Sick and Tired

So here I sit.  Day 2.  Sick.  I was actually looking forward to getting out of the room today and going back to work just to fight the boredom (funny how that works both ways).

Aquafina tastes the same in any language:  Watery

I went to work after a restless night (again) and got my paycheck, made a few adjustments to some work and was promptly sent home for the day.  I understand why I was sent back.  I still look and feel like shit.  In tiny cubicles, that could rapidly spread.  Not good.


So here I sit again.  I snuck out and took a cab to the nearest bank branch to deposit my significant paycheck.  The customer service is wonderful and the Emirati gentleman was all smiles and even looked up my account number when I realized it wasn't in my phone.

Something stands out to me:  I always remember not to primarily use my left hand.  That's hard for me when you consider that I'm left handed.  I had to sign with my left hand, but I consciously handed the service guy the pen and paper with my right hand.  He seemed to appreciate that.  It's not cause I'm really culturally "aware" or anything.  I just know that if I do things to offend people that are helping me, I'm less likely to get perfection.  When handling a shitload of money, you do what you have to.

Activated my ATM card, and took a cab back to the room.  On the way, I went to a local store where the guy is beginning to realize I'm not going anywhere.  He is begrudgingly beginning to accept my greeting and that's a good thing.  Hard to find a local store with junk food and lip balm in it.  I need a different blanket for the room.  One that doesn't cause you to sweat even when the temp is 50 in the room.  Hopefully I'll find something cheap enough soon.  I haven't looked to be honest.

The 'green salad' at the local shwarma joint is anything but just green, but delicious

I have struck out on my own the last few days.  Not my favorite thing to do in any locale or situation, but it needed to be done, less I be at the behest of another person who can use that as a power (amazing what people will lord over you if you let them).  I need vegetables, laundry soap, coffee, fruit, and eventually a small bathroom shelf since I took the smaller room (never let me do that again).  I need to get coffee for work, as well.

Otherwise, I'm expected to become a rugby fan member and sit around on my ass watching rugby all day.  Not happening and if they think that gives them executive privilege to the car, they are in for a surprise.  The way it stands, I'm on my own after work from now on.  The clicks have been formed and I got the "either it's my way or..." implied to me today.  I bristle at people that fucking thick.  I can be type A all day long.  I'd like to be calm and relaxed, though.  I will continue to try that path until it fails.  So, as I said, I'm on my own for the foreseeable future.  That isn't necessarily a bad thing, but this whole thing continues to define itself in ways that I don't like.  I don't mean to complain, but I'd hoped that everyone would be working together and hanging together.  There I go thinin' again, though.

This means if I need anything; food, clothing, rides, etc, I'm on my own.  If I say, "Hey, let's go get a coffee.", I'm talking in the mirror.  So I'd better get used to it now.  Otherwise it's gonna be a long haul for the next 7 months hiding in the room and darting for table scraps at coffee shops...not gonna happen.  This evening I'm catching a cab to Spinney's for veggies and fruit and anything else I need.

Hope everyone is doin OK and getting peaceful sleep whilst I write this down.

Back to Dubai - Part II Continued

So we decided to take the train in Dubai cause it follows the basic outline of the city and puts you within reasonable walking distance of most sights.  So here are some tips:

1.  The first two train stations are not finished.  We found that out quickly.  Go on to the Ibn Battuta station.  There is only parking in the sand currently, but not a problem.

2.  Buy a card pass (AED 20).  This will get you through four exits.  You can recharge the card, so hang onto it.

3.  Into the city isn't as crowded, so grab a seat as quickly as possible.  Outbound from the city center is a nightmare comparable to Calcutta (complete with those particular people).  Be prepared to get rousted toward the back cars to make way for families and women who are allowed to travel separately in this country.

4.  Forget personal space.  This is from a guy that's been around the world a few times.  If you think Korea and Japan are bad...nope.  You are dealing primarily with South Asians (Indian, Bengali, etc) and Filipinos.  They live in crowded spaces even here stacked on top of one another and they will push, and pull, and whatever else will get them on the train (or anywhere).  Be prepared.

5.  Trains seem to arrive every five minutes, so don't worry if you miss one.  Another will be along shortly.

6.  The advantages.  You don't have to drive in a confusing city with few turnarounds.  It's safe.  It lets you out within yards/meters of shopping malls which are like subterranean, air-conditioned tunnels to get to your true destination.

Forest?  Outside of Abu Dhabi

The "parking lot" at the Dubai Metro Station

So, let's back up...You can really tell when you're leaving Abu Dhabi and transitioning to Dubai.  Abu Dhabi isn't just the capital, it's also the richest city in the Emirates.  There is a "forest" the entire way leaving Abu Dhabi.  The minute you hit the outskirts of Dubai; desert.  Period.  Abu Dhabi has an irrigation system that uses all of the waste water instead of recycling all of it.  The water from the tap seems to be perfectly safe since it's all desalinated water and has to go through a reverse osmosis system which purifies it.

