Sunday, December 13, 2009

SkiDubai

When I first got to Dubai I swore I'd never waste my money on anything as fake as SkiDubai. But...after nearly four months (whoa) of living in flat desert environments, it has its appeal. I ended up going this weekend with three colleagues and had a great time.

 
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Click here to see a video of one of the runs. I think we lasted nearly 24 seconds from top to bottom.

Killers In Abu Dbahi

I got bored of trying to write posts re: Kenya, so if you're interested call me. I'll be in the States on Thursday.

Last Tuesday I went to see The Killers at Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi. A pretty sweet venue on the edge of the corniche, the Palace was filled with roughly half drunk Brits and half middle and high school students. And me, my roommate and our co-worker, somewhere in the middle.

Spaceman light show:
 

Not a soldier:
 
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Monday, December 7, 2009

Kenya Photos

Enjoy my Safari photos here.

Sorry for the delay; I've actually had work these past few days.

Stories and explanations to come.

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Kenya: A Country In Generalizations

I'm back in Dubai after an adventuresome albeit not-very-strenuously-earned week's vacation in Kenya. I'm getting around to posting the pictures from the trip and will furnish some of the better stories of the week over the next couple days so check back soon.

Kenya and (from the stories of the other expats and backpackers I met along they) the rest of East Africa is an awesome place to visit and just bum around. Although airfare from the States is probably $400-500 more expensive than Western Europe, you'll probably break even if you stay in Africa for at least two weeks. When not on Safari, I was spending maybe $10 a day (mostly on Tusker...more later on that).


I spent a day and a half on safari to Lake Nakuru, home to the largest rhino population in Kenya. We were lucky enough to see both black and white rhinos and even a leopard on the ground, which is supposedly pretty rare. I tried catching them with my poke-balls (I even pressed down-B!) but only came away with a stupid Metapod.


We spent the next two and a half days roaming around Masai Mara, the most popular park. We saw everthing: hunting lions, towering giraffes, herds of elephant, cheetas, leopards, hippos and crocs. Our safari driver, Barry, would just charge up in our van to within 10 feet of most of these animals. Close enough to smell the bad elephant breath and almost within petting range of the cheetah (petting cheetas is not recommended).

Almost as intriguing as the animals were the other travellers and backpackers I met. My favorites including three members of "Save the Children" who were on our safari, a PhD candidate doing her field research on the effects of climate change on territorial conflicts among pastoral tribes in north Kenya, and a trio of Irish volunteers who spend their weeks in Tanzania playing soccer with slum children. All were doing much more valuable projects than my consulting.

Travelling there is as safe as in the US or Western Europe. Sure, there were the usual scams (more later) and it's probably unwise to walk around the slums after dark, but I think these days Nairobi's slums are even safer than Burleith/Glover Park. Most of the people I met had travelled around for months without incident, and I never felt unsafe.

As soon as I got back to Dubai I tried to figure out when next I could head back there. Uganda is supposed to be more friendly than Kenya, and I'd love to complete the Lake Victoria Circuit or head down to Malawi and Mozambique. Maybe this summer, if things quiet down during Ramadan...

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Into Africa

Headed to Nairobi via Doha today. I'm going to spend tomorrow night in Nairobi proper, meeting friends for a very African Thankgiving dinner at Carnivore. Like it sounds, you can pretty much get any kind of meat, as long as the animal in question is not endangered. Ima eat me some zebra. Just like the pilgrims.

Then it's off on Safari! My trip will spend two days at Masai Mara park and two days at Lake Nakuru before heading back to Nairobi. Here's a video my trip organizers posted of potential wildlife we can see!

I'll be out of contact for the duration, so I'll catch up with ya'll in December with your spring break flight info.

Happy Thanksgiving! / Eid al-Adha! / UAE National Day! (I like getting time off for holidays I don't celebrate)

Sunday, November 22, 2009

On The Beach

is consulting slang for between projects. I've really just been chillin in Dubai for the past couple weeks, doing some odd projects every now and then. Took some time to pretend I was a tourist and saw some Du-why things.

duwhy: adj. an ordinary object made superlative in dubai, for no obvious reason

A quintessential example of du-why is hearing that dubai just received the world record...for being the city with the most world records. yay...

My favorite example of du-why - the world's biggest aquarium glass viewing exhibit, at the Dubai Mall. (It was too big for my camera, these pics go side by side)

I was entranced for hours.

