Hail! Hail!

Tonight it poured rain. Then it started to hail. Pretty big chunks of ice fell for a couple of minutes. It was quite amazing - especially because it has been getting warmer and warmer here. The daytime temperatures are around 30C.

Harry Belafonte

I was watching a great interview between Riz Khan and Harry Belafonte on Al Jazeera this evening.  I've always admired Harry Belafonte, but I hadn't realized what a huge influence he had on the political and the music scene in the U.S.





Then, I wandered off to a video with Harry Belafonte and Nat King Cole.



And, then wandered off again to just Nat King Cole. Nat King Cole is so cool. I love this version of Unforgettable.

Wadi Hayl

With a couple of colleagues, I went to Wadi Hayl near Fujairah last weekend.  It was the first road trip in my new car.  It's a smooth ride in the nicest, safest car I've ever owned.

The wadi had quite a bit of farming going on.  It's in some really harsh, rocky mountains, but there's obviously water.

At the wadi, there is an old fort/house ("palace") that belonged to Sheikh Abdullah Bin Hamdan. It was built in 1932.  When I went there 8 years ago, little had been done to it.  It was quite rundown.  However, the main building and the watch tower have been restored.  For much of the year, it must have been quite comfortable.  There were a number of rooms and roof tops that would have been nice covered in carpets and cushions.  It was easy to imagine a bunch of guys lounging around, drinking coffee and smoking.

After our trip to the wadi, we drove in to Fujairah and had lunch at the Hilton.  Although the service was less than four star, we sat outside, looking out over a nice beach on the Gulf of Oman.  That was really enjoyable.  The weather was nice and a cool fresh breeze blew while we were there.

Update

It has been a tiring semester.  I have three writing classes.  There seems to be endless amounts of marking, preparation, and student meetings.

In addition, I was on a committee that met a lot.  We finally finished our report and sent it out to the faculty.  Just as I was taking a deep breath, I was asked to serve on another committee - one that will be powerful and involve a lot of work and meetings - sigh!

We have only three more days until our spring break (one week).  I am so looking forward to it.  Unfortunately, I have a lot of work to do.  I need to try to get quizzes and material ready for the last half of the semester so that I can get all the marking done.  I'll be working a lot, but it will be more relaxing not having the students around.  I'll probably sit in the Caribou Coffee shop at Festival Center most of the time.

Lately, the office has been kind of nutty.  There's been a lot of backstabbing and fighting.  I've tried to keep out of it, but I've had a lot of people on both sides asking for support - yuck.  I has made me a little sad.  My normally open office door has been closed.

Because I wasn't really busy enough, I am now a university senator.  I was really hoping to be able to wear a toga, but, after our first meeting, I realized that I'd be out of place.  Drat!

I've been renting a car for the last six months, but I decided that I needed a car of my own.  Initially, I was just going to buy some old clunker (anyone who knows me knows that that's not going to happen).  There are lots of stories of thousands of cars being abandoned at the airport in Dubai.  When I drove out to the Dubai Used Car area, I saw a sea of cars.  Tens of thousands of cars parked everywhere.  It was hard to find a spot to park.  The used car dealers had full lots and cars parked on the street.  The days that I was there, there were very few buyers.  The only people out and about were the guys with hoses, washing the dust off the cars.  I was looking for a Honda CRV.  ALL of the car dealers were selling two year-old cars for about DH80,000 - oddly enough exactly what they sold for two years ago brand new.  Not one car dealer would budge on the price.  When I finally asked one guy why they weren't slashing prices to clear their stock, he said that they had bought the cars when they were worth more and they couldn't sell them at a loss - even though no one was buying.  Those cars are just going to sit there losing value, and they won't price them to sell.  I finally bought a brand new 2009 Honda CRV for Dh105,000 (they threw in 13 months of insurance for free, three year unlimited mileage warranty, 3 years roadside assistance, rustproofing, registration fee of Dh500, Honda mats, two fire extinguishers, a first aid kit, and a better financing rate than the used car dealers).  I told the used car dealers what was on offer at the new car dealers, and they just shrugged.  This is sometimes a bizarre place.  I was a little hesitant to buy a new car, but I plan to stay here until they throw me out.  My plan is to do ten years and retire.  That makes the car a reasonable value at about $3,000 a year.

