The U.S.S Harry Truman

The U.S.S. Harry Truman

Not too long ago, I went on a field trip with my boy scout troop to the U.S.S. Harry Truman. Here is what I learned.

The Truman was commisioned on July 25, 1998. It is a U.S Aircraft Carrier. It carries many kinds of aircraft, including hornets, greyhounds, prowlers hawkeyes, and seahawks, and a bunch of helicopters. When our scout troop went, we were lucky to be able to see all of the planes actually on it. When it docks in America all of the planes go off to their seperate bases. There are no US bases in the UAE, so they all stay on board. It's height is 2 stories from waterline to mast, it is as long as the Empire State building is tall, and the width of the flight deck is 251ft at widest. It's propulsion comes from two nuclear reactors.

The planes are stored below deck.  To move the planes around there are 4 plane elevators, and 4 catapults to launch the planes. It can launch the planes extreamly fast at a short distance. We also got to go see the weegie board (I think that's how you spell it :-). A little metal board where the keep track of all the planes below the flight deck. They put different color and shape planes for different squadrons and types of plane. They use tacks of different colors, jacks and other items to show what that plane is doing - if it is being moved, is broken, is being repaired, etc. They move the planes on the weegie board and then move the real ones.





Check out this site for a video of a real launch:

http://blogs.govexec.com/executivecoach/2010/03/truman_thursdays_how_to_launch1.php

Bahrain by plane costs less than a car to Al Ain

It's my first official blog entry!  Woohoo!  OK, celebration over, let's move on.

I recently took a day trip to Bahrain.  Where the heck is Bahrain, you ask?  It's here:

The next logical question is WHY?  Perfectly rational - if you live here.  If you look down the page, you will see our adventure to Oman.  This is the continuation of the story.  Since then, it has been debated back and forth the immediate neccesity of the attestation of my marriage license.  This is validation of authenticity which is neither proved by the raised seal, nor by a notary public.  Basically, you have to stand on your head, jump through hoops, pay a fee, and get the President himself to declare your marriage legal - without it, I am a wanton trollop illegally living with my lover.  I think all they need to do is spend a few hours in my home to figure out my status here, because it ain't THAT.  While all this is going on, we accrue fines.  I am beginning to understand why they do not have taxes here.  The alternative is a "visa run" - a quick over the border trip for the purpose of obtaining a visa stamp, buying you another month of trying to prove you were invited.  We tried it with Oman, failed, and figured an airport would be more adept.

As it turns out, it was a brilliant idea. Not only do I have a shiny new stamp in my passport, but I spent several hours reading uninterrupted, had a lovely lunch no one begged me to share, did some unharried duty free shopping, and got in a nap.  That's a good day for me!! LOL

There were quite a few interresting things along the way that I found to share.

This is the Abu Dhabi Airport.  It is quite beautiful.  In the center hub is this enormous scupture which runs through both levels and encompasses the floor and ceilings.  It is made of blue and green tile and is very striking.  I happened to be sitting in an area with a large group of Indian or Pakistani women who were all dressed in traditional style.  There are many women of this culture here, and they are very striking, especially in numbers like this.  The fabrics they wear are full of rich color and silky textures.  Many have metallic thread or jewels woven into the design - even at the mall, they make one feel very under dressed! The Pashmina that they wear is a sort of all purpose garment.  If Muslim, they drape it over their head for a covering.  In the Catholic church, too, they bring it up over the head during Mass much like we would wear a veil or mantilla.  Some do so just out of cultural habit, or come use it as a scarf or a shawl.  However they drape it, this style of dressing totally appeals to me.  It just looks so comfortable and much better looking than sweatpants!

Off we go!  Good-bye Abu Dhabi!!  Hard to see here, but I was able to find several of my favorite spots by air - like my park by the beach, and my favorite mall!

This is pretty much all I got to see of Bahrain.  I got off the plane, went through immigration, wandered past baggage to the car rentals,

and walked back upstairs to the airline desks and checked back in.  Then I went out to take this picture.  Maybe someday I will come back to visit for real.

