Rumbo a India (I am off to India)

Estaré viajando a India el próximo lunes 4 de diciembre. Mis padres y hermano también vendrán, y estaremos de tour por los sitios más turísticos del norte, luego Mumbai, Goa y Kerala a finales del mes.
Finalmente después de tanta espera y de que la familia de mi esposo aceptara el hecho de que el ya se había casado con alguien que no es de Kerala, ni Hindú, vamos a tener una segunda boda en el rito Hindú. El matrimonio será el 28 de Diciembre en Tellicherry, Kerala. No he participado mucho en los preparativos pues no tengo mucha idea de las costumbres de ellos, ni siquiera podré escoger el vestido de novia (saree), ya que llegare a Kerala solo unos pocos días antes del matrimonio. Mi esposo estará en India dos semanas antes y compraba los vestidos (al menos se tiene buen gusto). La ventaja de todo es que no tendré que estresarme de nuevo preparando otro matrimonio (tuve suficiente con el matrimonio en Colombia) y me podré concentrar en disfrutar de mi viaje por India.

Tenemos planeado regresar a Abu Dhabi el 31 de Diciembre, con mis padres y hermano. Será una experiencia interesante para ellos, dos culturas nuevas y bastante diferentes. Mi papa siempre había deseado mucho ir a India.

No se si tenga acceso a Internet en India, pero si es así publicare fotos de mi viaje, si no hasta el próximo año, Feliz Navidad y Feliz Año Nuevo para todos!!!

I will be traveling to India next Monday December 4th. My parents and brother will be joining me. We will be touring the main tourist places in the North, then we will go to Mumbai, Goa and finally Kerala at the end of the month.
After a long wait and the fact that my husband’s parents finally accepted that he is already married to a girl that is neither from Kerala nor Hindi, we are going to have our second wedding in a Hindu ceremony. The wedding will be on December 28th in Tellicherry, Kerala. I haven’t been a big part of the wedding preparations since I have almost no knowledge of the traditions, I won’t even have the choice to select my wedding saree since I won’t be in Kerala till a few days before the wedding. My husband will choose my dress (at least I know he has good taste) since he will be there two weeks before the wedding. At least I don’t have to stress up again about wedding preparations ( I had enough with the wedding Colombia), just enjoy my trip to India...

We have also planned to come to Abu Dhabi on December 31st, with my parents and brother. It will be an interesting experience for them, two new and very different cultures. My dad has always wanted to come to India.

I don’t know if I will have access to Internet in India, if I do have access, I will publish pictures form there, otherwise till next year. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year for everyone!!.

You have lived in Dubai if ...

1) You think California is cold.

2) You know the guy that designed the road system was smoking pot when he did it.

3) You wouldn't turn your head for the second time when a Continental GT passed by... that would take at least a McLaren F1.

4) You're STILL shaking the sand out of your shoes.

5) You got kicked out of school for having a fight outside school during the weekend.

6) You know a friend who won a free car from the local mall. Twice.

7) Coke was cheaper than water. So was gasoline.

8) You remember when 80 F was cold, 90 F was cool, 105 F was warm, and 115 F was hot.

9) If you counted the temperature on the inside of your car, then 110 F (43.3°) was warm, and 130F (55°) was hot.

10) You speak with authority on the qualities of various international airlines.

11) Some dumb American asked you if you rode a camel to school. And you told him that you've seen more Rolls Royce, Mercedes, BMW, and Lexus automobiles on the streets of Dubai than you've ever seen in the USA.

12) You know what the Burj Al Arab is.

13) You had satellite TV and never heard of cable until you came to the USA.

14) If the AC stopped working you had to stay in a hotel.

15) Every fast food chain delivers until 4 in the morning.

16) You had to look both ways crossing a one-way street.

17) You run into someone you know at every airport.

18) You flew before you could walk.

19) You have a passport, but no driver's license.

20) Your wardrobe only has two seasons: hot and warm.

21) You know the geography of the rest of the world, but you don't know the geography of your own country.

22) You got days off school for Christian and Muslim holidays.

23) You secretly wished the rulers of other Middle Eastern countries would die so that you'd get more days off school.

24) Traveling to the US used to mean buying candy, CDs, and Abercrombie and Fitch clothing for your friends back home.

25) --Now it means packing your cases full of clothes and electronics to take to your friends in America.

26) You are used to giving directions using landmarks; street names confuse the hell out of you.

27) The city's street names were part of the millenium bug.

28) It's normal to wake up and have four or more Pakistani men fixing your AC.

29) Police drove on the shoulder of the road and cut people off.

30) You understand that being addressed as "ma'am/sir" by Filipinos is not an insult.

31) Friday was the official weekend.

32) Your parents told you it was too hot to go outside.

33) Your car or your parents' car was equipped with dual AC's.

34) Casio G-Shock: the only watches you've ever owned.

35) You watch BBC, CNN International, and Al-Jazeera... and consider American news to be for entertainment purposes only.

36) Most people on the road don't realize there is a speed limit. Neither do the police.

37) There is NO such thing as Israel. It is Palestine.

38) You've been to the worlds greatest Gold Souk.

39) The movie "Back to the Future" was banned by the government. So was Pokemon.

40) You got back at your friend by pointing at him and yelling, “Yahood!” when you were in a Deira Mosque during Ramadaan. Your friend was hospitalized for the worst slipper-beating in recorded history.

41) You owned Titanic, Jurrasic Park, and Star Wars Episode 1 weeks before they were playing in U.S. cinemas.

