Sand Sun Fun

Seven star sails,

Desert dune trails.

The sand castle fit for princesses.

 He's got the whole sun, on his fingertip...

 Bella, Nick and I capture the sun before it drops into the gulf.

Transitions

So at any international school there are students and teachers in transition.  Moving from one place to another can be a difficult change. But this gets more complicated when you are moving to a different country.  As adults, this can be challenging.  But for the students, not having control or say in the decisions that lead to these moves even further complicates the change.

Rosie and Bella have undergone lots of change.  Since we had to move houses each of our four years in Norway, our new home in Dubai was their sixth house in six years.  They have learned to be flexible and to adapt.  But these lessons take time.  For over a month, each tuck in consisted of a "I miss Norway" list and ended with the concluding question: "When we are going home to Norway?"  Somewhere in the middle was a "why did we move?" and sadness if not always tears.  Change is difficult.

One reason we moved was to see this all this year.

Luckily for us, the girls each have a counselor who is experiencing this change as well. Both Nick and Sally are new to Dubai and walk in the shoes of the students they serve. Most counselors I have worked with seem to find their way to the position because they themselves appear to need counseling. This allows for empathy but often a difficult personality for colleagues to chat with.  You always feel like one of you is "on the couch" during conversation. Nick and Sally are refreshingly grounded and so attentive to the needs of their students. They are the right mix of enthusiasm, empathy and "kids first" to make them a dynamic duo. And a large portion of Rosie and Bella's transition to Dubai has been facilitated by these two great colleagues.

Whether it is helping with grade level placement, student ID numbers and registration or weekly classroom visits, these two have always been on the hotline ready to swoop in to help our kids.

"Do you think the Cat-Egan children will make it?"

"Not a chance!"

So as we enter quarter 2 and speed toward winter break, I just wanted to send a shout-out to two people who do a great job helping our students.  I think of my family on arrival day in August and where we are today and it seems we have all grown into the next chapter of our lives.  Sally and Nick have helped us a lot in achieving our goal of life altering change for ourselves and our chldren. Shukran!

OK, I take back that remark about Nick not needing counseling!

Weekend in Oman

Here is our recent trip to Musandam, Oman. We drove up the coast north across the border and into the Hajar Mountains. We had a great time at a nice hotel, the Golden Tulip.  We also went on a boat cruise to see dolphins and snorkel in what is called the "Norway of the Middle East" because the water and cliffs look like fjords. We drove to the highest peak in the mountains on a twisty, winding gravel road. The family hike at the top ended with views and a spot where we could stand on the border of Oman and the UAE. On the way home, we stopped at our own amazing private beach. It was an incredible three days.

The Bird and the Fairy

The girls made this poem and choreography back in another life, another world, another time.  It may have been less than a year ago but it is so far removed from our daily lives now.  This poem is becoming more and more a snapshot of them at the height of "little kid" greatness.  It is the perfect image of our lives in Norway.

But the real reason I posted this was because I just figured out that with one click, I can take all of my you tube videos and instantly 'embed' them into blog posts.  Oh the things you learn!

These retro blogged old videos allow me to make some director commentary.  I filmed this video from multiple angles on multiple takes and purposely left the background audio.  Phish is playing as the girls dance their way through their original poem.

I suppose this means a whole lot of new posts with old videos mixed with my new thoughts about those videos.  I am so full of me and my life, I just might do it!

More importantly, it means the new videos I have been procrastinating about uploading to You tube have just become my next goal for digitally chronicling our lives.

Fake Plastic Tree (literally)

OK, by now anyone who knows the Catmandu knows that he loves Radiohead and overuses their Fake Plastic Tree imagery when relating life in Dubai to the outside world.  And anyone who lives in Dubai thinks the Do Buy fake plastic imagery is not used nearly enough to describe life in the surreal desert.

If a fake plastic tree falls onto the floor of your villa, will you assemble it?

It looks like the real thing.  It feels like the real thing.

Still I can't help this feeling.

It could blow through the ceiling.

 All this tree needs is a little love.

 The color coded branches unfurl to make a real tree.

 The star on top completes the perfect symetree.

