Yay!!! It looks like it is working from Mauritius! So these are pictures taken from Moodheesh...
The person "driving" Ziyad on the motorcycle is Abdallah's cousin Abdul Rahman, but we just call him Aboodi!
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Pictures of Dubai
Yay!!! It looks like it is working from Mauritius! So these are pictures taken from Moodheesh...
The person "driving" Ziyad on the motorcycle is Abdallah's cousin Abdul Rahman, but we just call him Aboodi!
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
some venting and other stuff...
I am still having problems with photos...will try from the other computer in a while, but for now... here's some more stuff to know....
Hi all! Well, I’ve been having a lot of problems with my internet to the point where I have not been able to log on for about a week. So I will write this out on word then transfer it so that I’m not sitting at the mall doing nothing!!!
Here’s another interesting fact about summer in Dubai:
All areas in the house have a switch that turns the water heater (for each bathroom and kitchen). This is because in the summer we use the hot water (in the water heater) as the cold water and the cold water that is taken from the pipes outside is used as the hot water, which I don’t have a problem with for the most part. My only problem with this is when I do laundry. I set the temperature on the lowest possible (which is 30C), but I don’t know if that means it is taking water from the cold pipe or the hot pipe. We have a washer/dryer combo and so far every time I take the clothes out they are scorching hot! I don’t think anything has shrunk, but they feel like they are full of soap if I take them out before drying (even with very little soap in the washer), but I’m scared to dry them! Not sure how to fix it. I might just end up hand washing until the temperature cools down!
So first I’m going to put down some of my observations that I like…
I like that people are not afraid to touch children here. People in elevators and walking along will tussle the hair or touch the cheek’s of the boys and it is a nice feeling that I don’t have to worry that they are going to steal my children. Many things are family orientated and children are seen everywhere.
I also like that the men share much of the responsibility of taking care of the kids. There are many dad’s that you see holding the kids, pushing the stroller, in general taking care of their children. They are also not afraid of showing affection to their children.
Okay, now that I have done that I feel that I can vent a bit…
I still don’t like the fact that many of the women nationals here wear the black abaya covering everything but their eyes. I read in a book that they are not oppressed but that it makes them feel closer to their religion. If they really think that fine, but I think many of them are missing the point. First of all, the religion says “be conservative” (which the women do so that the men can’t have sexual feelings for them…which I can vent about a whole lot more since I am a huge women’s libber but that is another topic for later). SOOOOO here’s my problem….if your head is covered but you are wearing shorts…you are missing the point!!!! If your head and eyes are covered and you are breast feeding without a blanket, you are missing the point!!! (If I can see your breast but not your face then there is something wrong with the mentality…don’t you think?) If you are wearing the abaya and it is open so that I can see your half shirt and short shorts then you are missing the point!!!! So there you have it…my venting. Ah! I feel much better.
Here’s another thing to vent about…
The traffic and construction here are a nuisance that is a given since they are trying to make new roads to accommodate the huge amount of people that have relocated here. But then you add to it the many people who decide that the highways and even small side streets are their personal raceway. In order to try to fix this the government is only allowed to pass 20% of the people that take the driver’s test. So whether you pass or not, if you are not part of the 20% you do not get a license. Now Americans can just go in and get a license by showing that they have an American license. But apparently, if you are from a big family here you do not even need to show that you can drive to get a license. Two women from a big family go into the DMV (I think here it’s called the RTA, but you get the point) The conversation starts with the women stating that they need a license. The DMV guy says yes of course and how it would b e no problem. As he is processing the license for them they ask how much to pay. Now there is a fee but because they are from a big family here the fee is waived since “how can he take anything from them since their family does so much?!?” SO these women come in who do not show that they can drive and do not pay anything, but they get a driver’s license and are now on the streets driving where another person can be a perfect driver but cannot get a license because they were not in that 20% that day.
I did get off the subject…back onto the speeding….the people here that do no wrong are also allowed to drive as fast as they want. If they get a ticket (electronic camera’s flash and send out tickets to the owner of the license plate) the tickets are waived (not paid!!!, WAIVED) when they go in to renew their registration. Off course it is not them going in to register but their “gopher” person anyway. Dubai has recently implemented a point system. If you get so many points your license is revoked. Again, the people that do no wrong can get their license revoked, go into the DMV and (like the women previously) say they need another one and it is given to them no questions asked. So can you guess who the people are that are killing all the other people in the car wrecks here? Or who themselves are dying? Remember, if they just wreck the car , they can go buy another one no problem…apparently if you kill someone you also pay a fee to their family and it is also wiped off your record, no problem.
So there you have it…some issues that we are dealing with, which I don’t think can ever get fixed until the people that do no wrong are actually held responsible for the wrong that they do. And when everything is controlled by the rich and influential…will never happen. Okay, more later…
The sign says "Can you believe this traffic?"!!!
Hi all! Well, I’ve been having a lot of problems with my internet to the point where I have not been able to log on for about a week. So I will write this out on word then transfer it so that I’m not sitting at the mall doing nothing!!!
