Holed up with a very sore foot.

Yes well that says it all really! I have a very nasty and painful right foot which does not seem to be getting any better despite advice from doctors, friends, relatives and my Mum! So I am trying to rest it as much as possible - everyone said to do that!

This means I have a lot of time on my backside in a chair so I have started writing for the internet - have a look at my articles and photographs at http://www.triond.com/users/Cheryl+Malloy

I'd love it if you left comments on the articles and while you were there click through to a few of the ads on the page if they interest you.........that way I get paid for my work!

New post on my art page

Please visit www.cherylmalloy.blogspot.com and have a look at the blog I have started for my art. I love to receive comments so if you can master leaving one (I know it may not be easy for some) then please leave a comment about the pieces or some guidance for me to improve.

"How expat are you really"???

Today I went walking with a lovely group of (mostly) women in Nanjing. We wandered the streets close to the city and discovered lots of really authentic Chinese communities where people have obviously been living for many years. There was a fabulous market in a back street where there were absolutely mounds of wonderful fresh produce and also some live animals (including snakes) for purchase, presumably for consumption. We also visited a Buddhist temple which had an 'antiques market'. The woman who led the walk was patient with the slower people and we really just ambled along mingling and talking and generally enjoying ourselves with our cameras at the ready. How lovely!

During the walk I was talking to one lady from Europe and I would like to recount our conversation because it has made me think about the question in the topic - "how expat are you really?" The conversation went something like this:
1. Hi, are you new here in Nanjing?
2. Yes I am. I have only been here for a few weeks
1. Welcome, I am sure you will love it it is an interesting place.
2. Thank you. I am already enjoying it and starting to find my way around.
1. Which compound do you live in?
2. I live at Muxuyuan - it is a bit out of town on the eastern side of the wall
1. So who else lives in your compound?
2. I don't know any of the people yet, except our immediate neighbours. It is hard when we don't speak Chinese yet.
1. Oh but who are the other expats living there?
2. None. I haven't seen any other western people in our compound or in our community. It's nice really - I feel like a bit of a novelty, though I could sometimes do without the attention!
1. Yes but you do have a driver that can take you around
2. No I don't have a driver
1. Oh then you use the cabs
2. No it is a bit expensive when you live out of the main city. So I take the bus
1. OMG - that is so unusual. You are so brave! I have been here for 3 years and I have never taken the bus.

This conversation has really left me wondering about the experience of being an expat. We have chosen not to live in expat compounds in any of our overseas experiences and we have always chosen to live as close a life as possible to our neighbours. I know we are earning more than many Chinese so we will not be expereince life as the Chinese do - that would be too hard for us.

A fit of the giggles

I am spending a lot of time catching busses in Nanjing. People here are just not that used to seeing expats outside the city walls – well it seems that way to me. Each time I get on the bus – and even just waiting for the bus – I often wonder if half my breakfast is still on my face or if I perhaps have horns growing out my head! I truly am the object of a lot of staring and more than a little giggling. This attention is quite blatant and I am getting used to it and just taking it in my stride.

Today I got on the bus and sitting directly across from me was an older couple with what appeared to be their grandson sitting on their knee. They were obviously doting grandparents and he was the apple of their eye. However they did not have the view of him that I had. He was about 3-4 years old and sitting directly facing me. Where the fly in his pants was there was no zipper and so he was just sitting with his tiny penis peeking out of the hole. As we went along he was giving it quite a lot of attention and I just couldn’t help but giggle! Grandma and Grandpa had no idea – and I doubt it would have mattered to them anyway – but it really had me almost in a state – a fit of the giggles and no-one there to share my giggles with! Even the people sitting next to me remained totally composed and seemingly oblivious. I could barely contain myself and on exit from the bus just burst out laughing. It was one of those rare moments of absolute joy!

On our way to China

Our arrival in China has been a long awaited and anticipated event! We left the UAE on the 3^rd July and it is now almost the 3^rd of September. So the move has taken the better part of 2 months and they have been very interesting months.

