hey there folks....well, it's been a while since i last got an update out, so i am hoping to get out two in the next three weeks, before things get really crazy here with the end of the semester....i can't believe those words are actually coming out of my mouth already....time here, is flying....i look back and i have been here for four months already....i have settled in and have a routine....i am liking the kids more, but am still not so happy with their academic rigor, although much more for the 6s than the 8s....the 8s have surprised me, as they do in most schools, and have risen to the bar....just this morning - a saturday - 6 kids have turned in rough copies of work that is due on monday....they are learning....woot!!! so school is fine....DUNK is great....and just this week the girls have started calling me coach dani.....hahahahahaha....i told them i used to coach basketball once....they asked if i would join their coaches.....ummmmmmmm....this for a girl who was told she was too short in middle school to play....love what happens in life....
so DUNK is going well...i am trying to come up with a plan, because many of you have offered to send supplies and such to the community center, but we are having a difficult time with customs at the moment...i am talking with the guy who runs the place and the school to see if there is another way....and will keep you posted....thanks by the way to all who have offered to help....this morning is a "Street Store" at DUNK, which is being run by students and teachers from the school....they have been collecting gently worn clothes and shoes and are putting it out for people to come and take....cost is free, which is a great thing....and the clothes and shoes are perfect for the kids and families at DUNK....it's a win-win....and because it is set up like a store, it causes the families to feel better about selecting things for themselves.....it's a great concept that was started either in london or somewhere in the states....and this is the second time one is being done in ghana....very smart....
enough about life here....although the one other thing....still no reported cases of ebola, cholera is still everywhere and malaria is now hitting people in huge numbers, due to still having rainy days (which is weird for the season, so everyone tells me)....this week 4 more teachers were diagnosed with malaria....i am using bug spray like deodorant and perfume....so fingers crossed i do not test positive...anywya...below are my shots from my most recent trip out of ghana to the UAE - specifically dubai and abu dhabi....two very different cities with friends in them, who i wanted to say hi to....i also wanted something relatively close, that was just easy in comparison to africa....and UAE is 180 degrees different....from getting a clean, metered taxi with a driver who knows where they are going or has a gps to help them, to a metro system and bus system that exist, to sidewalks to walk on....although its so darn hot you are not out a lot, to many different choices of food, to all of the american chains (canandian too - they have tim horton's!)....the chains thing was really weird....to a shiny and new city...and yes...i miss a city....so it was a good place for me to visit....but i have to say, i doubt i will go back....it was like vegas on steroids...not my kind of place and really i am glad i did it, but i don't really need to go again....just not my style....but perfect for what i needed and excellent for catching up with folks....so onto the pictures....
due to crazy flights, it actually took me around 12 hours to get to dubai....longer than i originally thought, but definitely doable...so needless to say i was very tired and pretty much slept the whole first day - sunday away, which was okay, because in the UAE, due to the muslim religion, that is the first day of the work week....so my friends were working anyway.....when i did wake up i took some shots from my friend julia's apt....and this one above was timed perfectly....the sun was just coming through the hole at the top of the building....we have some buildings like this in ghana, but they are few and far between....so it was nice to be back in a city....the weird eliptical shape to the right of the building is actually the ski slope in dubai....julia lives right near a mall...as do most people who live in dubai....there are a million of them...
this is a shot looking the opposite direction from the sunset and here you can see the "main" city part with the burj khalifa....another shot of that will be later....this is the tallest building in the world....dubai has many records like this...tallest building, biggest aquarium, biggest mall (i think)....this is the land where you want to have the biggest, most expensive and fastest thing on the planet....and believe me, i saw many of these things...not really for me, but good to see them once....just once....
this was one of my favorite restaurants while we were in dubai...."on" the beach, well, until a building was built in front of them...but its a shack on the beach, that offers shrimp and two kinds of fish, only....and man, it is tatsy...local emiratis know about this place...and it was packed by the time we got our food....hard to find, cheap to eat here and tasty to boot...and look at those fish...if i remembered their names, i would tell you, but i can't (julia?? stephanie??)
so of course we had to stop by and see ski dubai....didn't bother to ski though....didn't have the time and actually was not super interested in it....but it was fun to watch the kids play in the snow castle and watch people roll down the hill in a zorb...i am sure this is amazing for folks who have never seen snow, or if someone is jonesin' to go skiing....but to me it symbolizes dubai...bigger, better, faster, wilder and most expensive things possible...not really my style, but of course you have to go check it out :)
Dates, dates and more dates....this is the land of the dates....and we found some amazing ones in the malls and the supermarkets.....i am not a huge fan of dates, but some of these were incredible....
it's funny how much you miss skyscrapers when you don't live around them anymore....this was a nice reminder of shanghai for me...as we wandered around the marina part of town...i especially liked the silver curvy building...i am always amazed that architects can make things like this stay up....yes, i get the physics, but it's just so cool :)
the walk around the marina brought us to a reunion of shanghai folks....we all worked at scis...stephanie, me, giovanni and mary kelly....we shared happy hour and ladies night...overlooking the palm...the crazy islands that look like a palm tree...got to the happy hour a bit to late to see it clearly....but even in the dark it got me wondering about building in a body of water like that....crazy...
