Mike Gemma - Dubai

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Mike Gemma is sending us updates about his life in Dubai.

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Hello, dear ones!

It’s hard to believe that nearly three weeks have already come and gone since my arrival here in Dubai.  Mike’s brother and family, Dick, Kathy and Tony (hereafter, DK&T) had been here for four days upon my arrival.  They had had the great honor of experiencing a rainstorm – a real “frog strangler,” something that I have yet to see here in this dusty city!  Their first two days here were clear with blue skies, another Dubai quality I have yet to experience.  By the day that I arrived the dust was so thick that you couldn’t see any of the buildings until you were almost next to them.  The poor visibility caused accidents on the highways, which doesn’t surprise me with the aggressive driving around here!  Then we started having very thick morning fog, which was pretty amazing, but which would burn off by about 9:00 am.  The weather, temperature-wise, was very cool in the evenings and at night, and the days were warm but very pleasant.  This last week has turned warmer in day and at night, but the air quality has dramatically improved.

While DK&T were here, we were all over the place.  Mike would either take us to a spot of interest on his lunch hour, or send a driver to get us to a taxi pick-up to go on our own.  Then he would meet us after work for dinner and evening activities.  Of course we “did” the malls.  They truly are an adventure.  Even 30-year Tony had a good time checking them out.  Ibn Batutta Mall was the highlight.  Ibn Batutta is the Middle East’s Marco Polo.  He traveled extensively throughout the world, so his namesake mall has a theme to every corridor.  The ceilings are especially beautifully designed, with carved beams, tiled ceilings, glass ceilings and colorfully painted ceilings and walls.  Amazingly gorgeous chandeliers and Turkish-style lanterns hang from all ceilings.  Even the floors are beautifully inlaid with tile.  DK&T also enjoyed the uniqueness of the Dubai Mall, which has the Dubai aquarium in view for all shoppers.  We chose not to take the actual aquarium tour, but there was plenty of the exhibit in view as we walked around the shops.  The Mall of the Emirates houses Ski Dubai.  It is always a treat to see this totally-out-of- context arena!  It’s always busy!!  Every mall has beautiful hotels within walking distance from them, and every hotel is unique.  Nothing is done with mediocrity over here!

Although the malls are very interesting and, of course, great for buying “trinkets” to take home,  in my opinion the true shining gem of all of Dubai is the Burg Kalifa (formerly called the Burg Dubai), the world’s tallest building.  There is just no way to adequately describe this incredible feat of architectural design and engineering.  And photographs do it very little justice, on the internet or otherwise.  This is a sight that must be experienced to fully appreciate it.  The building was still under construction when I was here in the Fall.  It has since been completed.  It had a huge grand opening, complete with fireworks Dubai-style (which means HUGE).  It was open to the public for a short time, but then was closed for undisclosed reasons.  It has been closed ever since, which has been a bit of a joke around the world.   But this building – designed by a Chicago architect, by-the-way – should not be discounted as one of the wonders of the world.  DK&T and I spent an entire afternoon milling around the souqs (markets or shops -- pronounced sooks) and the restaurants across from the base of the building.  We could not figure out a way to get the image of the entire building into one frame of a photo from so close.  It was frustrating to have to take shots of the bottom of the building separately from the top of the building.  However, when we decided to sit at an outside café for snacks and coffee, our waiter took a picture of us and got the entire building in by turning the camera 45 degrees so that the frame is in a diamond position.  The top of the building just makes it into the top corner of the frame!  Tony was especially awed by the Kalifa and took TONS of different shots of it.  Mike joined us around 6 pm.  We found an outdoor 3rd floor restaurant for dinner.  This gave us a view of the beautiful souq and village-style apartment areas below and across from the base of the building.  There is a lake between the hotel-souq-aparment areas and the Kalifa.  It has an accompanying creek (more like a river, from an Arizona standpoint of view!) that meanders throughout the entire complex.  It is a lovely sight to see all of this against the backdrop of the majestic Kalifa.  As soon as it is dark, there are fountain shows like the shows seen at the Bellagio in Las Vegas (or in Ocean’s Eleven if you have never been to Vegas).  Each show is choreographed to unique music from all over the world.  The shows run every 20 minutes and last about 6 minutes.  They are amazing.  The way in which the building is lit at night accents its elegant beauty and majesty, both up close as well as from a distance.  The entire Burg Kalifa experience is one that I will never forget!! 

Mike had had a very discouraging day that day before joining us.  He had heard that his Administrative Assistant, Karen from Scotland, will not be returning to the school next year.  Her husband, Charlie, the 2009 Oil Baron of whom I wrote last fall, is being transferred to Jakarta, Indonesia.  Karen has been one of Mike’s major bulwarks in keeping things at the school ongoing this year.  Her pending departure is a real blow to Mike and to all aspects of the school.  She is very upset about having to leave as well.  But I can honestly say that our experience at the Kalifa that evening soothed and relaxed Mike at a time that he truly needed relief!

The first week-end I was here, we loaded up in Mike’s Nissan SUV and drove to Oman, a tiny country that borders the UAE.  Mike and I had driven there last November to “update” my visa, but we only crossed the border, had my passport stamped, then came back home – a common practice for expats in the UAE.  This time we drove into the mountainous region of the country.  We saw dozens of camels!  Kathy and I were like children squealing in delight at the sight of every hump!!  The boys were very patient and stopped numerous times for photo op’s.  Several stops were for camel trains – where the camels were being driven from the end of the line by a man on foot or on a camel himself to some given location.  (Didn’t really see my brother Chas doing it this way with his cattle…)  On one stop, the camel driver stood up on the back of his camel, waved and called a greeting to us.  It was truly a hoot!   

There is a very unique French-built resort located in the mountains where we landed for lunch.  The exterior of the building is ultra-modern, somewhat of an overbearing sight in this very rugged, quaint area.  But the interior is lush with plants, water fountains and ponds throughout, and lovely restaurants and shops.  The pool and surrounding deck are quite phenomenal.  We would have like to have eaten out by the pool where they were featuring a delicious bar-b-que lunch, but the wind was blowing quite steadily and it was actually cold!  Instead we ate indoors at a seafood buffet that was equally phenomenal.   We drove to a peak above the hotel – the highest point in the area – and were able to look down into the Empty Quarter of the Arabian Desert.  Such different desert than our Arizona deserts!

On a somewhat personal note:  Kathy and I learned first-hand about potty stops in quaint villages in the Middle East.  You basically get “unisex” bathrooms with a hole in the ground and no TP!  Kathy braved the way first, but when it was my turn, I decided I could (WOULD) hold it until we got to the hotel.  I didn’t trust my aim at all!  You lucky men….!!

Two nights before DK&T left, we all took an evening dhow (pronounced dow) dinner trip around the Dubai harbor area.  Our dhow had tables for about 20 people in an enclosed area, then a deck on top of the dining area for viewing the sights at night.  We all agreed that the food was acceptable – not the best we had had in Dubai, but okay – but the city at night was spectacular.  There was a beautiful ocean breeze all evening.  It was a very slow-paced, relaxing evening, which we all needed after so much sight-seeing earlier in their visit.

Life has slowed down considerably since the Phoenix Gemmas have departed, but each of us has benefitted from the slower pace.  Although school days hold long hours for Mike, he is able to come home and relax each night, something he has never had the privilege of doing in any of his former principalships.  He works diligently every day to provide the leadership needed to keep Bradenton Prep Academy (BPA) the quality school that it has the potential to be.  But, as I stated in my earlier note, the downturn in the economy here makes it so very difficult for him to do the job he knows he could do with adequate funding.  He continues to lead the school community with stellar professionalism, but also with a personal touch that everyone from staff to students to parents immensely appreciates.  His door is always open to whomever may need his advice or assistance.  I admire his commitment in the face of such adversity in ways I cannot adequately express!

BPA’s spring break started on Friday.  Mike has been at school catching up on work for 4-5 hours each day thus far.  But the uninterrupted time to get work done is actually relaxing for him and he has come home much relieved each day.  Tomorrow we leave for another adventure in Oman.  This time we will go to the coast to an area that has fiords
– snowless fiords – but fiords nonetheless!  There is a resort in the Musandam area that is recommended to us.  This will be VERY quaint compared to the resorts in the UAE.  The big event of this 2-day trip will be an all-day dhow trip that features snorkeling in the fiords and dolphin watching.  I am so excited for this day!  I adore dolphins, and have never seen them up close from a boat in the wild.  We used to watch them play in San Carlos Bay, Mexico back in the 70’s when we would go on our big camping trips down there, but this trip promises even closer contact with them.  From Musandam, we will go for two nights to another resort on the border with the UAE.  This resort will be much more updated than the one on the coast, but still very quiet and low-keyed.  It has a wonderful pool where Mike and I can swim laps and/or lie out for naps and reading.  The town is small and rustic, so the shops will be fun to check out for more trinkets!  (Mike can’t wait for that part…!) 