Duty Free shopping anyone?  This airport has quite a little Duty Free mall going on - separate stores for toys, jewelery, gifts, clothing, and some very expensive designer handbags.  This area was completely decked out for Christmas with several trees and this strange little display.

My luxury meal.  Prawn salad and lemonade with fresh mint.  Yummy.  I had a nice view of the planes taking off and no one spilled anything on me, threw up on my table, or interrupted me to take them to the bathroom.  We even had a special guest!

This is the old Air Force One that took off during my lunch.  Hillary Clinton was, evidently, on board.  Yeah, I wasn't that impressed either.

I took a nap on the way back, so I didn't get any pictures.  :)

This is the cab that brought me home, though, and if I had to mention Hillary, this definitely deserves a mention.  Here in Abu Dhabi there are approximately 10 "Ladies Only" taxis.  There are many cultures here, including the locals, where women traveling alone would possibly be uncomfortable being driven around by a strange man.  Also, women looking for employment may be  put off by the idea of picking up strange men off the side of the road.  This is their answer.  They are driven by women, and used by only women alone or with their small children.  They are distinguishable by the pink and purple flowers and butterflies on them, and that their roof signs are pink instead of yellow.

So that was my trip.  By 7:00, I was at home in a comfy chair with a glass of wine and I even made it home before the kids did!

In Abu Dhabi there are many different malls. Some that I have been to are Marina, Khalideha, Abu Dhabi, Center Point, and Meena.

My personal favorite is Marina mall. It has an ice rink. The ice rink is not very big, but you rent skates and get to have some fun with your family. I went with Rory and Cooper, it was fun. They kept grabbing my arms and we would both go down on the ice (cold, cold ice). It also has an arcade, shops, food, and other stuff.

Most of them are within taxi distance - about 5 American dollars away. They all have different types of stores, internet cafes, furniture, ugly furniture, groceries, other cool things. They are a lot of fun to go to.

Church in the Desert

100,000!  Can you picture that many people?  Sanford stadium holds just over 92,000 people.  The largest city in my home state doesn't even have 40,000 people in it!  Cobb county schools has about 106,000 students.  That's a lot of students!  That is 50% more than the number of people living on American Samoa.  20% of the population of Wyoming, and almost as many people as living on the US Virgin Islands.

The point is, 100,000 people is a ton of folks.  Now picture that there are over 100,000 expatriate Catholics in one place.  Must be St. Peter's in Rome, right?  Nope. St. Peter's holds about 60,000 people at one time!  St. Pat's in NYC?  St. Pat's is the largest Catholic Church in the US.  It only holds about 2,500 people at a time though.  Guess again.  Alright, I know you don't have to guess.  St. Joseph's Cathedral in Abu Dhabi, UAE is home to over 100,000 expat Catholics. 

One of the first things we considered before embarking on this little sojourn was the issue of worship.  We excluded a number of places because of the overt anti-Christian and specifically the anti-Catholic sentiment found in those places.  We wanted our kids to be safe, but to be in a place where their faith might have to be a bit of a struggle.  The founders of the Church ALL had to struggle with their expressions of their faith.  I don't mean that they came by thier faith in a difficult manner, but more that they were persecuted for their beliefs and practice of their faith.  It is indisputable that the early Christians were having a rough time of things.  It isn't really know how many people were persecuted and martyred for their unerring FAITH.

We certainly didn't want our kids to face a life and death decision about their faith, but we wanted them to see a glimpse of the struggle our fore-fathers faced. (How's that for alliteration?)  To me, it seemed that one such place would be an Arab nation.  Arab nations are typically dominated by adherents to Islam.  As far as I have seen, in the States, not very tolerant of any other religious tradition, faith, or following.  We knew, after research, that other religions were tolerated here in the UAE.  We also knew there would be a large faith-based community that believes as we do.  We expected that we would be challenged by Muslims on all fronts, trying to convert us from our infidel ways.  (Please insert a chuckle here).  So far.... not one person has tried to convert me or any of my family.

