venerdì 12 ottobre 2007

Finally appreciating every moment here...

Well, at this point it's safe to say that I have come to the point where I can truly cherish the experiences that I am living, and to be honest, they are far beyond what I ever imagined that I'd see here in Abu Dhabi. Yesterday, I celebrated Eid Al Fitr, a holiday equal to Christmas for Christians, with the warmest of people. I was immersed in culture, tradition, and hospitality that is difficult to come across. It marked the beginning of some incredible friendships that are the fruit of their wilingness to share their culture and way of life with Westerners, and my willingness to accept their offer. The pictures, although many, genuinly capture my experience. They're available to view at these links:

Album 1: http://binghamton.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2091574&l=4dedb&id=8115079

Album 2: http://binghamton.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2091576&l=340a8&id=8115079

I've also added a video of the camels to youtube. Follow this link and ejoy it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbowFe1LzvM

I will explain much more about this experience within the next few days, but right now I'm on my way out the door. Being that school is closed this week for the holidays, I've accepted to volunteer for the first Middle East International Film Festival. I'll be working for one week in the press office, making contacts with news outlets in the USA to ensure that they're covering this event and also helping to organize the red carpet photo shoots and video interviews with all of the celebrities that will attend (along with many, many super famous ones from Hollywood). Should be fun!
A big hug to all,
Paul : )

giovedì 11 ottobre 2007

Lots of updating to do...

Well, I guess that I can finally start to say with confidence that I am officially settling in here in Abu Dhabi. I'm over the initial shock of being so far away from everyone and am also starting to appreciate the amazing experiences that I've lived so far and will continue to live over at least these next two years. I have more pictures than I have time to post them, so I will try to feed you with them all little by little!
Here I share with you some simple pictures of my friend Lilas that I wrote about a few posts ago:

This is my wonderful friend Lilas, the one that I met through Facebook. She's the closest that I have here to family, and seeing her, her husband, and her beautiful daughter Lea makes me feel like I'm truly at home!

Here I am a few days after arriving in Abu Dhabi. I've been told that I've lost weight since arriving here, but of course, you can't tell from a picture taken a week after arriving.

A picture of Lea and I.

This is interesting. Everything that you see behind me was under water two years ago. Yes, that is correct. I still can't believe it myself, but the water actually ended under the balcony that I was on. Somehow, they took the water out and built a highway and the park that you see behind me, which all extends for at least one mile on each side of me!

Finally, this is John, the first token American that I met. He's a retired high-ranking military man who now works with the military of the UAE, who are very strong US allies. It's his house that we were at, and he's a super nice guy!

OK, it was too good to be true that I had lots of time to post on my blog! Just got an invitation to eat some chinese food for lunch, so off I go! Please keep reading and know that I think of all of you!!!
- Paul : )

sabato 6 ottobre 2007

The construction site right outside my window

As some of you already know, Abu Dhabi and Dubai are among the fastest growing cities in the world. Everywhere you look, there are cranes. In fact, when I wake up in the morning, this is what I see outside of my window. This is the beginning of a huge apartment complex. It's just amazing to see how quickly building go up in this city. In fact, there is a significant difference between where this building was when I first arrived to where it is now. I will try to take a photo each month so that we can all see how quickly things happen around here!


You can see the migrant workers doing their thing. It amazes me that they wear long-sleeved clothing even in the super hot weather that we have here. Although it's a bit cooler already than it was when I first arrived in August, it's still hotter than I've ever experienced in NY. The best way that I can explain the August heat here is to compare it when you open up the door to an oven that is on. The hot wave of air that strikes you in the face is equivalent to what it's like here. Five minutes outside and you are literally soaken wet with sweat. It is absolutely mind-blowing to experience, and without air-conditioning, life would be almost unbearable. In fact, even these migrant workers have AC where they live.
This is the view from outside of my window when looking to the right. You can see the water in the distance. Once this building goes up, this view will no longer exist, which is kind of interesting to consider. One moment it's here, another it's not!
Here's one of the main roads in Abu Dhabi. You can see how wide the lanes are. The roads are clean and well-maintained.

I'll keep the posts coming!

A day trip to Sharjah

The UAE is made of 7 Emirates (equivalent to states in the USA). We ventured out to another one of them yesterday. The name of the Emirate is Sharjah. It's not as wealthy as Abu Dhabi because it doesn't have nearly as much oil, and it's easy to see the difference. It's dirtier and much more traditonal then here. It's known for amazing prices on car parts. In fact, people drive from Abu Dhabi to there just to get good deals on their car parts, so if any of you want a good deal, you now know where to come! Here is a link to the pictures from that day. There are captions below each picture explaining them in more detail. Follow this link below and enjoy!

http://binghamton.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2090569&l=7f10e&id=8115079

Also, please keep questions coming!!! If I fail to answer all of them, please let me know that, too, so that I can answer it!
Thanks!!!

venerdì 5 ottobre 2007

Back again with photos from Oman!

So, this time around I have some pretty good excuses. It turns out that my weekdays here have become a non-stop work assignment from the time that I awake in the morning to the time that I go to bed at night. I apologize to all for a failure in keeping in touch if you're feeling that way, but this is the reason why. Secondly, my computer had some major issues, and I finally have it fixed now, which means that from this point forward it will only take me 20 seconds or so to upload a photo that for some reason was taking me 5 minutes to do before. Of course, no one really wants to hear about this though. All you want are pictures, and that's rightfully so, so here they are! There are many of them, which is why I posted them to a website. Cut and paste the link below into your web browser in order to see them:

http://binghamton.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2090505&l=40695&id=8115079

I hope that you enjoy them! Plenty more pictures to come!

martedì 2 ottobre 2007

I'm still here!

I'm still here! I have not forgotten about the blog, but I'm just waiting for the pictures from our trip to the desert in Oman. As soon as they come through, I'll post them.
Stay tuned!
- Paul : )