Raging fire on Devils Peak

I woke up a few times smelling smoke, thought it was the remnants of of wood fire burning out that we light on Tuesday night. The next time I woke up to sirens and loud speakers but could not make out what was being said. I jumped out of bed and pulled open the blinds and was greeted by a think haze of red smoke. FIRE . We frantically got dressed, grabbed our passports and jewelery out of the safe, grabbed water and in between all this called various neighbours. The inside of our house was thick with smoke. We call the police, they said Walmer estate had been evacuated and they were alerting residents in Devils Peak. We decided to get out. Lots of cars were out, some going up the hill towards the fire. We went down and to Oranjezicht where these pics were taken.
Now its 5.50am. I am back home, house still smells smokey, the wind has died down and there are no more flames to be seen. our neighbourhood will look very different tomorrow morning. More on BAcktoSA

Bishops chair

Another find at the market was this chair. Would love any info on it.

J.H Lynch - Tina

going native

...for LeavingSA.com

Dubai is the second largest of the 7 emirates that make up the UAE, Abu Dhabi is the capital. The population was estimated at 1.2 million people in 2005, most of these are expatriates, or expats for short. In fact it is thought that there are up to 180 different nationalities represented here, and whilst the official language is Arabic, mostly everyone speaks, and sometimes even understands, English (luckily for me). The official min/max temperatures here for this month of Autumn (ahem) are 18° and 30° Celsius. That's good, no really it is. The currency here, at least for the time being, is the dirham. This is also known as the Emirati Dirham, the UAE Dirham or an Arabian Emirates Dirham (AED). Needless to say price tags are seen in various combinations including AED or Dhs. I have even seen $ and £ price tags in some stores, this can make shopping challenging when you have to do quick maths in your head (thank goodness cellphones have calculators). However as the Dirham is still pegged to the dollar at a constant exchange rate of 1USD = 3.67AED this is made somewhat easier. Our timezone here is GMT+4. As you may have gathered our weekends are Fridays and Saturdays, which still feels weird even now. 5 times a day you will hear the Muzzien's call to prayer floating over houses and gardens, or echoing off skyscrapers and office blocks, depending on where you are at the time. Last week my return to the office in downtown Dubai coincided with prayer time and as I walked from the car park along the street I could hear 4 or 5 different Muzzien voices overlapping; the sounds alternately merging with and then chasing one another down the gaps between the buildings. It was quite hauntingly beautiful actually.

As I have said before it is important to remember and respect the local customs, we are after all visitors here. The traditional dress for Emirati men is an ankle-length robe with long sleeves, called a kandura, whilst women wear an over-garment called an abaya which covers everything except their face, feet and hands. Further coverings of the face, hands and even the eyes are added as desired. This is partly the reason some local Emiratis tint their car windows as dark as possible, it allows the women in the family to uncover their heads and faces without being seen. It is possible for foreigners to buy these traditional garments in Dubai, but remember not to wear them here as this is considered to be highly insulting to the locals.

"Culture shock is the most normal reaction any person can undergo when moving from one environment to another. In a recent study I found that some 64% of the sample studied had undergone culture shock even though no effort was spared in preparing these expatriates in terms of relocation help, logistical assistance, cross-cultural training and pre-visits to the country.

Most people when being told that they are going overseas will undergo a period of apprehension, anticipation and excitement simultaneously. ... Once the exciting period is over, certain realities begin to hit home. Missing family, friends and routine is by far the most important reality. Not being able to speak the language and having to deal with different sets of rules is a major hurdle for many. Being uncertain about new friends and one's effectiveness and position is another barrier.

... Most people recover from this period of uncertainty after a few months at the most. They will begin to make certain surface adjustments, acquire new hobbies and habits, and settle amongst a new circle of friends. However do remember that after a prolonged and happy period overseas, most people will suffer from a reverse culture shock when they return home. So be prepared.

It is further argued that when expatriates remain overseas well beyond the traditional two to three years ... period, they undergo a second culture shock, which is far more reaching than the first. The experience induces a more profound change in their personality, attitudes and perspectives on both their own culture and the host culture. This is sometimes referred to as going native where the expatriate begins to enjoy staying away and dreads going home. ... The key lesson here is that expatriates need to maintain strong contact with home bases, irrespective of their expatriation periods."

from Understanding the Arab Culture by Dr Jehad Al-Omari.

So for all my bravado it seems that the work of adjusting to being away is not done. Well, no matter, at least the food is good!

Information sourced from wikipedia and FYI Dubai (November edition)

U-turns are legal, but don't hold hands in public

...for LeavingSA.com

It may seem from my posts that we are living it up, here in Dubai. It may seem that we are out every night eating expensive food in opulent settings, but of course this is not so. I only write about the highlights, but there are many days in-between where we are getting on with living here, going to work, going to gym and generally carrying on as normal. This weekend was rather low key, the only outing we made was to the Ras Al Khor wildlife sanctuary, which was lovely, but today I wanted to fill you in on what the rest of our life here looks like, and how living in Dubai works (for me) in reality.

Even though it has been said that Dubai is like the Las Vegas of the Middle East we should never forget that we live in a country where "beneath the liberal facade is a legal culture based on Islamic laws and tribal rules that looks a lot more like Riyadh than Las Vegas" (according to NBC). This has all been brought to a head this week with the sentencing of two Britons who apparently had sex on a beach here some months ago. It is illegal for couples in Dubai to hold hands, hug or kiss in public. This case has highlighted a growing divide between the local Emirati population, who at 20% feel they are being sidelined in their own country, and the large and growing ex-pat community who feel they do the bulk of the work here and keep this large economy growing. This has now even resulted in the visa laws for both visitors and residents being tightened. So I guess the question that remains is, is this (still) a good place to live? What is it like to live here?