The overwhelming response of the Muslims I have met is inquiry.  Asking what I believe.  They share what they believe and try to explain as best they can.  The language barrier is quite significant.  I explain Christianity and, specifically, Catholicism as best I can.  Did you read the part about the significant language barrier?  Every, and I mean EVERY, Muslim I have met is concerned with how I, as a Christian and as an American, view them.  They are exceptionally concerned with how Muslims as a whole are perceived by the West.  I think that is why they share so much about their religion.  Not once have I, nor Christians, nor Catholics been denounced and sentenced to Hell because of my/our beliefs.  They accept that we believe differently. 

That being said... on more than one occaision, my beautiful, peaceful wife has been told she is going to rot in Hell for practicing idolatry.  We, as Catholics, have been called whore worshippers.  That happened in the good ole U S of A.

Did We, or Didn't We

Well we wanted to travel and do a bit of sightseeing.  Oman borders the UAE.  There are a number of places we can go to cross into Oman.  We decided to go through Al Ain.  It is close enough (hour-and-a-half) and just across the border there are supposed to be a number of things to see. 

We figured that we would go to a couple of the old forts, explore the ruins of some others, and go to Wadhi Mudbah.  The wadhi is supposed to have a waterfall that pools beneath the cliff.  Full of salt and supposed to be beautiful.  We planned to go up Jebel Hafeet in Al Ain after we finished in Oman.

I'll tell you about the car rental later, but suffice it to say that we ended up hiring a driver to take us to Oman.  He speaks English!  Figured that we could get to where we wanted to go without any trouble.  HA!  We told our driver that we wanted to cross into Oman and go to these places.  He said that would be no problem.  --Here's an aside -- If you hear "no problem" you had better rethink what that actually means.

Our driver gets us on the road.  Everyone has their own seat!  I love a minivan.  Off we go.

We get to Al Ain and decide to get something to eat prior to actually crossing the border.  Did I mention this was a Friday morning?  Friday is the Holy Day here.  NOTHING was open to get a snack!  We even stopped at a 24 hour McDonald's.  They told us they didn't open until 1 in the afternoon.  Uh, excuse me?  What part of open 24 hours got lost in the translation?  We finally stopped at a Burger King attached to a gas station. 

So, we eat, we use the restrooms, we get back in the car.  Off to the forts and the wadhi!  YAY!

This is our first border crossing since we arrived.  Uh, this border crossing is for the locals only.  It apparently is a soft border and they cross it regularly so there is no hassle for them.  This is found between the US and Canada where the Indian Reservations overlap the States and Canada.  No big deal, we'll go to the next crossing.

Our driver gets us to the border no problem (the literal meaning of the phrase).  He used to live in Al Ain so he knows his way around real well.  We pull up to the border and he parks. I have to get out with him.  This seemed a bit odd because all the other vehicles were merely driving to the gate and producing passports to cross.  He takes me to the guard.  They have a conversation in Arabic which I do not understand, but I'm patient.  The guard asks me why I want to go to Al Bureymi (one of several spellings).  I tell him our sightseeing plans.  He nods and says we need to go inside the immigration office.  No problem.

Inside there is another conversation between the officials and our driver that I, again, don't understand.  The official asks why I want to go to Oman and I tell him.  He smiles and tells me that for my family and I to go to Oman there is no problem (literal meaning).  The trouble is our driver cannot.  It seems our driver does not have his passport with him.  His company holds his passport to ensure he does not flee, I mean leave, the country until he has satisfied his contractual obligation.

Let me get this straight....  You can drive me to Oman for sightseeing - no problem?  He can't leave the country because he doesn't have possession of his passport. 

The official gives him a small slip of paper that apparently allows him to enter the "neutral zone" just beyond the immigration gates of the UAE, but not actually in Oman.  In this area our driver secures a taxi for us.  So, we have to pay the taxi to drive us to the wadhi, the forts, and the ruins.  We haggle a bit and agree on a price.  EVERYONE, out of the minivan, into the taxi built for five.  Cooper gets to sit on Sue's lap!  Yay!

We get in the cab and he starts driving.  I tell him where we want to go.  We figured we would start with the wadhi.  "No go wadhi, the wadhi dry."  I'm hearing shades of another song..... drove my cabbie to the wadhi, but the wadhi was dry.....

