In November I notified my family that I would not be coming home for Christmas and that I was going to Oman to go diving instead. Little did they know, with the exception of my brother Dan and his wife Jami, that I was coming home to surprise them. So we made a plan. Jami's brother would be flying in to Chicago from London for Christmas. So Dan told our mom that they would be over for Christmas dinner just after picking up Jami's brother from O'Hare. They walked in the front door while I waited behind and said "you'll never guess who we saw at the airport!". Then, I walked in the door. It actually worked! To everyone's surprise, there I was the day before Christmas with a bag full of half opened presents. Yes, half opened. Apparently it's a bad idea to travel through the Middle East with a bag full of wrapped Christmas presents. In Jordan, where I had a layover, security screened my carry-on bag of wrapped gifts and kept saying "What's this?" as they tore open each gift. Each tare of a gift was like taring a piece of my sanity away. As you know, wrapping lots of gifts is a fairly arduous and time consuming process. I thought all of efforts would be in vain. Finally, the screener's boss came over, checked my passport, saw that I was American, told the guy to stop, and they let me through. The next day I showed up at my dad's house unannounced as well. They were all equally surprised to see me walk through the door. I'll never forget the look on my sister-in-law Jami's face as I walked into the kitchen (different Jami, same spelling, "same same but different" as the Emirati's would say). My time at home was nice. I was able to catch up with family and friends. I went to a Bulls game, and ate all the local food not available in Abu Dhabi, or really anywhere else for that matter. I even saw some snow.
In March we were fortunate to receive two weeks for Spring break. The time off here for a teacher works out to be about the same as at home. However, all of our vacation time is lumped together. Rather than getting several three day weekends, with a day off for Memorial Day, for example, our vacations are extended periods. So we got three weeks at Christmas rather than the normal two, and two weeks in March rather than the typical one week. This structure is nice when the time comes, though, I realize how nice those 3 day weekends are when I really could use one. But again, the amount of time works out to be same same, but different.
The first week of Spring break I spent in Italy. There I met some friends who had left immediately after school got out. As for me, I needed a day or two to unwind before heading out traveling. I took a redeye flight and landed at about 8 a.m. After arriving at Fumicino airport, I took a bus to Termini Station and walked to my hotel from there. Before leaving I had read that Rome was the second worst international city for pick-pockets and other petty crime, next to Barcelona. So I was constantly on guard. Walking around with my big backpack made me feel like I had a big target on me, but I never had any problems. That first day I walked to the Coliseum before checking in at my hotel. The Coliseum is one of those places that I had always wanted to see and I was not let down by it's magnificence. I found a nice place to rest just outside the gates and sat and stared, like a manikin in a window, for what seemed like hours. After a bit, I snapped up a few photos and got on my way.
Later that day I met up with my friends for dinner and some sight-seeing. We went to the Spanish Steps and Trevi fountain. We ate pizza, drank wine, and had some gelato.
The next day I did a guided tour of The Vatican. I was especially happy to skip the lines here since the cue stretched down the entire block and even around the corner of the next street. I couldn't help but think "Suckers!" as I walked right in past all those people (I know, how awful!). Our tour began with the Vatican museum. It was filled with all sorts of sculptures, paintings, and ornamental tapestries. The next stop of the tour took us to the Raphael rooms. These rooms were once used to house the Popes. The Sistine Chapel gets all of the fanfare, but these rooms were absolutely stunning. Raphael painted both the ceilings and the walls, hence the name Raphael Rooms:
After arriving back in Abu Dhabi I had one day to prepare for the arrival of my brothers-in-law Keith, Chris, and Todd. All the next day I checked the airline website to make sure they would be on time. On-time status was all I saw each time I checked. I thought I'd leave early for the airport though just to be sure I was there waiting for them as I had promised. Well, little did I know, they arrived very early and were left waiting for me. I'm sure they were a bit nervous being in a place like this, not knowing anyone, and not knowing where to go. We came back to my apartment, dropped off their bags and headed out for a nice dinner at the Meat Co. and afterwards, drinks and Shisha at the Hubbly Bubbly. (I'm getting a bit tired of writing, and you're probably getting tired of reading, so I'm gonna cut the chatter). We visited the Grand Mosque the next day. Then, we did an overnight desert safari that included dune bashing, camel rides, a traditional meal, and camping in the desert. We also spent two days in Dubai. We stayed at the Intercontinental and were upgraded to a Presidential suite. This hotel room was by the far biggest I've ever stayed in. It had a kitchen, two bedrooms, three bathrooms and a humongous family room. It was probably twice as big as my apartment! While In Dubai we went to the observation deck of the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building. We also had dinner at the Burj Al Arab, a seven-star, sail shaped hotel. The following day we did an Abu Dhabi must, the brunch. It's unlimited food and adult drinks for about four hours. After which, we went and visited a few of the local watering holes. The next day, while Keith and Todd drove F1 cars at the Yas Marina Circuit, Chris and I went kayaking in the mangroves. And finally, their last day here, we went to the Emirates Palace for a nice dinner.
The weekend of June 14th I have plans to got to Muscat, Oman for the weekend. This same day is the anticipated last day of school for students. I say anticipated because there doesn't seem to be a planned last day of school. Slowly the kids stop coming.....don't ask. All teachers, however, are required to stay until July 12. Not sure why, again, don't ask. I am, however, getting out of here on that same day. Currently, the temperatures are reaching as high as 110F, so I'm bailing ASAP. I am flying to Switzerland with some friends and spending four days in Interlaken, then two days in Zurich. Then, I will be flying home from Zurich on July 18th. I look forward to a great summer and will update my blog when I get home.
Last, my blog would not be complete without a little local knowledge:
1) The water consumption rate here is 3x the consumption rate of England, mostly due to daily car washing. Seriously. Yet, there is no fresh water here. Fresh water is produced through a desalination process that is among the least environmentally friendly in the world, due to the high amounts of energy used to complete the process.
2) The child mortality rate in auto accidents here is 3x the rate of the western world. It's common to see children sitting on laps, or dash boards, on highways where people are regularly traveling 85mph+. A recent report stated that 98% of children here are not strapped in. Yet, there is a safety seat law. Unfortunately, however, the police are too preoccupied to enforce it. Worse yet, this mind set transfers to buses, where on a field trip, students think you're absolutely nuts telling them to sit down.
3) Last, the gov't recently forgave the debt of any citizen who owes up to $1.4 million USD. This is the second time this year this has happened. Moreover, this happened after local banks were loaning up to 50x a person's monthly salary. It's funny how all of the locals say, "oh, isn't our ruler so great", and all of the westerners say "what is this teaching the people and how is this behavior sustainable?"
See you in July!
