Photo Dump: Masdar City tour / Cricket match / Oman desert adventures

I'm sticking with the theme that pictures are better than words (and also much easier!) For those of you who want to see ALOT of pics, check out my latest updates which include:

• our tour of Masdar City
• first cricket match between the two powers of Pakistan and South Africa
• adventures into the desert and into Oman (for a little bit - full story coming soon...)
• the Iranian souks in Abu Dhabi

CHECK EM' HERE

for those of you with shorter attention spans, here are a few quick shots:

Masdar City - a Masdar Institute building

My first cricket match: Pakistan vs. South Africa

Finally into the real desert! Just off the highway...

Crossing of the Cultures: Oktoberfest and Arabic Mourning

So a quick post: today I a unique juxtaposition of cultural happenings - one odd and delightful; the other a bit embarassing. It starts like this: I leave my hotel room enroute to the gym in the basement, but on my way, I'm pleasantly surprised by a full on Oktoberfest party happening outsideside. Huge German buffet, beer flowing, sausages, cabbage, preztels and mustard everwhere. Despite my intentions to get to the gym, I was lured into the this spectacle of deliciousness and fun - who would've thought I could find the festivities, tastes and atmosphere of Munich, Germany all the way in the desert?! Guess you can truly find anything out here.

Anyhow, after eating seven varieties of cabbage and multiple pork-based delights, I rolled to the gym, turned up the speakers and began my workout. This is where the embarassment and cultural faux-paux (?) occurs...the gym attending quickly came in, turned down the speakers and told me that no music is allowed for the next seven day...why? because the Sheihk Saqr, the Ruler of neighboring emirate Ras Al Khaimah, passed away this morning. Unlike the US, where folks might be sad, and flags are flown at half staff, the entire UAE nation has entered a mourning period for the next seven days (although gov't run offices will continue work)....so bottom line, I learned a lesson. Thank god I was the only one in the gym at the time - otherwise I would've felt really humbled.

So, two cultural experiences this evening. One a bit ridiculous and fun; the other a lesson to remember and respect.

In hopefully happier news, a few of us are hoping to cross the border (not sure which one) this weekend for a quick 36 hour adventure. Hopefully I'll have some pics of Oman, Jordan, or somewhere else new to post by Saturday evening...stay tuned.

Weekend Update #2: Daytrip Up to Dubai

Yesterday, on Friday (our Saturday), the crew hitched a ride up to Dubai (about 60 minutes north) with a co-worker/neighbor, Andrew the expat from the UK. We were up in Dubai for about 5 hours and I had the chance to see and do at least 4 several "life firsts":

• see motorcycle and car racing live at the track (we were literally in garages and pits at the Dubai Autodrome)
• see the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa tower (it was damn high)
• get my haircut by and Indian gent (best, quickest and cheapest 'do I've found in a long while)
• saw the indoor ski "mountain" inside a mall. Wasn't sure if I should laugh, be disgusted or go join the fake fun - I'll leave it up to you.

Definitely an action-packed day, that I'm almost postive, couldn't be found anywhere else in the world. Over-the-top? Maybe. A bit hilarious? Possibly. A unique experience and something new? Definitely. So, as they say, words just don't have any shot against pictures, so I'll leave it up the magic camera to tell you all the rest of the Dubai story:

The Khalifa Tower

Weekend Update #1: Photos Finally

So I finally got my act together (and the necessary camera chip) to be able to load all my pictures up. I sent out the link to my current photo album to several of ya'll, but just in case you missed, this should take you there too:

CLICK HERE FOR EVAN'S UAE PICS

Take a peek - hopefully these pics give a glimpse into the odd, over-the-top, interesting, different and new things I've been seeing lately...

The Big Move..32 Seconds Away

This weekend was all about the big move to our permanent residence. Out with the Vegas-style, racing themed, ultra chic Yas Hotel, and in with the much more homey and comfortable Staybridge Suites only about 1/4 mile from the Yas. Moving literally consisted of throwing my stuff in a suitecase, hailing a cab, riding for 49 seconds, and walking into the lobby of our new digs.

While we're still in the neighborhood, its a whole new feeling over here. I won't be waking up to Forumla One racecars blasting outside my window and the constant feeling of being on a futuristic spaceship. Instead, I now have a fully stocked one bedroom apartment with kitchen, washer/dryer, living room, with (thank god) regular room cleaning...the whole bit really (I'll attach pics soon - camera card arriving soon). For now, here what my crib looks like, excluding the kitchen.

Two weeks at the Yas extravaganza was perfect; anymore more time there and I might've started drinking the kool-aid and ended up with a faux-hawk, sunglasses at night and a love of 33 dollar cocktails.

