A Bit of Nothings

Sunday we finally took the day off and had the opportunity to explore Singapore.  It wasn’t the ideal day because it rained all morning and didn’t stop until late afternoon.  I was planning on a full day of exploring the nature preserves of Singapore, but the weather enticed me to stay in bed until almost noon.  There is a porthole next to my bunk, making weather delays easy to determine.  The night before also left me quite exhausted; I was handed numerous drinks ordered by the other sailors, most of which they wouldn’t tell me what was in them.  Tom is a big Norwegian guy, who by the time we got to the bar was sitting at the table with his eyes closed, and he kept checking to see how drunk I was followed by a round of shots.  His favorite is a concoction which is served on fire and you drink it through a straw.  Mikey, the Philippino boat boy, was celebrating his birthday which meant there was a big party.  Michele used to be a French Chef, so he made a Lamb stew, one of the wives made a delicious cake, reminded me of Tiramisu.  At one point in the night I was handed a baby, named Oliver, and he just sat there in my arm while I enjoyed a few cocktails.  Very chill baby, obviously with a name like Oliver.  We were planning on a night sail with a crate of wine, but the rain picked up just as we were paying our tabs.  So instead, Tom ordered 13 shots of tequila and invited us to his boat for a drinks and dancing.  Beautiful Yacht, amazing stereo system, and good American music!  At one point, when my drink was empty and I looked around the room and it was mostly men, I made the genius decision to find my phone and drunk dial a few people.  After numerous catching up conversations while sitting on the bow of Tom’s boat, I finally made it to bed at 5:30.  Hence the slow morning.

In the morning I jumped down from the bunk and fell across the room into a steel fan, cutting my shoulder and breaking a light.  The night before I stuck my thumb in the fan and busted my nail along with slicing my finger.  That fan and I have not been getting along. 

I ended up at a bus station and boarded a bus for the cultural museum.  After 45 minutes of driving by nature preserves and the botanical gardens, I finally got out on Orchard Road.  The gardens looked beautiful and were very tempting but the rain seemed to get worse each time we stopped, plus I wanted to save them for a nicer day when I had my camera.  Orchard Road is a shopping area, kind of like Rodeo Drive.  There are tons of upscale fashion districts, sooo many people, and hundreds of eateries (the main reason I got off was because I was still and little drunk and starving).  I found film for my underwater camera, enjoyed some gyoza and pizza in an English pub (not very cultural but sounded necessary at the time), and wandered through the broad walkways and crowds of people.  I bought a couple of Thai cook books and passed up a few massages.  It was overall an interesting experience, and kept me out of the rain. 

Gaie and Laser returned on Sunday late afternoon, so I decided to take a train back to the boat.  I ended up in the very Northern part of Singapore, a 40 min cab drive back to the marina.  Very pretty and tropical area, reminded me of the mountains in HI where it was very wet.  I finally met Gaie and Laser when I arrived back and joined them for a bottle of wine while we got acquainted on the fore deck.  We partook in a traditional Sunday Night Dinner; the lights are turned off, candles burn in the center of the circle, no one speaks, unless making a toast (or words of wisdom) which everyone then repeats and cheers.  After the meal, we took turns standing and speaking about where we were in life, or just what is on our minds.  Again, all of this is orchestrated without speaking; you simply feel when the time is right.

This morning we had a meeting before breakfast to go over everything that has to be done before Feb 12., which is a mandatory launch date; I was appointed Ship’s Weatherman.  I continued working in the Foxhole, it WILL be completed tomorrow, so tonight I am sleeping in the navigation room on an 18 inch wide bench…how luxurious!!  Throughout the day I had visits from Gaie and Laser, learning more and more about them and their personalities.  Laser is German, a handyman, and a movie buff.  Gaie spent the day working on necessary paper work and sharing her vision for the foxhole.  They both are old Indian Hippies and love Natural Born Killers (great movie)!  Tomorrow morning we have LAB, which is the meditation, and laser taught me some exercises to focus on the realignment of my body.  I also learned more about Saturday mornings, which they call ‘acting class’, the yoga style exercises.

