Dubai

Photos from the Dubai trip. Yes that is a real ski slope in the Mall of the Emirates also a life size stuffed Giraffe. Needless to say, as you can see from the pictures, in my free time I shopped until I dropped several times over.

Dubai The City That Comes Alive at Night

So I am in Dubai for a conference. I left Kabul this morning at 40 degrees and landed in Dubai at 10:30 to 104 degrees. High temp today 108. What a big difference to the system. It is no wonder that this city comes alive after dark. Even though it is still in the 90's it is much more bearable than 108.

Pictures to come later.....

Rain...Rain....Rain.... And Snow Too

Well April has been a rainy month thus far. Rain almost everyday. Occassional we are treated to a thunderstorm. Of course being where I am, I always have to confirm that it was thunder and not an explosion somewhere. One evening I swear it sounded like mortar fire as it echoed through the valley that is Kabul.

The weather otherwise has been a bit cool for the region. Just as the snow was leaving the mountains they are again capped in white. We even awoke to some snow falling on Wednesday morning early even at Kabul elevation. Of course there was no accumulation. However, I had planned a trip to Mazar for the weekend that got cancelled due to the pass over the mountains being closed and poor road conditions.

Despite the rain we have a few really nice days here and there. Last Saturday, April 3, was one such day. Shear luck for us as we had planned a kite day on campus for that day. Students, faculty, and staff were treated with a seminar on kite making and flying from one of Kabul's famous kite makers. This guy was great. He made the kites and trained the folks for The Kite Runner one of the most recent famous moves about Afghanistan. Check it out, it is a good movie. I don't need to go into the kite stories again, I do not think. Refer to older posts if you want info. However, enjoy the slide show from Kite Day last weekend.

Spring Break Trip

In all my years in school and in working in higher ed I have never taken a Spring Break trip. This year would be different. Although, not the typical Spring Break hoorah drunk fest it was a great break from Kabul thanks to one of my benifits, a 6 day all expenses paid R&R trip. One of my colleagues, Lee, and myself met up in Dubai and we were off to points unknown to me. The first stop was Ras Al-Khaimah and the George Mason campus. I had worked for a few years with the folks there but had never met them. Dubai is about an hour and a half from RAK so off we went. There we toured the campus and had lunch at a seaside resort.

From RAK we decided to head north into Oman. Our destination Khasab, Oman on the Mussandam penninsula which is just off the famous Strait of Hormuz stopping for a rest stop in Bukha, Oman. The following morning we took a half day dhow trip through the nearby Fjords visiting Telegraph Island, playing with fish and with dolphins.

Although there was an easier route we figured out from Khasab we traced back our original route crossing back into the UAE and Ras Al-Khamiah and then heading east to the Indian Ocean and Fujairah in the UAE where we stayed at a wonderful beachfront resort. Fro Fujairah we were off the next morning back out of the UAE to the lower section of Oman. Oman is actually divided in three sections, Mussandam, Madha, both detached from the main body of Oman and the lower sections made up of several other governates the largest of which is Muscat where the capital is. We stayed the night in yet another beach front resort at Al Sawadi Beach just outside Barka, Oman. Yes again the next morning we were up and outa there for a long 7.5 hour treck back to Dubai, through Rustaq, Oman where we visited an ancient fort. From Rustaq it was through the Ad Dhahirah desert region near the foot the Al Hajr AI Gharbi Mountains of the toward the Empty Quarter or Rub' al Khali back into UAE to Al Ain and back to Dubai. The first couple of days of driving were great. No driver no escort but 4 days and several border crossing, thus passport stamps, later upon our return we were glad to be done with driving/riding in the car.

Our visit to the remainder of the break consisted of shopping, shopping, more shopping which we do not get a chance to do a lot in Kabul. Including in which was a visit to the worlds largest Dubai mall which among every store you can think of features also a full size aquarium complete with sharks and large sting rays. Yes those small things standing outside the pictures of the aquarium are people. It also featured a lot of good American fast food, one of the things I miss most in Kabul. KFC (real KFC not Kabul Fried Chicken as in my earlier posts), Pizza Hut, McDonalds, Hardees, Burger King, and even TGIFridays. Stepping on the scale before leaving, I discovered I gained 5 pounds while in Dubai. Oh well I have lost 30 while here so that is o.k.

Being the biker, one of the best things of the stay in Dubai is that just by chance it feel on the weekend of Dubai Bike Week. Although I did not stick around for the Deep Purple concert because of the eighty seven u.s. dollar ticket price, it was enjoyable. It featured all of the worlds most well known manufacturers including even Dyersburg, TN based Boss Hoss. Yes Boss Hoss was there. However, the Boss Hoss bikes in Dubai feature european specs which make them even faster. Others included, of course, Harley but also Triumph, Kawasaki, Honda, Suzuki, and even American Made Victory. Also present were several custom builders mostly from the UAE. Included in which, to my surprise, was a bike based on the General Lee including tank covering rebel flag. All in all it was a pretty big deal and a good show. Even MTV Arabia was present covering some of the bands.

Saturday it was time to pack it up and head back home where we arrived in Kabul just in time for the first day of Spring which is also the Persian new year. The streets were packed with folks out in their finest for the celebration. Sunday, however, it was back to work and it was a very busy week for me, thus, the delay in getting this info up.