 

Leaving the UAE we headed from Abu Dhabi to London. We had never been to England before and so we were really looking forward to this very first experience of Pommyland! Heathrow airport was one of the most frustrating parts of the journey. We couldn’t believe that an airport that can move a major number of aircraft safely and efficiently could get people movement (immigration, customs etc) so wrong. We stood in line for over an hour (perhaps nearly 2 hours) just to get through immigration. The system for doing this was ad hoc and disorganised and unnecessarily long.  However once through the procedures it’s a quick train trip to Central London and to our hotel in Paddington.

 

During our London stay we managed to fit in a number of the major attractions and also managed a trip to Coventry for the Godiva Festival. I think Ron was looking forward to naked ladies with long hair riding horses in the main street – it would have been very disappointing for him as the only Lady Godiva we came across was a woman of our own vintage dressed in a long white period costume ‘frock’ and wearing a wig! She did not have her horse with her at the time and remained fully garbed for Ron to have his photo taken with her! However it was a brilliant day and the sun shone (30+C) and we even managed to get a bit sunburned! I hear this is basically unheard of in England! The day in Coventry also included a music festival and a carnival as well as a lovely trip through the English countryside by train. We noticed the canals along the way and thought that one day we might return and explore England via the canals.

 

London was abuzz with tourists and it was the weekend of the Gay Pride celebrations. We did the red bus tours and also walked for mile upon mile to see the Tower Bridge, Tower of London, the London Eye, Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament. We walked a lot in Kensington Gardens as it was so close to where we were staying. We saw “Wicked” at one of the theatres in the West End, “Peter Pan” in a special tent style theatre in Kensington Gardens and did a jazz show at Ronnie Scott’s jazz club in Soho. I am not sure we could have fitted too much more into our 6 days. I think I would like to live in London for a while, or at least in England, and explore more of what there is to see, particularly to visit Scotland, Ireland and Wales as well.

 

Back to Abu Dhabi for a quick flight change and on to Brisbane. In Brisbane we caught up with family and really just relaxed and recovered from jet lag. The trip took close to 36 hours all in all and was only saved by being able to upgrade to business in the first leg. We will never look at flying in the same light again – wherever we go now it will be business class – it is just so much better and generally worth the cost to upgrade (if and when we can afford it!). After catching up with Helen and John, Garth, Mum, Gary and Fran, Di and Stan in Brisbane we fly down to Sydney. On the Central Coast we stayed with Deb and George and Terry and Brian and had a fabulous weekend away in Orange doing some wine tasting and merrymaking! It was lovely to catch up with all our friends and share some very precious time with them. One really funny highlight was Ron and Murray dressed as Emiratis taking a day trip around the Central Coast in Murray’s little yellow sports car. It was a hoot! We caught up with all Sydney people, both family and friends and then shot off to Melbourne to see Nerissa.

 

And then on to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia for a few days. We stayed at the Sunway Lagoon Pyramid Hotel (how many words does there have to be in a hotel name!) Anyway it was just like being in the Middle East again – lots of women in black robes – it was quite strange really! I think the hotel must be very popular with Emiratis and Saudis – they were everywhere! I was the only white woman swimming at the pool – all the other women were sitting around in their abayas and shaylas and watching their children and husbands swimming. There were some Japanese and Korean tourists who were in stark contrast with their skimpy clothing and swim suits!

 

Unfortunately I was robbed in the shopping centre and it left a really nasty taste for Malaysia. Apparently there are gangs that work the shopping centres regularly – so the Police told me. Malaysia is a beautiful place to visit and a lovely culture but watch your purse! We rode elephants, visited temples and watched a fabulous cultural show. However I am not keen on KL and if visiting Malaysia again I think I will head out to the coast and a more relaxing beach style holiday.

 

And now we are in China! So look out for the next few posts where we will introduce you to Nanjing.

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!

