Sade...need I say more?

Natova and I have recently added a date night to our routine, an idea we adopted from some friends of ours.  Things can get pretty monotonous hanging around the house and watching Hulu or Netflix.  And you can only go to the malls so many times.  So we’ve implemented date night, a time for us to formally do something with each other.    So far it’s been pretty good.  We’ve done the Christmas concert and now we got to experience Sade.

When I first saw that Sade was coming to Abu Dhabi, I knew we were going, no question about it.  We ended up buying the general admission tickets, which means you are standing, but you get a decent view of the stage.   Natova brought up a pretty good point that because the music is more mellow and not as fast and exciting as say a Janet Jackson, that we may feel the effects of standing up for a long period of time.  Point taken, a good point actually, but we had to do it.  I don’t know when I would ever get another chance to see Sade so why not check her out in Abu Dhabi. 

The concert was at the Yas Arena, which is right next to Ferrari World (a theme park based around Ferrari cars.  It has roller coasters, rides, the whole nine.  It’s yet another activity we still have to get around to doing).  The turnout ended up being pretty good.  It was doubtful at first as we saw wide open patches of grass where we were standing about thirty minutes before the concert, but that closed up quickly once the lights dimmed and the show began.  The concert was supposed to start at 8 and it did but it there was an opening act, a rock band.  They were okay and it probably would have been nice to hang out at a bar and casually hear them in the background while you’re talking to friends and having a drink.  However we had been standing there for an hour (gates opened at 7) and every song they did we thought was the last song, until they would strike up another. 

Finally, after another thirty minutes of prepping the stage after the rock band, Sade hits the stage.   From where we were we got a pretty good view of everything.  We weren’t close but we weren’t that far either.  The video I recorded actually makes it seem we are farther away than we actually are. Natova and I took bets on what Sade would open with.  Natova thought “Soldier of Love” and I guessed “Smooth Operator”.  She won.    Then Sade did another new song, and then she dug into some of her hits.  She stayed true to them for the most part; she didn’t change too much of the songs just as I hoped she didn’t.  All the saxophone parts were right on point.  And some of the visual elements were really cool.  She did a montage during “Kiss of Life” that I thought was really nice.

 

Standing up for four hours was about as uncomfortable as I thought it would be, and during the transitions and brief down time, my feet would remind me of it.  But during the performances of the older hits I completely forgot about it.  I tried to get pieces of some of the better songs so I hope you enjoy them.  My camera isn’t the best at night, nor is the sound HD quality (they sound best with headphones), but I think you can get a sense what it was like to be there from the clips.

Kiss of Life

One of my favorite songs by her, and I loved the video that she included with it.  It showed how sweet and playful she is. It was great hearing it in person.

By Your Side

Pearls

For all those, like me, that knew this song as “There’s a woman in Somalia,” yeah, it’s that song.  Very somber,  but also powerful.   Song is amazing but if you look closely toward the end of the clip you will an interesting surprise that will serve as ,our “WTH!” episode for the evening.  Won’t spoil it for you but I will include that there was about a two minute break after this song which begs the question what was so urgent that what happened had to happen right then? The more I watch this video, the more ticked off I get.  It interrupted the drama of the song, which incidentally was at its highest point.  I swear to you that is how it is every day in this country, you just find yourself asking “Why?” and you can never come up with an answer.  

No Ordinary Love

Is it a Crime




Smooth Operator


The Sweetest Taboo

Your Love King

Another one of my favorites.  Good performance, but I will need her not to forget how the song goes.  If you watch in the middle, somewhat towards the end of the video you might catch it.  

Getting into the Christmas Spirit

Living abroad is a bit like being in a time vacuum.  What information we get we get from yahoo when we open up our emails.  It keeps us somewhat familiar with the happenings of back home.  But you don’t get the full scoop on the way into work from the radio, or even the rumblings at the job through small talk.  So you are kind of left with digging up what information you can when or if you remember to do it.  We do have American television that can somewhat keep us updated like, CNN, and BBC is pretty good, but I don’t always watch it, and often times they are discussing this region rather than the US.  Movies come out and I have no idea what it is whereas I know if I was back home, I’m sure I would see it on every other commercial.  Just little things like that reminds us that we are 8000 miles away.  Every now and again we hear something about the presidential race, moderated debates, etc.

Now that Christmas is here we really notice it because as you might expect it doesn’t exactly feel like Christmas (though regarding weather it actually is much cooler than I ever expected it to get.  It feels perfect outside at night, nice cool breeze, clear nights, it’s just great).  I usually don’t have time to pay attention to the season because I am distracted with work.  The day before Thanksgiving most of us LT’s forgot that the holiday was the next day.   For Christmas, most things dealing with grades have been finalized so I have a bit more time pull my head up and look around.  

