Another visit to Liwa

We took advantage of our new (to us) wheels and headed back to Liwa, the oasis town that borders the Empty Quarter and Saudi Arabia. More camels, gazelles, french fries and sand. Unlike before, we were able to smell freshly cut hay that had been coaxed into existence and enjoyed some of the small mahdars (villages) that stretched along the main road.


Randy at the wheel


Sabkah (salt flats)- the white between the sands


Me by some succulent green


Randy in front of the aromatic hay


Camels getting midday meal

Politics And Weather, As Usual (by Randy)

So Hillary Clinton took Pennsylvania? That's not a surprise for anyone, even though the news organizations would like us to think that it is.

I see that Bob Barr (former congressman for the state of Georgia; former--or recovering--Republican) is considering running on the Libertarian ticket. That should be interesting (for us Libertarians anyway). Ron Paul is set to endorse him, which is strange since technically Paul hasn't even quit the Republican race! Anyway, whenever a high-profile candidate runs on a Libertarian ticket, it at least gives us a chance to spread the libertarian message and to emphasize the need for a real change in this country. How about a republic that is NOT fettered by a two-party system? Americans love choices. Why not give them more of a choice in government too?

Libertarians would say get us out of Iraq, protect our civil liberties, protect our right to do business in this country, and free up the courts and prisons by abandoning a futile "war on drugs." Libertarians believe in personal responsbility; the purpose of government is ONLY to protect our right to pursue life, liberty, and happiness without cumbersome bureaucratic nonsense. The private sector can more efficiently achieve whatever other goals a government may have; yes, this includes education, welfare, transportation, and national parks. Charitize welfare, privatize education, decriminalize drugs, and let people live their lives in relative freedom, with those freedoms protected by a bare-bones government that exists only to protect those freedoms. Republicans want to control your social life but let business run its course; Democrats say the opposite. Obviously, neither party is being consistent. Either become a totalitarian and let government run everything, or become a libertarian.

Enough about politics.

Anyway, we're fine here. It's getting hot, though. It has been over 100*F during the day for a while now. It does cool down sometimes at night, though, often dropping all the way down into the high 80*s. But it's just a precursor to what is to come. By the time Anastasia arrives, it will be well over 120*F during the day. It's also been quite hazy and a bit dusty lately (our weather reports don't involve rain; they involve sun, haze, and sand), another common weather phenomenon here. Fortunately, we don't have the sandstorms that Dubai has on a regular basis. We've seen a few, but Dubai is typically worse.

Enough about the weather.

I got our car insurance today. Tomorrow, the car becomes mine. I just have to make a trip to the DMV. But it sounds as if it should be easier than getting a driver's license, and let's face it...That was easy too. I got a new driver's license in an hour when I went a few months back.

That's our news from here. I wish all our readers well. Until next time...

Parenthood Education Class (Number One, or Number Six?)

We went to the Corniche Hospital Friday for the parenthood education classes from one of the midwives. Somehow, we managed to get assigned to class number six of six classes, so we sat in on the last class. In two weeks, we go to the first of six classes. Anyway, class number six was about bathing the baby, blood tests for the baby, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (or Cot Death, as our British midwife called it), etc. Now I know how to bathe a plastic baby doll.

Today, we returned to the Corniche Hospital for a quick checkup. All the tests are normal (obviously, they're testing the baby and not Christine then!).

I could hear our little girl's heart beating (I think I heard Morse code for "LET ME OUT," but maybe I'm projecting).

We're certainly getting ready for her. The nanny is all set (her name is Mishrak, an Ethiopian girl with excellent recommendations from other teaching couples at our school). The car will soon be ours (I have to do the bureaucratic dance of death next week to switch over registration, and then the car will be ours, in shallah).

I've also booked us a room at a government-run resthouse ("concrete cancer," according to LONELY PLANET, but we've stayed there once before) in the middle of the Empty Quarter in the Arabian desert...It's in the Liwa Oasis, and the scenery there is breath-taking. The red dunes and desert views are a Martian landscape...I'm looking forward to it.

