Do I Have a Square Butt?

Someone obviously thought so when they designed the toilet in my room. I have seen quite a few toilets in my 39 years here, but never one with a square seat. I have gotten somewhat used to it by now, but I just had to share.

I got out today and went to one of the premier malls here in Abu Dhabi, the Marina Mall. It features a skyviewing tower, similar to Reunion Tower in Dallas, but taller and larger. The mall itself is the largest in Abu Dhabi. I was most impressed, however, with the cleanliness of the place. The entire mall, maybe twice the size of the Parks at Arlington, was spotless...and I mean spotless. You could have eaten off the floor. The floor, by the way, was all polished tile with very close joints, perfect for kids on Heelys. And there were plenty of kids willing to try it out.

This city is so international. The mall had all of the things one might expect in an American mall. Eateries like Fuddruckers, Subway, Pizza Hut, Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks, Fridays and others populate the entire mall and city. If one were so inclined to eat only American food, there would be no problem. There are a plethora of American stores as well. In addition, there are many Arabic stores and European stores as well.

The city has may Europeans such as Germans, Swedes and Britians. Also, there are many from Eqypt and the other Middle Eastern countries. The labor force seem to be populated with Indians and Indonesians, however, there are many Asian professionals here as well. BG asked if I would live here. My response, if I were living in New York and I had the opportunity to come here, I would in a second. This is a great place for urban living.

Time for bed...meetings in the morning. The work week starts on Sunday here and we have a meeting with SEHA at 1000.

Mega Church

I think this qualifies as a mega church. I snapped this pic on my way back from Al Ain. It is a mosque that was being constructed for the late Sheikh Zayed. Unfortunately, he passed away before its completion. They are still completing the work and it is massive. As a side note, they are on their fourth architect...

The religious environment here is very interesting and not like we hear from the US media. In UAE, there is a "freedom" of religion based on the ruler's tolerance, not law. Abu Dhabi is a very international city and has a lot of religious diversity. No one seems to be particularly militant, no signs, protests or anything of that sort. However, the official religion is Islam. That equates to the government giving a single building for worship to all other religions than Islam. They all share and schedule the services accordingly. That's why we had the Christian service on a Thursday evening.

That tolerance is interesting. It turns out that the Crown Prince, Sheikh Mohammed, was born in a little hospital in Al Ain called Oasis Hospital. It was founded by Christian missionaries in 1960. It is still in operation and the town of Al Ain simply grew up around the mission. There is still a church on the campus and Christian worship takes place there each week. I may have the privilege to work on the replacement facility for the Oasis Hospital . I am in the process of reviewing the plans this week. So, the ruling family has a certain tie to Christianity and thus the tolerance.

The "man on the street" doesn't seem to care about how one worships. It was explained to me by an Egyptian Christian that before the 911 attacks and such, no one asked if you were a Christian, no one cared that you were Muslim. Still, here in the UAE, there does not seem to be much debate. I get a paper everyday in the morning here in my room. It is in English, as are most things here (it is a bi-lingual society), and there is hardly any mention of religion. Generally, the atmosphere is very similar to the US, have a religion, just don't shout it from the roof top, that's the right of Islam only. However, if you want to sit in the lobby and read the Bible, ok.