Emirati Men

In a previous post I shared a photo of an Emirati woman who was wearing the older tradition of a batoola.  Also while visiting the International Hunting and Equestrian Exhibition in September (at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Center), near the Emirati women doing hand crafts, were some Emirati men.  They were seated near a small dhow (to scale, just not full size).  

I liked the buoy, which was made out of a gourd:

Which was sitting on top of a palm frond fishing basket:

Also next to the dhow, an older gentleman was making a fishing net. 

And this gentleman was making rope ... what a marvelous character!

Notice that it's not just the hands working the net or the rope, but the feet playing an important part in the creation of the net and the rope.

I really enjoyed this celebration of Emirati heritage, and this particular area of the event felt like a privilege, seeing people demonstrating their skills in traditional crafts, and willing to let you take photos and videos of them.

Traditional Emirati women

While visiting the International Hunting and Equestrian Exhibition in September (at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Center), I had the opportunity to engage with a variety of people and to take some fun photos.  (http://www.adihex.net/)

In addition to an abaya (dress-like garment), hijab or shela (head covering), and sometimes a naqib (face covering/veil), some Emirati (and other Muslim) women wear a batoola or batulla. (Once in awhile you'll see a woman wearing black gloves as well, for full covering.)

At the exhibition, there were women demonstrating hand crafts that are continued to this day.

All of these women were wearing a batoola.  One of them nodded "yes" when I gestured to my camera and to her. (Always ask a woman in the Gulf Region if she is willing to have her photo taken.)  It is my understanding that they are made out of either leather or paper. And they all have a metallic finish to them. My thanks to this lovely woman for allowing me to share her image with you.

She was demonstrating the grinding of wheat on a small stone wheel with a wooden handle. While I was watching her, and taking a photo, a couple of small girls came by and she invited them to sit with her and try the grinding wheel.

(I had a video of her using the grinding wheel, but try as I might, it didn't want to load!)

An older Emirati woman (I would guess in her 80's or 90's) was sitting next to her and weaving palm fronds for baskets. She also invited one of the young girls to sit with her. It was such an endearing sight to see her have the little girl (maybe 3 or 4 years old) try some of the weaving; and even sweeter when the woman kissed the girl on her head. 

The Emirati woman's work:

Photos of the crafts and equipment. I bought a beautiful journal cover and sleeve that is dyed camel leather (very soft) combined with similar woven colorful fabric shown below.

There is a foundation that supports both the continuation of these Emirati crafts and skills, but also financially supports the women who create items for sale. 

http://www.sougha.ae/en/story.aspx  (Apologies if this is link is duplicated from a previous post some months ago ... but I do like supporting this effort.)

A boat ride to Lulu Island

Lulu Island is across from the Abu Dhabi Corniche. It has been a popular place for people to pop on over to by boat, to picnic and swim.

The island is set for development, with details shared by a popular website here in Abu Dhabi:
http://www.expatwoman.com/abudhabi/monthly_abudhabi_guide_FAQs_Lulu_Island_8969.aspx

I had the opportunity to take a boat ride (thanks Emily and Jim!) around the Corniche, with a stop and a swim at Lulu Island.

The water is warm year-round. In fact, in the summer it can be warm enough that it's not refreshing. This particular evening earlier this summer was lovely, as the water was not too warm, and the evening breeze was still cool.

Lulu Island on our right, as we head there for a swim and bbq:

The Arabian Gulf on our left ... this was a choppier (but fun!) area of the breakwater because you head out to open water from this inlet. (Otherwise, the Corniche area is very calm.)

And leaving the Marina Mall area behind us.

Palm trees have been planted on Lulu Island.

And there are some large umbrellas, as well as some traditional structures for shade and wind protection.

I had not been swimming in the Gulf waters until this day. (I had been to the beach, and waded in, but not fully immersed.) The water is very salty, so you float very easily. And the high salt content is a reason to bring goggles with me next time, as it would be easier on the eyes if you want to really swim.

We left Lulu Island after dark. We navigated our back to the marina, passing a few large boats, some of them having quite the fun with lots of people and music that carried across the water.  We came back alone the Corniche side of the island, where the city is lit up.

Coffee and tea with police officers

Okay, in all fairness, what I'm about to describe is probably not what you immediately pictured when you read the blog post title. You probably imagined me at some police station, right?

I did actually have coffee and tea with some Abu Dhabi police officers this week, and now I'll explain.

The other day, several us on the Al Rowdah management team spent the morning at a campus that we just opened. It’s located in Mohammed Bin Zayed City (near Mussafah, and not far from my home away from home in Mangrove Village).  More commonly it's referred to as "MBZ".  

Fun fact: When you see a name like Mohammed Bin Zayed, "Bin" denotes "son of". So you have a first name of Mohamed, and he is the son of Zayed.

The school itself is not new; it was recently utilized as a secondary boys’ school. But with fresh paint inside and out, new carpet, new brickwork outside, new furniture – well, it will be a lovely facility, with lots of room. There’s still plenty to do with the refurbishment, but it’s getting whipped into shape quickly.

To start with at this site, we have just one smaller group of students – Abu Dhabi Police. About 60 male students in total right now. These are officers who are improving their English language skills. They are at different levels of English proficiency.