Because of the expat community there is a slight Christmas presence.  I see some Christmas lights lining the balcony of other apartments.  Ironically, these efforts blend in with all the other decorations already up for National Day on buildings and other homes, which is apparently quietly celebrated throughout the entire month.  Surprisingly, Christmas trees are sold at our local Carrefour grocery store (think Walmart).  Some of neighbors have grabbed one and so have we.  We like it overall, it definitely helps us get in the Christmas spirit.  

Something else that we thought would also help us get into the spirit was a Christmas Concert by the UAE symphony orchestra that we attended about a week ago at the Emirates Palace.  Sounds nice right, and for the most part it was.  After arriving at the Emirates Palace, we entered the main hall and there was a huge 40 foot decorated Christmas tree in the center of the room where various people were taking pictures in front of it.  Tragically, I forgot my camera but, Natova and I did manage to snap a camera phone photo of us.  We don't have an iphone or anything, so the picture is a little blurry, but I suppose its better than nothing. 

 The performance, unfortunately, much like our picture in front of the tree, left much to be desired.  I don’t think it was the orchestra’s fault but someone made the decision not to use amplifiers for the performances, so the only time the microphone was used is when the conductor would make small talk and try and be charming before and in between numbers.  So when the choir, there was a choir as well, sang and the instruments played you could hear the music but not really feel it.  It was disappointing.  I think they overestimated the acoustics in the performance hall, which I think was okay but not enough to really engulf us with the spirit of Christmas as Natova and I had been hoping for.  And though the symphony touched on some good songs the whole affair seemed a bit too stuffy or upscale for us to really get into it. 

 The next day I played a bunch of stuff off of YouTube, and that really hit the spot way more than the concert (I guess theoretically we could have saved the money and stayed home, but the experience of being at the Emirates Palace was nice and it was pretty cool going to an event like that.  Beside we met some interesting people while we were there, which I will discuss on another post).  We played all the classics all through the apartment, Mariah, Boyz II Men, Donny Hathaway, Nat King Cole, etc.  But my favorite of all and has been the last couple of years since was Jennifer Hudson. 

I’m not sure if anyone remembers this but Jennifer did a Christmas special in 2009 called “I’ll be home for Christmas.”  It immediately became the best Christmas special I had ever seen.  I was so genuine and her voice is absolutely amazing.  Everyone and their cousin knew that Jennifer could sing but I had no idea she had the versatility that she has.  I was both shocked and impressed.  When it first came on I thought it would be sixty minutes of her shouting out Christmas songs at me, overdoing it as gospel singers tend to do sometimes.  However, the control and quality of her voice was amazing, and she knew when to go for it and when to hold back.  I was truly impressed and I watch this every year as I know you will too once you see it.  The special was filmed about two years after the tragic events that happened to her family (for those that don’t know her brother, mother, and I think another family member were all murdered on the same day), so perhaps that made the special even more….well….special, especially (sorry) when she sings with her family.   I have provided a couple of clips and if you want more you have to You Tube it.  Tova and I are going to wait until Christmas Day to watch the whole thing, or whatever we can piece together on You Tube.   It really is beautiful the way it was filmed and presented when you watch the whole thing, hats off to ABC.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone!

Celebrations and Silly String

For the past few weeks, Abu Dhabi has undergone a transformation of sorts.  The UAE flag has been increasingly growing more and more visible throughout the city, more so than usual.  The streets have become lined with small flags hanging from every pole.  I begin to see entire homes draped with 40 foot flags on my way to work and just driving around the city in general .  I start noticing the dress of the Emirates: black, red, green, and white accent their khandoras and abayas .

But I really see it in the cars.  The usual fleet of upscale, fancy cars that I see on a daily basis is replaced with a slew of cars deck out in red, green, and black.  I’m talking full paint jobs with these colors. Pictures of Zayed, the “father” of the city, are plastered on hoods and car doors.  UAE stickers are scattered all over the vehicle; little red hearts with a “40” in the middle of it (and for those with the more colorful imaginations let me take a moment to specify that there is not a picture of a bottle of liquor at the center of the heart, but the actual number forty).  

But if I happened to be blind to all of that I would definitely notice something was up by looking at the buildings.  Huge 300ft flags hanging from the sides of skyscrapers, colorful light (just like Christmas lights) are strew over buildings, or better yet the lights are actually built into the building, as is the case with a building directly visible when you step outside my apartment.  It flashes the colors of the flag over it moving upward.  The lights are mesmerizing to look at, reminding me the time late at night I used to stay up and just look at the Christmas tree as the lights flickered on and off in their various patterns and sequences.  Some buildings also have the huge “40” in flashing lights blaring out into the world. 

