• About
  • Contact

MacAdventures.ca

~ Stories of MacDonald Family Adventures

MacAdventures.ca

Monthly Archives: May 2013

Time well spent

29 Wednesday May 2013

Posted by jrwmacdonald in Dubai, UAE

≈ 1 Comment

I took the week off of work but made no definitive plans.  In thinking about how I wanted to spend the week it came to me that I should spend some one on one time with my kids.  It was Lilli’s tenth birthday on the 27th and I’ve been repeatedly stunned with how fast that time has gone.  I can recall the event of her birth with almost perfect clarity.  At least, it feels that way – I’m sure my mind has coloured in the details but it makes a lovely picture nonetheless.

We had peas with dinner that evening.  The first contraction brought Lisa to her knees a couple days before her scheduled c-section.  I don’t recall the drive to the hospital but I do remember the nurses hooking her up to the machine to measure the intensity of her contractions.  I took Kirsten to my sisters home for the evening while Lisa settled in to wait her turn for an “emergency” c-section.  It was May 26th.  Lilli was… extracted… born at 12:03am on May 27th.

They would not let me in the operating room while the anaesthesia was administered and Lisa was prepped for surgery.  When I was allowed in I tried to look reassuring as I walked toward the sterile dissection table Lisa was splayed across.  She was looking the other way.  As I approached she turned her head toward me and I smiled.  She proceeded to projectile vomit the dinner peas.  A doctor handed me a metal banana shaped dish and commanded that I catch.  To my credit I did.

There was really nothing for me to do, obviously.  Just stand around and watch the surgeons bisect my wife.  Yet, I was strangely afraid that in these early moments of parenthood I would somehow screw up.  True to form I was sure to do something to mess this moment up.

I had convinced myself early on, for a variety of reasons, that this child would be a boy.  The doctors didn’t help as they pulled Lilli free from the womb, “look at the shoulders on this little guy.”  I was primed.  They clamped off the umbilical cord and severed it then one of them lifted the newly minted baby’s bottom toward my face and held it there.  I looked but something was wrong.  I tilted my head a little, bent my knees and tried to puzzle out what I was seeing.

“Arn’t you going to tell your wife what it is?” a nurse asked.  I squinted then wondered aloud, “Well, where is his penis?”  I was suddenly the best friend of every female in the room!  “Oh, a girl! Thats wonderful!” and it was.

As I walked with Lilli hand in hand today in the mall I could not help but recall her when she was 6 pounds rather than 60. She used to sleep soundly curled up on my chest. She has always been perpetually happy, full of music and smiles.  Today was no different.  This week I took each of the kids on a Father-daughter, Father-son outing.  Lilli and I went to Magic Planet at Mirdif City Center in Dubai.  It is a big arcade with half a dozen carnival rides.  It has video games but most of the games are those sudo slot machine types with flashing lights and annoying music when you win tickets that can later be redeemed for ultra cheap toys.

I wonder whether playing these games is not simply priming my kids for later gambling addictions?  Regardless, we had fun. The big moment came when trying to extract a stuffed animal from one of those claw machines.  I watched as Lilli maneuvered the claw and pressed the button in the wrong spot I thought.  To our surprise it picked up two stuffed animals!  Lilli was thrilled. After a couple hours of whack-a-mole and sinking mini basket balls we stopped at the food court for dinner.

Jaron and I had nearly an identical day just yesterday.  We also went to Magic Planet and to the food court for dinner. He spent more time on the rides though.  Our food court meal was Chinese food – Jaron’s favourite.  I’m not sure why but Jaron is oddly attracted to China.  If you ask him where he will be sent on his mission he’ll tell you China.  Maybe he’ll marry a beautiful Chinese girl.  If he wants to find someone his height that may be a good place to look 🙂

Kirsten is too old now for Magic Planet.  On Sunday Kirsten and I ate at the California Pizza Kitchen – bowls of their excellent chicken corn soup. About 8 months ago we had the same meal at the California Pizza Kitchen in the Mall of the Emirates together – I guess it is kind of our thing now. We followed our meal up with a movie, Iron Man 3.  I had already seen it with Lisa but I didn’t mind watching it again with my little girl.

Little really isn’t the word to best describe Kirsten anymore.  A month away from 13 she is all arms and legs but still incredibly entertaining to be around.  I would not mind being there when Tim and Julie see Kirsten in July.  I think they’ll be blown away with how she has grown and her maturity.  I’m not sure how we’ll live without her for 2 months…  that time will go so slowly.

Kirsten spent all of her money that night on a new waterproof point and shoot camera.  Not a moment too soon as the next day the entire family celebrated Lilli’s birthday at Wild Wadi water park in Dubai.  Of the 3 parks we’ve visited (Dreamland, Yas Water World, Wild Wadi) thus far this is my favourite.  The slides were great, plenty of shade for the lineups and something for everyone.