Our lovely little girl in Vanuatu

I have just realised that I didn't put anything up on the blog about my trip to Vanuatu recently. One of the main reasons for going was to catch up with Neneth and Morsen and meet my little piccinni blong Vanuatu - Kiosha Sandy. 

She was just six months when I was there and cute as a button. She looks just like her Dad. I met her real grandma, Ruth, (of whom I am very jealous) and her great aunt (Miriam) and other family members. I am known as her "Granma blo Aussie" - Grandma from Australia! Here is a pic of her and her Mum, Neneth. Unfortunatley Morsen was out of the country when I got there so I missed him but have caught up on Skype and email.

In this pic Kiosha was having her first taste of a strawberry milkshake and she loved it!

In the meantime! I just can't keep up!

Well such a lot has happened since my holiday in Australia and I just have not had the time to update this blog.

We had a lovely weekend in Muscat with Liz and Mark Stevens.  We stayed at the Grand Hyatt - Very POSH! and visited the souk at Mutrah. There is a long story that accompanies this trip but it is one better told over a dinner table! Here are a couple of pics!

We have also been to a wedding on a dhow on Dubai Creek. Sarwat and Nauphael looked divine and it was a truly lovely and befitting celebration for an important occasion. I had a "Shalwar Kameez" made and some of the girls from Sarwat's school came in saris and other eastern dress. It was fun and the food was great and the evening was fabulous. More pics here

We have also had a couple of nice weekends in Dubai and a visit to Abu Dhabi and we are off to a 50th birthday party this weekend and a Ball next weekend. No stopping us really!

Ron is doing his Master's degree through Newcastle Uni. I have been chief research assistant and also helping garth and Neneth with their studies!

When I was back in Australia I also visited Vanuatu to see the YCV people and catch up with some volunteers........YES - I have been busy!

Victoria after the fires

I left Abu Dhabi last week on my own. Ron has stayed behind to work and I am off to play. Flying from Abu Dhabi to Sydney has become routine and although it is now something I can do without trepidation it is still a very long flight - 14 hours and we race the daybreak to Sydney. It is strange to get on the plane in the morning and also get off in the morning (of the next day) having spent 14 hours somewhere in the twilight between. Usually if I can get about 4-6 hours sleep I can weather the flight quite well, stay awake for the next day and crash back into a routine fairly quickly. This time I just couldn't sleep much at all and spent the whole time watching movies and playing solitairre. On arriving in Sydney I transferred to a later flight to Melbourne, spending about 2 hours at the domestic terminal in Sydney. Arrived Melbourne about 2pm and by the time I reached the hotel I had been travelling and not sleeping for just over 24 hours - however it was only early and I felt I shouldn't sleep till night time so I just kept on till 11pm before crashing completely!

I met up with Nerissa in the afternoon and we sat and chatted and then walked to Chinatown for a lovely dinner and then down to Southbank for a drink and back to the hotel. Nerissa had made all the arrangements and the apartment was perfect. By the time I hit my bed I doubt I could keep my eyes open another minute and I went out like a light till 8.30 the next morning!

You can NOT go to Melbourne without doing some shopping - I believe it is the capital for shopping in Australia...so just one pair of pants and two tops later....and some new swimsuit bits...oh, yes and a nice little cammie.....we stopped for a coffee and headed off to Gippsland where Nerissa lives.

Nerissa drives a very sleek looking Holden Astra convertible - silver with red leather seats - how racey! So we drove out of Melbourne and along the freeway with the top down, until it really got very breezy and a bit cold and we pulled over and raised the lid and cruised on to her home in Churchill.

Churchill was the focal point for some of the devasting fires that swept through Victoria last month. They lost over 200 buildings in the area and 11 people were killed. It is a frightening reminder of just how dreadful Aussie bushfires can be. The fires in Churchill were deliberatley lit and this makes it all the more nasty. Nerissa lives in a perfectly gorgeous cedar log cabin style home and after evacuating for four days she was so pleased to see it still standing on her return after the fires. Many of her neighbours were not so lucky and within about 50 metres of her home you can see the evidence of fire - 100 metres away there is total destruction. I think whatever God you believe in had his eye on their property and blessed them.