From the emails I have received from friends it seems there is still some confusion as to how we are actually living here in a practical sense. No, we don't live in a compound as perhaps you might in Saudi. Accommodation comes in two flavours here, apartments or villas (we call these townhouses or clusters in South Africa depending on the size). Apartments here are either high rise or low rise. We live in a villa, in a suburb of Dubai. Five years ago this area was considered so far out of town that they couldn't give the villas away, according to a colleague these units were originally selling for 700k, now you are lucky to get the same thing for less than 3M dirhams. Luckily we have a small garden. Our housing complex is boomed, but this seems to be more a way to manage visitors, deliveries, taxis or workmen access than for security. Our windows are un-barred, our walls un-razorwired. We have no burglar alarm. There are 3 small shopping centres that serve the area, as well as a few mosques. But no service stations. Go figure.

Unlike some other gulf states I do not have to cover my head nor wear tops that cover my arms and bum, nor bottoms that cover my ankles. I mostly wear the same clothing I always did, but then I never was one for a mini-skirt. However I probably would not wear one here even if I had been the type. During Ramadan I made an effort to be considerate and made sure to cover my upper arms, and did not wear any skirts or shorts. But tourists, and even some expats, seem unaware or don't care to make this effort, and this understandably would upset some Emiratis. When I have meetings that with local customers I wait until the men make the move to shake my hand, I do not initiate this. I dress conservatively for these meetings, trousers are preferred. In a business environment I have felt no resistance to my presence (as a woman) nor any strange vibes. However when I walk to the office from where I have to park my car I have been hooted at, and yelled at, by the passing drivers due probably to a perception amongst the local men that western woman are all tarts or whores as most of the prostitutes here are white. This can get very tiring but I try to ignore it.

Yes I am allowed to drive a car, which whilst ultimately liberating is rather tiring and frustrating most of the time. This is due, in equal measure, to the traffic which I have already mentioned, and getting lost, a lot! As Dubai is growing at such a rate, roads are constantly being upgraded or completely changed. This means that the map on the GPS we have is, for the most part, USELESS. Another quirk of the highways here is sudden long barriers that appear between lanes to stop people changing lanes too late, but if you end up on the wrong side of these you are unable to take the offramp you needed. This means you have to double back. Not always easy as sometimes its completely counter-intuitive and you end up taking the ramp in the wrong direction. Traffic lights take a long long time to change, this is due to the fact that only one direction is green at any one time. This is , I think, because U-turns are legal at most intersections and to have people turning back into oncoming traffic would be a disaster. The worst of all is the traffic circle with traffic lights. This turns a well moving road into a snarling mess of trucks and cars and leads to some very erratic behaviour on the part of drivers. I have even been guilty of committing my own pet hate move: pushing into a slow moving lane at the last minute. Sorry!

 Hmm, what else. Living arrangements, check. Clothing, check. Driving, check. Getting things done. Ah yes. This is the cause of many more grey hairs on my head. Getting a simple task completed is a nightmare. Maybe this is because after 3 months I still don't know exactly where to go to get things. Maybe. I have searched for 3 weeks for packing chips to put into a parcel containing some breakable items to send home. In the end I had to use some of the packing material that came out of an Ikea flatpack we bought this week. It worked ok but what a mission. Filling a gas canister, getting a key cut, balancing your tyres, getting petrol, finding postage stamps, paying bills electronically - all possible with great planning, all really a nightmare to execute.

So it may seem that the answer to my original question is no. But despite all these irritations and inconveniences the truth is that life here is pretty stress-free. Nine months of the year the weather is good, there is no real crime to speak of. Children can ride their bikes and walk home from school. You can go for a jog on your own at 5am with no issue. There are no hawkers or beggars on every street corner. I don't need to lock my car and remember to put my handbag in the boot. There is no personal income tax, although unofficially inflation is running at 20% due to the escalating cost of property and getting things done quickly means you have to pay extra and this does add up. However it is a shoppers paradise, the selection of things to buy is quite amazing. And of course the restaurants are outstanding, so many choices and generally great quality food on offer. So complaints aside, and apart from missing my friends and family, I have to say I am content here and starting to enjoy it. No regrets on the move.

Useless statistic regarding Dubai #5: 78% of local expats polled feel that tourists don't respect the culture or customs here. So come and visit, but please remember; don't hold hands in public.

ps. the no hand-holding sign isn't real, I found it online and it seemed to fit.

Bomb It!

We went to see a movie about graffiti, Bomb It!, at a doccie film fest at the V&A last night. Fascinating stuff. It is showing again on Saturday (12 July 2008) afternoon (I think), go see it if you can. Tanja has always been so interested in graffiti and I have started to take notice over the years, especially of work by Banksy (UK) and Faith47 (Cape Town, pictured here). It is such an interesting art form and seems to somehow shine a light on/illuminate/fire up/set alight people from the left and right, the top and bottom of society - from the weird anti-graffiti vigilantes to the bomber who spends all his time painting the walls of sewers in Brazil.

Since our returntoSA we have struggled to find a nice after-work bar. Last night, I think we found one, at the V&A of all places. San Marco: downstairs on the waterside, cool atmosphere, friendly and efficient service, reasonably priced food, outdoor heaters. Very vaguely brought to mind PJs (Covent Garden or South Ken), definitely favourite after-work/pre-theatre spots in London. We'll be back

Robyn on where to take those old blankets

you were looking for places to take your old blankets etc

l Contact HDI Support at 021 511 4153, the Mustadafin Foundation at 021 633 0010, the Salvation Army at 021 761 8530, the South African Red Cross Society at 021 797 5360 or the South African National Zakah Fund at 021 638 5108.