No grand adventures this vacation, no trekking through the back country or flying to distant lands, just time spent one on one with my kids and family.  I could not ask for a better vacation!  Maybe to top it off a night out with Lisa.  That would round off the perfect week.

Here are a few pictures of our Wild Wadi fun – taken with Kirsten’s new camera.

Adventures of a different sort

15 Wednesday May 2013

Posted by jrwmacdonald in Oman, People, Traveling

≈ 2 Comments

Our typical sort

This last Saturday we set out on our latest adventure.  Our friends the Andersons, Palmers and Queros joined us on a dhow cruise along the northeast coast of Oman, Musandam. A dhow is a “A lateen-rigged ship with one or two masts, used in the Indian Ocean” though ours was powered by motor not the wind. We purchased vouchers from a site called yallabanana.com.  Yallabanana is much like Groupon selling deals to various vacation and entertainment fun in the UAE.  Yalla in Arabic means “Let’s Go.”  Now who couldn’t love a name like that.  I’m always a little nervous about sites like this but I’m happy to report that everything went swimmingly.  We paid a total of 550AED (150 CAD) for passage on the dhow for Lisa, Me and the kids.    No buyers remorse here; we had a great time.

Dhows

Our dhow was much like these, two stories with plenty of shade. We took this picture as we pulled out of the dock.

Kirsten overboard

Kirsten leaps overboard to join us in the water.

The day trip included a cruise up the coast line where we anchored off the shore of what looked like a nice beach.  I can’t say for sure because we were having too much fun jumping and diving from the boat and snorkelling to bother with the beach.  The water was beautifully warm at the top 5 feet or so.  If you swam deep enough you entered a crisp and cool layer of water – perfectly refreshing.  We spent several hours in the water before climbing out for a buffet lunch on deck.

I wish Lisa had the camera pointed at Jeremy when I snuck up underwater and tugged on his fins.  He thought a shark had him… his face must have been priceless.  We took a “banana” ride with the kids behind a little speed boat.  It was slow for the adults… and Kirsten but the little guys really enjoyed it.  Jaron was adamant from the time we left the house that he would not be riding on the banana boat.  I’m not sure what he thought it was but he quickly changed his mind when he saw the other kids riding along behind the speed boat.  Jaron really surprised me though when he jumped from the second story of the dhow.  All the kids had a great time leaping to the waters below.

After lunch we were back in the water which was generally beautiful.  Though as I was holding onto the boat I caught a whiff of something putrid and turned my head just in time to see what I assume was toilet waste ejecting from a hole in the side of the boat (It may have been the kitchen wash water – somehow that makes me feel better about it).  After throwing up in my mouth a little I made sure to give that section of the water a wide berth.  Indeed, I was happy to get underway shortly after.

Jaron calls to thank Yallabanana for the great deal.

Jaron calls to thank Yallabanana for the great deal.

Leaving our beach port we headed out to sea to do a little fishing.  No fishing poles just line wrapped around a spool.  Sadly, we were all skunked.  Had I brought a cooler with me I may have stopped at the fish souk back at port before we headed home.  Without a cooler I didn’t want to risk driving an hour in the heat with a fish in the trunk.  The dhow departed around 11am and had us back to port about 4:30pm.  For the price this was an excellent trip – the company expedited the boarder crossing into Oman for us and provided a great trip minus the close encounter of the second kind.  Yallabanana turned out to be a great way to get a deal.

This may be our last adventure with the Andersons as they are leaving the UAE at the end of June.  We won’t soon forget them and their 4 beautiful kids.  As we headed out on the boat we played a great game of balancing on one foot on the deck of the boat.  We followed that up with an excellent game of Simon Says.  This is how I will remember the Andersons, full of laughter and fun.  I’m not sure when or if we’ll ever cross paths again in this life but my life is richer for the time they gave to my family and when all I have left in life is memories I will cherish the thought of them.

The kids work to stand on one foot against the waxing and waning of the deck.

The kids work to stand on one foot against the waxing and waning of the deck.

 

 

 

 

Another sort

With this adventure behind us it was time for another of a different sort.  When we first arrived here I was intrigued by a man I saw each Friday at church, Solomon.  He dresses in the traditional dress of Pakistan, the Shalwar kameez.  This, of course, is not an uncommon thing to see in the UAE but certainly uncommon to see at our church.  His English is extremely limited.  For some reason he seems to have taken a liking to my family.  He greets us each Friday with a smile and a hug.  The hugging and cheek kissing is awkward for us westerners and likely always will be.  Yet, the greetings and farewells continue each Friday.

I’ve learned that his home is in Azad Kashmir, Pakistan.  He has been in the UAE for 4 years and though he claims he is in his early forties I suspect his age is closer to the mid fifties.  It is likely he does not know his own age.  If he is in his forties his life is etched into his visage. He works for less in a month than I make in a day and lives with thousands of others crammed into a labour camp barely more than 20 kilometres from my front door.

