This is the UAE

This video (of time lapse photos) came to my attention today and I thought I'd share it with you. It is a great depiction of where Abu Dhabi is and what it used to be. It's only four minutes long, but I think you'll be amazed.
http://vimeo.com/22936856

I can tell you all these scenes and photos taken from different vantage points truly show the Abu Dhabi I live in. It's a phenomenal city, but I've told you that before. I've finished 9 months here and the summer has arrived, 95 - 100 degrees of heat and humidity.

QOB -"Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, 'What! You too? I thought I was the only one.'" C.S. Lewis

He looks familiar

Indulge me while I tell you a story about my lunch last week with two colleagues. My boss, Pete, is a lawyer by profession and Maggie is also a lawyer and our compliance officer here at NYUAD. We went to this nice little place "Jones the Grocer" which is an Australian place. I've been 3 times before and the service was always terrible, but the food is good so if you go at lunchtime you just have to be prepared to wait for your meal.
Strangely enough this time the service was quick so the three of us got our orders in about 10 mintues and proceeded to eat. We were at a table with three chairs, Pete across from me and Maggie to my right and his left beside us. We were discussing nothing in general or even specific just enjoying the meal talking about east coast stuff, sports, crimes etc...
Jones the Grocer is mostly a business type crowd that fills the place at lunch time because of the office buildings around it. People in ties, skirts, Kandura's (the long white garment men here wear) and Abaya's, essentially business attire. The table beside us which is truly on 3 feet away from me is empty and has chairs for four. Finally a guy in a sport coat comes in and sits down along with an Emirati in a Kandura.
Maggie makes a quiet comment "there goes our freedom of speech about education in the UAE". I wasn't sure what she was referring to and thought I had just missed part of the conversation while I was eating. So we continue talking, but I keep looking at the guy next to me Mr. Sportcoat and thinking he looks familiar to me and so does the guy in the kandura, but I just can't put my finger on it for either one of them. Pete said something and I laughed out loud and it was loud, like I'm known to do.
In the meantime I'm still looking at the guy next to me and I almost leaned over and told him "do you know you look like Tony Blair?, but I thought better of it and didn't want to interrupt their conversation. During dessert a third gentleman sat down next to us and he was also an Emirati. After dessert we finally left and and when we got outside I looked at Pete and Maggie and said "hey didn't the guy next to me look like Tony Blair?" Of course they both responded in unison with looks of disbelief "that was Tony Blair you idiot". Then Pete said "do you realize the guy across from him is the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi?" My response was "he looked familiar too, but I couldn't place him".
If you have ever been here you'd know how often you see a picture, billboard or poster of the Crown Prince, it's alot. Evidently the third guy is also a Sheikh who is also NYUAD's benefactor and the Chairman of Manchester City Soccer Club in England.
So there's some lesson or moral to the story and it may simply be when you go to Jones the Grocer for lunch you never know who is going to sit down beside you. Evidently the Crown Prince has an office in that building and goes there for lunch often. Of course I will now claim that I had lunch with Tony Blair and the Crown Prince (they just weren't aware of it).
I've never seen anyone like that in Pastrami Joe's or OT's Barbeque.

QOB - "There are two theories to arguing with a woman. Neither one works." Will Rogers

I haven't done any arguing with any women, but I thought this was funny, true and funny.

Population Boom

There was an article in the newspaper last week regarding the population in the UAE which has gone up 65 percent between 2006 and 2010 from 5.1 million people to 8.26 million. Wow, that's quite a boom.

The number of Emirati nationals grew by about 100,000 from 851,164 to 947,997, but the overall percentage of nationals fell to 11.47 percent since there was so much increase in foreign workers.
Abu Dhabi, the emirate, not the city had about 3,469,200 of those 8.26 million people.

Alot of the foreign workers are at the labor level, but there is still significant numbers of professionals and skilled workers who come here for the weather, environment and tax breaks.

I think the folks from the UK lead the way along with Australians in the professionals category.

QOB - "The thing that is really hard and really amazing, is giving up on being perfect and beginning the work of becoming yourself."
Anna Quindlen
Personally I gave up on being perfect when I was a little kid, there was no chance for me. I have enjoyed becoming myself though.