My birthday is 3/30, the day before I depart for home -- 62 and marching onward toward Medicare!  We will spend the afternoon (Mike will be working in the morning) on the beach at the Jermairah Beach Hotel, next to the Burg al Arab Hotel that sits on the island that we swam around in November to benefit Doctors Without Borders.  While at the event in Nov, I won a day-pass to the Jermairah Beach Hotel, which entitles us to use of the beach and pool areas, all restaurants, and locker rooms for the day.  There is a wonderful Italian restaurant right on the beach where we will go for dinner.  It will be the perfect send-off for another amazing visit here in Dubai.  The only thing that could have made it more fantastic is if Stephanie could have been here to share our experiences.  However, she continues to win the respect and admiration of her dentist and her patients at work, while continuing to work on her B.S. degree through NAU on-line courses.  She has been working with our good friends and real estate agents Dee Dinota and Kathy Herrera to find her first house to purchase.  We miss being there to share with her this exciting yet, as we all know, very challenging experience, but she has done remarkably well on her own (thanks to her father’s mentoring!!).  She has put a bid in on an older, well-built immaculate home not too far from us, but the owner is “dickering” over the price a bit at this point.  Some things will NEVER change!!  Steph also is providing the loving care that we know t hat our animals require in our absence, as well as looking after our home on the week-ends.  We realize daily how blessed we are to have Stephanie as our daughter!  We hope that it will work out that she will be able to come over here in November when I am here so that we all can explore Dubai and surrounding areas together.

Well, gang, I’ve rattled on for a very long time, here.  My next letter will only cover one versus three weeks over here, so it promises to be much shorter.  Thanks for hanging in here and reading all of this!

I will be seeing many of you in a few weeks.  Mike will be home for the month of July when he will be able to catch up with many folks, too!

We send each and every one of you our love and hugs from across the world. – Karen and Mike

Gemma Report #10
Dubai, UAE
February 6, 2010

Hello from Dubai,

Where has the time gone?  Seems like yesterday, I was at the Tucson airport getting ready to depart again for Dubai.  I sat there regretting the fact that, besides immediate family, I did not get to see many of you during the short 10 day visit.  It was nice however to be back on familiar turf and to assume for the minute that the other driver was not going to cut me off or try to drive me off the road.  At any rate, five weeks into the New Year and its Super Bowl weekend.  (Yes, the game will be aired here at 3:00am Monday morning.)

I have truly gotten into a routine here.  Work has been very busy as we are still dealing with construction and finance challenges while trying to complete teacher evaluations, provide professional development, market for next year, hire new teachers- all while dealing with toddlers to adolescents and oh yes, their parents too!  Just after returning from vacation, our gym was flooded due to a breakage in the hot water heater main supply line.  Half the floor has been damaged and we are waiting for drying to be completed before we can sand, paint and seal.  The good news before Christmas was that our KG playground was completed.  We are still waiting for finances to tackle the Elementary playground.

Due to our ongoing problems, I convinced the President, CEO and CFO of Dubai Sports City to provide a small refund of this year’s tuition to our parents as a sign of good faith.  We added reassurances, in writing, that the Sports Academies and other incomplete projects would be completed in time for the new academic school year.  This was reassuring to parents, but most have adopted the Missouri motto of “Show Me.”   I met just two days ago with a German family that needed to know why they should not be looking at other options for next year.  I simply told them that if I was in their shoes, I would be looking at options.  I think they were surprised by the candor!

We just had one of our families depart for Canada and the Winter Olympics.  Their older son is one of three members of the Lebanese Ski Team.  Watch for the flag with a Cyprus tree on it!

Yesterday morning, I attended two hockey games at the Dubai Mall hockey rink.  (It is built to European standards, which means it is a little bigger than those in Canada and US.)  Two of our students, who are brothers, one in KG-2 and the other in grade 4, are from Canada and love their national sport.  A third student, another fourth grader, also played.  They were REALLY good.  The youngest one scored two goals and the two older ones were dominant, in fact, one had a hat trick.  These are the same students who went to play in Switzerland over the Christmas break.  As good as they are the parents told me that the best player in the whole 3-14 age group is a girl.  It was amusing to watch the players “sub in.”  They all wanted to jump over the box like the pros do, but many of them had to be lifted over the wall by the coaches.

Some of our students will be playing in a charity football (soccer) match later this week with 20 other schools.  The whole idea is to raise awareness and funds for Haiti.

We are in the middle of Dubai Shopping Festival, better known as DSF.  Every store has sales with 50-75 % off.  That sounds good, but it just barely brings the prices in line with the US.  Remember that everything has to be imported here.  There are lots of give-a-ways and raffles too.  It is always great to hear that a laborer who works for $500 a month (and sends $300 home) wins a Lexus and cash worth $250,000.  One such winner announced he was selling the car, moving back to India to be with his family, and starting his own business.  Good things do happen! 

I delayed sending this note, so in the meantime, I watched the Super Bowl this morning.  The Saints can thank me for the victory.  I awoke at 4:00am and started watching the game at the end of the first quarter- just as they turned the game around.  It MUST have been my good vibes rooting for the underdog.  I can only imagine the night they had in New Orleans!  I wonder how many will remember it.

On February 27th, my oldest brother, Dick (John) and his wife Kathy and my nephew, Tony will be coming to visit for two weeks.  I have been putting together the Chamber of Commerce Tour but I can’t wait to hear what they will want to see.  With the new monorail throughout the city, the excellent busses, and the inexpensive taxis, it is actually quite easy to get around here.  Many new shops have opened around my apartment complex too, including coffee shops, a bakery, restaurants, and beauty and health salons.  Karen will be returning on the 3rd of March so she will be joining us for the second week of the visit.  After D, K, and T depart, Karen and I will be trying to get over to Egypt for the tour we missed in November.  I must say, that there is something to the Arab phrase, “God willing.”  Otherwise, it would be almost impossible to explain what does and does not happen around here.

Finally for you folks in Arizona that think the photo radar cameras are unfair; you would really be rankled by this place.  They are everywhere.  There is NO appeal and if you do not pay all of your fines when it is time to register your car, they simply take your car.  We can go on-line to the police webpage to see our current warrants.  I just did it the other day.  So far, so good.  I hope I didn’t just jinx myself!

My next note will include updates on my newest assignment as the bouncer in the Royal Box at the Cricket Stadium.  England will be playing the World Champs from Pakistan- a big deal here.  My job is to keep out the non-royals who were slipped the VVIP (that’s what they are called here) credentials as favors.  Should be interesting.  I am studying the pictures of the Royal family in earnest!  Hope I don’t make ant mistakes.

Wishing all the best, Mike

Gemma Report #9
Dubai, UAE
December 18, 2009

Greetings from Dubai everyone,

I start this letter with a bit of humility as Karen has done such a great job accounting for the Gemma exploits over the past eight weeks.  She has always had more flair than me and writes a “whole lot better” (must have been that public school education!).  At any rate, she departed for home two weeks ago (I miss her already) and I wanted to get off a note before I board the plan tomorrow evening for Tucson.

Let me start by wishing everyone a happy new year.  Today is the start of the Islamic New Year, as counted from the Prophet’s migration to Mecca 1431 lunar years ago.  It is a public holiday here and Dubai is quieter than normal.  The laborers really look forward to these rare days of rest as they are not as plentiful as in western countries.

Our last day of classes occurred yesterday and we ended the year with a holiday assembly.  Each of the classes put on a song or skit to the amusement and pride of many parents.  Ironically, the theme was related more to Christmas than many public schools in America dare to allow.  Our many Muslim families were OK with this and I had no concerns or complaints expressed.  Many of our students are off to home countries including the US, Canada, Russia, Scotland, South Africa, Germany, Nigeria, and even to Switzerland to play a few games of hockey.  Everyone has commented as to the quick pace the school year seems to have.  This is definitely my perspective and it is hard to believe that I have been living in Dubai for over six months already.

Speaking of Dubai, I know it has been in the financial news throughout the world these past four weeks and some of you have inquired as to how the financial issues are impacting the school here.  Let me start by saying that it is actually quite difficult to get good information here. There are so many rumors and press coverage in the UAE is suspect.  There is actually a law against running a story that portrays the Emirates in a negative light.  So, what one must do is read the local stories, go on the Internet and read stories published in other countries, and watch international news programs and try to get the clearest picture possible.  What I do know is that redundancies (layoffs) here have been significant, building has slowed, the large Emirate (Abu Dhabi) just infused another $10,000,000,000 into the Dubai economy and the Dubai and Abu Dhabi governments are most active in economic policy review and corrective actions.  Here in Dubai Sports City, scores of people have been laid off and construction has come to a halt on the academies and stadiums.  The school has not been affected other than construction issues that have not been able to be completely resolved.  For example, the subcontractor for all of our electronic work has not been paid, and to put pressure on us, (DSC) the company came in and made all of our sound and light systems in the auditorium and gym inoperable. (They cut the power cords and took away the control systems.) 