42) You currently own a cellphone that will be sold as the "latest technology" in the USA... in a year.

43) You or your friends went to the e-traffic-ticket booths just to check on how much license plate numbers one through fifteen owed.

44) You know that license plate #1 (Sheikh Mohammed!) never has an outstanding balance, but #14 usually owes around 70,000 Dh!

45) You or your friend got stopped by CID and grilled for half an hour about your labour card when you were still in high school.

46) You and your friends tied a biryani plate to the back of a 4x4 out in the desert and rode it through the dunes at 60kph.

47) Sports stores were always 90% football gear, and every kid ended up buying a number. Ronaldo Brazil shirt.

48) Some kid wearing a number 9 Ronaldo shirt would rap Eminem the whole game and not even stop when someone scored a GOAAAAAAAAAAAL!

49) The image of one camel mounting another is still burned into your childhood memory.

50) There was actually a point to owning a SUV and now you're extremely pissed at how the USA has transformed a true off-road utility vehicle into a fashion statement for "soccer moms."

51) You know for a fact that the guys from the Dubai Mens College can drive a Nissan Patrol 28 times around a roundabout on two wheels. And they learned how to do it on the bicycle cars in Safa Park.

52) You've seen a sword dance. At a wedding.

53) You smoked sheesha and would be shocked to find that the pipe would be considered drug paraphernalia in the USA.

54) You know that the Greeks took shawarmas from the Arabs and just renamed them gyros. And you're outraged.

55) You've been in a sand storm and you know that sand stings, scratches cars, and can blind you if you keep your eyes open.

56) You cried when you realized you couldn't buy pasteurized camel milk at U.S. super markets.

57) You know that monsters do exist. They are called camel spiders.

58) You rode ATVs, dirt bikes, and jet ski's... when you were 8 years old.

59) Top 3 uses for your chupl (slippers): Kill cockroaches, smack or throw them at your friend, and actually wear them when the asphalt is too hot to go bare-foot.

60) You know that just because guys are holding hands doesn't mean they're gay. Unless they're on the Russian Beach at night.

61) Security guards let you do whatever you want if you shout at them in Arabic and tell them you know some Police Brigadier's cousin.

62) Traffic accidents are the country's strongest tourist attraction.

63) You never saw a building made of wood until you went to the USA: everything is made of cement, brick, and marble.

64) The best fake ID you ever had was made by your mom.

65) People reffer to your nationality when they call you out.

Como te llamamos? What should we call you?

(English below)

El vivir cerca de mi familia política me ha traído un mayor conocimiento de la cultura de Kerala, India (de donde es mi esposo). Mi suegro sabe hablar ingles así que no hay problemas de comunicación, pero mi suegra no sabe mucho e insiste en hablar todo en Malayalam (el idioma de ellos) para así obligarme a aprenderlo, así yo no entienda nada y me tengan que traducir todo el tiempo. También hizo el comentario de que yo era muy delgada y que no sabia si podía tener hijos!!!, ya que eso creen en India. Me recordó un capitulo de Ranma ½ donde la abuela miraba las caderas de las muchachas y de acuerdo al tamaño eran buenas para tener hijos o no.

La gente de India es muy respetuosa de la gente mayor, y no los llaman por el nombre. Es común que los niños llamen a cualquier mujer adulta amiga de la familia “Aunty” (tía en Ingles) o a los hombres Uncle (tío en Ingles). Al principio yo pensaba que mi esposo (novio en esa época) tenía muchos tías y tíos (de sangre) en Canadá pero luego me di cuenta que simplemente los llamaba así porque eran de India y esa es la tradición.

Mi esposo tiene varios primos menores que el, y recuerdo uno de ellos el primer día que lo conocí, me pregunto “como te llamo?” y le dije “llámame Indira”, lo note incomodo y me dijo “te puedo llamar sister (hermana en Ingles)?” , le dije “listo, no hay problema”. Luego fuimos a una fiesta de cumpleaños de una prima, y estaban todos los primos, que generalmente hablan en Malayalam ya que no se sienten muy cómodos con ingles, y me dice mi esposo “ellos están disturbados y están discutiendo como es que te deben llamar” y yo dije “pues Indira”. El me dijo que eso era falta de respeto pues yo era la esposa del primo mayor, y que en Malayalam generalmente la llamaban “atathi amma”, el al ver la expresión en mi cara de que es una palabra difícil de recordar, decidieron era mejor llamarme “bhabi” (ya que es mas fácil), que significa “esposa del primo mayor” en Hindi.

Living close to my in-laws has given me a more detailed knowledge of the culture in Kerala, India (where my husband is from). My father in law speaks English well so there are not communication problems. However my mother in law does not speak much, she actually insists that she won’t speak any English at all, only Malayalam (their language) so I will be forced to learn it; although I never understand what she says and I need a translator all the time. She also commented that I am too thin and she is concerned I may not be able to have children!!!, that is the belief in India. That reminded me of a Ranma ½ episode when the granny looked at the girls hips to see if they were good enough to bear children.

People from India are very respectful of elders, and don’t call them by their first name. It is common to hear children calling adult women they know “Aunty” or adult men “Uncle”. At the beginning I used to think that my husband (boyfriend back then) had many aunties and uncles in Canada, but I realized later that he simply called them like that because they were from India and that was their tradition.