Also, you can pay to go scuba diving in it. I did not, because, in all seriousness, the store facing the aquarium glass viewing exhibit is the world's largest candy store!

*Disclaimer: I do not read huffpost. It was just in the search results.

If you want to read about other du-why objects, such as the world's largest pair of chopsticks, please click here. And rest assured that the GCC is wisely spending its energy revenues to spur diversified growth for when the oil runs out...

Thursday, November 12, 2009

I Want To Go To There - Nairobi

Thanksgiving here coincides with both Eid al-Adha and UAE's National Day. Luckily in don't really celebrate the latter holidays, but I do get them off, resulting in nearly a week's vacation. And I'm headed to East Africa.

I expect this to be the view from every point in Kenya. I may wander into Uganda or Rwanda as well, whether on purpose or as a by-product of boarding the wrong bus.

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Look Familiar?

A little Jesuit-values action, no big deal:

حويا ساكسا

After two and a half months from leaving DC, I've been needing a Gtown fix. Doha provided:

I spent the weekend with the my friends Clare and Pat and found out that I knew most of the other student affairs officers already. On Friday Pat took me on the grand tour of the campus. The Qatar Foundation, which I did just rag on, funds the campus (dubbed "Education City"). The current building is airy, and larger than anything on main campus so far. I met a couple students in the library, who were studying for a CPS midterm. Apart from the climate and campus, SFS-Q has a distinctly Georgetown feel.

Doha and the Dangerous Words

After my project ended, I needed to break out of my Riyadh / Dubai routine and hopped on a plane to Doha. A 45-minute jaunt across the Gulf revealed a city that was very similar to Dubai, albeit it smaller and with less to do. The city revolves around the Corniche, a palm-lined street along the Gulf leading to the financial center of the West Bay. Doha has attracted several international festivals and boasts world class museums. I experienced none of these things.

I was too captivated by the large words. The Qatar Foundation, funded by the emirate's gas reserves, ostensibly works to improve the country. All I saw it do was fund a multi-billion dollar pr campaign, that literally puts big words everwhere. The words are meant to be inspirational, but without any context, they inspire only derision. I mean, what are you going to gain from seeing a billboard that says "GROW" or a skyscraper adorned with "ELEVATE"?

CREATE, conveniently located in front of a new building project

DISCOVER, placed awkwardly in the middle of a multi-purpose field. Imagine playing a frisbee game and getting injured by accidentally running headlong into the "V". I think this word should read "CAUTION".

Saudization

After working through Halloween weekend (which doesn't really exist here) to finish up our project, the case leadership decided to reward us by having our own Saudi Halloween. We gathered at the house of one of our Saudi co-workers for dinner, but just before-hand, were each handed our very own thobes. Enjoy:

Monitor men, thobe-clad:


Some of the guys enjoying a victory Cuban:

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

I Want To Go To There - Doha

A new segment arising now that I can finally go places.
First up, Doha! I was originally going to go from Wednesday to Saturday, but have to be present in Dubai for meetings on Thursday and Saturday. A less sleep-deprived me would have rescheduled this trip, but I am rather keen on getting away.

So I will spend my 22 hours in Doha wisely. I'm going with a friend from Dubai who used to live in Doha, and we are meeting up with the Georgetown SFS-Qatar crowd. I'm excited to get a little dose of Georgetown and to experience a new country where I don't have to do any work.

This does mean that I have four flights in the next four days:
Wednesday - Riyadh -> Dubai
Thursday - Dubai -> Doha
Friday - Doha -> Dubai
Saturday - Dubai -> ??? (my new project! that i haven't heard anything about yet...)

So expect some Doha photos and stories in a few days, assuming I don't sleep through any of my flights.

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Fares on the First

October just disappeared. I don't really believe that it is November, given the balmy 95* weather we're having in Riyadh and general lack of Halloween. What has changed (or will shortly) is my project. Technically it finishes today, although I will be in Riyadh through the end of the week.

After that, I'm not sure. It looks like I may have some time in the Dubai office "on the beach" (consulting slang for not being on a case). I'm curious to find out where I'll end up. While I don't mind Riyadh as much as I first did, it'd be interested to have a change of scenery.