Rules for the UAE

Actually these are rules for guests or suggestions for guests or people that are thinking about being guests. These are things I've realized over the last 9 months. Ironically I came here for my visit to determine if I wanted to work here exactly one year ago this weekend. So let's get on with the suggestions.
1. Don't come during the months of May - late October unless you want to experience heat and humidity. It's already hitting 35 degrees here, that's celsius and equates to 95 fahrenheit. As you know it will get very hot and muggy so unless you like sweating when outside doing nothing be smart and stay home.
2. I have a spare bedroom (two single beds) and 3 spare bathrooms. So if you come with someone else you'll be sharing the spare rooms.
3. I don't cook, but you can if you'd like.
4. I can probably take some time off while you're here, but don't plan for it. You need to be pretty indepedent and willing to explore on your own.
5. You won't be driving while here, plan on taking cabs, they are abundant and inexpensive.
6. The weekend is Friday and Saturday so that may help you plan your trip and when I will have time to see some things with you and go places.
7. I enjoy having guests I just don't wait on them. I've giving you a place to stay I hope you'll make yourself comfortable and feel free to help yourself to anything in the fridge.
8. The remote for the tv belongs to me if I'm home. If I'm not, feel free to channel surf.
9. There's a Starbucks downstairs or I guess you can brew coffee in the apartment, I just don't make any because I don't drink it.
10. Hair dryer and curling iron are provided here. So is soap and shampoo/conditioner.
11. The maid comes on Wednesday, make sure you're out of bed so she can change the sheets.
12. I have a laptop in the apartment so you don't need to bring one if you don't want to. You can skype and check your e-mail from this one.

I welcome guests and encourage them I just wanted everyone to know what's available and what works.

The door is open, make your reservations.

QOB - "Happiness is not the absence of problems, but the ability to deal with them."
Baron de Montesquieu

Spring Break!!!!!

There is nothing significant about the Middle East in this post, but it's about what I did on my spring break.....I flew and flew and flew. I had scheduled two coaching certification classes one in Las Vegas and one in NYC (Brooklyn to be exact) for consecutive weekends leaving me about 4 days in between to find something to do with myself or someone else.

So I departed Abu Dhabi at 10:30am on March 17th, flew 8 time zones (7000 miles, 14.5 hours) west to JFK in NYC, two hour layover and then grabbed my flight to Las Vegas which was another 3 time zones and about 5 hours. Landed in Vegas about 11:00pm on Thursday night. Who's plan was this anyway?

While in Vegas I attended class all weekend and got to see my youngest brother Keith who lives there.

Finished in Vegas on Sunday evening and headed to the airport at 5:00am Monday for my flight to Honolulu which was another 3 time zones west and about 3000 miles. Courtney (daughter #2) was spending spring break at my friend's home on Oahu so I had a place to go. Got to Honolulu and my friend Elizabeth picked me up at the airport and we simply waited another 90 minutes until Courtney landed and we headed to the Schowalter's for the next 3 days.

Court and I headed out on Tuesday and were able to spend some quality time together driving around Oahu, stopping for photo op's...

climbing Diamond Head, oh look a photo of us at the top of the extinct crater:

Diamond Head requires a pretty long walk up paved paths, dirt and rock trails, 99 steps, a dark tunnel, a circular staircase and finally a climb out through a somewhat narrow opening in an old concrete bunker.

After the climb we headed west to show her where I lived when I was stationed at Schofield Barrack's back in the mid 80's. A quick stop to point out a non-descript condo in a non-descript development in Makakilo then it was heading further west to Makaha Beach, a favorite Saturday afternoon relaxation location for me back in the 80's. Here's a shot of us out there.

There appears to be a lot of glare of my head.

Day two, Wednesday, found us heading west and north to check out the waves on the north shore and some of the most famous surfing beaches in the world. We also got pretty close to Chinaman's Hat, which is actually visible from the Schowalter's home, but we drove by so thought we'd get a photo too.

After Chinaman's Hat it was a quick stop at Sunset Beach for a photo, with the waves crashing in behind her. She is probably wearing the only Dead 2 Red Relay shirt in the United States.

From there it was past Waimea Bay and on to Haleiwa for lunch and walks through some art galleries. Courtney is an artist and we got a chance to look at some great work by local artists after a great Chicken Teriyaki sandwich at the Kua Aina Sandwich Shop, a place I frequented as did many of my guests back in the 80's. Finally it was back to the Schowalter's for a third dinner with them and a chance for me to pack since I was off early Thursday morning on an 8:00am flight.

Back to Vegas for a one night layover where I got to take my brother out to dinner again and early the next morning (Friday for those keeping track) hopped on a plane at 8:00 am heading back to JFK. Grabbed a cab to my class in Brooklyn which went from 5:30pm - 10:00pm on Friday, 8:00am - 9:00pm on Saturday and 8:00am - 4:00pm on Sunday. Finished class and headed to the airport to catch the 10:50pm flight out of JFK back home to Abu Dhabi, where I arrived 13 hours later.

12 days, 28 time zones (14 out and 14 back), 26,000 miles and when I got back I had no jet lag. I went to bed on Monday night at midnight and woke up at 7:00am Tuesday. I got to see friends, my baby brother and Courtney, the Courtmeister, The Best daughter as she is known in the family as opposed to her sister's who are The Smartest and the Favorite.

It was a whirlwind trip, but well worth it. When you can mix business with pleasure you're lucky.

QOB: "The most interesting thing about being a parent is being witness and supporting what they already are. It's standing there in awe. You get to be the one on the sidelines clapping."

This comes from the talented actress Jodie Foster and my time with Courtney reminded of how I feel about all three of my daughters. They already have me clapping and I'll get to do it for the rest of my life. Thanks girls.

