't done much of in the last two years and not at all in the last six months. So this weekend I finally got to rid in one of the new taxis that are slowly replacing Abu Dhabi and Al Ain's old gold and white taxis. You can take a peek at the new taxis at the Trans AD website.

So how was it? It stunk.

No, wait, it smelled ok. It is the old taxis (well, mostly the drivers) that stink. The taxi itself was very clean, comfortable and unsmelly (being a new car doesn't hurt with any of this, I'm sure), the driver uniformed and polite, no decorated dashboard coverings or weird noises coming from the car anywhere.

But, it is also a good bit more expensive. The old taxis charge 2 dirhams + 50 fils per km (and the 50 fils doesn't take effect until the meter has gone 0.9 kms, so a trip of 1.8 kms is the same price as 0.9 kms). The new taxis charge 3 dirhams + 75 fils per km + 21 dirhams per hour (+ 2.50 dirhams if you call them instead of flagging one down). So a trip to the mall that cost 6.50 going in an old taxi cost 12.50 coming back. Sure, I can afford it. But what about my co-workers who do not make as much as I do and do not have cars? Their transportation cost, when the old taxis are all gone, are going to skyrocket.

I'm sure that these taxis are safer, cleaner, etc, etc. But the old ones have character. And I'm pretty sure that no one will never have some of the experiences that I did in the old cabs: enjoying a cabbie whooping with delight as he listens to Pakistan play India in cricket; having a cabbie ask if I have a sister he could marry; or being told by another how much he loves the Taliban and hates Americans; or being told by the very next one how much he loves George Bush and hates the Taliban; or another that said I look Turkish or Syrian because I have a "beautiful beard" but my terrible Arabic accent gave me away; or the one that tried to convert me to Islam, even though I seemed to know more about it than he did; or the lunatic, laughing maniacally as he ran a red light.

These were real experiences, memories that I will have the rest of my life. Whenever I tell the maniacally red light running story, everyone laughs - who is going to be entertained by a story that goes "It was a very pleasant, safe ride"?

Progress - that is what really stinks.

British Tourism Survey

2008-02-17T12:18:00.003-05:00

Researchers for VisitBritain, the body responsible for promoting British tourism, asked 26,000 people in 26 countries to score Britain as a holiday destination. In particular, they were asked if they wanted to visit Buckingham Palace...

Among the most resistant to Britain's charms were the Americans and Canadians, 50 per cent of whom said they would never visit even if they could afford it...

Many still regard British food as the worst in the world. Indians said they wanted to see a full English breakfast, but not necessarily to eat it, while the French said "trying local food and drink is not one of Britain's strengths"... [Clearly the French have picked up the British fondness for understatement]

Youngsters in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia "seemed to be stuck in a 1980s time warp focused on the Royal Family, Harrods and almost exclusively on London" when it came to their ideas about Britain...

Well, this American would love to visit, but then English history and culture is a fascination of mine. I'd even be willing to eat the food. Now, if you all could just learn to spell...
Whole Article

"Iran ready for talks with UAE on Abu Mousa"

2008-02-17T11:55:00.002-05:00

From the official Iranian news agency:

"Iran is ready to hold face-to-face talks with its brothers from the UAE on the misunderstanding about Abu Mousa island," Hosseini [Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman] stressed.

He said that Tehran would "seize any opportunity to remove misunderstanding."

What exactly is the misunderstanding? Iran stole Abu Musa and the two Tunbs from Sharjah in 1971 and slaughtered 20 police officers.

Juxtaposition

2008-02-17T10:23:00.003-05:00

Two things I saw yesterday:

Tamouh plans for indoor ski slope on Jebel Hafeet

Controversial plans to build an indoor ski slope on the highest peak in Abu Dhabi are being considered by local developer Tamouh Investments, as part of a major mixed-used development...

The project is controversial as it will radically alter the appearance of Jebel Hafeet...

Although the scheme will use the natural slope of the mountain, it will still require substantial work to alter the profile of the mountainside.

Quote at the Al Ain Palace Museum:

إن حجم الدول لايقاس بمساحاتها على الخريطة بل نتراثها و
حضارتها

زايد بن سلطان آل نهيان

Probably not by its ski slopes either.