Ok, no wadhi.  Let’s go to the forts.  We are driving at this point and I ask if we are actually in Oman.  He waves out of the left side of the cab and says "Oman!"  He waves out of the right side and says "UAE!"  Ok, are we still in the "neutral zone?"  I nod and tell him OK, but when will we be in Oman?  The waving again: "Oman! UAE!"  Good.....

Sue asks if we are in Oman.  I look at her with that look you give crazy people.  I wave and say "Oman! UAE!"  The cabbie nods.

I ask if we can go to Al Hellal.  It is one of the forts that is supposed to be a must see.  He looks at me.  I tell him we want to see the forts.  He points at a building and says "fort!"  Uh, color me crazy, but it sure looked like a carpet shop to me. (This will happen more than once.)

Picture this; we are driving, who knows where, in a taxi.  We can't seem to get where we want to go.  ...but the wadhi was dry... I figured, maybe he is taking us to Al Hellal.  We certainly don't know how to get there.

Time for another question!  I asked something like how many people live in Al Bureymi.  His response?  "No English."  I think we figured that out already.  At this point, I am not feeling the love.  I ask him to take us back to the border check point.  He waves and says......  Drum roll please...... "Oman! UAE!"  I got that, did you?

Neither Sue nor I can figure out where we are, where we are going, and what bloody country we are in!  We've been driving for about a half-hour or so and I REALLY want to know where we are and where we are going.

Oh look.... do you see it?  It appears to be a border crossing!  We are going to Oman!  It looks like we are going to see the sights we wanted to.  Well, except the wadhi...dry and all.  We are getting a bit excited!  The kids will get new stamps for their passports!  WOOT!

Uh-oh. It's not the crossing into Oman.  That area we were driving in did seem kind of huge for a neutral zone.  It's the UAE.  ??????????

Ok, ride's over.  We are now back where we started.  I think.

Yep, we are back.  There is our driver.  He stayed because we hadn't paid him yet!

Now, how does one get back into a country from which one did not officially leave?  Back to the immigration officer.  He asks if we had a nice visit and offers me a fresh date.  Man!  Fresh dates ROCK!  They are much better than any of the packaged ones I have had.  The official called it the desert's candy.

He finally looks at our passports.  This is the first time ANYONE looked at our passports.  He notices that I didn't get an exit stamp.  I figure here comes the trouble.  Left and came back with no official documentation.  Nope.  He shrugs and says OK.

I am a bit perplexed.  No it is important to note that he is not treating this lightly.  He is still doing his job.  This particular border is a "soft" border.  It is sort of like what the US and Canada shared for so long.  No need for entry and exit stamps.  No need for visas.

What is the moral of the story?

The immigration officials all did exactly what they were supposed to do.  They told us how to get in and out and told us it would be ok.  It was ok.  We got into Oman (I think) and back to the UAE.  No problem (literal meaning).

The cabbie in the neutral zone. He did what he was supposed to do (I think).  He just didn't do what we wanted him to do.

Now, to the driver; remember that slip of paper?  That was like a hall pass in high school.  He got to sit in the "neutral zone" and wait for us.  When we officially left the "NZ" he handed his paper to the checkpoint guard and got in the next line for formal entry to the UAE.  We clear that in short form (soft border).

Be sure that your driver is allowed to leave the country if that is what you would like to do.  Ask if he has his passport with him.  If not, find another driver.

Now we are off to Jebel Hafeet.  Jebel Hafeet is the highest mountain in the UAE.  Yes it is a mountain.  I'll let Jack tell you about Jebel Hafeet.  He took some great pictures.

Before I close I want everyone reading this to face north.  Wave to the left and say "Oman!"  Wave to the right......"UAE!"

To answer the question... I guess we did.

Bye for now.

