I am absolutely in love with Istanbul! It is green, sort of clean and the people are very friendly. We flew in Wednesday afternoon, checked in - our hotel is in a great location - and started exploring. We found the Grand Bazaar and just had an amazing time looking around that. There is everything you can imagine for sale and haggling is part of the fun.
Yesterday we did a hop on, hop off bus tour which was great! So much to see and do. We did a circut and then went back to places that were high on our to do list. We saw the Aya Sofiya which is quite cool along with the Blue Mosque but prob would have had more impact if we'd come straight from NZ and not seen so mnay in UAE. However the historical side is great - things are sooooooooooooo old!
Today we did a cruise down the Bosphorus and stopped at the last place you can before you're in the Black Sea. We had lunch and checked out amazing views there before returning and seeing so much more of Istanbul al the way down the river.
15 million people live here and we can see why. There is so much happening - and it's all so much better than we ever imagined. They have a great tram system which costs about $1.50NZ to enter but once in, you can ride as far down the line as you wnat without paying more. We've got this sussed and use it every day.
The only down side is the food- we haven't quite found what we like eating yet but have a few more days to try the places out.
Am loving being on holiday - we're relaing and enjoying exploring. Brent is great to travel with - he's relaxed and thoughtful where as I'm planned and learning to be flexible.
Tomorrow we're off to eh "New" Istanbul and Taskim Square - should be great!
We do have lots of photos but as we haven't downloaded them I can't post them here yet but will when I can! x
Friday, July 10, 2009
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Nearly away...
Three more sleeps to go until we get on that plane and head for Istanbul! Suitcase is fairly packed (few bulges to re-place) and passports ready! What else do we need?
So the plan is Istanbul for a week - exploring and sight seeing. Then to Athens for a week, with an overnight trip to Delphi and a day sailing. After this we head to Santorini for three nights - have organised a wee rental car and hope to see some beautiful sunsets! After this we head to Cairo for six days - a pyramid trip is essential and hopefully some Nile cruising.
Will be working hard to relax - it's just been announced here that school will now not start back until Ramadan - nearly 4 weeks after it originally was meant to! However we don't get longer holidays - so will have induction and lots of work meetings. Then we have to try and fit into 9 weeks what we had planned for 12 - not as easy as it sounds when there's end of semester exams! Anyway these things happen and there's nothing we can do about it. However we are hoping to get a week in Nov - when we'll head to Japan to see Liz and the crew, then 2-3 weeks in late Dec - and yes we'll come home to NZ!
So most of the crew here have left! Kalala and family have gone to France and then UK. Most kiwis have gone home. I'm glad I didn't go earlier - I spent all Friday sleeping and then a very lazy day yesterday. today we've been at the National Identitiy office - getting ID cards. I was the first woman (we lined up at 7am) but Brent was the 21st man. So I finished at 8.30 am and he's still in there - 10.14 am! Hopefully he's not far away now. The rest of today and tomorrow will do some work and then relax on Tuesday and make sure we really DO have everything.
The hardest part about this time of the year is saying goodbye to people who are not coming back this year. Kate, an Irish friend, is going home - this has been a hard year for her with a family bereavement - so she's going to spend time with her family and look at options closer to home. Will miss her bubbliness but a good taster of what may happen next year in larger numbers. At this stage will stay for a few more years but some people just want to save a bit of money and head off on their next adventure - which I totally get.
Will try and blog while away - if not will make up for it when we get back in early August.
Take care everyone. :0)
So the plan is Istanbul for a week - exploring and sight seeing. Then to Athens for a week, with an overnight trip to Delphi and a day sailing. After this we head to Santorini for three nights - have organised a wee rental car and hope to see some beautiful sunsets! After this we head to Cairo for six days - a pyramid trip is essential and hopefully some Nile cruising.
Will be working hard to relax - it's just been announced here that school will now not start back until Ramadan - nearly 4 weeks after it originally was meant to! However we don't get longer holidays - so will have induction and lots of work meetings. Then we have to try and fit into 9 weeks what we had planned for 12 - not as easy as it sounds when there's end of semester exams! Anyway these things happen and there's nothing we can do about it. However we are hoping to get a week in Nov - when we'll head to Japan to see Liz and the crew, then 2-3 weeks in late Dec - and yes we'll come home to NZ!
So most of the crew here have left! Kalala and family have gone to France and then UK. Most kiwis have gone home. I'm glad I didn't go earlier - I spent all Friday sleeping and then a very lazy day yesterday. today we've been at the National Identitiy office - getting ID cards. I was the first woman (we lined up at 7am) but Brent was the 21st man. So I finished at 8.30 am and he's still in there - 10.14 am! Hopefully he's not far away now. The rest of today and tomorrow will do some work and then relax on Tuesday and make sure we really DO have everything.
The hardest part about this time of the year is saying goodbye to people who are not coming back this year. Kate, an Irish friend, is going home - this has been a hard year for her with a family bereavement - so she's going to spend time with her family and look at options closer to home. Will miss her bubbliness but a good taster of what may happen next year in larger numbers. At this stage will stay for a few more years but some people just want to save a bit of money and head off on their next adventure - which I totally get.
