The Musings of Miss Modern

2011 - My Year in Review

2012-01-01T14:52:00.000-08:00

I'm up a lot earlier than I expected to be this morning, but seeing as how my friend Jenny was ready to leave the King's Head not long after midnight, I was home by 1am. Great party there, as usual. Retro Rhythm Review is always a good time.

Last year was a busy one and full of surprises. Highlights include:

- U2 with Jen and Pearl Jam with Jolene (ranked #1 and #2 respectively by the Winnipeg Sun as the best shows of 2011)

- Having a fun party with my neighbors so we could get to know each other

- My federal election party for politically-minded friends and colleagues. Jen brought a 2L of Orange Crush, which came in handy for toasts when the NDP were declared official opposition.

- Hanging out with my buddy James for the first time in four years. Our decade-long friendship has always been a long-distance one, having spanned a good portion of the country due to his job, so I was thrilled when he came to Winnipeg for work in March. We also hung out in July when I went to Edmonton with my parents.

- Trying (and loving!) new things like dragon boating, mixing drinks, and working for the provincial election.

- Football! I went to the Esks home opener with James and despite the torrential downpour, we had a fab time. I went to three Bomber home games, including one that I turned into a surprise birthday party for my dad. Labour Day Classic and Banjo Bowl could have been better, but it was cool to meet nice Rider fans for once (especially the elderly ladies who liked my gold shoes and accessories.)

- New friends! I never thought that that newbie teaching across the hall from me would become my work BFF. Jolene is one of the most awesome people I know and I am very blessed to have her in my life. I also never thought that the gal living across the street would become a good friend, plus be willing to look after my cat and house while I was overseas. Alyssa is a fantastic person whom I have relied on so much this year and we have enjoyed card-making and movie-watching together.

- My cat! Theodore is one of the best things that happened to me this year. He is so lovable and adorable, even if he's a bit mischievous at times.

- Quitting my job for a year to travel and just get away from school for awhile. Smartest thing I've done recently. I feel a lot happier, even though it's been financially challenging. But I'm not stressed about it. I've had plenty of time and energy to overhaul my domicile and it's nice to finally have some organization and structure around here!

The year certainly hasn't been perfect, but it's been a lot more good than bad. I'd rather focus on the good anyway.

Road Rules

2011-12-26T15:04:00.000-08:00

Observations on the operation of motor vehicles in India, as well as being a passenger and pedestrian:

1) As a driver, your horn is your most powerful weapon. Use it constantly.

2) Always drive as fast as you can. You're not in the car to look at the scenery.

3) If you come up behind a slower-moving vehicle, you must overtake it. Do not drive behind it like a wimp. Honk your horn insistently and cut in front when the other driver moves over to "give side" (lets you pass.)

4) When driving a two-wheeler, it is imperative that you dart in and out of traffic so as to give other drivers cardiac arrests. Make it more interesting by riding helmet-less or while your wife is riding sideways and holding your infant child.

5) Allow yourself plenty of time to get to your destination. It will take ten minutes to go three kilometres because the roads have to wind around everyone's precious property. As such, there is no such thing as a direct route. Deal with it.

6) Make sure you know alternate routes to your destination. There might be construction or political demonstrations by the Communists that cause delays of up to three hours.

7) If you operate a cab or an auto-rickshaw, be sure to charge people as much as they're willing to pay. After all, they hired you because they can't drive themselves for whatever reason, so why not take advantage of it? How about 50 rupees for a two-minute drive, or 720 rupees for 31 kilometres? Foreigners are at your mercy, after all.

8) Riding in a diesel vehicle for a prolonged period of time has the tendency to make you feel more sickly than if you were riding in a petrol vehicle, so drug yourself before getting into a Mahindra Scorpio or Tata Sumo. You may never get carsick in Canada, but you will get carsick in India. The combination of diesel, bumpy and winding roads, and the vehicle's terrible suspension will make you feel like you're on the worst amusement park ride ever. One little blue pill of paracetemol will ensure that you survive it. Otherwise, get ready to scream at the driver to pull over so you can fly into the ditch and yak your guts out.

9) Seatbelt usage is optional for backseat passengers, mostly because there will be more individuals riding in the vehicle than available seatbelts. If you find yourself wedged in between two plump relatives, you probably won't be going anywhere in the event of a collision anyway.