November promises to end on a high note, regardless, with my thanksgiving dinner lined up at the US ambassador's residence in Saudi which should be intriguing. Following Thanksgiving is Eid al-Adha. Not sure the relgious significance (insert wikipedia reference here) but it means I get three days off and I'm looking for a destination.

In the meantime, here are your fares to Dubai for the beginning of February.

February (change from previous month)
SEA $1,067 (down $100)
DC $728 (down $200)
NYC $615 (down $300)
CHI $737 (up $1)
Hong K. $615 (no change)
London $442 (down $1)

So those of you still in the States won't find a better deal than this. Especially if you're in NYC...

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Go Karting

So I exaggerated when I said there was nothing to do in Riyadh. There's Go Karting! And they even let women drive - although you have to rent out the whole place in order for that to be kosher. er, halal.

The mistake of the Go Kart track was to give us each a print out of average and fastest times. Never give data to consultants. Some crazy analysis was happening - someone even suggested we run a regression to confirm the hypothesis that some cars were faster than others. Luckily, before anyone could pull up SPSS, one of the case leaders noted that our number of car-driver-lap observations was insufficient to produce statistically significant results...

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

A Little Publicity

The Monitor project I'm working on has pretty much everything to do with this

Good timing, Economist.

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Abdul-Willie and the Dangerous Proposal

Monitor contracts a driving firm in Riyadh called "Effie Cars." We need them because drivers in Riyadh have no concept of lanes, or personal space. Which is traffic language means they run you over in their tricked out hummers. That's what being the source of the world's petrol does to you. So the "Effie Drivers" take care of us and have honed their reflexes for the Riyadh streets.

Most of the Effie Drivers are from the same area near Peshawer, Pakistan. This is how migration and remittances tend to happen here: one person (Effie) makes it, and brings his relatives and neighbors over as well. Their quality of life here is not good; they work consulting hours because they drive us and Bearing Point around. Most of the drivers have college degrees (one has a master's!) and are quadri-lingual (Urdu, Pashto, English, Arabic, although their English leaves something to be desired) but they can earn more money driving in Riyadh than any alternative in Pakistan. Might have something to do with this.

I got a ride from the airport today from Abdul-Willie. That is his "God-given name" and he's proud of it. We got to talking about when I'm going back to the States and when he's going back to Peshawer. I got a generous invite from him to his house:

Abdul-Willie: Yes, come to Pakistan when I go!
Me: Well, is my Indian heritage going to be a problem?
Abdul-Willie: Nono, the problem is not with people, it is the governments
Me(skeptically): Where exactly are you from? I'll look up travel there?
Abdul-Willie: Have you heard of Swat?
Me(full stop):...Swat Valley?
Abdul-Willie: Yes, Swat Valley! I'm maybe 3 kilos from there!

So...I have an invite to Swat Valley. If I run out of other dangerous places to go, like Mordor or just off the coast of Somalia, maybe I'll look up Abdul-Willie there.


*Actually, wikipedia shows some great scenery in Swat, just don't scroll down to the part titled "Taliban Insurgency."

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Venting

End of this case feels like the end of a marathon. You think you're almost done and then an oversized leprachan tackles you into the crowd.

Looking forward to hibernating this weekend.

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Finally

I finally got to use some GERMS skillz today at the Mall. I was on the escalator with a dad and boy behind me. All of a sudden the boy is crying and the dad is punching him in the back. I wasn't sure what was going on but the boy was essentially gasping with no noise coming out. We were at the end of the escalator at that point so I got behind him and did a couple J-thrusts - the boy then coughed out a horribly mishapen gumball.

It all happened very quickly, maybe 15 seconds in total but it felt like I was acting slowly. Afterward I tried to get the kid to sit down for a second to make sure he was alright but he was so frightened of me that he more or less ran off. The dad said his thanks and ran off after the kid, leaving me stunned at the bottom of the escalator.

But I've been on a bit of an adrenaline high all day and missing the ambulance (although I never got to use any manuevers as a GERM). Also spent a bit of time research medic programs...uh oh.

