Dhow sailboat race -- watching the boats sail

In my previous post, I showed preparations for a dhow sailboat race on the Corniche.

I had not expected to be able to watch the preparations for sailing. I had kind of expected to get there and see a sailboat race right away. It was a fun treat to watch how they get the boats ready.

The boats are pulled to the starting "line" of the race by the small power boats. They take 1 to 3 at a time.  Here are three boats; the one in the middle (facing toward the left and the shore) is actually being pulled by another power boat. It looks like a tangled mess here, and even as I watched I was in awe that there never was a tangle of rope lines.

Here they are being pulled out:

And the race begins. The wind was not strong, but enough to fill the sails. I think it's quite a beautiful sight. Most sailboats are; these have loads of character.

And some live action:

Again, in this area of the Breakwater, the wind is mellow. Once they go further past, they pick up the wind that comes in from the Gulf, where the wind isn't blocked by the Breakwater and by the little peninsula that Heritage Village sits upon.

Dhow sailboat race -- watching the boats be prepared

There was a dhow sailboat race along the Corniche. They are a beautiful site; different than the sailboats we know in California. And the contrast to the modern skyline is striking.

There was a good view from Heritage Village, which faces the city.

Right along the beach at Heritage Village is where the boats were tied up, being prepared for the race. All ages of men prepare the boats, and then sail the boats.

I've been fortunate to sail on some of Orange Coast College's boats. These sailboats in this blog post are all manual -- no engines. And the rough-hewn timber and sails -- it was fun to see them literally put it all together.  Here are some photos of crews putting up main sails.

Part of the dress for working on these sailboats are lightweight long pieces of fabric, wrapped around their waist:

I found myself wondering if this man has been working on boats since a child; he was simply a wonderful character to observe:

You can hear small waves lapping on the shore.
And you can hear some singing in the background. As part of this sailboat race, there were Emirati men singing and performing the UAE's national dance ... that is in a different post.

The sailboats are taken out to the starting point of the race by small power boats. Hospitality abounds even here. I wasn't the only person taking photos. Another woman was standing near me as her husband was down the shore taking photos. The gentleman in the orange shirt in the photo below, at one point came to shore with water and juice packs for the other woman and myself. It was a warm day, and the refreshment was very welcome. I thought it was an incredibly kind gesture.

Next post, the boats sail by ...

Ramadan

I've been aware of Ramadan in my life, but until now I did not know much about it, or really have any experience with it.

There are several websites that have information about Ramadan, including this one:
http://www.whatisramadan.com/   A little excerpt:

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. It is a time of fasting for the Islamic people. Each day during the month, Muslims all over the world abstain from eating, drinking, smoking, as well as participating in anything that is ill-natured or excessive; from dawn until the sun sets. Fasting is intended to educate the Muslim in spirituality, humility and patience ... Fasting is one of the Five Pillars of the Islam religion, and one of the main types of Islamic worship. Restraint from every day enjoyment and curbing wicked intentions and cravings are considered as an act of compliance and obedience to God, as well as amends for sins, faults, and mistakes.

I still cannot say I have experienced Ramadan, as I did not fast from sun up to sun down for 30 days, or stay up some nights praying throughout. Nor did I partake in Iftar -- large meals that break the fast in the evening and bring family and friends together. There are changes you make to your daily life, however, when you live in a Muslim country that practices Ramadan. (And I should find out if "practices" is the correct word ... )

The exact date of Ramadan is determined 1-2 days beforehand, as it is determined by a visual moon sighting. It is interesting coming from a country where holidays are set far in advance, and then to be in another country where you don't always know until what feels like the last minute, comparatively. Does make travel planning tricky, if not risky, as the date you thought a holiday might be, actually ends up being a day earlier or later. It's all part of the experience!

The work schedule is shortened during Ramadan. This has to do with accommodating the large breakfasts and the even larger evening meals, which can take hours to prepare. And to accommodate the changes in energy when people are not eating or drinking (anything at all) for 15 or 16 hours, depending on the sunrise and the sunset. And there are some nights where people are praying all night.  At my work, you had a choice of working 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. or 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. 

The news warns you about driving just before Iftar; to keep in mind that there are folks on the road who are on their way to a meal, who haven't eaten or even had water for over 12 hours and might also be less alert due to less sleep.

There are maybe a handful of restaurants that serve food during the day, and those tend to be take-away (take-out, in the U.S.). I did hear about 2 or 3 restaurants where you could actually eat your meal during the day.

At work, out of respect, several of us covered the windows in our doors with paper. Non-Muslims were able to eat and drink, if done discretely and out of sight. Our cafeteria was closed for Ramadan (employees either take time off, or work at another site during evening hours), so I had stocked up on some bottles of water and then brought in a sandwich each day. I do know of at least one work site that did not allow any food or drink to be consumed, even in private. 

While some stores in the malls were open during the day, many were not. Grocery stores seemed to be open for the most part; I imagine that with the large evening meals, that is critical for everyone.

I took advantage of the shorter hours by using our villa compound's gym more. No excuse, when you are getting off work and have a few extra hours in the afternoon. Even then, I carried my water bottle discretely, and if someone else was working out then I drank my water more discretely too (when a female is working out, you don't know if they are an Expat or not, and out of courtesy and respect I'd rather simply not offend if they are Muslim).