Young Bloggers

2008-02-16T09:28:00.002-05:00

Either I'm getting old, or bloggers are getting younger all the time

This is really my youngest son a couple of years ago, before we came here.

Parking

2008-02-16T09:26:00.001-05:00

And I thought that the parking was bad here.

New(ish) Al Ain Blog

2008-02-16T09:16:00.003-05:00

American Muslima Writer, blogging since January, but only found tonight. Stop by and welcome her to the area (and make sure you vote Yes, we need an arts and crafts store here in Al Ain).

Salama Mosque Construction

2008-02-16T09:01:00.003-05:00

Before I leave, one last update on the construction of the new Sheikha Salama Mosque:

The construction is going pretty slowly. Since October the only visible sign of progress is that a huge hole has been dug:

When I saw this, my first thought was about Mike Mulligan (though I'm pretty sure that Mary Anne wasn't built by Hyundai).

It makes me sad to think that I will not get to see the construction finished. Someone needs to promise to get some good photos when the work is done.

1000 Dirham Notes

2008-02-15T22:31:00.002-05:00

Not long after I got here I posted scans of all the paper money except the 1000 dirham ones (and of course the photo site that I was using then has gone kaput and I don't have those images anymore, so I have to rescan them), so, not long before I leave, for the sake of completeness, here are the what the 1000s look like:

Parking Lot Cricket

2008-02-15T09:59:00.003-05:00

I was walking around Buraimi last weekend and saw these Pakistani laborers playing cricket in an empty parking lot. I just watched for a while, then when I got my camera out, the ones who were waiting to bat struck up a conversation with me, as best we could with their limited English and my limited Arabic.

All Good Things...

2008-02-14T13:05:00.003-05:00

In a lot of ways, I have come to think of the Emirates as a second home. I have loved my job and the friends that I have made at work. But the time has come for me to rejoin the family, so in three weeks, I will be packing up and heading back to the US and Bss and the kids.

Thank you to everyone who has contributed here.

One good thing

2008-01-14T14:16:00.000-05:00

There has been a lot of complaining about the traffic problems that President Bush's visit has caused, but the Gulf News reports one good thing:

...motorists reported seeing a complete lack of disregard for road rules... (emphasis added)

A complete lack of disregard for the traffic rules sure sounds like a good thing, since the usual order around here is a complete lack of regard for the rules of the road.

Five Best Books

2008-01-11T07:45:00.000-05:00

The five best books I read for the first time last year (so just to be clear, not all were published last year):

Words and Rules: The Ingredients of Language by Steven Pinker.
Just a great book about how language is formed. The overall point is that all languages are made up of two things: lexemes, which are words (or phrases if the meaning cannot be parsed out of the the individual words, e.g. "mother-in-law") that must be memorized; and grammatical rules that are applied to those so that variant forms do not have to be memorized (e.g. adding "s" to nouns to pluralize or adding "ed" to make a verb past tense). So the past tense of "run" must be memorized, but the past tense of "toss" doesn't.

The thing that I'll always remember after reading this: The book explains that the default Arabic plural suffix is "aat" (ات), so if an Arabic speaker is given a word that he doesn't know the plural to, he will just at "aat" at the end to pluralize it. When I was talking to one of my Emirati colleagues about this, she didn't believe me, so I thought perhaps the book had been wrong. Then five minutes later I heard two other Emiratis speaking in Arabic and one of them said "posteraat". I asked if she was saying "posters" and she said yes. The original doubter then checked with a teacher of Arabic who confirmed that yes, "aat" is the default.

A Short History of Almost Everything by Bill Bryson.

A fascinating history and general overview of science. Full of interesting anecdotes about the scientists who made the discoveries.

Emergency Sex and Other Desperate Measures : A True Story from Hell on Earth by Kenneth Cain, Heidi Postelwait, and Andrew Thomson.

A personal history of three UN humanitarian workers (two Americans and a New Zealander) who served in Cambodia, Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia, Rwanda, and Liberia in the 1990s.