My husband has a few younger cousins. I remember the first time I met one of them, he asked me “What should I call you?”, I said “call me Indira”, I noticed he was kind of uncomfortable by that, so he said “Can I call you sister?”, I said “ok, no problem”. Then we went to a cousin’s birthday party and all the cousins were speaking Malayalam since they are not very comfortable speaking in English. My husband tells me that they are all worried discussing what they should call me, and I said “Indira”. He said that they said that it is disrespectful for me being the elder’s cousin’s wife, and that in Malayalam they call it "atathi amma" , after seeing the expression on my face, they decided it would be hard for me to remember it, so they decided to call me “bhabi” since it is easier, and means elder’s cousin’s wife in Hindi.

Mall of Emirates (Dubai)

El Mall of Emirates es el centro comercial mas grande del mundo afuera de Norte América. Como es usual en este país, es muy lujoso, con muchas tiendas de diseñadores costosas, y tiendas con ropa muy bonita que nunca había visto en otra parte. También hay unas cuantas tiendas que venden recuerdos y cosas típicas del Medio Oriente como tapetes. Mi amiga a quien le encantan los tapetes pregunto por uno que le gusto hecho en Pakistán a mano. El precio fue de 100000 dirhams ($30000 dólares), un poco caro!!!; aunque de acuerdo con el vendedor, el tapete aumenta en precio con el tiempo...Se necesitan 4 personas y año y medio para hacer el tapete, por eso el precio, además de que es Dubai. Cuanto costara en Pakistán?.

The Mall of Emirates is the largest shopping mall outside of North America. As usual in this country everything is very luxurious, with lots of expensive designer clothes stores, and many stores with beautiful clothes that I have never seen anywhere else. Also a few typical Arabic stores filled with Middle East souvenirs and Arabic carpets. My friend who loves carpets asked the price for one she liked hand made in Pakistan. The price was $110000 dirhams ($30000 dollars)!!!, a little bit expensive we thought. However, according to the salesman, these carpets appreciate in value. It is needed four people and year and a half to make a carpet like that, that’s why the price, and of course it is in Dubai. I wonder how much it would cost in Pakistan?.

El centro comercial es donde esta localizado “Ski Dubai”, el único complejo para esquiar en el medio oriente y uno de los más grandes del mundo. Es increíble como ahora se puede esquiar en el medio oriente donde las temperaturas llegan a 50 grados en verano. Se ve bastante real desde afuera. Ahora mi esposo quiere esquiar después de que en Canadá nunca quiso, la ironía no?.

Here is where "Ski Dubai" is located. This is the only ski resort in the Middle East and one of the largest indoor ski resorts in the world. It is just amazing how you can now ski in the Middle East where temperatures reach up to 50 degrees in the summer. It looks very real from outside. Now my husband feels like going skiing although he never wanted in Canada, the irony!.

Dubai - La ciudad que mas rapido esta creciendo en el mundo (World's Fastest Growing City)

Finalmente tuve la oportunidad de visitar Dubai, la ciudad que tanto quería conocer. Primero mis nuevas amigas Australianas me invitaron, y luego en la misma semana otro amigo nos invito, así que tuve la suerte de ir a Dubai dos veces en una sola semana. Solo puedo decir que me dejo impresionada, es una ciudad muy bonita, y los proyectos son extraordinarios (aunque todavía en construcción muchos de ellos). Parecerá un Disney gigante, con pequeños parques temáticos por toda la ciudad. Y pensar que hace 10 años era una ciudad pequeña en el desierto, y hoy es una de las ciudades más cosmopolitas del mundo. Es la ciudad de más rápido crecimiento en el mundo. Acá que les dejo el link que muestra fotos de el increíble crecimiento de la ciudad. Carrusel fotos.

Acá otras fotos que tome, muchisimos proyectos en construcción. Sin embargo luego publicare muchas más.

I finally had the chance to visit Dubai, the place I wanted to visit so badly. First my new Australian girlfriends invited me, and then the same week, another friend invited us, so I was actually very lucky I got to see Dubai twice in a week. I just can say "wow", it is such a pretty city, and all the developments are just amazing (of course, once they are finished). It would be like a gigantic Disneyworld with mini theme parks spread across the city. And to think that 10 years ago it was a small desert city, and now one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world. It is the world fastest growing city. Here there is a slideshow with pictures of the amazing growth of the city. Slideshow.

Above, some pictures I took while driving there. Many projects in construction. I will post many more pictures later.

Damas Latinas

Aunque no pense fuera possible, existe una asociacion de Damas Latinas en Abu Dhabi. El domingo tuvieron su desayuno mensual, al cual tuve oportunidad de participar y hacerme miembro del grupo. La mayoria de las damas son de Venezuela acompañando a sus esposos que trabajan en compañias petroleras o latino-lebanesas que nacieron o crecieron en Venezuela o Colombia y ahora viven aca. Conoci varias colombianas, aunque mas bien son pocas. La asociacion hace muchas activiades, muchas de ellas en Navidad, aunque desafortunadamente o afortunadamente estare en India en Diciembre. También soy miembro de un grupo de mujeres expatriadas llamado Expatwoman donde hay mujeres de todas las nacionalidades, y también muchas actividades.
Hablando de otras cosas, todavia no tengo Internet, espero que se solucione el problema pronto y contestar a los que me han escrito ultimamente...

