Long Weekend Ahead

It was announced this week that next Sunday will be a public holiday (remember, Sunday is a work day here) and that the weekend will be 3 days long.

Great!

The reason is for "The Ascension" which celebrates Prophet Mohammed's ascendancy to heaven.  I guess its the Islamic version of Easter.  The funny thing is though is that its not a standing date in the calendar and is only decreed in the week before the holiday and I hear its based on lunar schedules and "first sightings" of the moon in a particular area of the sky.

I guess its not too far removed from the Christian Easter... I have no idea why Easter falls on the day it falls each year from year to year.

Anyways, I guess we'll be eating the Islamic equivalent of Hot Cross Buns on Sunday!

Inshallah

Since my arrival here, there has been an intrigue for local custom and the culture and all things Arabic.  The people are lovely, the place is very different but its generally really good.

At work however, I have had to live with the concept of "Inshallah".  Inshallah means "God Willing" and in a professional working environment, I was surprised how much it was used.  For example:

Me:  "When do you think I can have your report by?  Will it be ready by Thursday"

Emirati Colleague:  "Inshallah"

This doesn't mean, yes, it means literally if God wills it.  And if it doesn't arrive Thursday it means its because God didn't will it.  Seriously.

In fact the use of the word is so prevalent that it has become a standing joke with other Western expats that if an Emirati says it will arrive "inshallah" then actually expect it to not arrive on time.  And so life has gone on like this since I have been here last February and in fact I have caught myself and others using it ourselves... it has become part of the projects language.

Then, last month I hired a person to work for me and he has been really going great and all is well.  He is British, but Muslim and has been in the UAE for over 12mths and has worked on other projects in the region.  Being Muslim, he can speak a little Arabic, but mainly for prayer reasons and is actually very English sounding in his accent. He came to me though today with a peculiar problem...

From his perspective, as a Muslim and from being in other companies in the UAE, he feels that the use of the word "inshallah" is being used excessively.  In fact he said its being used to cover incompetance and that people were using it excessively to get away with not having to commit to things.  He wants to address this as part of his role in the company and take it up with management that people need to start accepting responsibility and stop putting it in "Gods will".  We then proceeded to have a fairly deep conversation about the Muslim Faith, the concept of Inshallah and a story from the Q'uran (sp?) called "tieing the camel"... I wont bore you with it, but it was very informative.

But now that I know this, I am concerned.  What I accepted as traditional Emirati / Muslim custom has been challenged and is being seen by my Muslim colleague as a bit of a "cop out" and he via his role wants to challenge this because its effecting his role.  I agreed that I support his stance, but he needs to take it up with management here but as a westerner, I cannot be getting involved.

I reminded him however that he is still on probation and that perhaps before he challenges the use of the Muslim faith in a commercial project he should consider his words carefully.

Good point he says... "inshallah"

Buying cars... more red tape!

OK, I live in Dubai but my company that sponsors me is in Abu Dhabi.  Therefore my visa is issued out of Abu Dhabi.

But its all one country right?  The United Arab Emirates...

Well, you're wrong!  In all matters such as residency visas, drivers licences and car registration, you have to go back to your "home" emirate each time and for me that's Abu Dhabi.

In Australia, if you're a Queenslander living in Sydney, can you imagine having to register your car in Brisbane.  Can you imagine taking out your insurance policy in Brisbane.  Can you imagine your drivers license having to remain a Queensland one and that you MUST renew it in Queensland?  That is what it is like here.  Even though I live in Dubai, all my official documentation must come from Abu Dhabi.  Now its 1000 kms between Sydney and Brisbane and I can be thankful that Dubai to Abu Dhabi is only 150km but its still a fair hike.

Now I have bought this car off an Aussie who lives and works in Dubai.  Car has Dubai plates, and he's had it comparatively easy because he is all in one Emirate.  To buy the car, I have to buy insurance first and then physically front to the Dubai RTA to transfer the ownership.  In Australia, the purchaser takes the rego papers signed by the seller, but here we both have to front up and fill in the paperwork in the Dubai RTA.  But that's just to transfer the ownership of the car from him to me.

But for me to register the car, I then need to drive the car 150km to Abu Dhabi to the Abu Dhabi RTA and register the car and get a new licence plate despite the fact that the car will be garaged in Dubai and will be Niki's car in which she will drive around our local community.  Only rarely will the car travel to Abu Dhabi.

Its a nightmare bureaucratically but that's the joys of living in the Emirates... they're just not that "United"

Wow, another week goes by...

My last post was Monday and its already Thursday... another week has sailed by and its been pretty routine.  We've all been feeling a bit flat this week, a bit of a virus I think in which Niki, Kate and I have all felt a bit queasy and achey and tired.  Kate in particular has been complaining of feeling sick and headaches, but she hasn't been physically crook.