The thing I'll always remember: Thomson (a Kiwi doctor) in Serbia
[The massacre at Srebrenica] should never have happened. Srebrenica was a Muslim town that the UN declared a safe haven and promised to protect. But the Serbs emboldened by years of American and European appeasement attacked... UN peacekeepers ... offered no resistence ... They then had a front-row seat as Serb soldiers rounded up the men and boys, herded them onto buses, and drove them away to their execution...

One day someone at UNHQ will commission an official report about this disaster... But for me there's only one lesson: ... If blue-helmeted UN peacekeepers show up in your town or village and offer to protect you, run. Or else get weapons. Your lives are worth so much less then theirs.

Watching the English: The Hidden Rules of English Behaviour by Kate Fox.
Fox, an English anthropologist, uses the tools of Anthropology to study and try to explain English behavior. It amazed me to see how "English" is the behavior of my family, especially my father's side (the first Hall from that side of the family left Somerset in 1848).

Mustn't Grumble: In Search of England and the English by Joe Bennett.

Bennett, an English teacher and writer who has been in New Zealand for 18 years, returns to England, follows in the path of H.V. Morton's In Search of England.

Full of very funny (well, in a British way) observations, such as:
- Its lengthy headline demonstrates the [Daily] Mail's customary respect for the rules of reasoning: 'Crime is falling, says Blair, as a young mother in the safest part of England lies stabbed and paralysed.'
- Outside the Pump Room a man with no obvious disability is playing a xylophone. He is either incompetent or playing jazz. The distinction is a fine one.

Juxtaposition

2008-01-11T04:05:00.000-05:00

Today's Gulf News' front page begins with an open letter to President Bush (apparently only in the print version. The online version, on page 10 of the print version, is longer and different in wording, but not in tone):

Unfortunately, you landed here with prejudice and pre-formed opinions..."

Next paragraph:

We realize that containing Iran, selling more weapons and securing cheap oil supplies are the main issues on your mind as you tour the region.

Fortunately they are not pre-judging him or anything.

Pop-Tarts

2008-01-01T14:36:00.000-05:00

Continuing this blog's (ok, my) obsession with Pop-Tarts (this is the seventh post about them), Abela is not only carrying them on a pretty regular basis now, but today I noticed that they even have some of the low fat variety.

And now for some Pop-Tart humor:

Another Al Ain Blogger

2007-12-29T17:23:00.000-05:00

I stumbled across KAF in Al Ain, blogging since October. Be sure to stop by and say hello and welcome to the Al Ain blogosphere.

I Did Not Know That

2007-12-29T14:02:00.000-05:00

Apparently the laws of supply and demand only apply to Western economies and not the UAE. That is some weird, wacky stuff.

I admit, I only have one economics course and whatever I have picked up from reading on my own, but I do not see how in increase in the monetary supply could not contribute to inflation.

Maybe an expert can explain how this works better than the article does.

A Reason to be Depressed

2007-12-28T13:48:00.000-05:00

I went nearly a month and a half without posting, and some of that was because I was in the US and had only limited internet usage. But the other thing was that I was depressed about a lot of things - I can chart my moods here in Al Ain almost exactly by the number of blog posts that I make per month.

Anyway, this comment at The Corner, the National Review's group blog, was the last thing that I tried to blog about before I gave up.

I really don't know what to say about this. It is so very frustrating when people do things like this, especially when it is out of ignorance. I emailed the author, who, evidence here not withstanding, is not a hateful or stupid person, to explain that this was not a reason to be depressed at all, but happy and hopeful. Just look at how Mrs. Bush's trip was covered in the Gulf News, with three articles, all very positive.

Understanding starts with context. One of the first things that I noticed when I came here was that I had a hard time interpreting behavior sometimes. The example that always stands out to me was my first shopping trip to Carrefour. I had only been here a few days and had not met many people outside of the hotel. An Arab kid (about 10 or so) rammed the cart he was pushing into the back of my legs. When I turned around, he and his father were just staring at me blankly. Back home, I would have expected an apology. So I was confused. Was was being slammed into like this just normal behavior that everyone expected and so did not apologize for, or were these two being jerks? In the US, I would have known. Here, I had no cultural context to put the incident into.