Well if you haven’t already guessed it (and I don’t know how you would have because if you are like me you probably didn’t even know this existed until now), it is National Day in the UAE.  National Day celebrates the founding of the country and is celebrated not just in Abu Dhabi, but also in Ajman, Dubai, Sharjah, and all the other Emirates as well.  The holiday is comparable to the 4^th of July in the States, but believe it or not they take it even further here.  You would think that the country had gone through five wars and a depression the way the celebrate, but I will get into that shortly.   Obviously the country has an obscene amount of money to spend on festivities and so they do.  There were festivals, ceremonies, and parties all over Abu Dhabi.  We ended up getting a day off from school, which is always a good thing. 

This National Day is particularly a big deal because it is the 40^th anniversary of the UAE.  That’s right, chances are that you the reader are probably just as old or older than this entire country.   This city is ridiculously young when you think about it, and on top of the that, the “modern” city, all the buildings and skyscrapers, malls and shops, apartments and hotels, all of these pictures that you see when you google Abu Dhabi, has only been around for the last 10 years.  

Well the Emiratis definitely got the memo that this should be a great big celebration.  Natova and I got to witness it first hand.  As I mentioned before, the city had been doing different smaller celebrations, I use the word loosely, over the last couple of weeks.  For instance for the last couple of days I here fighter jets flying past in formation going toward the corniche (the coast/ beach near downtown) In fact on National Day itself, December 2, I saw a tight formation of three fighter jets fly past headed downtown.  Then I hear another set of three roar past a few seconds later.  Then another. Then another.  Then another.  Five sets total flew past me and over to the corniche. 

 Anyway, we wanted to make over to the Corniche for the finale fireworks show.  You can imagine what that would look like in a place the goes over the top the way Abu Dhabi does.   So we head down there and our adventure began.

It started with the cab driver that I noticed was very irritable.  I had initially written it off in my mind as he was having a bad night.  However, shorty after we got in his taxi we found out why he was so irritable. While at a stoplight, a car full of young men, the car decorated in the customary red, green, black, and white, rolled down its window and with impressive accuracy managed to silly string the windshield of our taxi.  The silly string wasn’t even good silly string; it was more foamy than stringy, which made getting it off even more difficult.   Our taxi driver, frustrated threw up an exasperated hand at the boys who had sped off when the light turned green.  The taxi driver put on his wipers and had the water spray onto the windshield to clean it, and watched the kids drive off.  After a second or two we saw him make up his mind. 

Once he got his windshield decent, he roared out of the turning lane we were in and exploded down the street looking for the boys.  I saw him slowly reach into the glove compartment, and for a minute I thought to myself “Oh no, our taxi driver is an Indian Gangsta.  Those boys didn’t know who they were messin’ with.”  It turns out that the taxi driver pulled out a black can of silly string of his own.  However, he did have every intention of making those kids pay.  As he sped past the other cars, he peeked inside each on to see if they were the ones that violated his taxi then would blow past them looking into the next car.  When I tell you this man was dead serious about finding those boys, you could see it on his face.  He was ready to do a drive-by.  

Unfortunately he did not find the hoodlums so he wasn’t able to exact his revenge.  He took his frustration out in his driving, which became erratic.  There was a point where someone flashed him and he didn’t like it.  When the car got in the other lane to pass him he sped up not to let the guy pass, so the other car sped up, our taxi sped up, then the other car sped up, etc.  Pretty soon we were involved in a full on drag race for about 10 seconds doing at least 180km/h (112 mph).  It concluded when came around a bend and approached traffic that was stopped at a light.  He hit the brakes and we skidded for what seemed like forever.  It was one of those skids where you aren’t really sure if you vehicle is going to stop before you hit the vehicle in front of you, so all you can do is look at this stationary car grow bigger and bigger in the windshield until you are right on it.  Luckily we did stop short and Natova and I exchanged glances that said “Okay, I am legitimately scared now.”  

So after we got out of the taxi of doom, we made our way down to the corniche.  There were tons of cars on the strip.  It was basically a parking lot.  There was music blaring from cars, people, kids and grown ups alike, trying to silly string each other and run away before the other could retaliate (no one was above a good walk by silly stringing.  We actually got hit a couple of times.  And there is a mechanism in you that says “I don’t know you so you have no right to bother me.”  To be honest your first instinct is to bash his face into the ground.  But no one knew each other out there but they still played.  That just seemed to be part of the celebration.  If you were down here you just have to expect to be silly stringed.  For the most part, its all in fun, though some people did take it too far).  There were guys revving their engines to pop their mufflers.  At times I thought someone’s engine was going to explode.  There were kids standing on top of the cars while it crept down the streets.  There was dancing, laughing, and general chaos.   I tried to capture all of this in the videos I have here the best I could.  