Petra "A Wonder of the World"

Petra in Jordan was our last stop. It is considered one of the new 7 wonders of the world and I know why. It was amazing, unbelievable, incredibly impressive, massive and all carved out of stone. There is an entry fee and it is recommended that you use a guide when walking through Petra because the guides are so much more knowledgeable about the history of Petra. Once you enter Petra you can walk for about 1 km (.62 miles) along the Siq which is a pathway that takes you through a canyon of rocks.

Petra was originally built over 2000 years ago by the Nabataean's and many of the remaining structures were built as elaborate tombs that were intended to last throughout the after life. So the structures look impressive, but in reality are tombs. Over the years the Bedouins ended up moving into the area until the mid 80's when they were finally moved out. Most of the old homes have disappeared due to earth quakes, but the tombs remain.

But before we get to that I thought it was important to show you a shot from above Petra looking down at it in what I call the Jordanian Grand Canyon. Of course I'm in your favorite shirt.

I promise I'll go out and buy more long sleeve shirts that will protect me from the sun. I only took my hat off for the picture.
When we got down the hill and headed in we spent about 20 minutes walking through the Siq with our guide as he described some of the history of Petra and what we were looking at. This is a typical shot of what the Siq looks like as you're walking through, but every rock wall, every color from different angles seems to be different.

After your 1 km walk the guides bring you into an opening to view what is called the Treasury building, don't know why it's called that, but it is so I'm going with it. Some of these pictures might look familiar to you because Petra was used in the filming of one of the Indiana Jones movies. The treasury building, as you can see, is carved into a sheer face of stone. Muy impressivo as they say in some countries.

From the treasury building on out it is just one amazing site after another. Bedouin homes carved into the rocks so the families lived in caves all throughout the valley. This went on until about the mid 80's, 1980's that is. Finally the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) came in and declared it a treasure and moved all the Bedouin families out to a village they built up on one of the hills overlooking Petra with homes for everyone, electricity and running water. I know that because we went there for dinner after touring Petra. One of my co-workers is friends with one of the families and they invited all of us to their home for a typical Bedouin dinner. Years ago our dinner host's mother was visiting Petra from New Zealand and fell in love with a Bedouin man and married him and moved into the cave with him and ended up raising her three children there. She wrote a book about her life "Married to a Bedouin". Rami, our host, is her son.

I'm sure some of you are wondering what a typical Jordanian Bedouin dinner is and I'm going to tell you. They cut up a chicken into about 1/4's, cook it in a large pot, they add sliced potato's and eventually rice all in layers. They take the pot and flip it over onto a large tray to get everything out of it. Once it's on the tray they spread it out to cover the whole circle. Each person gets a small bowl with some cut up greens (salad) and a cup of yogurt. You have your own section of the tray much like a large slice of pizza. When you want, you add a little salad to your area, put some plain yogurt in there mix everything up and then simply make a ball of food with your hand and eat it. I didn't mention dishes or utensils, who has time to wash that stuff when you're living in a cave. The chicken and potato's you simply eat when you want, but only out of your section. Don't let your hands wander. The dinner was delicious just like comfort food you'd get in the east or midwest.
If I included all the pictures I took I'd be writing and you'd be reading for way too long , but further down the trail we got to the Monastery.

Just another massive structure carved out of stone. After a long walk to just get near there we then had climb 860 stone steps to get to the base of it. Then my little group and I went even further to be able to see all of the valley. Mt. Sinai in Egpyt has 750 steps to get up to the top after a climb of about 3000 meters.

As I said the group of students I went with decided to climb up to the top to get the best view in Petra and we were able to look back down at the Monastery and see where we came from and out even further into the valley.

This was by no means easy climbing and some of the folks in our group had problems due to muscle soreness from Dead 2 Red along with just not being able to climb or not wanting to. I was winded and sweating and I'm in decent shape right now.

We didn't have time to explore every part of Petra and websites like http://visitjordan.com/ suggest you take at least 3 days in Petra and I can see why. You can see a person in this picture walking by the stairs, I walked that same path twice and never saw anything above the stairs until we climbed up to the site of the Byzantine Church across the way and looked down on all these ruins. We also went by a 3000 seat amphitheater carved into the side of a hill. From our perch at the Byzantine Church I was able to take this panoramic shot of one of the cliffs that becomes truly visible to you when you're looking back at it from the right height.

We never made it to the High Place of Sacrifice, which might be a good thing because the students might have wanted to sacrifice me. Never mind having the time to explore some of the caves and wide open spaces. Here's another panoramic shot of a whole cliff full of caves and if you look real hard at the caves on the left you'll see some camels in them.

I can tell you this. I will go back to Petra a few more times. I was simply amazed and can't wait to explore every place I can. I thought about buying my girls little gifts there like I usually do when I travel, but I realized I didn't want to because I want to take them there. If you have any plans to come to the Middle East you should carve out a few days for a side trip to Petra. It's a fairly short flight 2 1/2 hrs to Amman and then a 2 hr drive from there to Petra.

