Dubai

Our first family vacation this year was to the city of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. It was a FUN-FILLED five days.

But it almost did not happen. Because Canada and the UAE have some political disagreements, it is not always easy for Canadians to visit Dubai. In fact, the airline in Doha was reluctant to let us on the plane thinking that we may well be turned away in Dubai and sent home on the first plane back. Tim took a quick trip from the airport back to our house in Doha to get some extra identification papers that would make our entry a bit easier. It worked and, in the end, some extra time and money made the trip possible.

We traveled with some American friends from Doha. They had no trouble getting into the UAE with less time and less money!

Dubai is a city of FUN. Our first stop was the Aquaventure Water Park at the Atlantis Hotel. This is a park overflowing with water fun! With 2 km of lazy river and rapids plus 6 slides that empty into a shark pool and aquarium, there was something for everyone! Tim was the only one that took the 27 metre (90 feet) "Leap of Faith" -- a straight drop into a transparent tube and through the Shark Lagoon. We spent a glorious day relaxing, tanning, being thrilled, and laughing our heads off.

Max is rolling inside this snowball

The highlight for Max and Simon was going to "Ski Dubai". This is a 61 metre (200 feet) indoor ski hill with five ski slopes. It also has a variety of other cold activities: a pool of penguins, a rolling snowball slope, a hot chocolate stand, several tubing runs, and a luge track.




It was -2 degrees Celsius inside and 30 degrees outside. We were outfitted in snowsuits, boots, and fleece mitts. Our noses and toes were frozen after three hours.

Tim's highlight was going up the tallest building in the world. At 828 metres (2800 feet) the Burj Khalifa is also beautiful to look at. It is made of over 26,000 glass window panels and is shaped like a bundle of tubes. It takes 36 workers four months to clean the exterior of the building.

"The hot humid air outside, combined with the cooling requirements of the building results in a significant amount of condensation of moisture from the air. The condensed water is collected and drained into a holding tank located in the basement car park." This water is then used to water the grass and gardens at the base of the building.

We ascended on the world's fastest elevator to the 124th floor. At night the view was spectacular. The Dubai Fountain, at the base of the Burj, is also a fabulous display of water, music and lights. Apparently, the movie Mission Impossible 4 has one scene where Tom Cruise is climbing the outside wall of the Burj Khalifa. We saw photos of this but have not seen the movie yet. 

We spent a second day at Dubai's second water park, "Wild Wadi". Another beautiful day relaxing.

And even more water when we went to the Dubai Aquarium and underwater Zoo. The plexiglass aquarium window won the 2008 Guinness World Record for Largest Acrylic Panel for an Aquarium.

Lisa's most interesting activity in Dubai was to go to a Fish Spa. People sit around a pool filled with thousands of garra rufa fish from Turkey. These "doctor fish" were originally used to treat people with psoriasis by eating off the dead skin to promote healing. Now the fish are used as Spa treatment for dead skin on feet. It feels a little weird to have all those toothless fish nibbling on your skin. But when you get used to it, the result is smooth skin much like a pedicure. Of course, the United States has shut down many of these Fish Spa treatments because of the potential spread of infection. Hmmm.

Tailor-Made

In preparation for a night on the town, Tim and the boys had suits made. A month before the event we found a fabulous tailor down town. On the first visit, Tim, Simon, and Max chose fabric and style and were measured.  Tim chose a black Italian wool for a tuxedo. Max chose a charcoal cashmere made in the UK.  Simon chose a black pinstripe by Georgio Armani. Each one also picked cotton-silk fabric for a shirt.

The second visit was to try on the partially-made suit. The tailor, Philipe, was extraordinary.  Lisa especially enjoyed watching him cut fabric for a new item.  With huge scissors and no pattern, he created pants or a shirt or a jacket in just minutes. Philipe looked at each of our suits and made chalk markings in different places.  He actually ripped Simon's sleeves right off! It was a pleasure to watch him work so quickly and effortlessly.