All of the pieces of our voyage are coming together; tasks are being finished, supplies gathered, and the crew arriving aboard Mir.

Naz Zdarovia

GRASSROOTS and Hippie Troops

It is very serene to wake up, walk outside and be at the helm of a boat, feeling the sea breeze on your face, the smell of salt in the air, and pink clouds filling in behind palm trees.  Back in the galley, the smell of coffee filled the air.  We began our Friday just like every Friday to follow by joining in a 45 minute meditation.  When I entered the galley, there were three pillows arranged around the center of the room.  I have slowly been learning the routines of the ship and decided to join this morning’s optional meditation.  It was good to get a feel for the endeavor while there were only three of us so I could be ready to find my spiritual self with the rest of the crew.  The longest I have ever sat in meditation, before today, was 30 minutes of twitching.  Wanting to make a good impression through my personal meditation skills, I practiced my scuba breathing.  After only 20 minutes my entire leg was numb and I had no control of it.  Luckily Yasmina broke first and began stretching her legs and adjusting her position.  I spent the remainder of the time thinking of anything to get my mind off the fact that I couldn’t move or make a sound.  Periodically, I would enter a lackluster gazing meditation by glazing my eyes over and watching Carol, who was in a deep spiritual place.  I am pretty sure that she neither moved a muscle nor blinked her wide open eyes the entire 45 minutes; it was amazing!

Continuing with the ships routine, Saturday morning we will partake in a yoga-esque stretching exercise on deck.  Carol describes it as something more than yoga; we will be ‘putting our bodies in positions that challenge our habitual movements’.  Mir is known as the ‘hippie boat’, partly because of her condition, but mainly because of the way she is operated and the crew she attracts.  I have heard what the typical routine involves, but we are all excited to see what happens when Sativan arrives in a week.  Sativan is a friend of Carol’s, and Yasmina’s, and is a spiritual Brazilian.  They say he is a very passionate man, he has the ability to alter your thinking simply by answering any basic question, and he is a practitioner of the Mayan calendar. It is going to be an interesting few weeks of watching these diverse personalities mesh and letting myself become a part of it.  One of the expats at the bar last night said the only thing I need to do while on Mir is ‘let it happen’.  Not entirely sure what he meant, but he nodded his head and repeated it.

One of the expats asked Carol what we did on our travels, and I learned about many of the grassroots programs Gaie and Laser establish in the islands they sail to.  Most involve educating the local communities about the coral reefs and marine life, aquacultures, waste water treatment, and trash disposal.  They have already received pledges from 5 of the 7 islands of Anambas outlawing the cultivation of sea turtle eggs!  I’m excited to finally meet Gaie and Laser next week and learn all I can about what they do and how they got involved in such an adventurous lifestyle.  Their dream is to inherit a place where they can establish a commune for everyone involved in saving the planet.

Today was full of rain again, but this time the leaks were fixed up pretty well.  I spent the entire day in the foxhole inhaling the fumes of enamel paint, getting wafts of incense each time I passed through the galley, and listening to cannon and machine gun fire from the neighboring military base.  When I came outside to enjoy the cool breeze and check my email, I actually felt the boom of one of the cannon’s firing.  It is an interesting night tonight because the sky is continually lit up by a falling flare and the air is full of the sounds of heavy weapon fire.

Hope all is well with everyone, its been nice to catch up with a few people on skype.  Now im off to finish Happy Gilmore!