If anybody reading this has ever lived abroad, hopefully they too know the joy and amusement that I experienced today: grocery shopping for the first time in a new country. Of course there are plenty of western-style items from Europe, etc - but also plenty of novel and fun things to check out. Don't worry, I took a few pics and will attach soon as well. While it felt like a normal grocery for the most part, there are plenty of fun wildcards:

• the cordonned off pork section with a sign reading "for non-Muslims only"
• the laundry detergent specifically designed for women's burquas - hint: if you want to keep the black in your black clothes, THIS is the stuff for sure
• a small cup of cottage cheese costs about 12 bucks or something ridiculous
• a huge can of (i'm hoping) delicious homous is a bargain basement 1 dollar

Big Saturday eh?

Anyhow, to keep things short, the rest of life mostly consists of work on the weekdays (still incredibly challenging and worth every second of it) and hanging out with my APCO-ite pals which hail, so far, from London (x2), D.C. and in couple hours, my Seattle cleantech compadre Rob.

Will post again soon with more adventures, and I guarantee, a load of pictures.

Made It Off the Island!

So last I wrote, I was about to finally go see something OTHER than the Masdar offices and the Yas Hotel. Thanks to Alisha's good pal (and my new favorite person) Hanan, a 20 year veteran of Abu Dhabi, we had the chance to drive into A.D. on Friday night to see the Corniche, the Emirate Palace and massive skyscrapers and the ridiculousllllly bad traffic. Happily though, the drive ended at a yacht club where the M.O. for the night was "sit on outdoor couch with friends, smoke some sheesha (its only tobacco and I didn't inhale Mom), and basically - relax. No complaints here.

The Emirate Palace: - yup, they service GOLD sprinkled strawberries here. No joke.

Last night, Rasika, Darren and headed back into A.D. for a bite to eat and some more siteseeing. Highlights included:

• dining underneath the world's second tallest flagpole (it was THE tallest until neighboring Jordan stole the crown recently).


• sitting on the waterfront drinking fresh squeeze lemon/mint juice (my new favorite drink)


• jetskiers just a splash away, many of which are ridiculous. (that's me on the left, in the blue stripes) Neon lights on a jetski? Come on, do you REALLY not have something better to spend money on?
  

So for the sake of brevity (actually, sleep) I'm going to cut this post short. But long story short, I finally made it off Yas Island!

A Wide Wide World...in my hotel

Finally getting some breathing/thinking time today (remember, Friday = Saturday in the Arab region) after an amazing, yet draining first week getting integrated into the Masdar team. Sleeping past 6am was a godsend this morning. So was finally hearing the voices of some loved ones: had the chance to do some Google Voice chatting with Lisa, Zach and Amanda who are all hanging out in Seattle without me.

Email/blogging/Twitter only do so much, so hearing and seeing them was great (and if anybody else out there wants to see my mug on Skype or GoogleChat, just holler).

In additional to finally getting some breathing, thinking and Gchat time, I also finally made a long-overdue appearance to the gym. I know nobody cares, but I had to note this, since I'm now feeling MUCH better about the fact that I've hit up that 5-star buffet downstairs like four times this week. It dangerous, trust me - 22 dessert options is trouble.

Speaking of food, that brings me to the title of this post...I'm sitting out on the patio of one of the restuarants and getting a very global (and surreal) feel: eating SE asian food, being served by a Japanese woman, listening to Arab parents yell at their kids, although while writing to my friends and fam back in the US. I love it. Oh, and should probably mention, this is all happen while Formula One race cars are practicing on the track, literally 35 feet from me. Not sure what is more annoying though, the V12 engines or the two kids across from me screaming and running around.

Next post should be a bit more exciting - I'm finally getting off the Yas Hotel island to see A.D...a friend of Alisha (my co-worker in Seattle) is coming to pick up me and Rasika to head to the beach and smoke some hookah. Can't say I've done either of those things recently. Oh and in case any grandparents or employers of mine are reading, hookah is only tobacco. Nothing illegal going on here, just harmful to my lungs.

Hope to have some pics of the beach next time I post. Adios! (still haven't learned Arabic yet...)

0567891763

I think this is my new cell phone number here in A.D...i think. Perhaps one of my 2-3 blog followers could give it a test dial? I'll be standing by eagerly, awaiting your calls. Or asleep.

Made it to Thursday (Friday)

It's Thursday night, which in the UAE, means the beginning of the weekend. (And before anybody asks - nope, I haven't seen any T.G.I Thursday's as of yet in A.D...although Starbucks was the first establishment I saw when arriving at the A.D. airport).

So, you're thinking, first Thursday night in A.D. for Evan - he's probably down at the Corniche at some trendy night club, at tonight's soccer match between Brazil and Iran at the Zayed Sports City or maybe out in the desert camping under the stars...

