Archives for May 2011

“Hold the paddle like this. It will all come naturally.”

If you live in the UAE and are interested in the outdoors, for the most part, you’re out of luck. Fortunately, there’s Noukhada Adventure Company. Noukhada offers a variety of adventures from biking to sailing, but they are most popular for kayaking trips in the mangroves. The employees and guides are fun and friendly and clearly enjoy their job.

Realizing it had been far too long since my last trip (October 2009), I set up a tour for this past weekend. (For those living in UAE, there’s a coupon in the Abu Dhabi Entertainment Book making the trip only 150AED for two!)

Six of us set out in three double kayaks, plus our guide and a non-swimming businessman. Like before, the water was calm making the paddling pretty easy (unless you’re the businessman, he had to be towed…the entire two hours). We were glad to have a 7:30am start considering the sun was already heating up.

We stopped for a little swim break.

Mike made friends and then enemies with a little blue crab who took a snap at him.

Screen shot from Allan’s Facebook. / See the crab on the very edge?

At one point the waterway gets quite small. Hopefully I didn’t do too much damage to the mangroves smacking my paddle at them.

Photo by Sarah.

Unfortunately, a lot has changed since my first kayak trip in the mangroves. Back then, a resort was scheduled to be built. Now, it’s about halfway complete. It’s so sad to see a once protected area developed. But don’t worry, they are naming the resort after the mangroves so it’s pretty much the same thing.

Photo by Sarah.

And did you know that mangroves are like mini desalination plants? They are also the habitat for many fish and crab species. Abu Dhabi has a plan to protect the mangroves, but we’ll see.

Photo by Sarah.

xo, jill

It’s official.

If there’s one thing my school likes more than having parties, it’s giving awards. Nearly everyday someone is presented an award for something or other. The week before last, it was me!

I was the recipient of April’s Talented Teacher Award. In order to win teachers must fulfill all of their teacherly duties. Duties singled out for this award include: arriving to school on time, staying the full school day, arranging students in straight lines for morning assembly, and showing up for work every day for a full month.

I was asked to submit a photo for the hall display. Unfortunately, my awesome photo from Kids Park (a school trip!) was rejected by the administration. Instead they chose a boring one (but didn’t change the caption, ha!). What can you do?

You love the poinsettias, don’t you?

xo, jill

Oh boy.

Horrible news broke this past week. An Indian man either jumped or fell from the 147th floor of the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building. He landed on a balcony of the 124th floor (which is the tourist attraction, At The Top). What exactly happened is murky.

Original news stories declared the incident a suicide. He jumped. This is the position of the Dubai police.

Later reports declared the incident an accident. He fell. This is the position of the Indian Consulate.

All of the news articles claim differing information on even the most basic facts (such as the man’s age, the floor he landed on, his occupation), but most seem to take the suicide position at this point. Apparently the man was mourning the death of his brother.

Honestly, either situation would not be surprising. The man involved was a cleaner in the building (or a construction foreman) and I would assume lived in a labor camp. It’s a very very tough existence for people in his situation. Suicide among these workers happens.

On the other hand, safety standards here are not always strictly followed or enforced. I’m not an expert but I’ve personally seen practices that would not pass inspection at home. An equipment malfunction or a slip in the wrong direction is always possible.

Either way, it’s extremely sad.

xo, jill

PS. To lighten things up, I’m sharing my favorite headline from this news story: Man Commits Suicide After Humping Off Burj Khalifa.

(In the mall earlier this year.)

What? You don’t recreate your country’s flag with fruit and veg?

xo, jill