In-sha Allah

So I learned a new phrase: “In-sha Allah”. It means “ain’t gonna happen”. (literal meaning is “God willing”… but the way it’s used here, it’s like “never gonna happen”) I thought it was funny. People on my project use the phrase quite a bit… needless to say my faith in a near future client conversion isn’t at its’ strongest point… makes for interesting conversation though.

It’s been a full weekend here in Abu Dhabi and I have a few comments. First, Abu Dhabi is as clean, or cleaner than any American city. Seriously, the boardwalk area along the gulf is extremely well manicured. (what they call ‘corniche’) I’ve walked several nights along it, and all I’ve been met with are families pushing strollers or kids playing kick-ball. Speaking of which, my first night walking along the corniche there were a couple of kids playing… and man-oh-man were they talking some smack in Arabic. (they were 8 or 9 mind you) I don’t know exactly what they were saying, but someone’s mother would have probably been mighty upset. Apparently badminton is popular here as well. We explored the nightlife in AD a bit on Thursday night (Friday and Saturday are weekends here), and headed over to Dubai on Friday for a bit of club action. (David puts his game face on) Apparently serving alcohol is technically illegal in UAE, but the hotels have found a way to do it. Therefore all clubs, pubs and the like are located in hotels… which needless to say makes partaking in a festive drink or two (or ten) quite expensive. We ended up at a shisha place until 6 or 6:30am, with an hour and a half drive back to Abu Dhabi ahead of us. At least we were able to find a cab (AND the sunrise was pretty amazing).

One other amazing little spot was the ‘Grand Mosque’ in Abu Dhabi. I was able to spend 30 or 45 minutes there on Friday and it was well worth the trip. Apparently it’s the 2^nd largest mosque in the world, only smaller than the one in Mecca. (friggin Saudis) I was walking around the place taking pictures when this Indian family asked if I’d like them to take one of me. The picture wasn’t very memorable, but the chubby 10 year old Indian who kept saying “good fo-to” was. (while giving a thumbs up… he was basically the equivalent of me when I was 10, minus the Indian part)

Tomorrow we’re off to Al Ain to work from there Sun-Thurs. I wanted to rent a camel to drive around town… but apparently they prefer a Peugeot to a cigarette mascot. (or are they one in the same?... friggin French)

And.... I'm in

Made it safe and sound last night into Dubai. I have to say, just from the drive from Dubai to Abu Dhabi.... Dubai is one of the most impressive places I've ever seen. Ever time I found myself comparing it to a familiar skyline, it just kept going. "Oh, those buildings remind me of Dallas, and New York, and Seattle.... x 10". I'll definitely get back over there this weekend. My driver was an Egyptian named Bob (so his name wasn't Bob, but he looked like a Bob and his english was... how you say.... not so good). One of the first things Bob did when I got in the car was offer me gum. Not the "whiten your teeth minty fresh kind" mind you... we're talking the Arabic equivalent of Bubblelicious. I suppose everyone thinks Americans just walk around playing baseball and chewing gum all day. ANYWAYs, after a fast and furious drive over, averaging no less than 160km per hour (fast) all the while listening to the rockin beats of Celine Dion, Toni Braxton, and Elton John... I arrived at the Millennium hotel in Abu Dhabi just minutes from the boardwalk area. Abu Dhabi is the slightly less developed little cousin of Dubai (only in comparison to Dubai could I say that). The hotel is right classy, although I feel a bit out of place with business men and Armani sporting tourists walking about... and I show up with a t-shirt and my giant pack. Oh well.

Katrina ended up taking me to a jazz club in the Hilton last night. I don't think you could have asked for a more diverse set of partiers than what we had. There were no less than 20 different languages being spoken at that club in any one time. AND, the band spent most of the night covering Bob Marley.

After my amazing breakfast at the hotel, I decided to walk the city a bit. What I didn't know was that it would be a sunny 90+ degress (F) by midday. Hence, I am inside at the moment. Abu Dhabi is an odd mix of very conservative Muslim culture (women in full Hijab) and good ol' fashion American materialism. I've seen more Audis, Jaguars, BMWs, etc. than I ever did in Beverly Hills or New York. Woman can be covered in all black (other than there eyes) and still shop extensively for gold jewelry. Which begs the question: where would you WEAR the jewelry? Is it enough knowing it's under the clothing? How can you show off the giant 8 oz gold dollar sign you bought to hang around your neck if you've been mandated to dress as such? Bling bling hhkkomies.

Off to work in Al Ain tomorrow (aka "the desert"). I'm picturing the 2pac video for "California Love"...

T minus...

Flight's at 3:10pm. It's a weird mix of feelings right about now. I'm used to taking Monday flights, just not ones with no return planned. As of right now, it's looking like 3 or 4 months 'til I'm back stateside... hopefully with a pocketful of good stories and a small tattoo of some Thai symbols meaning "white warrior".

I have almost a 3 hour layover in Houston, which will be well spent spending UAE money on a decent meal. Then I'm off to board what will be the longest flight of my life thus far. 15 1/2 hours of economy bliss... although I hear Emirates does roll out the red carpet. We shall soon see. I'll be in Dubai at 7:20pm tomorrow night, then hop a cab over to Abu Dhabi. I'm expecting the stereotypical Arabian character from Disney cartoons to pick me up (then subsequently try and steal my money bag full of gold--> $$)... but alas, it's probably not to be.

Until I'm in Dubai...

This is a test of the emergency inter-web system

Let it begin...