December at the Beach

Here's a picture from the UAE vs. Manchester City football game here in Abu Dhabi...

The weather here is amazing, now that the humidity is gone, and the sun still remains. We've been in the upper 70's, low 80's with a fabulous breeze nearly every day. Mallori and I purchased bicycles and have been riding frequently to get into shape, and we've become fans of the Abu Dhabi Corniche, a paved boardwalk that runs across the island. It's truly a vast difference between here and winters in Ohio, Virgina, or New York, the other places i've experienced. I definately would recommend a visit here to anyone during this time of year.

We decided to spend my entire Eid vacation here in the UAE, and it was a terrific break from my students and the stress of teaching. Although we had hopes of traveling, we were able to experience Dubai and Al Ain, other cities within a couple hours of Abu Dhabi. We drove up a 1000 meter mountain near Al Ain, towards Oman's border, and it was possibly the steepest hill i've driven up. My little Yaris did a good job getting up that climb. We didn't go quite to the top, as Mal wanted to turn back, wanting to wait until we had a larger or safer vehicle...the yaris is making some weird noises...Either way, it was beautiful.

We spent Dec. 2nd, UAE's National Day in the city at the Corniche, to find quite a show of immaturity as well as flare when it comes to pride of culture. It is a young country, so much hooplah and display is presented to show the 80 percent of the population who are not native that the locals are still proud of who they are. People decorate their cars with anything from stickers or magnets to teddy bears and screen printed 'skins' that cover entire cars with UAE colors and photos. The sheik's photo and that of his late father is posted everywhere, from signs in the city to tatoos on kids faces. People are screaming, honking horns, spraying silly string, and dancing around as if tomorrow won't come, all in celebration of their country's birth 38 years ago. I guess the excitement demonstrated shows pride, however the lack of seatbelts and immaturity of the young people towards each other doesn't show that they care too much about themselves or others. Children were standing through sunroofs, sitting on hoods, jumping in and out of moving cars, sitting in front of the steering wheel, and parents just sit back and enjoy the dilinquents that they are creating, the same misfits I have to teach each day. It reminds me quite of bit of the Puerto Rican Day parade in NYC, except the police in NYC don't turn their heads as they do here. It was many accidents waiting to happen, and we didn't want to wait around to see. We caught a smaller show of fireworks on the way out of town, as well as avoided hours of traffic by leaving early. We're still trying to develop our understanding of what it meants to be Emirati, but that day was probably not a good impression to go by.