So after 2 weeks of relative cold and rain, winter seems to have ended. It is still a little chilly and occasionally there is some rain sprinkles but for the most part, it is over. Now, everyone who has lived here for awhile keeps telling me that this will continue on (possibly) thru April. Whatever. No matter how long it lasts, it is not Maine with an average of 10 inches of snow a night. No matter how bad a$$ you think you are; you don't know cold until you get frostbite on any exposed skin in the 15 minute walk to class!
With that said, I am completely behind with posts. Here is what I will be talking about in the next couple of weeks:
-KOA's first trip to the Dubai Police Station!!
-KOA's holiday to Spain
-KOA's New Year
-Even more traffic stories
-Another impressive fight at the Double Decker
-KOA's attempt to get a loaner car while the Focus is being serviced
Not that it is an excuse but for the past two days, I have been trying to post and the site has been completely in Arabic. I couldn't figure out how to change it because the "Language" drop down menu was labeled in a foreign language. We will not even discuss what this says about my Arabic lessons! If you do not believe me, go to the login page and change the language to Arabic and don't forget that it flips everything to the other side of the page!!
Also, I have belated Xmas postcards that will be hitting the Emirates Post this weekend. I am sorry- especially to my sister's friends- for the late delivery but I am very busy. So busy, in fact, that my boss re-considered his rejection of renewing my contract and is in the process of trying to get HR to bribe me to stay. I miss you all but cross your fingers that I can get myself a sweet deal to stay out here another 8-12 months.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Random Day #2
OK- so it is winter here, a.k.a the rainy season. For the first 2 months of this "season," it was sunny (sometimes foggy in the morning) and at the lowest 70 degrees. Starting on 7 January, however, it got cold. It was 72 degrees at the high point of the day and rain started sprinkling now and again. Then, 2 days ago, it started to rain and it hasn't stopped.
In any normal place, this would just suck. Here, in the desert, no one is ready for rain. The city is simply not built for it. Since they don't have a lot of rain over the year, there is no drainage. None. The water floods all the low areas. And due to the huge amount of construction, the sand runs off and creates these muddy wash outs in the roads. On top of that, no one can drive in the rain. They just run their hazards; making it impossible to know when they are turning or merging. Nice. Add on tons of accidents.
Finally, the buildings are not built to withstand any bad weather. Every building, finished or otherwise, flooding as we speak. The electrical systems go bad so now, we add everyone who made it to work, is stuck in an elevator or has no power in the office. Even our glass panel in the front lobby shattered when the wind picked up. It sounded like an explosion. God forbid if this place ever had a hurricane or an ice storm. They have no idea what to do and I find that to be bizarre. It is one thing not to be used to it but they are acting like this never happens, as opposed to occurring every year!
So, I went to work today. It took 40 minutes to travel a distance that normally takes 10 minutes. Then, I went to site- same deal. I did my Technical Room site walk, yelled at people, and called for the driver. I went to the meeting point, immediately regretting the beige shirt I chose this morning. The meeting place has no cover and I wait an hour for the van. In the meantime, the site closes and 9,000 laborers leave site; walking by me in my now soaking wet shirt. I can safely say that I have cemented my place as the Most Popular Girl on site.
My life is one humiliating event after another. Good thing I don't take it too seriously! Hopefully the rain will stop tomorrow and we can get in to assess the damage of the nearly finished project. I guess we do not need to test out the building cleaning system for leaks!!
In any normal place, this would just suck. Here, in the desert, no one is ready for rain. The city is simply not built for it. Since they don't have a lot of rain over the year, there is no drainage. None. The water floods all the low areas. And due to the huge amount of construction, the sand runs off and creates these muddy wash outs in the roads. On top of that, no one can drive in the rain. They just run their hazards; making it impossible to know when they are turning or merging. Nice. Add on tons of accidents.
Finally, the buildings are not built to withstand any bad weather. Every building, finished or otherwise, flooding as we speak. The electrical systems go bad so now, we add everyone who made it to work, is stuck in an elevator or has no power in the office. Even our glass panel in the front lobby shattered when the wind picked up. It sounded like an explosion. God forbid if this place ever had a hurricane or an ice storm. They have no idea what to do and I find that to be bizarre. It is one thing not to be used to it but they are acting like this never happens, as opposed to occurring every year!
So, I went to work today. It took 40 minutes to travel a distance that normally takes 10 minutes. Then, I went to site- same deal. I did my Technical Room site walk, yelled at people, and called for the driver. I went to the meeting point, immediately regretting the beige shirt I chose this morning. The meeting place has no cover and I wait an hour for the van. In the meantime, the site closes and 9,000 laborers leave site; walking by me in my now soaking wet shirt. I can safely say that I have cemented my place as the Most Popular Girl on site.