We were downtown for about an hour and a half.  At 9:30 we then decided that the fireworks show, which was scheduled for 8:40, was not going to happen.  We left and knew we would have to walk a ways away to distance ourselves from all the traffic so we could catch a cab.  Taxis were staying away from downtown like the plague because while they are stuck in traffic, they could be earning some money.  After walking the ins and outs of the Abu Dhabi streets for an hour trying to get away from the traffic, which we never did, we finally came upon a taxi stuck in it himself.  He was reluctant at first because he thought we wanted to go toward downtown.  As it turns out he has been on the same street for about an hour and a half going maybe 50 feet.  We hopped in once he saw that we were trying to get away ourselves.  We managed to do a u-turn and a half and hour later were walking into the door of our apartment.   

Crazy night.  We had to go to at least one National Day, but it is unanimous that we won’t be attending those downtown festivities again next year.

(I have a few videos but for some reason I can't upload them to blogger.  I will keep trying so you might want to check periodically to see if they are here.)

The Black Folks of Abu Dhabi

[Update (January 9, 2014)-  Though several blog posts are still here,  I have moved the blog to:

                              www.abudhabiexperience.com

 Here you will find my most recent posts.  Hope to see you there!]

There are a few companies that recruit teachers to come out to Abu Dhabi.  One of the big players is Teach Away, a pretty well respected recruiter (and also the first recruitment company hired by ADEC, as they will be proud to let you know).  The best thing about Teach Away is that they have a discussion board on Facebook dedicated to all issues concerning Abu Dhabi.  There are tons of people on this board, mostly consisting of teachers that are already over and want to share some words of wisdom, and those interested in coming.  Anyone that has ever come out here has at some point learned what they needed to know from that discussion board.  Things such as what to wear, how much you get paid, where to get good daycare for you kids, what are good groups for the spouses to join, where to eat, etc.  During my courting period with the notion of teaching here I absolutely consumed any and all information I could get from this discussion board.  It was helpful to say the least.

Something else that it let me do is gauge the black teacher population.  Natova and I were surprised to see that there was a fairly large number posting on the board.  In fact, there were discussion threads concerning all black issues, like where the ladies could get there hair done and things like that.  So when I got here, I knew I would see Black folks but not to the extent it ended up being.   My first few days going to the apartment after we were assigned by ADEC, I was convinced half of my entire building was Black.  I would run into a different Black person in the elevator every single time I went there.  And to this day, Natova and I average seeing at least a couple of new African American faces every week.

It surprised us a little because we saw ourselves as the exception when it came to what most Black people would do when presented with the possibility of coming to Abu Dhabi.  Black people, as I have come to know them, aren’t really big on exploring the unfamiliar or delving into the unknown.  The process of coming out here had unknowns around every corner.  The recruiters were constantly reminding us we will need to stay flexible.  It is the same thing I used to hear in the Marines (we used to say “Semper Gumby” which translates to “always flexible”).  When you hear people use the word flexible, that lets you know there is going to be changes, and changes can equal uncertainty. Black folks and uncertainty do not like each other and tend to go their separate ways.  When you pile on top of the uncertainty the fact that you are in an Arabic country half way around the world in a region full of countries with names that do not have the most cheerful word associations attached to them (i.e. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, etc) you have a recipe for a good old helping of “You must be out of your damn mind…”

But apparently Black people are a lot more open minded than Natova and I gave them credit for.  Like us, most did their research on Abu Dhabi and Dubai, made sure it was safe, read about other teachers’ experiences, became impressed with the quality of living here, did more research on it, discussed it, debated it, saw a once in a lifetime opportunity, took a chance, and ended up out here.  But to be fair I do think the economy played its role in everyone’s decision.  It has come up in several conversations I have had with other teachers and spouses, both black and white, that the poor economy was a large factor in their departure.  I talked to one guy that said he plans on staying for a while because there is nothing for them back in America.  That seemed to be the consensus for everyone.  One lady asked why go back to have to grind so hard just to survive.  But don’t get me wrong, not everything about being here is Shangri La.  We do earn our paychecks.  This is actually the hardest I have ever had to work in the classroom (I am finding there is nothing more frustrating than trying to teach a semi-complex idea to a group of people that have no idea what you are saying, and then trying to manage behavior on top of that).  But like Natova and I, most people here figure if they have to work a tough 9 to 5 somewhere, it might as well be somewhere exotic where you can live comfortably and where at least one spouse gets a break from working.

