Autumn on a Desert Island...
I know somewhere leaves are falling and the warmth is giving way to crisp cool days. There is major jealousy in this knowledge. Though there is no warm cider and leaf piles here, the weather is finally cooling. Well maybe it is more that the humidity is leaving and letting us be outside of our apartment.
Coming back to this heat seemed more challenging and depressing than last year. I suppose at the same time last year we were swept up in the chaos that comes with relocating to a new country. But with out such a frenzy to distract us, I kind of fell into a slight "It's-way-to-freaken-hot-and-miserable-to-live-here" depression.
But I am back.
Fishing....
Pretty much all of September was spent on fish politics. Although it is bleak circumstances that has brought this all upon, there are some positive outcomes. I have connected to some pretty cool people in our fishing community and I have seen that with commitment, fortitude and team work one can really get some shit done. A group of people who didn't even know each other a few months ago have come together and moved a few mountains. A victory was being able to skype into an intimate meeting with this group and the Commissioner of Fish for the state. Yeah, pretty cool. There is a long road ahead but I no longer feel that we're a lost or uncared-for cause.
Kiteboarding...
Since we have been released from our airconditioned prisons, we have spent most weekends and even some week nights at the beach. We started to learn to kitesurf at the end of last year, and now wish we had started earlier. Aaron, my psuedo superhero husband, pretty much picked up the sport in five seconds and was doing tricks in about ten; making me look like some type of wounded child. But, with his sometimes sweet patience I can now ride at great speeds...one way. The hard part is getting back. I want to go switch, I have tried but my body is not on the same page.
There were moments where I wondered if I was even going to like this sport, and yes I still have those moments. Actually I had this moment last week when I split my foot open on some coral and had to superglue it back together. Aaron on the other hand is 100% committed and has admitted that kite boarding is the only thing he is really interested in doing anymore while we are here. Shit, I hope I grow to love it this much.
Here are some photos of a new spot we found for kite surfing. A wide shallow spot ideal for kitesurfing but not the best enviroment as kids come and do donuts in the sand and taunt the white girl in a bathing suit and a cut up foot.
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| A Pakistani worker helps Aaron roll up his kite. |
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| Quick sand...looked but couldn't find it. |
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| How most of the world recycles |
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| Sunsets never really get old |
Dubai...
In the heat craze we decided to go to Dubai, since after living here a year we had never spent much time there. Aaron was on board because we needed to get a part of our kite and our Roommate Terri was also wanting to get out of the house.
Most people have never really heard of UAE or Abu Dhabi but pretty much everyone has heard of Dubai because, well because it is Dubai. It is all about being over the top. People say it is the Vegas of the Middle East and I have to say that it is FAR more classy than Vegas but just as kitschy. We are not too much into the fancy shops, fine dining or glitzy attractions. In other words, we are cheap. No big news there. So after looking at the Burj Khalifa (the tallest building in the world) from the outside because over my dead body was I paying 100 bucks to go to the top, we headed over to the old souq. A canal full of large wooden shipping boats from Iran. Here we traveled by boat to see some of the souqs (markets) that line the canal.
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| 828 metres (2,716.5 feet) and more than 160 stories |
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| Indian Souq |
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| Ferry for crossing the canal |
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| Frankincense |
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| Spices |
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| Omani hats |
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| Bags of strange dried oranges from Iran and a cushion-less couch |
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| Sinking ship |
Beirut, Lebanon....
Our school apparently has a pile of money somewhere that is set aside to send us off to exotic cities to learn new fantastic stuff on how to be a better teacher. So, when we found out last weekend that there was a conference in Beirut, we knew we had to go. For obvious reasons.
Okay maybe not so obvious if you don't live in the Middle East. And if you do not, which if you are reading this you most likely do not, let me explain. Beirut may conjure up some negative associations perhaps about civil war, bombs, terrorism, refugees and the such. And yes perhaps Lebanon has had a rough past and a somewhat shaky present, but in this part of the world it is were people go to party.
We didn't really get to experience too much of that since we were having to wake up at 7am to go to conferences, but we still got to swim in the Mediterranean, smoke double apple sheesha in a hip terraced cafe, visit the worlds oldest continuously inhabited city, and see how a country literally rebuilds its downtown after a civil war leaves it in shambles. Beirut felt safe and metrapolitin, it actullay felt far more European than Arab. It was fascinating to see building still wounded with bullet holes, bombs contrasted with a sparkling new village they built up after the destruction.
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| Fisherman on Beirut's coast |
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| A building left in shambles from the recent civil war |
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| Cable car that goes to the mountain top to a christian religious site is. Lebanon is a mix of Christianity and Islam. |
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| New Mosque in the rebuilt down town |
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| Sunset in Byblios, the world's oldest inhabited city. |
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| The most common car in Beirut was the Mercedes |
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| Fisherman |
Terri....
Time is playing a trick on me right now. Sometimes it runs so fast I wonder where it goes but now as I start another month I find myself thinking it is ONLY October. Sigh. This could be related to the fact that our roommate and closest (and one of our few) friends here...is leaving. She wanted to try to stick it out with us to June but after four years she can't take it here anymore. I am pretty sure life is going to suck with out her. We met her last October at the border to Oman, our connection to Alaska was the initial thing that brought us together. We learned quickly that there was much more than our connection to Kenai that would unite us. Unlike many friends we have made abroad, we know that she will be a life long friend and perhaps a neighbor in the future. We didn't really want a roommate and now we are not sure how it will be without one.
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| Aaron and our almost-xroomie Terri |
But when one door closes another one opens. This Christmas we had planned on traveling to Sri Lanka but then our long time friend said she may visit. I had heard this before from many people, and although I know lots of people have good intentions and really do want to visit, there are many obstacles that usually make it unlikely in the end. It is for this reason I didn't let myself indulge in this dream of having visitors for the holiday. But just like that they bought there tickets and now we are planning an awesomely wonderful adventure through Oman. Their visit occupies our mind constantly and is now the carrot that will get us to December.