You need to be ready to walk and climb though. Check out the website and believe anything they say on it since I sometimes get stuff wrong on this blog.

These pictures don't do it justice. I've been to the Grand Canyon, I've been to the top of Mt. Sinai, I've been up in the Rocky Mountains, I've never seen anything like this. Girls get your passports ready, we're going to Petra, preferably before you get married so it doesn't cost me too much.

QOB: "The secret of being boring is to say everything". Voltaire

Well I guess I'm glad I stopped now.

I will leave you with two things.

1. Go to Petra.

2. Happy 23rd Birthday to my oldest daughter Rachael.

Dead 2 Red Relay

As I mentioned before I had the privilege of traveling to Jordan with 22 NYUAD students and 6 other faculty and staff as part of our Dead Sea to Red Sea 150 mile relay teams. There really were three parts of the trip, the Road to the Dead Sea, Dead 2 Red and Petra.

We left on Wednesday, March 2nd in the afternoon and flew through Manama, Bahrain to Amman, Jordan. Spent the night at a hotel in Amman and visited Columbia University's Research Center on Thursday morning and then went to a community center built in Jordan by a university professor and his students. They go into neighborhoods and literally start building a center and eventually the neighbors come out to help. Once it's built they offer programming for children and skills training and educational opportunities for women in the neighborhood.

One thing our Athletic Department does is purchase Futbol's to pass out to needy children when we travel to different locations. Here's a shot of a few of our students giving a ball to this little guy. He may not look it, but he was thrilled. The beauty of the balls is that they don't require air, they have a device on them that you can press and it sucks in air. So kids can kick and play with these for a long time. They are actually made out of the same material as Crocs and we all know how indestructible Croc's are.

Kids around the world play futbol with anything they can find to shape into a ball of some type so this will provide them with something for a long time.

Then we headed out of Amman towards the Dead Sea and traveled through some beautiful country, high mountains and deep valleys. My camera certainly doesn't grasp the magnitude of the landscape, but it gives you an idea of the natural beauty Jordan possesses.

A quick stop on the trip down allowed us to capture a shot of our students who were taking part in this athletic and cultural trip.

Finally got to the Dead Sea for a buffet lunch at a hotel. Some of the students ended up going for a dip in the water. The Dead Sea is the lowest place on earth, 400 or so meters below sea level. The water is very salty and oily, but they wanted the experience. Us staff members didn't have the time we were packing up our 4 vans (2 for each team of 10 runners and 4 support people). 7 people per van for a 242 kilometer (150 mile) ride of course once in a while it was only 6 people because one was out running. The race started at 4:00pm on Thursday afternoon, the end of the work week. Everyone in every van got to know each other real well between listening to music, sweating, snoring, sleeping and using the desert as a bathroom we became pretty close.

One of our guys knocking out his leg just as the sun was rising.

Here's a shot of three of our students from our Hyundai mini-van on the side of the road about 8:00am on Friday after 16 hrs of the event. I don't know what was so funny, but they were enjoying themselves. We still had about 20 kilometers to go at this point.

Each of the 40 or so running teams that enter have 24 hrs to obtain an official finish. Our NYUAD Purple team finished in 17 hrs and 48 minutes while our NYUAD Black team finished in 18:48. Both teams had a great time and enjoyed the whole time we were on the road. Then to finish at the Red Sea a true seaside resort and to be able to go swimming in refreshing water and nice weather was an extra treat. Here's a nice shot of the Red Sea resort and that is in fact my right foot in the photo.

Students, staff and faculty involved really got to know each other on different levels. We got to run through a beautiful country and meet some wonderful people. There was a big celebration dinner to honor all the participants and pass out awards. Our NYUAD Purple team won the award for 1st International Team. As would be expected the staff all went to bed after dinner just to get some sleep. Some of us had been up all night driving the teams and we were beat. I think most of the students went out for a while.

This trip is still being talked about by the students that went and all the ones, along with staff, that want to join us next year. The students we did have running had to qualify based on standards I set since there was a time limit on the teams I wanted to make sure everyone we brought was going to be able to last the distance. They all came through with flying colors.

Interestingly we were considered an international team in Jordan because we came from outside the country, but our teams consisted of citizens of the US, UK, Russia, Ecuador, Lebanon, Korea, Bulgaria, Thailand, South Africa, Australia, India and Argentina. A very interesting group of students and staff.

I promise a blog about Petra is next, but I've been trying to get my taxes done today while following the news about Japan and the tsunami moving across the Pacific. It sure makes you think when you get an earthquake in New Zealand (actually 2 in 5 months), the volcano erupting in Hawaii and now this in Japan. The Ring of Fire is on fire.

If the earth cracks in an earthquake how much of the ocean disappears down into the void?

QOB: "Love yourself for who you are not who you one day hope to be..." Erin Brockovich
This is meant for a good friend of mine that reads my blog faithfully.

Stay warm, stay cool and stay dry.

Wayne

Prices

Price check from Abu Dhabi.