For more on the Heimlich Manuever I will refer you to an expert.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Dammam: How Not To Travel

Monday night into Tuesday my team traveled to Dammam to visit a Steel Pipe Company (see below). We got in Tuesday morning at 3am, got four hours of sleep and were out of the city by 8am. Bleh.
A view of Dammam from the Sheraton. Looking out over the Arabian Gulf:


Instead of Bibles, the nightstands have Qurans and prayer mats:


Despite their best efforts at Saudization, American soft power dominates. The lunch options, from left to right - Krispy Kreme, Hardy's and KFC:


The Middle East attracts all the worst US fast food chains. Chili's is huge here, as is Applebee's. My first night in Dubai, the cab driver told me about a great night he'd had: went to applebee's, then saw JCVD. The middle east needs more to do...

Blue Collar: Ur doin it rong

Toured a Saudi steel company yesterday. Donning the approriate attire:

Monday, October 5, 2009

Follow Monday

The following photo was posted by @HHShkMohd - the twitter account of the emir of Dubai and vice-whatever of the UAE. Enjoy DUBAI FROM SPACE:

More on the twitter using, horse-riding, world-of-warcraft playing poet Sheikh Mo...after I meet him.

It's What's For Dinner

*I edited this post for content. Because Article I of the Saudi Basic Law states:
"God's Book and the Sunnah of His Prophet" are the country's constitution and Arabic is the official language with the capital at Riyadh. And there ain't no first ammendment to that.

I went out to eat last week at a Riyadh eatery called Nejdi Village, which is known for its camel. Like, to eat. I was not surprised; in fact my first encounter with traditional Saudi food came from Anthony Bourdain: No Reservation in which he goes to a desert tent and they eat a whole. baby. camel.

T.E. Lawrence, in his Seven Pillars of Wisdom (that amazon recommended me when I searched "arab novel"; be advised he is not arab though his biases do make it somewhat of a novel), described the feeding of his army. They slaughtered the weakest camel each night and the men, rotating by tribe, would have at it until only the bones remained.

Needless to say, my expectations were high. One of my colleagues suggested Nejdi Village would be like a seafood place, and we'd be able to pick out our camel upon arrival. It was not. In fact, we were not allowed into the restaurant. Our folly? Trying to bring a woman with us.

Yes, we were a diverse bunch, not just for Saudi. The multi-cultural Monitor team consisted of consultants from the New York, Cambridge, London, Munich, Dubai, Riyadh, Mumbai, Beijing and Seoul offices. And the woman, who tipped the scale. They suggested we try the other Nejdi Village, which supposedly made accomodations for womenfolk.

So we went. The food was okay; but we sat on cushions on the floor and the novelty made up for the lack of flavor. Our cushioned area was closed off by a door from the main serving area. The servers would not incessantly each time they entered, and made sure to close the door as they left. One of the consultants told them to just leave the door open. In the ensuing muddled conversation, it became clear that the staff believed our lady-friend was in fact our entertainment for the evening.

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Fares on the First

I'm continuing something I started a few months ago - publishing fares to Dubai from various cities. As the target audience for aspyindubai get more international, I've added some more unconventional origins. So just head over to Kayak and I'll see you in a few months:

January 5th
SEA $1,181
DC $933
NYC $914
CHI $736
Hong K. $615
London $443

Looks like the cheap United flight direct to Dulles won't be continuing - at least I couldn't find it. Rumors are the US government actually subsidizes that flight, and it's full of military and CIA, erm, I mean, "contractors." Perhaps the route change is fallout from a shift in policy from Iraq to Afghanistan? The contractors need to go Kabul, not Karbala?

PS Saudi posts coming tomorrow...this isn't a marketing teaser; I just can't stand to look at a computer screen any longer

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

The Two Towers

Riyadh isn't much of a city, at least compared with Dubai. Like Dubai, it's a miracle of unsustainbility that it exists at all. Sporadically the seat of government of the Al-Saud tribe and famous for its palm orchards (Al-Riyadh means "The Gardens"), the city grew from a mere 10,000 in 1950 to 6 million inhabitants today. Oil got more plentiful; water did not.

My Riyadh is my hotel-apartment near Al-Faisaliah tower

one of the two sky-scrapers that demarcate downtown. The other is the Kingdom Tower, which I was not able to take my own photo of:

Technically we can wander about the streets of Riyadh, but there is nothing to do. Movie theaters are outlawed and the malls are crowded with people I'm not allowed to look at. So my work benefits and our weekend plans are becoming more meticulously crafted. Apparently the US Embassy throws the best parties - although being the only party in town probably helps.