April showers bring baby showers...Actually, May will bring the showers, beginning with an online baby shower for Christine's family on 3 May. Then sometime next month, some of our friends here are having a baby shower for us. It is the only type of SHOWER that we will have in Abu Dhabi!

Now, if I could just think of an excuse to have a Husband Shower. I have a list of things that I would like...

News from Abu Dhabi (by Christine)

Check out the recent Camel Beauty Contest- also referred to as "camels on the catwalk"- held here in Abu Dhabi. Some of the videos are quite entertaining. I wonder how it compares to the 4-H fair pig shows of my youth! I know one big difference is the amount of dinero involved: I remember hoping for around $200, while these "ships of the desert" are fetching millions.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080330/od_afp/uaegulffestivalcameloffbeat

Other items in the news (of our lives at least)- "Mission: Get Ready for Baby" is well underway. This week, we have established a timeline for owning our own car (we will be behind the wheel by April 24th) and we also have word that the dream-nanny of our friends will become ours upon their departure :) These were two of the starred items on my "get ready" list, so their being arranged is a great relief. Also, our first "Parent Education" class is this Friday. I'm sure it, or later classes, will inspire a post from Randy.

Spring Break 2008

Mom and Dad in Arabian desert


What dune bashing is all about- getting stuck!


On the dhow in the Musandam Peninsula area of Oman


Overlooking the Strait of Hormuz


Dinner with Abu Dhabi in the background


Largest chandelier and dome in the world


Sheihk Zayed's mosque


Mom and I in our abayas at the mosque


"flower" thing on wall tells 5 times of prayer for each day


Chillin' at the henna party


Christine’s parents visited us here in the UAE during spring break. We enjoyed showing them around our town, school, and country as a whole. They visited our school, met some of our friends, and saw such impressive sights as Emirates Palace (our seven-star hotel) and Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al-Nahyan's Mosque, the second-largest mosque in the world, burial site of Sheikh Zayed himself, and home of the world's largest dome, world's largest chandelier, and world's largest carpet.

We had a good trip up the coast, through Dubai (they saw the indoor skiing at the Mall of the Emirates, the Burj al-Arab hotel, and the Burj Dubai, the tallest building in the world) and Sharjah (where we got lost for a while because of the lack of street signs in the city) and a few of the smaller emirates. That afternoon, we went dune bashing (without Christine--she wasn't allowed), rode camels (Christine sneaked onto that one), and ate at a big old barbeque in the middle of the Arabian desert (lots of food, entertainment in the form of belly dancing, and sheesha and henna for those interested. Christine and her mom got some henna artwork on their arms).

Then we traveled into the Musandam Peninsula of Oman (crossing the border in a friend's car, using his registration, proved to be incredibly easy; nobody asked why the name on his registration didn't match the name on anyone's passport). We took a dhow (boat) ride through the fjords of northern-most Oman, snorkeling (through jelly fish) and fishing and watching the cigarette runners; as dusk falls, Omanis run American cigarettes by boat across the Strait of Hormuz to Iran. Pretty funny show, watching dozens of little boats zip across the water, each one loaded down with boxes of "cargo." (From where we were, Iran was just 45 kilometers away...). Goats from Iran are transported in the other direction, into Oman and down the coastal road into the United Arab Emirates.

From the Musandam Peninsula, we drove inland a ways, instead of taking the coastal road home (thus giving her folks different scenery on the way back to Abu Dhabi), and we spent some time in Al Ain, where we walked through that date palm oasis. Unfortunately, it was a Monday, so the museums were closed.

The next day, Christine, a few of her girlfriends, and her mom had a henna party at our flat (Christine’s father and I were kicked out; we had our own fun, and what happens in Abu Dhabi, stays in Abu Dhabi—right, Alan?). Christine had her belly decorated with henna. We had a good time. Pictures are above.