The Crack in the Sky

I've finally figured out what Dubai's ultimate aspirational landmark signifies-- it's the giant crack in the sky that marks the end times. The sky isn't falling though, not yet anyway. It just has a lighning bolt shaped rift in its fabric, a rift not unlike the one that has threatened to swallow your local economy. Seen from the edge of town, the Burj Dubai appears almost complete through the gauzy haze of Dubai's soiled air, however it's very much still under construction. 

We managed to recover our camera in time for a recent over night in Al Ain, however this picture of the skyline at dusk is about all that we came home with. We did very much enjoy some time away from our increasingly cramped  apartment, which now includes one of those pink yoga ball things as a sort of ottoman. I like to sit on the coach with my legs stretched out, balanced precariously on the yoga ball, which happens to be across the room in the kitchen. As a result, I've gotten really good at fixing snacks with my feet, which is one of the perks of being six two-ish. The downside is bumping your head a lot. In fact, I was born with a normal size head, but it has since become so calloused through abuse that, as you can see in most pictures, it is now roughly twice the width of a yoga ball. I'm seriously thinking of becoming an anchorman, or possibly making a run for congress.

My giant cranium did fit nicely in the shiny Audi Q5 that my new best german friends (BGFs) saw fit to lend me for review. While I admit a sense of relief upon reclaiming possession of our noticeably smaller Subaru, the Audi was exceedingly comfortable, offered more features than I had time or patience to enjoy, and would have been more than sporty enough to get several speeding tickets, had I not religiously used the cruise control to rein in its turbo charged 4 cylinder engine. 

Rumors have been circulating that revenue strapped Dubai has been issuing an unusual number of dodgy tickets lately, and Ness did in fact get a parking ticket in the exact spot where she's been parking since she started her job last summer. Anyway, it was nice to have use of the Audi for our trip, and if you absolutely have to own an flashy luxury SUV, this one at least isn't hideously ugly like the American offerings. But really, the car that Dubai makes me want to own is a VW micro bus. An old, weather beaten one, with a "Too slow? Too bad." bumper sticker-- we could use the affordable housing.

Dragon Boating

On a recent hazy Friday morning we had our first taste of dragon boat racing, rowing on behalf of a mostly rookie team organized by our friend Francis. Dragon boating is a fairly enjoyable form of rowing that, perhaps like other team rowing events, requires that team members row precisely in time with each other. If you lose the rhythm each person's effort will start to counteract that of their cohorts, making for the sort of team building metaphor that might give a motivational speaker the strength to get out of bed in the morning, but probably not. I can't say that our timing was excellent, but the crew of good ol' number three never quite came in dead last and that's good enough for me. 

In the topmost picture you can see the hull of an immense wooden boat being constructed on the opposite shore. Sadly, I don't have any pictures of these beauties, but from the water they were quite impressive. And really, that was the best part of the race for me; being out on the water at an hour when I'm typically contemplating the inside of my eyelids.

Dubai has become a favorite target in the UK press of late, causing enough of a stir that the Sheikh held a Q&A with local journalists over the weekend, something he reportedly hasn't done since 2001. I haven't read the Q&A yet, but one perhaps telling criticism is that international journalists were apparently not invited to participate. Among the headlines in yesterday's news cycle, were the Sheikh's pronouncement that the worst of the credit crunch is over, and a report by Colliers International that residential real estate prices in Dubai have dropped by 40%. While it's very difficult to know what will happen in the next few months, one definite possibility is that you may be seeing us a bit sooner than expected.

One of the main reasons we came to Dubai was for the travel opportunities, and later this month we will be traveling to China for Nessa's job. Dubai is an excellent hub for visiting much of the world, and quite often does an excellent job of making you wish you were somewhere else. We hope to take advantage of being here by taking a few more trips before our time in the middle east comes to a close. Here's hoping China is just one of a few interesting destinations on our horizon.