A few of us are actually tossing around the idea of starting a blog, on the DCist or VoxPopuli model. Mostly because they are good blogs, but also because our hypothesis is that there must be something happening every day in a city of 6 million people, but due to the closed Saudi society and high turnover of ex-pats, there are no clear information channels to publicize events. Maybe someday when I find the time.

Friday, September 25, 2009

Random Photo

Monitor Group flies back from Riyadh, all in a row:

It's Never NSOver

I was talking to a few new friends at Trader Vick's ([Mid-Sentence Tangent] - the closest thing to a dive bar I've found in Dubai. Cheapest beer here is 35 dirhams a bottle or $9.50. Having grown up with $8 Tombs pitchers, this is a travesty. Also, you need a girl in your group to get in anywhere after midnight. Which is difficult, as I only know a handful of girls and the gender ratio here is 2.29 guys to each girl.I do my research. And for a guy like me who is only going for the beer (or a mojito if I'm feeling adventurous) the door policies are a bit oppressive. I actually want to spend $10 on your beers - Please allow me to do so. So if anyone is looking for a business opportunity in Dubai, I'll go 50-50 with you on a dive bar. [End Tangent]) about how moving to Dubai is a lot like going to college for the first time and recalled Vox Populi's NSO Conversation Flowchart.

The US-expat population here follows the same general principles as college:
--In a new environment
--Don't really know anyone
--Here for 2-4 years with high annual turnover
--Everyone's looking for a party but no one is hosting
--You meet people that your roommates know
...and everyone is still from New Jersey

NYC ain't got nothin on us

I found a couple of interesting photos on the Burj Dubai - which on less hazy days I can see out my window some 30 km away. The following photos are from This is the Green Room though I found them via grapeshisha.

Burj Dubai, if it lived in Midtown instead of Bur Dubai:


And the view from the top of Burj Dubai, were it in Manhattan (I've seen this view of Manhattan before - when landing at JFK...):


It you have nothing to do, check out this link for more Burj Dubai in NYC photos

Saturday, September 19, 2009

More Mall Pictures

Having quickly run out of things to do in Dubai during Ramadan, I return to Mall of the Emirates with my roomies.

This is me. That is a watermelon carved like a rose. I thought it was pretty.

My flatmate Curtis, being hugged / groped by a large koala

Initial Assessment: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

My first project is located in Riyadh. While most projects are kept confidential for business confidentiality purposes, my current one has been released publicly. Monitor is helping the Government of Saudi Arabia (namely the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, though including other relevant bodies) implement their National Industrial Strategy to try to diversify away from petrochemicals.

What this means is that we work in Saudi Sunday through Wednesday. In a given week I fly out of Dubai Saturday night (weekends here are Friday and Saturday, although in Saudi weekends are Thursday and Friday. Don't underestimate their abhorrence of potentially sharing a weekend day with Jews...), work in Monitor's Riyadh offices and meet with clients and stakeholders Sunday through Tuesday, fly back to Dubai Wednesday and spend Thursday working in the Dubai office. Weekends just mean I work less...and play more mini-golf.

You won't find any photos of Saudi on this post just yet - I've been there twice and only now have the courage to bring my camera there. Passport Control is known to "examine" - read: confiscate and destroy - memory sticks and the like. In reality though, the Kingdom is boring. There are no movie theaters, a similar mall culture to Dubai, and during Ramadan there is literally nothing to do. We spend a lot of time hanging out in our apartments.

I will say though that the Saudis I've met so far are the most open and hospitable people I know. Stakeholders much senior to me in the project invite me out (not sure what that entails) and partake in long conversations over tea (after Iftar of course).

On the other hand, there are real dangers in the country. Some of the Monitor consultants live in compounds on the outskirts of Riyadh. I went to one briefly and the security measures are intimidating. We had to drive through concrete-lined narrow barricades around the circumference of the compound, passing through 4 checkpoints and under the potential fire of no less than 6 machine guns. Inside the compound exists and apartment complex like any other, but knowing that these compounds are ready targets for terrorist organizations (really what is better to attack than a walled community of Americans?) kept me on edge.

If my camera doesn't get confiscated, I'll bring back some photos of Riyadh. I'm in Dubai through the 26th of September and will return from Riyadh October 1st.