Finding my groove as the Ship’s Chippy

The evenings are very peaceful.  The weather is drier, cooler, and there is a nice breeze blowing across the deck.  It is a nice escape from the heat and humidity of the day.  Wednesday was the introduction day to any sort of a routine.  We woke up at 8, toast and coffee, then got to work.  Mir is a reconditioned boat that they inherited in Malta.  The crew signed on for one year in September of 2009 and began transforming her back into a sailing vessel.  They created a slide show of the before and after, which is supposed to be an amazing transformation, but we are waiting to watch it when Gaie and Laser get back from Sri Lanka, since they were the biggest contributors.  Gaie’s vision is to turn the ‘foxhole’, the bunk room at the very front of the ship, where I am currently staying, into a nicer area comprised of 4 private berths.  Since I have the most experience with carpentry, I have been dubbed the Chippy and put in charge of the project.  On Wednesday morning, I was described the ‘vision’ and shown where I can find tools.  I spent the morning dismantling the existing side rail so I could attach a foot and half extension.  I set up shop in the kitchen area where there is plenty of room to move boards and make cuts while having protection from the any possible rain.  We were bombarded by squalls starting just before noon, meaning our new task was to keep pots under the leaks in the galley.  We had quickly arranged the 11 pots and had to resort to newspaper to blot up the drips from the minor leaks.  I was able to carry on with my wood working, Yasmina, the girl from Sweden, spent the day cleaning the pantry and unpacking food, and Carol was in and out; cleaning tools in ‘Bolston’ (the tool room in the bow of the ship),  organizing the engine room, pulling storage out of the dive locker, and lending a hand when needed.  The day went by rather quickly, probably due to the hours of Bob Marley I had playing through the hull, and was quite exhausting, much different than sitting at a desk for 10 hours in an office with a tea boy.  At the end of the work day, the galley was covered in saw dust and the air was thick with particles from the sanding.  This inspired a much needed cleaning of the quarters, which is now very homey (or at least as homey as a rusty ship gets).  The work day is full of tea and biscuit breaks, which can be nice, but sometimes interrupt the flow of things, I guess it’s a British thing. 

Today the sun was shining and we only had a few sprinkles as we were cleaning up.  I was told not to hope for sun, but to envision it; and it worked!  We had a shorter work day because Yasmina and I were planning on going to a near by mall, Jurong Point, for a few items.  I got to enjoy being outside and made all the final cuts, assembled the bunk, and painted it.  Tomorrow morning I make the finishing touches to the deluxe bunk, then start the other side.  Carol spent the day finding holes and filling what she thought were the sites of the many leaks.  Yasmina got familiar with wood oil; everything sticking up above the deck is true wood and needed a fresh coat of oil for protection from the elements while at sea.

The Mall was insane.  So many people, primarily Asians from all over, every store crowded, queues forming behind every counter, and all the eateries were bustling.  I got lost in the basement wandering around for 40 min!  I started at a pharmacy, then through a food court, by the strangest knickknack shops, ended up in the Japanese wing, and finally found the pharmacy, but it was at a different location.  We were at the mall during the worst time, it was afternoon and people are getting ready for Chinese New Year.  I was so relieved to get back to the marina and find Carol at the bar with the other Expats.  It is a very social culture, glued together by pints of beer and stories from the sea.  The other night an Indonesian man stopped by Mir, he was friends of Gaie and Laser’s, and he talked with Yasmina and I for an hour about his experiences (he was a calligraphy artist in NY back in the day!).  I met more of the expat population, all very friendly, interested in your story, and love relating theirs.  Michel showed up at one point, he had just arrived back from picking up supplies and told us how he watched an oil tanker run aground and everybody abandoned ship.  He watched it flip on its side and begin to sink 5 mi off the coast!

I look forward to the weekend; we get a day and half to explore Singapore!  I would like to go to a nature preserve, it has mangrove forest and mudflats, migratory birds are currently flying through, and they have a family of otters living there.  I think it is on the other side of the island, so I might check out the Jurong Bird Park which is just up the street; it is supposed to be incredible!

