We will soon leave the UAE

It is with mixed feelings that I write this post to let you know that we will soon be leaving the UAE. This blog has really slowed down lately and I guess that is a reflection of the fact that we are probably doing nothing new here. In fact life has settled a little to a fairly mundane pace and one that is becoming routine. There is nothing wrong with that! It is nice not to have to face exciting new challenges on a daily basis and also not to be continuously in a place where you are discovering new things - just a nice laid back bit of complacence has it's role to play in keeping us all sane!

Al Ain has been very good to us and for us. I had started, at an earlier stage, to do some reflections on the UAE and had intended to do some more. I am going to endeavour to get it all down today. These are 'Cheryl's Reflections' - Ron will have his own, and they will be different because we have expereinced this place quite differently at times.

How do you start to reflect on 2 years of life? Perhaps the way to go is to start with any regrets! If I get that out of the way first I can end on a positive note as is my custom. So I ask myself the question - 'What has been the downside of living in Al Ain?' and I have a few things to say about that!

• I have missed my family and my friends back in Australia more than they will ever know. They anchor me. They are strength to me to be able to do this expatriate life. I look forward to their emails and SMS messages. I love SKYPE! I think sometimes they have forgotten me but inevitably the ones that matter most pop up from time to time with a short message or a call, a note on Facebook, a card for a birthday, a chat in a chatroom. It can be lonely living overseas when the people who are dear to you are thousands of miles away.
• I have really missed our children (both mine and Ron's) and I think that has been more about not being there for them watching their lives each day and being integrated into their important events. It is a high price to pay and one that saddens us from time to time.
• I am not there for my Mum who is getting older and this pulls on my heartstrings at times. I am blessed that she is well and that she supports me in what I am doing here. My sister has been wonderful with keeping in touch and providing news and family links that have been really important.
• I really wish it didn't take so long to meet people here. Everyone is here for a purpose and they are getting on with it and so their lives are very bound up in their work. This makes it difficult to interact with people. In the last 3 months I have met some wonderful people I would love to have known better but it is now too late to develop those friendships as geographically it becomes impossible to get to know them better! I will be even more determined in Nanjing to ensure I am meeting people frequently. You meet the most interesting people working as expats - they have a similar approach in a sense and an adventurous spirit so we seem to 'click' with many that we meet.
• I regret that I didn't get to know as many 'local' people as I would have liked to. My experience is that Emirati culture, generally speaking, is closed and exclusive. It is so different to what I am used to with divisions between the genders and formalities and customs that are so contrary to my way of life. I tried but found it very difficult to become close to any Emirati, male or female. There are a few notable exceptions to this and they were people I worked with who treated me with respect and friendship at work and I reciprocated as best I could. I was invited to events and into homes and was treated magnificently as a guest. The one true exception at a personal level was my friend Ameera Al Khabi with whom I felt like just one of the girls. I deeply Appreciate Ameera's generosity and friendship. This is one of the downsides of being an expat - you never really quite fit into the local scene, always a visitor. Your difference is a barrier. And the truth is I was not comfortable trying to be like the local people. Their religion, culture, customs and traditions are special and belong to them and they do not rest comfortably with me. This has been a learning for me as an expat - I can only be what I am and I need to be who I am. As an expat I will always be an observer as I just don't have the history and experience of the locals. However this will never stop me from trying to integrate as much as possible.
• And perhaps the last regret is that we do have to move on and that means leaving some good friends behind. Moraig and Brian, Lizzie and Mark and many others. Some from Ron's work, some from mine.....the list goes on. It is hard to say goodbye because the reality is that where we are going is so very far away that the chances of getting together again are quite limited. However, as with friends left in Australia, we will stay in touch and catch up when we can. The world is a small place now due to the internet and fast convenient travel.

And now that the regrets are out of the way I will focus on what has been good about being in the UAE and in Al Ain.