A Room With a View

I finally moved into my apartment a couple days ago - we'd had the lease for about a week but the utilities (which are notoriously inefficient here) took their time in getting us water and electricity. Internet is yet to come, but that is what turns a house into a home.

I'm splitting a 2-bedroom flat with myself and two of the other Monitor new-hires, Josh and Curtis. Josh just graduated from Columbia and interned at the Monitor office here last summer, and Curtis graduated from Harvard three years ago and spent time studying Arabic in Egypt and at Georgetown.


The Burj Al-Arab Hotel, as seen from our 25th floor window. We were going to live in the Penthouse, but Paris Hilton was in town filming her "Dubai BFF" show, so it was taken.

The apartment complex we live in comes with a gym, pool and 9 hole mini-golf course. All this for much less than you could find in Burleith. Although it did help to come in at the bottom of the property market - rents are 40% what they were this time last year.


Looking out towards Bur Dubai. The gray smudge above the crane that is obstructed by the haze is actually the Burj Dubai. It's only the tallest building in the world, nbd.


Looking out towards the Gulf, you can see the Palm Jumeirah between those Chrysler-building-esque towers. The dollops of land in the distance are the unfinished remnants of the now canceled World Development (citing @shazzer87 with the link).

Saturday, September 12, 2009

It's All in the Mall

After getting a bit more settled, I asked some ex-pats with more Dubai experience what I should do in my free time. They asked if I had been to the malls. I hadn't, so they quickly made a list of malls I should visit.

See, it's really hot here, and there are some 45 separate large malls across the city. There is a huge mall culture here that makes me feel like I am 15 again. I've been frequenting the Mall of the Emirates, which comes with its version of Rodeo Drive:



Also in Mall of the Emirates is SkiDubai. For the price of a lift ticket at any upscale mountain resort in the U.S., you can ski for three hours on a bunny hill...INSIDE. I don't see any point in going besides to say I have, but it is fun to watch other Dubaians have their winter fun:



Some of the other malls recommended to me were Ibn Battuta Mall, themed after each empire the traveler passed through, and Dubai Mall, the world's largest with 1200 stores and a shark tank you can scuba in.

Monday, September 7, 2009

Fast&Slow

I've become used to things moving at the pace of Ramadan this past week. Getting my UAE residence visa and health assessment were tests of patiences and sojourns into Dubaian reading material. Monitor, on the other hand, moves at an altogether faster pace. I was staffed - sorry, allocated - to a project prior to my first day in the office and loaded with thick briefing materials and PowerPoint decks. Second day in the office and I find I'm headed to Saudi Arabia - TOMORROW.

That is, assuming I can bear the buereaucratic headache of obtaining a Saudi visa.

Saturday, September 5, 2009

NUMB3RS

I went out Thursday night with a few students from the American University of Sharjah - they gave me some local insight. Said Jaleel - "over here, Emiratis value things you wouldn't. Like mobile phone and license plate numbers." It turns out people will pay top dollar for these. License plate numbers in the single digits sell for millions of dollars, and anything under three digits is "very nice." My companions then bragged about how this girl they know owns "187" and one time they saw "13" driving around. Telephone numbers with lots of the same number are also valuable, which explains why the cashier at the mobile store complimenting me on having a "great number." My phone number has two '3's and two '7's in it...

If spending money on license plates seems odd to you (as it does to me), keep in mind that you are not paying for the number, but rather the status that accompanies it.

Thursday, September 3, 2009

My Own Dubai Map

Because Google is awesome, you can customize your own Maps*. Below is the link to my own map of Dubai, to try to give you the lay of the land. I'll update it as I know more, but right now it has my offices and (fingers crossed) future apartment. Oh, and I put in all the Dubai touristy goodies as well.


View nathan's iDubai in a larger map



*I first learned about this from Colin Brody and his awesome GERMS Driver Training Map

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Censored Thoughts

I jotted down a couple pages of the pros and cons of Dubai so far and showed it to one of my colleagues. Based on his recommendations, here is what remains:

[deleted]
Dubai is a colorful city which paves its own way, not letting itself be limited by such pests as logic or efficiency.
[deleted]

On the walk home this evening there was a team of men sweeping sand into little piles. Now if you are unaware, Dubai sits on the edge of a vast desert, aptly named "The Empty Quarter." Winds blow the sand everywhere. In about five minutes those little piles of sand will end of where they were. I want to go back and see if those men will vacuum up the sand and deposit it back in the desert.