The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque

At the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque they have a traditional Arabic design with egg shaped domes. It was a lot of fun going. We drove up in a taxi, and to see in it up close like that is just breathtaking. We can see it from my rugby pitch and it is still magnificent from a distance. It looks almost photo shopped into the scenery. They have a lot of pillars, about 1000 outside, and about 20,000 marble panels inlaid with several different semi-precious stones. There are also 96 pillars inside laid with Mother-of-Pearl. All the marble in the outside walkways is Greek marble. At the top of the pillars outside are golden colored palm trees. The palm trees are not real gold, however the gold that you see at the top of the domes is 25k gold. In the middle of it is a courtyard where the Muslims that do not fit inside pray. The courtyard is laid with Italian marble which does not heat up in the heat of the day. The interior has two women's prayer rooms, each holding 2000 women, and one men's prayer room, holding around 7100 men. The main prayer hall is the men's, and it has the largest chandelier in the world along with the largest hand made carpet in the world. The women's prayer rooms' carpets have been made to reflect the design on the ceiling.

The building started construction in 1986 and is still under construction to this day. The first prayer in this building was in 2007. Outside the main building is a smaller building that we were not allowed to take pictures of.  It is where the man who founded the UAE is buried. The Mosque is a Muslim holy place, so the women have to wear abayas and sheilas to cover thier body and hair. I have no more to write, so here are some pictures! All photos except for the top photo were taken by us on our visit.

The Vagaries of Banking

New job, new location, that means a new bank account.  Not a difficult concept or, usually, task.  However (I find myself using that word a lot these days), things are a bit trickier in the UAE than they are in the States. 

In order to get a bank account I first need to get a residency visa from the Ministry of Immigration and Naturalization.  That wasn't terribly difficult because the college handled that part for me.  Here I go, with my visa copy, passport copy, and cash to deposit into the account.  Heigh Ho, Heigh Ho off to the bank I go.

Upon arrival I discover that in order to open an account I need a letter stating that I do, in fact, have a job that will pay me.  I hand the man the letter I was given by the school.  He looks at it and says, "Oh, it's in Arabic.  I will be right back."  He has his colleague read the letter and returns.  "I'm so sorry, you need a letter that states your salary and length of contract."  I thought the lettter had all that information, but, as you know, I can not read Arabic.  Oh well, Heigh Ho, Heigh Ho, off to school I go.

I request a letter stating that information to be written in English.  Two days later, I get it!  Woot!  Heigh Ho, Heigh Ho, off to the bank I go!

I get to the bank, provide him with the letter and he is more than happy to open my account.   I also need a  credit card to cover final expenses of shipping stuff here (pets included).  He says that I need to wait for three months to confirm that I do, in fact, have employment with the college.  (I thought the first, and second letters confirmed that.  Silly me.)

Heigh Ho, Heigh Ho, its back to school I go.  I request the "letter of confirmation" from the HR department.  Remember that this letter is FOR the bank FROM the school confirming that I am employed.  Sounds simple enough.  Two days later, I get an email telling me that I need a letter FROM the BANK FOR the SCHOOL.  This letter is to confirm that I do, in fact, have a bank account with the bank that they previously gave me a letter to confirm that I am employed and can open an account.

Heigh Ho, Heigh Ho back to the bloody bank I go.  I see the man who opened my account and tell him that I now need a letter FROM him TO them.  He looks perplexed (How do you think I feel?)  He gives me copies of all the information that I filled out to open the account, after verification from the college.  I need to take this to HR in order for them to get me that "letter of confirmation" that is, thus far, unconfirmed.

Heigh Ho, Heigh Ho, back to the bloody school I go.  I turn in the copies.  Things are grand.  I need to wait to days to have the papers processed.  Do I see the light at the end of the tunnel?

Once the paper is processed, I can access my information online to request a letter that I thought I had in order to open an account that I needed employment confirmation for to get a card that requires not only confirmation of employment, but also confirmation of an account that was confirmed prior.  Geez, I don't even know what I just said.

So now I wait for the paper work to be loaded to the HR system.

Remember that bank account that I have opened?  It doesn't require a deposit.  I have an account, in which there is no money. 

Heigh Ho, Heigh Ho its off to the looney bin I go...

