Skiing in Dubai

I can’t believe how long it has taken me to post a new blog. But work has taken up all of my time during the week, but I am making a lot of progress in my training. In fact I participated in several meetings last week, and I think that one of the deals is even going to be closed for around $75,000 next week if all goes as planned.

As I said work has been really busy as we are in the final stages of the project here, trying to get all of the meetings in, do work on the scripts for the program and getting training sessions in. So much so that Thursday (which would be a US Friday night) I worked until 9pm and the girls till around 12. After that I made my way to explore some of the massive mall called Mall of the Emirates and had a great meal at the Indian restaurant that I like there. It was interesting there were tons of people every where mainly locals which is a first. But also because of the culture here there were groups of guys hanging out doing their own things and groups of girls but no mixing between the two it has to do with the conservative nature. And if there was social interaction between the two it would be really frowned upon.

Today was interesting it was Friday and time to go to church. I had found a Baptist church online that looked nice, and the pastor was from Texas. It was supposed to start at 10:30 after driving around the vicinity of where I new it was next to this shopping mall that it was supposed to be by, although all that was around it was houses and hotels I saw a white person. So I stopped and asked them if they knew where the church was. Keep in mind for some reason I was looking for your typical Fort Worth Baptist church i.e. huge and obnouxous looking (and I mean that in the nicest way) but you know something recognizable. Anyways the guy laughed and said that actually he had been in it but it was too hot so he had just left. He said that as I could imagine they had to keep a low profile ( I guess it is because 97% of the pop is Muslim but even at that I must admit I was surprised at his comment) Anyways he says he will show me so I park and he leads me to through this gate into a houses garden. Where inside I see a small sign sitting next to the house that says EBCI (Emirates Baptist Church International) he said that since I was 30 minutes late that it would probably be standing room only. And as expect it was a house, with a small stage at the front with a guy preaching then off to the side you could see different rooms with people watching on TV the preacher these were probably supposed to originally be bedrooms. I was able to find a seat (a lawn chair, which is what all of the chairs were). The preacher spoke about how we should all treat others like we would want to be treated. It was actually pretty moving, I was taken back, back to how natural it is supposed to be a gathering of Christians not with all the nice clothes or nice buildings, But Christians coming together as one body and learning about the word. He talked about how we should treat others how we would want to be treated which should be how God would treat people. So they had a closing song and prayer and everyone left. I got to say it was very enjoyable. And hope that I am in town to go to next week’s service.

Later that day we went to the Irish Village which is an area where all of the Irish hang out and there are Irish restaurants and pubs. I had a traditional Irish meal and Aileen felt right at home while there. After that we went to the Gold Souk which is a market area mainly selling gold. Infect Dubai is currently marketing themselves as the city of gold among other things. It was interesting because the businesses here basically shut down between 1 and 4pm. Most people go home and have a late long lunch with their family then come back to work. We spent several hours exploring the market and looking at all of the gaudy jewelry. In fact at one of the stores we tried on and tried to bargain the price down of traditional Middle East clothing. The guys wear a thing called a dish dash that I know all of you have seen before. It is a big dress looking thing that is white, and then the traditional head dress. They have white (that is considered formal, and red and white checkered which is informal some of the locals call it the “blue jeans”) and then a black rope like things that is wrapped on top on the outside twice. Anyways it was interesting trying them on and taking pics I got to say I look pretty good in it and was tempted to wear it to some of our meetings. But we didn’t have any luck bargaining because the lowest we could get them down to was 85 US.

That night we went to our usual hang out to watch the world cup at double deckers I still don’t know the name of the hotel but there is a fleet of rolce Royce’s outside. It was lots of fun seeing all of the expats hanging out and having a good time. And it is always fun skipping the long line to get in with my press pass.

This morning we went to lunch at the organic store again the girls really like it. And they were going to take Ryan (the trainee that started right when I did in Abu Dhabi) back to Abu Dhabi and hang out by the pool at the Emirates Palace. But I decided that I wanted to explore the Mall of the Emirates some more and go snow skiing.

The mall of the Emirates is amazing; it has every store that you can imagine from a huge grocery store to the fanciest of stores. It was funny walking down the area where the most expensive stores were and seeing the local couples in there bye purses etc in stores like Gucci etc. There was even a Armani restaurant in there, when you think that you have seen everything.

The mall was also hosting one of the cities “Summer Surprises” where they had set up a ice scatting rink in one of the lobbies of the mall where there were kids enjoying the ice. The mall again is a very interesting place especially people watching the teenagers and twenty something. The girls wearing the traditional clothing with there heads and necks covered and often time all you can see is there eyes. But what makes it interesting is there accessories such as goddie designer sunglasses (in the mall not

outside) and designer pursers along with designer baseball hats for the guys. Putting there own sense of style on there traditional clothing.

So finally I made my way to Ski Dubai which is the indoor ski mountain inside the mall. I had posted pics because there are several restaurants looking out to the slopes inside the mall. You go to the ticket counter just like you would if you were going to see a movie and they ask if you have skied before or if you need lessons. Then they direct you to go get your coat, pants, socks, skis, boats and polls. All of which are included in the lift ticket price of around $40 US. Pretty reasonable if you ask me! Then you make your way out on the slopes. It is amazing at first because of how cold it is.

In fact I don’t know if I have talked about dealing with cold things and the heat that we live in. For example I don’t drink any drinks anymore with ice (which yall no is a big deal from my ice water that I always had in the states) because of the need to drink drinks at room temperature. Other wise it really messes with your throat giving you a sore throat because of it being mixed with the hot air you breathe in outside.

Anyways there is no line to get on the lift. You just scan your lift ticket and it is

good for 2 hours but you can recharge it for more time if you want. There are three different courses, a regular one, a trick slope, and a advanced. There is a half way stop on the lift with a half way house where you can stop to get food or hot chocolate and sit outside or inside just like on the slopes. There were no visible snow machines but there were huge air conditioners on the roof. Once you reach the top you look around in amazement at the slopes, the weather, and thinking that you are in middle of the dessert one of the hottest places on earth.

After about an hour of skiing I decided that I wanted to try snow boarding, because apparently it is a lot like wake boarding which I had done a week before with no effort. Let’s just say snow boarding at least for me is not something that comes easy. In fact about half way down I gave up and walked the rest of the way down.

I had originally planned on skiing and then going to the beach today (thinking how cool it was given the opportunity to do both in a matter of a thirty minutes) but I was so tired from trying to self teach myself how to snow board I decided to return to the house. And finish up some work that needed to be done before tomorrow starts. And tonight I ended up cooking dinner. I guess that’s all and I promise to do better at posting more blogs. I have posted more pics and hope when you get time to email me and let me know whats going on with you. I really enjoy getting your emails. All for now!

Chad