• What a marvelous adventure we have had! For me it is firstly about the people and we have had some of the best people come into our lives since we started on this gig. There are now 80 entries on this blog since we arrived in the UAE and most of them mention our relationships with people and the wonderful times we have had with them.
• The places we have visited from here have been - Turkey, Oman, the Musandam, Egypt, Morocco, Spain, Portugal, South Africa, Italy, Thailand. We have visited all the Emirates - Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Ras Al Khaimah, Ajman, Fujairah, Sharjah and Um Al Quwain. We have stayed in very flashy five star hotels and travelled thousands of kilometres in planes, buses, trains and cars!
• Al Ain has been a haven away from the faster paced life in both Abu Dhabi and Dubai, and yet we have been just a short distance from these two exciting and interesting cities.
• We have experienced living and working side by side with people from Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, Palestine, Syria, America, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, the Phillipines, Sri Lanka, Morocco, Libya, Ireland, England, Wales ... and so many more I can't think of them all. The UAE is a truly multicultural, though intensely culturally and economically stratified, country.
• The call to prayer sounds 5 times a day and it is so routine for us now we don't even notice it anymore. We see muslims going to their prayers at the mosque or just pulling over on the side of the road to pray in the sand and the sun.
• We see the traditions associated with costume and events and we now understand them and can appreciate them for what they are and what they mean to those that practice them.
• We are convinced the worst drivers in the world are here in the UAE. Large 4x4s travelling at nearly (and sometimes more than) 200klm/hr on the highways are a terrifying reality here. So we are glad to have survived it and we now look forward to what we are told are even worse (but in a different way) drivers in China!
• And we have survived living in the desert.
• Some of the different things here to home - the shamals, the sand, the wind; the heat (hottest was nearly 60 degrees), the lack of rain and subsequent dryness that burns you; the date palms, camels and goats; the bedouin and farmers; the magnificent dunes, forts and palaces; the opulent Emirati housing; the labour camps; the oases and the falaj systems; women in Burquah, abbayas and shaylas, and men in khandoora, ghutra and egal;... and so much more.
• We have felt 'at home' here for 2 years. We have not seen any violence or heard about much at all. We have felt safe and secure in our home, on the streets and in the community.

We have loved Al Ain and will speak very positively of the time we spent here.

Soon we are off to China via London and a few weeks in Aus. Life is good, exciting and another challenge is looming on the horizon. Let me at it! I can't wait!

Reflections on the UAE – Part two – Accommodation

Before coming to the UAE we had received a notice from the people at GEMS identifying the basics we would be provided for our accommodation here – and in truth we were only promised some VERY basic provisions – and a one bedroom apartment. Somebody at GEMS had developed a Spartan list and so our expectations were not so high – the list was quite definite, down to how many teaspoons to expect!

We spent the first 3 weeks living in the Grand Flamingo Hotel in Abu Dhabi – a dry hotel without a swimming pool or any recreation areas. I spent most of the day in the room in the hotel watching movies on television, writing letters and postcards and waiting for Ron to return from work so we could venture out on to the streets. It was August and the temperatures were around 50 degrees so I was not often tempted to go much further than the internet café across the road from the hotel during the day. We filled our evenings with exploring the city, the restaurants, the malls, the parks and gardens, the Cultural Centre, and in fact there are quite a lot of lovely things to do in Abu Dhabi.

Ron bussed it to work each day which added about 3.5 hours to the work day for him and the rest of the Al Ain crew. He was really looking forward to moving up to Al Ain as soon as possible. He came back each day telling me something else he had noticed about Al Ain and about the general feeling of the school and the town. He was not shown our accommodation as it was not yet finished and ready to move into.

Now I have to say after being volunteers in Vanuatu and living in Port Vila we were not the fussiest of people. We had lived in a very old town house (70s built) in Port Vila and I think the furniture had been in the town house since the day it was built and it was grotty and rickety. We had put in quite some effort to have the furniture repaired and reupholstered and new curtains made and had bargained hard with the owner to get these things done – mostly at our cost! So arriving in our apartment in Al Ain was a much anticipated event – and we would really have settled for much less.
Our apartments are brand new – only just finished the week we moved in. There are 10 apartments in the block and 9 of those are SIP apartments. We have neighbours from Ron’s team and also from the girl’s school. We were allocated a delightful 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment with a combined lounge dining area. There is a reasonable size kitchen and an extra room designated as a ‘maid’s room’ – though how anyone could live in something so tiny really bemuses me – so we use it as a storage room.

