Diving Musandam, Northern Oman

The house is all packed up, everything is gone, except the furniture (doesn't belong to me) and my suitcases. It is July 4th weekend and I have no computer, no TV and not a lot left to do here in Abu Dhabi-so I decided to go diving.

Musandam in Northern Oman has beautiful fjords, some of the most rugged mountains plunging into the sea. It is a harsh landscape with large areas not accessible by road, only by water. I boarded a dhow in the port at Dibba with a few other divers. We proceeded to the most nothern tip, about a 6 hours cruise, watching the sun go down and the stars come alive. I went to my cabin a little after 11 p.m. and we still had not dropped anchor. The next morning I awoke to find us safely tucked away in a cove.

As one of the others said-diving, eating, sleeping. That is what we all did for the next few days. Early morning dives, followed by breakfast, a rest and more of the same. We saw Lion Fish, stingrays, clown fish, eels, turtles and so much more. I must learn more about the animals and fauna before I can tell you. But the colors are so very vibrant, life is so abundant and there was so much to see and enjoy.

Even as I write this I still feel as though I'm rolling on the waves, but I'm on dry ground. Guess it will take a bit for my body to readjust to being on dry land.

Land Rover Discovery

It has come to an end - I have sold my Land Rover Discovery.

It was a dream of mine to have one at some point in my life. I have loved it. It runs and runs, though it is 10 years old and the climate is so hard on autos here. I am now driving a 2009 Peugeot 206 hatchback-not nearly as exciting, but it has wheels and I can go anytime I want to.

Abu Dhabi Carpet Market

I have not been an avid carpet shopper, as some others have. But now that I know my floors in Brussels will be bare hardwood, they have a much greater appeal.

So I and a friend headed off to the Carpet Market at the port to see if we could find some deals. He was looking for handmade wool and I was looking for inexpensive, silk (machine made is okay with me). We did not find very much of the handmade kind, they are very expensive. We did find quite a selection of the less expensive rugs.

In the picture above the ones on the left are wool and the ones on the right are silk...can you see the difference in the shine? I bought several of the silks in gorgeous sage greens with peach/mauve, burgundy and gold.

Ladies Party

One of my best friends here in Abu Dhabi and I held a party over the weekend for all the wonderful women we have met here. We invited both locals and American ladies, each of whom have added considerable joy to our lives during our tour(s), which are quickly coming to an end.

We had a great turnout and and excellent conversation, big hugs and lots of laughs. I will miss them all very much, but then hopefully I will meet more of the same calibre at my next post.

Cyclone Phet

Apparently, neighboring Oman has been hit by Cyclone Phet (similar to a hurricane). The cyclone, which hit the capital city of Muscat had sustained average winds of 120 mph and dumped quite a bit of rain. Approximately a dozen people have died due to flooding.

In a place where people see so little rain, they are unprepared for, and do not understand the danger of, rushing waters; taking chances they should never take. Also, because this area sees so little rain, the city's "drainage system" is virtually non-existent.

I did not even know this happening (we don't have the weather channel or even local TV news) until someone told me that people in Al Ain were warned of a storm surge. The person who told us this was given a lot of humorous grief because Al Ain is a land locked city 1,300 meters above sea level...she is still learning her local geography.

ATM Dispenses Gold

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Only in Abu Dhabi would there be a vending machine that dispenses pieces of Gold-and there is.

Installed just this month in the Grand Lobby of the Emirates Palace Hotel (self-proclaimed 7 Star) is a machine that will give you small pieces of gold pressed into coins and tiny "gold bars" of approximately 0.05 grams. Pretty small, but still expensive. The price you pay per ounce is slighter higher than the gold rate of the day, but it comes in a beautiful gift box.
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The machine was cleaned out in only a few short hours the first day it was opened.

Not Much Going On

You haven't heard from me because there simply is not much to say. 
The weather is now 100 degrees, wind blows and the sky is dusty most all the time.
Just like everyone else, I had to get my taxes done, still have clothes to wash, dishes to clean, shopping and cooking to do.  Pretty mundane ordinary things.
I'm going through all my things and paperwork, beginning to prepare for a move.  'Vid would laugh because I still clean like I used to and now I don't have my own dumpster...plus I give a lot of things away when I clean like this and there's no Goodwill close by. 
I have lost some weight and have clothing too big, books that have been read and CDs that I have transferred to Ipod-but, of course, I have bought a singing bowl, a Yemeni hat, many scarves and some nice pieces of jewelry during my stay.
If you are interested in having exquisitely crafted silk, cashmere or pashmina scarves-now is the time to speak.