Of course, I have also met Ms. Lopez's counterparts here too. I once had a conversation with a co-worker in which I tried (and I'm pretty sure failed) to convince him that there are millions of Americans that dislike the worst excesses of Western culture. He could not believe it. He told me that he might believe that there are a few thousand, but not millions. It was like trying to convince an Islamophobe that most Muslims hate terrorism. And like them, he had no first hand experience with what he was talking about. He had formed his opinion based solely on what he had seen in the media.

Blog Reading Level

2007-12-28T13:07:00.000-05:00

I make no claim for the accuracy of this, but according to the Blog Readability Test:

Flashers

2007-12-28T12:27:00.001-05:00

I have to admit it, I hate high beam flashers. In the US, doing that is very rude, but I've slowly gotten used to it, and bear it with something close to tolerance now. But here in Al Ain (or maybe just me) the headlight flashers seem to be getting worse.

In the past few weeks, I have seen people flashing their high beams at people for things that I cannot remember before, like:

flashing at someone who they think is driving to slowly in the middle lane, even though the left lane is open for passing

flashing at me 10 meters from a roundabout in the middle of town even though it was clear (from the fact that I had my left turn signal on) that I needed to be in the left lane

worst of all, flashing me when I'm in the middle lane (and showing no sign of leaving it) and they are passing me on the left

Has anyone else noticed this change or am I crazy? (I know, those are not mutually exclusive.)

Al Nagfa

2007-12-28T12:15:00.000-05:00

So I am trying to remember that time is short, so I finally got around to going up to see Al Nagfa today. M and K were up in August and have some photos from then, and I took some more.

View of downtown, with the oasis in the foreground:

Al Ain FC stadium:

In case you missed the announcement last summer, this hilltop is going to be turned into a mall and motel.

Development

2007-12-28T11:39:00.000-05:00

One of the worst illusions in life is the feeling that you have plenty of time to do things later. When Bss and the kids were here, we used to occasionally drive past a park near the Hilton that looked like it would be fun. There were always large numbers of families out enjoying themselves. I always meant to go there with the kids. But now, even if they were here, we couldn't, as the park is being developed into something else.

I have seen these big plywood walls to hide construction in Dubai, but never here in Al Ain. If you consider that Al Ain is being surveyed for high-rises as well, it really does mark the end of an era here.

Don't get me wrong, I am absolutely in favor of land owners being allowed to use their property any way they want. But it will be sad if Al Ain just becomes a smaller Dubai or Abu Dhabi, chasing after a dream and forgetting the good that it has now.

I guess that we have more vistas like this to look forward to.

Polyphonic Spree on Scrubs

2007-12-27T14:19:00.000-05:00

At Least We Know Exactly How Many Tickets

2007-12-27T03:18:00.000-05:00

So there may be conflicting police stories of how many died on the roads over Eid, but the Dubai Police seem to have a better idea of how many tickets were issued during Eid: 26,937 (Gulf News) or 26,057 (7Days), along with 138 confiscated vehicles.

Actually, the Gulf News version makes it sound like 26,937 tickets were issued and another 17,057 speeding tickets issued via cameras (at least that is how I read "traffic patrols and traffic control teams issued 26,937 traffic offences, while radars caught 17,057 speeding offences", but that seems both very high and unlikely (in that the police would manually stop and write out more tickets than the cameras would catch). But their total seems more accurate over all (for the 7Days figure to be right, the police would have had to written exactly 9,000 tickets, so I'm going with 26,937). So this means that on average a little less than four people per minute were ticketed during the five day period.

The only problem with raw numbers like this is that there is nothing to compare it to. It would be nice to know what the average is both for any five day period as well as previous Eids. I did see this story from July 2006 that the police issued 25,000+ speeding tickets during a nine-day safety campaign, so rate during Eid was about three times as high as that.

Sunrise on Jebel Hafeet

2007-12-26T13:00:00.000-05:00

My boss is one of the nicest men that you will ever meet. So it wasn't surprising that he insisted that as a Christian I take yesterday (Christmas) off. With the family in the US, I actually wouldn't have minded working and being around people, but I also didn't want to insult him, so that settled it. So I did something that I've been thinking about doing for a while but haven't gotten around to: watching the sunrise from atop Jebel Hafeet. So I set the alarm for 5:00 am and dashed up to the top.

