Dubai it where?

Dubai it where?

So, having been here for five or six weeks now, I thought it was probably time I started to post some photos and let people know how I have been getting on.

Things have been slowly starting to fell into place, but as everyone says, until you have your Emirates ID here you don’t exist. So, I have no Internet, no home phone, and no driving license… but yesterday my ID card arrived! Things might now start to move forward. Although based on yesterday’s conversations I am still not convinced that things will happen as fast as I would like.

I was thinking ahead on these things, so I have already submitted my forms, completed the eye test and provided multiple copies of my visa, passport and photos with glazed eyes, white background and 18mm head to the driving license authority, no objection letters (these are a joy unto themselves).  All I need to do now is turn up, show my ID card and take another photo.  Easier said than done! I have to go to a center that is only open between 8:00am and 2:00pm on Sunday to Thursday- nicely in the middle of my workday then.  I know I work in a school, but this is a school in the middle of the desert- with no address. One bit of desert looks much the same as another to me. I have not yet perfected the art of directing taxi drivers (who do not want to pick me up from the middle of the desert) to my particular sand covered area. I do not have high expectations for a Sunday resolution…

I am also discovering that while some things are just like home, some phrases seem to get lost in translation.  So, again in my usual organized manner I have done all the prep work for the Internet connection. I have no choice in provider. There are only two Etisalat and Du. Etisalat have taken control of/ been allocated/ cabled my building so I have to use them.  I have provided all the photos, passport copies, visa copies, no objection letter (letters from your employer- needed for everything from using the internet, driving, having a bank account and probably eating; to say they don’t mind you doing/ having these things.) So, I was feeling positive when I phoned them up to see when they could come and set up the Internet. The conversation went something like this:

Me: You have all my forms, letters and documents now. Do you need anything else?

Etisalat: No madam.

Me: When can you come and install the router and turn on the Internet?

Etisalat: Maybe at the weekend, maybe next week, maybe the week after. Some people are waiting a month or more. You might be lucky.

Me: (Channeling my mother) but I need to be able to connect to the Internet and have a phone. I will speak to you every day until you set up an appointment and come and fix it for me.

Etisalat: Ok madam, we I will talk to you tomorrow.

Hang on- that was definitely not the response I was looking for there! I don’t want to talk to you everyday, that is not supposed to be a treat or the objective of this…. Live and learn.

Obviously being Dubai there are a huge number of positives. Huge shopping malls, each with there own special features, including inside skiing in the desert, aquariums, skating rinks, sky diving, dinosaurs, dancing fountains, miles and miles ad miles of shops and restaurants.  All of which have working lights and running water. The water does take a bit of getting used to- but I can work with the desalination aspect.

Work and general settling in have been taken up most of my time recently. I have been very excited to get my nails done, and to eat in a few old favorite places- Cheesecake Factory being one, try a few new places- the food can be amazing here and I am sure I will be piling on the pounds if I am not careful. However, I have a few days off in October for Eid so I have a short trip to Abu Dhabi planned and a night in the desert booked; I feel like I am starting to be able to get out and about and make the most of being here, having new experiences and exploring again.  Now all I need to do is make sure I have my driving license sorted out so I can get there.

So, thank you Starbucks for use of your Internet. It is unfortunately timed based on the number of coffees you buy, not unlimited, and there is only so much coffee I can drink! So for today, I am done. More to follow after more adventures.

Ghana be...Fun

It Really IS The Final Countdown:

I really haven’t written anywhere near as often as I should have, particularly in the last few months.  I am struggling to believe that the last post I made was in November. I should be ashamed of myself. Now I am in the last few hours before leaving I am finally getting around to putting together the last few photo memories before I leave.

Corner Shop

Four years on- and no more built.

Another shop

Ghana has been an adventure- a distinct change of life style from the US before it, and as I am sure Dubai will be after it.  Ghana has had its challenges and frustrations, power, water and open sewers to name but a few… but it has had its rewards too. I’ve met some fantastic people; I’ve had opportunities to see wildlife and I know I have been able to make positive changes.