Our apartment was furnished with brand new couches, dining table and chairs, TV and sideboard, beds, fridge/freezer, washing machine, wardrobes and dressers and the kitchen had some basic necessities – kettle, cutlery, a 4 setting dinner set, a couple of saucepans, a wooden spoon…really just some VERY basic items. We were also supplied with a vacuum cleaner. We were in fact quite happy and set about augmenting what we were supplied with by hunting through the home shops and supermarkets to set up home. A home is something rather personal and I was very happy to be adding the personal touch to our new home. There was a flurry of activity to get some rugs for the floor and some linen for the beds, extra kitchen equipment and decorative items. I have to say IKEA did very well out of us and our home could almost pass for an IKEA brochure page! But we are very happy and quite comfortable. Just the other day I looked around the apartment and commented to Ron – “We arrived here with 2 suitcases – where did all this stuff come from!” I won't tell you what his response was but I believe he thinks I might be responsible for all the things we have accumulated!

When it comes time for us to move on we will have a big garage sale and move on to the next appointment with a couple of suitcases – and I guess we will do it all over again. The community in Vanuatu benefitted greatly from our rampant consumerism and the community here will also. Our attitude is that it is all just stuff – stuff that has made our life comfortable, memories from trips we have made to different countries and objects of art we will keep to tell our grandchildren (I live in hope!) about in the future.

Our accommodation was as much as we needed – a bedroom for us and one for guests that might come along - it was more than we had banked on. We have lived very comfortably and the people who have visited us have commented on the homeliness of the apartment. I have watched as the newer people in the contract have arrived and most have been very satisfied with their allocation. There are always some who expect far more than reasonable and they are the people whose cup is always half empty. Here are some pics of our home – you can see for yourself it is adequate and comfortable. We are grateful and very happy!

Reflections on the UAE – Part One – Friendships

I write this entry for people who look to this blog to make decisions about coming to the UAE and just how they might fit into the community here and meet people and form friendships. Many of the new people at Ron’s work have said this blog was a great source of information to them – so I would like to consolidate that information in segments about friends, work, accommodation, the community, and anything else I think may be helpful.

My experience will not be the same as everyone’s of course. I tell it also in a positive light because that is who I am – I don’t often indulge in negativity – my cup is never empty or even half empty – it is full, not even half full. My life is what I make it and I am putting full effort into making it fun and adventure. I make no apologies for this!

After arriving here in Al Ain I met up with a few people and started doing the ‘trailing spouse’ thing. That is what they call the wives or husbands who come to support their other half who is ‘gainfully’ employed. There are many women, and quite possibly a lot of men (though I didn’t meet more than one or two), who arrive in country with their partners who are employed. Some people make a life out of being a trailing spouse and I decided that I would give it a go. I had glamorous notions of sipping cocktails endlessly by the pool!

I met some lovely women – Moraig, Ivett, Lesley, Grace….and many others, in the first few weeks I was here. Moraig had started a thread called ‘Living in Al Ain’ on the British Expats website. I found it when I was still in Vanuatu and started corresponding with her before arriving here. We met for coffee and talked about any attractions that were about the place and also visited a few. We introduced our husbands to each other and met at night in the international hotels for dinner and drinks and events. We had parties and dinners in our homes. We drove to Abu Dhabi and to Dubai. We shopped to fit out our apartments and villas and we really ‘gelled’ as a group. Moraig and I have gone on to be the closest of friends. There are some people you meet that you know are destined to be in your life forever. This in no way devalues other friendships – it is just that some will always be very special, and I am blessed with a few very special, close and very dear friends.

Once you meet one group of people the network starts to expand and I have to say my friend Moraig is a master of this art! She met people on line and in the malls; she lived at one of the hotels so she met people in the gym, the bar, the restaurants – and really just anywhere. She was a real lynchpin for people interacting socially. Through Moraig I was to meet some really lovely people who have saved our sanity on many occasions. We now have a close and very special group that we share a lot of time with and who contribute so much to our peace and stability here. Moraig and her husband Brian, Mark and Lizzie, Gail and Peter, Grace and Richard…..and more…must know just how much we enjoy their company and I think we will be in touch for many a year to come.