In total we made four trips to the tailor for various fittings. It became something we looked forward to because there were always the most interesting people hanging out there! One night we met this Professor from Carnegie Melon University.  He was picking up some new bow ties and getting fitted for a new coat. We had a wonderful time talking with him. On another occasion there was a Qatari man having a suit made for his friend. We were all taken by the gorgeous cut of his thobe.

This past Saturday was the night we had prepared for. It was a black tie event for the Model United Nations program at Qatar Academy. Dinner and a Film Festival at the Grand Hyatt Hotel was everything we had hoped for. Delicious food, great company, and 9 short films made by students. The purpose of the event is to give students an opportunity to raise awareness about an issue through the medium of film. Topics included the protests in Syria, bottled water, migrant workers in Doha, victims of Japan's tsunami, and child labourers in Lebanon.

Signage

The sign for washrooms at Mathaf Museum

A new country usually means getting used to new signs.  Sometimes it takes awhile to figure out what the sign means.  Sometimes it is just a new way of expressing an old idea. Here are some of our local favourites.

This sign is common outside of the city (and occasionally in the downtown). It means that there may be camels crossing.

This sign is everywhere! It indicates a crosswalk.

This one is obvious to us because it looks exactly like a Qatari man.  It should be obvious to you because there are English words.

Greenery

Living in the desert makes you long for things -- like rain, trees, greenery of any kind.  Last weekend Lisa took a field trip to the local greenhouse operation to get a fix of gardening sights and smells. There were many people there -- some purchasing plants for their homes and gardens, others just enjoying the quiet, clean air that plants can bring.

It was surprising that Lisa recognized many plants and flowers from Canada and/or Kenya. Hibiscus, marigolds, Gerber daisies, gardenia, geranium, orchids, were all there and thriving from tiny plants to market-ready. Lisa also recognized a gardener that resembled her Aunt Joan -- the woman really knows her plants and loves to have her hands in the soil.

Another surprise was that there were not many cacti for sale.  Given a desert, one might have expected cactus..... stereotypes! Instead there was a "twisty" theme to many of the shrubs. Twisty trunks, twisty leaves, twisty trails, decorative twisty work.

The city of Doha also bears the handiwork of the greenhouse. All public spaces are covered with petunias this time of year -- roundabouts, curbsides, parking lot gardens, medians, boulevards.

Each early morning Lisa also sees the gardeners at Education City working to coax some greenery and colour from the dry soil.  It takes lots of time and lots of water, but their efforts pay off with many acres of plants and flowers.

   

"Discover Nursing"

For those people who wonder why the blog has had less frequent postings of late.......  here is the answer!

In January Lisa started working at the University of Calgary -- Qatar (UCQ) School of Nursing. This has been a time of adjustment for our whole family.

The Nursing program at UCQ began here in Doha in 2007.  There are two nursing degree programs offered. One is the Post-Diploma Bachelor of Nursing program for people who already hold a diploma in nursing. This is a highly motivated group of individuals!  There is also a Bachelor of Nursing Regular Track program for people who do not already work as nurses.  Some of these students are direct from high school and others have been living in Doha and working in another field.

All of the faculty at UCQ are Canadians.  There are 20 Nursing Faculty teaching in the two Nursing programs. There are also 20 faculty teaching in the Foundation year.  Foundation is the program that students are required to take prior to beginning the nursing program.  It is a year (or more) of English, Math, and Science courses for the purpose of establishing a common level of proficiency.  For many of these students, English is their second, third, or fourth language.  They also come from a variety of countries and school systems.

There are currently 212 students attending classes at UCQ. The diversity of the student population is one of the most challenging and most rewarding aspects of this job.  About 33 % of these students are Qatari (born and grew up here in Qatar).  The other 67% are from a variety of backgrounds.  In order to enroll as a student, a person must already have a Residence Permit for Qatar (parent or husband has a job here, for example). Six percent of the students are male. Lisa's clinical group of four students has one Qatari, one Egyptian, one Philippine, and one Russian.  Sounds like fun, eh?

