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~ Stories of MacDonald Family Adventures

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Monthly Archives: February 2013

Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque

18 Monday Feb 2013

Posted by lcmacdonald in Abu Dahbi, American University of Sharjah, Islam, UAE

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Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque

Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque

Earlier in the week I signed myself and the kids up to participate in a trip to the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque for February 16th.  We were sent an itinerary, dress code and instructed to be promptly at the meeting place between 8:30 am and 9:00 am to be on the bus.  9:00 am came and went.  At 9:30 I decided I would wait 10 more minutes and then make other plans for the day.  Just as the time was running down the bus rounded the corner.  I was perturbed at having to sit in the sun waiting when I was told to be early but relieved that I would still be going to see the mosque as planned.

Half an hour into the journey the choruses of “Are we there yet?” began, surely signalling the beginning of a very long day.  As the mosque came into view I thought the kids would be just as amazed as I was.  Kirsten instantly went into teenager meltdown mode and refused to have her picture taken, talk to me, smile, or even sit up while we waited for our group.  A concerned security guard even approached her to be sure she wasn’t sleeping on the doorstep to the mosque.  With our group arriving late for our scheduled tour appointment we only had time for the brief “Reader’s Digest” version of  the tour before afternoon prayers would begin.  As we walked around the mosque the kids spread out, clinging to their friends right until the moment when our tour guide would begin to divulge some interesting facts about the mosque.  Every moment our guide began to open his mouth Jaron was standing on my toes, pawing at me, “Mom, Mom, Mom…when are we leaving?”  There are a lot of pillars, the mosque theme is a garden, and the main prayer room used to contain the largest chandelier in the world now it’s just the largest in that mosque.  These were the only tidbits of info I managed to hear.  To find out more interesting facts about the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque click here or here.

A late start to the day meant late everything to follow.  Instead of heading back to the University at 2:00, we arrived at the Abu Dhabi Marina Mall.  The mall is located out on a little (I’m assuming) man made peninsula just past the Emirates Palace Hotel and before you get to the Heritage Village.  Inside there are some fantastic fountains, and a 360 degree viewing platform only 84 meters shy of the Space Needle in Seattle.  We didn’t have much time to explore this mall, only to have some lunch and a little treat before finding the bus.  We aimed for a 3:30 pm departure with a very ambitious 5:00 pm arrival back at AUS that slowly became a 6:30 pm arrival.  When we pulled into AUS Lilli leaned over and said, “I don’t want to get off the bus.”  Ha! Kids.

Looking into the courtyard
Looking into the courtyard
Mosque reflection
Mosque reflection
echoing archways
echoing archways
Glass wall flower decorations.
Glass wall flower decorations.
Closed for prayer time.
Closed for prayer time.
Marina Mall viewing tower. Platform is at 100 meters (84 less than Seattle Space Needle).
Marina Mall viewing tower. Platform is at 100 meters (84 less than Seattle Space Needle).
Chandelier in main prayer hall entrance
Chandelier in main prayer hall entrance
Main prayer hall. One piece of carpet (brought in 9 pieces and took 4 months to complete within the mosque).
Main prayer hall. One piece of carpet (brought in 9 pieces and took 4 months to complete within the mosque).
Closed for prayer time.
Closed for prayer time.
Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque
Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque
courtyard mosaic
courtyard mosaic
Looking into the courtyard
Looking into the courtyard
Time to go.
Time to go.
Entrance to main prayer hall
Entrance to main prayer hall
Main prayer hall. One piece of carpet (brought in 9 pieces and took 4 months to complete within the mosque).
Main prayer hall. One piece of carpet (brought in 9 pieces and took 4 months to complete within the mosque).
Entrance to main prayer hall
Entrance to main prayer hall
Walking across the courtyard.
Walking across the courtyard.
Marina Mall viewing tower. Platform is at 100 meters (84 less than Seattle Space Needle).
Marina Mall viewing tower. Platform is at 100 meters (84 less than Seattle Space Needle).
courtyard mosaic
courtyard mosaic
Marina Mall
Marina Mall
Frozen Yogurt Factory treat at Marina Mall.
Frozen Yogurt Factory treat at Marina Mall.
Marina Mall
Marina Mall
Colorful fountain at Marina Mall
Colorful fountain at Marina Mall
Marina mall decor
Marina mall decor

A first night apart

16 Saturday Feb 2013

Posted by jrwmacdonald in Camping, Living, Outdoors, UAE

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Yesterday after church about 25 men and a few young men rode off into the desert for a guys night of desert camping.  What happens when you send a bunch of men into the wilderness who are eager to recapture some of their youth and a few boys eager to be men?  Well, potentially a good deal.  Thankfully, Our night was relatively uneventful but satisfying.  It was an interesting cultural experience too.  A Canadian, two Americans an Ozzy and a large group of Filipinos go camping in the desert…  what’s the punch line?

