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Published: October 31st 2009
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prayer time
Men praying. The call to prayer is sung every so often and some people pray on the spot. Hey everyone,
Well I thought I was due to send a report on my clothes situation...they have been returned unharmed and all my unmentionables have been accounted for. I know, I know...you're all breathing a sigh of relief. Well I have not been anywhere interesting lately but there have been some interesting things going on here. Formula 1 has come to town and there are all kind of festivals and concerts (some free) along the corniche (fancy word for along the waterfront). We are planning to go Friday night with our blankets and pillows and coffee as Timbaland will be performing for free as well as some other acts at around 11 pm. That should be great! I will take pictures! I thought I would talk a little about driving in the UAE. I never thought to utter these words in my life...I AM DRIVING IN THE MIDDLE EAST! There are some interesting driving facts.
1) Assume everyone on the road is crazy…they will execute every bad driving move that you can possibly think of and some new ones you have never seen before.
2) NEVER EVER show the middle finger. You can go to jail or be deported
driving
What I see out my car window on the way to work. if you are caught doing this. Oh how a few times I felt like showing my displeasure but alas could not.
3) It is almost impossible to turn left. You must always go around roundabouts to get where you want to go. Instead of four way stops are those crazy things. You basically close your eyes, pray, merge and exit on a wing and a prayer. As everyone here is crazy…the rules of the roundabout do not apply to them.
4) The lower the number on a license plate, the higher the profile of the person is…for instance, a license with a 1 means it is a member of the royal family or a sheik. So they get right of way and preferential treatment at all times.
5) If you get into an accident with a national, whether they were blindfolded, drunk and on crack all at the same time, it will still be your fault.
6) If you get into an accident and hurt or, god forgive, kill someone, you must pay what is called BLOOD MONEY where you must pay restitution to the family of the deceased. Until you pay (up to 250 000 dirhams) you go to
The disk
This is an office building shaped like a disk. jail!
7) The police actually suggest (this actually happened to my friend) after having gotten into a fender bender, to go to the side of the road and pretend that it was a hit and run (when it was not) and call the police again to report it.
8) Car seats for children are not mandatory here so you are driving along and then you spot the one year old standing on someone's lap in the front seat...unbuckled! Better yet...we've seen them standing up in the back seat!!
And, with all this to think about, I am driving every day, with one hand at ten o’clock and one at 2, trying not to obsess about all that could go wrong.
Another interesting thing here that surprised me was the quality of they food. Well, to put it in one word…it SUCKS. Buying vegetables here is a nightmare, there is not much choice…I can’t even get romaine lettuce that is not half rotten. Rarely do I ever get a good meal at a restaurant…they always seem to put some weird sauce on it that is completely disgusting in every way (example a friend bought a store made pizza and they
Burj
The tallest building in the world- in Dubai. used Ketchup as a pizza sauce!) . Forget about eating good sushi…even if you are in a Japanese restaurant, they somehow manage to screw it up. It is very difficult to eat properly. You almost want to eat at McDonald’s because atleast they can’t change what should be familiar. One bright spot…I’ve found a Second Cup. We actually found it at what is called an officer’s club. What is funny is that attached to the Second Cup is…strangely enough, a shooting range. So I can grab a latté and fire a 9X19mm caliber pistol, all at the same time! Good times here in Abu Dhabi! It costs about 200 dirhams for a 45 minute session which is approximately 75 dollars.
Oh!...another interesting thing...I started a boot camp class. It is at Al Raha beach resort at 7:30 pm at night three times a week. Tonight was my second night. Yesterday, the owner Corey was there to evaluate us. In a certain amount of time I could do 45 squats, 25 push ups and 18 sit ups (well my version of them anyway). We also ran 1 km and I did it in 13 minutes...I know that is shamefull! According
Dubai
Some interesting art on the side of the road. to them I should get better at it by the end of the month and they will reevaluate me. This boot camp is actually army style...I'm a cadet of whatever the hell you are in the beginning of the army. They punish us for not having kept formation. Oh god..With me in the group I expect that we will be punished quite a bit! I have to say one thing though..I'm glad the owner will not be there every night! I'm surprised his head could fit through the door it was so inflated! The guy we had tonight was really great though- he's a Brazilian shju-jitsu champion or something like that. The web site is www.originalfitnessco.com if you want to check it out-also there are some videos apparently on you tube if you type in original fitness company Abu Dhabi it will show a bit of what we do. There is a lot of running and squats, etc...IN THE SAND! This is a thousand times harder than I thought it would be...they made us fill this long cylinder with sand and then run with our hands above our head, holding this thing. I hate it but I need it. They
Dubai mall
This is a waterfall in the mall. don't use weights other than that but I did buy some so I can do some at home. Please send me messages, I do love hearing from everyone.
Miss you all, lots.
Sherry
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Virginie
non-member comment
Je suis contente de savoir que tu vas bien. Fais attention sur les routes!!