Goodbye, Dubai...

The Emirates Towers on a beautiful Dubai morning... my last day at the office.

The time for goodbyes in Dubai has already come and gone... I'm writing from my kitchen table at home in Canada as the snow swirls around the windows outside... a bit of a deja vu from a similar blog post two years ago after my return from Tanzania.

With Megan and Kelly at Dubai Rugby Sevens.

My last week and a half in Dubai went by in a whirlwind... complete with a weekend visit to the Dubai Rugby Sevens tournament, a handful of goodbye dinners, leaving parties, and one classic "Friday brunch". I witnessed my first sandstorm, which cut down visibility throughout the city for a full day. I finally got my finger x-rayed after Kelly insisted that I visit an orthopedic surgeon at the Trauma Centre and confirmed that I had broken my baby finger playing frisbee in early November (oops!)... thankfully, it's healing well on its own, albeit a little crookedly.

Team Kenya at Rugby Sevens.

The Flying Carpets ultimate frisbee team played in the championships during my final week in the city... we came in a respectable second place after a few intense playoff games. A very fun season and wonderful to be able to wrap up the end of it with the team.

The Flying Carpets... we're number 2!!

Thanks to a care package sent from home, I was able to celebrate Sinter Klaas (Dutch Christmas) with Margaret and Kelly... getting into the festive spirit!

Sinter Klaas treats!

I was thrilled to be able to present a master draft of our business plan to the client on the last day of my work term... such perfect timing. The report looked beautiful! Overall, I learned more than I thought I would during this internship. Working for a company with projects located all over the globe, I felt lucky to have been able to lead a Dubai-focused project during my time in Dubai (as opposed to doing work remotely for a distant project), allowing me to totally immerse myself in the local market and gain a strong understanding of the successes and challenges of healthcare provision in the Emirate. This role has prepared me very well for my next endeavour, working for Focus Business Consulting (http://www.thinkfbc.com/) at the DeGroote School of Business.

With the teachers at my goodbye Friday brunch.

The people who I met during my time in Dubai really made the experience extraordinary for me. I really appreciated the friendship and kindness they offered me, and the conversations and laughter we shared. A big thank you to all those who contributed to making Dubai a second home for me!!

.

On my way back to Toronto, I extended my layover in Istanbul to do a bit of sightseeing. Kelly accompanied me on the trip, which was great... it's always more fun to travel with a friend! Istanbul is a wonderful city... so interesting to see how it has been shaped by its complicated history. Unfortunately, we didn't have the best weather over the weekend... luckily, I had prepared by purchasing a winter jacket while I was still in Dubai (I know, not a typical desert purchase). We slogged through driving rain and wind to see as much of the city as we could (pictures below) before my flight departed to Toronto, and enjoyed breaks from the elements next to open fires in tiny European cafes. Delicious!

.

So this is the end of my big Middle Eastern adventure. Thanks to all for your support and kind words... they really kept me going. I look forward to sharing with you again, should I come across another opportunity to explore this big world we live in!

View of the Blue Mosque from the rooftop terrace of our hostel.


A charming little street at the entrance to the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul.


I love these lanterns... warm lights at the Grand Bazaar.


Inside of the Hagia Sofia (once a church, now a mosque), in Istanbul.


With Kelly in front of the Blue Mosque on a rainy afternoon in Istanbul.

Dubai World Debt Debacle

Dubai has been all over the news this past week due to the Dubai World $60 billion debt debacle… thankfully, fears seem to have eased a bit after a report from Dubai World that it had begun ‘constructive’ discussions with its creditors.

A couple quick notes on the issue:

1) Contrary to popular belief, I did not ‘break’ my new city. I don’t think so, anyways.
2) I still have a job, and an office.
3) There hasn’t been a mass exodus of ex-pat workers as a result of this recent development. The exodus has already happened… while organizations may be extra-cautious over the next few months, any exodus would probably be more of a trickle over a period of several months.

For those interested, this is the best article I’ve come across… it’s a very easy read and gives good background information

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/crash-and-recovery/dubais-big-pyramid-scheme-grounded-by-debt-load/article1382011/

According to local reports, the city will rebound! Time will tell...

Eid long weekend in Jordan

Floating effortlessly in the Dead Sea.

.

Kelly and I flew out of Dubai last Thursday morning to spend the Eid long weekend in Jordan. Jordan is sandwiched between Israel, Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia, and is home to some of the kindest people I’ve ever met.

