skype me

For those of you who aren't familiar with skype, it's a pretty resourceful tool to communicate with friends in every corner of the world. If you have it, my name is "sweetsrini" - please add me as your friend and we can voice or video chat. If you don't have a mic, no worries since normal chatting is a basic function of the program as well. If you don't have skype, it's easy to download. There are other programs such as oovoo.com and the oh-so popular ichat (AIM). Adium is not so bad, but I don't believe it offers voice or video chatting capabilities. Regardless, I do hope to see some more names logged into my buddy list soon. In the meantime, I'm open to suggestions and recommendations of other platforms that work well for staying in touch across multiple bodies of water.

good tidings

I was really impressed at how well stocked the grocery stores were here with all the necessary ingredients when we went shopping for our big meal on Friday. We opted out of Thursday cooking since we'd all had a long day at work, but a good beach day gave us time to put a list together and prepare a pretty extensive menu. Sarah and I rolled up our sleeves and got to work, cooking up the following:

-Roasted Chicken with cranberry sauce (The smallest turkeys we could find were frozen and weighed in at 22 pounds!)
-sweet potato casserole
-green bean casserole with REAL French's fried onions
-impromptu stuffing with chopped celery, dates, onions, whole wheat bread, and nutmeg, cinnamon, and ginger (we were really proud of this since it was made 5 minutes before we ate and we came up with the recipe ourselves)
-ali oli
-pumpkin dump
-home made garlic bread
-refried beans
-warm, toasted pita


We feasted with our friend Devon from work and her boyfriend Andrew, washing the meal down with our scarce stock of beer and tullamore dew. Alcohol is so hard to find here! Last time we stocked up was about 3 weeks ago- we drove 2 hours up the coast to Umm Al Quwain to a hidden, non-taxable liquor store called The Barracuda. Since alcohol alters the mind, which goes against Islam, it's a scarce resource and highly taxed if you buy it legally. In fact, you need a special license to purchase it here, something which none of us own. So the secret is to make friends bring things back from duty free on their way back into the country or drive to the barracuda... sigh. I miss IPAs and cheap, red wine with dinner!

Anyway, life goes on and we managed to still make it out that night to an actual bar, where drinks still cost an arm and a leg, but rightly so with the beach at our toes and the moon at our back. Life isn't so bad. So far the week has been busy as usual. I'm still not used to Tuesday marking the middle of my week since Thursday creeps up on us before we know it and then we're faced with the weekend. This time around we have a day off since 12/2 is UAE national day. We have another holiday coming up on 12/20 that will allot us a 4 day weekend - hopefully we get our passports back since they are processing our work visas at the moment. If they are ready, I think we might do a road trip to Oman. They have some pretty neat caves and beaches that I've been reading about in local travel magazines. Arabic road trips so far, as proven from our trip to Umm Al Quwain, can be quite fun. We managed to see a wild camel and the largest, most hot pink, electric sun set I have ever witnessed driving northeast up the coast - not to mention, the Arabic and Bhangra that comes through on about 7 different stations really livens up the car.

Fortunately, Will has had his camera out a bit more to document our adventures. It's about time since he is very talented. Check out his picasa link here. There are a couple albums highlighting our Thanksgiving feast preparation, as well as our day at the beach and some shots of our neighborhood.

sansgeebing

What a week it's been so far. These long days haven't caught up with me yet since it's all still so new. It's really fast-paced and interesting work. Sometimes I could rip my hair out, but I remember days where I was so bored in Cleveland that time seemed to stand still. I like having a full plate. It keeps things interesting and keeps me challenged more so than I've ever been.
I've got a rare case of Thanksgiving blues. It goes in phases. I never thought I'd get this nostalgic, but it's hard not to after looking at pictures or listening to Celia Cruz. I'm not sure which is worse - letting the week pass by as if there were nothing to celebrate, or reminiscing about full bellies, salsa dancing, and loud, Latin people.

I just Skyped with my family, actually, and my dad passed mom's lap top around. i saw about 20% of the Thanksgiving (latino pronunciation: sahns-geebing) guests - people are still trickling in to my uncle's place, girls were shopping, boys were gluttoning - everyone follows a structured itinerary that my tia puts on the fridge to ensure a safe and enjoyable stay at the 'Rosales Resort'. Someone's always cooking for 60 and the poor guests sit in agony as they soak up the aroma of arepas, indian food, tortilla espanola, cuban coffee, and much more. i think tomorrow i'll call around midnight my time and get passed around the big circle of laughter and tears that ensues before the big feast. My tio Joaquin usually has had a few budweisers before thanking everyone for coming and expressing how much he loves us all. He always reads a prayer or a poem through his fogged-up lenses before getting a bit misty-eyed and telling my tia Esther how in love with her he is (that part always gets me going). The circle continues. We go around every year as if it were the first, reflecting on the year, reminding one another why we make such a long trip to be together. I personally look forward to the Friday feast over Thursday's white meat and cranberry sauce since the low country boil that takes place is mighty tasty. Although it is pretty entertaining watching my cousins chase my mom down on Thanksgiving to see where she has hidden the dark meat turkey neck in the house, which she fights desperately for with a bottle of tabasco sauce and a lime.My tia Ana is always out with her camera taking pictures of everything she sees. I am usually there with her to capture shots of living room dance parties, cots to accommodate all the cousins, soup-kitchen style lines for food, random family members napping, and lots of extended arm-out shots of ourselves together.