As I expected, I had the place to myself, both because of the time of day and the time of year. Last winter when I mentioned that we had all gone up Hafeet the day before, my co-workers were horrified because of how "cold" it is this time of year. Of course, cold is relative, but still, it was far from freezing, especially when out of the wind:

So I got to enjoy the spectacular views in complete peace

and watch as dawn broke

and night gradually brightened into day.

A first for me was the very thick fog that was near the top of the mountain. At one point visibility was down to just a few feet. It made the drive up and down, already selected as the "greatest driving road in the world" even more exciting. (Of course being in a mini-van takes away a large amount of the excitement.) All in all, it was the greatest Christmas morning spent without my family.

Mosque Photo

2007-12-26T12:00:00.000-05:00

Al at A Novice's Guide to Al Ain has an interesting post up about his five biggest accomplishments in the four months that he has been here. Included are some a great shots of this mosque, including one of the interior. Stop by and check it out.

Al Ain Video

2007-12-26T04:05:00.000-05:00

Here is a short (5 minutes) YouTube video about Al Ain from AME Info. It covers things like archeology and history, the oasis, museums, camel souk, parks, and zoo.

Christmas Dawn at Jebel Hafeet

2007-12-25T05:55:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone

كل عام وأنتم بخير

I Guess It Depends on Who You Ask

2007-12-24T23:03:00.000-05:00

We, in theory, live in the Information Age. But how good is the information that we are being given? Take these seriously conflicting statistics about accidents during Eid, all taken from the police, reported in the three main English language papers:

Khaleej Times:

During the Eid Al Adha holidays, more than 500 traffic accidents were reported in the emirate of Dubai, resulting in injuries to several people. However, no casualty was reported.

(I assume from the context that the author meant "no fatalities" and not "no casualty", since injured people are casualties.)

7Days:

In Dubai, officers said there had been 65 accidents, with four people left dead and 46 injured - some seriously - over the three days.

Gulf News:

Two people were killed and several others were injured in traffic accidents during Eid holidays in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain.

7Days:

In Al Ain, eight people died and 39 injured in crashes...

So, in Dubai, the death toll was either zero or four. In both Abu Dhabi and Al Ain, the death toll was two, or in Al Ain alone the death toll was eight.

Another Answer

2007-12-24T14:27:00.000-05:00

Back in October, I noted that the police were cracking down on fireworks and the claim that it would save many lives and asked if there were any stats on injuries/deaths.

Today's Khaleej Times finally has some stats: "Colonel Hamad Saeed bin Trais Al Dhahry, Deputy Director of Al Ain Police Directorate, said no injuries to children due to firecrackers in Al Ain City and its surroundings areas were reported during the current year." Maybe this is because fireworks aren't really that dangerous (as I noted, when I was a kid we used to do all sorts of dangerous things with them), or maybe it is because the police here have been so busy confiscating them. They have nabbed about 2,000 kg of fireworks, or about 5.5 kg per day. When you think about how light the average firecracker is, 5.5 kilos is a lot of firecrackers. And how cool is it that the police have a "Weapons and Blasts Section"? Almost as cool as the "Difficult Missions team", but I still think that it sounds like a fun place to work.

An Answer (Five Months Late)

2007-12-24T14:12:00.000-05:00

Back in July, I wrote about people living in Al Ain and working in Dubai, and in the comments it was asked about average rent in Al Ain, which I didn't know. The Gulf News had an article the other day that seems to answer this question;

According to Asteco's latest figures, annual rent for a new three-bedroom villa at the town centre now hovers around Dh60,000 to Dh75,000, or about Dh15,000 to Dh25,000 more expensive than last year.

On average, current rates for old three-, four- and five-bedroom villas are at Dh45,000, Dh60,000 and Dh70,000 while prices for new villas are at Dh60,000, Dh75,000 and Dh85,000. The figures represent a 35 to 40 per cent rise from last year.

Some new residential properties fetch an annual rent of Dh100,000 to Dh120,000 while office space commands Dh500 to 750 per square metre, depending on location.