Gasoline is and has been $1.77 a gallon since I got here. They keep it low here.

12 0z can of Coke or Pepsi has been 1 dirham for the last 20 years. I believe on January 1st the government allowed the price to be raised to 2 dirhams. So now I have to fork over 2 dirhams for a Pepsi...which is equivalent to 73.4 cents.

QOB: "A high quality life has a lot more to do with what you remove from your life than what you add to it." Cheryl Richardson

And yet another guest...

My good friend Keith Roberts made his first foray into the Middle East on February 19th and he chose to come see me. Again I'm not sure if it was actually to see me, enjoy the beautiful weather or his wife Karla just needed a break from him, but he came, we ran, we ate, we saw some sites, we drank some beer and then he left.

Keith and I have known each other since 1993 when I first moved to the midwest and settled in Battle Creek. We met at a Battle Creek Road Runners meeting and have been running together ever since. Some folks think I'm a running fool or fanatic, but Keith is the original. I can't even think about running the miles he does, my body wouldn't last.

Many of the pictures you will see of him here are in the same spots I've shown you with pictures of Kathleen, Fiona, Lisa and me already, but he made the flight so he gets the same treatment. One thing you will notice is a lot of sand and that Keith has only one shirt and it appears to be from Albion College, a small liberal arts school in Albion, MI. Or as Keith likes to say "The Harvard of the Midwest".

We did do a lot while he was here and I didn't even take time off from work. Here's Keith in his favorite shirt at the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. When you get here despite your protestations that you've seen enough pictures of the Grand Mosque, I'll still take you there. It must be seen up close and in person.

We also went out to Manarat Saadiyat so he could see what the total plan for Saadiyat Island is and where our new campus fits into it. Then stopped out at Yas Island to run on the track on Tuesday night and here's a shot of him with the Yas Hotel bathed in blue behind him. We got in about a 10k run, but believe it or not the weather has certainly changed recently and you can feel the heat and humidity increase and even I'm not used to it so we took our running easy all week.

There was a professional tennis tournament taking place in Dubai so we ventured down there Wednesday night with a plan of seeing Roger Federer play, but by the time we got there tickets were sold out. The venue is great and there were probably a dozen restaurants right beside and between the courts so we sat down and had dinner and a beer or two. Then we headed over to the obligatory viewing of the Burj Khalifa and the fountain show. Here's a shot of the big building at night.

I'm just postponing the inevitable here. I mentioned in my previous blog about the "Empty Quarter" and the vastness of it. I had planned on making this trip with Keith and a couple of friends Professor Jeff Jensen and his wife Christina (also a Phd). So let's get to it. Personally I've travelled a decent amount and seen some incredible things in my life in different parts of the world probably more than some and less than others, but I have never seen anything like this.

Sand, Sand and more sand as far as the eye can see. It goes on for 225,000 square miles. Or a square 474 miles x 474 miles. This sand would cover France it's so huge. So we packed up the car with water and sun screen and extra shoes and headed to Liwa and beyond. I say and beyond because Lisa and I got to Liwa, had lunch at the hotel saw some sand and headed back. This trip was to take the road leading to Moreeb Dune which is supposed to be 300 meters high, or about 900 feet. Of course that's subject to change based on the wind I would guess.

There is a paved road that you follow into the Empty Quarter which eventually ends at Moreeb Dune. It's about 30 km long or 18.6 miles. The whole week Keith had been whining about wanting to see camels and get a few pictures of them so on the drive we finally saw some that were close enough to snap pictures of. I pulled over and Keith and Christina hopped out and wandered over to where the camels were to say hello. It seems the camels wanted to do the same thing so Keith and Christina got their photo's.

Back in the vehicle and heading further in and it was only going to be 20 miles into 225,000 square miles of sand. Well we finally came to the end of the road in a huge sand valley. There were actually parking lots, a children's playground, a helipad and a large recreation area where people could bring motorcycles and 4 wheelers out to race up the dunes. We drove around the area on the hard packed sand and finally parked the car way down there.

Keith is pointing out to Jeff and Christina just how high the other dune is compared to the little thing we climbed. At this point we were probably only 1/2 as high as the Moreeb Dune and we worked to get that high.

This area is known for great sunsets and wonderful star shows at night so it gets alot of campers who head out in the afternoon to watch the sunset, God's light show and then sunrise. At this point all we could see was sand. And we could barely see my car, as a matter of fact it looks like a little model.

Here's a shot of Keith and I in our favorite shirts, his an Albion College cotton t-shirt (so 15 years ago) and me in my ever present Boston Marathon "Adidas Climacool" moisture wicking, long sleeve special.

We spent about 25 minutes climbing up this one spot and it only took us 10 minutes to get down. I think rolling down would have been faster, but I probably would have gotten sand in my hair and I never would have gotten it out. The sand is incredibly fine as it should be since it's been blowing around out there for thousands of years. It has a copper tint to most of it and the waves and peaks and valleys it forms are amazing. It was considerably warmer out in the desert and I'm sure the sand gets so hot you can't even touch it in the summer because it was very warm to the touch in February.