We have a Thanksgiving crayon picture that Will drew of our "family" here on the fridge. I would post a picture of it, but my inner child came out to play on my birthday and i sadly lost my camera with all the pictures from the weekend. I am still rather annoyed about the whole situation since I know exactly where it is, but the sketchy "cab" we solicited to take us home is long gone. I'm better off shopping around for a new and improved one in the meantime. We have some tricks up our sleeves for what to feast on tomorrow. In the meantime, I'm going to get a good night of sleep and dream of Thanksgivings to come. happy turkey day. i will dream of mashed potatoes in the meantime. I tried date-flavored camel milk today. I wonder how that would fare as a substitute to the normal milk mom uses in her creamy mashed potatoes...

quarter century isn't so bad

I always think about posting during the week and then life catches up with me before I can sit down and type something. I'm also a bit overwhelmed by how much I want to share since everything here is so new and different. Posting always seems a bit daunting when it's time to convey the week I've had. I will say that this week was pretty wild. Work, in particular, was busy in a good way. I am juggling a lot of things at the moment, but it's manageable. I'd say the best part of my job so far has been getting to meet with clients. Things are very fast-paced and last minute so it's not uncommon to get invitations to client meetings or events and drop everything at a moments notice. This week I had a chance to meet up with a client for a promotional event at the Dusit Hotel. This hotel, by the way, is in the coolest building and the staff is incredible. It's like a scene out of the King and I upon entering the gorgeous, black marble lobby, adorned with fountains, flowers, and golden sculptures. Our client was launching the web site for a new Diabetes awareness coalition and the attendees included some higher-ups from the Ministry of Health. I got a chance to bump elbows with His Excellency Humaid Mohamed Al Qutami (the minister of health) and meet some journalists from Dubai Media and Dubai 1. We had a delicious lunch after the launch on the 24th floor of the Dusit overlooking the Burj Dubai and Sheikh Zayed road. Not too many complaints from this end!

The weekend has been a whirlwind with birthday celebrations. I will say that I woke up a year ago and decided that this year was going to be the best year of my life, and it really has worked out that way. I am loving life and will be really fortunate if 25 is even better. We kicked off the festivities with salsa dancing on Thursday night! I'm so lucky to live with a latina who enjoys shaking her hips just as much as I do. We got dolled up and met up with friends for some latin love. I had a chance to move around a bit before we headed over to the Madinat Jumeira. Saturday was glorious, with a full day at the beach followed by my own homemade meal for the house mates. I cooked up some pasta with pesto and garlic sauce, accompanied by my ali-oli that tastes good on just about anything. There's no need for modesty here since I'll admit - it's one of the most delicious things in this world! We hopped over to the Dubai Marine Resort, scattered with bars and clubs overlooking the Gulf. I met a fun group of Lebanese men who caught wind that it was my birthday, so they pumped me full of shots before we all headed over to a Lebanese night club with live Arabic music and dabke (one of the most fun things to do with your feet)!!! I am honestly sore all over from the festivities.
I've been a bit of a bum today after waking up at noon and getting lost with Sarah as we tried finding the Mall of the Emirates. Once we got there, we meandered over to Ski Dubai and checked out the slopes - no skiing today, but it was really something! I felt a bit childish peering into the huge window that showcases humans skiing indoors, but you really have to see it to believe it. Zaatar to finish off the night and now just feet up and head back while I respond to the amazing people that filled my day with loving emails and messages wishing me a happy birthday. I am indeed a lucky lady.

a week in progress!

First full week on the job and things are going really well! I'm sure I may be a bit bright-eyed considering it's still early, but I definitely feel more integrated into my role with the company and have a better understanding of what I'm going to be doing. Considering the busy week and the delay on getting our cars, we have been coming home every night and rationing the bottles of rum and vodka that Sarah brought for us from duty free or watching DVDs that I brought from home. We have a meager selection since I was concerned about excess weight on the plane, but I think we've got a good list to keep us occupied for now.
I have packed some fun into the last few days. We took a cab to the Madinat Jumeirah, where Alex and I ventured during my first few days here. The place is peppered with shops and clubs, so we enjoyed some shisa under the stars, ordered a glass of avocado juice (it's delicious!), and took in some views of the tourists and neon-lit Burj Al Arab just across the beach. We met up with Faisal at JamBase, and danced amongst other jovial ex-pats to jazzy hip hop and covers to the latest pop songs.