Again, as they say:  Inshalla

My MANDATORY Trip To Dubai

I found out that there is an educational conference each year for every member of the HCT faculty.  The new teachers, of which I am obvioulsy one, were required to take a bus to Dubai.  That's not such a big deal for me since I don't have a car yet.  However, the bus left at 6 am and I had to catch a cab.  Nothing is on the my street at 5:15 in the morning.  So, what would you do?  Call the cab of course.  The trouble with that is the dispatcher sent the taxi to the wrong address.  Remember, I don't have an address and live in the desert on a street with no name...  After 20 minutes or so in 90 degree weather, the cab arrives and gets me to the school in the nick of time.

Dubai is about an hour an a half, depending on traffic, or so they told me.  Now, picture this: a highway not unlike GA400 heading north.  After a while, there are some traffic lights, but not many.  What would youthink causes a slow down on a highway?

1)  Heavy traffic
2)  Construction
3)  Traffic lights
4)  An Accident
5)  Wait for it.....Ready?  SPEED BUMPS!

You read that right.  From Dubai to Abu Dhabi there are no less than 6 speed bumps on each side of the DIVIDED highway.  They don't believe in traffic lights near Dubai.  They prefer.... Ready?  ROUNDABOUTS!

Roundabouts in the middle of a major thouroughfare!  As the locals say: Inshallah.

Later I'll tell you about the conference.

God Bless and take care!

The Settling In Process

Hello to all our friends!

The UAE is, in many ways, similar to the US and in many other ways, not so similar. 

The retail stores work quite the same way as we are accustomed to, but deliveries...  Well that is an entirely different situation.  Ramadan, a month-long religious period of atonement, makes it difficult to arange deliveries of large items.  Immediately following Ramadan is Eid al fitr.  The culmination of the fasting and atonement period.  During this time we found it difficult to find lunch!  It is forbidden to eat in public during daylight hours.  This would not have been a problem if we could have had our fridge in place, but delivery was delayed until AFTER Ramadan!

To compound the issue we "live in the desert on a street with no name."  Addresses are not very precise.  We have to give directions based upon cross streets.  We live between Mohammed bin Khalifa and Delma streets.  Our main street is Al Karamah.  However, off of Al Karamah is 5th street.  That sounds easy enough, but Mohammed bin Khalifa St. is also know as 15th St and Delma is known as 13th St.  Okay folks, you do the math.  How is it that 5th street is between 13th and 15th?  Further, we don't live on 5th street, but on the first cross street, which... HAS NO NAME.  We are in Villa #9 of the Mushrif Compound (one of many similarly named).  UG!

So, we FINALLY get our beds, fridge, washer/dryer, and our cooker.  Only one of the deliveries seemed to understand where we lived on the first explanation.

Now, let us discuss the school.  I was scheduled for an orientation meeting on September 8.  That meeting did not happen because the government declared a holiday.  We still aren't sure of the reason.  We thought it was to end Ramadan and begin Eid, but Ramadan did not end until Friday night.  So, no big deal.  Canceled meetings happen all the time, right?  True enough, but I didn't find out until I showed up for the meeting that the school was closed and NO ONE was going to be in the building except security and janitorial services.  I did find that an email had been sent (to my un-activated email account).  So, I show up.  I go home.  End of the day! 

Well, we can't have new hires in a new system without having an orientation for them, right?  Right.  The meeting is rescheduled for the 15th.  Not a big deal except that I have class all day long!  I am told to reschedule my classes or find a substitute.  Uh... how do I do that?  I talk to my supervisor!  Uh.. who is that?  No one really knows.  There is the lead faculty for the maths (yes that has an s on the end) foundations and there is the chair of foundations 1 & 2, and there is the maths chair (yes that has an s on the end).  No one seems to know who my direct supervisor is.  Ug, again!

I'm almost done!  I then find out that I have to be at a university-wide conference on Saturday.  No big deal except that it is in Dubai.  Uh, how do I get there?  I have no passport, visa, drivers license.  My passport will be returned when I get my residency visa.  I can't get a DL, phone, internet, nor bank account until I get my visa.  It turns out they will provide a bus to Dubai.  Nifty, but it leaves ar 6:00 am.  Now I have to find a cab that is running around 5:00 am to get here for 6:00 am.

As the locals say: "Inshalla"  God's will.