Although I thought it was not possible, there is a Damas Latinas association in Abu Dhabi. The past Sunday I had the opportunity to join them at their monthly meeting (a breakfast), and became a member. Most of the ladies are from Venezuela accompanying the husbands that usually work for Oil companies, or some are Latin Lebanese that were born or grew up in Venezuela or Colombia and now live here. I met a few Colombians, but there are not many. The association has many activities, many of them during Christmas, but fortunately or unfortunately I will be in India in December. I am also a member of a woman expatriate group called ExpatWoman where there are women from all over the world, and also lots of activities.
I still have no Internet, I hope the problem is solved soon, so I can reply all my emails...

Edificios y mas edificios (Buildings and more buildings

Abu Dhabi es una ciudad llena de edificios. Nuevos edificios y lujosos al lado de edificios viejos y en condiciones bien malas que a veces pareciera se fueran a caer (como el verde).

Abu Dhabi is city full with buildings. New and luxury buildings next to old and in really bad condition buildings, some of those buildings look like they are going to fall apart (like the green one) .















Por supuesto hay construcciones por todas partes, aunque nada como Dubai donde se estima estan el 25% de todas las gruas de construccion del mundo (para darles una idea del boom en el sector de la construccion en Dubai).

Of course there are constructions everywhere, though not in the same scale as
Dubai, which is estimated to have around 25% of the cranes of the world (just to give an idea of the construction boom in Dubai).













Uno de los edificos mas modernos es el de Etisalad (en la foto de abajo).

One of the most modern buildings is the Etisalad building (shown below).

Y por supuesto mezquitas en cada cuadra.

And of course there are mosques in every single block.

Eid

Ramadan termino, y es celebrado con el festival Eid. Es algo asi como la Navidad para nosotros. La gente compra y usa ropa nueva, los niños reciben regalos y dinero, y tambien le regalan pastelillos a los vecinos y amigos y hacen cenas especiales. La gente tiene 2-3 dias festivos, aunque a los empleados del gobierno les dan toda la semana libre (por eso todavia no tengo ni internet ni telefono).

Ramadan came to an end, and it is celebrated with the Eid festival. It is something like Christmas for us. People buy and wear new clothes, give presents and money to kids, give sweets to their friends and neighbors and have special dinners. People get between 2-3 days off, but government employees get the whole week (that’s why I still have no phone or internet connection).

Nuestro amigo de India que estudio en Canada con nosotros y que es Musulman nos invito a un almuerzo de Eid en su casa. El dia anterior el se fue a dormir a las 4 de la mañana ayudando a preparar el almuerzo junto con su familia. Mi esposo me dijo que mas musulmanes venian asi que tenia que vestirme mas cubierta. Me puse unos jeans y una blusa con manga larga, solo que cuando llegue a su casa me di cuenta que las mujeres tenian bonitos y nuevos vestidos de India y que deberia haber usado uno de los mios, tambien los hombres tenian vestidos de India o ropa occidental nueva, pero mi esposo estaba en pantalones cortos… ( la verdad no se en que estabamos pensando). Tambien como es usual yo era la unica no hablante de Hindi o Malayalam.

La comida fue buena, ellos fueron bien amables de no prepararla con tantos condimentos y tan picante como generlamente lo hacen, sabiendo que para mi es dificil comer ese tipo de comida, comimos en el piso asi como lo hacen en las mezquitas. Tambien comi los pastelillos arabes que la gente usualmente regala durante Eid. Los habia visto antes en Carrefour pero no me habia atrevido a probarlos. Son bien deliciosos.

Our East Indian friend that we met in Canada and which is Muslim invited us for Eid lunch at his house. He actually went to sleep the day before at 4 am cooking food with his family for this lunch. The first thing I asked my husband was if more Muslims were coming so I had to dress covered, and he told me that I should not go so uncovered. I arrived there in jeans and a top with long sleeve, to realize that all the ladies were wearing new Indian dresses and thinking I should have worn mine, also the guys were wearing their new Indians dresses and my husband was in shorts…( I don’t know what we were thinking) , also as usual I was the only non-Hindi, non-Malayalam speaker so I lost part of the conversation.

The food was actually good, they were very kind not to make as spicy and hot as usual knowing we Colombians eat as plain as possible…we eat on the floor as they do at the mosque. I also got to try some of the Arabic sweets people usually give for Eid. I had actually seen many of these sweets at Carrefour, but never dare to try them. They are actually very tasty.


No tome fotos durante el almuerzo ya que no queria aparecer de inoportuna. Creo que las mujeres musulmanes nos le gusta que les tomen fotos.

I didn’t take any pictures since I did not want to sound inappropriate…I believe Muslim woman do not like to be photographed.

Moneda (Currency)

El "Dirham" es la moneda de los Emiratos Arabes. Un dirham equivale a 3.6 dolares americanos. Los billetes vienen en denominaciones de of 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500, and 1000 dirhams. El frente es escrito en Arabe y el reverso en Ingles. Entre mas grande la denominacion del billete, mas grande es el billete en terminos de tamaño.

Las monedas son diferentes, no tienen el numero en ingles, pero es "facil" de identificar ya que como los billetes entre mas grande la denominacion, mas grande es la moneda. Ademas, solo hay 3 tipos de monedas: 25 y 50 fils, y 1 dirham. Un dirham son 100 fils.

Con tantas denominaciones de billetes ha sido un poco lento el proceso de reconocer cada billete rapidamente cuando me dan vueltas o tengo que pagar. Especialmente porque me dicen las cantidades en arabe, y me entregan los billetes del lado arabe, asi que me toca voltearlos, mirar el numero y contar.