I’ve learned that, “my husband says, no.” Is a reason for not doing anything you don’t want to- including paying bribes, and fines. I have consistently found that even though I have carried a bag all the way from school to my home, as soon as the guard sees me he runs down the street to take it from me- with cries of, “madam, madam, no- you must let me help!” This also applies to trying to carry a shopping bag from the car to the front door- a distance of all of 10 steps J

Then there are things that happen here to make my life easier that I know won’t happen when I am back in Europe and I don’t even notice until they are gone. No longer will someone pack my bags, take them to the car and load the car, in future I know I will no only have to pack and carry my own bags, but remember to take them and pay for them in the first place. More than once in Europe have I found myself causing a queue as I stand and talk at the check out, oblivious to the fact I should be packing and moving my own bags, or standing in front of a door waiting for someone to open it- really pushing it should not be too hard! I know I will all of this when it ends.

I have spent three years whinging about the need for razor wire, electric fencing, security gates and guards outside my house 27/4, but I also know that next week I will miss the cheery hello, have a good day, how was work and smile as I come and go.

For now, it is back to Europe and the US for the summer- seeing friends and family, catching up on news and adventures, easting some good food, and buying some new clothes. Then onto Dubai for a new job and whole new round of experiences and challenges. I can’t wait!

Lotto Tickets

Ghanian Problem Solving

Huge mosque- under construction....

Ghana be... fun

The Final Countdown…

I really haven’t been very good at keeping my blog updated this year, or in fact getting out and doing things that I could have been writing about.  In all fairness, I have been pretty busy with work, and weekend and evenings have often had a work-like feel to them, but that is a reason and not an excuse- as I am often told.

However, the decision has now been taken that this is the last school year in Ghana and with jobs in Dubai and new adventures to look forward to I have a real incentive to make the most of the last few months in this country and get around to revisiting places from the past and making, “one last trip” out to certain places.

That isn’t to say that new things have to stop though, and there is a new(ish) restaurant that has been frequented a few times, and will continue to be so until June, and last week I was out in Kokrobite for a few days. Granted I was chaperoning a school trip and had to take 56 Grade 6 students along, but it is still a chance to get to see some more of the coast. Ghana does has a fairly impressive coast, not necessarily the type of beach you want to be sitting on and sea you want to be swimming in, at least not here with the under currents and the rocks, but it is quite something to look out at.

Of course there was the usual drumming and dancing component that inevitably comes with any trip to the village, and the never-ending music that seems to blare from every nook and cranny, but there was also a whole new enterprise springing up- recycled jewelry. I’m not really sure that jewelry made of shells, old rubber tires, aluminum cans and waste metal is my thing- I am much more of a drink the soda, and collect the pearls from the shells kind of a girl- but it is refreshing to see so much effort going into the idea of recycling and reusing the objects that would otherwise go to waste, or be left littering and cluttering up the beach.

This weekend has also played host to the Holiday Bazaar, which saw the usual mix of things for sale, kente cloth, drums, masks, carvings, food, beads and baskets. All of which I have looked at, thought about and then decided that I am leaving and I don’t need to be trying to pack more things in my suitcase to ship out; a fact I am sure my parents will appreciate as it would all, no doubt, have ended up being stored somewhere in there house. 

Next week is Thanksgiving, possibly my favorite adopted holiday, mainly as it is a chance to eat turkey and to have a well needed day of work, just in time to start planning and starting to think about Christmas… although this year I am heading back to the UK, for the first time in nearly a decade, and I have already done all the shopping I need to do online. Again, I think my parents are glad I have finished shopping (or nearly) as their house (or so I am told) is starting to represent the local sorting office.

With four more weeks to go, before heading off for Christmas I am sure I will manage to find some more adventures to keep me busy. This year I am looking forward to the cold, Christmas markets; carol services and a short day… what with switching between the northern and southern hemispheres I think I have had 7 longest days in the year and avoided the shortest day for the last three years, this time I will feel like I have had a season and a winter. I can’t wait!