On Tuesday night I set out to pick him up from that camp and bring him to my home for dinner.  As I turned off the highway I left behind the BMWs and Maseratis for long convoys of buses packed with tired dirty men heading home from their labours.  The roads were suddenly less well tended and thick with men walking their dusty shoulders. I stopped at a grocery store I believed I was supposed to meet him at.  There were so many men in the store the building clearly did not have room to receive them.  They milled about the entrance a great swarm of sweating humanity.  I reached Solomon on his cell phone and learned or guessed really that I was at the wrong store.  The name above the door did not seem to fit the sound coming through the phone.  I approached a few men and asked if they could direct me to a store by the sound I parroted.  I must have got it right as they directed me further down the road.

Solomon was his usual smiling self when I saw him.  I expected to pick him up and head back to my place but he directed me on to his home.  Entering the small parking garage beneath the apartment building I wondered what may be in store for me.  I followed Solomon to a door that I would come to learn led to the complex manager’s office/home.  Removing shoes we entered a small windowless room with a high ceiling.  Two men sat on couches dressed in white shalwar kameez smoking and talking.  They stood to greet me as an honoured guest and invited me to sit.  I took a quick inventory: old apartment fridge, small television tuned to a cricket game, mismatched couches and between them a coffee table with a single stone ashtray in its centre.  Oddly very little ash and not a single butt littered the tray though the men smoked.  The bed against the wall was neatly made with an assortment of blankets.  The room was small and humble but it was clean.

My hosts offered me some coffee or tea which I for perhaps the first time in my life declined with a sense of sadness.  I worried about being rude.  One of the men had a better command of English for which I was glad.  When he offered water I happily accepted as I wished to be polite.  My happiness dwindled as Solomon reached into his pocket and withdrew five dirhams.  He handed them to a young man who left the room and quickly returned with a bottle of water and a few dirhams change for Solomon.  As I drank this gift I learned that the man with the better command of English was called Ajaz and the other, Araf, was the manager of that housing complex of 700 men.  I have probably butchered the spelling of their names.

I soon learned that Ajaz and Araf would join us for dinner.  Actually, I was not sure whether I was giving them a ride some other place when they first piled into my car or taking them with us.  I simply started driving and when they made no gesture for me to take them anywhere else I took them home with me.  They had never been to University City and I took a little delight in pointing out the various colleges.  They peppered me with questions about the cost of tuition (for which I did not have an answer) and how much money a professor made (a question I strained to answer without answering).  As we approached the gates and security guards I wondered if I might have some strange explaining to do.  Araf asked through Ajaz if we would have problems at the gate and I assured him we would not.  I held my breath as I slowed and waved to the guard then breathed as he waved me through.

When I entered the house I was keenly aware of the shoes sprawled in the hallway, the dog hair in the corners and every smudge on the tile floor.  I worried over the meal.  I doubt I would have felt less awkward had it been the Sultan I was entertaining.  Jeremy Palmer joined us for dinner too, for which I am deeply grateful.  These men had a deeper command of Arabic than they had of English.  Jeremy was able to converse much better with them.  We learned that Ajaz and Araf both had 4 children (two girls and two boys) back in Pakistan.  They return to Pakistan once or twice a year to visit. Araf has been here for 15 years and Ajaz I believe 10. I can hardly imagine what that must be like.

I cajoled Jeremy into coming with me on the return drive.  The return was much like it was at first.  This time I found myself in the small room with Jeremy sitting next to me. Soon there were two bottles of water and cans of orange drink on the table in front of us.  Sitting there next to Jeremy I felt like a missionary all over again.  Jeremy remarked the same though there were no gospel discussions.  We chatted the best we could as we finished our water and then made to leave.  They walked us to the car shaking our hands and wishing us well.  Solomon leaves for Pakistan at the end of the month.  His mother is very ill. It is a strange friendship we’ve struck and I am still working through this experience.  I think I will try and learn a few words in Urdu so when Solomon returns in a month I can greet him in his own language.

Solomon and the family

Subscribe

  • Entries (RSS)
  • Comments (RSS)

Archives

  • June 2019
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • February 2018
  • July 2017
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • October 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012

Categories

  • Book
  • Do it Yourself
    • boat repair
  • family
  • I miss…
  • Living
  • Outdoors
    • Camping
    • hiking
    • running
    • Skiing
    • wadi
  • People
  • race
  • Religion
    • Christ
    • Christmas
    • Islam
  • Traveling
    • Asia
      • Sri Lanka
    • Canada
    • Europe
    • The Middle East
      • Oman
      • UAE
        • Abu Dahbi
        • American University of Sharjah
        • Dubai
        • Sharjah
    • USA
  • Uncategorized

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in

Blog at WordPress.com.

Cancel

 
Loading Comments...
Comment
    ×