His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum

This week Savannah and I spotted His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Ruler of Dubai at the Mall of the Emirates. It is a known fact that he travels around the city with little to no entourage. He also drives himself in a Mercedes SUV. It is also common knowledge that his license plate is simply "1"...other members of the royal families simply have single or double digit numbers on their license plates as well and drive the same type of SUV. Certainly not very conspicuous!

When we saw him at the mall, he was riding with a mall security guard in a mall golf cart. There were a few men also dressed in national dress (white dishdasha (robe) and red/white checked keffiyeh (head scarf) walking near the golf cart. Other mall goers were walking up to him, shaking his hand and talking his picture. (I tried to get a picture but was carrying Savannah and couldn't get the camera out in time.) (I also had to come home and do some internet searches to make sure that was really who I saw...even though his picture is all over the city.)

Definitely a different scene then if it had been an important US politician. There was no apparent secret service or armed police.

Technology Mishaps

Technology is great...especially living so far away...when it works properly! In the last week my iphone "locked" erasing all of my contacts, calendars and so on. When we arrived in Dubai we had to have our phones "unlocked" as they were purchased in the US. The iphone is locked by Att&t to only be used on their network. So here you have to have it "unlocked" in order to use it with the local carrier. The same went for Chris' blackberry. In the 9 months that we have been here we have discovered that many things are not compatible. For example, the electrical outlets are all European standard outlets so we have either had to buy new electrical items or buy converters because the wattage is all different. Also, the TV's that are made for the US are made for a different signal than elsewhere so our picture is not as good. From what I have heard if you purchase a cell phone here, it will never work in the US because again it is on a different signal.

Also this week, our lap top crashed. It had been running really slow and "acting up" but was still usable until this week. Luckily, we just purchased an external hard drive so we were able to back up all of the pictures and other stuff that was on the computer before it crashed. We have a desk top computer with us so still have access to email and the internet but unfortunately the lap top is what we use for Skype and pictures so it has definitely slowed down our weekly Skype chats, picture sharing and blogging! Hopefully we will be back up and running soon!

Easter

This Easter was certainly celebrated a little different but overall a good day. I went paddle boarding in the morning, while Chris and Savannah hung out on the beach. Then we went swimming in the pool with Savannah's new pool toys from the Easter bunny and then enjoyed a Easter BBQ with new friends.

Gas Shortage

It seems ironic that many of the gas stations in town are "out of gas"...we do live in the Middle East correct?! One company is claiming "logistical" problems as the cause. I recently heard that this tends to be a common occurrence in Dubai. Another playgroup mom (whose husband works in the oil industry) said it has to do with the fact that large trunks are not allowed on the highways at certain times of the day, which causes delays in delivery...but the local paper is saying that some stations will be without fuel until next week.

Whatever the reason, it seems like a funny dilemma to have given our location and proximity to the source.

Speaking of gas...you cannot use a credit card at gas stations here (many things in Dubai are "cash only") or pump your own gas (which I have determined is a positive). There are only two different types of gas stations and they are not on every corner as they are in the US. I also think gas is a little cheaper, but we also don't have the need for as much gas as when we lived in Detroit. Chris is 10 minutes at the most from work and I am not driving to work everyday so that has been one area of savings!

Playgroup Fun

Today Savannah and I hosted playgroup at our pool. Here are some pictures of Savannah while we were waiting for friends to arrive. Savannah is starting to discover her tongue...check out the picture of her talking to her turtle pool toy with tongue out and all!

The Gulf--Arabian or Persian???

Upon arriving in Dubai we have heard the sea only referred to as the Arabian Sea or Gulf...not the Persian Gulf that we were accustomed to. Even though the rest of the world, and the UN disagree all of the Arab Gulf countries only refer to it as the Arabian Gulf and take it offensively when it is referred to as the Persian Gulf. According to a travel guide, the term is banned in Dubai. It is ripped out of school text books and crossed out on maps (as is the word Israel) and any newspaper or magazine using these words by mistake can be reprimanded. Even historical maps in the city's museums have been altered so the original inscription of "Persian Gulf" isn't legible.

Regardless, the Arabian Gulf is beautiful!

There is other censorship visible in Dubai. US and UK magazines are readily available in bookstores and supermarkets but magazines that display "to much skin"are "blacked out" with marker, even fashion magazines. There was also recently an unfavorable article about Dubai published in Vanity Fair. While you could still purchase the magazine here...the article was torn out.

Savannah is Eight Months Old

Happy 8 Months to Savannah Mae! I can't believe how fast the time is going. Our baby girl has 8 teeth already (four on the top and four on the bottom). She seems to love fruit, Cheerios and shredded cheese! She isn't crawling but is starting to think about it but she loves to stand up using our hands as support. Today she figured out that if she is sitting in her crib she can use the rails to pull herself up...luckily she has not figured out how to do this from the laying position so we are safe for now. She is babbling lots but nothing that we can understand although Chris is trying hard to get her to say "dada" first, while I am working on "mama". Savannah has also discovered that she can cry when you take things away from her...not a fun development! She continues to love swimming, reading books and has started smiling when I show her pictures of grandparents, aunts and uncles!

It's A Thunderstorm!

Tonight was our first thunderstorm since arriving in Dubai. Supposedly this storm caused wind, rain, thunder and lighting in some areas of the city but on the Palm all we got was wind, thunder, lighting and SAND. The wind blew up the sand so much that it made the lighting difficult to see and our patio has a fresh dusting of sand (more than the normal amount that accumulates in the course of a week).

A coworker of Chris' took the first picture from her apartment balcony in the Dubai Marina. The picture is looking out to the Palm Jumeriah (where we live, although our apartment is not visible in this picture).

The second picture was posted on a local site. Evidently, the Burj Khalifa was struck by lighting!

A few hours later another storm rolled through that brought the same amazing lighting, rolling thunder and a calm rain. It is weird how quickly my perspective on weather has changed. Something has simple and ordinary as a thunderstorm quickly became my evening entrainment...but only if it doesn't wake my sleeping baby!

Maintenance Work

Another thing we have noticed that seems to be unique to the area, is the maintenance workers. Luckily we have only had to call a few times for odds and ends around the apartment. In September for leaking water in our half bathroom and recently for our washer and dryer (it is one machine...and super small in comparison to machines in the US) and our air conditioners (there are separate air conditioners in each room of the apartment). We also had to call when we were living in the hotel for internet assistance. The trend seems to be the same regardless of what needs repairing or where you live. The workers are usually Pakistani or Indian and come in pairs. There is almost always the guy who actually does the work (and speaks very little English) and then there is the guy who seems to "supervise" the task and has enough English to somewhat communicate with the customer. Last week, when they came to repair our air conditioner, there were three men...two of whom I could not really communicate with that did all of the labor and then there was a third man who sat at our kitchen table and basically watched them (or "supervised") the whole process. There is clearly a pecking order in the labor industry.

I think Chris and I both agree though, there are definitely some perks to "apartment living". When something needs repairing we call the concierge desk downstairs and they send someone to fix it. There is very little DIY in Dubai, so Chris has had very little need for his tool box.