ramadan kareem!!

so it is august 11th, which means ramadan is upon us... this is my first time experiencing this side of the culture... for the most part, everyone takes part, like how everyone takes part in christmas and easter for christians...

so, all muslims will not eat, drink, or smoke, from sunrise to sunset... then a lot of muslims will gather and pray, then celebrate with a large Iftar dinner, with family and friends at sunset... also a time to give back by donating to charity or other ways to help those less fortunate, very big during ramadan... the biggest thing is it is supposed to connect you with god more, to understand your faith more, kind of like how christians are supposed to treat Lent...

sometimes people forget we are in a muslim country, with the ton of available bars, and the emeratis and their high end hotels and porsches/land rovers, but apparently ramadan really brings out the muslim faith and for this month, it is the holy month, so even the most secular muslim who might drink and have prostitutes is supposed to be extremely holy during this month...

so the only thing for non fasting folk is to not eat or drink in front of someone who is fasting...

it will be interesting, because most of the shops and restaurants will be closed until 7pm, then they stay open until 2am; malls, restaurants, etc...

i have already stocked up on beer!! hahaha...

but you can go to some places, and they set up special tents and screens for non fasting folk to eat... just that your options are extremely limited, so i will probably eat at home more, and of course at work away from the fasting muslims...

take care everyone, see you in october...

Dubai trip...

did a quick trip to dubai to see a friend... he bartends at The Address hotel, which is right across from Burj Khalifa, and looks down on the Dubai Dancing Fountain...

couple of pics from that night...


the address hotel bar is 64 floors up, and we are only halfway up from looking across at the burj khalifa...

my friend anubhav and i went and saw my friend jeremy in his new work gig...

and looking down at the fountain and souq, pretty cool...

cars, licenses, and independence...

this blog will be a little about driving in the uae...

this country is very much all about the car... either if you talk about local emeratis with their porsches, hummers, and land cruisers, or you are talking about the labourers, who only dream of such things...

the biggest thing out here is owning a car... and acquiring a driver's license to go with it...

for most people who work here, either indian or filipino, or even from other arabic countries like egypt or syria, the pay is very low, and most of your monthly salary would go towards a car.

for most, owning a car symbolizes wealth like nothing else, and the independence and freedom to take off and go driving, go to the mall, etc. whenever you want...

most staff, for example in my hotel, live in a shared accommodation, and they are shuttled back and forth to work. we have a cafeteria, where the food is free, and the shuttle back to the accommodation is free... but you are unable to do anything else if you are slave to the food and bus timings... and the accommodation is 45 minutes from downtown

so for them, being able to go to the mall on your own or with a couple friends to sit at the movie or go bowling or sit at the food court is the same as back home with teenagers, the thrill of being able to break out of the rut...

like i mentioned, getting a license for westerners is no big deal, we just get a couple pieces of paper, and a stamp or two, pay some money, and after one solid day of bureaucracy, it is done and we can drive here ( if you rent a car you can use your CAD license, if you own a car, you must have a UAE license...)

but for non westerners (indian, egyptian, etc.) you need to spend several days in lineups for paperwork, and then you have to take a road test, which cost alot more money than my paperwork... and if you fail the test, you need to take a week long driving school... and this is even after you have your own license from your own country...

and of course, once you own a car, trying to find parking is a whole other blog!!