Some weeks later the SIP team recruited a woman from Victoria to manage the girl’s school team. Nerissa arrived the day after my birthday and moved in to the apartment downstairs. Within minutes of meeting Nerissa we were chatting like old mates from school. She was living on her own, her husband had chosen not to trail her across the globe! It didn’t take long for us to establish a lot of common ground and interests and we have spent hours chewing the fat, diagnosing the world’s problems, discussing management strategies for her work and Ron’s, and laughing our way through some very good and very funny times. Her team of consultants also live in the same building as us so there was always the opportunity to swap a story, catch up on some news and provide support to people who were stressed, stretched or feeling the effects of culture shock! Nerissa is also a pretty good networker and through her we met a few gems – including Gary and Suzanne Bluff – Aussies who have lived here for years and wonderful people.

Reality set in after a few weeks of swanning around the countryside drinking coffee and cocktails! I have always been a working woman! I craved the challenges that only work can provide. I had joined a choir (God knows I am no singer and now the rest of the world does!) – it was a strategy to meet new people. One of the ladies at the choir became my employer and subsequently another good friend – Sheila was the Acting Director of Human Resources at UAE University and she encouraged me to apply for a job that she thought I was most suited for – Manager of Professional Development and Learning at UAEU. Now I am going to leave my discourse about work to another entry – the focus here is friendship. Sheila and I became great coworkers and also good friends. She has returned to Canada now and is working at the College of the Rockies, Cranbrook Campus in British Columbia. We are now email friends and we ‘speak’ to each other every few weeks. I am sure we will meet up again in a time in the future.

Well Sheila was right – the job was written for me and I was successful in getting appointed to it. Now I was exposed to many people from a range of cultures, both local and expatriate. There are some that stand out more than others but I have to say this work environment was really good. I was able to make a huge impact on staff development, I connected with many people who showed warmth and friendship and who welcomed me to their offices and I engaged with people who were both expert at their jobs and willing to help me with mine. A few friends really stand out – Heba from UITS, Najwa from the Secretary General’s office, Susan from recruitment in HR, Khaled who worked with me for 6 months, all the people in HR and mostly Mostafa who ended up being the backbone of the Staff Development Unit. I am leaving the university soon – just because I can and I didn’t come here to make a career or to work too hard. I have made a significant contribution, I am happy with that and now my life and interests will take me somewhere else to meet more new people and do more interesting things.

Ron’s work has also contributed to our friendships. When we first arrived in Al Ain the SIP Team consisted of about 12 people – Ron’s school and Nerissa’s school. Now there are about another 80 people in Al Ain who are members of the SIP team. It is impossible to have a personal relationship with everyone of them. Friendships are about sharing common interests and enjoying each other’s company – so having a choice of another 80 people to while away the time with has been fun. Also there are the groups from Abu Dhabi – and we have spent quite some time back and forth and enjoying their company too. It would not be fair to single out too many people from this group – let’s just say there are many that we are happy to pass the time of day with, share a glass of wine and even party hard with – New Year’s Eve was a hoot!

This experience in friendship has been a most positive one. I have had a great time, met many wonderful, interesting and warm people. My life has certainly been enriched by these friendships and though some will fall off the radar eventually, some will be lifelong friendships that I will value and cherish for many years. So if you can adopt a positive approach, seek out people and welcome them with open arms and leave judgments aside – go ahead take the challenge, move to another country – this one or some other – you will never regret the move!

The Arabian fairytale: Part Six – Adventure in the desert

The Princess and the Sheikh are really on a roll now with adventures coming thick and fast in the month of May before the heat really hits with a vengeance! In another month it will be impossible to be outdoors, except between the hours of 2 and 3 am, so this adventure was a last chance to enjoy the relatively cooler day (even though it was still 45 degrees C).

One of the ladies of the hareem, the Fair Kate of County Cork, organised a day in the desert for all the people of the royal court of SIP. Some were able to make it while others must have thought it was just getting too hot in the desert to venture out of the air-conditioned oases of Al Ain and Abu Dhabi. Only the intrepid and adventurous signed up for the caravan into the desert.

The caravan left from the Intercontinental Hotel in Al Ain under the watchful eye of Captain Rashed, master of the genies of the magic flying carpets (MFCs to those who have not read the Arabian Fairytale before). The MFCs, four in total, piloted by Emirati genies, clad in impeccable white, cruised out into the desert in the late afternoon. Captain Rashed, Saif, Hamad and Mr Al Shamsi catapulted the cruisers along the highway in search of the camel farms where the entourage would be saddled up.