I met with the CEO of DSC just two days ago to review the school’s business plan and financials.  Since I have not been told to cut back in any way for staffing, supplies or FF&E, I was very anxious, anticipating some bad news.  But when I presented my plans for library acquisitions, staffing projections for next year, and other costly, but necessary items, I got nothing but words of support.  Now we will have to see if the words become actions… 

There is no question that Dubai cannot expect to return to its “glory days” anytime soon.  However, this is true all over the world.  I believe, like many, that the new reality will be far from what we knew over the past twenty years.  The world has changed and we must all be ready to live in a redefined “normalcy.”  The scary thing is that the strong leadership necessary to steer this new course does not seem to be up to the challenge.  We all need to select our elected officials with the utmost care or risk the mistakes made in the past when similar issues were faced on the world stage.  We need consensus builders with open minds, not ideologues.  Enough on politics.

Back to school…  We won our first ever sports contest earlier this week as our under 14 coed basketball team defeated the all male team from the Dubai World Academy. Since their student body is three years older than us and outnumbers us 5 to 1, we were MOST pleased.  Four months into the school year and we are UNDEFEATED!  Of course Karen and I were thrilled to watch Canyon del Oro (my previous school) earn the Arizona State Championship for football a few weeks ago.  The only thing better would have been being able to be there.  Congratulations to the team and all the coaches for a fabulous year.  Best of luck too to all the other sports and academic teams as you make this the best year ever for the Dorados of Canyon del Oro.

Well, as stated earlier, I will be returning to Tucson for a short ten day vacation over the Christmas break.  It will be good to go through some reverse culture shock.  I am not sure how many visits I will be able to make (I’ve already missed the CDO and Rotary functions) but I do hope to see many family and friends.  If we do not run into each other, please know that I wish each of you a most blessed holiday filled with family, friends, and good memories in the making.  May we all do what we can to help those caught up in these difficult times.  I believe that even prayers help.  The greatest danger is that people may feel that they are forgotten.  May the New Year bring us renewed strength as a country, one that believes in the value of each individual and one that is willing to work towards the common good.  Best wishes to each of you.

Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year,

Mike 

Gemma Report  (from Karen)

Monday, November 22, 2009

Hello, everybody!

It has been an eventful 2-1/2 weeks since I last wrote.  I have spent considerable time at Mike’s school, which has been soooooo much fun!  The PE teacher, Kevin. is a Brit, a former rugby player, and is married to Mike’s elementary principal for the school, Jenette, an American.  Kevin has taught high school PE for his career, so I have been volunteering three mornings a week during his K-4th grade classes.  He is a fabulous PE teacher and does truly great things with the students.   My presence has aided in classroom management and some advice on thinking as a beginning learner at that age level.  Additionally, I have “subbed” in 6th-9th grade English and in the pre-K class as an aide.  The school has no substitute teacher network, so if a teacher is out, Mike or Jenette must go into the classroom and take over.  This has been very fun for Mike – especially with the “little ones” with whom he has had very limited experience.  The children adore him, which I think has truly been a surprise to him!  I don’t think he thought he had the ability to connect with the elementary students as beautifully as he does!!  He wears his Tigger and Taz ties quite often, which the kids truly enjoy.  With his presence required in the classroom so often, Mike’s ability to do HIS job is frequently interrupted, so progress on the administrative front can slow to a crawl at times.  Jenette is in the same boat!  But I have gotten to know quite a few parents this past month and they are very happy with the school.  They report that their kids are happy to get up in the morning and are excited to get to school.  What more could a school administrator ask for?

Three week-ends ago the school parents put on the first annual school carnival.  It was a huge success, with jumping castles, games, clowns, face painting, henna tattoos, and food.  The inner courtyard of the school and grass areas were covered with activities and happy kids and parents.  Mike took on his usual role as a cook at the barbeques with the dads.  There were no burgers, chicken burgers, or beef hot dogs left at the end of the night! – The next day we went to the Dubai Mall, the newest and most fabulous mall I’ve been to over here.  There is an incredible aquarium in this mall.  Part of it is viewable by the general shopping public, but we took the full tour.  At one point you stand in an acrylic tunnel with sharks swimming over your head.  It is VERY eerie to see the under belly of a shark that close up!  The aquatic zoo, separate from the aquarium, was also most interesting, especially the leafy sea dragon and the feeding of the otters who did tricks for us!    

Two week-ends ago we attended our first-ever cricket match, New Zealand vs. the current world champions, Pakistan.  The match was held in the new Dubai Sports City cricket stadium, a fabulous venue.  There are many Pakistani workers in Dubai, so most spectators were rooting for the world champs.  It was as much fun to watch their wild cheers and proud national flag waving as it was to watch the game itself!  One of the contractors of Dubai Sports City sent Mike VIP tickets for the match.  We were invited to sit in his VIP box.  What an experience!  The indoor room was formally set up with white table cloths, chairs draped in white fabric, place settings with gold-rimmed plates, cups and saucers, and a formal buffet of wonderful food.  You could sit inside and eat and watch the game at the same time.  You could also exit the indoor room and sit in the seats by the field.  The stadium roof is a dome with an opening in its center (but not closable like some of our stadiums in Phoenix).  The night was very balmy and beautiful.  The game itself was very confusing compared to our American baseball to which cricket is often compared, but we got the gist of it and were able to follow along pretty well. -- The next day we were able to attend a car race at a venue that is walking-distance from Mike’s apartment.  Again we were given VIP tickets, which allowed us to go into the garages after the race to see the cars.  Also on display were other race cars, including a Mazarratti (sp?) that has won the Gran Prix seven times.  The under carriage of this car is only three inches off the ground!  Mike took a picture of me sitting in it!  Also on display were Mini Coopers, special edition Corvettes, a 1920’ Bently, and many other car models that are familiar to us in America.  What a fun event!!

This past week-end we participated in two fund-raisers.  The first, on Friday morning, was an open-water swim around the Burg Al Arab Hotel, the famous sailboat-looking hotel that is built on a tiny manmade island that is an icon for Dubai advertising.  Proceeds went to Doctors Without Borders, one of Mike’s and my most admired charities.  The swim itself was very easy.  The water was about 80 degrees and fairly calm.  The distance was short – about ¾ mile – which Mike and I easily can swim in a pool.  The challenge was in the crowd of swimmers.  Feet were in your face at the beginning of the swim to the point that it took five minutes just to find an area in which to truly swim!  We were not in the competitive section and had planned to swim alongside each other, but in the fracas of feet, we lost sight of each other.  At the end of the swim, I stood up to walk up the beach to the “finish line” and I happened to look to my right and across the crowd also standing up to finish was Mike!  It was a very satisfying event.

That night we participated in a cancer fund raiser, The Oil Barons Ball.  Mike’s administrative assistant, Karen (from Scotland, hereafter known as “Scottish Karen,” to keep confusion down) is married to Charlie, an oil company executive, also from Scotland.  Scottish Karen invited us to sit at her table, in the VIP section (are we Dr. and Mrs. Hot Ca-Ca or what, with all this VIP stuff???).  Going to a ball meant that Arizon Karen had to buy a gown.  What an experience that was!  Mike was a great sport and “shared the joy” with me on two occasions, but one of the moms, Stacey from Calgary, was my heavy duty shopping companion.  I found a beautiful dress that didn’t cost Mike 3 months salary, but it took five “sprees” to find it!  The ball was a great event.  The theme was “Motown Magic.”  The venue was an outdoor amphitheater and, again, the night was cool and balmy with a wonderful view of two of Dubai’s fabulous buildings through the palm trees.  The entertainment was a Lou Rawls sound-alike, The Dream Girls (aka The Supremes), and a Four Tops-type group.  All were fantastic.  This was the music of Mike’s high school and my college years so we danced for hours!  Charlie, who was dressed in full formal kilt attire, was named the UAE’s 2009 Oil Baron, which blew Karen away!  She was adorable, jumping up and down.  Charlie had known for 6 weeks but had not told her.  She had no idea and was as surprised and happy as could be! 

Yesterday Mike and I had to drive 90 minutes to the little country of Oman to update my visa, which was only good for one month.  What an interesting area the border of Oman is, complete with mountains about the size of Camelback Mt or Squaw Peak in Phx., but not nearly as big a Mt Lemon in Tucson.  My favorite part of the trip was at a check point when a Toyota Tacoma truck pulled up beside us.  When the truck came to a stop, two young camels lying down in the back popped up their heads for a look-see.  They had loosley-woven yarn muzzles on, I guess to keep them from spitting at neighboring cars!  They were adorable!  I wanted to get out and give them a snuggle!!