The other thing I will say about the black people here is that everyone has been pretty nice.  It’s early but everyone Natova and I have met so far have been people that we wouldn’t mind hanging out with every now and again.  We recently went to a small get-together at someone’s house.  Including us, there were three couples and two singles, each a male and a female.  The owner was a Zoologist, with a specialty in reptiles.  And yes he is a Black guy.  He worked at the Al Ain Zoo for a bit before he came over to the outskirts of Abu Dhabi City and I forget who he works for now.  His house was pretty nice, 3 levels, a couple of rooms on each level.  The coolest thing, or most disgusting thing depending on who you are, is that he converted his second bedroom into a…well… a showroom for reptiles, complete with maybe 10 or more tanks, each with its own type of animal in it.  Most held lizards, there were a couple of spider tanks, and plenty of snake tanks, some of which held real live poisonous snakes (and if you haven’t guessed it already, yes he is the one single male at the party, and according to the all the ladies, he will not be getting a woman anytime soon until he clears that room out of all his little creatures).  He explained that they are all indigenous to the region (i.e. he would be driving down the road, see a snake, and literally get himself out of his car, grab his snake stick- you have probably seen those long metal rods with a hook at the end that people use to handle snakes- catch the snake and bring it home.  Just like that, poisonous or whatever).

The rest of the night was great.  Our host grilled chicken and lamb ribs.  The lamb was unbelievable.  Prior to this day, I had decided that I didn’t like taste of lamb, but after this I was hooked (he later shared with us guys when we went outside on the back patio to talk and drink, is that the secret to cooking lamb was marinate it in vinegar and Worcestershire sauce).  Then we played some games.  We started out playing Jenga, but that was quickly thrown aside after one game when I discovered the UNO cards laying nearby.  Once everyone saw that it was on and everyone was talking smack about how bad they are going to beat everyone else.  We pretty much played that for a couple of hours (and please allow me just a moment to vent:  Apparently in certain regions of the country, there is this thing called “doubles” in UNO, where you can throw down two or more of the same card on top of each other.  For example if you have 3 “draw two” cards you can put them all down on top of one another no matter what color they are and the person going next will actually have to draw six cards.  The UNO purist in the room got into a debate with some of the other guests about the validity of these ‘hood rules. In the end we played it out with doubles and it turned out to be pretty fun).

I am happy to say that all Black related conversations, incidents, or outings have been pretty positive, and I feel that everyone is representing themselves and our race and culture well.  I have no doubt it will stay that way. 

Update (January 9, 2014):  Though several blog posts are still here,  I have moved the blog to www.abudhabiexperience.com.  Here you will find my most recent posts.  Hope to see you there!

Dubai Bound!

Last week I got a chance take a break from work because of  Eid (pronounced “eed” as in “need”).  Eid is a holy week here in Abu Dhabi and the entire region.   Off the top of my head, I believe it marks a certain amount of days after the end of Ramadan.  I probably should know more about it, but what I do know is that it finally gave me some time to recover from 8 straight weeks of teaching with no breaks or days off (there are no substitute teachers here,  so when you are out your colleague’s have to pick up the slack.  None of us LT’s want to put that on anyone else so we make sure that unless we are deathly ill we to show up to work).  

During Eid like most holidays, Muslims like to spend time with their family.  Most of the students at our school have roots in the surrounding areas: Egypt, Saudi Arabia, or one of the other Emirates such as Ajman, Dubai, or Sharjah.   During my informal inquiry of the class (i.e. distracting them from childish behavior like  hitting each other or wrestling by engaging them with a conversation) I learned most of them planned on going back to these places for Eid.  During the same inquiry, they had a few questions for me, such as what were my plans during Eid.  I asked what they suggested and inevitably they would tell me I should visit Dubai.  And that is exactly what I did.

To be honest, Natova and I had been wanting to visit Dubai for a while now and I suspected that we would go during this break.  As luck would have it, a young black couple that lives on our floor for whom we had recently made friends was also going to Dubai (post to come later about the black teacher contingent in Abu Dhabi.  Believe it or not we are well represented).  Fortunately they had a car so we rode with them (and by the way, we do not have a car but we do fine with catching rides and taxis.  It sounds like a hassle but it’s surprisingly convenient because there are tons of taxis in Abu Dhabi.  I actually prefer it to driving because it feels like I get to be chauffeured everywhere. The fares are very cheap usually averaging around 15 to 20 dirhams per trip, or $4 to $6 USD.  Besides the driving here is… uh…. a bit aggressive to say the least.  But that’s a whole other post).

The road from Abu Dhabi to Dubai is a straight shot, about an hour and ten minutes, if you are driving conservatively.  There were menacing clouds overhead at the start of the drive.  That happens sometimes so we didn’t think anything of it. But it didn’t stop there.  About thirty minutes into the trip we started to see and hear the pitter patter of raindrops on the windshield of the car.  We were all shocked.  I can count on one hand the amount of times it is expected to rain in Abu Dhabi this year and still have a couple of fingers left.  And of all days it decides to come down on the single day we  visit Dubai on a bus tour with an open roof.  Great.  Though the rain was not heavier than a drizzle or sprinkle where we were driving, it apparently had come down much more in Dubai, as I noticed size-able puddles on the ground once we got there.  Fortunately, the rain didn't affect our day much.

