So since I realized that it was almost a month since my last post, I figured I better update whats been going on :)

Sadly, daily life has remained pretty much the same. Haha,nothing new on that front. I've been interviewing for some jobs with sub-organziations of the government positions here so we'll see what I hear back from that. At first I was a bit hesistant on even following through with the interview process because my first interview went really badly. I felt like they were really riding me hard for being a girl and they primarily were asking when I was planning on having kids and what I was doing with a degree in politics. But I decided to go ahead with the interviews and things got better so we'll keep our fingers crossed on that. The only thing is I've gotten really into the media outlet here and have applied for a bunch of jobs of with newspapers and media companies. I also have written a couple of articles for the english newspaper here which I attached below. I feel like its a good compromise because it provides a creative outlet and is by far less stressful than the other positions I applied for. One of the jobs gave me an ulcer and I havent even gotten it yet! Haha.. well have to see.

Shahin and I took a one day trip to Oman to renew our visas. We really liked Muscat. It was really relaxing and we definitely plan on taking people there when they come to visit.

That pretty much puts us up to today. Time is going by so fast here, I can't believe we're going on our third month!

Articles:

http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/07/11/01/10164541.html

Go Green UAE!

In the United States, if I were to approach the everyday person and tell them there was a hole in our ozone layer that is getting worse by the second, in addition to dramatic climate changes in the rest of the world as a result of our actions, the most likely response would be that I’m an overdramatic liberal adding to the hyped up agenda of the democrats. If I were to ask the every day person in the Middle East, would I get any response at all? Since being in the United Arab Emirates, I have seen little coverage on global warming. In fact, I haven’t seen much information in mainstream media in the entire region. This however, was not to be unexpected, seeing it is the international response until the past year or two. However, as I was watching the news tonight I saw a piece on the use of green buildings in Dubai. Having just seen the Emmys utilize the solar building, I couldn’t help but get excited that even here people were jumping on board to do something about global warming. It got me thinking, if we could implement solar panels on buildings for energy, we’d be in great shape! God knows we have no lack of sun here; why not channel it for some good. But as I look around the rest of society, is one big move going to really help when there’s so many smaller elements of society adding up to a negative impact? Don’t get me wrong; I’m thrilled that the government is making an initiative. Even better, an initiative that was noticed by the common folk like me. But what about us every day people who go about our daily routines without thinking twice? Look at the number of SUV’s driven in the region. Now, I for one cannot complain seeing as I myself am not willing to give up my dream of driving around the streets of Abu Dhabi in my black Range Rover. I don’t have a large family, it’s just me and my husband, but I still have a draw to these larger luxury cars as I’m sure many others do as well. As one friend pointed out, in Europe it would never be feasible to drive such a large car, let alone cover gas costs there or even in the states. Without the factor of the gas-guzzler, why not drive an SUV? Now I know I may sound extremely selfish for saying that, but I’m trying to make a point of the small things we can do, not extreme life makeovers. For example, I’ve asked everyone around me about recycling programs and no one has any idea of one existing. Let’s take a look at this, my husband and his friend read a number of newspapers on a daily basis. Now, I wish I could say that after watching Martha Stewart I am creatively able to cut up the newspaper and add it to my composting bin. However, I have no garden in my flat and therefore definitely no need to compost. Instead into the garbage the kilos of paper go, into the massive garbage dump of our apartment. Where it goes from there, no one has been able to tell me, and due to the communication barrier the garbage pickup men can offer me no insight. I’m sure programs exist somewhere, and just aren’t found on my Google search engine, but I have to wonder, what can we do to make this an effort of the societal norm. Clearly there are more tangible issues at hand, and as the Dubai Cares effort has pointed out to us. I know as I went to buy my new sunglasses, the advertisement of what 2000AED could buy flashed in my head along with the picture of children’s faces. In the end, however, I still bought them, donating the change I had received to Red Crescent to try and mask my guilt. I think its safe to say I’m fairly representative of the peers in my age bracket of a twenty year old. I spend at least a few minutes daily obsessing over clothing and wonder what it will take to get the salesman at Louis Vuitton in Marina Mall to like me. I may spend a few minutes wondering what I can do to use my time more productively, but after a hard day of work, it’s not on the top of my agenda. We live in a “me”-world, focusing on what is around us before anything else. It’s easy for me to send a donation to a child who can’t afford to go to school and then move on then ignore a child whose immediately in front of me asking for the money instead. The climate change may have a similar scenario, as its not affecting us immediately in real-time, and therefore not on the top of our minds. But what happens when the hole is in our sky above us? Or when the water starts evaporating in the corniche because temperatures have risen so much? I applaud the government for bringing this issue to the table in addition to what is normally considered hot topics, and I urge the everyday citizen to try and make an effort to be a little more eco-conscious, perhaps first starting with turning the lights off when you leave a room, or reading your newspapers online. Let’s do something about this before our immediate world is effective. Go green UAE! Before it’s too late to turn back.

