It's a Small World...

A very uneventful week at work last week, but the business case draft has come together (for the most part). We’ve yet to present to the client, and I’ve yet to get heavy feedback from my boss, but I think we’re headed in the right direction. I had a couple more meetings with hospital directors as well... it’s been very convenient to ‘pose’ as a student (not a huge stretch for me) in order to get the inside track on what’s really going on in Dubai healthcare. It’s so interesting to be here on the ground as all the systems become established in this city... though it sometimes seems as though I’m witnessing many of the initial stumbles (i.e. the mandatory health insurance scheme that was to be rolled out in the beginning of 2009, but has been postponed indefinitely so as not to give struggling employers any more reasons to lay off their expat workers), but I’m sure the system will come together more and more over the next few years.

Skyscrapers on Sheikh Zayed Road, as seen from the front doors of my office tower.

Fairly quiet weeknights as well last week… a handful of Frisbee injuries at our game on Monday (I managed to get away with only a goose egg and a huge bruise to follow… others were bleeding & dislocated), and a Thai dinner to celebrate the birthday of one of the nurses.

The historically restored neighbourhood of Bastikiya, close to the Dubai Creek.

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The weekend arrived, and I set out to sample the newest thing in Dubai transportation – the Metro (the subway… but above ground on raised tracks). The Metro opened the day before my arrival – 09/09/09 – and has created quite a stir in the city. I travelled all the way out to the Mall of the Emirates to meet up with the teachers, saving myself a bundle in taxi fares and feeling quite triumphant about conquering a new part of Dubai (although, truth be told, I arrived 45 minutes late… but that was the partly the fault of taxi traffic en route to the Metro station!). I took the Metro again later in the weekend (two times, officially an expert) and had to laugh at the fact that 50% of the passengers were taking photos and videoing the entirety of their public transit trip out the window, even though it was dark outside.

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Sneaky picture taken on the Metro...

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I spent Thursday night with Sharon and the teachers at a ‘building party’ where I was introduced as an MBA student from McMaster, and found that I shared a handful of close mutual friends with another party attendee… when we relocated to a nearby hotel to enjoy some expat-friendly live music, I ran into an old classmate from my undergraduate at Western. It’s a very small world!

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Enjoying live music with two "friends of friends"... Britt and Sharon.

'The Lost Chambers' at the Atlantis resort on the Palm Jumeirah.

I tagged along with the teachers once again on Saturday on a day trip to the Atlantis resort at the tip of the Palm Jumeirah (http://www.palmjumeirah.ae/), where we spent the day in the sun at the “Aquaventure” water park. The park itself is beautiful and huge, which seems to be the status quo for any Dubai project… it includes slides that zip through shark tank aquariums, a tidal wave section of the lazy river, and the “Leap of Faith” slide (pictured below), which also goes through the aquarium at about 100km an hour – not exactly the ideal speed for checking out the fish! Thankfully, these lovely teachers have shared their “Entertainer” discount books with me, which entitles the bearer to a 2-for-1 deal on almost everything in this city. It certainly makes the city a little more accessible for a student like me!

The "Leap of Faith" at Aquaventure, at the Atlantis on the Palm Jumeirah. This (doctored) photo has been borrowed from a promotional website... I don't remember the sharks looking quite so large...

Started another new week at the office yesterday… excited to have a couple new projects on my plate, details to follow.

A couple ‘Dubai-isms’ to sign off with:

- On the way back from Abu Dhabi a couple weeks ago, I glanced at the speedometer and saw that we were cruising along at a comfortable 160 km/h. Every minute or so, we had to move out of the passing lane to let other cars get past us – they must have been going upwards of 180 km/hr. The WHO recently released a report stating that UAE road users are seven times more likely to be killed than those in the UK. I’m not surprised. Combine the speed with the fact that many drivers don’t wear seat belts – believing that if it’s their time to go, God will take them… it’s out of their hands.

- On the same note, taxi drivers are maniacs here. Seriously. Though they have a built in sensor on the meter which informs them that they are speeding, they seem to pay it no mind. Sometimes I try to explain to them the logic of going the speed limit to yield a higher fare at the end of the trip… most of the time I just buckle up and focus on the money I’m saving.

- When I arrived, there was a bottle of shampoo in my apartment designed to “prevent Hairfall”. I didn’t know what “Hairfall” was. Now I do. I’m losing fistfuls of hair every day due to the hard water here… so along with my greying locks, I may come home balding as well.

- A good segueway into the great water debate… I’m hugely anti-bottled water/pro-tap water by nature, and have brought that mentality here as well. I don’t like the concept of paying hefty bills for drinking water, and I just have a ton of confidence in water treatment systems. Apparently that may be a mistake. I’ve been warned that the excessive amount of construction, combined with uncleaned holding tanks and sketchy quality standards means that I may be slowly killing myself by drinking from the tap… at best, that kidney stones will soon be a part of my life. I’m almost halfway through my residency here and I haven’t died yet… so I find myself politely ignoring everyone’s kind advice (but please provide more if you have better insight into the situation than I do!). Please send flowers if this kidney stone issue ends up as my reality.

Until next week…

Starting a new week at a movie under the stars - with Kelly and my roommate, Margaret.