This was the first day that the students were at this facility, so we were there to greet them, help get them introduced to the new site.  They had met their teachers the day before, at another campus site.

Why am I telling all you all of this? Well, it’s to share a couple of moments that I completely enjoyed.  Moments that illustrate Arab hospitality, and moments that reminded me of why I love working in higher education.

After playing greeter and directing the students to their classrooms, I decided to sit in on a class or two.  (Sometimes you encounter some very shy students. These young men were poised and confident and very friendly as they exchanged greetings with me.)

I chose the first class because the door was still open, so it felt less intrusive or disruptive to observe for a few minutes.  As I interacted with them about their lesson (for the time I was there, they were focused on words in English about different occupations), one of them offered me tea.  (If you’ll recall, or read, in other posts – hospitality is important here culturally, as is saying “yes” when offered a drink or snack.) This student had brought a large thermos to share, complete with cups. It was a delicious blend of tea, milk and sugar.

I got a kick that someone had brought in tea from home. I’ll have to ask the teachers if this is a regular thing for these particular students. (It is not for other classes I have observed.)  I found out that a few days later, more treats were brought in (cake I believe) by a student to celebrate the birth of his first child.

After several minutes I moved to another classroom and different level of English learners. I asked if I could sit in for a few minutes. One of the students, in the front row, saw my cup of tea. He asked where I had found that tea, and I explained it was from the Level 4 class. With an air of “well, I’ll show you good tea” he jumped up and went toward the back of the room. I had not noticed that there was a large metal food container and some thermoses on one of the desks in the back. As I made my way to sit in the back of the room and observe, he dished up a plate of food; I believe it was an Emirati breakfast dish, with Arabic bread cut into small pieces, with a sort of broth of milk and sugar.  And a generous portion, in my eyes! And then came two cups of hot beverages. Another tea with some milk and sugar, and a cup of Arabic coffee.  

An amusing moment! One of the students sitting near me said "too much coffee", as I sat with my plate of food, a cup of coffee and two cups of tea! I made a shaking movement with my hands and arms and said that yes, it was too much caffeine and sugar, and he made the shaking movement too, quietly laughing.

I felt it would be rude to not sit for awhile, eat the food, and drink at least some of my three cups of tea/coffee. What was great fun was watching the students engaged in the lessons.  This lesson was to help prepare them for the IELTS test (English language proficiency test), and the teacher was helping them understand the focus of the upcoming test.

As I left (and apologized to the teacher as I had not known my presence would end up being disruptive with the food and drink serving), the student who had given me the snack and drinks asked if it was better than Level 4’s tea.  I was diplomatic and said they were both delicious (which truthfully they were). He smiled, nodded, and seemed pleased with that answer.

I then stopped by the highest level class. In all of the classes it was a joy to watch the students who were engaged and wanting to learn the lesson. This group’s lesson was about morphology.  In their workbook they had a word and two blank lines next to that word. They had to say if the word was a noun or adjective or verb, as well as the meaning of the word.  And then they had to take that word, and say what the noun or adjective or verb would be of that word. So for example, they had the word “invent.” They had to describe what invent meant, correctly stipulate it was a verb, and then come up with the noun of invention and the adjective of inventive.

To see these young men, who are in professional careers already engaged and wanting to gain a hold of this language … and you could see their confidence build, even in just the short time that I observed, as they would understand what they had read, and got answers correct … an honor and a delight to observe.

As you might be picturing all of this in your head now, the officers are not in uniform when in class. They are in the traditional kanduras, or dishdashes.

A side note, and I share this because many of the officers greeted their friends like in this photo below.  In the Emirate culture, women will greet female friends with a handshake that is held for a length of time, and three kisses on one cheek.  Men will greet male friends with a handshake that is held for a length of time, and they will touch noses.

(Photo from internet.)  These men are in formal wear (versus the everyday all-white garb).

Yas Marina and the Yas Viceroy by night

One of Abu Dhabi's iconic buildings is the Yas Viceroy hotel (on Yas Island).

My friend Emily and her husband have invested in a yacht that they will eventually sell. For Emily's birthday, she and Jim hosted a party on the boat, which is moored at Yas Marina, and their slip is adjacent to the Yas Viceroy.

When you arrive at the marina, there are golf carts that take you to the boat's slip. On this particular day, there were just a few boats docked; over the next few months the marina gets busier, especially when people come to visit and watch the Formula 1 race at the beginning of November.  The F1 racetrack goes around the hotel and the marina. (If you google F1 and Abu Dhabi, different images and maps will pop up about the race and the track, if you are interested in seeing more.)

The Yas Viceroy is unique in its architecture.  By day:

(my photo above, from Jim and Emily's boat slip)

(photos from internet above)

And at night, the skin of outer skin of the hotel lights up. The colors change, with white, blue, purple ... and sometimes the lights are static, and other times they fluctuate and look like they are gently waving across the hotel.

I captured some photos and video, to show you what it looks like.

Sharing piece of Abu Dhabi iconic architecture, and a touch of fun on a weekend afternoon/evening.

Bonus photo: sunset earlier that evening ...