Main roads are lit with decor; some signs say Ramadan Kareem, others are different shapes such as a crescent moon.  Many of the high rise buildings use more colors than usual. (So many of the high rises add lighting to the buildings, whether as an outline of the building or along the sides.) For example, the Etihad Towers by the Corniche usually have a blue neon outline, but for Ramadan the towers had stretches of primary colors.  And the Capital Gate building never fails to catch your attention; it has colors going up in waves on any given evening, but usually in one or two colors. For Ramadan and Eid Al Fitr, there were multiple colors of blue, red, green, purple.

Etihad Towers by day:


Capital Gate building by day (leans further than the tower in Pisa):


(Both images retrieved from internet when I Googled them. FYI -- while the color of the water is spot-on, the greenery really is not. But the point of the photo is the building!)

Ramadan is followed by a holiday called Eid Al Fitr, which results in celebrations, a long weekend for most organizations, and lots of sales in the malls. It is traditional to provide gifts to family and friends (chocolates are popular, I've heard).

A lot of Abu Dhabi residents escape the heat in the summer, so many people were gone during Ramadan. On the flip side, Eid Al Fitr brings in tourists from nearby countries to Abu Dhabi and Dubai, and there are many travel packages advertised for Ramadan and Eid.

Our HR office sent out an email giving Expats helpful hints about Ramadan, many of which came from the source that an article in Gulf News printed:
http://gulfnews.com/in-focus/ramadan/ramadan-etiquette-for-expats-in-uae-1.1207702

It includes basic information, as well as do's and don'ts that one should be aware of. 

Thought you might enjoy learning a bit more about living in the Middle East / Gulf Region.

"Would you like a little gold with your coffee?"

When I first wrote about the Emirates Palace (February 1, 2013), I titled the post "all that glitters is gold". I shared that throughout the building are gold tones and colors. Mosaics are made up of shiny gold-colored tiles, the fabrics and door etchings and any number of details are gold in color. And in some areas the ceilings are not just painted in a gold color, they actually have gold flake on them.

Within the Emirates Palace there is a hotel, theatre, meeting rooms, and several restaurants. There is also a cafe and bar area, where you can select from a variety of coffees and champagnes. You sit on comfy couches with a coffee table in between. It's an open-air cafe design within a large area of the Palace, and there was a pianist nearby.

A signature drink at the Emirates Palace is their cappuccino ... with gold flakes on top.

When spending the day with some professional colleagues in June, one of their must-see stops was of course the Emirates Palace. As we were all curious about this drink with gold on top, a couple of us decided to indulge and try it.

I could not get the perfect photo. The lighting is mellow in the room, and the photo above is without flash, but I want you to see the presentation of the tray. The small glass is water, you get a macaroon cookie (popular in the UAE) and a date (a staple in the UAE), and the cappuccino with a beautiful design done with the milk and some chocolate. And the 'final touch' of the gold flakes.

Using flash in the photo below, the gold is highlighted. 

When you drink it, you can feel the light texture of the gold flakes on your tongue, but there is no discernible taste to the gold. The cappuccino itself was very good, making the drink itself enjoyable. As far as drinking gold, you embrace the moment of extravagance and uniqueness! I can say it was much fun to have tried it.

UAE Traditional Dance; National Anthem

Events in the UAE can be full of, what we might call in the States, pomp and circumstance. With that, many events include a performance of the UAE traditional dance. This is performed by Emirati men. The dance itself is mellow. Even a bit zen to observe. The dance includes singing, almost a chanting.

You can google this on your own and find some videos from different events.  Some sites include information about the dance, and the history behind it. Instead of copying and pasting a bunch of text, here are some links about the history of this dance if you are interested in some details:
http://www.majddubai.com/english/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=149&Itemid=157

http://gulfnews.com/music-and-dance-feature-in-heritage-1.592716

While I was at a dhow sailboat race in May, there was a group of men performing this dance. This was the first time I had personally seen it with drummers in the middle, which definitely added to the festivity. (This was at Heritage Village, which has a large viewing platform. On the upper platform they set up very nice chairs, and VIPs sit up there.)

Here are some glimpses of the men and their dance. (In the first photo, you can see the platform/viewing area with the special seating in the background.)

Some live action ... the numbers of participants and the formality or informality of the dance and song seems to vary from event to event.

Since then, I found some videos online.

This first link is a bit of a UAE promotional video. A large group of men doing the dance and singing. This is a faster paced one. And the young men in this video are doing various quick moves with fake guns ... all part of the traditions and history.  Some of the video shows a camel race, which is a kick. (Still on my UAE bucket list, to go see.) The little boxes on the camels' backs are robot jockeys. (The robots are a newer thing here ...)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHN7RT8Ndzc

This is a smaller group, just the dancer/singers; I believe this was part of a welcome for a cruise ship that docked.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLJW16aSd5A

While I'm going a bit crazy with videos here, I found a couple of others that I think are really cool.  There is one that I have seen played before several events at the Institute of Applied Technology. It's a video where the sound is the UAE national anthem, and video of people and sites that represent the UAE very nice. If you stop at the end of the video (and don't wait through the end credits that are in Arabic), it's about 4 minutes. I think it's pretty cool.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fpj1248svE

Now, one more that I found, but it's 26 minutes long, so you may or may not want to invest the time ... if you do, it talks about all of the United Arab Emirates, with some great information and beautiful video of the entire country.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0d3UqSVRbQ

Hope you've enjoyed the cultural diversion :-)