That anecdote sums up this city. There is no reason for it to exist, but if you base your livelihood on minute nonsensical actions, you can justify larger nonsensical actions.

Saturday, August 29, 2009

So It Begins


Busted out of DC finally. I'm currently sitting in the Vienna Airport abusing my neighbor's wireless. I have no idea what time it is because my phone, laptop and wall clock all have different readings. I'm thinking morning and don't need much more detail.

My flight to Vienna could be transcribed into a "Madeleine" book, as a busload of small children surrounded my seat. And much like a busload of small children, they sang songs most of the flight.

I didn't sleep on the flight, despite my determination to adjust quickly to Dubai Coast Time*. It's hard to sleep when leaving a city/country/continent/hemisphere where all your friends and most of your family live. Luckily I had Paul Rudd and "I Love You Man" to keep me company. 3 times.

*not a real time zone

Last Weekend in Seattle

A pleasant hike up to Lake Margaret with Claire and Anna last weekend:


Sunday, August 23, 2009

Ramadan...and Its Discontents

soooo...I should have realized this earlier but Ramadan began yesterday and in my ignorance I did not predict the affects of such a holiday. Turns out most of the shops I need to visit to set up my life will operate on erratic hours through late September and it will be difficult to buy (let alone eat) food during daylight hours. Battle plan: stick to Eastern Standard Time and then I'll be awake when everyone else is breaking thier fast.

On the other hand, it's a good month to be a prisoner in the UAE. To mark the coming of Ramadan, Sheikh Mohamed pardoned nearly 600 prisoners.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

There and Back Again

A Hobbit's Tale
by Bilbo Baggins

Just got word from Monitor that I'll be starting out in Saudi. So after orientation, my typical week is going to be something like

Sunday - fly to Riyadh, work there Monday, Tuesday
Wednesday - fly back to Dubai
Thursday - work in Dubai
Friday/Saturday - weekend

Sunday, August 16, 2009

My Journey into the Light

Below I chronicle my practical, if superficial, conversion to Christianity:

Monitor HR: Hey Nathan, we need to process your visa for Saudi Arabia. Can you fill out the following questionnaire, including your religious persuasion?
Me: Hmm, I guess I haven't been religiously persuaded. Can I put unaffiliated?

Monitor HR: No.
Me: Um...

Monitor HR: Just put anything.
Me: Jewish?

Monitor HR: ANYTHING BUT THAT
Me: Fine...I guess I'll be a Christian.

Monday, August 10, 2009

A Real Spy in Dubai

Naturally I have to post this link: An Iranian was paid by the UAE - and handled by the State Department, and is now being tried in one of the many post-unrest trials in Iran. More here

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Uterine to Saturnine OR Unwillingly Born


The past four days have been quite strange - the first four days I spent away from Georgetown without knowing when I would return to the Hilltop. What I felt was a pairing of confusion and nostalgia until I came upon a curiously apt description of my situation in a biography of Salvador Dali.

When asked about the beginning of his life, Dali claimed he could remember his time in the womb, saying "It was divine! It was paradise!" He recalled intra-uterine dreams, often of "fried eggs on a plate without the plate." His words, not mine. If that sentence does not make sense to you, perhaps this painting of the same title will.

Dali's comments on birth as a traumatically confusing, rather than renewing event, mirror my feelings on leaving Georgetown. Getting on that flight out of Reagan (which cruelly flew over campus) was like "passing abruptly from that ideally protective and enclosed environment to all the hard dangers of the frightfully real new world."

So, like a newborn, I am sitting at home, eyes open, waiting for whatever comes next.


Salvador Dali, on life and birth -
"...It seems increasingly true that the whole imaginative life of man tends to reconstitute symbolically by the most similar situations and representations of that initial paradisaical state, and especially to surmount the horrible 'tramatism of birth' by which we are expulsed from the paradise, passing abruptly from that ideally protective and enclosed environment to all the hard dangers of the frightfully real new world, with the concomitant phenomena of asphyxiation, of compression, of blinding by the sudden outer light and of the brutal harshness of the reality of the world..."

Friday, August 7, 2009

(400) Days of Summer

I recently updated my iGoogle to show both weather in Seattle and Dubai. It's a little past midnight in Dubai...and 100 degrees. If you are planning to visit, the winter months are a balmy 75*. See you then.

