Sunday, December 31, 2006

The Muslim World

Happy New Year!

From the Seattle PI, this is a well-written article about the need for compassion and tolerance for those of different faiths. I recently had a chance to learn a little bit about the Muslim faith when visiting a friend in Dubai, UAE, my first time in the Middle East. It made me realize that our society has a lot of misperceptions and misunderstandings about this part of the world and the people there. Not every place in the Middle East is dangerous and not everyone who is Muslim is a terrorist. We are quick to judgement and fear to make these kind of damaging associations. Extreme religious fever of any kind can be dangerous, and does not represent the vast majority. As a global village we are in need of more tolerance and understanding. I hope that this article can help people to realize that the common thread for many people of different faiths is for peace, love and compassion.

---------------------------------------------------------------
> I didn't find 'them' in Muslim world

> Muslims are savages, a reader told me. So I flew overseas to
> part of the Muslim world to see for myself. What I
> saw is something that can help people, in Seattle and
> beyond, grapple with the kinds of religious flare-ups that popped up
> so often in 2006.
>
* Read the full article at: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/jamieson/297855_robert30.html

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Burj Al Arab Hotel, Dubai

Burj Al Arab

This lavish luxury hotel of 202 suites is an architectural marval, designed to resemble the sail of a dhow, a type of Arabian vessel. It opened in Dec '99 as the World Tallest Hotel (at 321 meters or 1053 ft) and has been a controversial project. It includes 3 restaurants, an enormous atrium, a helicopter landing pad and gold-plated furniture with rooms starting at $900 USD. 22-carrat gold leaf and marble are also part of its construction. It also sits on its own artificial island. Just to go inside and take a tour is 40 Euros (about $50 bucks). I'll see the outside and save my money on a desert tour and camel ride instead.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burj_al-Arab

In Dubai

I am currently in Dubai, UAE in the middle east, at my friend Renee's Private International American school. I arrived at 2am this morning with no problems, flying from Skopje with a stopover in Istanbul. I'm at the school library and they are playing "The Nutcracker" music. This is such a strange and wonderful place, Dubai is a modern, multi-cultural, unique city with massive growth, commercialism, and attracts a lot of international business. It has amazing buildings, signs in Arabic and English as well as different ethnicities, with people in western dress intermingled with men wearing white robes with head coverings and sandals. It is "cold" at 60 degrees and winter time. I can't imagine how hot and humid it is in the summer!

I haven't seen much of the city yet, but I will in the next 3 days. Renee has been living and working here for the last 9 years and says there has been a lot of recent growth. More than 70% of the population is made up of foreigners and ex-pats (although the number of Americans is about 1% of that).

Renne's apartment is beautiful, right in the center of downtown and has a swimming pool. I have discovered that there is Starbucks here (as well as Seattle's Best!) and I can't wait to eat some Middle Eastern Food.

After school today Renne will take me around and give me a tour. I'm especially looking forward to seeing the world-renown "Burj Al Arab" luxury hotel that is shaped like a billowing sail and is an amazing architectural accomplishment. Also I'm hoping to take a desert tour which will include a 4 X 4 dune drive and a camel ride!

On Saturday the 23rd I fly to Tanzania and take a 1 day safari tour of Ngorongoro Crater and Wildlife Park (with views of Mt. Kilimanjaro. I'll be camping out on Christmas Eve and the next day fly to Dar es Salaam to meet my friend Maki with two of her Japanese friends. We will rent a car (safer than the bus) and go to a small village near Songea, passing thru Mikumi National Park to get there. We will also spend a few days visiting the touristy island of Zanzibar.

I arrive in Seattle on Jan 8th and will be in town until Jan 17th, with my sister's wedding on the 14th. It will be an exciting and busy time.

I don't expect to have internet access while I'm in Tanzania and don't know when I'll be back online.

I wish you all a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Chreken Bozheek and Happy New Year!

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

Another Great Travel Opportunity

January 14th is my sister Heidi's wedding to my future brother-in-law Rick. I am excited to be the maid of honor. So, naturally, I have been planning a trip back to Seattle at that time.