Young Travis of the Carter Clan was to keen to master the art of mounting of a camel. He did this most ably under the watchful eye of some camel handlers from the far off exotic lands (and Deb and Simon with their hearts in their mouths!) Many of the entourage stepped forward to try their skill as camel handlers and they showed lots of promise as handlers of the ships of the desert. However their contracts with SIP have stopped them from pursuing this fascinating career!

The excitement has only just begun. In the blink of an eye, the magic flying carpets cruised across the desert speeding up and down the dunes and amazing the Princess with their capacity to keep all the people on board! Little did she know that the real daredevil 4 wheelers were about to appear. Ibrahim the Insolent and Tarek the Terrifying capably conned Captain Rashed and his crew into a detour to the land of the broken bones, grazed knees and cracked skulls, otherwise known as the Quad Bike Fun Park. Before we could say “…But what about viewing the Sunset….” we had arrived and our party was crisscrossing the park at breakneck speed.

After a cautious start many of the team were spinning wheels and wheel-y-ing their way all over the tracks, Tarek the Terrifying was only slightly more sedately cruising the dune and Enigmatic Ed was showing all the hallmarks of his misspent youth. Even Nerissa of Victoria braved possible broken bones taking her turn. Though it must be said I’ve seen ride on mowers go faster! Star of the (junior) track though was Travis. At age 3 11/12ths he managed his junior bike like a pro – giving his Mum Debbie lots of exercise, taking tumbles in his stride and before long burning up the sand!

There were some strangers from out of town in the group today. The Princess was bemused. Are they Australians, South Americans or perhaps Mexicans? It is curious – perhaps they are a new breed of Arab, mutants from the town of Shahama? Strange head gear, not before seen in the desert sets them apart from the royal Sheikhs of Al Ain. They must be good men and fair because they escorted the visiting Lady Houda of Morocco from Abu Dhabi – perhaps they are her secret service?


Back to the race track and the sun was setting and we were on our way. Some of the MFC pilots, now emboldened by the obvious bravery on the track, decided to keep the adrenaline pumping, roaring up, down and sideways through the dunes and into the dusk.


By now hunger is setting in. Images of 20 people lost in the golden sands begin to flash before our eyes. Stray goats are imagined to be draped in gravy – with salads! Even a camel haunch looks appetising. Beckoning lights in the distance hold the promise of a feast unimaginable. Finally, just before we succumb to starvation we arrive at Captain Rashed’s desert camp and are welcomed by his extended family with drinks, a soft seat, and (much to the relief of many) bathrooms – complete with Jacuzzi! (It doesn’t work but it looks good!)


Soon while the barbecue is sizzling we are guided around the camp. It contains all the necessities of life, a menagerie of pets, and in stark contrast to the modern magic flying carpets of the desert (Toyota Landcruiser, Nissan Armada, Chevy Tahoe etc) a WW2 relic Land Rover is proudly on display under its own museum style shelter.


We sit on cushions and dinner is served, desert style at low tables while knees seize up beneath us! We are treated to salads, barbecued quail, chicken kebabs and rice. Arabic coffee and tea complete the feast and soon we are all replete.


The desert causes strange things to occur. The Princess is reminded of the Lumbricidae of Dune (that’s HUGE worms for the uninitiated!) when Fair Kate of County Cork and Lady Houda of Morocco wriggle and squirm their way through the sands. They emerge clogged and dusty, eyes weeping and sand in their ears to be transformed into beautiful Arabian Princesses right before our eyes.


As the entourage changes into the royal dress of the desert Bettina the Bavarian records the emergence of the royal house. A new Sheikh of the royal family is proclaimed on his first desert outing – Sheikh Leigh Hazza Dry Wit, son of the Lady Nerissa of Victoria. A worthy sheikh seeking adventures and the princess of his dreams in the deserts of Al Ain. Beware princesses of the sands – he has a twinkle in his eye and a wit to match. Many a princess will have to run a long race to catch her prize!

The night must come to an end and the entourage makes it’s way under the watchful eye of Captain Rashed and the genies of the magic flying carpets back to the hotel and home. Another splendid day in Arabia – another adventure for the Princess and the Sheikh.




For photos of the day, visit our albums at: www.picasaweb.google.com/cherylandron