Keith was not posing for this picture, but he was trying to lead us out of the desert and we made it. I'm sure I'll head back to this area with any other guests that visit because it's not like a lot of other things you see here or anywhere, it's constantly changing. I was just amazed by the shear beauty of nature. I've been to the Grand Canyon and the Rocky Mountains and Mt. Sinai and the Pyramids (I know they are man made) and Haleakala and Volcano National Park and I'm not sure if any of them can match what I saw here. Just amazing.

QOB - "However good or bad a situation is, it will change." Regina Brett

I thought this pretty appropriate based on the changing sands I witnessed last week.

Blog preview.... I leave tomorrow for Jordan to accompany 20 students and a few other staff for the 14th running of the Dead 2 Red 150 mile relay race. So you should be reading about the race in the next blog along with the obligatory pictures of the Dead Sea and the Red Sea along with Petra an ancient bedouin community in Jordan.

Stay Cool, summer is on the way.

Wayne

Birthday Visit

At the beginning of the month my friend Lisa came for a visit from cold wintery New York. Who can blame her? Snow and brutal temperatures in NY compared to sunshine and 75 degrees here in Abu Dhabi.

I took some time off from work to show her around, we spent some time walking around the city which was easy to do at this time of year because the temperatures were so nice. We made a stop here to take a picture at one of the hundreds of fountains.

We did the typical stuff like visiting the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque.

We also went kayaking in the Mangroves.

We took a walk down to the beach one day and saw what is actually a typical sight.


On the way out of Abu Dhabi to the town of Liwa and the edge of what is called the "Empty Quarter" the largest uniterrupted sand desert in the world. It covers 225,000 square miles, more area than France, and although the Sahara is 15 times the size of the Empty Quarter, the Empty Quarter holds half as much sand mainly because the Sahara is mostly graveled plains and rock outcroppings. An incredible site to see, but back to Joe Camel.

Lisa snapped a picture of this guy in the back of a truck.

Oh, I think I know where he was going. Take a look at this menu.

Here's a shot of the edge of the Empty Quarter. There are more photo's that show more sand in my next update about my visit from Keith. After lunch at which one of us had the camel burger (very lean) we climbed a small wall to get into the sand just to see what it was like to see sand as far as the eye could see.

On the way back to Abu Dhabi these guys appeared beside the

highway or maybe we appeared beside their farm, but either way

our paths kind of crossed so Lisa got out and snapped this picture. It seems the little guy is curious and wondering why someone is snapping his picture especially after they might have just eaten one of his family.

On Tuesday night a couple of hundred athletes gather at the Yas Island Formula One track to run and bike on the track unimpeded by traffice or cars. It's just a great feeling to get out and run without worrying about crossing streets or getting hit by a car.

Here's a nice photo of what the track looks like at night without race cars on it.

Finally we went down to Dubai one night and took in the fountain show outside the Burg Khalifa. This fountain is designed by the same company that did the one at the Bellagio in Vegas. It's quite a show. Every 1/2 hour it plays for the length of one song and the songs change each time so the music and water are in synch. It's an impressive show to say the least.

QOB - This comes from my daughter Courtney, well she sent it to me, but it's by Proust according to her. "The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeing new landscapes, but in having new eyes."

I look at things differently now at 52 than I would have 5 or 10 years ago never mind 20 or 30 years ago. The world is a big place, but if you live in different parts of it you see it with new eyes.