10) There are no pedestrian corridors. You are taking your life into your own hands each time you need to cross the street. As such, make sure to look both ways and hustle. Not every motorist will slow down or stop for you. Actually, the majority won't.

11) Buses are the alpha dogs of the road. There is no such thing as having the right of way simply because you're a pedestrian. If you're not moving fast enough when crossing the road, the bus will run over you and the driver won't have any second thoughts about it. He won't even be worried about anybody suing him. Think of it as natural selection. If you're not the fittest, you're not going to survive.

12) While the road has painted lines on it to specify where the lanes are, it is only a suggestion to drive within them.

Home!

2011-12-19T03:47:00.000-08:00

Well, we actually landed in Winnipeg last Thursday night. Woo hoo! I was excited to see the new terminal, but slightly disappointed that it now looks like pretty much every other terminal I've ever landed in. (For those of you paying attention to the dates, I flew out of the old terminal within a week of the new one opening.) There was always a feeling of "home" for me when I'd land in the Winnipeg terminal because it looked so different from other terminals around the world, but my first thought when I walked through the departure lounge was, "Oh, crud. Am I at Pearson?"

If you check the time stamp on this post, you'll realize that I'm not quite over my jet-lag. 11.5 hours is a big time difference to battle, but I'm doing all right with it. I went to bed at 10:30pm last night and was up at 5am, which is the closest thing to a night-time sleep I've gotten since I came home. It's been difficult to not just sleep when I'm tired (which I did for the first two days), so I'm trying to keep busy with my gigantic to-do list, which includes unpacking and laundry.

My cat was more than thrilled to have me back. There was the cutest Theo-shaped indentation on my bed (along with a pile of hair) from where he had been sleeping for 7 weeks. He was extremely vocal from the minute I walked through the door. He crawled onto my lap and wouldn't move. It was so cute! However, he got into an 8kg bag of food while being unsupervised and bored, so now he's a little chubby.

I went to my work Xmas party on Friday night and it was super fun to see everybody, considering I haven't seen most of them since June 30 when school got out. I'm hoping to stop by the school sometime this week and visit with some of the kids, if possible.

In less happy news, my car refuses to start and it's not the battery. I'm sort of kicking myself that I didn't arrange for anyone to start it periodically while I was gone, but I've been told by a few mechanics that it shouldn't not start just because it wasn't running for a short period of time. I'm praying that it's not a huge repair because I can't afford that right now. Besides, it's a decade-old car that I've had for eight years, so might be better to get something else instead of letting this one potentially burn money. In the meantime, I will be riding the bus.

More posts to follow, so stay tuned for that. Not sure how much writing I'll get done this week since I still need to unpack and my house is a disaster zone at the moment. (I have to dig out all my winter things since it was lovely fall weather when I left.) On top of all that, Christmas is next week and I haven't done any baking. Thankfully I finished 95% of my shopping in Dubai and India.

Later!

And the adventure unexpectedly continues...

2011-12-15T18:39:00.000-08:00

Since this trip started off with a major bump, it might as well end with one. As many of you know, I was scheduled to come home on Wednesday, December 14 in the evening. However, it is Thursday, December 15 and I am currently waiting at the airport in Calgary for my 9pm flight to Winnipeg. Argh!

I was in a state of sheer joy at Pearson yesterday as we boarded the plane for Winnipeg. After being awake for 30+ hours and flying for 18 hours, I was itching to get home. The 140-minute flight seemed painfully long and I was unusually restless.

The flight was already delayed by a good 35 minutes because something was wrong with the pilot's chair that prevented him from putting on his seatbelt, so they had to install a new chair. Of course I value the safety of the individual flying this giant beast, but I was like, "Seriously? The seatbelt is broken?"

By 8pm, we were circling above Winnipeg instead of landing. It turns out that the runway was too icy to land due to freezing rain... so we flew to Saskatoon to refuel and possibly wait to head back. I pretty much burst into tears at that point. For the last two weeks, I had wanted nothing more than to come home. However, my mom noted that we'd already been gone for 7 weeks, so what was one more day? Plus, we didn't want the plane to skid and crash and burst into flames, now did we?

