109 days of my captivity

The United Arab Emirates has seven emirates (states) and each emirate has different color sand. Ras Al Khaimah has white sand, Sharjah has brown sand, Abu Dhabi has red sand, Dubai has green sand, (it didn’t look green to me) Ajman has grey sand, Umm Al Quwain has cream color sand, Fujairah has black sand.

Day 102 of my captivity

I’ve noticed that there is not a seatbelt law. I have not seen one single car seat. Kids are all over the car, jumping from the back seat to the front seat. The attitude is ‘God will’. It doesn’t seem to matter that there are a million people from every part of the world driving together on tiny little roads made for about a fourth of the traffic.
And that brings me to my next observation: I have met some really nice people, that in my regular circle I would think they are Christian; not so true. I know several muslim who are wonderful people and act Christian like, and one of the nicest ladies I met is reorganized morman. The teacher I work with is ‘not quite sure’ but her husband is atheist. It makes me wonder… I was just lucky enough to have been born in the United State of American and raised by parents who believed in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. But what if I had not been born into a Christian family? I would be something different, raised differently, believing as strongly about my faith as I do about Christianity. It seems so messed up. It is very hard to talk to adult women, who are so ‘normal’, about how differently we believe. My teaching is, if they are not Christian, therefore not going to heaven, but to hell. They believe that I am not going to heaven. One of us is wrong!

Day 96 of my captivity

You know the excitement you feel when you are going on vacation and you arrive at your destination and all you want to do is unpack and make it feel more like home? The vacation spot might be a hotel or cabin, or whatever… The first thing you check is how soft or hard the bed it, how good the view is and where to get ice, right? Sometimes you get a place with a kitchen and you go to the store to pick up a few things. It may not have a garbage disposal, but that’s ok because you are only going to be there for a few days. And maybe not even a dishwasher, but so what you have time, because you are on vacation. The kitchen will have at least one pot to cook in, a few plates, and a few pieces of cheep silverware, but never a good knife. So you set off to the store to get some stuff to make this vacation place feel more like home. Well that is what it has been like for me. But the vacation is over and I miss my garbage disposal and a window in my kitchen.

Day 69 of my captivity

Tyler was here to visit for a few days, it was so good to see him. It was funny, the first thing he said was how different things smelled and how bad the pollution was. I remember that too, from my first visit. I am not the only one who thinks things smell different, and to me everything tastes different too. I have said before that the diet pepsi here tastes more like diet coke in the US, and the catsup from Egypt tastes different from the US. Even the fast food that is fried tastes different, I guess the oil is different.

We got our first electric bill and water bill. Electric was $48.00 and water was (are you ready?) $.60. not $60.00, $.60. Isn’t that hilarious? It will cost more to send the water bill in than the water bill itself.

Day 55 of my captivity

We spend several days in Muscat Oman for our Eid holiday, at the Shangri-La Hotel. It was one of the nicest resorts I have ever seen, and the most amazing location. The resort is tucked back in the Oman Mountains, along the Gulf of Oman. We went snorkeling and saw the same fish that we used to have in our fish tank. Eric swam with a turtle and we saw some huge coral. It was so beautiful. Then we went on a sunset cruise and the tour guide told us about several of the villages along the sea. There are several British villages still there. We saw goats on a rock, an old castle that is now the jail. There were two cemeteries, one the guide told us was from a British shipwreck, the other was Hindu, it had black sand and the guide told us that it was black from the ghosts that haunt it. The last day we went on a catamaran and watches dolphins. We spent the rest of the day off road. I would have been just fine missing that part of the trip, but John and Eric enjoyed it. The only good part about that trip was I picked up a few beautiful pieces of rough marble.
I also picked up some really pretty shells on the beach, to find out later that some were still alive. So when we got back, we set them free at our beach. I don’t think their immigration papers are in order, but hope they make good friends anyway. So sorry little crabs, won’t make that mistake again.

Day 54 of my captivity

Day 50 of my captivity

This weekend marks the end of Ramadan and the beginning of Eid. For muslims it is is a time to give to charity and a time of gift giving (especially to children) and a time to get together with relatives. In most muslim countries, this is a three day official holiday. Can you say p-a-r-t-y. For us it is a week vacation from school. We are going to Oman for a couple of days to scuba dive, and snorkel and Tyler is coming to visit. Yeah!!!