Stay Warm,

Wayne

Wild Times in the Middle East

Many of you in the States have expressed some concern about my safety here in Abu Dhabi with all the unrest in the Middle East right now. There is nothing to worry about. The UAE is very stable and very safe. Cairo, where protests brought down Hosni Mubarak who ruled for over 30 years, is 1000 miles away and in the opposite corner of the Arabian Peninsula. After Tunisia fell the citizens of Egypt came together and through peaceful protest changed their government. Talk about a step towards democracy? Wow. It was a very momentous few weeks or so to watch on television here, especially seeing so much of it live. I felt a slight connection to what was going on there because I had been there only 18 months ago on a trip.
There are of course other countries in this region going through their own protests and potential changes. Some a little more violent than others, Libya for example. It is so violent there because Moammar Gadhafi is fighting back with his military actually using fighter jets on unarmed protesters. He is not longed for office after 41 years. No big loss or at least that's what most people think.
Change can be good or at least that's what most people think, as do I, but in the end no one knows what they're getting into when they push someone out of office.
So what are we keeping our eyes on now. We see Bahrain just up the coast on this side of the gulf dealing with organized mostly peaceful protests. The other thing to understand is that most of the protesting going on is peaceful and only turns violent when the government starts the violence with the military or the police. Then it can get ugly like in Libya. Manama, Bahrain is experiencing peaceful, scheduled protests mostly because the government has opened the door to discussions with protesters and their representatives.
Jordan is seeing scheduled organized protesters on Friday afternoons after prayer time. Up to about 10,000 people or so. The King of Jordan dismissed his the Prime Minister weeks ago as Cairo erupted, simply to head off some issues. Protests will continue until changes are made in Jordan.
Things are quiet here in the UAE. It seems there was activity in Muscat, Oman which borders us to the east and some protesters were killed by some rubber bullets. A significant factor in these uprisings is the unemployment rate, especially among the young and educated. There are no jobs for them at home and they want to contribute to their country and its success. So after being denied for years they are speaking out against dictators that have been running and plundering their countries for years and in some cases decades.
Jordan has a high unemployment rate, the UAE is relatively low for Emirates and any ex-pats (workers from other countries) that are unhappy are simply allowed to go home. Another thing we see happening is the governments and leaders over some countries are coming up with payments for their citizens, such as Kuwait giving the equivalent of $3500 to every man, woman and child in the country based on oil revenues. I guess if we keep driving those big SUV's they'll keep getting checks. I also know that over 1000 families in Sharjah, one of the 7 Emirates, received free homes courtesy of the Sheikh there. I don't live in Sharjah so I didn't get one.
So where does that leave me and the rest of us here in the UAE. I think pretty safe and secure in the idea that NYUAD will continue to grow and build a new campus on Saadiyat Island and I expect to be here for that. There is no unrest here, very little unhappiness so no protests.
On Wednesday I fly through Bahrain to Jordan as one of the group leaders for 21 NYUAD students who we're taking to run the Dead Sea to Red Sea 150 mile relay. 2 10 person teams and one cyclist who will be on a 3 person team. We'll also take about 6 staff and a few other students as support to drive vehicles and be student trainers. The students we're taking represent 13 countries. The cool part is we'll start at the Dead Sea with a little swim and then finish at the Red Sea. In between we'll run and drive all night. Then we'll head to Petra in Jordan, an ancient city started by the Bedouins in the cliffs and caves. A rather unique experience that I look forward to writing about when I get back.

I need to write about two visits I had recently, yes people do want to come visit me, or at least Abu Dhabi. I even have pictures to share.

QOB - "Unstrange a stranger". It comes from my friend Kathleen who was here in November. I think she got it off a Life is Good calendar. I like it and hope to "unstrange a stranger" in Jordan.

Sports

Oh, come on read the blog despite the title and whether or not you like sports, it's about life in Abu Dhabi. Or at least the last two weeks and the life of an Associate Athletic Director in Abu Dhabi.

On Tuesday nights the Yas Island Formula One racing track allows runners and cyclists on it to run and bike and sometimes do both if you're a triathlete. So we've had some students and staff going out to participate, it's a treat for riders because they get to ride at pretty good speeds without worrying about traffic or any other hazards they might encounter on the highways and byways of Abu Dhabi. It's a treat for runners for the same reasons and plus we get to avoid having to step up and down on the extra high curbs.

We entered 3 teams in the two different triathlon events, the olympic distance and the sprint distance. We had 9 students signed up, but due to a late scratch because of illness we ended up with 8 students and one middle-aged AD participating on January 14th. We had students from Russia, Australia, Chile, Ecuador and the US participating. Everyone had a great time competing with the other 600 athletes and even just being around the other athletes.

One of our teams (not the one I was on) finished 2nd out of 21 teams and ended up on the medal stand. Our other olympic distance team was 13th in that race and our 3rd team was 9th of 13 teams in the sprint distance event. I only had to run a 10k with the 13th place olympic distance team. Here's a picture of us after we finished swimming, biking and running.

January 20th found me and my boss out at the Abu Dhabi National Golf Club for the HSBC Tournament which was being contested by 6 of the top 10 golfers in the world. Mostly from the European Tour, but including Phil Mickleson from the US, although his big nemesis Tiger Woods is absent.

We watched some great golfers make some fabulous shots and that was only the first day of the tournament. I'm heading back tomorrow to watch a little more.

Finally, this morning I headed down to Dubai at about 5:00am with two co-workers. One was running the 10k taking place and I was going down to watch the Dubai Marathon which offered a purse of $250,000 US to the winner. I'm pretty sure that makes it the highest 1st place prize money at any marathon in the world. The men's winner crossed the finish line in 2:07:20 and the women's winner was finished in 2:22:00 The winner's are in there somewhere. They're both in the picture on the left can you spot them?

On the right is a picture that certainly may leave you rubbing your eyes. Yes, that is a group of Arab men playing the bagpipes.
All I can say is that yet again it's something I never contemplated seeing in my lifetime, but there they were today at the marathon.

By the way it rained today pretty much all day. That's a first.

QOB: "Don't stand between me and my dreams, there's not enough room for you anyway." Courtesy of my youngest daughter Sarah, who is studying to be an actress.

I know those of you in Michigan and Massachusetts are dealing with some tough winter weather. I wish I could be there to help you shovel.

