Etisalat, Apartment, and Helen

Since we don't have internet at home yet, I'm creating posts when and where I can. We also don't have a telephone, television, or furniture at home yet either, even though everything was supposed to be in place weeks ago. But we're getting used to that. In shaa'al-laah, as they say around here, which means "God Willing" or "Maybe somebody will take care of it if they feel like it". The communication company in Abu Dhabi is called Etisalat. We like to call them It-is-a- lot as in It is a lot of work or It is a lot of money. We call them every other day (on our mobiles) to find out when they will be making our connections and they say someone will get back to us in 48 hours. John first asked for the connections a month ago. Hmm. But don't worry, in shaa'al-laah.

I was horrified when John first sent photos of the outside of our apartment building a few months ago. In fact, I went into denial and hid the photos in some forgotten corner of my laptop. When we visited in March, we had looked at so many gleaming new apartment buildings and villas (really town-homes) in nice compounds with all kinds of ammenities like rooftop pools, gyms, and tennis courts. Yet somehow we end up in one that's twenty years old without any ammenities? Our first visit spoiled us. But now that we're here, I love the place. It has views of the parkway along the Corniche, the Gulf, The Children's Park, and, in the distance, the amazing Emirates Palace Hotel and Marina Mall. The views alone sold me on the apartment. The kitchen (no dishwasher!?) and bathrooms need work, but that can be overlooked given the generous size of the living/dining area and the bedrooms. It even has maid quarters (standard here) which will end up as storage space for us. It's a duplex apartment with a nice central staircase. The apartment is as large as our house in Oak Park. Plus, it's a one block walk to the Corniche, a five minute walk to the beach, and a ten minute walk to the girls' school. There is a Choithram Grocery store in the base of our building, so I can get all the food we need within 75 steps and a short elevator ride. I'm sold. We're staying.

Many of you have been asking about Helen (of Troy), our big Golden Retriever. She was the most stressful part about moving to Abu Dhabi, but we're all happy she's here now. Yes it is hot for her and there is no back yard, but we have the shady green parkways of the Corniche just one block from our house. She gets exercise when we walk to school in the morning and the temperature is cooler. Then she gets 3 or 4 shorter walks the rest of the day. She misses the rabbits and squirrels of Oak Park, but there are enough stray cats around here to keep her entertained. I'm not sure if she wants them as a friend or as dinner, but I haven't let her close enough to find out. There are other dogs around here, both big and small. We have already made friends in the building through our dogs meeting along the Corniche. One family in our building owns nine dogs and has two Phillipino maids working for them full time to take care of them. But most Muslims have been raised to fear dogs, so we get lots of apprehensive looks and people crossing the street when they see us out walking. Occasionally people have wanted photos with Helen, so dogs are still a bit of a novelty around here. It will take a lot to convince the Emirati that Helen is the sweetest dog out there and just wants to be friends with everyone.

Ramadan

We arrived in Abu Dhabi just a few days before Ramadan, the holy month of the Muslim Calendar. Since the calendar is based on the phases of the moon and not the phases of the sun, Ramadan is a few weeks ealier every year. During Ramadan, Muslims in the gulf region are not supposed to eat, drink, play loud music, spit (including brushing teeth), or chew gum during daylight hours. They deny the physical in order to become closer to the spiritual. Ramadan is also a time to give to charity and fasting helps Muslims appreciate what others less fortunate might experience year round. Non-Muslims are asked to follow Ramadan restrictions in public so as not to offend those that are fasting. Restaurants are completely closed during the day. In fact, most everything, including offices, is closed from about 2 to 7 in the afternoon. This is when the Muslims go home to rest, but then they stay up very late at night. Ramadan hasn't been too hard on us, though sometimes it would be nice to take a big swig of water when we find ourselves a long ways from home. Once the sun sets, everyone breaks their fast with Iftar which is a big evening meal served every night during Ramadan. Restaurants all over advertise big Ramadan buffets. The Corniche has blue and white led light strings and ornaments of the moon, stars, and lanterns. Our neighbors have a similar set up in green and red. Hmm. At mid-point during Ramadan, children come to your door looking for candy. At the end of Ramadan, children get gifts for behaving well during Ramadan.
We went out for Iftar on John's birthday at a place near our apartment called "THE One" which is a little like Crate and Barrel with a nice restaurant attached to it. The food was excellent. We started with the traditional dates and yogurt and then grazed our way through delicous middle-eastern chicken with rice, meatballs (no pork of course), fish with potatoes, couscous, grilled vegetables, soups, salads, and lots of little cheesecakes for dessert. No alcohol, of course. But John has a license to buy that as an ex-pat, so we can have that whenever we want at home.
Must go. More later.