A Sailor's Life

Life as a sailor is a bit different than working in the Middle East.  For one, alcohol is not illegal, but rather quite the contrary, it is highly encouraged.  We went to the pub last night for a beer before dinner and I enjoyed the company of Michel (a Frenchman), another Brit, and an Aussie.  We had a few beers and discussed future sailing plans and troubles with immigrating to Australia.  A Canadian joined us, it amazing that they sound just like Americans!  While living in the Middle East, I discovered that the people are very private, unless you have a reason to speak with them, they won’t approach you, and conversations are rather limited.  Living in a marina, you find that the exact opposite is true.  Everyone is from a different place and has a different story.  I even met a tall person!!  The first guy I’ve seen over 6’, a big South African guy.  Everyone is very friendly, especially after a couple rounds of beers.  I found out that Monday is typically a slow day because everyone is recovering from the weekend.  One of the marina drinking games involves pairing up with another guy and knocking each others heads into a coconut tree, not sure how you ‘win’.  We spent the evening back on our boat, Michel and the other Brit joined us for a couple of bottles of wine and a case of beer.  I heard stories about the sea, the joys of marriage, and how much better sex is when you pay for it (apparently if you go into town with Tom you only pay half price).  It was a nice evening sitting on the deck enjoying the cool sea breeze and throwing a couple back.  Michel described the beauty of Menjangin and claims that it is some of the best diving in the world!  That got me pretty excited.  After a couple hours of hearing about shagging and getting the advice “what happens anywhere stays anywhere, and if it comes with you it’s a disease”, I retired to my bunk for an interesting night.  The bunk is maybe 6’ long, and that’s being generous, and the cabins trap all the heat and humidity from the day, they are in the steel hull and have no direct breezes, just hatches at the top of the room.  For the first time I missed the XL beds from school, which are also about 25% wider.

This morning I helped off load the ‘cans’ (scuba tanks) so they could be tested, then started scrubbing the wood on the deck.  We have to wash off all of the dirt that has collected from the rain before we can apply the oil to protect from the sun and salt water.  Unfortunately it rained on and off all afternoon, and we can’t oil the wood until it has baked for a while.  Tomorrow I am building bunks all day. Another crew member has just arrived; we are slowly filling up to our 8 man crew for our departure on Feb. 12

World Future Energy Summit

The fourth annual WFES in Abu Dhabi took place this past week.  It is a ‘forum that promotes collaboration, innovation and investment opportunities in renewable energy, environment and clean technology’ (arab news).  Each year it gets bigger and more impressive, attracting countries from all over the world who want to share their products.  The WFES is a way for countries and large companies to showcase their technologies and their services in order to network on a global scale.  Delegates from all over the world tour the exhibits, influencing them to report the back to their heads of state on the future of energy sources.  As the WFES becomes an ever popular event, it begins attracting organizations that also focus on sustainability through green technology, such as self-powered monorail systems and biodiversity groups.  Since the main focus is Green Energy, the majority of exhibitors display their ground breaking technologies.  By introducing them at a global showcase, countries are able to increase outside revenue and create jobs thus boosting their economies.  One of the messages put forth by Ban Ki-Moon and the PM from Portugal was the necessity to increase green energy companies for two reasons: first, competition is good and drives innovation; and second, green technology is the future, it is the energy source of the future, it is the revenue source of the future, it will help economies and provide people with work.

‘Investing in the green economy is not simply a luxury of the developed world.  It represents an opportunity for job creation and economic growth in developing countries, and prosperity for all’ 

                                                                                                                 –Ban Ki-Moon

I went in looking for specific technologies that were applicable to an ecotourism project I was working on.  I not only found many perfect technologies for isolated, off the grid sites, but I was blown away by the technologies available in general.  The President of MIT addressed the Young Future Energy Leaders (YFEL) and made a hopeful claim; our generation is going to be the one to take global interests, like fast cars and low costing products, and incorporate green technologies into not only our needs, but also our luxuries.  It is an exciting time to get involved in Green Technologies and the time is right, soon there will be frenzy!

‘The World Future Energy Summit…provides a platform for global cooperation in renewable energy and sustainability…Climate Change is one of the defining challenges of our time’ –Ban Ki-Moon

I’ve put a link to his entire speech under ‘links to the UAE’ 

Ahoy Paloy!!

Finally made it to Singapore!!  Last week after the World Future Energy Summit, my dad had health emergency.  He had terrible stomach pains caused by a faulty insulin pump, which allowed his blood sugar levels to get out of whack.  I had to drive him to the closest hospital, a brand new Indian hospital, so they could monitor him, better to be safe then sorry when dealing with a diabetic!  While in the Hospital he had a mild heart attack and spent two nights in ICU.  For obvious reasons, I postponed by trip until he was stable and back home.  We both left Abu Dhabi, my father for Denver, and I was bound for Singapore. 