In Saskatoon, we were told that we would be going to Calgary because there aren't any direct flights from Saskatoon to Winnipeg with Westjet. That's right, they were going to fly us even further. A few guys got out in Saskatoon to rent a car and drive to Winnipeg. Smart. If I hadn't been so exhausted, I might have done the same.

Rebooking everyone's flights and putting us all into hotels took forever, even though we were told that the agents in Calgary had started working on it while we were in Saskatoon. Mom and I waited in line at the Westjet counter from 10pm until 1:30am, and there were a few people behind us yet. Some people got split up on their flights since they were randomly assigned. For example, one woman was flying out at 6:30am today but her husband was only leaving at 6pm.

Then came the Good Samaritan situation. A group of Olympics-bound Canadian athletes had to be at a weigh-in by 5pm today, but they were all booked for evening flights. A Westjet agent asked for customers on earlier flights to give up their seats to these guys because if they missed the weigh-in, they wouldn't be going to London next year. Talk about super patriotic guilt trip. I was wearing my red Olympic sweater with "Canada" across the front in huge white letters, so there's no way I could have said no if my name had come up, even if it meant staying in Calgary for longer than I wanted.

In the end, neither my mom nor I were called upon to give up our seats, but we're still on a later flight. Last night, we were assigned a 6pm flight with a stopover in Edmonton. Now we're on a 9pm direct flight. The bright spot, of course, is that we got comped on everything - a fab hotel with hot tub and courtesy late checkout, cab fare, and meal vouchers. I can't imagine how much this would be costing the airline. Meal vouchers alone were $10 per meal times 3 meals times 200-ish people (it was a full flight.)

I'm heading to the security check now since we'll be boarding in an hour. Fingers crossed that I actually make it home tonight and that I don't end up in Regina.

The Big Game in Bengaluru

2011-12-02T23:41:00.001-08:00

Thanks to Winnipegger Furby05 on Justin.tv, I was able to stream the 99^th Grey Cup live on TSN for free. It was a superior feed with stunning picture quality and sound, almost like watching it at home (but on a slightly smaller screen.)

Unfortunately, I had to experience the Bomber offence pooping all over the field with stunning picture quality and sound. Yuck. Note to coaches and players: The last three minutes of the game is not the time to start bagging touchdowns. No ring for Doug Brown, no Cup win for the River City since I was in grade 4. “There's always next year” is a chorus we've been singing in Winnipeg for over two decades. Argh.

In spite of the game itself, I had a lot of fun engaging in the live chat with other viewers worldwide (mostly Bomber fans), as well as the odd Canadian student who would rather buy internet than cable. Most of us were displaced Winnipeggers (and one guy from Morden... a Mordenite?) The cities represented were: Los Angeles, some small-town in Michigan, London, Dublin, Munich, Taipei, Tokyo, Cape Town, Brisbane, and Bangalore (me).

It was the closest thing to having an actual Grey Cup party, sans food and bevvies. We chatted back and forth about spectacular catches and horrendous plays, just like my friends and I would do in person. As things got worse for our Blue & Gold, we debated Coach LaPo's decision to not put Brink in for a few plays, argued about whether or not the Bombers would gamble on their handful of 3^rd and short opportunities, and wondered whether or not they would go for a 2-point convert after the TD late in the 4^th.

When the game started going from bad to worse in the 3^rd, I almost stopped watching entirely but kept chatting with my comrades because that was far more entertaining. Of course, I was trying to make the best of having woken up at 4am for my team (only to watch them choke), so at least I made some virtual friends out of it.

It seems that Furby05 had been providing a feed for the entire CFL season to all those living abroad. At the end of the game, everyone signed off by saying, “Thanks for the season! See you at the World Juniors!” I think he might be doing Jets games as well. Ain't technology grand? All you need is a high-speed internet connection and you can keep up with your favourite sports team across the continents, oceans, and time zones.

From worst to first is great, but we have to end the Cup drought at some point, preferably in my lifetime.

Grey Cup Monday

2011-11-27T15:12:00.000-08:00

It is 4:21am in Bangalore, India. I am sitting alone at the kitchen table in my friend's flat, wearing my Bomber hat and my new blue and gold kurta, hoping and praying that I can properly stream this game online. So far, the pre-game show on TSN.ca show looks good... mostly because Buck Pierce is on-screen.