A quick shout-out to CDO’s football team as they continue their undefeated season and play in the state semi-finals on Friday.  We’ll be cheering you on from way over here!! 

Well, dear family and friends, I want to close with our very warmest wishes for a beautiful Thanksgiving Day. We will be spending the day with Jenette and Kevin and his parents who will be here from London.  Jenette and Kevin live two floors down from Mike’s apartment.  I will be bringing my usual contribution of fruit salad and home-made cranberry sauce.  There has also been a request from Jenette and Kevin for salsa fresca -- Elia’s recipe, of course!  It will be a wonderful day, even though it will be so very different not to be at the big gathering in Phoenix.  But we will be skyping with everyone at Chas and Portia’s that day (it will actually be early Friday morning for us by then…), so we will be able to enjoy that gathering, too.

We send our love and God’s Blessings to each of you, and prayers for peace throughout the world.

Karen and Mike

Gemma Report  (from Karen)

Wednesday, 11/3/09
Dear Friends –

I arrived in Dubai Tuesday night, 10/27, safe and sound.  The plane ride was no picnic, but, thanks to my memory-foam pillow, which I sat on the entire way, I had no significant sciatica issues, which was my major concern.  The ride was long, and – bummer! – the video system was not working for the entire trip (I was soooo looking forward to watching movies!), but I arrived right on time 14-1/2 hours after departing Atlanta.  I had been able to sleep off and on for 6 hours or so, so I was able to greet my dear Michael with some semblance of enthusiasm!  He looks TERRIFFIC!!!  The ride home from the airport was filled with views of the night skies of Dubai.  All the famous landmarks – the enormous buildings with such unusual architecture – were so beautifully lit up!  What a treat!!

Upon arriving in the Dubai airport Tuesday night, I was IMMEDIATELY struck by the open and visible support of “breast cancer month.”  There were signs and posters everywhere, pink shirts and blouses on employees, a request for cash donations on the plane when we were 30 min out of Dubai ($500 was collected!), pink native as well as western-style outfits on travelers -- pink, pink, pink!!!  Jumping ahead while on this subject, Mike and I were part of the “Team Bradenton Prep Academy” for a breast cancer walk on Friday.  I had never done one of these before – but once I return to Tucson, Susan G. Koeman, here I come!  More on this later. 

Mike’s apartment is very nice.  It is located inland from downtown Dubai in “”Dubai Sports City (DSC) where it is much quieter and less crowded.  It is a brand new, two bedroom, 2-1/2 bath unit which he has decorated Ikea-special style!  I have a few suggestions for making it a bit homier, but he has done an excellent job with the little free time he has had since arriving in June.  Each major room has it’s own A/C unit and each bathroom has its own water heater.  The apartment came with appliances, an unusual amenity over here, which saved Mike a lot of money when setting up house.  The washer and dryer are combined into one small unit.  They run on low energy so it takes 2-1/2 – 3 hours for the drying cycle alone!  There is no such thing as doing 5-7 loads in a day as we do back home!!  Every outlet has and on/off switch, which is a great idea as our EPA at home claims that there is still electricity flowing when things are plugged in but turned off.  Each water heater also has an on/off switch so you have to remember to turn it on at least 15 min before you shower.

Wednesday, the day after I arrived, Mike left for work and I slept until 10:30!  After brunch, I walked down to one of the four pools in the complex of apartment buildings.  It is a square-shaped pool that is beautiful but very small.  I still managed to swim laps for about 20 minutes, then worked a little on my synchro figures.  (By the way, the meet wasn’t the best for our team this year.  We came in fourth for our duet and for our trio, which sounds great, but there were “issues.”  The duet swam much better than it was scored, and placed below at least two routines that didn’t swim as well as our girls swam.  We had a good swim for the trio technical routine, where we were required to execute compulsory figures within the short routine.  We were in second place going into the trio  free routine, but unfortunately I completely blanked out several spots while swimming the routine.  I still cannot account for exactly what happened other than the fact that we made some last-minute changes to the routine which I didn’t have “mastered” yet, and I was over-the-top nervous.  Much of my nervousness’ underlying source came from the stress in simultaneously getting ready for the meet and for my 6-1/2 week trip to Dubai.  I’ll never put these two events together again!  Next year we will compete in L.A. and I will be in better shape to swim up to my potential!)  Back to day two in Dubai:  Mike arranged for me to have a massage in the afternoon at a spa in the beach district of downtown Dubai.  The ride to town during the day was much different than the ride home from the airport the night before.  There is a lot of dust due to the construction that constantly goes on everywhere in Dubai.  The sand of the desert is very fine and powdery, unlike the more granular sand of the southwest.  The buildings, especially the Tallest Building in the World, had an almost surreal look to them.  The presence of the dust muted their appearances, but they were nonetheless fascinating to look at.  The massage:  I’ve had many massages in my life, but going to a spa is a different experience!  Mike had requested the “jet-lag special” for me, but after reading my health history, my Thai masseuse said, “I think due to your many arthritis and joint problems that it would be best to give you a more relaxing massage.”  I agreed, got situated on the table and prepared myself for her to work on me.  WELL, if this was the more relaxing massage, I’d barely be moving by now with the “jet-lag special!”  She adroitly found the knots that are always present in my upper back and dug in!!!  After she finished in that area, the rest of the massage truly was very relaxing!

After my massage, we walked through the small mall where the spa was located and window shopped.  The clothing shops displayed amazingly beautiful traditional as well as contemporary fashions.  We then had dinner at a delicious Lebanese restaurant.  My second ride home at night was just as spectacular as the night before! 

Thursday is the end of the week for Mike.  That afternoon we drove downtown to The Arabian Courtyard Hotel, a wonderful, older gem that is situated right in the middle of the older part of downtown Dubai.  (My third day of being driven around Dubai convinced me that I will NEVER apply for a driver’s license here!  Most of the time I want to keep my eyes closed with my head against the headrest to avoid severe whiplash from crashes!!  Mike has gotten very good at navigating around town with all its one-way streets and at dealing with the aggressiveness of the other drivers.  He even uses the horn on frequent occasions, something he has rarely done at home.)  The hotel’s room rate included a lavish breakfast, and a 2-hour happy hour, which included three drinks apiece and beautiful hors’ d’houvres.  There was a fabulous Chinese food restaurant in the hotel, which is where we ate dinner.  Our room was beautiful with many Arabian-décor special touches.  Friday we walked in the breast cancer walk.  It was warm, but not overly humid.  There were thousands of men and women, some children, and a few dogs that walked downtown around the Dubai Mall.  The interior of the mall was totally decked out in pink trimmings – ribbon and feathers wrapped around support beams, everyone in some shade of pink, pink hats, pink scarves for women who were covered, a truly beautiful sight!  Outside, there were two pink balloon arches where the walk began.  Just before the start, the balloons were released into the air, which was incredibly inspirational.  The few dogs that we saw had pink dog hats or pink ear headbands, and one dog was wearing a pair of pink wings.  Mike hates to see dogs dressed in costumes, but this time he was supportive and impressed!  Our next venture along these lines is to join Team Bradenton in a ¾ mile ocean swim around the Burg al arab, the sailboat-looking hotel that is such a landmark for Dubai, which is located on a small manmade island.  Proceeds will go toward support of Doctors Without Borders, a cause that Mike and I respect so greatly and are proud and excited to support.  The event is 11/20, so news of our swim will come later.  I guess I’ll have to trust that it will still be warm on 11/20!  After the walk, we came back to the room and crashed for a 90 min nap.  We then went to the pool, which was on the roof by the lounge.  We each swam a few laps, then relaxed by the pool.  Around 3:00 pm we hit the streets!  Because Friday is the holy day here (NOT Saturday as I have been saying for the past 5 months!), most shops were closed until dusk.  So we found a beautiful outdoor restaurant and sat under the trees and lunched on delicious fresh fruit smoothies and a wonderful salad.  The most adorable ferrell cat kept coming up to our table.  After lunch we roamed around the few places that were opened, then down to the creek, an inlet from the harbor that is truly bustling with activity.  By 5:15, most shops were open so we visited two of the souks (markets).  The first had goods of all kinds, especially beautiful, luxurious fabrics for making women’s native attire.  Next we boarded a water taxi which took us up the creek a mile to the area where the gold souk is located.  OH MY GOSH!  You have never seen such an incredible display of gold jewelry in your life.  It was nearly overwhelming to view, with every piece more beautifully crafted than the next.  Many necklaces could have been worn by Cleopatra herself!  But, I’m sorry to report that, with international gold prices at their highest in history, no gold gifts will be coming home with me!! :{  Nonetheless, the experience was priceless!  We boarded the water taxi to return to the area of our hotel.  Once back at the hotel, we went to the Sherlock Pub where we were waited on by staff members that were in Halloween costumes!  We had a cold pint of Heineken and split a burger.  Both tasted divine after our long day! 

