Okay, I am going to relate random events and moments that resonated with me in some way. This will not be a typical narrative.
Within the first week of arriving I was walking to work early one morning through a nice park when I heard the sound of leaf blowers - a common sound in Oak Park. I turned to see what leaves they were blowing in this desert environment and discovered it was not leaves at all but litter from the night before. Long lines of trash being blown to a central location to be collected and hauled away. Manpower takes care of the fact that littering is a very accepted practice here - let me give you an example:
A local family is walking along and I am behind them. The kids have ice cream treats that they are unwrapping while they walk. When they free the wrapper from the treat they both discard the wrapper and continue walking. Their parents are a few steps behind and they do not bat an eye. I am shocked.
Local lady exits her car with a big water bottle, as she walks to the gate to her house she throws the water bottle on the ground and then enters her yard throught the gate. Why bother taking it to the trash can when you have all this space in front of your house to park your junk...sort of like rural Kentucky (did I just say that?).
I went on a site vist for a potential project in an area called the Empty Quarter. It is a few hours south of Abu Dhabi and it is comprised of huge sand dunes and nothing else. Absolutely stunning and in an odd way reminded me of the mid-west...a simple textural ground plane and big sky - that's it. A wonderfully seductive landscape.
Our balcony overlooks the Corniche and we are about 11 floors up. We have a great view of the water, Emirates Palace and Marina Mall (yes, a mall, but a nice looking one). Tonight Adrienne and I sat and watched the sun set while enjoying some white wine. It was lovely.
Speaking of our place here it is about the same size (without the basement) as our house in Oak Park. It is a duplex and the corridor from the elevator to the entry door is exterior - people put plants out and it has a great vibe about it and we are happy with our place here. The only bummer is the local cable company is totally unresponsive - we have no internet, cable or land line. We tap our neighbors wireless (with his permission) to get on the internet.
That's it for tonight.
From the Mid-West to the Middle East
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Sunday, September 19, 2010
American Community School
When we visited Abu Dhabi last March, we got a tour of the American Community School, or ACS. There was a waiting list to get in, but both John and I agreed that we wouldn't be moving to Abu Dhabi unless both the girls got into ACS. Fortunately, we did not have to wait for long. The girls started mid-August and we have not been disappointed.
There are about 900 K through 12 students here from all over the world. The compound has separate buildings for the elementary, middle, and high schools with shared facilities in the middle. Most of the staff and students are originally from the states, but there are also others from Greece, Holland, Brazil, France, and India, just to name a few that Hannah can think of off the top of her head right now. There are also a few Emirati. A surprising number of students have already lived all over the world. Often when I ask ACS families where they are from, they say, "The States, but we've lived in London, Paris, Kuwait, Germany, Singapore, Australia, you name it, for the last 3, 5, 10 years." It suddenly makes the world feel like a much smaller place. Everything is just a plane ride way.
The facilities are well maintained and include everything you would expect at American schools and more: a well stocked library, a cafeteria that actually has good food, gyms, a climbing wall, several outdoor playing fields, and a pool. Circulation is mostly outdoors, which gives the place a nice open feel.
The curriculum is very familiar, down to Everyday Math from the University of Chicago. A very thorough website keeps families up to date on assignments, grades, and school activities.
The best part of the school is the amazing number of field trips that the students get to take. 5th graders go camping in Oman. 6th and 7th graders have a week in Turkey. 8th graders go to Thailand the first week of November. I am lucky enough to be able to help chaperone that trip, and will tell you all about it once we go.
There are about 900 K through 12 students here from all over the world. The compound has separate buildings for the elementary, middle, and high schools with shared facilities in the middle. Most of the staff and students are originally from the states, but there are also others from Greece, Holland, Brazil, France, and India, just to name a few that Hannah can think of off the top of her head right now. There are also a few Emirati. A surprising number of students have already lived all over the world. Often when I ask ACS families where they are from, they say, "The States, but we've lived in London, Paris, Kuwait, Germany, Singapore, Australia, you name it, for the last 3, 5, 10 years." It suddenly makes the world feel like a much smaller place. Everything is just a plane ride way.
The facilities are well maintained and include everything you would expect at American schools and more: a well stocked library, a cafeteria that actually has good food, gyms, a climbing wall, several outdoor playing fields, and a pool. Circulation is mostly outdoors, which gives the place a nice open feel.
The curriculum is very familiar, down to Everyday Math from the University of Chicago. A very thorough website keeps families up to date on assignments, grades, and school activities.
The best part of the school is the amazing number of field trips that the students get to take. 5th graders go camping in Oman. 6th and 7th graders have a week in Turkey. 8th graders go to Thailand the first week of November. I am lucky enough to be able to help chaperone that trip, and will tell you all about it once we go.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Atlantis-Dubai
For anyone that is feeling the least bit sorry for us over here in Abu Dhabi, you can stop that right now. Here's why: We just went to Atlantis-Dubai. It. Was. Amazing. I got John a book for his birthday a week before mine and he got me (us) a weekend at Atlantis. I think I'd go for Atlantis over a book any day. If I had time to figure out links, I would post photos of the place. Once we get our internet set up at home, I'll post our own photos.