The "Dirham" is the currency of the UAE. One dirham is equivalent to 3.6 US dollars. The bills come in denominations of 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500, and 1000 dirhams. The obverse is written in Arabic; and the reverse is in English. The larger the denomination, the larger the size of the bill.

The coins are a little bit different. They do not have the number in English. However, it is "easy" to identify the coin since the larger the denomination, the larger the coin, and there are only three types: 25 and 50 fils and 1 dirham. One dirham is 100 fils.

With so many bill denominations, the process of recognizing bills quickly at the moment of paying or getting change has been a little bit slow. Especially because they say the amount in Arabic and give the bills showing the Arabic side, so I have to flip them, look at the number and count.

Hoy es Domingo?, no es Lunes! (Is it Sunday?, no its Monday!)

Una de las cosas a las que me estoy o me tendre que acostumbrar es al fin de semana. En los paises occidentales es Sabado y Domingo, Domingo siendo el Dia del Señor o para muchos el dia de ir a la iglesia.
En Emiratos es diferente ya que es un pais Musulman. El dia santo para ellos es el Viernes. Hasta el pasado Septiembre, el fin de semana era el Jueves y Viernes, pero lo cambiaron para no perder tantos dias de desconexion con el mundo. Ahora es Viernes y Sabado. El problema es que es solo obligatorio para empresas estatales y colegios. Algunas empresas privadas lo cambiaron, otras no. Asi que el primer dia de la semana (o el Lunes para nosotros) para algunos es el Sabado, para otros el Domingo.
Ya que el Domingo es dia laboral, la iglesia ofrece servicios de misas Viernes y Domingo. Desafortundamente hay una sola iglesia Catolica en la ciudad y se esta quedando pequeña, no hay espacio para tanta gente, ni parqueadero. Somos alrededor de 100,000 catolicos en el pais. La mayoria de los feligreses son de Filipinas y de India.

One of the things I am getting or will have to get used to it is the weekend. In western countries, it is Saturday and Sunday. Being Sunday the Lord's Day or the day people go to church.
In UAE is different since it is an Islamic country. Their holy day is Friday. Until last September, the weekend was Thursday and Friday. However, they changed it so they would not lose so many business days with the rest of the world. Now, the weekend is Friday and Saturday. The problem is that it is only mandatory for government institutions and schools. Some of the private companies changed the weekend, some did not. Therefore, the first day of the week (or Monday for us) it is Saturday or Sunday depending on the work place.
Since Sunday is a work day, the church offers services of mass Fridays and Sundays. Unfortunately, there is only one Catholic Church in the whole city, and it is getting small, there is not enough space inside or parking. There are around 100000 Catholics in the whole country. Most of the parishioners are from the Philippines and India.

Emirates Palace

La primera vez que vi Emirates Palace (Palacio Emirates) pense era el palacio del gobernador de Abu Dhabi o de un principe. Pero estaba equivocada, es un Hotel. Un hotel de 5 estrellas. El hotel costo 3 billones de dolares, es el hotel mas caro que se haya construido. Dicen los expertos que el dinero invertido en el hotel nunca sera recuperado, ni le dara ganancias, pero al gobierno de Abu Dhabi eso no le importa; ellos querian impresionar al mundo. A pesar de que no he conocido en persona el Burj Al Arab que es el unico hotel 7 estrellas en el mundo. Yo creo Emirates Palace es mucho mas lujoso, hermoso y grande. Es inmenso e impresionante. Las fotos de abajo fueron tomadas por nosotros.

The first time I saw the Emirates Palace, I thought it was the governor's palace, or some prince’s palace. However, I was wrong; it is a hotel, a five star hotel. The hotel cost 3 billion dollars, it is the most expensive hotel ever built. They say the invested money will never be recovered, it does not even give any profits, but this does not matter to the government of Abu Dhabi, they just wanted to impress the world. Although I have not seen the Burj Al Arab in person, which is the only seven star hotel in the world. I believe the Emirates Palace is much more luxurious, beautiful and larger. It is huge and outstanding. The below pictures were taken by us.


Esta es una foto del palacio desde la playa. Todo lo que se ve es el hotel, es inmenso.

This a picture of the palace from the beach. Everything on the picture is the hotel, it is huge.

Show some respect (muestren algo de respeto)

7DAYS un periodico popular en Emiratos, publico esta noticia en primera pagina... (pueden ver el resumen en espanol abajo)

7DAYS, a popular newspaper in the UAE, it just published this news on the first page...


As Ramadan, the holiest month of the Islamic year, enters its second week, disquiet is being expressed by Muslim and non-Muslim alike about the way it is being treated by some people. 7DAYS readers of all ethnic and religious backgrounds have bombarded the newspaper with complaints, largely about the way many people dress in unsuitable clothing in public places like shopping malls. The images on this page were taken yesterday at major malls in Dubai...more

El articulo dice como durante el mes santo de Ramadan, muchos musulmanes y no musulmanes se han quejado de como mucha gente usa ropa que no es apropiada en sitios publicos como centros comerciales. La foto de arriba es una foto tomada en uno de ellos. La gente se queja de que se revela mucha piel. Entrevistan tambien a un jefe de la policia que dice que ya no se penaliza el usar ropa que revela mucha piel como se hacia muchos anos atras. Hay penalidades para gente que bebe o come en publico durante Ramadan pero el dice que no recuerda ningun caso en que alguien haya sido penalizado por hacerlo.