It doesn’t feel long at all getting there, but I’m sure our conversations in the car help pass the time as well.  The first thing I see as we approach is the skyline.  It is massive and very metropolitan, slightly different from Abu Dhabi which is a mixture of contemporary and traditional.  As it approaches I think to myself, here we are, downtown Dubai…then I realize I am wrong.  I had been told by a colleague who had come out here a couple of times that Dubai is really spread out, and it is.  The first cluster of buildings one comes to is just that a cluster of forty or fifty shimmering towers of office buildings and mostly condos.  The road however passes through all of this and continues for a while after it with the buildings in the background.  Then we eventually came upon the second cluster of buildings, this cluster maybe considered downtown because it has more government buildings and courthouses but also lots of skyscrapers, including the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa.  The tallest building in the world also happens to be connected to one of the largest malls in the world, Dubai Mall, which is where we began our Dubai exploration.

 

As cliché as it may be, we decided to get the Big Bus Tour Dubai because it would hit all the famous spots in Dubai and give us a chance to walk around to visit shops.   I did take my camera this time so I am going to give a visual tour rather than just talk about it. So enjoy the pictures and videos.

We started in the Dubai Mall as I mentioned before.  It was morning and the place was mostly empty.  After walking around we ran across this water monument near one of the entrances.  It was the perfect place to take pictures.

  

Dubai Museum

The Dubai Museum was interesting, but not really for the right reasons.  I didn’t think much about the place when we got there.  I just thought it was some tiny little fort in the middle of town, but it turns out that it is one of Dubai’s main attractions.  As we entered I was surprised at how far the path through the museum would go.  What made it interesting was that it seemed to go on forever,  always having another turn here or nook there.   It turns out that the entire museum is underground and it’s almost like a maze down there.  I was not really impressed by too many of the exhibits.  The history of the U.A. E. is has two specific histories on two opposite ends of the spectrum.  The first is in the recent past and the other is way in the past.  The country is only 40 years old.  This involves the modern buildings and the recent rise in tourism and discovery of oil which funds all of its great attractions.  This is only half of the history and the other half, which is most of it, comes from BCE, around 4000 years ago or so.  Their museums reflect this and as a result they can be very boring.  Not like America or Europe with revolutions, and industrialization, and Civil Rights Movements, Women’s Rights movement, Prohibition, wars, etc.  Nope, none of that for Dubai.  Just stone carvings, arrow heads, old rifles and so on.  There was one room in the museum that seemed pretty interesting: the one devoted to the influence of the Arabian Sea.  I posted a video of the room which was draped in a blue light.  It was by far the best room in the museum. 

 Bus Tour

The bus tour was a bit of a disappointment.  They used a recording to give us the tour instead of a real tour guide with little anecdotes about various locations, or charming details that most may not know.  Natova and I didn’t like it but think we understood why they didn’t use a tour guide.  The town doesn’t really have a history like St. Augustine, or Chicago, or really anywhere.  Its so young, littered with multimillion dollar buildings, but you just can’t buy history.  It did take us onto the Palm Jumeira (a huge man-made island jutting into the Arabian Sea in the shape of a palm tree...yes, a palm tree.  Google it if you haven't already, its amazing to see) and the Atlantis Hotel, two huge landmarks of Dubai.  We also drove by the Burj Alarab, the largest free standing hotel in the world as well as the world's only 7 star hotel.  Interesting story one of my colleagues told me about this building.  The architect that they hired was apparently Christian (though on his website he claims he is agnostic), but the Emiratis didn’t think much of that because they hire out their architecture to people from all over the world with various religions.  Well once the structure was up, everyone loved it.  The only problem was that some think that the architect had ulterior motives.  There was a lot of speculation that Wright had set out to construct the one of the largest crosses on the planet right in the middle of the Middle East.  Sure enough, if you see the building from the ocean looking inland (it sits on the coast) you can see a huge vertical beam and horizontal platform crossing just above the center resembling a perfect cross, all cleverly embedded in the design of building.  From what I hear the Emiratis were pretty upset, but what can they do? Can’t knock it down after all the effort put into it ($650 million to be exact).  So there it stands to this day in all its "glory."

         

Souks and shopping

You can’t go to Dubai and not visit the souk district (souks are small shops selling everything from fabrics to jewelry).   It’s a bit like a flea market but with better stuff.  Always lots of people around, always busy whether it’s Dubai or Abu Dhabi.  Generally you have to haggle or negotiate your price.  Rule of thumb, so I have heard, is to come in at half the price of whatever they offer and meet in the middle.  I have yet to master my haggling skills.  I have only had to do it once or twice but these souk owners eat me alive in negotiating. I have learned you really do have to be willing to walk away to get a good deal.  This particular day we didn’t buy anything so I didn’t have to worry about it.  

