2014

Friday 11 April 2014

 

Well, a lot has happened since 24 December 2013.

 

We continue to live in Al Hamra in the Northern Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah 100 km north of Dubai. Outside it is 35C and inside 25C. Beautiful day. Yachts sailing in our little harbour, jet skiers blast about. The 80 foot sailing ship Prince of Arabia AKA the Party Boat has sailed off, music blasting

 

We got up early and skyped family. We were gonna do this and gonna do that but had to pay some bills and now we are now gonna do nothing very much because Emma has gone to sleep and its now the middle of the day and too hot to go down to the pool which was probably all we were going to manage in the first place.

 

So, I’m doing some family legal stuff, some work legal stuff, and this neglected blog.

 

Going back, the first thing that happened in time was that we received some great presents from home for Christmas. We sent nothing in return as postage costs more than the presents, but a 90kg luggage allowance in July will set that situation to rights.

 

On the 27^th of December 2014 Tony Savage arrived and stayed till the 5^th. I met him at the airport all dressed up in my Kandura. He was suitably impressed and one thing led to another and before we knew it we were being ushered back into the boudoir of Dubai’s finest fakers. Tony emerged several thousand dirhams lighter resplendent head to toe in fake Armani, Gucci, Tommy Hilfiger, Paul Smith and a lifetime of spares all wrapped up in his fake Mont Blanc suitcase. So if you see him parading the streets, resplendently resembling an advertising hoarding for upwardly mobile sartorial clobber, take heart, it is careful constructed artifice!

 

Tony, very good naturedly joined us on a trip to Oman, the very northern part called Musandam, which is separated from the rest of Oman by the East Coast (Indian Ocean side) of UAE. We camped on the beach for three nights, went diving, went on a Dhow Cruise, saw dolphins, had fires on the beach. It was quite like camping at home. Arabs were encamped up the beach and every morning as the breeze got up, all of their rubbish was gently blown down the beach, through our camp and out into the Gulf and henceforth into the Indian Ocean. Can’t get more convenient rubbish disposal than that! It really is no wonder that the searchers for MH370 cant see the flotsam for all the jetsam.

 

People here have a centuries ingrained habit of just leaving stuff and moving on. Now, sadly, what they leave stays forever. I might have said it before, but the leading cause of Camel death is the unwitting ingestion of a plastic bag.

 

We went inland through a plateau and to as far as we could drive then walked, to the border, sat amongst the ubiquitous debris and looked down on the UAE and out and across to Iran.

 

We celebrated New Years here where the promised fireworks were a fizzer when we should have gone to Dubai where, apparently they were amazing.

 

Another attempt to travel to the rest of Oman was thwarted as my immigration status had changed and I was stranded in UAE for some weeks. So we just hung around the malls shopping, sightseeing and enjoying being on holiday. Tony was a great visitor.

 

Within days, Zoe arrived in town for six weeks following her cousin Libby’s wedding and before her start at DLA Phillips Fox. More shopping. Hard out this time.

 

She’s not quite such a faker as our Tony, but close inspection might reveal…haha. Very sensitive, and I am not sure she has Tony’s fine sense of humour.

 

Having Zoe was great and we were very sad to see her go. She has a lot of energy, likes lists and ticking them off. She went home with a pretty complete corporate wardrobe thanks in part to the Dubai Shopping Festival which is a half price sale covering every mall in Dubai, every Feb for the entire month. Pretty incredible. Billions spent by millions, true.

 

Since then it has been all about work.

 

Emma has a tough job. The school she is at is two years old (almost). They are attempting to get PYP, the Primary Years Programme, which is part of the International Baccalaureate phenomenon sweeping the world, in July 2014. Given it is an open ended non-prescriptive new agey type thing, that equals a lot of work developing their own curriculum. The human toll from this endeavour is very high, and staff morale has certainly suffered.

 

Against that, she has learned a huge amount very fast. That is really what we are here for and the experience is putting her in a good position, both here and back home, so she really is not too concerned. Emma has received great reviews for her teaching.

 

I have a job too. I have heard that the internet is not the best place to complain about your boss, so I wont say too much! But, oh boy, do we have some rows.

 

That said, my boss has great clients, the work is of reasonable quality, the pay is pretty good and, whilst occaisionally snarling at each other, we actually produce pretty good work. The UAE is all about getting stuff done – yesterday. Forget the analysis paralysis, plan to be right but above all, get it done NOW. I think I was the slowest lawyer in the world, so this has been quite a culture shock.

