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Monday, January 11, 2016
Thursday, May 7, 2015
My Mother, the Reader
I did the Poem-A-Day challenge on writersdigest.com in
April. I didn’t post a poem for each
day, nor did I write one for each day, but I did try. One of the challenges was “My (Blank), the
(Blank).” An image of my mom reading a
book at the kitchen table was the first thing that came to mind. Happy Early Mother’s Day, Mom! I love everything you have given me,
genetically and otherwise.
Thank you for the example
You have been to me
I’m glad I’ve always known
That sometimes,
Laundry and dishes and dust
Can wait if I find
A book that can’t be put down
And I can always
Pick up a book
Any time I am made to wait
Any time I am made to wait
You never forced them on me
I think I just knew you were happiest
With a story in front of you
And I wanted that kind of happy too
Thank you, Mom
For the love of words
That you shared with me
And whether it is genetic or not
And whether you meant to or not
And whether you meant to or not
I’m glad you passed it on
Monday, April 6, 2015
UAE Guest Post by Dan Koch
Dan Koch's reflection on our family trip to the UAE:
What I appreciated about the culture in the UAE is that they loved children and were not afraid to approach us as obvious outsiders. Here in the US I have long felt that maybe we had a complex of some nature and I just couldn’t pin what I meant, until now.
The complex I speak of is the level of superiority or arrogance we have in general as Americans. History speaks for itself for how we as Americans have treated those that are not of certain backgrounds. Do I think we have the greatest armed forces? Yes. Do I live in the greatest Country? Yes. I am proud to live here and am blessed. It isn’t about pride in one’s country. It is about how we are viewed elsewhere and how we present ourselves as a people.
From our trip to the UAE I learned a sense of humbleness from being different. Look at the some of comments I got from posting one picture inside the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. This reflects what I am speaking of in a big picture. Ever since 9/11 I have seen the term terrorist evolve from Hans Gruber in Die Hard to anyone wearing a Kandara and Keffiyeh. This is what has been pumped into our brains from the Internet and television media. I am guilty for privately making jokes with many of you on many topics including this and am not above reproach.
I don’t get like this much because of my professional 7-5 job and I strive to remain politically neutral in order to not lose the public trust. I am going to cross that line for this case. Not everyone can go to the Middle East to learn life lessons as Libby, Joe, Lynn and I recently have. Here is my conclusion. We walk on eggshells within our own country, we throw eggs at others while simultaneously calling foul if one is thrown back. Here is the translation. The evolution of the education system, general association that anyone who wears a Kandara and Keffiyeh must be a terrorist and comments from overseas outlets on Ferguson and how dare they judge us here in America.
We lack many things here and I can’t change this Country and I can’t change Missouri. For those of you in Missouri, Tom Schweich’s suicide and the rumored and unconfirmed reasons behind it is another example. An outsider in the world of politics, wanting to make a difference in the State and rumored to be gaining momentum in the Governor’s race and one’s religious background comes up as a way to smear him and lose public trust. Yes, that is politics. It is also an example (if true) of the arrogance and nature our supposed leaders have that I speak of. Mr. Schweich was described in one article I read as genuine and humble. Those are qualities we need in our leaders. Someone pushed the wrong buttons and it led to the premature death of a person. Behavior like that is what we do here and it is embarrassing. Heck, behavior like that motivates me to run for governor just because I am an outsider and could or would drive people nuts for using logic and efficiency over looking better than someone else. I don’t care that I don’t have the legislative experience or that I am not an attorney which somehow in some eyes is a pre-qualifier. I also don’t have the funds or time to take away from work and my family to campaign across Missouri but dang it burns my hide to see this happened. I am surrounded by genuine and humble leaders in Platte County and I wish there were more as you move up the legislative chain.
I was not privileged enough to meet Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum or Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan during our visit. Although it would have been an honor and a blessing to meet the aforementioned leaders and visionaries, I had the honor of meeting and interacting with the everyday public just as I get to do in making my living as a public servant. A gentleman at the Fish Market in Abu Dhabi approached us to ask how we like it in the UAE. We obviously looked different and this man didn’t hesitate to strike up a conversation and welcome us. A shopkeeper at the Central Souk greeted us and made us feel welcome and at home. Besides the awesome memories with my family, the welcoming nature I experienced and observed towards obvious outsiders is something I will now work on thanks to this trip.
Saturday, March 28, 2015
Top 5 Things I’m Missing About the UAE
1. Coffee
This is so petty, but if you know me, you know I
LOVE my coffee. It was deliciously
smooth and satisfying. I didn’t need to
add anything to it at all. I usually add
cream and sugar to my coffee until it looks a bit like really light hot
cocoa.