We flew into the capital city of Amman, and grabbed a taxi from the airport to drive us a couple hours south to Petra, with a scheduled stop at the Dead Sea. There’s no way to go to Jordan and not experience the Dead Sea... it’s very unique. We enjoyed a quick hour and a half floating in the salty water (nine times as salty as the ocean!), at the lowest point on earth... even managed to find some genuine Dead Sea mud and had a makeshift spa session on the beach.

Dead Sea 'spa'... it really worked!

From the Dead Sea, we drove through a beautiful mountain range on our way to Petra. Our taxi driver turned tour guide, telling us all about the history of the area, stopping to buy us fresh tomatoes on the side of the road (“there are too many tomatoes in this country” according to him), and pointing out the most ideal vantage points for photos. We arrived in Petra as the sun was setting over the hills, and got ready for a big day of hiking.

Even camels get thirsty sometimes...

On our way up to the High Place of Sacrifice in Petra.

Petra is an ancient city (some areas dating back to 7000 BC) carved into the rose-red mountains. To get to the city, visitors walk along a path which winds through the Siq, an incredible natural rift in the rock that is only three metres wide, at times. As you approach the end of the Siq, the morning sunlight glows off the Treasury, an incredible pillared monument that sets the stage for the rest of the day. We hiked all the way up to the High Place of Sacrifice, and scrambled back down along a narrow cliff-side path (terrifying for me at times, with my fear of heights). After taking lunch in a cave tomb, we hiked up again to visit the Monastery, which we thought was even more spectacular than the Treasury. We enjoyed tea with the Bedouins after being caught in a downpour, and soothed our aching muscles with traditional Jordanian food over dinner.

Another sweaty-palmed moment for me - reflecting over mountain ranges from the "end of the world" lookout.

The spectacular Monastery, right before the rain clouds opened up.

Looking out from inside a tomb in Petra.

Re-visiting the Treasury on our way home in the late afternoon sun.

The next morning, we left on an early bus travelling to Wadi Rum, the desert and mountain landscape in which “Lawrence of Arabia” was filmed. We had pre-arranged a Jeep tour through the park, and enjoyed the company of three other Canadians as we bumped through the desert with our Bedouin guide. Though the park is quite famous for having been a temporary home of T.E. Lawrence (a British army man who played a role in the Arab Revolt and wrote “The Seven Pillars of Wisdom”, chronicling his time in the area), our guide was quick to correct Lonely Planet’s ‘facts’ on the matter... rolling his eyes at the misprinted maps and ‘made-up’ names for various sites.

Kelly and I on the dunes in Wadi Rum.

.

With very sore legs from our Petra hiking adventure, we were a bit cautious about what rock formations we’d climb up on... however, in the spirit of doing one thing a day that scares you, I couldn’t say no to a scramble up a nearly-vertical rock face (at least it felt that way) and a tip-toe out onto the 35 metre high Burdah rock bridge. Though that might sound very heroic, I have to be honest... there is no way I would have made it up (or down) without our lovely Bedouin guide, whose massive hand pulled me all the way up to the top and braced me on the way back down. My hands are getting sweaty even as I type this. It was high.

One of the scariest moments of my life. Perched on top of a VERY high natural rock bridge, knees knocking, nervous giggling, palms sweating. I'm third from the left, next to our Bedouin guide whose hand I probably broke by squeezing it on the way up and the way down.

The descent from the rock bridge, down a sheer boulder face. Thank goodness for the Bedouin guide, who kept insisting that I'd feel better if I stood up straight. I disagreed.

We spent the night in the desert at a Bedouin camp, where we were serenaded with traditional music in a smoke-filled tent, crowded around the fire for warmth. It gets COLD in the desert at night... and I did not pack well for cold weather!

After we woke up with the sun in Wadi Rum, Kelly and I high-tailed it north in a cab to Amman, via Aqaba (a resort-y town). We managed to dump our bags at a backpacker’s hostel for a couple hours to explore the city before boarding our plane back to Dubai. Overall, a wonderful weekend away!

On an unrelated note: some of you saw a comment about my broken finger... long story short, I banged it pretty hard in a Frisbee game at the beginning of November, and never had it looked at. A month later, Kelly insisted that it was broken and had me in to the Trauma Centre last night to have it treated. The x-ray confirmed the break, but apparently it’s healing well so it didn’t need to be reset. The deformity is just due to swelling, which should resolve itself soon! Thanks for your well wishes!