Nope, not so much. Try leaving the office at 8pm, ordering room service and writing a blog post - how's that for a blast of a Thursday (Friday) night? I'm only taking solace in this poor excuse of a weekend night because when I say room service, I mean one of the best meals I've had in a long, long time from the Indian restuarant restuarant downstairs in the lobby, all delivered to my room on a rolling table with a white cloth. Yeah, a bit different than what I'm used to.

Back to my pathetic life that (barely) exists beyond the Masdar offices. I've been here exactly four days now and have still only been to three places: the airport, the hotel and the office. Fortunately, it looks like I'll be able to expand beyond that trifecta of fun tomorrow - my friend and work colleague from Seattle, Alisha, has connected me with her college friend, an A.D. local for more than 20 years. Not sure what is on the docket, but as long as she takes me somewhere besides the Yas Hotel, Masdar offices, or the A.D. airport, I'll be a happy camper.

I'll wrap up this post, both because I'm absolutely exhausted and will most likely be asleep in the next 10 minutes (I'm trying to get past 10pm), and also because my computer battery is quickly fading (I still don't have an international power charger). Speaking of, those are really the two main priorities for this weekend: sleep for more than 4 hours, and track down a laptop charger. Oh, and actually have a bit of fun exploring this new place :) -- hope to have a few decent updates by Saturday's (Sunday) end.

4 minutes in the sun

Waking up now on Day 3 in the desert...
I put together a decent post last night but in novice blogger ways, I accidently deleted the whole damn thing at about 12:30 am and quickly fell asleep after. So a quick, abridged version before I head off to Masdar for the day...

A quick breakdown of my first 48 hours here:

• 20 hours or so in the Masdar offices, getting to know the team and our project that lies ahead. I'll I can say is that it gets more exciting by the minute there - it's going to be an amazing time! (P.S. - those aren't the offices just quite yet :) )
• 20 or so hours in the hotel - yep, the one with the Formula One racetrack underneath. We literally heard an F1 racecar underneath us last night as we ate dinner outside. Quite a unique sound to hear as you digest your dinner...
• 2-3 hours in the taxi -- everybody drives everywhere here. Quite a bit different than my no-car, walk-to-work lifestyle in Seattle
• approximately 4 minutes outdoors: pretty much the time cumulative time its taken to walk back and forth between the various taxi rides and our destinationas (either hotel or work)...hence the name of this blog post. Being Alaska-bred, I'm hoping to take advantage of the nonstop sunshine at some point soon. Although - we'll see how long I survive the 105 degree rays :)

Ok - laptop battery now at 6%. Logging off now b/c I dont want to lose ANOTHER blog post. Be in touch again soon.

Cheers from AD

Trekking to the Desert

Day Uno: Uno? Yeah, yeah, I should know Arabic numbers by now – I’ve spent a solid 15 hours on Lufthansa today, but apparently those video language lessons I’ve been trying on the screen in front of me aren’t helping much so far. I’ve got 2 hour 16 minutes ‘til we touch down in Abu Dhabi (the big AD!), so I need to start studying hard…

Hopefully by the time anybody reads this I’ll at least be able to say a meager “hello”, “thank you” or “please pass the dirty socks with ice.” Yeah, I’m expecting a few cases of “lost in translation” throughout the next couple weeks. Part of the adventure, right?
Ok, so the highlights thus far:

- The Business Class seat on Lufthansa is about 57x more comfortable than my god awful little Ikea couch back in Seattle (Lisa knows the pain). You’d think I would’ve slept more than two hours in my 20 or so hours of travel today. Guess I’m just a bit excited :)

- Speaking of Biz Class, it’s quite unfortunate I’m not honeymooning or just graduating college because I’m pretty much having to endlessly fend off alcohol offerings every seven minutes. I did learn from the riiiich, leopard-printed, faux-furred orthopedic surgeon’s wife next to me (who WILL be on Housewives of Idaho, if that ever becomes a show) that a multi-round blend of wine, Jack Daniels and Hennessy is a very strong sedative….maybe that’s why my steady diet of water, coffee and Diet Coke only allowed for a short cat nap, opposed to her 80 proof coma.

-One last note about Biz Class and booze – the lounge in Frankfurt offered plenty of treats, but the highlight had to be the serve-yourself Franzikaner and Becks beer on tap. No, actually the highlight was seeing a 60-something grandma stoutly fill up her pint glass on the tap…at 9:47am. A bit different culture than where I’m about to arrive – no alcohol in Abu Dhabi unless you have a special permit or choose to hunker down in one of the 12-star international space station hotels (see YAS Hotel)

It might be finally sinking in…I just looked at the “flight progress” screen and we’re currently flying over the area between Bagdad and Tehran – a nice little place called Kirkuk, apparently.

On that note, I think it’s time for me to get ready for the big AD. Stay tuned…