We checked out of this wonderful hotel on Saturday and drove around the city a bit.  Some of the homes along the beach are incredible!  We then headed for the Mall of the Emirates, home of Ski Dubai, an amazing indoor, manmade-snow ski run!  It is built right into the mall.  We are told that it takes 5-7 minutes to ski down from the top to the chair lift.  What a busy place – and such an unlikely sight to see!  The mall itself is ultra modern and lavish with every kind of shop imaginable, including Dubai’s version of Wal-Mart, Carrefour.  I bought some capris and short-sleeve tops to wear, since women dress more casually than I had thought.  I also found two pair of sandles at “Shoe City.”  After the mall visit we went grocery shopping at two different stores, one near the mall, the other here in DSC.  The fruits and vegetables are either very inexpensive or very pricey, depending on where they are imported from (with US-grown usually being the most expensive!).  Some of the vegetables are totally foreign and look like they would hurt to swallow as they are covered in spike-like protrusions!  The meats are fabulous with the obvious absence of preservatives and additives that we frequently have added to our meats in the US.  The store in DSC has a separate room for just pork products with a sign at its entrance that reads, “Not for Muslims”.  Interesting!  Lots of Oscar Meyer products in this room, as well as fresh chops, roasts and sausages.  The ice cream and cookies that Mike has around all the time (some things haven’t changed at all!) are wonderful, as are the yogurts, milk, cereals, and breads.  The humus and bubba ganoush (sp?) here are wonderful, but I must admit that Trader Joe’s and Costco do a great job with humus!

I have been very inactive since our return to the apartment on Saturday night because I have gotten a nasty sinus infection.  I started noticing symptoms Friday afternoon.  During our shopping at the mall, we stopped at a pharmacy and I was able to get Amoxicillin, 500 mg, over the counter!  Good thing I know what I need from having sinus infections in the past!!  As of today, I know I am on the mend.  I have stayed away from Mike’s school this week to keep from exposing anyone.  He also has had four confirmed and several suspected cases of H1N1.  I want to have my immune system up and running when I report for volunteer duty next week!  I am very excited to get to his school.  I have only seen it from the outside and at night.  It is truly a beautiful school.  My plan while here is to volunteer wherever needed at the school for 3-5 hours each day, come home for lunch and a swim, and then to get dinner ready for Mike’l.  On the week-ends we explore!!!

Well, dear family, I have violated Mike’s rule of a 2-page report to avoid “reader’s cramp”, but I wanted to let you know of my experiences thus far here in this amazing place.  My next report will not be filled with so many everyday, ordinary experiences and first impressions, so I should be able to keep it shorter.  I am having a wonderful time, despite my ailments, but I miss you all! 

Love and Blessings to each of you – Karen

(Quote from Gemma as we passed by a gym downtown called Fitness First: “That’s the wrong name for that place.  It should be ‘Fitness Second, Donut first!’”  Hasn’t lost his sense of humor to the stress of his job!!!

Gemma Report #8
Dubai, UAE
October 3, 2009

Hello everyone,

As I have a tendency to focus too much on school, I have decided to make this report about some of the people I have met or observed during my short time here in Dubai.  This is after all, an amazing place to take in the whole of humanity.  I have met individuals from every continent (OK, no penguins), and certainly from every walk of life.

I would like to start with a simple example of humanity.  As you know, the month of Ramadan just ended.  At the end of the month of fasting there is a celebration called Eid Al Fitr.  Those Muslims that take the daily fast seriously have just finished a full month of going without food or drink (even water) during the daylight hours.  Those who are truly devout also eat lightly at night and save their money to give to those less fortunate.  Well, our security guards at the school are Muslims from Bangladesh.  Like so many unskilled workers here they work long hours (in this case, twelve hour shifts, seven days a week), for less than $850.00 a month.  They send a significant part of that money back home to support their families.  If they are lucky they get to go home for a visit once every two or three years.  These two guards had told me and a few other people at the school that since they had no family to celebrate Eid with here in Dubai, they wanted to share the breaking of the fast with us.  We assumed that that would mean we would come to school and share a pot-luck if sorts. The two of them had different plans.

When we got to school, they asked me for permission to change to traditional dress.  This was no problem as school was not in session.  They then called the five of us guests in with a table set with rice and spiced chicken, raw vegetables, drinks and a rice pudding dessert.  When I only saw five place settings, I asked if they were going to sit with us.  They said that in their country the tradition is for the guests to eat first, and then they would eat.  Now mind you that THEY had been the ones fasting.  THEY are the ones that don’t make enough in one day to pay for a standard restaurant meal here in Dubai.  And THEY were the ones who were so proud to show us westerners what the spirit of Ramadan is all about.  It was a wonderful experience and we will try to replicate it for them at Thanksgiving time.

The teachers here fall into two categories.  Although they are all adventurous, there is a definite difference between those that are married, and those who are single.  The latter live for the weekends- especially the extended ones.  Planning is ongoing and can dominate most discussions. This week, although school was not in session, I needed to contact a few of them.  Phones were being answered in Greece, Hawaii, India, Egypt, the US, and Canada.  On the rare occasion that a weekend is spent here in Dubai, it is usually marked by a visit to the Irish Village, or if the weather is good, an outdoor activity. I am not sure if there is a great deal of saving money going on.  For the teachers with families, their lives are not too different from home.  There are lots of activities for kids here, but unless you have a maid, it is the parent’s responsibility to get kids from place A to point B and no trip is routine.  We are fortunate to have a good mix of teachers at the school and they bring a wonderful balance of interaction with the students.

I have been greatly impressed (and most jealous) with the number of languages spoken by people here. Now, I am not making fun of anyone, because I truly do wish I could speak another language as well as so many of them speak English.  But it is fun to hear the literal translations that are used at times or to see spellings that even have me guessing.  For example, I received a CV from a young man who wanted a position as a  PHESICAL EDUCATION TEACHER.  I got a cover letter from another who stated, “As anticipation, I can indicate my qualities to them: Special Capacity for the analysis and the observation, social Sensibility Illusion for the creativity and the innovation, critical Vision of the things, Spirit conciliator, Solid culture, permanent Update in knowledge and information, Interest for the languages, verbal Fluency and good communicator, Facility for the writing and grammatical alteration, love to the art and to the reading, Knowledge of other languages, specially English…” The young man’s degree was in “Arabic Philology in the Autonomic University of Madrid.”  He also states very confidently that, “Considering the aforementioned facts I think you should take my application into consideration.”  I had to give him an “A” for effort!

The kids at school continue to be the most fun- especially the 3-6 year olds.  Most every morning and at the end of the day, my elementary coordinator and I make it a priority to be in the area of drop-off and pick-up.  It gives us a chance to say good morning and good bye and to acknowledge the parents.  Although our school day starts at a reasonable 8:30 am, it is obvious which students failed to get a good night’s sleep.  Sometimes that backpack just looks heavier than normal…even if it’s on wheels!  Most of the time the kids are very responsive to our salutations but there are also those with looks that say “don’t bother me; I haven’t had my hot chocolate yet!”   At the end of the day, it is easy to spot the ones who do not want to go home and those who cannot wait to jump in the arms of mom or dad. 

One morning I was doing my thing and one of the kindergartners turned to her mom and said, “That’s not Dr. Gemma that is the important man who smiles all the time.” Too bad I won’t be here long enough to see her manipulate the boys in middle and high school.

Finally, a story fitting of Dubai.  It was nearing the end of September and time to pick up the new guide for cable TV.  Remember there is no home mail delivery here.  So I went to the Mall to pick one up.  When I got to the kiosk, the gentleman informed me that the guide would be late this month.  After giving him a hard time and admiring his comebacks, I finally asked why it would be late.  His answer was “Because it was late last month.” Sounds logical to me!

Well, four weeks until Karen joins me. (But who is counting).  At least the weather will be picture perfect, and who knows, even the metro may be fully functional!

Best wishes to all, Mike

Gemma Report #7
Dubai, UAE
September 7, 2009

Well, we did it. Sunday, August 30, we were able to open our new school on time and ready to go.  The first day set the tone for the week which ended very well.  At a short general assembly we welcomed the kids and had the ninth graders stand up to be introduced as the class of 2013 and the leaders of the school.  We emphasized that the freshmen would help make many of the decisions about the type of school we will become and that they are expected to lead by example.  Since almost all of the ninth graders have siblings in the school this was a relatively easy sell.  We have been very proud of the way they have accepted the challenge and since many have been to a number of other schools over the years, they have some really good ideas.  After the assembly we had everyone gather for a picture.