Day 49 of my captivity

I have seen a few UPS and DSL vans. But there is not much of a postal service in Abu Dhabi. The way to get mail is by post office boxes through the company that you work for. So to have mail delivered to you, you have to have a job in the country. And in order to work and live in the UAE, you have to have a job from a company in the country. That company becomes your sponsor. If you lose your job then you have to leave. Your sponsor verifies your employment so you can get your residency visa, a lease for a place to live, a drivers license, to lease a car, and get a liquor license (yes you have to have a license to buy liquor, and your letter from your sponsor has to say you are not Muslim).
We don’t really have an address at the apartment either. We have an apartment number (301) and the name of the building. But the building has a different name on the front than on the back. Then there is an area of town. You don’t give someone an address to find your home, instead you give directions. You would tell them the area of town, and the building name. Most people don’t go by street names, they give directions by landmarks.
You won’t see any homeless people around either. They will be sent back to wherever they came from. Also there isn’t a lot of trash on the streets or graffiti. There is always someone around to pick it up or clean it. One of those government workers in a brightly colored jump suit (that I wrote about earlier) is always close by to pick it up or clean it. Every morning on the same corner is the same little guy with his red (sort of pink) jumpsuit with a broom and trash can cleaning the street.

Day 46 of my captivity

Our earth is like a child who has grown up without parents, having no one to guide and direct her. Some have attempted to help her, but most have simply tried to use her. Humans who have been given the task to lovingly steer the world, instead plunder her, with no consideration other than their immediate needs. And they give little thoughts to their own children, who will inherit their lack of love. So they use her and abuse her with little consideration, and then when she shudders or blows her breath, they are offended and raise their fist at God. –from the shack

Day 44 of my captivity

We had the best day yesterday at the fruit and vegetable and meat market. We filled up the back of the car with fruit and vegetables and 2 kg. of filets fresh from Australia. It was awesome. I spent the next two hours cleaning and cutting it all. The fish market is next.

Day 42 of my captivity

It is still hot and I am so over Ramadan. I am so tired of not being able to go to the store until 8:00pm, and not being able to drink a bottle of water in the afternoon walking down the street. I saw a poor Emirate lady today, all dressed in black from head to toe. She was really hot, trying to get a taxi and I thought she was going to faint. It was about 1:30 in the afternoon, and she probably hadn't had anything to eat or drink since dawn because of Ramadan. I tried to talk to her to see if she wanted some water, but she wouldn't look at me.

We are looking forward to a short vacation in Muscat Oman for the Eid holiday coming up at the end of Ramadan, (Eric and I get a week of school off). The scuba diving and snorkeling are suppose to be amazing.

We are finally in the apartment, the last delivery was Eric's bedroom set a few days ago. It was the first thing we bought and the last to be delivered. Ikea is a very popular place. I've already tried to burn the building down, and we broke in the new hand stitched living room carpet from Turkey with a glass of orange juice. The fire was not totally my fault; someone told me it was ok to put pizza on cardboard into a gas stove. Not a good idea. Then I threw the smoking cardboard in the trash and that started on fire. We found out then that there is no smoke or fire alarms in the building. I think that will be our next purchase. There is a gas alarm in the kitchen though.

Eric is recovering from his concussion and is working very hard to get ready for soccer tryouts next week. He has been reunited with his skateboard that was confiscated at security in London, 5 weeks and $100.00 later. No worse for the wear though.

The school has two confirmed cases of swine flu. There is also a very contagious case of sore throat and fever going around. One of my second grade classes only had four kids today, and another has only had 10 kids this whole week. The high school has also got the throat crud thing going around.

Day 40 of my captivity

The grocery stores are all in the basement of apartment buildings or in the mall basement. So far we have found most of the groceries things that we have looked for. We like ketchup from Nebraska better than ketchup from Egypt. The packages look different, printed in Arabic with enough English to figure out what it is. Most things we can identify by the color/design of the packages anyway.
We haven’t seen ranch salad dressing at the restaurants, and a salad is just a salad. It may be called a greek salad or oriental salad, but it really should be called a green salad. I have tried several and they all are basically the same. Lettuce, pickles, tomatoes, green olives, onion, carrots, and cucumber, with mustard dressing or italian.
Most of the nicer restaurants are in hotels and that is the only place that serves alcohol. There are some good restaurants in the furniture stores and grocery stores too. It is very odd to eat at Ikea, but they make good food.

Day 33 of my captivity

From the Abu Dhabi Weekly newspaper:

“You know you’ve become acclimatised to Abu Dhabi when…”
· It’s acceptable, even desirable, to own a hummer.
· The need to go anywhere near Salam Street breaks you out in a cold sweat. I don’t know
· Making your own cup of tea seems like a massive hardship.
· The screech of breaks doesn’t alarm you anymore. They’re probably yours, after all.
· Zebra crossings are only worth observing if there’s an actual zebra on them.