Then, about two months ago, my friend Maki (from Japan & came to visit me with my sister last Spring) called me up and told me she is going to Tanzania in December with some friends and would I like to come along?

Would I?

This is a dream come true for many reasons. Not only have I never been to Africa, but it is the last of the 7 continents for me to visit! I am incredibly grateful and blessed to have been so fortunate with opportunities to travel the world, it has always been a lifelong goal to visit all 7 continents. It's also been a dream of mine to see Mt. Kilimanjaro. I also plan to take a safari of the Ngorongoro crater (a World Heritage site), where I'll get to see all the typical wildlife in their natural state.

A couple of weeks later, while investigating airfair costs and itineraries I happened to notice that many European flights to Tanzania have a stopover in Dubai, United Arab Emirates in the middle east.

...and it just so happens that I have a friend Renee (an American ex-pat) who lives there, teaching at a highschool.

So, now that I have managed my itinerary, budget and flight details I can announce my next adventure!

Starting Dec 19th I leave Macedonia for Dubai, spend 3 days there, then fly to Tanzania, take a 1 day camping tour of Ngorongoro, fly to Dar es Salaam on Christmas day, meet Maki and her friends, travel to another safari site, visit a village school and Zanzibar island with a total of 2 weeks in Tanzania. On Jan 7th I fly to Seattle, the wedding is on the 14th and I return to Macedonia on the 18th after 10 days home.

It's going to be a real whirlwind experience I have no doubt.

So let the adventure begin!

Sunday, December 03, 2006

Kitten Caboodle!

I don't remember if I said this or not, but my kitten Miloyka was adopted by the PCV couple who took care of her while I was on med evac status this summer. They fell in love with her and asked if they could keep her. It was a tough decision but I decided to let them keep her. Besides, I have a cat back in America anyways. That was back in August. So once again I was living solo without a "roommate" this fall.

But I have a soft spot in my heart for animals and Macedonia has plenty of stray animals to go around. So, about a month ago after returning from a weekend in Skopje I discovered a little kitten crying in the hallway of my apartment building. This is not the first time that this is happened, so I did what I normally do and gave it a bowl of milk. This kitten didn't act afraid of me, as most other stray animals do. She was very affectionate and purring all over the place and...

Well. You know the rest. I now have another kitten as a "roommate".

Her name is Mila, which means "dear" in Macedonian. Don't be fooled by her adorable looks, she really is quite a rascal and gets into more trouble than Miloyka did.

However, it is nice to have some company around the apartment, especially now that winter is here and it gets pretty cold at night, so I have something warm and fuzzy to snuggle with now.

Mila Posted by Picasa


Mila, the "Angel" Posted by Picasa


The Rascal Posted by Picasa


Mila's favorite place Posted by Picasa

Friday, December 01, 2006

Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving Posted by Picasa


Thanksgiving dinner is a big celebration in Macedonia where all PC volunteers and the new trainees attend along with their host family members. We must have had about 300 people there. Turkeys are ordered, everyone brings food, and an entertaining program follows dinner. This year, due to the large size of attendees, was held at a Veles hotel instead of at a local restaurant. I believe 17 turkeys were consumed. I made a Jello salad topped with whipped cream (I had brought Jello back with me when I was in the states this summer). The Macedonians didn’t know what it was and asked me if it was sweet or salty. They must have liked it because it was all eaten up. In fact, all the food was consumed. Dinner was served buffet style. I made sure that I got a little turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie and desert. It was delicious! After dinner all the training groups put on skits or songs, one group even did a fashion show of traditional Thanksgiving dress including an American Indian and a Puritan Pilgrim. It was really funny! That weekend Shauna and I went to visit our host families. One sunny afternoon we got together with our host family children and went on a walk in the nearby hills.

The Turkey Posted by Picasa


The Dinner Dash Posted by Picasa


The Dinner Posted by Picasa


Yum! Posted by Picasa


Host Family Members Posted by Picasa