I’m not sure where they got it but the night featured a 15kilo suckling pig roasted

picture by Edmond Meshi C. SanBuenaventura

picture by Edmond Meshi C. SanBuenaventura

methodically on a spit over a bed of coals.  They filled the belly with garlic and herbs and sewed it up for the roasting.  I’m going to have to do this myself sometime in Canada.  It was delicious.

There were a few scorpions but no stings.  A stuck 4×4 but no permanent damage.  A gorgeous evening sky with shooting stars and satellites ( the occasional 747 too).  A brilliant crescent moon descending beneath the horizon prompted a run to the top of a large sand dune in pursuit and then an hour swapping stories with the Ozzy as we watched the glow of the campfire below.

The sweet but mournful ukelele was lovely to listen too.  It was later supplanted by the rhythmic experienced strum of a guitar.  Classic soft rock from the 70s, 80s and 90s brought back some excellent memories and certainly created a great new one.  Our Filipino friends knew the lyrics to every song.  Turns out karaoke is extremely popular in the Philippines.

I realized as I crawled into my sleeping bag that this was the first night I’ve been away from the family since arriving in the UAE.  It is now Saturday afternoon and I am alone in the house.  Lisa got on a bus with the kids this morning going to Abu Dhabi.  The bus will take them to a well know mosque for a tour and then on to the other big cultural experience in the UAE, a mall.  They should be back around 4pm and I can hardly wait to hear all about it.  I expect Lisa will post something about the experience.

I miss the pines and spruce, the clear streams and green hillsides of my home.  Yet, I’m learning to love the desert.

Scary Possibilities

08 Friday Feb 2013

Posted by jrwmacdonald in Living, Religion

≈ 1 Comment

All week I’ve been thinking about what it is I want for my children.  What would I need as a parent to feel successful?  More importantly what do they need as children to be “successful” as adults?”  In the midst of my pondering we had a small scare that really got me thinking.  On Tuesday night Lisa dropped Kirsten off at Hula.  Yes, she has a hula class where she learns to use a hula hoop with other like minded girls.  I haven’t seen her use a hula hoop since she began lessons last semester.  I imagine she is quite good at it now.  Perhaps I can convince her to share a video sometime.

The plan was for Lisa to walk over with the dogs to pick Kirsten up and walk back.  The wellness centre where Kirsten practices is about a kilometre from here.  Lilli volunteered to make the walk over instead.  She left about 15 minutes before Kirsten’s class was due to end.  20 minutes later Lisa jumped in the car to meet the girls over there and see if they’d like to walk back or get a ride.  In another 20 minutes Kirsten showed up at the house alone.  She hadn’t seen Lilli or Lisa.  Another five minutes passed and Lisa returned home, again without Lilli.  This is when I started to get nervous.

Lilli left the house with the dogs 40 minutes earlier and no one knew where she was.  So much can happen in 40 minutes.  I forced those thoughts down and reasoned that some miscommunication had taken place.  I jumped in the car and drove to Lilli’s friends home down the street…  she was not there.  As I entered the first of several round-abouts on my way to the wellness centre I was finding it more difficult to suppress thoughts of worst case scenarios.  Strangely the emotion I was feeling most was anger.  There is not much between the wellness centre and our home that could happen to a person to put them in danger so thoughts of the ill designs of depraved men kept rattling around in my skull.  My parental defensive instincts were fully charged but I had no child to defend, and no target to set my sites on.

