The blog link below is to a post by a fellow Gtown alum and Middle East ex-pat, Ibn Ibn Battuta. IIB lives in Morocco but has traveled all over the region. This post is of his day-long layover in Dubai. It is a bit factually inaccurate and generalizes too much, but I enjoy seeing other people's perspective on the city I call home:
IBN IBN BATTUTA'S POST
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Sunday, June 27, 2010
The Constant Vacuumer
We spent part of one morning in Istanbul checking out the intricacies of the interior tiling of the Blue Mosque (pictures coming soon). It is the largest mosque I've ever been in, and the entire carpeted floor is vacuumed five times a day. The only catch is that it takes hours to vacuum due to its size. So this one poor guy's life's work is to continuously vacuum the Blue Mosque. Let this be his tribute:
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
WTF Tuesday
I found this ridiculous article whilst scanning the news today:
SAUDI WOMEN THREATEN TO BREASTFEED DRIVERS TO MAKE THEM THEIR SONS IN BID TO ALLOW FEMALE DRIVERS
SAUDI WOMEN THREATEN TO BREASTFEED DRIVERS TO MAKE THEM THEIR SONS IN BID TO ALLOW FEMALE DRIVERS
Istanbul
Last week was my birthday. It was also the last week of my case. Ergo, I was in the office til 11:30pm on my birthday. Less than ideal.
BUT, I made up for that on the weekend with an impromptu trip to Turkey. FlyDubai, a discount carrier, offers round-trip tickets for $250.
Istanbul is a pretty awesome city. It doesn't quite defeat Beirut on my favorite cities quite yet, but it's mixture of history and contemporary culture are appreciated.
I'll be posting a few things over the coming days on my time there. For now, I leave you with a couple of my favorite photos:
Me in front of my favorite Istanbul mosque
The Hagia Sophia, as seen from Galata Tower, with the Golden Horn in the foreground and the Sea of Marmara behind
BUT, I made up for that on the weekend with an impromptu trip to Turkey. FlyDubai, a discount carrier, offers round-trip tickets for $250.
Istanbul is a pretty awesome city. It doesn't quite defeat Beirut on my favorite cities quite yet, but it's mixture of history and contemporary culture are appreciated.
I'll be posting a few things over the coming days on my time there. For now, I leave you with a couple of my favorite photos:
Me in front of my favorite Istanbul mosque
The Hagia Sophia, as seen from Galata Tower, with the Golden Horn in the foreground and the Sea of Marmara behind
Sunday, June 13, 2010
World Cup - USA vs. England
I've been watching a lot of the World Cup these past two days, which unfortunately interferes with the end of my case. Whatever, I have my priorities straight. We've been watching at Barasti, the large beach bar I tend to frequent. They've built what they called "Barasti Beach Stadium" - essentially a glorified igloo - to show the games.
It's actually pretty cool, the stadium holds 1,000+ fans and has a huge projector screen. I was there last night with a few friends. I may have made this clear in previous posts, but the Dubai ex-pat scene is British-dominated. Particularly at Barasti. So Barasti Beach Stadium last night was ~970 British fans and about 30 Americans, crowded near the emergency exit in case things got ugly. It was a good way to actually meet Americans here.
So when Gerrard edged it past Howard in the 4th minute, the stadium went beserk. But when Dempsey got lucky in the 40th minute, it was absolutely silent. Except for 30 Americans in the corner rallying around 1 handkerchief-sized flag.
Not sure why Green looks so confused. He let the ball slip through his fingers. Just like the rest of the Empire...
It's actually pretty cool, the stadium holds 1,000+ fans and has a huge projector screen. I was there last night with a few friends. I may have made this clear in previous posts, but the Dubai ex-pat scene is British-dominated. Particularly at Barasti. So Barasti Beach Stadium last night was ~970 British fans and about 30 Americans, crowded near the emergency exit in case things got ugly. It was a good way to actually meet Americans here.
So when Gerrard edged it past Howard in the 4th minute, the stadium went beserk. But when Dempsey got lucky in the 40th minute, it was absolutely silent. Except for 30 Americans in the corner rallying around 1 handkerchief-sized flag.
Not sure why Green looks so confused. He let the ball slip through his fingers. Just like the rest of the Empire...
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Follow Up on Justice Fail III
A few weeks ago I posted a story on the alleged rape of an 18-year old Emirati girl in Abu Dhabi. You will all be relieved to know that the girl was mistaken. She was not raped - in fact she retracted her statement to that end a few weeks ago, instead saying she was beaten by her brother (and that this is what caused the bodily harm that was mistaken for injuries sustained during the rape).
We can all rest assured that justice was carried out fairly here, and that the accused rapists can go back to living their wholesome, constructive lives.
The article is HERE
My favorite quote:
"Under Sharia law, in order for a defendant to be charged with rape or sex outside wedlock, the court requires either a confession from all defendants or for four mature men, in good standing, to testify that they witnessed the act."
Please allow me the retract the statements of understanding and tolerance I posted in Justice Fail III.
We can all rest assured that justice was carried out fairly here, and that the accused rapists can go back to living their wholesome, constructive lives.
The article is HERE
My favorite quote:
"Under Sharia law, in order for a defendant to be charged with rape or sex outside wedlock, the court requires either a confession from all defendants or for four mature men, in good standing, to testify that they witnessed the act."
Please allow me the retract the statements of understanding and tolerance I posted in Justice Fail III.
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