We were given permission to open after a visit by a bureaucrat from the KHDA.  He said very little during his visit, but was heard saying that he was impressed with the design of the school and the quality of the workmanship.  Although I have issues with both of those categories, I was thrilled with his observations.  He did comment that we needed more shade and I completely concur.  I still have no idea of his qualifications or the criteria he was using to evaluate the school.  He took no notes nor have we received the promised “report.”

The on-time opening did exactly what we thought it would; it gave us a huge degree of credibility with the public.  Already this week we picked up another 10 students with more in the queue.  As great as this is, it actually puts more pressure on us to continue to deliver. The job this week is to put together a post-Ramadan master schedule that differentiates all the core subjects for almost all of the students in grades above grade 2.

Our student body now numbers 140.  Fifty percent are from the USA, UK and Canada.  The remainder is from over 25 other countries.  Interestingly, we have a large Russian contingency.  Although most of the students are well prepared, we have already identified a handful that may have significant learning issues or worse, they came to us with terribly inflated grade reports from schools of questionable ethics.  This really puts us in an awkward position as the kids themselves are really nice, but the adults (teachers and/or parents) have been less than candid about the students’ academic status. We have already met with one parent and have a number of more meetings this week to determine the best course of action.

We also had another episode where the papers brought to us by a gentleman calling himself the father of three Afghan students stated that the kids were 7, 5, and 3.  When I talked to the oldest child, he said they were 9, 7, and 5.  Their papers indicated that they were born in Afghanistan.  The boy said they were born in Sharjah, the Emirate next to Dubai.  The “father” turned out to be a relative, no, a friend.  We were never able to get the pieces put together and the family (?) left in a huff.

Besides a diverse student body, my staff is also well mixed.  We have 8 Americans, 6 from the UK, 4 Egyptians, 3 Filipinos, 2 Canadians and 1 each from Nepal, the Netherlands, Greece, Lebanon and Sri Lanka. 

As you know, our school is next to the Dubai Sport City Academies.  We have been advertising that our students will have direct contact with the different academies both during the school day and even in after school programs.  We met academy people last week to discuss costs.  It would be an understatement to say we were shocked.  They were looking at charging us almost $300 an hour for Manchester United coaches and about the same per hour for some facility use.  Then we ran all the numbers and it came out to more than three full time teacher salaries.  As fate would have it, the Academies are facing the same building and funding delays that threatened the school.  They were hoping to open by the end of September, but now are talking January.  Two different groups came to see me on Thursday to see if they could use our facilities for programs that they already committed to.  I listened, showed them the options and then said we would do whatever it would take to make it happen.  When they asked about costs, they were floored when I said that we would not charge them unless there was a direct cost to us.  I thought they were going to pee!  I told them that since we are both owned by the same investors (more or less) we should be treating each other as partners, not money pits.  I think I finally got through, and if everything goes well, the future should be much more amicable and very much more rewarding for our students.

We are now a couple weeks into Ramadan, and in all honesty, except for the shortened work day (for some), I have not seen much difference in peoples’ daily routines.  When the sun goes down, the malls and restaurants fill up and people of all faiths are enjoying the cooler weather.  The reality is that with 80% of the people living in Dubai are expatriates, and most of them are non-Muslims.  Since I am also quite isolated from the more Muslim parts of the city, I definitely need to get to a Muslim Iftar.  I have been invited to one by one of my new teachers so it should be interesting.

I have been reading many of the comments people are making in the States regarding Health Care Reform.  All I can say is that it must be very hard for teachers to expect students to be civil in discourse when the kids see/hear adults being excessively rude to each other.  It is one thing to disagree on policy; it is another to completely dish others simply because they have different ideas or priorities.  I am also amazed at how people use the terms socialist and fascist interchangeably.  Obviously they did not take my history class!

Let’s all work towards a more civil future marked by problem solving and a lot less yelling.  We certainly have enough problems to go around!

My best to everyone,

Mike

Gemma Report #6
Dubai, UAE
August 21, 2009

Hello everyone,

Sorry for the delay in writing, but I have had little time to do much except work, eat, and sleep over the past three weeks.  Between trying to get the construction done and teachers and staff hired and schedules ready and making sure all the textbooks, equipment,4and supplies have been ordered and checked in upon arrival, there has been little time to complain about the dust.  But then, who would be listening?

School is schedule to open August 30 with an Open House scheduled for August 27.  The odds I have been giving for those two events to happen as scheduled have been changing daily.  Between the construction workers, cleaning crews, and now the teachers, everyone is tripping over each other and in many instances, negating the work just accomplished by another.  There were high hopes a week ago, but then when I saw the campus after the weekend, it looked like we took four steps backwards.  Just this week, a new cleaning company was brought on board and things are looking up.  The bottom line is that we have scheduled the visit by the KHDA (the equivalent to the AZ dept of Ed and the Health Dept and whatever other authority they want to give themselves) for Monday the 24th.  We must get their approval to open and at this point.  The Arab phrase “inshallah,” which means “if God’s wills it” sums it up the best.

I remain optimistic and have yet refused to come up with a contingency plan.  The good thing is that Ramadan starts this weekend.  This is a month long period when devout Muslims contemplate the meaning of the Quran and honor its teachings by fasting from all drink and food during daylight hours.  When dusk falls however, the city comes alive with many staying up all night eating, smoking sheesha, and socializing or closing business deals.  The work day is reduced to no more than six hours, even for non-Muslims and schools are on reduced schedules.  This means that if we can open on time, we will have breathing room to flush out the unforeseen and we are not expected to provide any after school activities until after the Eid holiday that celebrates the end of the fast.  By the way, devout Muslims use this period for charitable exercises.  It will be interesting to see if the less affluent tend to be more generous than the wealthy as it is in the States.  Although I have lived and traveled in the Middle East before, I have never been present during Ramadan.  Check that.  I was in Lebanon, but that could hardly be described as a Muslim nation and Ramadan observances were the exception, not the rule.  One thing that scares me is that I have been told that the police are forgiving of speeding during Ramadan.  Watch out Mabel!

I was driving the other day and listening to the radio.  A lady had called in and stated she was at a gas station and no one could figure out how to open the gas tank outside door on her high end model Mercedes.  The announcer was asking for people to text in the answer.  Life can be a b_____ sometimes!

I love the way translations are formalized here.  There was a sign asking people not to litter, but it read “kindly do the mindful.”  Whatever works.

One of the neat set of hiring I have been able to do these past few weeks is for individuals who will ride the busses with the kids (read bus monitors) to and from school.  This is a government requirement and the bus companies have realized this is much better left to the schools.  In between those bus rides the individuals will work at school as office aides, classroom aides, lab aides, etc.  I could not believe how many people were asking to come on board.  We ended up hiring two males and one female.  The males are from the Philippines and Nepal, and the woman is from Sri Lanka.  The two men are typical laborers here, working and living alone to send money back to their families.  The woman is actually a certified teacher with a husband that works at a local school.  Unfortunately, due to her ethnicity, she has not been able to break into the ranks of teaching here.  There is definitely chauvinism against those who were raised and educated east of Europe and west of Australia.  Of course this is always couched with the phrase, “I know they are very intelligent, but they just cannot communicate with the kids.”  I must admit to some of this prejudice myself.  I do have an interview tomorrow with a Jordanian with a masters in history that I hope to place as my middle school history teacher.  It would be great for the students to learn world history from the Eastern perspective. 

Speaking of kids, my student body is truly a diverse group.  We will have kids from Russia, China, Turkey, Western Europe, South Africa, Kenya, India, Canada, Afghanistan, and even the good old USA.  In fact, I have two families from Scottsdale, Arizona.  Both sets of kids attended Hopi Elementary with one set just coming from All Saints in Phoenix.  It is a small world.

When one of the Russian parents arrived to register her child she stopped the offices cold.  It is not that uncommon here to have someone arrive in a chauffeured driven Porsche Cayenne, but the fact that she was a tall, slender blonde, well endowed, very attractive, and not at all hesitant to accent those realities with her revealing western style of clothing, made for a most interesting scene.  She owns her own interior design company and lives in a villa on the Palm Jumeirah, the most prestigious address in Dubai.  She also paid cash on the line.  Most of the parents are professionals who either own their own company or are officers or managers.  We just got a few from IBM who moved their regional head quarters from Shanghai to Dubai.  I am being told to expect two extremes.  Either they will be helicopter parents or we will never see them as their maids or chauffeurs will drop off and pick up the kids and even attend the school functions.

I did have one parent come in the other morning who has been awarded the complainer of the year trophy hands down.  She has been here in Dubai for six years, but made it clear from the start that NOTHING here is done right.  She lectured me on the accents of our office staff and how dare we give her the Cricket Stadium in the Dubai Sports City as the landmark for directions.  Didn’t we know that we should ALWAYS use the malls as the directional landmarks!  Her daughter (about 14 years old) finally said, “Mom, please stop complaining.”  Fortunately mom couldn’t imagine that the school could be completed on time and she chose to continue to look for her daughter’s fourth school in six years.