So there you go. It is cheaper than Dubai and Abu Dhabi, but getting more expensive (up 30% this year). The story lists several reasons for the increase in demand, but leaves out one really big factor. The additional restrictions on the Al Ain-Buraimi border crossing caused many people who had formerly lived in Buraimi (which has lower rents) and worked in Al Ain to move to Al Ain.

Also, when considering the article, there is one small mistake and one big mistake. It lists the population of Al Ain as 300,000. The Al Ain Times had reported that the population, according to the most recent census, is 400,000. But that is nothing compared to "property prices in Al Ain may be rising, but the emirate is still much cheaper compared to Dubai and Abu Dhabi". Unless I missed it, Al Ain is still just the second largest city in the emirate of Abu Dhabi.

Sand Dunes

2007-12-24T14:04:00.000-05:00

It is probably because I'm lonely without Bss and the kids, but I've have gone out just driving in the desert a few times the last couple of weeks. When I leave here I'm really going to miss the austere beauty of the dunes around Al Ain.

Al Nabagh Camel Racetrack

2007-12-23T14:33:00.000-05:00

Yesterday afternoon, boredom led me to drive around aimlessly, when I stumbled across Al Nabagh camel racetrack. There were no races, but lots of camels out exercising.

Beyond Recognition

2007-12-22T03:49:00.000-05:00

If you are having trouble recognizing Dubai today, it is 50 Cent's fault.

Yes, I am still alive

2007-12-09T00:38:00.000-05:00

I'll post more soon on where I have been.

Mohammed has posted his top 15 matches in the Beliefnet Belief-O-Matic quiz, which claims that

Even if YOU don't know what faith you are, Belief-O-Matic™ knows. Answer 20 questions about your concept of God, the afterlife, human nature, and more, and Belief-O-Matic™ will tell you what religion (if any) you practice...or ought to consider practicing.

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Here are my top 15:

1. Seventh Day Adventist (100%)
2. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (86%)
3. Orthodox Quaker (85%)
4. Eastern Orthodox (82%)
5. Roman Catholic (82%)
6. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (70%)
7. Hinduism (69%)
8. Orthodox Judaism (68%)
9. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (61%)
10. Jehovah's Witness (61%)
11. Islam (55%)
12. Sikhism (54%)
13. Liberal Quakers (51%)
14. Bahá'í Faith (48%)
15. Reform Judaism (45%)

Moon Over Buraimi

2007-10-24T14:47:00.000-04:00

Rebuilding Sheikha Salama Mosque

2007-10-16T14:25:00.000-04:00

I admit, I don't read the paper every day, but this story seems to be the first mention of the rebuilding of the Sheikha Salama Mosque that I have seen.

The design and supervision contract of the project has been given to Aldar Properties, said a company spokesman, adding that the mosque would have the capacity to accommodate 3,860 people. The project is expected to be completed in 2009...

The mosque's ceiling will gradually ascend in the direction of Makkah. The natural stone cladding, granite flooring and abundant light in the structure will produce an inner space that communicates the mosque's exquisite symbolism, whilst the incorporation of lifts will give the new structure a modern aspect.

Incidently, this is the way that the location of the mosque looked a couple of weeks ago:

Previously posted, but here are some pics of what the new mosque is apparently going to look like:

No! What are you people thinking?

2007-10-16T14:13:00.001-04:00

Why in the world would you want to take one of the few relatively undeveloped and beautiful places in Al Ain and put touristy junk up there? Why ruin the spectacular views? The things that these people are suggesting would only restrict the view and create more trash atop the mountain. Please, please leave the top of Jabal Hafeet alone.

Some competition for Daad

2007-10-16T14:07:00.000-04:00

The Ajman Bluebeard might have some competition with this fellow. Sure, he is 11 kids behind right now, but he also has at least twice as many wives, and maybe more in the offing ("There are many women who wish to marry me and there is no lack of women. I never had a problem with such things.") so you never know, he might be able to close the gap.

I Hope We Can Find a Parking Place

2007-10-03T14:50:00.000-04:00

This is one of my favorite things about Ramadan: The parking lot at Carrefour just before Iftar:

It is about the only time that there is not a crowd there. I know that it is shallow (and not what the true spirit of Ramadan is about), but I look forward to this month when I get my grocery shopping over with quickly and peacefully.