The picture is not MY car, but it is the same model and the same color.  I plan to go out for a drive next week to Wadi Hayl when we have our break.  I'll update it with pictures soon.

English School

You'll have to excuse the blurry photos.  I can't remember if I was laughing too hard to hold my phone steady or crying.  Somehow it just seems wrong for an English school to allow signs like this to be posted for weeks in our hallways.  I'm praying that these were not my students.  Level 5 is our highest level.  Students at this level are close to entry to freshman university courses.  The fact that these books are being offered for sale at the beginning of the semester seems to indicate that, at least the Level 5, has a high enough TOEFL score to begin studying in major classes and no longer needs to be in English preperatory classes. Koff, koff.

Saturday Morning Treat

My Body for Life program allows one falling-of-the-wagon meal per week.  I've decided that Saturday morning breakfast at the Mugg and Bean at Festival City is going to be it.  I've always enjoyed a long, slow breakfast on the weekend.  I enjoy sitting over a full meal and reading a newspaper or book for an hour or two.  The Mugg and Bean restaurant has a few tables that look out over a large courtyard.  There's glass roof, so there's nice natural light.  There are numerous "waterfalls" so there's also the pleasant sound of running water. 

Ras Al Khor Wildlife Sanctuary

I and a colleague went to the Ras Al Khor Wildlife Sanctuary yesterday (Friday) because I had checked one website that said the hides were open every day from dawn to dusk.  Ha!  They're actually closed on Friday.  Fortunately, we were able to walk along the fence.  There were a lot of cool birds.  It made me wish that I had a better camera with a long telephoto lense.  In spite of the fact that we couldn't get into the hide, we spent a pleasant hour and a half there. Now that I know where it is (there's no big sign), I'll go on a Saturday morning at 9am.

It's really strange to be looking out over a lagoon full of flamingoes and seeing the Burj Dubai in the background.

Rain

Last night, it poured rain.  There was thunder and lightning.  This morning, it was 12C.  I'm wearing a sweatshirt and wool socks.  I actually kind of like it.  It feels like an autumn day in Vancouver.  I'm going in to town later this morning.  I hope the traffic isn't affected too much by the rain.  There are no drains anywhere, so the water pools until it evaporates.

Body for Life

Today was the my first day of a 12-week fitness/diet program.  I have a feeling that this is something that I will have to slowly get used to and I may have to adapt parts of it.  I've been doing basically the same workouts for 20 years and I think a change may be exactly what I need. I liked the focus that it brought to my workout today (Upper Body).  Alternate days are aerobic days.  I will be trying to get up at 5 or 6AM for a ride on my bike.  I used to get up at 5AM every day, so I'm not expecting it to be a big problem.  I figure I'll ride to the front gate of University City.  I'll have to check it with my car, but I think it's about 15 km.  I can usually manage to ride hard all the way to the front gate, and then ride back at a slightly slower pace.  I've been wanting to do this ever since I bought my new bike.  I think this program will provide a little more structure and incentive to do it.  I've report back in 12 weeks.

Outsourced

I really enjoyed this movie. Both Josh Hamilton and Ayesha Dharker were wonderful. As an English teacher, I enjoyed the occassional language struggles and, as an expat, the cultural bits were great. The movie also dealt with the topic of outsourcing in an interesting way.

The movie was funny and thoughtful.

Xmas dinner

I had dinner at the Al Bustan Rotana with several colleagues on Christmas Eve.  The food was great.  The turkey was juicy.  The company was pleasant.  And I didn't have to do dishes or clean up after.

Xmas present

I must have been even better than I thought this year.  Santa upgraded my bike.  I got a Scott Aspect 20 plus a cool helmet and some other gear (much better than the Giant I was looking at before).  I've really missed biking, so I'm going to be out most morning before the sun comes up riding around the university.

Christmas Presents

I've been pretty good this year (The fact that I live on campus in the middle of a desert in a dry emirate that has no bars is completely beside the point.).  I'm so sure that Santa is going to bring me exactly what I want (and deserve) that I stopped by one of his out-sourced workshops at the Dubai Festival City mall.  I'd love to get a new road bike, but I really don't want to ride on my own on the hard shoulders of any of the roads in the Emirates.  So...I'm looking at an offroad bike.  I'll be able to ride on the roads around the University City and there are a lot of sand lots I can cycle in.  I have a friend in Dubai who does some really serious looking mountain biking, so I may give him a call when I'm in better shape.