My friend's wife has to work early this morning, so I am sitting mostly in the dark, wearing headphones and plan to watch this game in silence. That's going to be a stretch since very little about me is "silent", especially when it comes to football. Even when I watch the game by myself at home, I'm jumping off the couch and shouting. If I try to jump at all now, I'll smash my knee into the table, which won't be very quiet.

I'm trying not to think about all of my friends back home and the cool parties they're having... or the wicked party I could be hosting. (I've had some epic bashes to my credit.) Needless to say, it's a different sort of Grey Cup for me this year, but I'm happy that my mom arranged the trip to Bangalore for this weekend so that I could have high-speed internet access. If I was still in Ranny, I'd be missing the Grey Cup outright.

I hope that getting up this early will be really worth it. Bring home the Cup, boys!

13 Random Thoughts

2011-11-22T01:35:00.000-08:00

There is just a ton of stuff happening on my side of world right now, but I can't spend the whole afternoon at the Internet shop to type it all out, so much of it will have to wait (possibly until I get home to my high-speed wi-fi.) Hope that's cool with everyone. (I'm sure some of you are dying to know why I called it "Taj Ma-hell".)

In the meantime, here's a post of 13 random thoughts from the last few weeks, which doesn't require much time to type:

1) Lay's Spanish Tomato Tango chips taste like ketchup chips.

2) Indian chocolate bars taste a bit different (less sugar, maybe?) but I eat them anyways because they're chocolate.

3) Mahatma Gandhi is on all denominations of Indian notes (bills). Interesting that we have the Queen and various Prime Ministers on our money, whereas the Indians honour the one person who pretty much single-handedly gave the country its independence.

4) The Taj Mahal is always closed on Fridays.

5) Delhi's international airport and one stadium are named after Indira Gandhi. Delhi also hosted the 2010 Commonwealth Games... a sporting event that many countries, including Canada, were reluctant to attend.

6) Job I would not want to have in India: plumber. Disgusting and gross on so many levels.

7) Job that is in high demand in India: driver (because driving here is absolutely insane and nobody really wants to do it.)

8) It's been four weeks since I left home and I've managed to avoid using a "Turkish toilet". Woo hoo! Only three more weeks to go!

9) Even when it's a bazillion degrees outside, Indians want to drink piping hot chai. Weird, I know. But it gets weirder - they often drink this chai in glass tumblers, the kind you'd usually use for water or juice. No idea why they don't use a coffee mug or teacup. I burned my hand and almost dropped a cup of tea as I was passing it to someone because the glass was so unbelievably hot.

10) Further to the above-mentioned, Indians think I'm weird because I like to drink ice-cold water from the fridge. Um, hello - it's a bazillion degrees outside!

11) This morning I ate fried plantain for the eighth straight breakfast. That's got to be some kind of record.

12) There is no such thing as vanity sizing here or in Dubai. I am wearing at least an XL for tops, sometimes XXL.

13) On the subject of Indian clothing, all pants and skirts are way too long on me. This has been the case for me as long as I can remember. I am 5'5". My mom at 5'7" is considered tall for Indian culture. Yet all of the pants and skirts are made for at least 5'10". I refuse to wear anything that can work double duty as a broom, especially in India. Gross.

Off to Bangalore on Friday and then Bombay (Mumbai) on Tuesday. Back to Kerala next Saturday. Later!

Home in 4 weeks!

2011-11-17T03:46:00.000-08:00

I was feeling a bit homesick the other day, so my mom made some white cheddar KD for dinner and I felt loads better after that. (The two chocolate bars my cousin bought from the margin-free shop for me probably helped as well!)

It's been three weeks since I left Winnipeg and I think it's safe to say that the "holiday" portion of this trip is over. Some of you are probably thinking that I'm on vacation here no matter what because I don't have to do any housework or report to a place of employment. (Trust me, I'd beat my clothes against a rock if I knew how to do it properly.)

Overall, coming to Kerala is never really a vacation for a displaced Malu (someone like me who lives abroad). Here are a few reasons why:

1) There's usually a bazillion relatives to visit, which means hours on end at various houses, eating banana chips. This can get tiresome after awhile, mostly because people start asking all kinds of probing questions about your schooling and why you're not married yet.