Another thing I love is how still and quiet the town gets right at sunset. This is Shakboot ibn Sultan Street, one of the busier streets in town, just after sunset the other day:

Water Usage

2007-10-03T14:27:00.000-04:00

I remember from last year that there was a report that the UAE has the highest per capita water usage in the world. Today I saw this article that claims that Al Ain is the city with the highest per capita usage of water. Can that be right? I've poked around a bit and cannot find anything that would confirm this.

I know that a lot of water is used to keep the city so green, water that honestly should not be used this way. Long term this is causing huge problems and the sooner that the amount of greenery is reduced, the better. There is going to be a reckoning some day before too long for all this.

It doesn't help that the municipality is almost giving water away. We have been paying a flat 50 dirhams a month for our (non-drinking) water here - this for a family of six.

It's a First!

2007-10-02T15:35:00.000-04:00

A Linda Heard column that I agree with! At least the basic point, that the US Senate has no right to decide the future of Iraq (or any other country) in this way. I think that she is wrong on some of the minor points - e.g. I think that Iran would be the biggest winner from a partition of Iraq, not Israel. Also, the sentence "Either Joe Biden is clueless or..." should just be "Joe Biden is clueless", but that is a minor stylistic point.

I especially enjoyed her "suggestion for the Arab world... [to] vote on the break-up of America", since such a vote would be completely worthless and pointless, pretty much like this Senate resolution. But if people want to do such things, more power to them.

Kids and Fireworks

2007-10-02T13:39:00.000-04:00

So the government is cracking down on fireworks, classifying them as an explosive and threatening a three year jail term for those possessing them. But the story says that it is kids that are using them. Are they really going to lock up kids for three years for having a firecracker?

Are there even any stats about how many kids in the UAE are killed each year by fireworks? I didn't know that it was a huge problem, but Ali Mussabeh is quoted as saying that the law will "save lives of many children who become victims of firecrackers". The only report in the Gulf News that I can find about anyone being killed by fireworks this year actually occurred when the Ajman Police were trying to destroy some they had confiscated back in April, and those killed were not children.

I hate to think what the police would have thought about what we used to do with fireworks as kids in the US. I think that the stupidest thing we did was once we bought a couple hundred bottle rockets, and divided up into two teams and shot them at each other. Good times.

Another Al Ain Blog

2007-10-02T13:00:00.000-04:00

I just came across Cheryl and Ron, who are just new to Al Ain in August. Stop by and check out their blog. I think that reading the observations of new residents are interesting as they notice things that those of us who have been here for a while stop seeing.

From the North

2007-10-02T12:53:00.001-04:00

Al Ain, viewed from the Airport Road, north of town. This is about 20 km from Jebel Hafeet.

الحمد لله

2007-10-01T15:54:00.000-04:00

Alhamdu lillah (something like "The praise belongs to God") is a very common phrase here. You use it when things go well, when you are asked how you or your family is, etc. I've gotten in the habit of saying it a fair bit myself, even when I'm back home in the US.

You see these words on lots of U-turn signs here in Al Ain, and whenever I see them I always wonder a couple of things, but then it slips my mind and I forget to ask my co-workers:

1. Who puts these up? I mean is it something that comes pre-printed on the sign straight from the factory and is there when it is put up or does someone slap a sticker on after it has been up for a while?

2. Why U-turns? Is it just because there is so much blank space or is this a common thing to say when making a U-turn?

Of course, then there is this one that is by Al Ain Mall that for some reason is written in Latin characters (and weirdly mis-transliterated, by which I mean I have never heard anyone pronounce this with an "o" sound):

I think that the green above the truck says "Allahu akbar" (God is greater or greatest) and the red says "la tanas dhakir Allah" (my very bad transliteration), which a co-worker told me means "Don't forget your obligations to God".

Compromise?

2007-09-29T10:22:00.000-04:00

English speakers cannot agree on the proper name and spelling of a certain shiny metal. Last night I noticed that the folks at Carrefour have compromised by spelling it Aluminuim:

A quick Google search reveals 90,000+ hits for that spelling; 80,400,000 for the proper spelling; and 60,200,000 for some weird alternate spelling.