Just as I emerged from the second round-about there was Lilli walking down the street with the dogs in the lead.  When she opened the car door and hopped in I could tell she was on the verge of tears.  It turned out she had gone to the wrong side of the building.  It was, after all, simply a little miscommunication.  As we reentered the round-about on the way home I spotted Lisa walking down the sidewalk in search of Lilli.  I could see the worry written across her face and then the instant relief as she saw Lilli in the passenger seat.  The door was soon flung open and Lilli’s tears she’d so valiantly kept at bay spilled out to mingle with Lisa’s.  The crisis had passed, the storm abated and all was well.  There was never any danger only the fear of possibilities.

This little incident, something every parent likely experiences at least once, pushed me to consider whether I should fear those possibilities at all?  Could something horrible and terrifying happen to my children my wife or me?  Yes.  Will I make reasonable and consistent efforts to lessen those possibilities? Absolutely.  Should I fear them?  If they occur how should I respond; how would I respond?  These are more difficult questions to answer.

One of my favourite fairy tales is Disney’s Sleeping Beauty.  I tend to like other tellings of it too.  The idea of good fairies that bestow gifts on the fair princess has always been a source of contemplation for me.  In the LDS church we perform an ordinance of naming and blessing our newborn babes.  I always think of Sleeping Beauty every time a  baby is blessed.  If I could bestow a single gift on each of my children would it be protection (insulation) from the evil designs of others?  I imagine my children growing to then become wealthy and powerful which are the two things (wealth and power) I believe have more potential for spiritual and mental harm than anything else.  The reasons for that belief are too many for this post though.  Let it suffice that wealth and power are not high on the list of things I hope for my children if they make the list at all.

Ultimately I cannot protect my children from all the dangers of the world.  What then would I “bestow” upon my children if I could?  To answer that I’ve mulled over what would give me the most pleasure to see develop in my children as they grow.  Would I like to see Kirsten become a renowned artist, Lilli an esteemed academic and Jaron a fine athlete?  How about simple health and happiness?  Trophies, awards and accolades for feats of determination, perseverance and consistent good work would all be quite gratifying.  Certainly I would be pleased to see them raise wonderful families with a person they love.  All of these things would be nice but not necessary.

I picture Jaron at school one day and a boy prompting him to play a small trick on another student and Jaron declining to do so because he knows it would hurt the others feelings.  I picture Lilli seeing a little girl every lunch hour without a lunch and Lilli sharing hers quietly with her each day.  I picture Kirsten being bullied by a girl at school but sensing this girls’ motivations learns all she can about the “bully” and after considerable effort discovers her true motivations and makes a lifelong friend rather than an enemy.  In other words, I wish for my children a generous portion of charity.  Should they be called to drink deep from bitter cups may they not in turn become bitter.  Should their lives prove a cornucopia of wealth, power and riches may they determinedly resist gluttony and instead willingly and generously share their wealth with all.  This is my fondest hope and desire for them.

Would it not be lovely if we could invite a few fairies to visit the cradles of our children and bestow such a gift upon them?  Sadly it does not work that way.  When LDS children are given a name and a blessing  their fathers ought not suppose that the blessings they pronounce are granted by God in some magical fairy like way.  No, the words those fathers utter in blessing may instead be called upon as evidence in their future judgement (either for or against).  I am convinced that by our examples we daily wave our magic wands over the fates and the lives of our children.

Lisa shared a poignant commercial on the power of example on Facebook the other day. It shows parents acting poorly and kids mimicking their behaviour.  I think the message would have been better served had they depicted parents acting nobly and their children acting accordingly.  Consider the power of these two videos with similar messages but different approaches:

This next video is actually a Coca-Cola advertisement (the use of which may be my mind’s deep desire to break my personal cola ban) but I think that while both messages are similar (clearly not exactly the same) the positive approach of the second will more likely inspire people to positive action than the negative approach of the first.  (Certainly Coca-Cola believes drinking their product would be positive).

This too long post has finally brought me to the conclusion of this weeks pondering.   What I want for my children is ultimately what I want for myself to live a charitable life regardless of the circumstances.  If I can live a life of charity and focus that example in a positive way I believe that is the most likely way to pass the blessings of a charitable life on to my children.

So I suppose, in the end, if my life is a Coke commercial I’ll feel that I’ve succeeded.