My life is one humiliating event after another. Good thing I don't take it too seriously! Hopefully the rain will stop tomorrow and we can get in to assess the damage of the nearly finished project. I guess we do not need to test out the building cleaning system for leaks!!
Monday, January 14, 2008
**Happy New Year + Randomness**
OK, I have been HUGELY late in wishing you all a happy new year. I have TONS of vacation stories and pictures to share! I returned to work on the 7th of January and was informed that our project team will now be working 6 day weeks. This isn't the worst thing ever - as I have been working this schedule for past 3 months - except now, I get paid for the extra day. Bonus.
With that said, there is a huge difference between coming in on a Saturday voluntarily and having that be mandatory. Usually, there is no one there when I used to come in on Saturday and I could get tons of paperwork done (which is never ending and the biggest bottleneck of my job). This past Saturday was horrible.
1) Thursday was a holiday for the Islamic New Year and we worked a half day. I stayed until 4pm because of aforementioned paperwork.
2) Everyone was at work (of course) and all of our subcontractors and clients knew we were working so it was a normal, crazy day. I got nothing done.
3) On Sunday, I had no idea what day it was. I try to keep my team on a strict schedule and this threw a wrench into my system. Then, the random hit us at 4:30 pm...
A public holiday was called in the afternoon for Monday. Let me repeat that. The government of the United Arab Emirates gave the country Monday off of work. Everyone was supposed to stay home. My management was beside themselves. They love to have us work on holidays. I have a month of leave and 3 holidays just waiting to be taken whenever I drop dead from exhaustion. However, we could not get to work. They closed all major roads in Dubai...
Apparently, President George W. Bush is visiting the leaders of the UAE and this is their security plan. Everyone is basically under 12 hour curfew during the day. Seriously. My roommate tried to get to IKEA this morning and hit armed guards and roadblocks at every route! I cannot believe that people living here accepts this. I am an ex-pat so really it is just a day off for me but there have been many problems due to this! I think my final thought on this is that I now feel mildly unsafe here. The situation has been tense since the assassination in Pakistan but I feel that this shows the reality of the current political state here. No one city is a true safe haven for Western travelers in the Middle East; no matter how pretty the hotels are and how many people speak English. I love it here but I am feel that the infrastructure has a long way to go until it is a "developed" country!!
On a completely different note, please let me introduce you to my friend, Craig. I met him randomly in college- now, nearly 11 years ago- and let me tell you that he and my father are the only reasons I can work with engineers today. They have broken my mindset of engineers being impossible. Please listen to Craig's podcasts because they are HILARIOUS! He and his friends are very smart but are still nice, normal, and accessible. I hope you like these as much as I do.
With that said, there is a huge difference between coming in on a Saturday voluntarily and having that be mandatory. Usually, there is no one there when I used to come in on Saturday and I could get tons of paperwork done (which is never ending and the biggest bottleneck of my job). This past Saturday was horrible.
1) Thursday was a holiday for the Islamic New Year and we worked a half day. I stayed until 4pm because of aforementioned paperwork.
2) Everyone was at work (of course) and all of our subcontractors and clients knew we were working so it was a normal, crazy day. I got nothing done.
3) On Sunday, I had no idea what day it was. I try to keep my team on a strict schedule and this threw a wrench into my system. Then, the random hit us at 4:30 pm...
A public holiday was called in the afternoon for Monday. Let me repeat that. The government of the United Arab Emirates gave the country Monday off of work. Everyone was supposed to stay home. My management was beside themselves. They love to have us work on holidays. I have a month of leave and 3 holidays just waiting to be taken whenever I drop dead from exhaustion. However, we could not get to work. They closed all major roads in Dubai...
Apparently, President George W. Bush is visiting the leaders of the UAE and this is their security plan. Everyone is basically under 12 hour curfew during the day. Seriously. My roommate tried to get to IKEA this morning and hit armed guards and roadblocks at every route! I cannot believe that people living here accepts this. I am an ex-pat so really it is just a day off for me but there have been many problems due to this! I think my final thought on this is that I now feel mildly unsafe here. The situation has been tense since the assassination in Pakistan but I feel that this shows the reality of the current political state here. No one city is a true safe haven for Western travelers in the Middle East; no matter how pretty the hotels are and how many people speak English. I love it here but I am feel that the infrastructure has a long way to go until it is a "developed" country!!On a completely different note, please let me introduce you to my friend, Craig. I met him randomly in college- now, nearly 11 years ago- and let me tell you that he and my father are the only reasons I can work with engineers today. They have broken my mindset of engineers being impossible. Please listen to Craig's podcasts because they are HILARIOUS! He and his friends are very smart but are still nice, normal, and accessible. I hope you like these as much as I do.
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