· You can’t buy a bottle of milk without asking for the price with discount.
· You make left turns from the far right lane. Yes, very true
· You own eight cats, three dogs, and possibly a donkey too, all because you felt sorry for the numerous strays outside your apartment block.
· You plan a meeting for 10am and leave the office at 10:05.
· You will cheerfully take a cab to get to the other side of the street.
· You think scampering across a four-lane highway full of high-speed traffic is a perfectly normal way to get to the other side. Done that, reminds me of the game froger
· Going to the cinema requires a separate wardrobe of winter clothing to cope with the AC.
· You keep yourself sane when looking for a parking spot by pretending it’s a game of hide and seek, with the parking space looking for you.
· The sound of pumping music while driving along the Corniche has the same effect of a loud blast on the horn: move over, the boy racers are coming fast!
· Jet skis are as unremarkable as delivery mopeds. And indeed their absence is something worth commenting on when you go to the beach.
· Valet parking at the mall, the dental clinic or the hairdresser is so much easier than going to the bother of putting the thing into a parking space yourself. This is true
· You are seriously prepared to consider a rental consisting of a makeshift back-to-back villa conversion in a sea of rubble somewhere beyond the last street name you recognize. And you’re happy with a price approximating to 90 percent of your monthly salary.
· Lane discipline is something you associate only with esoteric goings on in English country byways.
· Seeing a camel no longer amuses you.

Day 32 of my captivity

The society consists of only two classes here. You either have a maid or you are a maid.

Day 31 of my captivity

The country is full of palm trees. They were planted intentionally and chosen because they have dates. Most of the dates are harvested, but any of them can be picked. They were planted to provide shade, but more importantly for food to anyone who need/wants them. It is against the law to damage a palm tree.

A lot of the shops are closed between 2 -4 in the afternoon for ‘siesta’. And most are closed all day on Friday, (their holy day).

Construction goes on 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, non-stop noise and dust and truck traffic.

Everyplace delivers except Baskin Robin’s ice-cream and most are delivered on mopeds.

Day 28 of my captivity

Another thing about Ramadan:
All the stores close in the afternoon from about 1:30 until 8:00 pm. Even in the mall, but then they stay open until 2:00 am. Most of the restaurants are closed all day too. You will find an occasional place with paper covering the windows that are open, but not many. There are a few fast food drive-thrus open. It is not against the law to eat during daylight, only to eat where a muslim can see you. So it is ok for restaurants to cover windows and still be open during the day. Nothing at the food courts at the malls are open until after sun down.

McDonalds has the best McArabian (no joke). It is like a chicken pita. You should try one.

Day 26 of my captivity

I was talking to a hotel employee the other day and she said most of the staff lives together in villas outside of town. Room and board are provided to staff along with bus transportation back and forth to work. She said that the villas were nice and new and they shared a room with one other person. She was 24 years old, divorced with a 6 year old son back in the Philippines. She is here working to support him. Her situation is sad but at least she has a nice place to work and live. I have heard that some of the government employees live in work camps with several dozen guys to one room and no air conditioning. Also I read that the taxi drivers share apartment rooms with six or eight guys. From the article I read most of them were friends and come here together. From what I was told, most hotel staff get paid between 900 and 1300 dhs ($250. -$350.) per month, plus room and board.

Taxi’s come in three colors, black, grey and white. Black taxi’s are the upper end cars and start the meter at 15 dhs ($4.) They park at all of the hotels, and they don't stop along the road to pick people up. The white taxi starts at 2 dhs, and the grey at 3 dhs. They give you 5 minutes of free 'sitting in traffic time' before the meter starts charging for sitting. But they all drive the same though, CRAZY!!!

Day 22 of my captivity

About the mosques (muslim churches). There is one on every block, really, or two or three. You have heard of the three second rule? Well they have a ten minute rule. I guess the Sheik years ago decided that he wanted the people to be within walking distance of a mosque, so they could walk to one from anywhere they were, in ten minutes. And they have accomplished that for sure. We looked at an apartment and from every window we could see a mosque, there were three within view (we did not rent that one). Not that that is so bad, but they all have loud speakers and five times a day a prayer call is broadcast over the speakers. The first one is before dawn to let everyone know it is time to get up. Then four more times a day for prayer time. I counted at least twenty in the desert between Abu Dhabi and Dubai just along the highway, including one at each gas station. So, kill two birds with one stone, or three. Gas, pray, pee… maybe not in that order.