Our cute tree really makes the place feel festive.  Fake or real, Xmas trees always cause reflection and celebration and this year is no different.  Real trees cause real thinking as well.  The environment questions arise (I know, we re-plant 10 for every one we take out), but still, have you ever thought about the numbers?  And the watering /fire concerns, the pine needles fill the vacuum, the family cutting ceremony and roof tying in the cold causes joy mixed with tears, muddled with a scratched car roof.  In Hawaii, we had a real tree every year, shipped from the mainland at what cost?  But we bought it through a charitable girl scouts organization?

In NY, we bought freshly cut trees and destroyed our Subaru roof in the name of the pine smell and real tree feel. We loved it until January 2 when we watched 40 sad, pruned evergreens- still with tinsel tears hanging- sagging at every shiny suburban home's curb.  The 'special' truck picked them up and dropped them where?  A big hole in the ground?  How environmental.

The made in China re-usable trees cause similar environmental and carbon footprint thoughts.  But what is the real meaning of the holiday, Linus?  To give your family a tangible symbol to remind them of giving, love, home and family.  To that end, we are happily snuggled into our warm villa nest.  The lights twinkling at night on our fake plastic tree, just like the rest of Dubai.

Season's greetings from Dubai.

If you Build it...

The theme to this chapter of our lives in the first year of Dubai is newness.  We live in a new villa and work in a new building on a new campus.  This campus is a great house slowly becoming a home.

This seems to mirror this city that is so new it resembles nothing that I can remember from my visit 13 years ago. In those 13 years, I have lived 4 new chapters.  I have been a suburban homeowner, lived in three states, fathered two daughters and lived through four Scandinavian winters.  All the while, the Ponzi scheme that is Dubai was multiplying.

Dubai rises from the sand into the sky blue.

The constant sun gleams
off the tops
of the buildings,
reflecting
blinding
golden rays
that shatter
the sky and
shadow the sand.




Mosques mingle in the city,
calling to one another
in a timeless minaret
singalong.

Sky scraping needle points jut higher,
mixed with spiraled rotundas,
meshed with twin metal monsters,
cemented dreams with windows
and modern pyramids-
all
sit
along
the
sand.

The creek winds through old town,
an asp dividing the city's port.
The snaking water silently slithers-
a reminder of the boats and goods
flowing into and out of the middle east.

Dubai's port, the Grand Central Station of commerce
for the Gulf,
trapped in the heat between dozens of cultures.

If you build it,
the cranes will come.

The workers will arrive.

The sand will succumb.


The Palm will sprout from water.


Do Buy.





If you build it,
Dubai will rise
from the sand-

reaching towards the heavens.

Nesting

I was recently visited by a friend from the past, Richie the Hat.  He and I had not seen each other in almost nine full years.  Yet through the magic of digital tech, we had stayed in touch.

It was fun hanging with him, his awesome wife and the kids.  Our reunion made me realize that home was in fact where the heart was.  If by heart, you meant the core, the essence, the center of where you are at.

All of the people who are at the core are the people who jumped to the forefront, climbed right up into the co-pilot's seat and shared a chapter of the ride.  Whenever you share an experience with other people that 'get' you, your bond is linked to the core.  As nomads, J and I are lucky to have tight friends from every stop along the way.  Sometimes, the life arc of someone at your core spins them back into contact.

Both Rich and I are back teaching in the middle east.  The reconnect is done.  For the years in between, Skype and Facebook keep you linked to your core.  Home is my status update?

Rich and I had our oldests born in Saudi at the same hospital.

So home is where the shared moment is?  Yes, especially if the moment bonds you with others in a turning point of your life.

Who gets the paperwork of a "Certificate of Birth Abroad" document in 2000 in Saudi Arabia better than Rich and I?  "Do you have translation, my friend?"

Dubai is my residence and we keep making our Villa #23 more of a home.  Day by day, it rolls into our family's hearts as the core of life in Dubai.

Home is where I planted a garden.

Home is where I watch the sunrise.

Where I can unmask.

It is the background in photos.

Hey Guero, home is where I park the Pajero.

Home is where I milk the camel.

It is the place we pulled into cheering, happy to be home, after one night of camping on the other side of the United Arab Emirates.

Home is where I built the desk I am typing this self-indulgent blog from.

Villa 23 is for me.  Home is where we reside with the ones we love.  Our core.

Mr. William Joel once said, "I need you in my house cause you're my home."

Home is where the fart is?

Rome piss bear the start fizz?

Chrome bliss where the show biz?

Home is where the heart is.