the next day i headed to the souks of dubai (souk means market)...the first stop was the spices market...lots of things for sale...i was so happy to see some of them and bring them back to ghana...and i was really happy at the selection of walnuts, almonds and sunflower seeds...those things here in ghana are pricey....had fun walking the souks, but they are rather swanky...they have been refurbished i think...and are covered and have space...nice, but not as much personality as the souks in turkey and egypt...
there is a creek in dubai...that you need to cross to get from one souk to another...its a cute little hop and skip...and it was cooler on the water....a busy place this creek....all manner of boats...not super huge, but boats carry many things, many places....
this boat is called an abra....it is used as a ferry across dubai creek...it costs about 30 cents to go across...i feel like i should have gone more than once...it was short and quick and provided a good breeze in a hot town...you sit on the box part with the captain in the middle...here you can see the captain trying to duck out of the picture of an empty abra coming in to pick up passengers....
once across the creek i went to the dubai museum....which was mostly underground...very cool...here you see a abra and the top of the very small fort this was in....again, most of it was underground...dubai has been around as a notable town for only 200 years....and its amazing how much growth has happened within the past 50 years...its exponential...i did not know the history, so it was cool to understand more about this city from its museum...definitely worth a quick stop.....
i also spent a day in abu dhabi, visiting my friends kent and kath....this town is very different from dubai...not as tall or flashy...it has been said that dubai is the "party" part, and abu dhabi is the "culture" part of the UAE....on the way there....nothing but desert....as you can see from the shot above....
abu dhabi is where the sheikh zayed grand mosque is located....sheikh zayed is the one who brought the UAE together as a country, so he is praised everywhere you go...and really, he did amazing things for this country...its the 8th largest mosque in the world and has islamic features from all over the world...it really is a stunning structure...and if you are female you must be covered to enter....everyone is allowed to enter...but we did the free tour and got to see more than the average vistor...
i just liked how this shot turned out....with the water and the pillars and the dome....this is around the outside of the mosque and the floor of the outer courtyard is said to be able to hold 30,000 people at once for prayer and another 10,000 inside of the mosque...i don't know if they have ever had that many...but all mosques in the UAE use the call to prayer from this particular mosque...it's live here...and piped electronically to everywhere else...
on the inside are three of the largest chandeliers in the world...made from swarovski crystals...super huge and super heavy....this is the one in the middle of the mosque...the third largest chandelier in the world
this shot is inside of the mosques...in mosques you may not have any art in the shape or form of a human...so there is a lot of work that looks like flowers and stars and the moon...it's really beautiful...this is the wall behind where the main lecturer stands...and on this wall are 99 versions for the name of god - allah being one of them...there is one empty space for the unknown names of god muslims believe we do not know, because allah has not shown us all of the names that represent him....very humble and very beautiful works of art....
I took this shot as we were leaving the mosque, as a man and woman were heading inside to pray....they are dwarfed by the domes and it turned out well...the mosque was originally funded by the sheikh...but that was only 40 BILLION of the total amount it cost...the rest was donated and given as payment for use of the grounds and the educational facilities...it is/was one of the most expensive buildings to build and no one really even knows the total it cost....amazing...
another shanghai connection...kent & kath...kent is working at a school in abu dhabi...looks like they might be here awhile...as things are working out well...so glad they took the time to hang and have some food...it was great to catch up....
another shanghai reunion...with stephanie and julia...it was because of these ladies that i even made the trek to dubai...looks like they will not be there much longer...but you never know...it was great hanging out and catching up and getting to know their town....
the last thing we did before i jumped on a plane back to ghana was check out the burj khalifa...the tallest building in the world...we watched the fountain show before it - think fountains of bellagio, in vegas...and then headed up to check out the view...we went to the 124 floor...i think...and this is definitely the tallest, sturdiest, craziest and wildest building ever built....you should see all of its records...its amazing....it has a few swimming pools, a hotel, residential housing, offices and tourist spots....completely used and filled...and stunning at night both from the ground and in the building itself...you have to do this at least once :)
for the last shot i decided it would be interesting to see me in abaya...that's the covering muslim women wear in mosques....head-to-toe and everything in between....the tour we were on is why i have a headset on...our tour guide was great...very knowledgeable about the mosque...although she wasn't able to tell us how much it cost in the end of build....
so there you have it...my trip to the UAE...yes, i am happy i went...to see my friends, to jump a metro, to walk on sidewalks, to be in a clean taxi, to eat different foods and to experience the middle east's vegas...but i don't think i will be headed back there...i could see if you were a shopper how this could be a slice of heaven...or if you were part of the jet set...but i am neither....so although it was a perfect trip from ghana, at the perfect time, i am not headed back anytime soon...
thanksgiving is this week....so a happy thanksgiving to everyone who celebrates...we are having a huge potluck at a compound where a bunch of school families (teachers and their kids) live....looks like about 40 - 50 people are coming....which should be a blast....and my dad's birthday was yesterday, so a shout out to him....i hope everyone is well and happy and getting ready to deal with winter in the northern hemisphere....enjoy the cold for me...the temperature here just gets warmer and warmer and most days are in the 90s now (low 30s for celsius people)...and very humid - which is the part i do not like...but i digress...hope all is well and i hope to be in touch again in the next two weeks....with more ghana before the holidays....again, i will be in the states and will be contacting people about getting together...i know it is a busy time, but if you have the time, i would love to see you and spread some holiday cheer :) peace out....