Esto me hace pensar de que a pesar de que es un pais moderno, hay todavia mucha gente tradicionalista. No creo que las mujeres en esas fotos muestran mucha piel. Si ese es el caso, entonces no me he estado vistiendo apropiadamente. De todos modos, no hay ley que lo prohiba, y los que se quejan tendran que acostumbrarse ya que cada dia hay mas y mas gente de paises occidentales viviendo aca.

It just makes me think that although it is a modern country, there are still lots of people that are very traditionalist. I don’t even think many of these ladies on the picture are dressing too revealing. If that it is the case, then I have been dressing inappropriately. Anyways, there is not law against it, so the ones that complain will have to just get used to as more and more westerners are moving here.

Marina Mall (Centro Comercial Marina)

Marina Mall es uno de los centros comerciales en Abu Dhabi. Es muy bonito y esta localizado a la orilla del mar. Es bien lujoso con pisos de marbol y fuentes de colores. Hay almacenes de disenadores como Chanel, Hugo Boss, Louis Vuitton como tambien Carrefour, Ikea y La Senza (de Canada). Estan construyendo en el centro comercial una ciudad de nieve aunque en menor escala que Ski Dubai.

Marina Mall is one of the shopping malls in Abu Dhabi. It is very beautiful and it's located right by the sea. It is very luxurious with marble floors and coloured fountains. There are high end stores such as Chanel, Hugo Boss, Louis Vuitton as well as Carrefour, Ikea y La Senza (from Canada). They are also building inside the mall a snow city similar to the Ski Dubai but smaller.

Ahi me ven en la foto en la playa con el centro comercial al fondo ( esta es la prueba para los que no me creian de que puedo usar la ropa que quiero sin tener que cubrirme)

Here I am on this picture on the beach with the mall on the background ( this is also the proof for those that did not believe it before that I can wear any clothes I want here)

En frente del centro comercial.

This is in front of the mall.

Mi esposo en el interior del centro comercial

This is my husband inside the shopping mall

Mas fotos del interior del centro comercial. Estaba vacio ya que casi todas las tiendas estaban cerradas por lo de Ramadan

More pictures of the interior of the mall. It was empty because almost all the stores were closed due to Ramadan.L

Manejando en Abu Dhabi ( Driving thru Abu Dhabi)

Tienen muy buena e interesante señalizacion (al menos para alguien que no lee arabe)
They have very good and interesting traffic signals (at least for someone that does not read arabic)

Las autopistas y calles son muy modernas y en excelentes condiciones. Mucho mejor que las autopistas y calles en USA y Canada. No he visto el primer hueco o imperfeccion en las calles. Esto hace que la gente le guste ir mucho mas rapido que el limite de velocidad (o esa es la excusa). La gente no maneja muy bien en comparacion con paises industrializados, pero mucho mejor que en paises subdesarrollados.

Freeways, highways and roads are very modern and in excellent condition. I would say they are much better than the ones in the US or Canada. I haven't seen any pot hole or imperfection on the roads. However, this makes people exceed the speed limit (or at least that is the excuse) . Driving standards are worse than in any industrialized country, but they are much better than in third world countries.

Adquirir y mantener un carro es relativamente barato, sobretodo por que no hay impuestos y la gasolina por supuesto es barata. Se ven muchos carro lujosos. Los carros mas comunes son Toyotas, Mercedes y BMW's. Tiene uno de los mas altos niveles de propiedad de carros en el mundo per capita.

Buying and maintaining a car is relatively cheap, especially since there are not taxes, and of course gas is very cheap. There are many luxury cars . The most popular cars are Toyotas, Mercedes and BMW's. It has one of the highest per capita levels of car ownership in the world.

Sitios desbloqueados ( Sites unblocked)

Friday, 29th September, 2006

(Version en Español, abajo)

At last! The news that 7DAYS readers have been waiting for: Etisalat have finally decided to unblock a number of hugely popular web sites that, over the last few months have not been accessible to the public. And you, our readers, fully played your part. The ongoing campaign, through our letters pages, and through complaints to etisalat themselves, to get these web sites back on our computer screens has paid off, common sense has prevailed and the public is once again free to enjoy sites such as Myspace.com, Youtube.com, Piczo.com, Metacafe.com and Hi5.com, among many others.
http://www.7days.ae/2006/09/29/you-win.html

The only strange thing is that from the beginning I had access to myspace.com, but for some reason most of people complained they did not. Anyways, I am happy that at least the most popular sites are unblocked.

Finalmente, las noticias que los lectores de 7DAYS han estado esperando: Etisalat ha decidido desbloquear un numero de sitios populares in Internet, que no habian podido ser accedidos por el publico. Y ustedes los lectores, jugaron un papel importante. La campana, a traves de nuestras paginas, y quejas a etisalat, para dar acceso a esas paginas valio la pena, y ahora el publico es libre de disfrutar paginas como Myspace.com, Youtube.com, Piczo.com, Metacafe.com and Hi5.com, y otros mas...

Lo unico extrano es que desde el principio tuve acceso a myspace.com, pero por alguna razon, mucha gente se quejaba que ellos no tenian acceso. De todos modos, estoy feliz de que al menos los sitios mas populares estan desbloqueados.

Site Blocked (Sitio bloqueado)

Iba a entrar a http://youtube.com/, y esto aparecio:
I was going to check http://youtube.com/ , and I got this:

Mi primer sitio bloqueado. Que otros sitios que me gustan estaran bloqueados?

My first blocked site. I wonder what other sites I like are blocked?.