2. Welcoming People
We were obviously very out of place
everywhere we went. In the states even the most polite of people avoid or
sidestep a situation where people don’t look like they are “from around
here.” Others might take it to the
opposite extreme and be rude or condescending to the people who are out of
place. This was not our experience in
the UAE. Most people said hello to us. They asked us where we were from, what we
thought of the country, were we enjoying ourselves, etc. These weren’t just hotel people who are paid
to be nice or shopkeepers looking to make money. Everyone was amazingly nice to us.
They were especially welcoming to
the kids. I can’t count the number of
high fives and fist bumps they got or the times that people asked their names
or considered their feelings about things.
Lynn’s name was the name used for our family at the Rogo’s restaurant.
Joe’s afternoon tea was free because he didn’t really like it. We didn’t complain or ask for it to be free;
it just wasn’t on our bill when we were checking out of the hotel. The lifeguards at our hotel and at the
Atlantis Aquaventure played with and talked to our kids like they were the
paying guests. Lynn gave a picture she colored to Jerome, one of the doormen at
the hotel, and Joe named his stuffed camel for this same doorman. Everywhere we
went, the people enjoyed our kids acting like kids and they wanted our kids to
be satisfied. This was a very sweet
change from our lives here where we feel like we always need to keep our kids
in check, seen and not heard, when we are out in public.
3. Weather
This is obvious coming from a Midwesterner at the
end of winter. We were in the UAE at
what we were told was the best time of year.
It is about to get extremely hot there, but we enjoyed temps of 70-85
degrees most days. There was usually a
cooling breeze out in the open and one could always escape inside to uber cool
air-conditioning if they sun got to be too much. Our hotel had lounge chairs
with umbrellas set up at the pool and the beach at no extra charge. This bit of shade was really enough to make
the hotter afternoons more comfortable.
Don’t get me wrong, I am sure I would miss the seasons of the Midwest,
but the idea of sun and beaches everyday is more appealing than anything I can
think of.
4. Highway System
Yes,
this is a weird thing to miss. The UAE’s
infrastructure is so new. The system is
well thought out and marked very well.
We learned very quickly to trust the road signs and not our GPS. The one thing I miss the most is the
dedicated truck lane. Trucks were only
allowed in one lane and they had different speed limits than cars. This just made the highways so easy to
navigate and seemed to move things along at a better pace.
5. Public Transportation
We did enjoy driving between Abu
Dhabi and Dubai and around our hotel’s local area. However, we also were extremely pleased with
the public transportation system. The
train system in Dubai was highly efficient and inexpensive. There were also taxis everywhere that were
very cheap. Getting a taxi wasn’t a
fight either. In the places where we
needed to catch a cab there were organized lines for the people waiting and
everyone took their turn.
 |
| Excellent coffee at breakfast our first morning |
 |
| Afternoon tea |
 |
| Dinner at Rogo's in the Yas Mall |
 |
| Joe retrieving his dinner from the roller coaster at Rogo's |
 |
| Lynn trying on different hats in the souks. |
 |
| Gorgeous day on the Persian Gulf |
 |
| Underpasses and tunnels were all decorated in different mosaic designs. |
 |
| The highways were so well planned and easy to navigate. |
 |
| Waiting for a cab in line at the Abu Dhabi Mall |
Wednesday, March 25, 2015
World Records in the UAE
The UAE boasts an extensive list of World Record holders. We were able to visit quite a few of them during our week in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Here are a few pictures and links if you'd like to learn more about all this big stuff.
Tallest Building:
Burg Khalifa 2,717 feet
Most Visited Mall:
Dubai Mall -12 million square feet
Inside the Dubai Mall:
Largest Candy Store:
Candylicious in the Dubai Mall 10,000 sq. ft.
Largest Indoor Aquarium:
Dubai Aquarium and Underwater Zoo- 10 million liters of
water
Largest Acrylic Panel:
Dubai Aquarium and Underwater Zoo - 32.8 m X 8.3 m X 750 mm
The Sheikh Zayed
Grand Mosque is the 3rd Largest Mosque and holds 3 world
records. http://alshindagah.com/shindagah83/culture_2.htm
Largest Hand-Knotted carpet:
1,200 artisans, 2.2 billion knots
Largest Chandelier: 10-meters in diameter and has a height of 15
meters, incorporates one million Swarovski crystals.
Largest Dome of its Kind:
32.8 meters in diameter, height of 70 meters from the inside
and 85 meters from the outside
Largest Man-Made Island:
Palm Jumeirah
Largest Truck Stop:
This record holder, the I-80 Truck Stop, is in Iowa, not the UAE, but I had to include it. We stopped there on our drive home from Chicago, and I just had to
laugh. I am proud that Iowa has anything
that is the “World’s Largest,” but it seemed funny after seeing such
extraordinary things in the UAE.
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