2) Driving here is insane (a topic upon which I shall expound in a later post) so it takes forever to get anywhere. In 2002, it took precisely one hour for us to drive 28km to my aunt's place a few towns over. We were going 50-60km/h the whole time. As such, going anywhere past the town junction requires a great deal of planning.

3) Imagine going to a tropical destination and not being able to wear shorts or a tank top. Welcome to my sweaty little corner of hell. It's hot as heck and yet everyone is practically covered head to toe. Go figure.

4) Have you ever gone on holiday someplace where you couldn't make yourself understood without much painful effort? That is daily life in Kerala for this Canadian-born Malu. I can understand everything people are saying to me, but trying to put enough words together so that I make sense to my audience is a stupid amount of work.

5) I have to be super careful about what I eat and drink so that I don't end up horrendously ill. (Vaccines aren't perfect.) Plain roti and butter toast were the extent of my breakfasts and suppers at the hotels in Northern India. All water and milk must be boiled and cooled before I can drink it, though I'm currently keeping the Indian bottled water companies in business, hoping that the rumours aren't true about tap water being used in bottled water and sold at exorbitant prices. If so, then I will surely die soon.

Don't get me wrong, people - I'm actually having a fairly decent time here. I expected much worse, to be honest. But it can't be that bad if the biggest things stressing me out here are the heat and the bugs. I don't miss my cell phone or going to work. I am starting to really miss my dad, my cat, the Bombers (haven't been to an East Final since '07, our last time at the Cup), and my friends.

Off for some retail therapy with my aunt. Bye!

Trivia Time!

2011-11-16T00:04:00.000-08:00

For a chance to win a fabulous prize from India, correctly answer the following question:

At the moment, I have currencies of five different countries in my wallet. If you can name all five, you win a prize.

Rules & Regs
1) To ensure fairness, please post your answer as a comment to this blog instead of emailing me directly.
2) Please post only once (be sure about your answer before posting!)
3) You must know me personally in order to be eligible to win. (I'm not mailing prizes to random readers worldwide.)
4) In the event of a tie, all correct submissions will receive a prize.
5) In the event of nobody getting all five currencies correct, I will give a prize for the next highest number correct.

Good luck! Contest closes in ONE WEEK. Let's see who's been paying attention to my blog :)

Welcome to Kerala!

2011-11-08T03:08:00.000-08:00

Kerala fast facts: population roughly that of Canada; 560 km long and 120 km at its widest point.

Rather than crabbing about the heat and the vampire-like insects, here's a list of ten interesting things about "God's Own Country" in 2011 that I've noted over the last five days:

1) Everybody has a mobile phone. I mean everybody. From the toothless old man next door to the always-barefoot lady at the market, Keralites are staying connected. Most people have decade-old Nokia models, but it's more than they had before. (Though I did spy an iPhone at Cochin Airport.)

2) There are way nicer cars on the road. In '02, it was all old-school non-A/C Ambassadors (car with a '50s look - think Havana, Cuba.) Now there are hatchbacks, sedans, and the odd crossover - most with A/C! My aunt and uncle have a sweet Suzuki Maruti, but I can't drive it - right-side drive, left side of the road. Heck no.

3) My aunt has a water heater! I don't have to boil water for my bath - the hot water is all ready to come out of the tap! I just have to flip the switch for the heater five minutes before bath time so that the water has time to heat up. I don't have to worry about running out of hot water part way through my bath. Too bad I'm not staying with here for my whole trip, but I do have to visit my dad's side of the family, too. (No water heaters there.)

4) In spite of the intense sunshine, nobody (and I mean nobody) wears sunglasses here. Everybody just squints. I'd rather not get glaucoma or cataracts or whatever other eye diseases are caused by UV rays, so I wear my shades and try to ignore everyone who's staring at me for wearing them.

5) You can get everything here. Yes, everything. Nutella, ketchup, baby wipes (and most other things that pushed my baggage to its weight limits) can all be purchased here. If I had known that, I wouldn't have dragged it all with me from home. I will still continue to bring my own 3-ply t.p., though.

6) Apparently, I look like last season's winner of Idea! Star Singer (the Indian version of American Idol.) I haven't yet looked up this person on Google Images to see whether or not I really look like her, but maybe that's why people were staring at me in town the other day.