At any rate, I love this bike.

Of course, this being the UAE, I said, "I'll take it with me right now (so you don't have to deliver it on Christmas day). I need some shoes, too. I need a size 10 or 10 and a half.  I'll also take a helmet and a bunch of other stuff"

The elf said, "Sorry, we have only size 12.  If you wear heavy socks, it should be okay."

"Gee, I don't think so.  I'm going to spend US$1,000 on a bike and you don't have the shoes to go with it."

I'm hoping that, by Christmas, they will have what I need.

A friend told me about this website last week.  It's cool.  Some of the vocabulary is really hard, but it's a good way to learn vocabulary.  I like it because it has links to the sound files as well, so you can learn how to say it as well.  If you use it, you can feed needy people.

A Charlie Brown Christmas tree

I put up my Christmas tree this morning.  I'm sure Christmas will pass quietly this year.  I'd like to say that I've been good this year, but that's not true.  I'm expecting a lump of coal in my stocking.

I will certainly miss my family's company this year - my older brother in particular has often provided me with memorable Christmas dinners in recent years.  I expect that the closest I will come to a Christmas dinner this year will be a Chicken Whopper at Burger King.

Perhaps I should look at roasting a couple of Cornish game hens and having a few colleagues over for dinner.

Hatta "Water" Pools

I've been to the Hatta Water Pools several times in the past and there was often a fairly large pool and lots of running water.  I thought that my friends would find it interesting.

  Unfortunately, the pool was almost dry and there were only a few tiny streams.  They didn't believe me when I said that there were often a lot of fish in the pool.  Fortunately, the falaj running along the road had plenty of small fish in it.

Dubai Creek Dinner Cruise

A couple of days ago, I went on a dinner cruise celebrating a colleague's birthday. Getting from Sharjah to Deira in Dubai took one and a half hours. However, the cruise was really pleasant. The weather was perfect - cool but not cold - and the food was quite good. It was nice to get out with friends for a cruise that lasted about 3 hours.

Security???

I have no desire to do this, but, if you like jumping off tall things, this must be a thrill.

Musical Interlude

One of my favorite musicians is Jim Brickman. I've always loved his piano playing, and I've never understood why the "purists" complain about his collaborations. He does beautiful work with Martina McBride (Valentine), Collin Raye and Susan Ashton (The Gift), Michelle Wright (Your Love), and All-4-One (It Must Be You). I've always been a little soft pop and a little country. This one is just right. It brings a tear to my eyes.

Aaaarrrgghhh! 2

I gave one of my classes a grammar quiz today. One of the questions mentioned Jordan and Israel. In the middle of the quiz, one student put up his hand and asked if I thought that Israel was a country. I, of course, said, "Yes." He and two other guys in the class said that they were refusing to answer the question because Israel is NOT a country.

I haven't marked the quiz yet, so I'll have to see if they stood by their belief.

I intend to ask them who Egypt and Jordan signed peace treaties with and who Mahmoud Abbas and Yasser Arafat negotiated with if not with a country named Israel. (According to Wikipedia: Prior to signing the accords, Arafat — as Chairman of the PLO and its official representative — signed two letters renouncing violence and officially recognizing Israel.) I would like to see all the settlements removed and a more equitable division of the land - perhaps a 50/50 split, but that doesn't mean that I don't recognize the country of Israel.

I have a lot of Palestinian students in my class. My students seem quite privileged and far removed from the millions of Palestinians living in substandard conditions in the Gaza Strip or in refugee camps, so I'm a little less inclined to put up with too much crap from them, but I don't really know their situations. I'm assuming that every Palestinian knows someone who has suffered. I don't have the energy to struggle with this. I hope we can deal with this in an educated way and then it will just go away.

If there was every an argument that marijuana should be legalized, the last few years have convinced me. Everyone would be a lot more laid back if they smoked a joint from time to time. Perhaps George B, Donald R, and Dick C would still just be pondering an invasion of Iraq.

Can you imagine a bunch of suicide bombers sitting around a bong - "Oh, man. Let's do this another day"?

I don't think I've ever met an aggressive stoner.