Stay warm,

Wayne

Another point of view

I thought I'd save you from reading the junk I write and let you read something from a professional, if you're interested.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/27/arts/design/27museums.html?_r=1&emc=eta1

QOB: "Worse than not realizing the dreams of your youth, would be to have been young and never dreamed at all." Jean Genet

Maybe if you know a young person you can help them have dreams.

Stay warm,
Wayne

How I spent my Christmas vacation

This is a shot of Sarah welcoming me home to Boston or at least the Boston Common.

As I said I headed "home" to Massachusetts. I was born and raised there and have spent 1/2 my life living there. So although the last 17 years were spent in MI, I now call MA home again especially since our home has sold in MI.

Got off my flight to cold weather and a smiling 18 yr old. Sarah and I were pretty excited to see each other after almost 6 months of only skyping. She was actually more excited to see me (I don't want Rachael and Courtney to get jealous). While home I was able to see family to include my brother Tom and his wife Judy in N. Andover. Their home is a showplace for Christmas decorations and Judy showed Sarah and I her 12 themed Christmas trees.

While in MA, I stayed with Mr. Charlie Markey. He is a friend and mentor of 35 years and lives alone in the house he raised his family in so has extra space and doesn't mind having me or the girls around when we're in town. Fortunately for both of us it snowed the day after Christmas so I got to help him shovel the 15" of snow that was dropped on us. I was happy to help although I thought I gave up shoveling when I left MI. Of course when an 84 yr old says he's going out to shovel you better follow and help.

Charlie and his wife Pat kind of adopted me long ago when I dated one of their daughters and I've become a member of the family over the years, essentially like the son they never had. At least they've made me feel that way. They've also treated my girls like their own grandchildren. So here's a shot of us after shoveling. Charlie is the good looking guy on the right.

Christmas Eve was spent at his youngest daughter Susan's home with her husband, David, their kids Dylan and Danielle and David's parents. Sarah came with me and Susan snapped a few photo's there. Susan is the youngest sister of Kathleen who was here to visit in November and also the sister of Mary who is the person Sarah lives with in MA. They are all sisters of Patti who I dated oh so many years ago.

Christmas Day was spent at brother Scott's house eating homemade lasagna (those Young boys can cook). Scott decided since he looked so much heavier than me for this photo that he'd stand on his toes so he could at least look taller. I don't know why we didn't get a picture with his family too. He's not that tall and I'm starting to realize he is developing the same hairline as me, albeit it 20 yrs later than me.

Sarah and I stopped to see Sarah's Aunt Mary and her husband Mark Mayall (my friends too) and we had lunch with them. I did mention this vacation was about family, friends and food right?

Movie Break: On my 15 hr flight to Chicago I watched 4 movies, saw 4 while I was home and watched 3 more coming back here. Of the current movies out that I saw, I would recommend; "The Fighter", "True Grit" and "Harry Potter". I would not recommend "Black Swan" unless you simply want to see some great acting by Natalie Portman, otherwise it was just plain weird and do not go see it with your kids unless you want to squirm in your seat during some scenes.

Now back to food, family and friends. We also stopped in to see my good friend Adam Poirier and his family, Joanne, Nicole and Luke. Adam is like the 6th Young brother. We broke bread with them too, Italian food of course which we love. We know where to go for good food and good company.

December 31st saw us in Boston to preview the First Night Celebration plans and see some of the ice sculptures along with watching people. Temperatures got up to about 50F so it was a great day to walk around the city or as much as my little gang of teenagers could take before they wanted to head home for preparations for New Years Eve parties.

Ice Scultpures were fantastic and here's a sample that was on the Boston Common. The Common and Public Gardens were already crowded with people in the early afternoon, skating, listening to live music, enjoying the sights and sounds, making snowmen and having snowball fights.

Sunday the 2nd found us back at Scott's home for home made pizza (that Young boy can sure cook) along with Tom, Judy and Andrew (their son) and Patti (Scott's wife) and kids Dylan, Madison and Cooper (whom I beat soundly on the Microsft Kinect boxing game). During the pizza fest we did what all good American families do, watch the Patriot's beat up another NFL team.

Monday, January 3rd had me flying back to Abu Dhabi and shedding my cold weather gear.

To recap I got to see family, old friends, new friends, eat some great food, mostly Italian and seafood and sometimes they were combined like the lobster pasta I had in the North End. It sounds like a normal Christmas season to me. Sarah and I did some shopping and she took me to her favorite muffin shop on the way to the airport, The Gingerbread Man in Wakefield, MA.

This final photo sums up what's it's like to spend 10 days with Sarah. She's not quite touching me, but just close enough to annoy me.

It doesn't matter, I love her and her sisters. Rachael went to England for Christmas and Courtney stayed in Hawaii.

QOB: This comes from a young man who quit his job as an engineer in NYC when he realized he wasn't experiencing life as he wanted to. So he left work sold everything and walked across the country and it has stuck with me..."What's the point of living the majority of your life preparing for the last little bit?"

I know it's an easy philosphy for a young person with little responsibility, but it sure resonates with me. How are you living? You know, there are no guarantees in life.