Hablando de Ramadan (About Ramadan)

(English version below)

El Ramadan es el mes santo para los musulmanes. Es el noveno mes del calendario islamico que se basa en el calendario lunar. Durante este mes, los musulmanes hacen ayuno. El ayuno comienza desde que sale el sol hasta que anochece. Durante este tiempo no pueden comer, beber ni fumar. Empiezan el dia a eso de las 4 de la manana con la primera oracion de las cinco del dia. Las mezquitas usan parlantes para alertarlos de que es tiempo de oracion. En Emiratos Arabes, durante las horas del dia tambien es prohibido para los no musulmanes comer, beber o fumar en publico.

Al anochecer cuando es la ultima de las oraciones y se rompe el ayuno, los musulmanes celebran con banquetes "iftar".

Aca en Abu Dhabi hay mezquitas en cada barrio asi que es dificil no escuchar los llamados a oraciones desde cualquier casa. En frente de cada mezquita es comun ver grandes carpas que son generalmente patrocinadas por el gobierno donde dan grandes banquetes cuando se rompe el ayuno, durante ese tiempo no se ve casi a nadie en la calle, es algo asi como cuando la seleccion Colombia juega en el mundial y no hay nadie en la calle. Tambien los hoteles tienen especiales y banquetes. Es una gran celebracion, despues del "iftar" la gente esta en las calles hasta altas horas de la noche, los centros comerciales y restaurantes cierran a media noche. Es normal ver gente en la calle en horas de la madrugada. La verdad no se cuando duermen, me imagino durante la tarde, despues de que salen de trabajar, ya que trabajan menos horas durante el Ramadan. Los almacenes cierran al medio dia y reabren despues del "iftar".

Ramadan finaliza con el festival Eid al-Fitr que sera el 24 de octubre.

En Abu Dhabi estan construyendo una mezquita que sera una de las mas grandes del mundo. Desde la autopista parece un palacio gigantesco y se ve impresionante. Esta foto la tome desde el carro...

English Version

Ramadan is the holy month for muslims. It is the nineth month of the islamic calendar, which it's based on the moon calendar. During this month, muslims fast. The fast starts from sunrise to sunset. During this time they are not allowed to eat, drink or smoke. They start their day at about 4 am with the first of the five prayers of the day. Mosques use loudspaekers to call muslims to pray. In UAE, during the day hours is prohibited for non-muslims to eat,drink or smoke in public.

At sunset when they break their fast, muslims have nice banquets called “iftar”.

Here in Abu Dhabi, there are mosques in every neighborhood, so it is not hard for non-muslims to hear the call for prayers. In front of each mosque it's common to find large white tents that many times are sponsored by the government where people celebrate the “iftar” by having banquets. During this time there are very few people in the streets. It is a big celebration, after the "iftar" many people stay out till late hours in the night. Shopping malls and restaurants close at midnight. It is normal to see people in the streets even after midnight. I don’t actually know when they sleep, I supposed during the afternoon hours, after they finish work, since during Ramadan they work shorter hours. Stores usually close at around noon and reopen after the “iftar”.

Ramadan ends with the Eid al-Fitr festival on October 24th.

In Abu Dhabi, they are building a mosque that will be one of the largest in the world. From the highway it looks like a gigantic palace, and it is astounding. I took the pictures above from my car.

Llegada a Abu Dhabi (My arrival in Abu Dhabi)

(See English version below)

Despues de un largo vuelo de 16 horas finalmente llegue a Abu Dhabi. Desafortunadamente llegue de noche y no pude apreciar para nada el paisaje desde el avion. El aeropuerto no es muy grande, pero es moderno. Lo primero que note es la gran diferencia entre el numero de hombres y mujeres. Este pais se caracteriza por tener muchos trabajadores de construccion temporales de Asia y Africa que dejan a sus familias atras, eso hace que la proporcion de hombres sea tan grande. La mayoria usando sus ropas tipicas, trajes de Africa, de India y por supuesto arabes. Eramos mas bien pocos los que llevabamos ropa occidental.

Las mujeres parecen tener prioridad cuando se trata de hacer filas y tramites con el gobierno. Cuando llegue a recoger mi visa de residente en el aeropuerto, habia una fila larga, pero en cuanto llegaba una mujer la llamaban al inicio de la fila y la dejaban hacer el tramite primero. Asi que ya veo una ventaja de ser mujer aca :)

Mi llegada coincidio con el inicio de Ramadan (algo asi como la cuaresma para los catolicos). Esto sera ventajoso para mi, ya que la gente trabaja menos horas durante estos cuarenta dias, y tendre mas tiempo para salir con Mithun y explorar Abu Dhabi, y tambien conseguir un apartamento para nosotros vivir. La desventaja es que vivimos cerca a una mezquita y tienen parlantes que llaman a los musulmanes por oraciones a eso de las 4 de la madrugada, asi que me despiertan a esa hora :(

After a long 16-hour flight I finally arrived at Abu Dhabi. Unfortunately, I arrived at night and I could not appreciate the landscape from the plane. The airport is not very large, but it is modern. The first thing that I noticed is the large ratio difference between the number of men and women. This country is characterized for having many temporary construction workers from Asia and Africa that leave their families back in their countries; this makes the proportion of men so large. Most of these men were wearing their typical clothes; suits from Africa, India and of course Arab. Few of us were wearing western clothes.

