Blogs from Middle East - page 862

15th August 2008 We arrived in Dubai around 10:20 am. the airport was outstanding. We had a person from the hotel to pick us up, with a sign with our name on it. So we made our was to the hotel. The roads were really modern. We decided that we were going to go on the desert safari. So were were picked up from our hotel by the desert safari driver, Iftikka. We then picked up 2 other people who were also in the car as it was for 6 people. It was a long drive but we stopped at a petrol station and bought ice cream. We finally got there but stopped at a meeting point for all the other cars. We took soon pictures and just waited. We then started the safari with the ... read more

Bienvenue en Territoire Occupé Une charmante douanière aux yeux bleu (presqu'aussi beaux que ceux de mes soeurs) me demande avec un ravissant sourire si je compte me rendre en territoires palestiniens, j'acquiesce naïvement... funeste aveux qui nous coutera 8 heures d'attente à la frontière! C'est l'occasion d'expérimenter les péripéties qu'endurent systématiquement les Palestiniens de Jordanie pour rentrer dans leur propre pays, on en rencontre certains qui attendent depuis plus de 10 heures sans explications ! On arrive à Jérusalem en soirée Phillippe, Véronique et leur fils Amadéo nous hébergent dans leur immense appart' grand confort, ambassadeur Belge pour la Palestine il nous parle du pays : toujours aussi passionnant, mais les choses n'ont pas l'air de se diriger vers la paix... Pour la fête de l'Assomption toutes vos intentions de prière ont pieusement été déposées au ... read more

Arrived easily into the sauna which is Dubai at this time of year and picked up by dear sister Camilla. I think the night time temp is about 40C and 50% humidity. The basic plan is to do very little except read and take the occasional night time stroll and swim. Walked around to Al Reef Bakery for Zaatar toasted Lebanese rolls. Went out to Jumeria Madinat and had a drink with a few of the flatmates. I like Dubai as it is such a complex cultural place with people from all over the planet. Had a great conversation with a Lebanese girl about Tibetian geography. We were both enoying the fact that the plateau is so high at about 5000m. I read latter that its meant to be the highest 'large' structure in Earth's history. ... read more

Summer life in İstanbul - does it get much better than this? I am temporarily living with a very wonderful and interesting collection of people. We lost Lütfiye in the Levent bazaar the other day. Permanently "in gear," she went from vendor to vendor, negotiating relentlessly all transactions. Matt and I had drifted away from the clothing and household goods part of the bazaar and were drooling our way through the fresh produce and cheeses. As with every other aspect of her life, as far as I can tell, everything that happened in the bazaar happened on Lütfiye's own terms. Thankfully, she's a reasonable person and almost always makes for a good roommate. She and Matt have hit it off and taken to addressing one another as "aşkım" ("my love"), if only in jest. Matt arrived ... read more

Hoş geldiniz! Welcome! After a drought of blog entries, and quite frankly a lack of inspiration...er laziness... I'm back on the ball. For those of you who have, for whatever reason, missed out on my emails, last 5 months of planning, Facebook updates, and anything else I do to publish my life...I bring to you my latest move...to Istanbul! I traveled to Turkey back in March with Leslie, a friend who I worked with in Barcelona, for 10 days during which the country stole my heart from Spain. Almost right after returning back to Barcelona I set out searches for English teaching jobs in Istanbul. I ended with a position at English First--a Swiss company that's been running for almost 40 years, at a branch in Levent, the business area of Istanbul. I've only had two ... read more