Lazy Weekend

This weekend was a rarity in the UAE.  It rained all weekend......hasn't rained since last winter.  It was off and on rain, with cloudy to partly cloudy skies.  Almost as sure as the sun will rise each day you can be assured that the weather here will be sunny and warm pretty much every day.

I enjoyed this relaxing sound by hanging around the house and inviting people over for my favorite breakfast-eggs benedict.  Very nice morning.

Still Exploring UAE

Over the past few weekends I have found myself hanging out with friends who are keen to further explore this country outside the cities. We’ve driven out to the Western Region to Delma Island, explored Al Futaisi island, gone off road on undeveloped coastlines and to a beautiful actual oasis, and found ourselves in the ultimate desert-The Empty Quarter. That was absolutely gorgeous and awe inspiring. We even drove up to a border crossing with Saudi Arabia. The road literally stopped at the border.

I must admit that I have been going non-stop since the first of October and I have absolutely no intention of stopping. I know I will pay for it later, but I have enjoyed being exhaustingly busy. No time to think, no time to ache.

New Word

We've learned many new words since we've been here. One of my favorites is "shway, shway," Arabic (approximately) meaning "little by little." I actually got a laugh from one of the higher ups at the ministry of foreign affairs when I said it to him on the phone. We were having a bit of difficulty communicating and it made him laugh-definitely lightened the situation.

Our favorite new word is from the little Asian girls that work everywhere. Every time they see us they say "hello, ma'am sir" or "welcome, ma'am sir." It is always said as one word and is obviously a form of respectful address. It's just funny!

Hot

Well the temp is 42 degree celsius (108 fahrenheit). I suppose that would be considered HOT.

I really worried about how we would adjust to the temp, but so far I think we are doing really great!! It's 108 in Jun and we still get out a little in the evening-without melting. One of the locals walked to the parking lot with us yesterday and said that "we have two seasons: summer and hell." One, I couldn't believe he used a curse word and two, I can believe I'm still surviving the heat!

I must admit that we do work indoors and I make sure that I go inside in the morning and out only in late afternoon. I never said I was capable of outdoor activity in this heat, because I surely am not.

Yes, I now know what they mean by "but its low humidity." It is 53% humidity and it really "feels like" about 95 F back home. So while YES it is very hot, we are surviving.

I wonder what the situation will be in August.

Roadtrip

It is Memorial Day for us Americans, but just a regular workday for the rest of the UAE, so we decided to take our very first UAE Roadtrip. So with map in hand, Friday morning we left Abu Dhabi for the Northern Emirates.

We really did not know very much about it, just what we heard from locals and a few who've been before us. Some friends told us to go to Sharjah. We hoped it would be a small town-quaint and perhaps a truer example of older traditional Emirati culture. It was very nice and a bit different, but it is really a suburb of Dubai.

In Sharjah we went to the Qanat Al Qasba (Kazbah) where we saw the Eye of the Emirates (big ferris wheel) and took a dhow boat out at sunset. It was very beautiful and very nice outside (after dark). We also went to the the Blue Souk, where hundreds of little shops (about 20x10) sell gold, jewelry, clothing and electronics.

It was all very interesting, but we are not big shoppers. There's really not a lot of things we need. And I really wanted to see some mountains! Up until this point we really had not gone outside the major cities, but we decided to go to the Eastern coast, to the emirate of Fujairah. The map showed well developed roads which turned out to be marked very well also.

We did cross mountains; barren, craggy and rocky. The landscape looked so harsh, but still beautiful. I've never seen mountains like that-perfect for goats, which we saw several of. Soon though we were right on the beach. We drove up the coastline with the ocean on one side and mountains on the other. It was all beautiful and surreal.

We knew there were several resorts there and we found a great one-the Rotana (see the mountains behind the resort). Our stay there was almighty refreshing! Finn Sisu surprised me when he told me we were swimming in the Indian Ocean! I had no idea.

Click for picture: The mountains go right into the sea.