7) Imagine my surprise at seeing dozens of Che Guevara posters all over town. I actually had to look twice to make sure I didn't mistake him for some South Indian person. As it turns out, the official opposition party of Kerala State is the Communist Party, so Che is everywhere. I didn't know there were Communists in Kerala.

8) Liquid salt has been fascinating me since '89, so I guess it's not a new observation (but still a fun one!) Because of the humidity, salt in crystal form won't keep (I suppose it would get clumpy), so we use liquid salt on our food. The sugar is still in crystals, though.

9) I have become one with nature here. Random dogs, chickens, and cows wander into the yard and just hang out. Small lizards climbs the living room walls. I went to take a nap yesterday and there was a frog on the pillow. (I certainly wasn't expecting that and I did make a bit of noise when I saw it.)

10) People here know how to mobilize. The price of petrol went up a few days ago, so the Communist Party organized a state-wide protest against using petrol, going as far as to block roads to general traffic. Public transport was cancelled altogether. The protest happens on a day-by-day basis. Apparently, it's not on today.

Off to New Delhi, Agra, and Jaipur (Northern India) on Thursday until Sunday, after which point I will be leaving Palakkad (Northern Kerala) and heading to my parents' hometown of Ranny (southern Kerala). Later!

Shock & Awe in the Luxury Capital of the World

2011-11-01T22:14:00.000-07:00

I previously posted that I'm not homesick here in Dubai because a lot of things are the same (like shops and restaurants.) The Gulf News published an article about the Vancouver Canucks in their sports section, which made me feel a connection to home, even if the article was on the very last page, after all of cricket and UEFA news.

There are a few things around here that have taken some getting used to and other things that I will probably never understand, even though I try to be open-minded.

Under Cover - It is stupid hot here all the time and these poor women are covered head to toe in black polyester. (The guys get to wear white, by the way.) I was sweating when I wore a full gown and veil for just two minutes yesterday over my t-shirt and capri pants.

All Dressed Up and No One to Show - The real head-scratcher is seeing the incredibly fashionable clothes at the mall. Every time I go shopping, I look at these gorgeous "western" outfits and I think to myself, " Who are they selling this to? Who would wearing this?" Of course, Arab women wear "regular" clothes under their burqas. So then I think, "What's the point if nobody gets to see it?" Just a different way of thinking, I guess. In North America, people often wear clothes to look good for other people. Here, I guess the women have to wear nice clothes for themselves since they can't show it off.

I Do, I Do, I Do - I've seen guys here with more than one wife. It was unnerving to see a guy holding hands with two women, but that is the culture here. I'm fairly certain that it would never catch on in North America even if it was legalized because many guys I know can't stand the one wife they've already got, so why would they want a second one to nag them, right? (Totally joking.)

Brown Town - The cultural mosaic looks different here because I haven't seen a lot of Caucasian people who weren't tourists. The main cultural groups in Dubai seem to be Arabs, Indians, Pakistanis, and Filipinos. Indians are the largest number of expats.

We Are Family - As I mentioned in the last post, the majority of people live in flats. You have to be super rich to live in a house (or villa, as it's known here.) It is not uncommon to read property listings that advertise "maid's room". Wealthy families hire live-in maids and nannies, especially since Arab families have many kids. I often saw Filipino women pushing strollers behind non-polygamous Arab couples at the mall. I know people in Winnipeg who won't even leave their kids with immediate family.

Say A Little Prayer - Muslims pray five times a day. Malls and other public places have prayer rooms so that people can pray at the designated times. A loudspeaker announces the prayer time (which I could hear from inside the flat at 5am). The mall PA system is used for the same purpose.

Off to Ikea for breakfast, so I'll let you know about more Middle Eastern/Indian idiosyncracies later on!

Sun and Fun!

2011-11-01T16:31:00.000-07:00

I have less than 24 hours left in Dubai, so I should probably post again. I've made several attempts to post throughout the week, but the Blogger menu kept coming up in Arabic.