Part of the Central Souk, Dubai

We went to the Burj Khalifa (the tallest building).  Yes, you can go to the top, which we thought would be easy.  We walked the .5 km to the edifice and as we approached a very nice African gentleman in a security guard uniform asked us where we were going.  We told him we wanted to see the top and he let us know we needed to go into the Dubai Mall (next to the Burj) to purchase tickets.  He then told us to "enjoy the experience".  What a pleasant thing to say.

So we head into yet another mall and walk for what seemed like an hour (huge, huge mall) and find the ticket counter with throngs of the people described earlier with sprinklings of Euro-trash everywhere.  Bad news.  The tower viewing is booked solid for 1-2 days.  Forget it.  On to the Central Gold Souk which meant boarding the train again and going another ten stops into the city by the "creek".

This place was totally like any other bazaar you've ever been in.  Shops, shops and shops.  Lots of walking.  Lots of people.  Lots of humidity being next to an estuary.  We walk around there for a while and then back to the crowded train. 

That's about it for now.  Nothing really exciting happened.

Dubai, round II

So I sat around all morning and my roomie says he wants to go to Dubai and catch the train into the city.  So we head there...more to follow tomorrow, but here are some pictures of the day's events...

The escalator to the Dubai train

Burj Khalifa

I love you, bro!!!

Damn! Does it smell terrific on this train.  Like after you eat asparagus and drink too much water...

What a weird f***ing place!

I've been to Iraq, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia, so I already have the concept of Arab cities, dwellings, etc.  Abu Dhabi blasts all of those out of the water.

The Corniche

We went on a hunt for some of the pubs (mainly to get the hell out of our small house) and got lost again.  No one listens to me for some reason unless I say it really forcefully and then people tend to get defensive.  That's the penalty for stacking a group of A-types in the same space.  Something bad is going to happen eventually. 

We had a book that showed where we needed to be for what is called the "tourist section" of Abu Dhabi.  One of the guys left it in the car cause we obviously knew right where it was.  We ended up being in a part of town where there were no westerners and no Emiratis.  No wonder they stared in amazement as we weaved between them and up and down allies.  All the time, me saying, "I really think we're in the wrong place.  We need to go further south.  Eventually, dude actually says, "Ya know, I think we need to go further south."  Those of you who got my flurry of angry texts, sorry.

The Corniche...don't let the serenity fool you.  It's crowded and hot.

So we get to the approximate area and leave the book again and wander for another 30 minutes.  We decide to ask a cabby to take us to one of the pubs and he takes us across the city to within meters of our hotel.  We tell him to turn around and this confuses him, but he does it.  We stop at...wait for it...the mall...

The Corniche

We end up in the largest food court I've ever seen.  I find an Indian takeout place and order a whole Tandoori (I'm ravenous at this point).  The Indian dude says 20 minutes...lemme back up...  Some little shit with his girlfriend cut in front of me literally as I'm right next to the register, push me out of the way.  I probably shouldn't have been able to get away with this, but I jerked the little fucker by the collar out of my way and inform him that I'm 3x his size and he doesn't want any with his yuppie Hindu star tatoo which probably came from a henna painter (only women do that).  He profusely apologized.  Whatever.  That's not cultural, that's just rude.  Never get between me and my food.  I can get pretty primal.

So we wait for the food, and try to find a place to sit.  One opens up and we grab it.  I got TWO whole chickens and a flatbread that was gooey and soft like pizza dough (this is killing me, but I'm hungry).  I ate it all and regretted it immediately.

We left there and stumbled quite accidentally into the tourist area.  It's behind the Westin hotel.  It's a bunch of little sports bars, pubs and high-end restaurants setup like a small village.  Sorry, no pictures of it as I was pissed at this point.  We ran into three guys from work there and sat around bs'ing for a while, then went back to our rooms.  Yay.  What started out as a good night got boring quickly.  Oh well.  There's always today.

The reason I say it's weird is the surreal feel to everything.  It's like caricatures of what they think westerners would like to see.   I don't even know if I can explain it.  I'll try to capture some of it in photos today.

Dubai - First Impressions NOW IMPROVED WITH PICTURES!!!

PART of Dubai...

So yesterday morning I went on with life after a week of looking at James Woods with a droopy eyelid cracking the whip silently.  First I lifted to make my body even more perfect, then off to the Corniche for a four miler.  I normally have a running partner, but he wasn't available so I took off on foot by myself for the first time.  Hardly anyone around, so no biggie.  I live in the Indian/Pakistani/Bengali quarter.  Apparently they've never seen such an Adonis of a white guy in Nike workout gear cause they all stare (by the way, never snort at them (don't ask why I did that, those who are in the zone running get a feeling of superiority and forget to censor themselves) they will run after you for all of one minute.  Hey, they were staring critically at me not in a fascinated way.  I ran backwards looked at them and laughed).

That answers that question; Arabs DO like Big Bang Theory!!!