A Helping Maid

We have finally gotten our home into some semblance of proper order. Most things have a place and the beds are finally made (just in case you want to come visit). But doing all of that plus cleaning in this very dusty place is just too much. I broke down and did something I said I would not do-I hired a maid (sort of).

We really don't want a full time maid but some help was desperately needed, and much appreciated. I offered a friend's maid a sum of money to come dust, vaccuum, mop and clean bathrooms. She is very shy, so our friend came too and we turned it into an adventure. Maid Tig is very interested in learning about other cultures, especially culinary traditions. So she took a little time out to watch me (and participate) in making traditional Southern dishes: meatloaf and potatoes au gratin.

I fixed iced tea, which is not the norm here, and we had strawberry shortcake for dessert. Miss Tig loved it all. My friend said she wanted to go to the grocery as soon as they left to get all the ingredients to do it all again. She doesn't speak a lot of English so I showed her everything, and demonstrated how to do it all.

She is amazed by Americans, she thinks we are all so very kind and generous. I'd like to believe that most of us are, and hope she never discovers otherwise. I know that my friend treats her well. You do what you can, where you can.

Laughing Out Loud

We just opened a package that came today and had an absolute riot laughing at the contents. There was a Gumby, a Pokey, a clothespin, a used scrubbing sponge, a straw, 4 toothpicks, kitchen sink nozzle and a medicine cup, among other things. How utterly hilarious!!

I asked my sis-in-law to purchase a few items and ship them to us-I did not expect all of this. I should have known better. During Hallowe'en the adult children stay at home and Mom goes "trick-or-treating" to all our homes. Usually we are last and by the time Mom gets to us the others have taken all the good candy from her bag and left us with rubber bands, rusty nails, dirty pennies and dryer lint (really!).

Love you guys! Thanks for the cards and all the goodies!!

Stars on a Cajun Night

I have been excited for weeks, ever since I found out that the Pine Leaf Boys were coming to town! I had never heard of them, but with a name like that they just had to play the kind of music that makes you tap your toes. I was not disappointed. Their Cajun music brought the house down, with 30+ ambassadors in attendance.

The musical portion of the night started out very dignified with a performance by Naseer Shamma on a lute. It is a beautiful instrument. The mood was austere and formal. Then (our) Ambassador Olson stood to introduce the band, giving background on southern Louisiana and the Cajun culture. As soon as the band started playing feet on the stage and in the crowd started taping! I enjoyed so much seeing people from all over the world thoroughly enjoying this music. Some were even dancing in the aisles at the end.

Before the show the Ambassador held an invitation-only reception, which is part of my job to attend (I know, I have such a tough life). I greet guests, make sure they meet the Ambassador, get refreshments and never stand alone. One of our guests was Dennis Haysbert (The Unit, 24, AllState commercials).

I come from Nashville. We don't lose our dignity over celebrities. I held my own, spoke with him and casually had my photo taken with him. He was very gracious. I was dancing like a teenage girl inside!

Wearing a Headscarf

Believe it or not the conversation between us and many different friends has turned to the inordinate amount of hair loss. We are all losing hair at an alarming rate. Most of us are fairly new to the Gulf region, so we are all beginning to notice it at the same time. When I arrived my hair was crazy fluffy and almost unmanagable (no flat iron for a few months). Now it has become flat and stringy.

It is apparently due to the use of desalinated sea water, high levels of chlorine to offset sea water bacteria and the addition of lime to water for the purpose of counteracting the chlorine. The first two are highly drying agents and the latter creates calcium deposits in the hair, making it heavy and stringy. (Now I finally understand why I had stringy hair when I was growing up-we had hard, calcium rich water.)

In addition to all of these damaging effects, sand & mica from the winds collect on our hair and skin causing even more damage. Apparently this contributes to people in the Gulf age faster than their counterparts in other regions.

I may soon start covering my head to protect my hair like the local women. The more I learn about living in the Gulf, the more the clothing choices of the inhabitants make sense. The loose clothing is much more comfortable because of the constant breezes, but I have found my shorter skirts will fly up in a gust, so even the longer skirts are beginning to appeal to me.

Despite my concerns about skin and hair damage, taking action to correct it will have to wait a day or so - we are going to the beach for the first time tomorrow!

