Bathrooms, Dubai style

We have 2 1/2 bathrooms in our 2 bedroom apartment. There are no light switches inside of the bathrooms...they are all outside of the door. This takes some getting used to, particularly early in the morning when I'm fumbling around. The light switches in the apartment look like this:

Which also takes some getting used to! The switch on the left is in the "on" position, and the other two are "off". There are tiny lights that you can see if it's dark and the light switch is off.

And look! I found the sprayer!

Right next to the toilet! According to numerous Internet articles, in particular A Girl's Guide to Being Muslim, cleaning after using the toilet is a religious expectation in the Islamic faith. It must only be done with the left hand, and using a water sprayer is necessary to be "clean." Being physically clean is the same as being spiritually clean in this case. We just sort of ignore the sprayer and hope that we don't find Colin playing with it.

We also keep a lock on the toilet since his little frog Buddy has a tendency to jump in there to swim.

There are no outlets in the bathrooms, either, except for this low voltage socket for electric razors. I have to drag a surge protector into the bathroom to blow dry my hair since there are no other mirrors in the apartment.

Here's the tub...pretty standard, really, and littered with Colin's bath toys. All of the tile in the apartment has these nice brownish-orange accent tiles.

Our bathroom is pretty much the same as Colin's except we have a navy blue shower curtain and less cabinet space. The third 1/2 bathroom has been converted into a storage room :)

Our Kitchen

Not sure if you heard the news, but we finally got a dishwasher! I have gained back 2 hours per day that I was spending washing dishes. Most apartments here don't come with any appliances, so you have to buy your own.

Here is a view of our kitchen when you walk in the door. You can see in this picture that the sink is one-sided, and doesn't have a sprayer. I found the sprayer, but it wasn't in the kitchen. You'll have to read my next post...

Anyway, the dishwasher is beside the sink, and the washer/dryer is on the left. Having it in the kitchen is strange...and loud. The dishwasher is smaller than your average-sized machine. I can only put 4 full-sized plates in the bottom rack and I have to put them around the perimeter so the rinsing arm can turn. To the left side of the kitchen is the opening into the living room, and the shelves where we store our food.

We have a little collection of office supplies there in the corner. On the opposite side is a surge protector/converter. There are no plugs in the kitchen except the ones behind the appliances, so we have to use that for everything.

This is what you see if you look in from the living room. We have a gas range. There is a thick glass pane on hinges that covers the eyes when we're not using it. I believe it's there to keep dust from settling near the flame. Then, when you cook, you just lift it up and it acts as a splatter guard. The oven is sort of a pain. I can't ever get it to turn on! As I said in the post about Joe's birthday cake, there are no temperature settings on the oven, just the numbers 1-6. We have a little thermometer that hangs from the oven rack which helps. The oven and refrigerator are also quite small, but they work just fine for us.

This is our kitchen table in the living room

And the long awaited water cooler. You can't drink from the tap here, so having this is a life-saver.

One of my favorite features in the kitchen is the DOOR! It's great to keep it closed so little hands don't accidently stop the washing machine in mid-cycle, start the dishwasher, or ignite a flame on the stove.

Safa Park & The Dubai Flea Market

On the first Saturday of each month, Dubai has a flea market at Safa Park. It's further into Dubai, sort of near Dubai Mall. I took the metro to the Business Bay station and then caught a cab to the park. The park itself is 64 hectares (or 158 acres) of green grass, palm trees, almond trees, roses, fountains, a hedge maze and more. I haven't seen this much grass in one place since I left home.

This is one of the BBQ areas where it's permitted to have an open flame.

Over there in the distance is a toddler-sized play area.

I'm fairly certain these are the roses. They plant them in rows like this all over the park.

Palm trees are everywhere and provide excellent shade. I saw a number of laborers sleeping in the palm shadows today.

This is the Safa Maze.

Doesn't it look like something out of Alice in Wonderland?

Just past the maze I saw these guys playing soccer (football) with soccer balls on their heads. I believe they were promoting an event. Still, it was weird.
There were over 400 tables at the flea market. I didn't arrive until about 2pm, and they closed at 3, so lots of tables were packed up and gone by the time I made it over. However, people were happy to give me a deal since they were trying to get rid of everything.

It was your typical garage sale paraphernalia...old exercise videos...

...perfumes....

....racks and racks of clothes....

...piles of hats....

....and shoes galore.

Some people had everything neatly organized on their tables...but most people just threw everything on a blanket on the ground!

I ended up getting some simple toys for Colin, a few paring knives, an exercise ball, and some grilling utensils. I didn't spend more than 5 dirhams ($1.36) on anything, but most everything cost 1 dh (27 cents) or less.

I was REALLY happy to find the Pepsi stand with ice cold water. I'll definitely make the trip to Safa Park again, but this time I think I'll bring Joe and Colin with me :)

My birthday, Dubai style

I had an absolutely fantastic birthday this year! Joe bought the most delicious cake from a place called Gateaux in the Marina. Gateaux means cake in French. I learn something new every day! Despite what the candles may indicate, I did not turn 82 this year...I turned 28...but Joe thought it would be clever to switch the candles around since I was born in 1982. Did I mention that the cake was delicious?? It was a strawberries and cream cake, with fresh strawberries and fresh cream and white chocolate and boy, was it good!I got a birthday card all the way from Clarkston, Georgia...and Colin got a goody box from Great-Grandaddy and Great-Grandmother Owen! Thank you for thinking of us!

These are pretty flowers are from my parents:

The rest of the birthday loot - a pressurized wine cork, reference cards for homemade cleaners (more on that later), an iPad cover to pacify me until we can afford to get an actual iPad, and a gift certificate to the Virgin Megastore from Pete & Simone.