But we have not been idle however and we have booked ourselves in for 2 nights at the Atlantis on the Palm Island next weekend for Kate's birthday.  The Atlantis is the big hotel that had the massive opening last year in which Kylie Minogue played and there were fireworks and laser lights.  The place looks magnificent from the outside and they have some great deals going at the moment and we get free entry for both days at the water park next door.

Also, just today, we have bought a car!  Friend of a friend is heading home after losing their job and they have a Ford Explorer which runs well and the price is a bargain!  So now I have to go about the bureaucracy of registering a car...

This weekend, its finishing up the unpacking with the study still a pile of books and boxes and we'll be out buying odd bits of furniture - bed side tables etc.

Furniture's In...

Our furniture was delivered yesterday!  I took the morning off work in anticipation and were told it'd be arriving between 9 and 10am.  A call later confirmed 9:30am... but of course, the truck didnt arrive until 10:45am... but that was OK.

There were 105 items to come off the truck and basically my job was to check them off the list as they came in the door and give an indication of what room.  The girls were upstairs directing the delivery guys to particular bedrooms and Niki was doing the downstairs directing.  It all went very smoothly and at great pace.

I had to leave for work a bit after midday but by then the boxes were all off the truck and the "unpacking" began.

The removalists were also unpacking and they put together the big furniture items and were opening all the boxes and then folding them and storing them for garbage collection as Niki & the girls stowed clothes, toys, glasses and crockery away.  I got a message at 3pm that all was done and that all the boxes had been opened and taken away!  Very fast.

But I have to say, the poor removalists did it tough.  From what I can gather, in Sydney the packers had trolleys and ramps to get things onto the truck.  Yesterday, the truck pulled up out the front and one man was inside the container whilst two guys did all the carrying.  So everything from a box of books to the refrigerator were passed out of the truck by hand and carried inside.  To make matters worse, we have two stories here in Dubai so two guys alone had to carry up the furniture up 22 steps.  They did it tough but the girls gave away plenty of water and soft drink.

When I got home, the kitchen was DONE and looked fantastic and the kids had stored away all the toys and their clothes.  Everything was in great shape and we went out to Chilis to celebrate.

When we got home, Niki was exhausted and went to bed to watch TV and I set up the Wii for the girls who were rapped to play that again after a 2 month hiatus.  I put the pedals back on the bikes and pumped up the tyres and then went into "my room" which is the study.

All my gaming stuff had made it but I set about putting the PC back together.  After plugging everything in, the PC started up but had an awful mechanical grinding sound (not good) and the mouse wasnt working.  Once started, the PC was humming nicely but I rebooted and got the grinding again.  I am not sure what it is, but something isnt right.  I left it alone with the mouse charging and will tinker with it tonight.

The only casualties of the move was the IKEA table that was in the girls play room in Sydney copped a big crack in it and my mat that runs under my office chair was folded too hard and with the heat in the container became warped.  Other than that, all is good!

We're now starting to feel like a home and I went to bed in my nice bed for the first time since February... my back felt great this morning!!

Some excellent news on the work front...

I dont like to talk work here on Lime Kettles, but my project has just been selected to host a the UN body on renewable energy...

I am being cryptic, but here is the link.

This means this project now has some serious public attention and virtually guarantees the government support for the project.  Excellent news!

Socially Adapting

We seem to be settling in as a family.  I am very happy about this as its always a hard process to move but its also hard to meet new people etc.  For starters, we seem to be getting into a domestic routine with the gardener and the house cleaner coming daily.  The gardener doesnt spend alot of time, but he ensures the water system is running and trims, prunes etc etc.  Its a great relief not to have to worry about mowing lawns etc!  We also have the cleaner come in every day and she will do downstairs 3 days a week and upstairs 2 days a week.  Floors, windows, bathrooms etc are all cleaned and polished!  Very nice.

But outside of that, a few milestones have been reached today... Firstly, Niki is off to have a few drinks with the other mums in the area as a bit of a farewell.  Alot of people (90%) are vacating Dubai for up to 2 months back to their home countries.  School summer break and the heat mean that many wives and children go for extended stays back home and the husbands take 2-3 weeks leave as well to do the same.  We're not doing this because the girls only just got here and it would be a bit of a waste, but this will be a target for us as well in 2010.  In the meantime though, Niki has met some nice people around the pool area and she is off for her drinks tonight.

In addition, I rang home today to hear that the girls were over at another girls house for a play.  This is excellent and I am glad they're meeting friends.  Its also doubly excellent because our house is still a tad empty and the girls do get a bit restless in the house without their 1001 toys, games and DVD's.  That should be rectified next week with our furniture arriving, but it has been hard on them.

And for me, I am hosting a D&D game on Friday night!  Yes, a bit of Geekdom as another Aussie, his Malaysian wife, an Irishman and his fiance and an Englishman arrive for the first session of a new D&D campaign.  Niki may play as well, we'll see how it goes...The group sounds eclectic... I havent met anyone other than the other Aussie (who is an ex-Blood Bowler from Sydney) and is totally experimental, but it will be good to roll some dice again.

So, we're slowly fitting in... which is all good news :-)