Flying over Abu Dhabi is like nothing I have ever seen before.  There is nothing but desert, which is pitch black in the middle of the night, cut through by bright orange paths connecting series of strangely lit geometric shapes.  On every road stands a powerful street light spaced every 30 yards, causing every street to be continuously lit by a sharp orange glow.  The developments are all built up in quadrants, causing each one to form the shape of a rectangle (which includes perfect squares).  Inside each illuminated quadrant is a series of smaller rectangles perfectly placed equidistant from one another.  Amazing geometry created by the lights of the infrastructure of a soon to be metropolis.

Singapore Air is quite the airlines.  Friendly flight attendants, all Asians dressed in Asian style clothing with Asian designs, superb in-flight entertainment, over 900 videos to choose from (about 30% are Kung-fu), over 300 audio channels, and even language tutorials…I received a 96% in Level 1 Indonesian, learning phrases (“Apakah nomor telepon anda??  Anda cantik…”), numbers, vocab, and days of the week!!

We started our descent over Northern Indonesia and Malaysia, BEAUTIFUL coastal waters!  Finally we circled around to the coast of Singapore; we were met by a large bay full of tankers and cargo ships waiting to pull into the harbor to offload supplies. 

The weather is overcast and warm (32 C, around 88 F).  Leaving the terminal, I took a train to baggage claim and was accompanied by a pack of tiny people.  I believe the average height out here is 5’, and every man has a camera/video camera attached to his hand.  I flew over with the national Singapore Bowling team and was in a picture with them when they were greeted by their loyal fans outside of customs!  The Airport is located on the far east coast, which meant I had to take a taxi (or ‘taksi’ in Indonesian) the furthest distance you can travel in the country, to the far west coast where Raffles Marina is located.  We drove by the NEW most expensive hotel in the world (which barely surpassed the Emirates Palace) and the HUGE shipping harbor.  When we were approaching it I thought it was a large construction site because there are so many cranes waiting to move cargo.  I arrived at Raffles Marina and was greeted by Carol, the Brit who has been alone onboard Mir for a few weeks now.  She is very nice and easy to get along with.  She took me out to the end of Dock G where the 113 ft Steel hulled boat sat tied up at dock.  She is a beautiful boat, a bit of rust giving her blue hull personality, and outfitted with a 30 meter wooden mast in the center and an all wooden deck and interior.  Entering the cabin there is a lounge area, followed by a kitchen (with pantry and bathroom located aft of the cooking and eating area), and then a corridor leading to the bow of the ship where there are 5 private berths.  One has been converted into a study, two containing larger beds (for Gaie and Laser), one double, and a room with 4 bunks furthest forward (where I will be staying).  Behind the living quarters is the helm (a giant wooden wheel), and the ports to the engine room and scuba room.  Off the port side I can see a bridge (one of two) connecting Singapore to Malaysia, supposed to be a beautiful country.

For the next three weeks (roughly), I will be acclimating to the heat/humidity, getting my sea legs, and helping prepare the boat for her voyage.  There is another crew member arriving tomorrow, she is Bolivian I believe, and 5 more over the course of the coming weeks.  

I hope Everyone is Well!!

Moving to Asia to become a pirate

I have recently returned to Abu Dhabi.  I am here for a short two weeks to get ready for a REAL adventure.  I have been invited by the Biosphere Foundation to be a part of their marine research.

A little background:  The Biosphere Foundation has numerous programs based off of their boat Mir, a 113 ft double masted tall ship.  One of the oldest programs is coral reef research, documenting the health of reefs all over the world.  This season, Mir will be hosting research projects collecting data on coral reef health and sea turtles (I put links to their websites at the bottom of this page).  One of their ongoing projects is called ‘Studio of the Sea’ which puts together films to help raise awareness about the beauty of the ocean and the hazardous rate of its destruction.  Gaie and Laser are two of the scientists that I have been in contact with.  These are not their real names, but nicknames they adopted while part of Biosphere 2.  Many people are familiar with the movie Bio-Dome where Bud and Doyle get trapped in a bubble for 1 year, but few realize that this scientific experiment actually happened.  Gaie and Laser were part of the real Biosphere project.