 

Dubai has a legal system which is best described as interesting. My job is managing litigation in that system. The local advocates have the exclusive right of audience in the Dubai Courts. Everything must be translated. The languages are fundamentally different. Just to illustrate that, Arabic is read right to left and from what we would call the back of the book to our front. Translations can markedly differ. The concepts of law are very different. There is no interim relief, so that certainly encourages people to just have a go and deal with the consequences later.

 

I’m not saying the right result can’t be reached, but it really is a matter of having your ducks in a row.

 

That said, the consequences of wrong doing are pretty harsh. Criticising the government, or the system of government, or making defamatory statements is a criminal offence, so is giving the finger to your fellow motorist.

 

Emma and I get in our his n hers silver 2014 VW Passats. She drives 50 km to her school on the E311 and I drive 90 km to Dubai on the E611 motorway. Set the cruise control to 139 kmh and go for it. Most of the way its pretty good.

 

The major problem is the guy who wants to go 160 km or 180 km. So, you see them coming in your rear mirror headlights flashing as they hurtle towards you.

 

The best thing to do is get out of his way, but in the lane inside you there is likely to be an Indian guy (sounds bad but it always is) and he is doing 80kmh and resolutely ignoring the kilometre long tail behind him.

 

Failure to move has Mr Angry less than one metre from your bumper, flashing, swerving, backing off and rushing at you. All this conducted at 80 mph and all because he wants to go 100 mph! He is invariably driving an old gold Lexus or a Landcruiser. The comfort of superior relative mass and the Muslim adherence to the preordination of one’s destiny means that the prospect of an horrible accident is only of passing moment to this guy. What he really wants is for you to get the F*!k out of his way.

 

One evening, sick of this, I was doing at least 140 with Mr Angry tucked in behind, like an angry gnat this time in a Golf GTI. Keeping the foot on the accelerator, give the breaks a touch. Angrier than ever, swerving, flashing. Do it twice more, then a little bit harder! This guy takes to the 1.5 meter gap between me and the concrete median barrier, screams through there cutting me off, and slams his breaks on right in front of me!

 

Lesson learned. These guys are quite happy to take things to the next level, even if it means hospital for everyone. I am a family guy after all.

Tonight, on the feeder road we have to venture down to get to the motorway a taxi turned in front of me. We skidded to a stop. He just laughed. Then as I went to move off, a truck is driving along my side of the road !

Sadly, the long and intense days have meant that we have not really had the energy for travel and trips.

We are going to change that.

Sat 12 April 2014

 

We do live in a resort style location so its not too bad. This morning, for example we went to the Hilton Doubletree Marjan Island. We met our new best friends, had a breakfast for NZ$35.00 (kids free) omeletes pancakes, buffet, order what you want, make you a coffee, whatever then lazed by their half acre or so of pool.

 

Next we went shopping brought some beautiful tomatoes for NZ 35 cents a kilo, cucumbers for $1.00 per kilo, eggplant (same), capsicum (same) – anything local and in season will be NZ$1.00 at the supermarket.

 

We buy NZ Beef Fillet for NZ$ 30.00 per kg, Aussie lamb for $12.00 per kg. All NZ produce same or cheaper here than in NZ including the wine which has a substantial tax. Whats with that? If cheap vodka is your thing, well you can literally fill your boots with the stuff.

 

As I write this, Emma is off getting a pedicure for NZ $20.00 or $30.00 and whilst she is there, some guy will stand in the 35 degree heat and clean her car for NZ $5.00. This is the benefit that the few derive from the many who live here on an absolutely pitiful wage. Its hard to get your head around. You hear some terrible stories. The most one can do is be fair and tip well.

At the same time, the person most likely to leave the UAE in debt is the white expat. Something like 90% of expats leave the UAE in debt. Its the cars, the furniture, the holidays and the endless spending opportunities. There is not a woman here who does not sport a designer bag. Some like Emma, have fakes!

Ava has been the real star of the show. She has grown, has a truly international accent and is a smart little citizen of the world – accomplished shopper!  She hates mornings but crawls out of bed at 5.45, chugs down her breakfast puts on her uniform and then she and koala wait stoically by the door . School for three year olds is a bit weird, but she really has thrived.

Thanks for reading. We will try to improve the quality of the news.

Roger and Emma.

Photos to follow.