Will try and blog while away - if not will make up for it when we get back in early August.
Take care everyone. :0)
Monday, June 29, 2009
Emirati Weddings
The other night we got to go to an Emirati wedding - our principal's brother was getting married.
Weddings are a huge deal here and can be held on any night of the week - this was a Wednesday. They tend to start at 8pm so we got there at 9pm, dressed up as you can see from the pic. But nothing compared to the Emirati women - they were amazing - tight dresses with clevage, hair and make up extreme - amazing!
Now we only celebrated with the women - women and men have seperate venues - although close. However we could see the men through video on data shows - their event looked boring compared to ours.
There was a live singer with four exotic (as in exotic, nudge nudge) dancers who gyrated around the stage - even Kalala and I blushed and weren't sure where to look.
The food flowed enbdlessly - no alcohol of course! Main course was served at 11pm - how I wasn't snoring in my plate of rice I'll never know! the bride arrived about 11.15pm - it took her 20 mins to walk in and up onto stage where she proceeded to walk across - like a Miss Universe pagent before sitting down. There were professional videos and cameras everywhere. She was very very slim, very young looking and very nervous. Her dress was beautiful - little diamonds sewn in and the train was long of course.
About midnight, her groom and his male escorts (family) came to 'collect' her. She was so happy to see him. They cut the cake and he sang a poem he had written for her. Even though they couldn't hold hands when sitting for their formal portraits, you could tell they were so happy to be marrying each other.
Amazing experience - food, decorations, mucis - the work and cost that went in was incredible. Very honoured to have been invited.
Weddings are a huge deal here and can be held on any night of the week - this was a Wednesday. They tend to start at 8pm so we got there at 9pm, dressed up as you can see from the pic. But nothing compared to the Emirati women - they were amazing - tight dresses with clevage, hair and make up extreme - amazing!
Now we only celebrated with the women - women and men have seperate venues - although close. However we could see the men through video on data shows - their event looked boring compared to ours.
There was a live singer with four exotic (as in exotic, nudge nudge) dancers who gyrated around the stage - even Kalala and I blushed and weren't sure where to look.
The food flowed enbdlessly - no alcohol of course! Main course was served at 11pm - how I wasn't snoring in my plate of rice I'll never know! the bride arrived about 11.15pm - it took her 20 mins to walk in and up onto stage where she proceeded to walk across - like a Miss Universe pagent before sitting down. There were professional videos and cameras everywhere. She was very very slim, very young looking and very nervous. Her dress was beautiful - little diamonds sewn in and the train was long of course.
About midnight, her groom and his male escorts (family) came to 'collect' her. She was so happy to see him. They cut the cake and he sang a poem he had written for her. Even though they couldn't hold hands when sitting for their formal portraits, you could tell they were so happy to be marrying each other.
Amazing experience - food, decorations, mucis - the work and cost that went in was incredible. Very honoured to have been invited.
Reflecting on my time here
Wow so a year of the reform contract is nearly over - before I head off for my exciting holiday, thought I'd reflect a little and share what looking back on this year has shown me.
The not so great aspects:
I have missed my family and my friends more than I thought possible. I love hearing from them and know that they think of me regularly. I am extremely lucky to have Kalala and family here and now Brent, and my mum was here for 3 months…but still I miss the ups and downs of the lives of the people I love at home.
The frustrations that come from language or cultural barriers – while these experiences have made me stronger, the stress I went through with my lost passport was more than I could believe was possible. I would love to just say “Look there’s an easier way to do this” but who says my way is right? (Apart from years of it working with no stress!)
Finding a balance – I know you get this anywhere – but I find it hard at times to do work, keep life ticking over, go to the gym, see friends, travel….despite having good funds to do this – time is of the essence. And I’m an organized person! The heat and processes here do slow things down a bit.
We are all sure the worst drivers in the world are here in the UAE. Large 4x4s travelling at nearly (and sometimes more than) 200km/hr on the highways freak me out but happen on every trip. My Mum can attest to this for the NZ crew!
But the upsides are:
My adventures – every day brings new learning or experiences. I visit places I didn’t think I ever would and have more of that to look forward to.
The people I work with – both expats and locals – I have made many wonderful friends and am learning more about their lives. As a friend said: “The UAE is a truly multicultural, though intensely culturally and economically stratified, country.”
The cultural aspects and beliefs of this place are solid - the call to prayer happens five times a day and it is so routine now we don't even notice it really. Measina still joins in the call occasionally!
Experiencing some of the different things - the sand, the sand, the sand, the heat, the lack of rain and subsequent dryness, the date palms and camels, dunes, forts and palaces, shaylas and abaya, dish dashs…all part of the scene here.
And of course the work – I do believe in the reform – sometimes I despair about whether the change will ever happen but then I see little glimpses of movement or what is possible and it keeps me going.
So there you have it - the experience so far.
The not so great aspects:
I have missed my family and my friends more than I thought possible. I love hearing from them and know that they think of me regularly. I am extremely lucky to have Kalala and family here and now Brent, and my mum was here for 3 months…but still I miss the ups and downs of the lives of the people I love at home.