Atlantis is located at the top of one of the Palm Tree peninsulas that juts into the gulf off of Dubai. The trunk is full of nice apartment buildings, the fronds are full of big villas, and a tunnel at the top takes you to the crescent/breakwater for the palm tree. The big opening in the Atlantis hotel building is centered on the drive up the trunk. Their water park and other resorts under construction are along either side of Atlantis.
The resort's secret weapon is the check-in receptionist who easily sweet-talked us into an upgrade, which in the end we don't regret. In fact we had relatively reasonable rates since it is still off season and Ramadan specials are also in effect. We had a corner room with a terrace and a view of the nice pool, the beach, the palm, the Burj Al-Arab (the fancy hotel that looks like a sailboat) and, in the distance, the Dubai skyline with the Burj Khalifa, currently the tallest building in the world. It's 828 m (2,717 ft) tall. In comparison, the Willis tower (aka the Sears Tower) is 527 m (1,729 ft). That's a lot of building.
The resort has lots to offer. The pool below was refreshing and incredibly relaxing, even in the heat. The breakfast buffet included in our package was the nicest looking, biggest, and most diverse I have ever seen in my life. I am not exaggerating. Even the water park was wonderful, which I really wasn't expecting since I've done more than my share of water parks in the Chicago area and the Wisconsin Dells and thought I was done with them for good. None of those can compare to this one. A 2 kilometer long lazy river. A 60 degree drop slide off a ziggurat that ends up in a tube chuting through a tank of sharks. Plenty of other fun water rides for all ages. We spent half the day there and never got too hot. In the afternoon we wandered through the Lost Chambers, an aquarium with lots of enormous beautiful tanks full of 65,000 fish. That's a lot of fish.
Friday night we headed into downtown Dubai. We started by wandering through the Dubai Mall, one of many enormous high end malls in town. Next door to the mall is the Burj Khalifa. Separating the two is a small lake. Every 20 minutes throughout the day and evening a sounds, water, and (in the evenings) light show takes place there. We had dinner at one of the many restaurants along the lake and enjoyed three completely different shows. Think Bellagio, Las Vegas, except (I just double checked the facts here), the Dubai Fountain is 25% bigger, shoots 500 feet into the air, and can be seen from 20 miles away. Seeing that fountain with the Burj Khalifa rising even higher into the sky beyond it is completely jaw-dropping.
After another very pleasant morning at the Atlantis pool, we returned home, 90 minutes away, to our furniture free apartment. The ship with our 40 foot container is allegedly docking in Abu Dhabi today, so there is a slight chance that we'll get our furniture this weekend, just in time for Eid.
Atlantis is located at the top of one of the Palm Tree peninsulas that juts into the gulf off of Dubai. The trunk is full of nice apartment buildings, the fronds are full of big villas, and a tunnel at the top takes you to the crescent/breakwater for the palm tree. The big opening in the Atlantis hotel building is centered on the drive up the trunk. Their water park and other resorts under construction are along either side of Atlantis.
The resort's secret weapon is the check-in receptionist who easily sweet-talked us into an upgrade, which in the end we don't regret. In fact we had relatively reasonable rates since it is still off season and Ramadan specials are also in effect. We had a corner room with a terrace and a view of the nice pool, the beach, the palm, the Burj Al-Arab (the fancy hotel that looks like a sailboat) and, in the distance, the Dubai skyline with the Burj Khalifa, currently the tallest building in the world. It's 828 m (2,717 ft) tall. In comparison, the Willis tower (aka the Sears Tower) is 527 m (1,729 ft). That's a lot of building.
The resort has lots to offer. The pool below was refreshing and incredibly relaxing, even in the heat. The breakfast buffet included in our package was the nicest looking, biggest, and most diverse I have ever seen in my life. I am not exaggerating. Even the water park was wonderful, which I really wasn't expecting since I've done more than my share of water parks in the Chicago area and the Wisconsin Dells and thought I was done with them for good. None of those can compare to this one. A 2 kilometer long lazy river. A 60 degree drop slide off a ziggurat that ends up in a tube chuting through a tank of sharks. Plenty of other fun water rides for all ages. We spent half the day there and never got too hot. In the afternoon we wandered through the Lost Chambers, an aquarium with lots of enormous beautiful tanks full of 65,000 fish. That's a lot of fish.
Friday night we headed into downtown Dubai. We started by wandering through the Dubai Mall, one of many enormous high end malls in town. Next door to the mall is the Burj Khalifa. Separating the two is a small lake. Every 20 minutes throughout the day and evening a sounds, water, and (in the evenings) light show takes place there. We had dinner at one of the many restaurants along the lake and enjoyed three completely different shows. Think Bellagio, Las Vegas, except (I just double checked the facts here), the Dubai Fountain is 25% bigger, shoots 500 feet into the air, and can be seen from 20 miles away. Seeing that fountain with the Burj Khalifa rising even higher into the sky beyond it is completely jaw-dropping.
After another very pleasant morning at the Atlantis pool, we returned home, 90 minutes away, to our furniture free apartment. The ship with our 40 foot container is allegedly docking in Abu Dhabi today, so there is a slight chance that we'll get our furniture this weekend, just in time for Eid.
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