Another parent of ours is a Norwegian dentist.  He is quite famous around here as he is the Sheikh’s personal dentist.  Both of his parents were reputable dentists as well.  Apparently he announced a few years ago that he was going to leave Dubai.  The Sheikh persuaded him to stay by building him a complex with dental offices on the ground floor, living quarters on the first floor and private tennis courts for his two boys.  He has a private coach for his sons who is British and played college tennis in the US.  He expects the school to deliver on the custom educational time schedule so his boys can compete in world tournaments.

That’s it for now.  Hopefully my next news will be about the opening of school and teachers.

Love to all, 

Mike

Gemma Report #5
Dubai, UAE
July 31, 2009

Hello Everyone:

I just got back from my first excursion out of Dubai.  I traveled to Al Ain, an oasis about 120 KM into the Arabian Peninsula.  The town is on the Oman border, and over the years it has been laid claim to by the Emirates, Oman, and Saudi Arabia.  Since one of the current ruling families in the Emirates emanated from there, I don’t think it will be changing hands any time soon.   I was expecting a relatively small, quaint town, but it actually turned out to be quite large.  There are a couple universities (one for the guys and one for the girls), as well as the camel race track and many other amenities.  It was obvious that the term oasis is relative.  From the movies one always thinks of the small watering hole with the one well that is always guarded by the unseen Bedouin.  In reality, this oasis is very large, similar to Palm Springs.  Because of the royal connection, there have been many beautification projects and the roads are excellent.  The main reason I wanted to go was to travel to the top of Jebel Hafeet which is UAE’s second tallest mound of rocks (1,240m or 4,068 ft.).  It is supposed to have a wonderful view of the Empty Quarter, the largest sand desert in the world.  Unfortunately, I picked the windiest day since I arrived to make the trip.  That coupled with other weather realities made it impossible to see more than 300 meters.  Oh well! I could count the number of fellow travelers with one hand who maybe had the same thought as me that the higher we went the clearer it would become.  Wrong!  I retreated to the Mercure Grand Hotel situated two KM from the summit.  This is a five star hotel without the exorbitant price associated with hotels in Dubai.  I roamed the grounds and pools and went through the lobby checking things out for a possible future excursion with my lovely wife.  I really liked seeing mostly Arab guests.  Family is a big deal here.  The motif was based in the Hanging Towers of Babylon and the grounds were spectacular.  I am sure it had a great view, I just couldn’t tell.  I traveled back to Al Ain, but the wind was picking up so I decided to head back to Dubai.

The trip was a good traveling primer for me.  I got to drive my new leased vehicle, a Nissan Qashqai.  This is a small SUV named after a Persian nomadic tribe. It was designed in Britain and sold primarily in the Middle East.   It is only a four banger so not very powerful, but it did great on gas economy and the seats are quit comfortable.  I went through scores of roundabouts, almost getting broadsided after making the mistake of saying to myself that I was getting pretty good at this.  Just goes to show you that one can’t take anything for granted.  On the way back to Dubai I took a road that is on the backside of Dubai Land.  I saw the entrance to Tiger Woods’ development.  He certainly has all the sand he will need for his bunker traps!  I also saw the gate to what will be a Universal Studios.  In reality, the slump has hit Dubai hard and many of these projects are on hold.  However, one of the Dubai Sports City partners has just broken ground on another Sports City in Tunisia.  The first apartment building is already sold out.  I sure would like to know where people get their money!

Last weekend, I traveled to Bur Dubai (the older part of the city) to visit St. Mary’s Catholic Church.  The Church holds 15+ Masses over the weekend (Friday through Sunday) as well as daily Masses.  Masses are conducted in 14 different languages, including English, Arabic, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Konkani, Korean, Malayalam, Sinhalese, Syro-Malankara, Tagalog, Tamil, and Veritas.  I wish I was smart enough to even know the origins of all those languages!  It certainly underscores the eclectic nature of Dubai as well as the catholic nature of the Church.  The land for the Church was donated to the Catholics by the Sheikh back in the 1960’s.  The building is pretty nondescript and part of a larger site that includes St. Mary’s School.  The school mostly caters to the Philippino and other SE Asian families.  There is a large Mosque right next store.   As I walked through the compound, I was the only westerner.  Obviously the current Mass was not being conducted in English.  It was interesting to watch how respectful everyone was.  The atmosphere is very different from Churches in the States.  One could tell that people were there to connect to their God in a very personal way.

As you can imagine, I have been most busy with school.  Construction is now going on at breakneck speed.  The CEO tried to get me to agree to postpone the opening date.  Since the problem construction issues were all tied to money, not manpower or time, I held that we had to do everything possible to open on time.  To his credit, he has found money and rallied the troops.  We got electricity and water to the buildings yesterday and the central air is up and running.  I truly believe we will make it, though the last brick may be going into the parking lot as the first car drives in. 

In regards to staffing and equipment we are also going to be saying prayers that it will all be ready on opening day.  I still need a SS teacher for the middle school, having lost the gentleman who was coming from the States.  None of us knew that individuals over the age of 60 cannot get work visas in the UAE.  I wondered why everyone looked so young here!  Just this past week, I hired yet another first grade teacher and another administrative assistant.  (I have had to re-hire for six different positions already).  The latter is from England, and those of you who knew Pam from Chandler HS, this Karen is a dead ringer in both voice inflections and personality.

There is so much to do that the days are flying by.  I come back to the apartment drained and very much ready for my ration of one beer or glass of wine.  I really need to get going on an exercise regimen and given the fact that I have lost 10 pounds already, I might end up looking pretty buff if I do.  Who knows, I may have to get on the rugby pitch and show my stuff!  (Pitch is another word for field…I can’t believe how continental I am becoming).

I hope to get TV and internet service to the apartment this week.  That should improve my communication with the home front.  I am being told continuously that Skype is available here…just haven’t been able to get it set up yet.  Love to all,

Mike

Gemma Report #4
Dubai, UAE
July 11, 2009

Hello everyone.  Sorry of the two week lapse since my last writing.  I spent the time moving into my apartment last weekend...

I felt so accomplished arranging for the deposits for electricity, water, and air conditioning (all necessitated trips by me or courier to different parts of the city) that I made the erroneous assumption that paying the deposits and “ordering” the utilities would mean that they would be on upon arrival.  Unfortunately that was not the case and I spent most of my time last Friday and Saturday (my weekend) waiting for the gentlemen to arrive to turn on the valve or flick the switch.  I am in now, with the basics:  a blow-up bed, kitchen wares, a TV and DVD player and a camping chair.  I did spend the day at IKEA yesterday and ordered a dinning room set, couch and chairs, and a bedroom set.  Any of you who have been to IKEA know what an adventure that is.  The good part is that I spent enough money that they will deliver and put everything together next Sunday.  I was tempted to buy bookcases and other “necessities” as well, until I remembered that I have no knick-knacks to place on them- and the term “necessity” is a relative term.  I do plan on heading out later today to make yet another IKEA run to get window covers and maybe some plants to talk to.  At the moment I am waiting for another technician to come and repair the leak in the air conditioner.  It soaked one of the ceiling panels in the kitchen which crashed to the floor at bedtime last night.  Shades of CDO’s air conditioning experiences.  I will have to wait another week or two to get internet and cable TV access as the fiber infrastructure is still being worked on.

Well, I just had a technician come to the door.  He wasn’t here for the air conditioning.  This one was here to show me how to operate the electronically controlled all-in-one clothes washer/dryer.  Unfortunately, he didn’t know how to do it either.  I will have to wait for access to the internet to print off a user’s manual.  No sign yet of the air conditioning tech…  Becky, (my mom) always said that patience is a virtue.

I had two very nice dinners over the past two evenings.  On Thursday night, Mackey, the Manager of Sports Programs at Dubai Sports City invited me to Gusto’s, a Mediterranean restaurant on the Jumeirah Palm Island.  I was with three couples, all expats from the Indian sub-continent.  All have lived in a variety of places including Zimbabwe, Europe and America.  One couple has two children attending the University of Michigan.  Mackey’s two kids just went back to Zimbabwe.  We had good discussions ranging from automobiles, to hotels in London, to the inevitable discussion of the world economy. (I haven’t found anyone who really believes that we are at the bottom and ready to move towards the upside.  In fact, the general discussion is that no one has ever experienced the likes of these financial times in their professional and personal experiences.)  The dinner was very good, but not worth the price.  I actually had the bargain of the night, ordering a pint of beer for 25 AED ($7) that came with a free appetizer plate.  I ordered a Moroccan lamb dish that was very tasty.  Last night, Dave McCarthy and I met in the Jumeirah Beach area.  After we ruled out the expensive digs at the Jumeirah Marine Beach Resort and Spa, we traveled up the street a ways and ended up at a small, family owned Iranian restaurant.  We had their buffet with a good variety of dishes.  The food was very good and filling- at a very reasonable price.  As Dave said…he’ll be back.  I concur.  It was nice to visit with Dave again after a three week time lapse.  His house warming gift was a case of Heineken purchased in Abu Dhabi. ? After he gets back from the States for a short visit we may try a few day trips into the desert towns outside Dubai.