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Booked


ETA to Dubai: August 28th, midnight

It's going to take 4 days from Seattle, albeit with strategically scheduled layovers in D.C. (I've been gone for too long already) and Vienna, but then I'll land in the palm-lined Dubai airport:

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Hajj Health Hazards

Middle Eastern health officials are warning their citizens not to go on hajj after more swine flu cases have been uncovered. The Hajj this year occurs in late November, and the three million Muslims flocking to Mecca and Medina and then home again could be an effective way for these individual cases to multiply.

This is not the first time the Hajj has been a conduit for world epidemics. The 1865 cholera epidemic began with a few cases prior to the Hajj, and was then transported throughout the Middle East and Europe. In 2001, Saudi Arabia banned all Ugandan pilgrims from going on pilgrimage due to an Ebola outbreak.

Thursday, May 28, 2009

The World's Longest Ambulance


I had cold feet about moving across the world to Dubai for a little while - but no longer:

The world's longest ambulance is 18 meters (59 feet) and can hold up to 44 patients at the same time, according to Khalifa bin Darri, head of the Dubai Ambulance Center (DAC).

The blue-and white stretch-ambulance features a helicopter landing pad on its roof as well as internet and satellite facilities for the doctors. With state-of-the-art operating rooms, an intensive care unit, a radiography room and an integrated pharmacy, the ambulance is more like a mobile hospital.


The full article can be found at EMSresponder.com.

Monday, May 4, 2009

Is that really illegal? - Miscarriage

In Dubai, should you hit and kill someone while driving, the courts will have you pay blood money to the victim's family, usually in the amount of AED200,000 ($54,500). It is not uncommon for poor immigrants to suicide by car in order to secure such a fortune for their families.

But an interesting sentence was handed down to a grieving mother yesterday. The woman was 9 months pregnant when she was involved in a traffic accident that resulted in the miscarriage of her fetus. The judge ordered her to pay blood money. The amount? AED20,000. In other words, a 9-month old fetus is equal to 1/10 of a real person.

It doesn't end there. The mother must pay the blood money to the fetus' "successors." I'm interpreting that to mean her future kids. An odd inheritance, to say the least.

A City in Decline? Sign me up

With Dubai's property bubble bursting and needing financial bailout from oil-rich Abu Dhabi, the city of extravagance (and many of its mega-projects) is facing uncertainty. Dubai's Real Estate Regulatory Authority released a report today chronicling a 50% decline in rent prices. The Economist reports that Dubai's largely ex-pat population is expected to drop 17% this year.

Amid these dreary forecasts is a silver lining - especially for recent grads moving there. Falling rents and a smaller population mean lower demand and better prices mean a lower cost of living for the foreseeable future. So I'll take it.

Friday, May 1, 2009

Your UAE Farecast

If it isn't apparent already, I want people to come visit me. So the 1st of each month I will be publishing the fares to Dubai 3 months and 6 months out, from various US cities. Now you have no excuse. They are a bit pricey, but you'll be getting a place to stay for free...

August November
Washington, DC $890 $1,039
New York City $909 $903
Chicago $1,081 $867
San Fransisco $1,232 $1,078
Los Angeles $1,275 $977
Seattle $1,283 $1,197

Once I get there, give me a few weeks to get settled and then let me know when you book your ticket.

*Prices taken from Orbitz.com

Is that really illegal? - Giving the Finger

This post begins a new but potentially fruitful segment chronicling things that are illegal in the Middle East that seem, well, excessive.

Today let us recount the lesson learned by Darren O'Mulane, an Australian nurse working in Dubai. On his way home one day, Darren gave the middle finger to an Emirati driver. He spent the next 24 days in jail while is wife was deported. Their car, apartment and pets were seized. After he was released, Darren was deported as well and he and his wife are starting a new life in a slightly more tolerant Australia.

(Courtesty of the UAE Community Blog)

Dubai or Bust

Alright - it's official. I am shipping off to Dubai in September to join The Monitor Group's Dubai office. I hope this blog will allow me to stay in contact with everyone States-side and elsewhere, and give its readers a glimpse into life in the Emirates. So expect news, Arabic interjections, cultural tidbits, photos and some poorly-written yet well-intentioned travel writing. Enjoy, and most importantly, stay in touch.