Anyway...came back, ate and showered and got ready for my exciting day in Dubai.  The plan was to go to the outskirts, take the elevate and new train from the edge of the city that stops everywhere, and have a relaxing walk in Dubai.  As we hit the outskirts, my roomie informs me that we are going straight to the Mall of the Emirates (the one on the Discovery Channel with the indoor winter shit).  Who among my friends doesn't know that I fucking hate malls?  I HATE MALLS!!!  Dubai and Abu Dhabi are ALL MALLS ALL THE TIME!!!  So, for those of you who like to shop for expensive shit like Cartier and Louis Vuitton (I didn't even know what that was 'til yesterday) come to the UAE.

Temperature in the Winter Doucheland

So far two dreams crushed under the boot of not-so-common sense.  When we weren't in expensive malls looking for impossible things we spent the rest of the day driving.  Two things I want to do in Dubai:

1.  Go to the top of the Burj Dubai.  That's the tallest buidling in the world currently.  Yeah I'll probably wet myself in fear at the top, but I'll get good photos and I'll bring a change of panties and shorts to be safe.

2.  Surf.  The one thing that gets my motor running besides a short midwestern chick is a damn surfboard and a decent wave.  Oh and motorcycles, but that's another post, altogether.  I want to surf Dubai, take pictures surfing, sing surf songs, hang out with the Aussie surfers who are the raddest dudes on the fucking planet, and swallow seawater and get reef rash in no particular order.

More wintry weather :D

Yup, that's my Dubai bucket list.  Not a large one, but if I accomplish those, my cup runneth over.  And my bladder be full to burst. 

So we went to Dubai Creek and inlet of the sea, not a Texas crick.  Hung out there for a few minutes and decided to get drunk at one of the tons of Irish pubs at hotels, so back to Abu.

It was 8 by the time we got food and started drinking and commenting on the gals that walked haughtily through the pub to the "Jazz" lounge, a shitty disco.  Of course it was me that started the comments, but these chicks could make Robot Abe Lincoln sad ;-D.  As my roomie described one was like "a sausage crammed in a casing".  So, so true.  Yuck.  Glad I'm married.

Abu Dhabi along the Corniche

So I woke up this morning hung over (I only had 5).  It reminded me that it's ok to do socially once in a while, but I've come so far in such a short time and I intend to keep the momentum going as I rocket toward 50 (not really).  I make good money for a writer, and I'm in an exotic country.  I'll see my KT soon.  All is well in the big scheme of things.

I know I promised good pictures, and I'll post many today at some point.  Need to pick up a new cable for the camera.  Cheers.

(BTW, we are going back to Dubai this weekend to hit the Burj.  Souvenirs for many hopefully.)

Hey All...

Abu Dhabi team rugby match at Khalifa Sports Complex.

This is the intro into what is hopefully a long set of essays about life for me in Abu Dhabi.  READ THEM!!!  There is SO much different about this place and Dubai AND the UAE for that matter.  Not apparent right away, but as you walk the streets or drive, you notice them.

I could write all day on the differences between Abu Dhabi and the States, but I thought I'd do that as I went (there is an piece following this on the main thing people appear to do here).  But, I thought I'd give you my first impressions about the city and what was different for me.

Many of you that have come to be my friends in the last few years in my painful transition to civilian life (and thank you, btw), know how much of a yocal I've become.  This has been a problem with travel.  I LOVE San Antonio and the surrounding area.  Not just like it, but love it like a woman.  A slow, slightly deformed woman, but one nonetheless.  San Antonio Abu Dhabi is not, or is it the other way around?  You forget when you stay local sometimes that this is the case.  When things you have built your day around are no longer there, or for that matter far away, it becomes a problem for someone slightly autistic (or am I?).

Why bore you?  Here are my top 4 things that bug the shit out of me:

1.  Starbucks - Anyone that knew me for more than 5 minutes knows that I can't be without Starbucks for, like, a DAY.  I know it doesn't say much about the man archetype that I try to emulate.  There are Starbucks around, but not every mile.  I have to drive in crazytown traffic to get there, which leads me to the next one...

I have no idea WTF this is.

2.  Traffic - No getting around it, its CRAZY!!!  At first it looks like people are trying to cut you off.  Walking to and from my runs on the Corniche (photos soon to follow), you begin to realize that Abu Dhabians (?) are no-bullshit people.  They are friendly all day long, but don't get in their way when they are trying to get somewhere.  The flip is more than true.  The people here are much more forgiving in traffic than San Antonians and seem to instinctively know when you need to get over five or so lanes.  They will politely honk or flash light to let you in.  Crazy huh?

3.  Humidity - Who'dve thunk it?  But being close to the ocean combined with heat makes it soupy in the pants.  Not a good feeling.  I learned the painful way about pushing myself on the run too hard when my asthma hit me hard.

Never EVER do these things on a Dubai Water Taxi

4.  Hair products - I'm one of the beautiful people, FACE IT, DEAL WITH IT.  Don't hate.  There is no American Crew hair stuff ANYWHERE!!!  I really hope I can import...

Anyway, that's all for this one.  More follows in minutes...btw, sorry to all I haven't corresponded with.  I still love you guys.  It's been a game changer for me (those who are closest to me know this all to well as I sit here listening to The James Gang "The Bomber").  Don't like the abbreviations?  Don't care.  It's my happening and it freaks me out, baby!