Dune Bashing

We went dune bashing on Thursday night. We met up with some friends at one of the local hotels on Thursday afternoon at 3:00, and only had to wait minutes for our adventure guide to pull up in his nearly new limited edition Toyota land cruiser. He drove the five of us about an hour east of the city before we turned off into the desert. After just a few minutes, we saw a group of people gathered around large pens of camels. There were a dozen large pens with 8-10 camels in each, the camels were eating and drinking and we were all gathered around taking pictures. There were 5 other land cruisers there with drivers, for the group that was already on site and after about 15 minutes we were told to mount up and we started a convoy into the desert. Our driver was very dedicated to his sport, and for the next hour we weaved, climbed, jumped and slid over the most beautiful country we could imagine. We all laughed and whooped so hard, our sides were sore the rest of the night. If it would have ended there it would have been worth every penny, instead we pulled through a gate into a 2-3 acre level site with large lavish tents, a raised stage, kneeling tables all around the stage, an open bar, a buffet line building, bathroom facilities and tables full of coffee, cokes and snacks to hold us over until dinner. After a cup of coffee and a little rest, four of us got on quad bikes and raced around for about 30 minutes. When we got back to camp, there were camels available to ride so we definitely had to do that. The camels lie down, you get on their back and then they stand up front legs first. Camels are very tall, and it’s a ride itself hanging on until they get up on their huge hoofs. The ride was short, and I’m glad there was a handler leading us the whole time. After the camel ride, we all hit the buffet line and loaded up on good local food that included grilled chicken and lamb. Immediately after dinner, the perimeter lights dimmed, and a lovely belly dancer put on a show for us. When the show was over, it was 10 pm, our bellies were full, sides still hurt from our earlier whooping and laughing our driver told us we could load up when we were ready. We got back to the hotel at 11 and to our villa about 11:30 tired and already committing to experience that whole thing again. If any of the above sounds like fun to you, all you have to do is come to visit (free food and lodging), and I’ll gladly call the same driver for a repeat performance.

Rainstorm

Rain is pretty rare in the UAE, but it has actually rained for the last couple of days. Usually when it rains you can measure it by how many raindrops per square foot - count the wet spots when it stops. There was thunder, lightening and several downpours. It was quite a sight. It was also a real treat to sleep to the sound of rain! The storm knocked out phones, internet and satellite for a day or so.

Regular Life

Not a lot to blog about. We've just been living a regular life-working, eating, sleeping and trying to have some recreation. We've been trying to swim several evenings a week in the pool (water is wonderful), and find new places to walk.

We would be riding our bikes more but we can't transport two at a time on our vehicle. We ordered a rack, but as yet it has not been delivered in the mail. So for the time being we ride in our small neighborhood, which like most of UAE is flat and dry. Finn Sisu loads his in the trunk sometimes and find other areas to ride.

I do enjoy the parks and the fact that they are lit for nighttime use. But I realize that I have become accustomed to trash and food containers left in the parks. In relation to parks in the U.S. they are not quite as clean, which is great shame because Abu Dhabi has gone to great lengths to build green space here. There are even parks that are dedicated to women and children.

For the most part I find that I am fully adjusted to life here. Everything we do seems very normal, not extra-ordinary. But I do miss my friends, and I know Finn does also. He still has not found the right job for him yet, but he seems to be staying busy and is happy-that's most important. He is actually doing better than I thought-which makes me happy.

We've found several great bookstores, three great supermarkets, a shoe store and a local restaurant that costs about $12 for dinner for two. We spent a few hours washing patios (lots of sandy residue), outdoor furniture and the car; as well as trimming shrubs and greenery around the villa today. So, as I said, life feels pretty normal.

Small Town Abu Dhabi

In our out-and-about this weekend we encountered several people we know, including my boss and his family.

After saying goodbye to colleagues in the restaurant, we met others in the car park (garage). After leaving we stopped at a red light where my boss pulled up along side us with his wife and 3 young kids. My husband was steady trying to get me to turn around and stick out my tongue...but I was adamant-Not to my Boss!!! As if on cue my superior officer is in his car sticking out his tongue, with his fingers in his ears to me!!!!!

How utterly funny! We laughed all the way home. That camaraderie is what I love most about being in the foreign service. And I'm glad that Abu Dhabi is starting to feel like a small town.