This term Lisa is teaching first year nursing students two courses: N211 Health Assessment and N209 Clinical Practice.  It is a challenging teaching opportunity because of the language and cultural differences. The first adjustment was to the unfamiliar names and dress of the students.  Jawaher, Hourraa, Wafa, Shouq, and Gahrymon now seem easy to pronounce.  It also gets easier to recognize someone from their face alone. Most of the students wear an abaya over their clothes and a hijab on their head.  It was interesting to realize how much we rely on hair, style of clothes, and body shape to identify people.  When no one's hair shows, and everyone is wearing the same shapeless black robe, you quickly learn to notice facial features and voice.

An initial surprise was the first day of Lab when students come to practice clinical skills and are required to wear a Lab coat and the UCQ burgundy uniform.  The students arrive wearing abayas and leave these on hooks by the door, revealing lab coats and uniforms underneath. The head remains covered with a white hijab (not the usual black).

With the winter term reaching halfway, and Midterm exams and evaluations behind, Lisa is starting to feel more comfortable with being back in the classroom.

Guests from China

 

During our Winter Break in February we were thrilled to have Tim's brother, Alan, and Tricia spend a week with us.  They have been living in Shenyang, China for a year and were happy to leave the snow behind and experience a desert vacation. We had a wonderful time seeing the local sights, tasting the local foods, sharing the Arab culture, and chatting about China.  We are looking forward to our trip to visit them!

It seems that we spent a lot of time eating..... It is so much fun to eat Middle Eastern food.  Usually there are large platters of food set in the middle of the table and everyone uses Arabic bread to scoop out the hummus, olive salad, labneh, baba ganouche and chicken tikka.  We ate dates on a regular basis and had fresh Arabic bread (pita) with every meal.

A new experience for us was to go fishing on the Gulf.  We hired a beautiful boat to take us on a 4 hour tour.  Unfortunately, the day we went out was the end of a three day sand storm. The day was gorgeous in port but the wind was still high and the swells were 8 feet when we left the shelter of the Corniche.  Lisa became very seasick (despite Gravol) so the actual fishing time lasted a mere 30 minutes.  However, we took advantage of having a luxurious boat for the afternoon, and spent time cruising gently in the calmer waters.  We stopped at a sand bar for a swim and a stroll, gawked at the mansions on the Pearl (that you can't see from the shore), and lingered over our well-packed lunch.

Tim and Alan spent a night in the desert  with 80 other men. This was a Desert Retreat that featured dune-bashing, wonderful food, and big tents that make the experience very comfortable. Thankfully the sand-storm had long passed, but the wind off the water at the Inland Sea made for a chilly night.

Another first for us was to visit the Sheikh Faisal Museum.  This is a private collection of ..... stuff.  The man has gathered door frames, artwork, cars, weapons, manuscripts, fossils, Islamic art, etc from all over the world.  It was a most unusual collection.  Some of us appreciated the eccentricity more than others.

 

Our time in the city included trips to the Museum of Islamic Art, several visits to the Souk Waqif, the Mathaf Museum of Modern Art, Go-Karting, walking along the Corniche, shopping at Villagio Mall,  and, of course, hanging out at the pool and Clubhouse.

Happy Birthday Max

Today Max turned 14 years old! Like most parents, over the years we have wondered if our parenting decisions will negatively or positively impact our children.  Is it a good idea to move a 10 year old to Kenya? A 13 year old to Qatar? Will he make new friends?  How will he cope if he is the only white boy in his class? The only Canadian? Will he make the academic transition from French Immersion to English instruction? From Canadian curriculum to American?  From regular curriculum to International Baccalaureate? Max has been a wonderful example of how adaptable a child can be. Is it all good?  Time will tell.  For now, we continue along, praying lots, worrying a little.  And all the while being very proud of our eldest son.

To celebrate today we had presents for breakfast and then went to the Mongolian Grill for supper. We even splurged on a little Cold Stone for dessert!