A year ago had you told me I would be in Kabul I would have said maybe but had you told me I would spend Spring Break 2009 crossing a lot of the Arabian Penninsula I would have laughed at you. I did it though and it was a great time. Hope you have enjoyed the blog and ALL the pictures from the week.

Spring Has Sprung --- Almost

So spring, I think, has sprung in Kabul. While we still have a bit of snow on the mountains surrounding us, the highs here are now steadily in the mid 60's. It still gets a bit chilly at night so the blankets are still on the bed and the heater still runs during the night. However, today I was out in shirt sleeves and returned home to slide on a tank and some shorts to lounge the day away.

Spring Break has officially started. I hate early flights but I am on one tomorrow. Dubai and beyond....... While searching for things to do in Dubai, I first located the Harley dealer and that is on my list of things to do for sure. Next I went to their H.O.G. (Harley Owners Group) site and discovered that the last two days of my visit to Dubai are the beginning of Dubai Bike Week. http://www.dubaibikeweek.com/. Needless to say you know where I will be winding up my Spring Break trip. I am looking forward to it. Too bad I do not have my bike here though. It will still be fun.

Since is really my first adventure out in Dubai I will be sure and snap a lot of pics of the city and also of Bike Week, The Harley Dealer, etc. etc. Until then...........

One More Week

In academia the pay sure does not match up but the benefits are great. Less than one week and we are on Spring Break. For me that means a week long all expense paid trip to Dubai. I am looking forward to it even though I am doing it alone which will get a bit boring but a week out of here is a good thing none the less. I will be sure and take tons of photos to share!


As I have said before we observe both U.S. and Muslim holidays. Today was the prophets birthday so a day off after just starting the week yesterday. It afforded, Tony, my housemate and myself a little photo safari about town. Some times we go around T.V. mountain, the mountain with all of the T.V. towers that you have seen in some of my trips. However, today we had a special treat and went over the west end tip of the mountain. Quite the little adventure. When we got to the top we found a group of kids playing. Tony is great with kids. It is amazing that despite the language barrier he gets along so well with them.

Enjoy the slide show of our little adventure today. By the way several of the photos are of the blown out Russian Cultural Center. The place is a bit dangerous as it is home now by heroin addicts. Therefore, we did not go in as it is considered a very dangerous place.

A Special Treat

This past Sunday I had a special treat. I was invited to my first Afghan wedding party. A faculty member's brother was getting married. So off I went to the Intercontinental Hotel here in Kabul. Of course I had my full kit of camera gear in hand. What a special treat. Great food, dancing, music, and to witness a wedding Persian style was amazing.

What was it like? I can say it was very ceremonial. The funny thing was that many of the same things done in a Western wedding are included in a Persian wedding. You ethnocentric folks might say they copied it from us. Considering which culture is the oldest one can only conclude where the origination of those traditions came from. Certainly not from Western culture. From exchanging of the rings, to feeding each other cake and even smashing it a bit in the face, to the first dance as a married couple. These things have been tradition for thousands of years. It was certainly eye opening for a Westerner.

The kids at the wedding were great. They would play shy but they really love their photos taken. Especially when I would show them the LCD and they could see themselves right there on the spot.

Enjoy the pics. I think this was one of my best wedding efforts. though I have to share that I was scared. I showed up and my batteries were dead so I had to go mostly flash less. Thank goodness they had two videographers going with full lights. Thus some wonderful shots if I do say so myself.

A Hectic Two Weeks -

Wow it has been a hectic two weeks. Where do I begin? I guess I will begin in reverse chronological order; today to my previous entry.

It is a three day weekend here as it is in the U.S. However, we are celebrating President's Day on Sunday which is our first work day of the week as opposed to Monday. It is proving to be a white weekend. Yesterday evening it started snowing about 4:30 and did not stop until this evening about the same time. It was only heavy on and off. All total about 12-14 inches of accumulation. It has been a long time since I have seen this much snow. It is absolutely beautiful! As you can see from the pictures below my housemates Justin and Mohib decided to get out and have a bit of fun in the snow and make a snowman Afghanistan style.

This week was not a lot of fun in Kabul. In case you have not seen it all hell broke loose on Wendesday. The Taliban, upset about Taliban prisoner treatment, attacked in retaliation in a Mumbai style coordinated effort. As the results came in, people were in a state of shock. The result absolutely shut down the city including classes for the rest of the day. Not a good way to begin the ending of the second week of school and go into a three day weekend.

Classes began on February 1 so needless to say work has been hectic. Between Orientation, teaching two classes, and coordinating 3 more the two weeks leeding up to the big Taliban attach are quite the blur. However, I did take a bit of time off. The results are in the photos below.

We did get a special treat. What started as a simple trip to the Kabul Museum turned out to be a special treat. Durul-Aman Palace is right across the road and we decided to take a walk across. It so happened that they allowed us to cross the wire and go inside. The results you can see below.

The weekend prior we ventured to Chicken Street to grab some goodies. Lots of good pictures there as well as you can see. That was also my birthday weekend and we had a great time. We started on Thursday, my birthday, with a group dinner out and continued throughout. Fun times!

So I guess now we are all caught up. Thanks for standing by.

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