So we have officially found our new favorite spot in Abu Dhabi- Lulu island. What it entails is taking a ferry out for 4 minutes across the water and getting on a bus or train and driving around the island until you find a place that you want to make your spot. We lucked out and found a tent in a nice area and parked there all day. Now this isn't an island in the sense of tropical forests or what not- this is still the desert people. Its a bunch of sand, a few planted palm trees, and lots of huts and restraunts. In addition, the water is from the gulf but a wall has been put in to block out jelly fish and tides and whatever else may come your way so theres virtually no current. Its like a fancy swimming pool with lots of rocks on the bottom and a few fishies swimming here and there. Overall we liked it a lot haha and here are some of the pictures to prove it:

Here's some pictures from Eid in local clothes... we went to the beach the day after but until the internet connection gets better those will have to wait. Eid Mubarak everyone! <3

So I was checking my email and got one from macy's about a great new shoe that's designed to help tone your legs and butt when you walk. I think the black ones would look ok with an abaya no? Haha I'm seriously considering this... with the amount I walk to and from and around malls, I could have an amazing body in no time.. check it out:

A workout in a shoe! The FitFlop sandal tones your calves, thighs and glutes with a specially designed midsole that functions like a mini wobbleboard to engage your muscles as you walk.

http://www1.macys.com/catalog/product/index.ognc?ID=279731&CategoryID=30567&LinkType=EverGreen#

Hello all,

Its been awhile since the last post.. but that is fairly representative of life here as well as a lack of internet speed. So here's a recap on what we've been doing..

We ventured into the older mall and bought my Eid abaya which is pretty :) We went to the Gold Souk and saw all the gold shops too- a definite must see for anyone who comes to visit.

We went to a movie here- the Michael Moore documentary Sicko. It was actually really good and I recommend that all of you go see it (especially my mom, Anisha,and aunt patty). I think it came out early in the summer so it should be coming out to video soon and you guys have to rent it. It talks about the health care system of the US compared to around the world. It seems that almost everywhere in the world the people have the right to free or affordable, competent health care except in the states. Really makes you think...

We've had some interesting political speeches from Ahmadenijad at Columbia which turned out to actually give him some credibility. Despite his previous comments which have made me question him at times, I found him to be on point with his speech. I even got a little misty eyed when he said there were no homosexuals in Iran and everyone laughed at him and he just stood there seeming to not understand what the joke was. In addition to hearing from Iran's president, Zimbabwe's president also delivered an on point speech at the UN summit. From a political perspective things have been getting exciting the last two weeks and keeping Shahin and I intrigued in our disciplines.


Other than that we've been just working on stuff and settling. It seems that we're finally starting to feel like this is our home and we're starting to enjoy life here.
I took some pictures and a video from the Ramadan special the mall was having. It's a traditional Turkish dance that was interesting. Apparently its a Sufi dance that is a trance-like religious experience.

But alas, we miss all of you a lot and still look forward to hearing from all of you!

love and miss you,
Ash

So as promised I took pictures while we went out last night. We went to a cafe and then a mall for a little bit, so I decided to take pics of the mall to show you guys what they looked like here. They've decorated it for Ramadan, but in general the malls here are gorgeous. After going to the mall (haha I think Im in serious need of retail therapy but finances are dictating otherwise) I was in a much better mood finishing the night off with some lovely chocolates. I was enjoying my crepe but a fly flew into it and died so instead I took a picture of Shahins treat. Enjoy!

Ramadan decorations

Sweet Factory- I liked how it was written in Arabic haha

Fountain in the mall- thats always there, not just for Ramadan

Ramadan Banner

Palm Trees in the mall

So for those looking for the under water hotel (Tania), I can offer no picturesbut here's the dolphin painting in the mall

Forever 21

Chocolate