Here’s another interesting fact about summer in Dubai:
All areas in the house have a switch that turns the water heater (for each bathroom and kitchen). This is because in the summer we use the hot water (in the water heater) as the cold water and the cold water that is taken from the pipes outside is used as the hot water, which I don’t have a problem with for the most part. My only problem with this is when I do laundry. I set the temperature on the lowest possible (which is 30C), but I don’t know if that means it is taking water from the cold pipe or the hot pipe. We have a washer/dryer combo and so far every time I take the clothes out they are scorching hot! I don’t think anything has shrunk, but they feel like they are full of soap if I take them out before drying (even with very little soap in the washer), but I’m scared to dry them! Not sure how to fix it. I might just end up hand washing until the temperature cools down!
So first I’m going to put down some of my observations that I like…
I like that people are not afraid to touch children here. People in elevators and walking along will tussle the hair or touch the cheek’s of the boys and it is a nice feeling that I don’t have to worry that they are going to steal my children. Many things are family orientated and children are seen everywhere.
I also like that the men share much of the responsibility of taking care of the kids. There are many dad’s that you see holding the kids, pushing the stroller, in general taking care of their children. They are also not afraid of showing affection to their children.
Okay, now that I have done that I feel that I can vent a bit…
I still don’t like the fact that many of the women nationals here wear the black abaya covering everything but their eyes. I read in a book that they are not oppressed but that it makes them feel closer to their religion. If they really think that fine, but I think many of them are missing the point. First of all, the religion says “be conservative” (which the women do so that the men can’t have sexual feelings for them…which I can vent about a whole lot more since I am a huge women’s libber but that is another topic for later). SOOOOO here’s my problem….if your head is covered but you are wearing shorts…you are missing the point!!!! If your head and eyes are covered and you are breast feeding without a blanket, you are missing the point!!! (If I can see your breast but not your face then there is something wrong with the mentality…don’t you think?) If you are wearing the abaya and it is open so that I can see your half shirt and short shorts then you are missing the point!!!! So there you have it…my venting. Ah! I feel much better.
Here’s another thing to vent about…
The traffic and construction here are a nuisance that is a given since they are trying to make new roads to accommodate the huge amount of people that have relocated here. But then you add to it the many people who decide that the highways and even small side streets are their personal raceway. In order to try to fix this the government is only allowed to pass 20% of the people that take the driver’s test. So whether you pass or not, if you are not part of the 20% you do not get a license. Now Americans can just go in and get a license by showing that they have an American license. But apparently, if you are from a big family here you do not even need to show that you can drive to get a license. Two women from a big family go into the DMV (I think here it’s called the RTA, but you get the point) The conversation starts with the women stating that they need a license. The DMV guy says yes of course and how it would b e no problem. As he is processing the license for them they ask how much to pay. Now there is a fee but because they are from a big family here the fee is waived since “how can he take anything from them since their family does so much?!?” SO these women come in who do not show that they can drive and do not pay anything, but they get a driver’s license and are now on the streets driving where another person can be a perfect driver but cannot get a license because they were not in that 20% that day.
I did get off the subject…back onto the speeding….the people here that do no wrong are also allowed to drive as fast as they want. If they get a ticket (electronic camera’s flash and send out tickets to the owner of the license plate) the tickets are waived (not paid!!!, WAIVED) when they go in to renew their registration. Off course it is not them going in to register but their “gopher” person anyway. Dubai has recently implemented a point system. If you get so many points your license is revoked. Again, the people that do no wrong can get their license revoked, go into the DMV and (like the women previously) say they need another one and it is given to them no questions asked. So can you guess who the people are that are killing all the other people in the car wrecks here? Or who themselves are dying? Remember, if they just wreck the car , they can go buy another one no problem…apparently if you kill someone you also pay a fee to their family and it is also wiped off your record, no problem.
So there you have it…some issues that we are dealing with, which I don’t think can ever get fixed until the people that do no wrong are actually held responsible for the wrong that they do. And when everything is controlled by the rich and influential…will never happen. Okay, more later…
The sign says "Can you believe this traffic?"!!!
Saturday, August 9, 2008
the next chapter
It took about 2 hours to get out of the airport. We had "Marhaba" service. This is a service that takes you from the exit of the plane through immigration (their own line so you don't have to wait for an hour in the big line), securitly, customs, picks up baggage and drives you home from the airport. For all of this we paid 150 Dirhams plus additional 100 AED for an additional car that we needed to pack our luggage in. (We did have the limit of 10 bags all about the limit on weight.) That calculates to roughly $65! By the time we all got home the letlag kicked in and no one slept before 2 am!!! This is a picture of the kids' new room. yep, Race car beds...from Toy R us (you name a store...it's probably here!)
Some more pictures from the plane. I like the one with the road covered in sand. Anyone planning on taking that road better find an alternative route! The last one was taken just before we touched down at 7pm Dubai time which would be 11 am US time the next day. Try to keep that straight...I get confused too easily for that!! It is supposed to have the Burg Dubai (tallest building) but it was very hazy...(like all the other days so far!!, no rain, just haze.)
Catching up on photos
These two pictures are out first glimpses of desert (not sure where!, but I would assume someplace in the UAE) Check out the one with desert all around the giant green square...interesting!
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Samir and Ziyad playing at the Atlanta airport.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