Women seem to have priority when it comes to queuing and getting things done at a government office. When I went to collect my residence's visa at the airport, there was a huge line of men. As soon as a woman arrived to line up, they would call her to go to the counter without having to wait. It seems that at least there is an advantage of being a woman here :)

My arrival coincided with the start of Ramadan (something like The Lent season for Catholics). This is really nice for me since people and business work shorter hours during these forty days. This will give Mithun more time to spend with me and show me Abu Dhabi, not to mention finding a place for us to live. However, now we live close to a mosque, and they have very loud calls for prayers at 4 in the morning, that made me wake up :(

Emiratos Arabes?, Donde queda? (United Arab Emirates?, Where is it?)

(English version below)

Emiratos Arabes que?, quieres decir Saudia Arabia?, donde queda?, que peligro!!!, el medio oriente?, seras oprimida por ser mujer!, tendras que usar el manto!, no podras manejar, petrodolares....

Estas y muchas mas son las frases que escuche cuando dije me iria a vivir a Emiratos Arabes. Pero como persona precavida que soy, hize mi buena investigacion y esto fue lo que encontre:

Emiratos Arabes Unidos es un pais conformado por siete emiratos, entre ellos Abu Dhabi que sera donde vivire y es la capital, y el famosisimo Dubai, ciudad del unico Hotel siete estrellas en el mundo Burj Al Arab y de la Isla de Palma (Palm Island) y en un futuro no muy lejano la ciudad del edificio mas alto del mundo Burj Dubai, del unico hotel acuatico en el mundo Hydropolis, en fin la lista continua...

Donde queda? . Si cerca a Arabia Saudita, pero no con las mismas represiones. Si, en el medio Oriente, pero no el sitio del conflicto, es en realidad uno de los paises mas seguros del mundo, escuche es el unico pais en el mundo donde nunca ha explotado una bomba.

Si, es un pais arabe, no una democracia. Sin embargo, es una pais muy moderno y occidentalizado. Solo el 20% de la poblacion son locales, 23% de otros paises arabes, 50 % del sur de Asia (India,Pakistan) , y 8% del resto de mundo (incluyendo muchos ingleses).

La religion predominante es la musulman, seguida por cristianismo. Afortunadamente hay libertad de religiones y el mismo gobierno patrocina la construccion de iglesias, particularmente catolicas.

El idioma oficial es arabe, pero ingles es el idioma predominante en los negocios, muy pocas personas extranjeras saben algo de arabe ya que es muy dificil de aprender. En realidad es mas importante saber hablar Urdu, Hindi o aun Malayalam (el idioma de Mithun), lenguas de India y Pakistan ya que ellos conforman el 50% de la poblacion.

El clima es seco, por supuesto es una tierra de desierto. Las temperaturas varian entre 15-20 grados en el invierno, y hasta 50 en el verano. Llueve muy poco, pueden pasar anos sin llover.

En cuanto a la cultura, el pais es muy occidentalizado. Existen las mismas libertades que en cualquier pais de Europa o USA, sin embargo hay restricciones en la venta de alcohol, la pornografia y los desnudos en revistas y peliculas son vetados. Tambien muchos sitios en internet son bloqueados (como myspace.com que no creo pueda acceder mas). En cuanto a la ropa he escuchado que desde que no se revele mucha piel no hay problema(eso lo comprobare luego).

Espero haber dado una breve idea de Emiratos Arabes. En mis proximos blogs les dare una mejor perspectiva del pais, y de la ciudad Abu Dhabi, que espero conocer muy pronto...

English Version

United Arab Emirates, do you mean Saudi Arabia? Where is it? The Middle East?. Too dangerous!!, you would be oppressed for being a woman. You would have to cover yourself, you won’t be able to drive, petrodollars?

These are some of the comments I used to get when I told people I was moving to UAE. However, I did my research and this is what I found:

UAE is a federation of seven Emirates, among them Abu Dhabi which is where I will live, and the capital. The famous Dubai is another emirate. Dubai is the city host of the only seven star hotel in the world the Burj Al Arab and the Palm Island. Also in a near future it would be the city with the world's tallest building Burj Dubai, the world's only aquatic hotel Hydropolis, and many more interesting and unique projects.

Where is it located?. It’s close to Saudi Arabia, but it does not have the same restrictions. It is in the Middle East, but not where the war or violence takes place. It is actually one of the safest countries in the world. I actually heard it is the only country where no bombs have ever detonated.

It is an Arab country, it is a dictatorship. However, the country is very modern and westernalized. Only 20% of the population are locals, 23% come from other Arab countries, 50% from South Asia (India, Pakistan), and 8% from the rest of the world (including many Europeans).

The main religion is Islamism, followed by the Christianism. Fortunately, there is freedom of religions. The government even sponsors the construction of churches, especially Catholic.

The official language is Arabic, but English is the business language and it is widely spoken. Very few non-Arab expatriates actually know Arabic, since it is very difficult to learn. It is actually more important to learn Urdu, Hindi or even Malayalam (Mithun’s mother tongue), these are languages from India and Pakistan and they make up 50% of the population.

The weather is dried, of course being a desert land. The temperatures fluctuate between 15-20 Celsius in winter up to 50 Celsius in summer. It rains very infrequent. Sometimes there are years when it never rains.

It is a very westernalized country. There are the same freedoms as in any European country or even the USA. However, there are restrictions in the sale of alcohol, pornography and nudism on magazines and movies. There are also many internet sites blocked. About the clothing, I heard that as long as not much skin is shown there is not problem (that I will confirm it later).
I hope I was able to give a small idea of the UAE. On my next blogs, I hope to give a better picture of the country, and the city Abu Dhabi, that I hope to visit very soon.