     

Boat Ride

This boat ride was kind of spontaneous.  As a part of the Big Bus Tour we were supposed to get free admission to this large boat that supposedly had a restaurant on it and so on.  We were never able to locate where and when this boat was supposed to pick us up.  We saw several locals and tourist alike getting onto the smaller, raft-like, shuttles going back and forth across the Dubai Creek.  So after careful consideration and brief debate we finally decided to give it a go.  Glad we did too because I thought it was a pretty good ride. 

 

Dinner at Dubai Mall

The best thing of the entire trip, for me at least, was the dinner at Dubai Mall.  We ate at a Thai restaurant and we ended up with some great seats outside on the balcony overlooking the nightly water and light show.  The picture you see is actually the view from my seat at the table; I didn’t move at all to get it.  The same goes for the video.  The lights and water are all choreographed to music and there are at least 3 different songs, each with its own “routine.”  I was told that it plays every 10 or 15 minutes but I think it was more like 20 to 25 minutes.  When it did come on it was a site to see, truly spectacular. 

Dubai was fun to visit and it definitely has a distinct personality apart from Abu Dhabi.  Dubai really feels like a normal city back home.  You even see less abayas (long robes ladies wear) and khandoras (robes men wear).  I believe most anyone in the states would be comfortable living in Dubai.  I originally thought Dubai was as big as say New York or Chicago.  It is not by a long shot, so I was a little disappointed in that.  But I could see it as a great place to go shopping.  All of the U.A.E seems to be a great place to go shopping.  Our next visit we will probably go skiing...yes, skiing.  There is an huge indoor ski park in the Mall of the Emirates...yes, in the mall.  It has real snow and everything (of course real meaning generated by some snow machine).  A co-worker of mine actually gave me free tickets for a scuba diving lesson in the worlds largest aquarium, also at the Mall of the Emirates I believe.  We actually get to swim around with the fish.  Between Abu Dhabi and Dubai we expect to keep busy.  Till next time.   

The B.E.T. Response

If you were under the assumption that black people have made progress in their perception around the world this post may not be one you want to read.  I would have hoped to report that I left discomfort due to my ethnicity behind in the U.S.  At the time I believed this didn’t seem too unreasonable.  There are people from all over the world here, and not only that but the vast majority are but only a few shades lighter than me.  In other words we are all people of color here.  It’s not just conceptual idea but very visual and can be confirmed just by looking around.  Those individuals that are melanin deficient (i.e. Westerners, Europeans….just white folks in general really) are now a minority here.  I thought that I wouldn’t have to deal with prejudices (pre-judgments) as a black man here in the Middle East.  Wishful thinking perhaps.  

 Every day I encounter some form of prejudice, albeit most of it subtle; more so than back in the states.   Apparently that invisible yet incredibly heavy burden of representing all black people followed me halfway around the world to Abu Dhabi.  And heavier than ever.  But its really not all black people I find myself having to represent.  The Emirati are familiar with Africans, as there are many that frequent and live in the city.  I was surprised by the number of Egyptians that call Abu Dhabi home.  I have already noted my smartest students are both Egyptian and Sudanese.  In fact I believe that the Africans have a fairly solid reputation as far as I can tell, at least among the faculty at my school.  So if I was African I may not have as much a problem.  My “problem” is that I am African American.  

I would only casually think about how African Americans were perceived globally;  I never really had given thorough and in depth thought.   I knew it was probably not good.  That’s been confirmed.

The scenario will go a little something like this:  I am packing up after class after all the students have left the room.  The halls are cluttered with students, some moving to class, others socializing, the same scene of any high school hallway between classes in America.  My door is open because my students have just left out and in walks Johnny Student, any random student, with maybe a friend or two with him.  We exchange greetings: “Hello, Teacher, How are you?” (We hear this greeting all day, from both teachers and staff.  It is their version of “Hola, Coma Esta?  Muy Bien, gracias.” Really the only phrase I ever mastered in my Spanish class.  And then we will shake hands.  I will probably shake 100 hands a day, no exaggeration.  They see this as a modern, Western greeting.  Every single solitary student that comes into my class will walk by my desk and extend their hand to me and say “Hello, Teacher, how are you?”  Sounds nice, but after 7 weeks of it its starts to wear on you. )

After I shake their hands they will ask me, usually in moderate to broken English, “Where are you from?”  Some will, as the Taxi Driver in one of my previous posts, suggest Africa.  I have since grown tolerant of this question because it seems fair due to the large African population here.  I will tell him no I am from America.

And then I get the reaction.  