Health and Happiness

01 Friday Feb 2013

Posted by jrwmacdonald in Living

≈ 4 Comments

This will be the first post written on our… wait, I mean my new 27 inch iMac (I really New iMacmust think more selfishly).  The computer is beautiful.  I can’t afford a BMW but I can eek out the cost of one of these.  I ordered it December 11th and it arrived yesterday.  It was a long wait.  I suspect this thing will not offer any improvement in my writing, sorry.  It is, however, much nicer to write on than my little 13 inch laptop.  This is computer paradise.

When the computer arrived yesterday we had to go out to Ikea to find a desk for it.  While out we picked up another electronic.  A scale.  Yes, I am going to start tracking my weight.  Sadly, I am terribly afraid of getting round in the middle.  I suspect that like a receding hair line it is inevitable.  Unlike the hair though I can do something about the waist.

The Cure for EverythingI recently read Timothy CaulField’s “The Cure for Everything: Untangling Twisted Messages About Health, Fitness, And Happiness.”  The book was entertaining and occasionally enlightening.  I don’t agree with some of his conclusions (i.e. Yoga is a waist of time) because I don’t think that science has definitive answers in some of these areas (more research is needed) but his arguments are sound and engaging.

When I jumped on the scale last night my fears were confirmed… the scale read 149.8 pounds! Okay I know most of you hate me right now – for those of you who are still reading let me explain that 145 pounds has been my maximum… until now.  I am obviously not overweight or in any real danger of being so in the near future but it is mildly distressing nonetheless.  Having seen so many people try and lose weight I realize that if I put the weight on there is little chance of me taking it off.

So what am I doing to maintain my weight?  We are very blessed here at the American University of Sharjah to have access to the “Wellness Centre” facilities for faculty and staff.  This means access to personal trainers, exercise classes and great facilities.  This term I will register in circuits early in the morning three days a week and for the other two days I’m going to participate in running club.  The weekends always have something active going on – except Fridays as they are my day of rest.  So, I’ll remain active.

Exercise is good but it isn’t going to keep my belly from expanding… if that was all it took I’d have nothing to worry about.  Ultimately, if I want to keep the pounds off I have to pay attention to the calories.  I think we make relatively healthy meal choices already but there is room for improvement.  The first thing is smaller portions.  Honestly, I do not need that second or third helping at every meal.  And the Coca Cola has to go.  Can you here me crying as I write this?

If I could drink a Coke just once and a while I would.  I can’t though.  If I drink one I’ll drink another the next day and the day after until I’m drinking a litre everyday.  I have not had any soda pop of any kind since New Year’s Eve.  I’m convinced I will fail miserably at trying to kick the habit… but it won’t be today.

Outside of the fact that I am getting a little older, seasoned is more accurate, it is the Middle East that has me focused on my weight.  The UAE has one of the highest obesity rates in the world.  As I’ve mentioned in earlier posts fast food is prevalent and cheap here.

At the grocery store yesterday Lisa and I walked past a little kid – maybe 8 years old – who was drinking a juice box.  When he was done I was shocked when he tossed it on the ground and walked away.  This wasn’t a casual oops, ha ha, I dropped my juice box and no one noticed so I’ll just keep walking.  The kid threw it on the ground like it was what one is supposed to do. (Having been here a while this really should not shock me but it does).  What does this have to do with weight gain – I’m not sure but somehow I think they are related.

The Longevity ProjectOne of the more interesting findings of “The Longevity Project: Surprising Discoveries of Health and Long Life from the Landmark Eight-Decade Study” is that conscientiousness is connected to long life and health.  That juice box is an indication of sickness but a sickness that is taught.

Getting older, fatter and balder is the inevitable course of life.  I just don’t want to give up living before I have to and want to enjoy every ounce of life I have.  Despite my best efforts that may not be up to me… But that won’t stop me from trying anyway.

One last thing… The new LDS church in Abu Dhabi will be dedicated later this month (the first purpose built LDS chapel in the Middle East).  My favourite speaker will be here to dedicate the building, Elder Jeffery R. Holland.  Because the building can’t fit everyone from the region our congregation has to watch by web cast – sad.  But, Elder Holland will be holding a meeting for those that can’t attend the dedication that night in Dubai!  I don’t think I can express how happy that makes me.  My dad has quipped that I must have been born with a lucky horseshoe shoved up my… ahem.  Well, I think I’d know if I had one of those in there but occasionally I think I must have been born under a lucky star.

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