After a late morning of snoozing, we made our way to the Dubai Souk in Bur Dubai, which is a predominantly Indian/Pakistani neighborhood. We passed up and down quiet alleys that lingered with the smell of Diwali-inspired incense, adorned with bright bugamvilia and marigold wreaths. A few photo opps later and we found ourselves amongst a crowd of Indian, Sri-Lankan, and Bangladeshi male ex-pats awaiting the abras located on the Dubai creek. Feeling a bit overwhelmed by the testosterone, we opted to head back to the market and browse tshirts and gifts before making our way back home.
The debate over the evening's plans came to a quick halt after a friendly invitation from Abu Baker (pronounced: AH-boo BEHkur) and his cousins to join them on a desert picnic not too far from our house. We weren't sure what to bring, so we made a salad and ventured out in AB's 4 wheel drive FJ Cruiser to the dunes. Along the way we passed scores of dirt bikes and 4 wheelers revving up to tackle the dark, soft hills that seemed to stretch beyond the night sky. I was amazed at the number of families parked deep into the desert, but they were everywhere. It was a miracle they didn't all get stuck in the sand as we did... for several hours with the help of friendly passers-by who joined in to push us out. Regardless of car-troubles, it was quite an experience. The sand was cold and smooth under our feet and we built a fire on top of a dune that propped us up high enough to look over our neighbors. The stars were brilliant and in the distance we could hear the sound of traditional emirate drum beats and Arabic singing. Our dinner of somewhat sandy and overcooked chicken and beef hot dogs could not have been more delicious after the evening's car problems and the company was wonderful. The ride was a bit bumpy since Abu Baker is a wild driver, but his wild side may be the reason we were able to leave the desert in the first place, so that's something to be thankful for!

I took some more pictures which you can check out here. Our Saturday is worth sharing, but I've actually got work to do! More to come..

Oh yeah, we stumbled upon this family touring the Bur Dubai on Friday. For parents who complain about the way kids behave in America, be careful with your words or you may end up like this lady.

marhaba!

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i wanna be a super model..

Will is an avid photographer and takes some incredible shots. Check out some of his work here. He even brought some of his camera equipment and played around with Christine and I before our dinner outing last night... Not too shabby!

week 2

It's approaching 1:45 AM and I am coming down from a pretty incredible weekend! I had a really great day at work on Thursday. My commute is looking to be around 30 minutes and we are all going to be equipped with cars come tomorrow, so I'll have more flexibility as to when I can come in to the office and leave. So far so good though - my house mates are incredible and we get along incredibly well. Although we are living in close quarters, we have so much fun together that work just seems like another social gathering. We share a common bond and passion for the culture of the middle east and its beautiful and welcoming people - our backgrounds are similar and we all bring stories from previous travel to the table from 6 month bike trips through South America to semesters abroad in Morocco, Spain, London, and Amsterdam. I am not surprised that we all get along so well in this splendid little city on the Persian Gulf.

I was pleasantly surprised by the office as well- lots of funky furniture, creative work space, and friendly staff. We even have a gentleman whose main job in the office is to keep it clean and bring us coffee, chai tea, water, and basically anything we need - I never thought I'd see the day where I could work from a Sony Vaio and drink coffee at my desk after the ridiculous rules set in place at my last job that prohibited us from consuming anything except water in the workplace!


Our workday ended with a night out on Sheikh Zayed road where I met up with Faisal, finally! We had a drink at the bar downstairs, which was a bit pricey, as the alcohol taxes here tend to spike things up a bit. A friend of his was having a hotel room halloween party at the Hotel Rotana, so we ventured upstairs and were greeted by a room packed with ex-pats dressed in everything from the Flinstones to vampires and werewolfs. The party was catered by the hotel and we had great views of the city from the high rise windows.

Friday I spent exploring the Gold Souk with my house mates. The Souk runs along the Dubai Creek, which is scattered with neon-lit boats, random cargo like tires and furniture, tourists, lots of Indians, Pakistanis, and Sri Lankans, and gold! lots and lots of gold. The scent of spices is incubated by the sweaty sea of doe eyed shoppers hunting for bargains, pressed up against windows admiring the wide array of bright yellow gold on display. It was really a site to see.

We spent the day at the beach today, where the surf was intense and we gallivanted through the waves like little kids. My lips were pruned from the intensity of the salt water, but the weather was pleasantly humid and the water was refreshing. Will loves to play volleyball, so we peppered the ball around for a while and got a bit of sun. The girls even got approached by a Singapore news station looking to interview local ex-pats and get their take on life in Dubai. I'm not sure what the link to the video is, but I'll be sure to post it once I find it.
Tonight we went on a dinner cruise up the Dubai creek. It was really beautiful and we enjoyed authentic Indian and Lebanese food, accompanied by fun Arabic music and the warm, rich smell of shisha. The night ended with a stroll up the Al Mumzar beach and now, a firm head to the pillow.

Work is going well and picking up the pace. We are looking forward to some group outings soon, one involving a deep sea fishing trip to Bahrain! I hope we get to keep whatever we catch...

Pictures!

The first of many.


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