I have been researching grants to try to raise funding for this foundation in order to join them for 6-9 months of research.  Since most of the deadlines are towards the end of the year, I was too late to apply for any.  Gaie presented me with a proposal to join Laser’s crew and help prepare the boat for research operations.

On Jan. 20^th I will be boarding Mir in Singapore to help build bunks, outfit the rigging, and complete the finishing touches for the 9 month journey.  On Feb. 12^th we will be launching from Raffles Marina beginning a week long voyage for Jakarta, the Capital of Indonesia.  There are meetings set up in Jakarta to get approval for the research and time for the crew to see friends in the area.  I will have the opportunity to explore the city during the week that we are in harbour.  Feb. 26^th we will depart on another week long sail bound for Menjangan Island, Bali.  This is where the boat will remain until the rest of the research team arrives at the end of March.  I will be onboard Mir for around two weeks while we are anchored off the coast of Bali, assisting with marine surveys and testing the scuba equipment!  I have a flexible ticket departing from Singapore on Mar. 22^nd to head back to Abu Dhabi, but I may be asked to stay on Mir longer to remain part of the crew and begin learning about their research.

As of now, I am planning on either exploring Bali for a couple of days, or travelling back through Java on route to Singapore for my ultimate departure from the region.  I have been in contact with a local guide, Prita, to learn more about the area and must see places, and I am still waiting to hear from Mason and Stefanie.  We spoke before they left, but I didn’t get my itinerary until the day they departed.  We are trying to meet up somewhere in Malaysia or Thailand.  I hope they are safe and well and I get a chance to see them!!

What it is I do

I have been asked what exactly I do out here...how does an American Biology graduate provide anything beneficial to a sustainable consultancy for the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.  Well, there has been a bit of a learning curve I’ve had to overcome.  Starting out, I not only had to acclimate to office life, but also high outdoor temperatures (wearing business attire in high 90 to low 100 degree weather can get a little uncomfortable) and a 10 hour time difference.  I remember my first assignment, which was to research ‘CSR policies’ and make a template for iMCC Green.  My research skills quickly came together, inhibited a bit by Arabic, which was the language every search came back in, and I was able to discovered the value of Corporate Social Responsibility Policies; some big companies do actually care about their employees and the environment!!  I have also learned Photoshop, and was given the tedious task of producing documents (google earth maps with sites identified) for LEED submissions, and after was given the challenge of making a photo of a house my dad built in the fall of the 80s appear as though it was taken last summer.  For the most part, however, my three month internship involved researching and writing templates.

In order to effectively manage my time and be sure I wasn’t stuck sitting at my desk without assignments, counting down the minutes of the 9 to 10 hour work day, I created my own protocol for my day to day activities.  Every morning I visit inhabitat, a website containing articles on practically every realm of sustainability, among other things.  It helps me ease into the work day by reading about new projects and technologies that are relevant to my work, as well as anything else that seems interesting.  Most days I find 5-8 articles that lead my morning research, most of which is forwarded to the office to help keep them up to date on developments in green technologies and sustainable projects and concepts.  Aside from researching, I have been writing templates for iMCC Green.  The templates consist of green office policies, CSR policies, sustainability fact sheets, and employee sustainability handbooks.  Some of these templates I have adapted for an oil company’s new office and others for Hilton’s new hotel.  Although I have no experience with this, it turns out it is just like writing a paper...I spend a few hours doing research, then I compile everything I have learned into a well formatted final product.  Making presentations is also somewhat familiar; searching the internet for cool pictures and throwing them on a power point with references.  I look forward to travel days the most, going to meetings and touring sites, where I get to take pictures for the archives.  These are great because I get out of the office and get to meet new people, all of whom are very interesting!