First Impressions

We arrived in Abu Dhabi during the hottest days of the year. The temperature gets up to 115 F. And it's humid, not dry. Sweltering, like a sauna. If a breeze kicks in, it feels like a very large hair dryer on the hottest setting. When I go from an air conditioned space to the outside, my sunglasses fog over and my hair curls up into big corkscrews. Mackenzie claims her eyeballs sweat. Needless to say we're spending a lot of time indoors right now. Like eveyone else, activites outside take place early morning or late evening, when the temperature is more reasonable, maybe around 90 F. But this extreme heat lasts for just a few months in July and August. We'll be happy in March when the average temperature hovers around 75 F.

The City of Abu Dhabi, a little over an hour south of Dubai, is actually an island in the Arabian Gulf, connected to the mainland of the United Arab Emirates by two large bridges. Downtown is at the far end of the island. The outermost edge of the island is called the Corniche. It reminds me a little of the waterfront in Chicago, with lots of beaches, pedestrian paths, a bike path, and a road called Corniche Avenue that is just like Lake Shore Drive. The Corniche has broad green parks with grass and trees, though the trees are palm, date, and eucalyptus instead of the more familiar oak and maple. Even the buildings along the Corniche form a street wall similar in scale to those on Michigan Avenue across from Millenium Park.

There are lots of impressive new buildings by famous architects from all over the world scattered throughout Abu Dhabi. A sizable number of them are incredibly tall, around 75 floors. Even more are under construction. Cranes are everywhere. Saadiyat Island, north of downtown, is going to become a museum campus with buildings designed by Frank Ghery, Tadao Ando, Zaha Hadid, and Jean Nouvel. Ferrari World, the world's largest indoor theme park with the world's fastest roller coaster is scheduled to open this fall.

Abu Dhabi is a very international city with a population of about a million. About 80% are ex-pats from all over the world. Most are from India, Pakistan and other gulf countries, but there are also plenty from the U.S., England, Australia, South Africa and France. Arabic is the national language, but English is a standard means of communication since many of the ex-pats don't speak Arabic. Street signs are in both Arabic and English.

I know Abu Dhabi sounds exotic and in some ways it is, but international seems a more fitting term. There are huge upscale shopping malls, great for those hot afternoons, with stores from all over the world. The girls were happy to find an Aeropostale. We bought jeans at the Gap. We're discovering stores that are completely new to us. John got what amounts to an ex-pat starter kit at Ikea since our 40 foot container of all our worldy goods hasn't arrived yet. When we don't want to shop, we can go to the ice skating rink in the mall. An indoor ski slope is schedule to open "soon". There's a huge store called Carrefour that is just like Target. Grocery stores have all the fresh fruits and vegetables that we're used to in the states and all the usual names like Cheerios, and Campbell Soup. But they also have a huge variety of foods from all over the world that we'll have to try out when we get a chance.

Really the most exotic element of Abu Dhabi are the Emirati and Muslims from other countries. The men wear long white robes called Dishdasha with the traditional Arabic head dress. The women wear a black robe called an Abaya. Usually their hair is covered in a black scarf called a Sheyla.  Sometimes everything except the eyes is covered. Occasionally their entire face is covered with a Burkha. This is a little disconcerting at first, but you get used to it. Sometimes jeans and high heels are peaking out from under the gowns.

This has already gotten way too long. I'll have to save our Ramadan experience and where we live for the next time I have access to the internet.

Big Move

Last day in Oak Park before we head off to Abu Dhabi. We're going to miss all of our friends and family here, but are looking forward to adventures overseas. Our dog Helen is already having her own adventure with an international pet transportation company. She was picked up yesterday morning in Oak Park and is stopping off in Amsterdam, though I'm pretty sure she is not enjoying her visit at all. I'll be happy when she arrives safely at our new home in Abu Dhabi. Meanwhile, last minute packing on this side of the ocean. We have a direct flight that leaves Wednesday evening. We'll be in Abu Dhabi by Thursday evening, including the 9 hour time difference.
I hope this blog works as a good way to let everyone know what we are up to half way around the world. Look out for future postings!