Five Random Observations
Trip Start
Jun 24, 2008
1
4
5
Trip End
Jul 25, 2008
Manama,
Bahrain
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
2. I have mentioned the dry cleaner in a previous blog; I was commenting on my inability to effectively communicate the words "no starch" (which, I might add, is hard to do in the US -- laundry professionals L-O-V-E starch and can't fathom why one would voluntarily do without it). It turns out the dry cleaner here is wonderful; they interpreted my instructions and had our clothes ready at the specified time. When I went to pick up our clothes (parking on the sidewalk, of course), I noticed that our order was easy to spot. Just about every other item hanging up was a long, white robe (thobe, as it is actually called) making Michael's blue dress shirts quite conspicuous. In the US, we have been subjected to so many news reports that lump all Middle Easterners together; it's easy to start associating the millions of people who live in this region with the few Islamic extremists that make headlines. It turns out, the vast majority of people here are just like us -- they even park their cars on the sidewalks to take their dirty thobes to be laundered... without starch, I'm sure.
3. After hearing me speak, many people have asked me if I'm from the UK. To a non-native English speaker, I know it's a lot harder to pick up on accents. Actually, I sometimes can't tell the difference between a South African or Australian accent, so it's really not surprising. But I love knowing that I could fool people into thinking I'm a Brit! One phrase I'll have to keep in my arsenal for such occasions is "touch wood" (translation: knock on wood). A lot of people we know here, who have spent a lot of time in the UK, use it frequently and I've heard it in a lot of BBC interviews as well. I guess that also means a lot of people here are counting on luck.
4. On July 1, 2008, The Wall Street Journal published a story entitled, "Read My License Plate: It Cost Me a Fortune." The gist of the story is this: the government in Abu Dhabi has begun auctioning off license plates with low numbers (not the random five-digit number that regular drivers receive). There are so many nice cars in Abu Dhabi (Ferraris, Rolls-Royces, etc) and owners of said cars couldn't possibly place a standard-issue plate on such luxury. So, they put up big bucks to get a number like "1" (which went for $14 million, the current record high) or "5" ($9 million). You might be wondering where this money goes. The article says, "the government plans to use the money to build a new trauma hospital for traffic-accident victims." Ah, the irony.
5. My friend, Jessie, recently pointed out to me the frequency with which people say "no problem" around here and I realized she was on to something. Everything is "no problem" around here. Is there a petrol station nearby? No problem. Could I have turkey instead of turkey-ham (don't ask)? No problem. Do I turn left or right? No problem. At first I thought people were so accommodating; then I realized people want to be accommodating but they really don't know what you are asking. I decided to adopt the practice. The cleaning crew was at our apartment yesterday and one of the men asked me a indecipherable question to which I responded, "no problem." He smiled broadly, nodded his head, and finished cleaning. Who knows to what I agreed, but our apartment is clean, the crew left smiling and telling me to have a wonderful day -- they might even think I know what I am doing here.
