Our first (real) and last day in Dubai. We are so jetlagged, but I feel we're very productive for only getting 3 hours of sleep. When we flew in last night, it was dark here. So, it was a beautiful surprise to see the breathtaking view from our hotel room! Also, walking out of the plush, air conditioned hotel was jolting. It was like the humid heat monster just punched you in the face. We went to bed around 5am and woke up off and on and finally got out on the town around 11AM. For touring, that is a late [View Full Entry]

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One month to go... quit my job and I'm going... at least to another job in another land and culture... I'm a nurse off the be part of the world... to be an 'expat"?? not so sure... with trepidation... left foot, right foot, left foot... hey its easy... [View Full Entry]

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Believe it or not, this flighting America has successfully made her way out of Asia and into Africa. And as I sat in the Abu Dhabi airport on June the 1st waiting for 14 hours to make my way to Joburg, already I found it difficult to contemplate the place I had just come from. The land of camels and saris was already fading with the Dolce and Gabana everything, and US$4 Burger King French fries. Bored with guessing games—like what designer clothes are hiding under the burka—I began to organize my thoughts more clearly of the land of Bharat Mataji. [View Full Entry]

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Well the trip has been amazing so far! San Fran was crazy running around trying to finish up last minute details. Lesson to myself, I should not procrastinate so much. Emirates upgraded us to business class for free! Which means, our seats had privacy walls, laid down into beds, we each had 20 inch tvs, we were served 5 course meals, and free alcohol. Our driver in Dubai was amazing. I had a quick language lesson and learned to say some key phrases in Arabic. Great person. We stayed at the Westin Mina Seyahi Le Meridian. The hotel that was given [View Full Entry]

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OH MY GOODNESS. What an experience it has been so far and we just landed a couple hours ago. From Seattle, we headed to San Francisco and I had the most productive layover. We took the BART to the nearby mall, got lunch, went to the bank, went to a drug store, and stole free internet from the laptop aisle in Staples :) Although we were still in America, just a couple states away, I felt like an outsider when standing in line to check in for our Emirates flight. When we were at the check in desk, the clerk notified [View Full Entry]

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It’s a quarter after noon. Time for the Big Boy’s nursery pick up. Nothing unusual about that - except the temperature reading on the car says 47°C. That’s 116°F. Scorching hot. Warmer than normal for this time of year - and a taste of things to come in July and August. I started this blog talking about the sub-zero temperatures in Minnesota. Now we’re experiencing Dubai at its most furnace-like. Talk about going from the freezer into the frying pan. But, actually, it’s supposedly quite comfortable at the moment due to low humidity. By mid June, a lot more [View Full Entry]

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While the standards of HSE don't compare to Europe, at least in the Oil & Gas industry, a genuine effort is made to do things properly, and incident rates are comparable with any installation or fab yard across the world. Once you get out of that environment and on the construction sites around town it is a totally different matter. This site is on the corner of two of the busiest roads in Abu Dhabi. As you can see by the photos, anyone walking by can walk into the site totally unhindered - as I did to take these photos. Apart [View Full Entry]

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Being a hub of international travel and major oil producer, the UAE gets a lot of stuff that you don't see in Europe. To be honest, most of these luxury goods are really aimed at a better class of shopper, not something that the average Lakeside or Bluewater consumer could really afford. Behold a glimpse of the luxury clothing and scents that is on my doorstep, but only in your wildest dreams. [View Full Entry]

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Although we were only there for a short time, Dubai is too special to go unmentioned. We were really surprised at how large the city is - I hadnt read much about Dubai before we left and was, for some reason, expecting it to be much smaller. Not so! Flying into the city at night, we saw lights as far as the eye could see. We stopped at one of the airport lounges to wait for our connecting flight. Im not sure if its all toilets, but the one I used talked!! Can you imagine? A talking toilet! It asked me [View Full Entry]

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Following up on the adrenalin-fuelled morning of water slides, thrills and spills we returned to the Al Qasr Hotel for some refreshing drinks and a shisha by the pool side. I must admit, cold beer and double apple shishas are an absolutely fantastic combination! The staff at Al Qasr are incredibly attentive...as we laid upon the richly decorated cushions, neither of us had to lift a finger. That afternoon we had arranged for a private driver to take us out into the desert just outside of Dubai for some serious 4x4 action. I'm not sure if it was the sheer enthusiasm [View Full Entry]

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