The frustrations that come from language or cultural barriers – while these experiences have made me stronger, the stress I went through with my lost passport was more than I could believe was possible. I would love to just say “Look there’s an easier way to do this” but who says my way is right? (Apart from years of it working with no stress!)
Finding a balance – I know you get this anywhere – but I find it hard at times to do work, keep life ticking over, go to the gym, see friends, travel….despite having good funds to do this – time is of the essence. And I’m an organized person! The heat and processes here do slow things down a bit.
We are all sure the worst drivers in the world are here in the UAE. Large 4x4s travelling at nearly (and sometimes more than) 200km/hr on the highways freak me out but happen on every trip. My Mum can attest to this for the NZ crew!
But the upsides are:
My adventures – every day brings new learning or experiences. I visit places I didn’t think I ever would and have more of that to look forward to.
The people I work with – both expats and locals – I have made many wonderful friends and am learning more about their lives. As a friend said: “The UAE is a truly multicultural, though intensely culturally and economically stratified, country.”
The cultural aspects and beliefs of this place are solid - the call to prayer happens five times a day and it is so routine now we don't even notice it really. Measina still joins in the call occasionally!
Experiencing some of the different things - the sand, the sand, the sand, the heat, the lack of rain and subsequent dryness, the date palms and camels, dunes, forts and palaces, shaylas and abaya, dish dashs…all part of the scene here.
And of course the work – I do believe in the reform – sometimes I despair about whether the change will ever happen but then I see little glimpses of movement or what is possible and it keeps me going.
So there you have it - the experience so far.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Peg's Gone
So dropped Mum off at the airport this am - so weird to know she's still flying and isn't home yet! NZ is such a loooooooooong way away! Has been wonderful to have her here, helping me out and doing things. She really enjoyed her Europe trip and has lots of stories for everyone back home.
Four weeks to go of work - things have really slowed down and it's warming up - averaging about 47-48 degrees daily.
Not much else to report - final oragnisation of holiday being done now - very cool.
Have a few people thinking of coming over to work here - fingers crossed that I can create my own little NZ away from NZ!
Four weeks to go of work - things have really slowed down and it's warming up - averaging about 47-48 degrees daily.
Not much else to report - final oragnisation of holiday being done now - very cool.
Have a few people thinking of coming over to work here - fingers crossed that I can create my own little NZ away from NZ!
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Also...
...realised I'd blogged about my passport and then not said anything else.
I have a new passport thankfully - finally got through the process and survived! Have offered my help to the NZ Embassy for anyone else living in Al Ain who goes through that as it's pretty time consuming and difficult unless you know the drill.
Learning curve I guess...
I have a new passport thankfully - finally got through the process and survived! Have offered my help to the NZ Embassy for anyone else living in Al Ain who goes through that as it's pretty time consuming and difficult unless you know the drill.
Learning curve I guess...
HUGE apologies!
Hi all
Sorry I haven't blogged for ages but have been having trouble with my "cookies" and then finding time. But here I am.
Life is still going well - school is winding down to working about 3-4 hours a day and the tenperature is heating up - averaging about 44 degress at the mo - poor Peg's going to die when she gets back!
Speaking of Mum she is having a blast on her trip around Europe. Loved London - and was there for the marathon weekend - ie people everywhere! She has been through Amsterdam, Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Italy. She's now in Spain with France to go. Looking forward to hearing her stories and seeing her pics - so great for her.
Ou trip in July is all booked, paid for and quite well planned (no surprise for most of you I guess!) I'm most excited about Santorini but know the whole thing will be a blast! So we're away from 8th July to 5th August and then some relaxing time here before helping the newbies be inducted.
Brent's good - busy as and hanging out for our holiday too. He and Mum have gotten to know each other well during her time here which has been really nice.
Kalala and co are going well - Measina's walking now - still getting used to being upright but I tell you when she does it'll be like a tornado in that house!
Anyway will sign off but hope all is well with each of you. xxx
Sorry I haven't blogged for ages but have been having trouble with my "cookies" and then finding time. But here I am.
Life is still going well - school is winding down to working about 3-4 hours a day and the tenperature is heating up - averaging about 44 degress at the mo - poor Peg's going to die when she gets back!
Speaking of Mum she is having a blast on her trip around Europe. Loved London - and was there for the marathon weekend - ie people everywhere! She has been through Amsterdam, Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Italy. She's now in Spain with France to go. Looking forward to hearing her stories and seeing her pics - so great for her.
Ou trip in July is all booked, paid for and quite well planned (no surprise for most of you I guess!) I'm most excited about Santorini but know the whole thing will be a blast! So we're away from 8th July to 5th August and then some relaxing time here before helping the newbies be inducted.
Brent's good - busy as and hanging out for our holiday too. He and Mum have gotten to know each other well during her time here which has been really nice.
Kalala and co are going well - Measina's walking now - still getting used to being upright but I tell you when she does it'll be like a tornado in that house!
Anyway will sign off but hope all is well with each of you. xxx
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