Tuesday, November 25, 2008

a little bit of this and a little bit of that

It’s official, I live in the Middle East. I finally made it here after I got to spend my entire planned trip in Germany. I didn’t even have to leave early, which is kinda what I thought what was going to happen.

Germany was fun. I was really glad that I got to experience it, or whatever. But really, it isn’t that cool, sorry Germans. It’s like, cool you have beer and weiners, but any respectable bar can offer me the same thing, hey yoh. We went to an oktoberfest though, not the big one in Munich or whatever, but a satellite one in Manheim. It was fun, I guess. I mean, it is honestly a glorified Mid State Fair. It may not have as many vert shirts or monster truck racing, but it is definitely tied in the mullet department. It does have more booze, which is always nice, but there are a shitton of people, and way too many rides and kids. This is a booze fest, not a play ground people. Leave the stroller at home, yes, I’m talking to you baby Christian. Don't get me wrong though, I love rides as much as the next thrill seeking American, but how many gravitron thingys can you have in a small open area? I'll tell you what the Germans think: 3. At least they had cotton candy. Only 1 Euro y'all for some spun sugar! Look at me, I couldn't be any happier, and my eyes couldn't be any squintier. This pic is me at Volksfest, which means peoples festival in Geman or something. Ew.

But, all in all, the trip was pretty. Germany, like I said, is very colorful. More importantly, Christian is bad ass. He makes funny faces, rips ass with the likes of Crimeballs, speaks a language only I and the keenest of linguistic majors can understand, and comfortably fits into any mid-size purse. I can’t wait to see him in December for Xmas. Hopefully by then we will be able to gossip more and he will be pooping solid dungs rather than piles of shit.




So yeah, the Middle East, United Arab Emirates, Ruwais… What can I say? I’m relieved to be here, doing something quasi important with my life. I mean, I am working towards an endgame, and shaping baby minds. Ruwais is NOTHING like I expected. In some ways it is better. I imagined a dirty oil refinery town, but instead I got a boozeless Isla Vista. Seriously though, it is a housing compound where everyone that lives there has a purpose, like they work for ADNOC (Abu Dhabi National Oil Company… ?) or they work for people that work for ADNOC, like in the service industry, or like me working as a teacher. And when I say compound, I mean it. It is weirdly like a low security prison/army base. All the apartments are the same, generally big, mine is huge, and has an extra bedroom (for anyone looking to visit!! ;) ), and everything is within walking distance. There are 3 tiny grocery stores here, where if you can’t find something there, say tomatoes, they say “you come back tomorrow” and I do, and they’re there.

It is hot here, though it is cooling down. Generally, I do not ever need more than a cardigan in the morning and night, though I wear one at school to be modest, and if you walk anywhere during the day you will sweat. I mean YOU will sweat, I will glisten. Everyday is sunny, sometimes there is a sandstorm, which just looks incredibly hazy, like thick-can’t-see-through hazy. I want some rain though. It is freaking almost Thanksgiving, more importantly Christmas, and it is 85-90 degrees everyday. But what are you going to do. These camel farmers don’t even know what Christmas is. Sorry, that was racist, I take it back.

The food is not one way or another. Some stuff is really hard to come by, like things you are used to in the states, and the stores are never consistant in what they carry. One day you will want a diet Pepsi, and all they have is 7up, another day, you will want a 7up, and all they will have is Fanta. Even things you would think would be in a grocery store all the time, like bananas are sometimes/a lot of the time sold out. There are a few fast food places, all called something different, like Ruwais Gardens or Al Jizzin (I shit you not), but they all have the same menu. Fortunately, they have bangin’ lemonade, so I am quite thankful. Also, every place, including grocery stores delivers, and at most hours of the day and night, minus when the sun is the hottest.

If you have a service that you want done, you can find someone here to do it. Need your car washed 3 times a week, done. Need a pack of smokes delivered to you at 11:45 at night, done. Need your laundry washed, pressed, folded, and delivered, done. Need a bottle of wine and a handle of vodka, ha, go to Abu Dhabi and buy it yourself in a secretive, non-Muslim only boozatorium.

The religion is law here, which means you are going to see a lot of women if full black abayas. That’s not that weird. Some are actually really pretty. It also means that you are going to be judged if you show your knees though. And some restaurants won’t let you in if you are wearing shorts. But treatment so far has been good for me. Also, there is a call to prayer 5 times a day starting at 5:30ish a.m. Over a loud speaker at every mosque you can here this haunting Arabic song telling every Muslim that it is time to pray. Each prayer is based on the sun, so it changes slightly from day to day. I actually quite like it. It is pretty. The mosques are pretty too.

Anyway, I will elaborate later on the Middle East, but I am tired and have work at 8 tomorrow. PS I am on Abu Dhabi time, I don’t know its real name, but it I am exactly 12 hours difference from Pacific Standard time, so it’s super easy to convert. Just switch PM to AM or AM to PM and voila.

Okay, as my dad/Tigger would say, TTFN, ta ta for now. Here is a short video of a little call to prayer. I was so stupid back then. Roll it!



my first house

2 comments:

  1. D! This is so tight! You are having incredible adventures. Love the blog keep it going. You might be some famous blogger for a living.

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  2. Very cool. I'm so jealous.

    ReplyDelete