Incredible Palm Island Views!

A couple of weeks ago I took my daughters to babysit the child of some church friends. They live in one of the new, super-tall high rises in the Dubai Marina. And their view is directly overlooking Palm Island and the beachfront of the Marina. I snapped some pictures and a video as well. Leaning over the railing to get the best camera angle was a little unnerving. But worth it :)

Looking down the coast you see the trunk of Palm Island and the Burj Al Arab faintly in the distance

A more direct view of Palm Island and the coast. That's the beach for the Ritz Carlton

Closer view of the Palm Island Trunk and the 'decorative' island just off the end of the pictured marina

The Ritz Carton Beach and if you look closely you can see the para-sailer just off the beach!

Looking down on the Ocean Beach Hotel

Zooming in on the para-sailer

The tower I was in was on the right

Again, the towers from the beach

Khaleeji Club Iftar at American University of Dubai

My company does some business at American University of Dubai and in the past we've been a corporate sponsor of the I.T. Club. Lately, the Khaleeji Club has contacted me about helping them out with some leadership training or just coaching. Khaleej means "Gulf" as in the Arabian Gulf. So the Khaleeji Club is essentially the "Gulf Arab Club". Students from the UAE, Oman, Saudi, Bahrain, Qatar, and Kuwait could be a part of it.

Tuesday night they had an iftar dinner (the meal to break the Ramadan fast each day) and I was invited as a guest. In addition, two local TV personalities were invited. These guys are local storytellers and reciters of poetry.

As soon as they entered the tent they came to me and wouldn't let me just kiss their cheeks... they pulled me closer and face to face for a "local - only" nose to nose touch. That's the way the locals kiss. And they were laughing hard the whole time. These guys were hilarious and couldn't understand 98% of what they were saying! Every once in a while they pointed at me and said something like "America".

Later that evening they left for the TV studio to broadcast their program. It was a great evening of fun and cultural enlightenment.

The two TV personalities... a hilarious pair!

Gulf Arab students from AUD

The guy on the floor in front of the coffee pot is a Saudi student who tells poems himself!

My friend Yaser on the left is a recent graduate of AUD.

Shoulder update: A Fracture too!

My x-rays from last week got lost and sent to the wrong clinic. So the doctor just called this morning to give me an update. Seems I might have a torn ligament but definitely have a fracture in my clavicle or collar bone. She re-emphasized that there could be no exercise, save running, until 6 weeks had passed.

Somehow knowing it's fractured makes it hurt more :)

A Separated Shoulder from Football

You may have read my post below about football (soccer). Well, we played our second game last night and I'm happy to report we won again 3-0. I'm not happy to report that I separated my shoulder during the game. I fell across a diving goalee as we both went for the ball. I went over him and landed on my shoulder. Ouch.

A shoulder separation (as I'm learning) is when the ligament that attaches the clavical to the wingbone or acromion. That ligament seems to be torn. And it will take 6-8 weeks to heal the doctor tells me.

I'm most disappointed that this will put me out of Ultimate Frisbee for more than a month. I better get my running shoes out of the closet and ready for a workout.

The Creek Extension through my Neighborhood... It's coming :(

Well, it looks like it's really going to happen. A local tabloid is reporting that the final phase of the Creek Extension project is about to begin (December) and unfortunately it will be run by the Road and Transport Authority (RTA). This department in the government here is not too popular right now and they seem to be hitting new lows by denying significant problems with traffic especially having made promises to clear things up with a new toll system.

Also, you'll see below the pictures in the paper representing current construction and it's proposed route. It is not scheduled to be finished for 3 years so I don't know when or exactly how it will affect life in my neighborhood. But I am sure it will and it won't be pleasant.

Three major roadways will have bridges built over them to accommodate the path of the waterway. That should be absolute chaos. And it looks like my running track around the park will be cut into pieces as well.

Bummer.

Here are some facts about the extension:

* 10 kilometres of the man-made Creek have been completed at a cost of Dh484 million
* The construction of the final 2.2-km stretch of the Creek extension will begin in December
* The Creek should be completed by November 2010
* The new channel is 100 metres wide on average and 500 metres at its widest point
* The Creek will be able to host yachts up to 60 metres in length

But life is good in spite of this major inconvenience... :)

Football and Football

I like all kinds of football... the worldwide recognized kind (soccer) and the American kind as well. I really like watching English Premiership League and the professional and college level American football seasons have started up as well.

Just last night I joined with friends from the Arab Evangelical Church in Dubai to play in a Ramadan Football (Soccer) Tournament. I've played in this for four years now and this year we're playing indoors rather than outdoors. It's cooler indoors but I really enjoyed playing at the Iranian club fields in the past years. There was just something exotic about being an American walking past the Iranian club lobby with the pictures of the Ayatollah Khomeni and President Ahmadinejad hanging there prominently.

By the way, we won our first game 5-0 :)

Here is a clip of one play from a game in the American football professional league weekend games. You can see lots more clips at www.nfl.com.



Watch the whole clip here...
An Amazing Flip!