So I am spending some time with Nerissa, Chris and Leigh - very leisurely and just today the weather is cooler and a light rain has been falling. Tomorow we set off for Sydney with a slow drive along the coast............I like being on holidays - here are some photos from the fires, you can see just how much they destroyed. If you look closely you can see a house that was burned down on the hill... Nerissa says it was a white stone house and it really looks like it is out in the open - the grassfire was really intense. Look at the bottom of the trees and you can see the ash that is now a carpet - this area had lots of undergrowth and it has just disintegrated.

Last, lucky last..... lovely Lisbon

The holiday is now fading into oblivion and I have to get this finished before I head off on my next adventure which is to Australia in just a couple of days.

We have never been to Portugal and I have to admit I really thought it would be not much of much at all. Well I was in for a delightful surprise. I am not bilingual and I find languages difficult when travelling. Although I know a bit of French I get lost in conversation almost immediately...I am happy to read a few brochures and attempt a translation and I find I am really pretty good at it - my French vocab is quite broad, as long as I am reading it. I have no facility for language recall to construct sentences. My mind is not as quick when trying to interpret a conversation and sometimes the accents just stump me. So travelling in many places in Europe including Italy, France and Spain I have found myself struggling with conversation and very thankful when someone turns up who can either understand my very elementary attempts at their language or, better still, just speaks English. Please don't think I believe everyone should speak English, I find languages fascinating and just wonderful to listen to people chattering away in what to me is unintelligible nonsense. I am so envious of people who have learned a couple of languages when they were young and now have the facility to pick up, think in and speak another language.


So why am I going on about language! Well in Portugal (and Lisbon in particular) the locals seem to be very well versed in English with most speaking and understanding a few words and everyone we met very keen to have a go and try to communicate with us. Waiters, taxi, bus, tram and train drivers, hotel staff, museum staff, and just people in the streets were really happy to answer our questions and to try and speak to us in our language. I have to say it just made travelling so much nicer for us and also a lot easier. People in Portugal were very friendly and accommodating.


Lisbon is a gorgeous old city with many new parts that have developed over the years. The centre of the town has some fabulous attractions which can all be seen on a few trips with the city's sightseeing tours. There are three ways of travelling around and doing the sightseeing tours. You can hop a tram which will wind it's way through streets that a bus would have huge difficulty negotiating. A good walking tour would be possible in slightly more clement weather than we had. And there is a BIG RED BUS! The red bus does 2 or 3 different tours, the tram does a couple around the city and you could walk for miles on a nice day, especially along the river. The little streets and alleyways of the older part of the town, particularly down near the Tegus River are still as they were many years ago with their tiled facades and picture windows with flowerpots. There are enough churches to keep the avid church goer in a fresh place of worship every Sunday of the year! I have collaged some photos from Lisbon but our stay was too short and the weather too bad to do Lisbon justice.


So what did we do? Well we spent a lot of time on the sightseeing tours because you could see from the bus/tram and not be too exposed to the weather. We got wet walking the streets of the old part of the town and we visited the World Expo site. We also went to Fado Club to hear some delightful music. We bought a tricky little cap in a shopping centre to keep the rain off my glasses, and one for Brian Minns (our housesitter) to keep him warm in Scotland! And when it was just too wet to do anything the Australian Open was being broadcast on the telly so we just put our feet up and watched the tennis.



And we found the heart and soul of Portugal - well I think it is anyway - it is called Fado music. Please, if you have any soul or if you like music in any of it's forms, acquaint yourself with Fado. Where the Spanish have flamenco with it's gorgeous dancing and guitars, the Portguese have this divine lilting music, often accompanied by solo or duet in voice, and a few guitars as well. I immediately fell in love with it and found I could just sit mesmerised by it for hours.