Most recently I began sailing with an adventure company, Noukhada, and am in charge of their ecotourism project.  They want to expand their kayaking program and build their sailing club, which they have asked me to be a part of, and create overnight camp grounds on small mangrove islands off the coast of Abu Dhabi.  Coincidently, we have learned that this year Abu Dhabi is making a big push into investing in ecotourism projects, hopefully ours will be on the forefront of many more to come!!

Overall I have learned lots about green technologies, sustainability practices, and I have found many opportunities drawing me to this part of the world.

What it’s like over here...

This initial entry is to basically make sure everything is running smoothly, and more importantly to assure myself that I know what I’m doing.  Many people have asked so... Here is what it is like in the UAE

As most people know, I took the first opportunity to travel and live abroad after graduation.  While I wasn’t on my own, living and working with my father, I have enjoyed being immersed in a VERY foreign culture.  I am able to find some similarities, but they all come with an Arabic twist.  While the national language is Arabic, the national business language is English, which helps out.  The Emirates is a newly wealthy region, making all of the major cities quite young.  Dubai is a jaw-dropping place that stretches along the coast of the Persian Gulf.  It isn’t a dense city, like NY, but rather it is a city made up of monstrously tall buildings designed with either a modern Arabian style or simply futuristic.  Looking at NYC, the tallest building is the Empire State Building, which stands at 102 stories (or 1,454 ft including its super structures), and pretty much towers over the entire skyline.  Not only does Dubai contain many buildings around 100 stories and taller, but it is home to the world’s tallest building; The Burj (which means tower in Arabic) Khalifa stands at 2,717 ft tall, nearly twice as tall as the Empire State Building.  During the economic boom in Dubai they began building any project that looked out of this world, many of which have been permanently suspended due to the economy.  The projects that are now completed are incredible, like the man made islands in the shape of palm trees and the continents, an indoor ski slope attached to one of the many malls, the largest glass panel in the world (part of the Dubai aquarium located in another mall), among many other rather expensive endeavours (Check out the link to scroll through a picture timeline of Dubai).

Driving about an hour and half west through sand dunes and little pull off rest stops, you come to Abu Dhabi.  Although Abu Dhabi is not as extravagant as Dubai, it is the wealthiest city in the world.  It is made up of many islands, each serving a different function.  The main island contains the old city (where I work), there is a cultural Island (saddiyat) which contains less than a handful of finished buildings, Yas Island is the entertainment section (where I live), currently more developed but still a few years from completion.  Many of the islands in Abu Dhabi are still under construction, but by 2015 it should be a very impressive location.  Of course Abu Dhabi also has many attractions like the world’s second most expensive hotel (the Emirates Palace), unfortunately Singapore just finished a more expensive one, and the world’s 8^th largest mosque, Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque (home of the world’s largest carpet and largest chandelier).

As for the people; the men wear white cloaks (dishdash) and head scarves (guthra) held in place by black rope (egal) and the women wear black robes (abaya) and black head scarves(either shela or hijab), some also wear veils over their faces (burqa) and even gloves.  The nationals are very wealthy and very few.  They all have servants, typically Asians, and those who work are involved in government jobs.  Like I said they are very few; only 20% of the residents in the UAE are nationals, and that doesn’t include the many consultants (and people like me) who work in the country with visitor visas.  The entire labour force is brought in from third world countries like India and Pakistan.  They come over with 2-4 year contracts and send the majority of their earnings home.  They live in labour camps and are bussed in and out of the city for their work shifts.  The next group are skilled labourers, who can ‘’speak’’ English.  They work in the restaurants, at the hotels, and in the offices as tea boys, parking attendants, and drivers.  They are very friendly, but I cannot understand a word our tea boy or driver say, and by the way, our tea boy wears a tuxedo.  Then there are the business expats who are educated in engineering and architecture and so on.  These are the people I meet with and learn about projects.  Everybody has a different background and there is a vast difference in each person’s ability to communicate in English, it literally reminds me of a Star Wars movie, trying to interact with ‘beings’ that are so foreign and I can barely understand.

Over all it has been a great experience.  The UAE is a very safe place and seems to be an international hub.  It is a great place to meet people from all over the world!!