Day 21 of my captivity

UAE Friday is US Sunday (Holy day)
UAE Sunday is US Monday (first day of work week)
UAE Monday is US Tuesday
UAE Tuesday is US Wednesday
UAE Wednesday is US Thursday
UAE Thursday is US Friday (last day of work week)
and Saturday is Saturday

Day 20 of my captivity

The gas stations are all owned by the government, so there is only one company, and one price. The price is not even posted. I think gas is about half of what you get it for in the US. They are all government employees that work there who pump your gas for you. Regular gas is ‘special gas’. There are worker guys all over the place and they all wear bright blue jump suits with white trim. Cute, they look like Disney park workers or prison workers. And I think the country is full of government employees in a variety of jump suits. I have seen green jump suits for the guys who work on the grass. I say work on the grass, because I have not seen a lawn mower. These guys have a knife and they trim the sidewalks by hand. I have also seen them pulling weeds beside the road one weed at a time. There are dark blue workers that work construction, and brown I think work in the buildings as doormen. Yellow jump suit guys pick up trash. I’ve seen red, but don’t know what they do.

What I have noticed: Arabic Diet Pepsi tastes more like American Diet Coke than Arabic Coke Light. Did I tell you that the soda cans all have the old removable pull tabs like we had in the 70’s? Remember those things? Some people pulled them off and put them in their can of soda, and some people hooked them together and made a long chain (that is what we did, and we had thousands of them all over the basement, hanging all over the place). And they were all over the ground for kids to step on and cut their feet on.

Day 19 of my captivity

I am learning how to convert fahrenheit to celsius Tc = (5/9)*(Tf-32); US currency to dirham 1 U.S. dollar = 7.86429375; Kilograms to pounds 1 kilogram = 2.20462262 pounds; kilometers to miles 1 kilometer = 0.621371192 miles; and regular time to military time.

I talked to someone who has lived here for several years and her version of ramadan as a non-muslim is that it makes the women work harder, because they have to get up very early and fix a huge breakfast so the men can eat before the sun comes up. Then the men get up and eat and go back to bed. Then they oversleep and gives them an excuse to be late for work. After the sun goes down they eat and party until they go to bed. Her opinion was that it is suppose to be a time of sacrifice; not to eat or drink, but because they make it a law that everyone has to follow it makes it too easy for them. If non-muslin’s were going about their day as usual then it would be more difficult and therefore more of a sacrifice. Whatever…

Day 18 of my captivity

Well today was Eric's first day of school. He loved it, he said he likes his classes, the food was good, his teachers are awesome and everyone is really really nice. So we couldn't ask for more. Yesterday was orientation and ten girls showed him around, so he was psyched about that. Today he hooked up with some of the guys from the soccer team and they are getting together tonight to kick around the soccer ball. he is on a block schedule so he had four classes today and a different four tomorrow. He has about eighteen kids in a couple of classes (Arabic and Enviro. Science) and only a few in the other classes.
And I thought I was retired, but when I went in to volunteer, they handed me an application. Short story, I talked to the grade school art teacher on Sunday who I guess liked me, because she told me when we where done talking that 'she picked me'. That was it, I started today helping in the art department 3 1/2 hours a day and getting paid for it. The art teacher is a Seminole grad.

Day 16 of my captivity

Etiquette and culture are very important here. Both the local men and women are easily distinguished by their traditional dress, But I have noticed they have very individual styles. The men wear and long white dress shirt (dishdasha) like thing and a headdress. But each wears the headdress differently, and it maybe a different color (white or red and white check). The women wear all black (abaya) with some who cover their face completely and others only their hair. But even though they are all dressed in black, the abaya might have stones or other things sewn into it. But most have beautiful shoes and hand bags. The most interesting thing that I noticed is the teenage girls. They are in the traditional abaya, but some have it open in the front from the waist down so their jeans or pants and shoes can be seen. I think they are being little rebels without being disrespectful. I like it…

Funniest thing I noticed today: They have separate banks for women and men, all the same building like bathrooms, men on one side, and women on the other.

Day 14 of my captivity

Have I told you how much I hate the pollution? The air is at toxic levels according to the EPA, and above legal limits according to the US. I read on one EPA website, that they recommend you only live here two years because it is so dangerous for your lungs and heart. And if having to breath bad air is not enough, the air inside is toxic too, because the building have coal for electricity. Outside air is bad for three reasons, the oil refineries, the building dust, and the emissions from automobiles. To make it worst, if that is possible, everyone smokes. You can’t get away from it. People smoke all over, they smoke in the food court at the mall, they smoke at all the restaurants, and they even smoke in the movie theaters.