Since last Friday I have been with my own set of wheels.  The company has ordered me a new leased vehicle, the Nissan Qashqai, a smaller SUV (the size of a Honda CRV).  I have not taken possession of that vehicle yet, so I am driving a Toyota Fortrunner (4-Runner).  People drive so much here and cars take such a beating, that the average life of a vehicle is not much more than 3-4 years.  In fact, the leases come with an allowable use of 44,000-65,000 KM (27,000- 40,000 miles) per year. Compare that to12-15,000 miles per year in the US.

Driving has been an adventure. (That’s a gross understatement!!!!)  My anxiety level reaches a new high every time I get behind the wheel.  One must assume that every driver coming from behind is going to pass you, either from the right or left.  The round-a-bouts are complicated because the big trucks can only use the outside lanes and can block your exit- convoy style.  Driving etiquette is a foreign concept here and has actually been a major discussion item in the local newspapers.  The ironic thing is that the most aggressive drivers tend to get the most upset with drivers that are more conservative.  I was told a story of an expat who was cut off by an Emirate.  The expat sent a message via his finger.  The Emirate followed him home and confronted him.  The long/short of it was that the expat was deported…so the story goes.

I mentioned in an earlier writing that directions can be complicated here.  Like in Europe, there are not many, easy to use, on/off ramps on the highways.  Many times you must go beyond your destination only to make a U-turn to gain access.  If you make a mistake and miss the turn-off or U-turn, you may be traveling many kilometers to get back to where you wanted to be.  This is complicated even more due to the ubiquitous road construction.  The route that was good an hour ago may not be good for the next few weeks…your guess.  I have already experienced these realities numerous times, probably doubling the number of necessary KM driven.  When I went to the Palm Island for dinner last Thursday night, I missed the appropriate turn and ended up traveling another 20 KM to get back to where I needed to be.  I have learned to give myself plenty of travel time and ALWAYS carry a phone.

I have finally received my residence visa.  I must now go for my UAE license and get the rest of my banking set up.  I have learned that just about everything need your company’s (sponsor’s) approval.  The trick is knowing whether the required letter must be in Arabic or English and on what letterhead.  And then, there is the ever famous stamp.  I have learned that the more stamps attached to a document the more deference it gets.

I was able to spend the 4th of July at the American Business Council’s celebration at the Four Season’s Golf Club.  There were about 600 people in attendance.  I used the opportunity to set up a booth with information about the school.  It was very hot, but the beer was cold, the food was very good and the fireworks were quite spectacular.  Not exactly Iron Springs and Prescott, but a nice substitute.  Met people from all over the States.  Most were very positive about their Dubai experiences.

Well, I am trying to keep these notes to two pages, so I will save some other things to later- like the school.  Let me just add that I could have gone to Disney’s play, High School Musical 2 this weekend…but missed it.  According to my AOL page I also could have been hooked up with local Jewish singles…missed that opportunity as well.  But I did hear a bird the other morning and made visual contact with another.  I also saw camels roaming the desert range on the outskirts of Dubai.  Almost wanted to put a cowboy hat on...or should that be my khafia?

 
Love to all,
Mike

Gemma Report #3
Dubai, UAE
June 27, 2009

Hello everyone.  It is so hard to believe that week number three has already come and gone.  The days are going by so quickly.  I am pretty much in a routine that fits me well right now as there is so much to do and the weather does not lend itself to exploration.  This will change somewhat this week as I hope to move into my apartment and take possession my leased vehicle.  I haven’t driven a car for almost a month now.  I really do not miss it, but I am excited about the freedom that I will have with the new set of wheels.  I know I will spend more time talking about driving after I hit the road, but I have been taking copious notes in my mind.  Patience and forgiveness will be important virtues.  Local drivers do not have the best driving skills (gross understatement).  Add the fact that road construction can change possible routes without any warning and the challenge is on.  One observation I have already made is that I must always be ready to begin the journey going in the opposite direction or plan to overshoot the destination only to come back. Thank God that roundabouts are being replaced by clover leafs on the major roads (as in freeways).  It will be interesting!

I have had fun getting to know some of the people I work with.  I must say that I am more intrigued by the laborers than by the ‘professionals.’  The cleaning staff and the coffee servers may make as little as 2-3K AEDs or $600-850 a month.  Living is not cheap here.  All of these individuals are from foreign countries and most have left families behind so they must send money home.  This, of course, is no different than many Hispanics that come to America to take advantage of higher wages than they could earn in their home countries.  While some of these people do stay in America and eventually start a family or bring their families up later, this is not an option for foreign labor workers here.  Imported labor at all levels is controlled strictly by the government and if one’s residence visa is withdrawn, he/she is gone.  (I have made the comment many times before that, “I didn’t agree with Bush on many things, but I think a guest worker program makes the most economic and political sense to our immigration issues.”  If other countries can control immigration, we can too, although it may mean accepting things like national ID cards.  As the world gets more crowded this immigration debate will be even more important.  If you haven’t read Friedman’s Hot, Flat and Crowded yet, you really should.)

One of our coffee servers is from the Philippines.  In talking with him and showing pictures of my family, I have found out that he is from a large family himself, but he and his wife could not have children. When I told him the story of Nic, he told me that they adopted and he is working here to provide for his family back home.  He can afford to fly home only every other year as plane tickets home are not provided for this category of worker.  He is a very kind and respectful person.  Sometimes I ride to the office with him and two other office laborers.  I know that they respect my work ethic as I respect theirs.  I would love to have them all come to the school and work for us there.  Our HR recruitment director is from Australia.  Her father was a long-time school administrator but she did not follow in his footsteps.  She has been very helpful in getting our staff put together and has enjoyed learning about the issues of staffing a school.  She and her partner were thinking of going to California for holiday this summer, but I think they are looking at Turkey and Greece instead.  When they were looking at CA they were also most interested in going to Vegas.  To each his/her own.  I think they will enjoy Turkey and Greece but suggested the California Coast as a definite destination in the future.

I am putting together a great staff for the school.  So far we have American, Greek, Irish, Bolivian, Lebanese, Canadian, British, Egyptian, and Jordanian teachers.  Languages spoken by them include English, Arabic, Spanish, Greek, French, Farsi (Persian), and German. Boy, do I feel inadequate!  All have experience in International schools, mostly here in the Middle East.  Most have numerous and advanced degrees.  So far, all but two are women and most are in their late 20’s or 30’s.  There will be three of us over 50 to balance things out.  Most American and European teachers here are adventurers who love living abroad but need income.  I am fortunate to have locked in some who also know how to teach.  We will be one of the few schools in the country that will openly take students with learning disabilities.  Unfortunately this has been received by some parents that students with severe and profound issues are also being accepted.  It breaks my heart to have to tell the parents that we are not equipped to handle their child’s needs.  That type of program is non-existent here…something I will be talking to our Board of Directors about.

Speaking of the Board I serve…It is made up of five individuals, three educators and two business people.  The educators include the founder of Bradenton Prep in Florida, the Executive Director of the private school accreditation body and an education professor from St. Mary’s College in Moraga.  All of these individuals consult in countries in the Middle East, Latin America and SE Asia.  One of the members will be here this week.  The president and the CEO of Dubai Sports City also serve on the Board.  It will be interesting when educational needs butt up against fiscal realities.  We all know how that ends…even in the public sector.

Now, a bit about food.  One can get anything here.  There are small grocery stores at the bottom of most hotels/apartments as well as supermarkets in or around Malls.  I cannot think of a name brand from America that I have not seen.  In the supermarkets, one can choose from fruit and vegetables from all over the world.  This week I had potatoes from Lebanon, squash from Jordan, mushrooms from ?????, and apples from the USA.  Meat is mostly from Australia and New Zealand- and excellent.  There are stores that carry pork but I have not found them yet.  I will get adventurous and start trying fruits I do not recognize.  Since I am cooking for one, I have learned that large portions are not as necessary as I am used to having.  Four to five ounces of meat is plenty.  Restaurant meals cost about the same as in the States.  But as I mentioned last time, alcohol at a hotel or restaurant is very expensive.

Well, that’s about it for now.  I hope this finds everyone in good health and spirits.  Happy 4th of July to everyone, especially those in Iron Springs.

Mike