I have begun to call this the BET response, because I’m pretty sure this is probably where they get it.  Up until very recently, about a month ago, Abu Dhabi cable companies here (OSN and Etisalat) carried the BET network in its package.  When I got my cable I was disappointed to find that just a few days before they got rid of BET.  So I imagine most of these students at this school and many other Emirati teenagers probably have come to know African Americans, not through our history, by reading about the proud triumphs to gain equal rights in a country that only recognized us a third of a person.   No, they have come to know us through BET (and MTV as well, can't let them off the hook).  Let’s take a moment to think about that for a minute.  What happens when a young person living on the other side of the world is only able to obtain information about your race through a 50 Cent music video or 106 and Park?  Well, I can tell you. 

They first light up with the satisfaction that you are one of those black people from America and immediately start to make you understand that they know about you.  They do this various ways.  If wearing their ROTC uniform, they will turn their cover (hat) sideways, cocked to the side because naturally this is how all black people wear their hats.   Next, they will make exaggerated stereotypical rapper gestures with their arms, really looking more like Easy E (circa 1987) than Jay Z.  All they need is a fat gold chain dangling from their neck.  Next, they may or may not say some abbreviated English like “What up, Dog?” which sounds ridiculous with their heavy Arabic accent.  Then they will try to give me dap, a greeting often used between two African American men, particularly in the urban community.  For those that need further explanation, its basically when two guys slap hands and give a modified handshake.  I’m certain you have seen it before.  I have no problem with dap, but I only give it to my friends.  It is inappropriate to give to a student.  I didn’t give dap to my students back in the States, and I won’t here, either.   When they approach me with it I usually firmly grab their hands in a handshake preventing the progression of other movements into a dap.  The dap attempts are something I get regularly, either from Emirati students that want to show they are “down” or from the other African students at the school that don’t know me but want to say hello and connect with a dap.  I use my strategy and they usually keep trying, but I refuse and smile.  They eventually get it and smile back.
 

Let me just say that I don’t mean to bash BET and I know it’s not just them.  It is kind of depressing to know that all my students know about my culture is that we are dangerous, wear baggy pants hanging off our butts, like to have half naked girls with big hips on either side of us as we flow with our lyrics.  The little scenario I just described is something I get every week.  I do like the fact that I get to give them another perspective of African Americans, one that is related to academics, learning, and intelligence.  
 

Switching gears now, I have a couple of notable items I thought were worth mentioning:

1.       The Red Cross does not exist here.  They do however have the same relief organization, just with a different name (changed for obvious reasons).  It’s called the Red Crescent.  The crescent symbol is the holy symbol for Islam. 

2.      Believe it or not, Church’s Chicken is alive and well in the U.A.E.!  It too has undergone a name change (again for obvious reasons).  No, they do not call it “Mosques” if that is what you were thinking.  Its alias here is “Texas Chicken,” presented in the same font, colors, and logo as Church’s Chicken, only instead spelling “Texas Chicken”.   

3.      Everything delivers.  Restaurants, fast food, furniture shops, dry cleaning,  even grocery stores.  Burger King delivers, KFC delivers, Bubbles Dry Cleaning picks up and delivers, etc.  There are 3 or 4 neighborhood grocery stores within a two block radius of our apartment, all offer free delivery.  We haven’t tried them yet but you better believe it won’t be long before we do.  There must be at least 20 restaurants in that same two blocks, all of them deliver.  Luckily the food is very inexpensive.  I ate out with my co worker and his wife at an Indian/Chinese food restaurant once and picked up the tab.  I was confused because I thought the waiter had just given me my check and not the check for all three of us.  We ate, became full, and went home with left overs for about $20 USD.  And yes, that place delivers. 

      4. The differences in the class system is very distinct, very obvious.  The Upper Class are the rich folks.  Fairly easy to spot as they are usually getting in and out of a car that costs double your salary (see #5).  The Middle Class is, well, us.  The teachers, government workers, military, policeman, business people, etc.  The Lower Class is like a servant class.  It kind of makes you feel guilty using them because you know their situation.  They do such menial work for little money, they are usually Indian (the janitors at our school are from Bangladesh) and they are usually dirty and smelly.  Sounds very rude to write but it is also incredibly accurate.  I have been told several times however that if you do not use their services you are hurting them because they will not have jobs or the money to send back home.  So, essentially, it is considered gracious to work them like dogs.  And work them people do.  

      5.  The cars that I used to just see on T.V. or on the internet I get to see here, in the strangest places too.  I saw a Lamborghini parked in front of the Holiday Inn (granted the Holiday Inn here is not the Holiday Inn back home.  I will describe it in a later post).  There was an Aston Martin deserted on the side of the road near our apartment for a while collecting dust until I think someone either finally drove it away or it was towed.   Every other car is a BMW, Porche, Mercedes, and I see Bentley sprinkled about as well.   Mustangs are popular here, as are Landrovers, which is by far the most common luxury SUV I see.

That will do for now.  More to come later.