Day 13 of my captivity

Ramadan from what I understand is more like 'new years'. With resolutions and new beginnings and fresh starts etc.. The theory is to fast all day, from dusk until dark and pray. The objective is to be kind to everyone and not to say mean things or have any unclean thoughts. Then at dark, they eat and drink and celebrate. Not like gluttons I don't think, because the purpose is not the celebration, it is about the prayer.

I will let you know how it is when we are actually living it. I hear the mall will close until late in the day for the whole month, and the food court doesn't open until evening.

Day 12 of my captivity

No stars in the sky. We don't know what the night sky looks like on this side of the world, because there is so much polution, stars can not be seen. I will let you know if we ever see some.

Funny thing we noticed today: I am called mama by most people. John is called sir, but when we are together we are mamsir. Not mama and sir, but mamsir, all one word.

Day 11 of my captivity

We have experienced may different things in just a few days it is hard to remember. But driving in UAE is something I will never forget. I guess it is a lot like other large cities, but a new experience for me. There is a lot of horn honking. But people are cordial none the less. If you want to move over three lanes ‘it is ok’. If you want to exit to the left from the right lane that is ok. There are more round-a-bouts than stop lights. And if you want to go from the inside lane over two lanes and out, it is ok too. Everyone says ‘it is ok’. Can you say autobahn?
Shopping is also an experience. Everything can be bartered, except groceries and stuff at the mall.
Oh, and not much wildlife. A few birds, and flies. I have seen two dogs, and they have a lot of cats. We were told that they catch the cats and have them spayed or neutered and then let them go. They don't really have a humane society, dogs and pork are unclean. So you don't see much of either.

Day 6 of my captivity

Things we have found:
Starbucks
Popeyes Chicken
Texas Chicken (can't say church)
McD's
Hardies
Burger King
Krispy Kreme
Kentucky Fried Chicken
Taco Bell
Pizza Hut
Baskin Robin's
Chi-Chi
Subway
Hardrock
TGI Friday's
Cold Stone

We are still looking for Wal-mart.

A house is a Villa, a town house is a compound, a duplex is a two story apartment, and an apartment is a flat.



In some of the grocery stores they do have a 'pork section'. You know those rooms in video stores marked 'adult only'? Well the pork section is kind of like that. Room in the back of the store, with a curtain covering the door, marked 'no Muslims'. Because pork is unclean. Did you know marshmallows were made with pork? So if I want some smores, I will have to go in THAT room.

Day 4 of my captivity

The temp. today is suppose to be 44*C (111*). It is getting hotter as the air starts to clear.

Eric and I went shopping today, taxi ride cost 3. dhs (less than a dollar). We went to a serve yourself candy stand, where everything cost the same you just pay by the pound. I'm not sure how much candy we bought, maybe a half a pound, it cost us 6.5 dhs (about $2.) for the whole bag. Crazy. But we made up for our cheap day, last night. Dinner at one of the hotel restaurants (Finz) was 873. dhs. (I don't even want to tell you how much that is in US$) for the three of us. We only had fish and Eric had grilled shrimp. Won't be doing that again.

Day 2 of my captivity

The air is still toxic from the sand storm. Will be nice just to have normal toxic Abu Dhabi air. Gulf Newspaper says todays temperature will be 'hot'.

Day 1 of my captivity

Day 1 of my captivity- I can not say this was a particularly smooth move, but all is well. We had trouble in London going through security and now we are minus one skateboard.We arrived at 7:30 pm Abu Dhabi time, the temperature was 102*. Little did we know that a sand storm from Iraq a few days earlier had arrived before us. It looks like a white out, zero visibility. We are pretty sure there is a view of the Persian Gulf outside our hotel room, but we are not sure. You can cut the dust with a knife.The funniest part about the trip so far is Eric is in room 1408. Like the horror movie and book written by Stephen King '1408', about an evil hotel room.

Excerpts from Dog and Cat Diary

Dog's diary:
OH BOY! DOG FOOD! MY FAVORITE! OH BOY! A CAR RIDE! MY FAVORITE! OH BOY! A WALK! MY FAVORITE! OH BOY! DOG FOOD! MY FAVORITE! OH BOY! THE KIDS! MY FAVORITE! OH BOY! THE YARD! MY FAVORITE! ooooooo. bath. bummer. OH BOY! MOM! MY FAVORITE
Cat's diary: My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects. They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while I am forced to eat dry cereal. The only thing that keeps me going is the hope of escape.Today my attempt to kill my captors by weaving around their feet while they were walking almost succeeded, must try this at the top of the stairs.