Pete & Simone came over to celebrate, eat dinner with us (lemon rosemary chicken with rice and fresh green beans a la Joe), then they listened out for Colin so Joe and I could have our first night out together since arriving in Dubai. What great friends they are!

Joe and I just before heading out:

We ended up at the Marina Yacht Club sports bar.

Then we headed outside to sit on the deck for awhile.

Afterwards we walked across the marina and down to the beach. Nothing like an evening stroll through the sand and surf with the one you love :)

Thanks to everyone that made my birthday so special!

Newsworthy

If you haven't noticed, I've been reading the news. I abandoned it at home, to be honest. I was tired of the never ending political rants and polls and the constant cries of prejudice, blame, and false advertising.

Here, I've found the news to be fascinating.

Some stories I've read today:

- Man who was caught by 12 speeding radars in one day going 60km/hr (37mph) over the limit had to pay 42,000 dirhams ($11,500) in fees to avoid having his car impounded.

- Starting November 1st, police can impound your car on the spot for speeding violations as part of the "Speed Kills" campaign. You will receive a 1,000 dhs ($275) fee, your car will be impounded for 30 days, and you get 12 black traffic points. Of note, the cars here start beeping when you go over 120km/hr (74mph).

- A man of unknown origin blackmailed his Emirati girlfriend, telling her to marry him or pay him 250,000 dhs ($68,000) or he would publish intimate photos and messages. Apparently, they had dated for 5 years and her parents disapproved of her marrying a non-Emirati. The man will now sit in jail for three years. Don't mess with the Emiratis.

- An Uzbekistani woman and an Arab man were imprisoned for adultery. An Arab woman saw the two enter a construction site together and called authorities. The Uzbekistani woman will serve 3 years in jail, the Arab man 3 months, and both will be deported after they serve their time. Adultery can yield heavy punishment here - anything from prostitution to cohabitation can be considered adultery.

- A Filipina woman and her boyfriend were arrested for adultery. The woman fainted and friends took her to the hospital. Doctors discovered she was pregnant, asked for her husband, and she admitted to being unmarried. Doctors called police and she was arrested at the hospital. Her boyfriend was arrested shortly after and admitted to having a wife and children at home in the Phillipines.

- November 1st was "free ride day" on the metro to celebrate it's anniversary. Magnets were put on cars with pictures of fried eggs that read "It's a cool 20 degrees C on the Metro."

- Now there are numerous complaints of overcrowding during peak hours on the metro, and having to stand "mouth to mouth" with other passengers. No word on the RTA's plans for improvement.

- Date pits may be used in place of synthetic antibiotics for chickens as they have been found to have natural antibiotic properties that leave no residue in the meat. I wonder if they'll start selling "seedless dates" now?

- The Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority reports a 16% rise in hotel guests in the first 9 months of 2010. Glad to know we've contributed to business here :)

Diverse Backgrounds Blamed for Failed Inspections

According to an article in one UAE newspaper, The National, two thirds of the medical facilities in Abu Dhabi FAILED their health inspections last year!

The Health Authority - Abu Dhabi (HAAD) director, Dr. Khalid Fulad, seems to blame this on the "diverse backgrounds" of the workers. Apparently this was most common in smaller clinics since the larger facilities can employ "higher caliber" workers.

Circumstances leading to failure included:

- Doctors saving syringes to use on the same patient on their next visit. Dr. Fulad: "Perhaps that doctor came from a country where there were a lack of syringes. We have to educate these people."

- A lack of medical record-keeping. Doctors complain they don't have enough time...maybe they need a scribe! (that was for my ES peeps)

- Lab techs working on blood and urine specimens with bare hands

- Dentists reusing ampules on different patients

- Equipment being stored in unhygienic conditions, including next to toxic chemicals, and not being properly sterilized.

- A general practitioner serving as an OB/GYN

- A receptionist working as a nurse

HAAD is offering a series of workshops for the healthcare industry, and is "concentrating more on education than enforcement."

Um, how about doing both since people are going to keep coming to these places in the meantime!

Without introducing politics into my opinion, I'll have to say that I'm grateful to be an American. Even in this country of high wages and beautiful scenery, you might get the same syringe they used on you last month.

Halloween in Dubai

Was terribly uneventful, really :) I decided to make Colin a Bamm-Bamm Rubble costume, and I think he pulled it off pretty well. We didn't go to any Halloween events at all, no parties, festivals, or even trick-or-treating. Joe and I even forgot to carve our pumpkin! Guess we weren't really feeling the Halloween spirit this year. Colin wasn't fond of the hat that I worked so feverishly to cover, so we put it on the pumpkin instead. The paper towel roll was an excellent club for bamming...mainly Colin's head.

He also enjoyed looking through the tube, chewing on the ends, and listening to me talk through it.

Apparently, they do trick or treat here in the UAE, but not at our apartment! Joe told me that some of his co-workers were taking their children trick or treating in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, but I think he said they all live in villas.

I really missed Halloween at home this year, especially taking Colin to a pumpkin patch. We didn't go last year so we had planned to take him this year for sure. Guess life had other plans for us!

I got creative with his costume since there aren't any local Joanne's, Michael's or Hobby Lobby stores.

I bought a fleece leopard print blanket at Max to use for the skirt (isn't there a more manly name for it?) and the hat. I cut apart one of Colin's 18mo brown onesies and sewed them together for the sash (again, I'm sure there's another name for it). I cut the bones out of a manila folder. To make the shirt, I just tacked the trimmed blanket fabric onto a pair of cotton shorts with an elastic waistband. The hat is Colin's Braves cap.

I hope you all had a very Happy Halloween!