It's been a busy week. Almost every day has been packed full of stuff to do. I don't feel homesick yet because it feels like home here (though I do miss my dad, my cat, and the Bombers.) From Starbucks to Banana Republic, there isn't a single shop or restaurant that Dubai doesn't have. (I haven't seen a Wal-Mart yet, but I'm okay with that.) I stopped in my tracks when I saw a couple with Tim Hortons cups at Mall of the Emirates. There's even an Ikea, but I'm not sure how people would get those boxes into their flats because the lifts seem very small. (Most people live in flats, not houses.)

I've also gotten my fill of "western" movies and music. I watched a highly edited (but still hilarious) version of "The Hangover" the day I arrived, I watched "Twilight" the other day, and "Behind Enemy Lines" this evening. The mall stores play Justin Bieber, Nickelback, and Taylor Swift - so it's no different than being at Polo Park or St Vital Centre.

I've done touristy stuff as well. The fountain display at Dubai Mall was incredible and I also got an amazing view of the Burg Khalifa. We saw the indoor ski park (Ski Dubai) at Mall of the Emirates, but I didn't go in because I didn't come all the way here to do something I can do at home for half the year. The crowds were unreal since snow is a novelty in a place that hardly even gets rain. I bet they'd feel differently if they had to live in three feet of it from November till April and shovel it all the time.

Speaking of November, I got a sunburn while swimming in the Arabian Sea at Jumeirah beach today. It didn't feel like November to me at all (more like July or August!) I will be in for a nasty shock when I come home in six weeks, so I'm enjoying this while I can. It has been sunny and cloudless each day I've been here, which I don't mind, but it's hard to imagine living in a place that doesn't have distinct seasons. Hot, hotter, and less hot are not seasons to me.

Yesterday was "desert safari". We went out to a desert by the UAE/Oman border in a Land Cruiser and our driver bashed the sand dunes. It was fun for about the first three minutes, after which point it felt like annoying airplane turbulence. We also rode on camels, dressed in traditional Arabic outfits, watched belly dancing, and ate kebabs. It was an authentic Arab experience. (No, I did not partake in shisha.)

There's been a bit of culture shock (which I'll write about separately), but I'm sure it'll be nothing compared to what I'll experience in India. Before I left, I found part of the journal I kept when I went to India in '02. Most of it was me crabbing about the heat, the bugs, the hygiene and sanitation practices, how long it took to get everywhere... I have a feeling that not much will have changed in those respects, but I'm looking forward to seeing what kind of progress has been made since the last time I was there.

Happy Diwali from Dubai!

2011-10-26T12:29:00.000-07:00

I'm happily digesting my chicken shwarma while enjoying the A/C in my cousin Ashly's flat, reflecting on both the nightmarish and enjoyable events of the past 28 hours.

The Emirates flight was fantabulous. We were treated like royalty. It was reminiscent of my family's British Airways flight from London to New Delhi in '02. The meals and snacks were a million notches above regular airplane food. The on-screen entertainment was so extensive that I didn't take out a book or my iPod Touch even once. I indulged in a few episodes of Glee and The Big Bang Theory before falling asleep to a Mumford & Sons album.

After we landed at half past six, we went to the ladies' room to freshen up. I panicked when I saw a hole in the ground in the stall, but Mom found the regular toilets on the other side. Little did I know that a squatty potty would be the least of my worries later on.

Back story: As of 3 January, Canadians must have a visa to enter UAE. The Harper government really dropped the ball on that one. Prior to this, one received a visa free of charge at the airport.

Passport control said my UAE visa had expired that day so I was denied entry while Mom's visa was good until December. We had gone through a visa agency in Ottawa to get visas for UAE and they screwed it up big time. It was kind of ridiculous because Mom and I filled out the forms exactly the same way and she got a 60-day tourist visa while I got a 14-day service visa, which was issued 8 days before the date indicated on my form (meaning that most of its validity was while I was still in Canada.)

We tried calling the agency, but neither their toll-free nor international numbers worked from the airport payphone. Luckily I had enough charge on my Touch and laptop to send several hours' worth of emails to my dad and the agency, who wanted me to wait till 3pm the next day for another visa that I would have to pay for. (Because paying $225 the first time wasn't enough.)

At 9am today (almost 15 hours after we landed), I got a free visa from a local agent. The aiport immigration officials used the words "liars" and "cheaters" to describe this Ottawa agency. I contacted the Canadian embassy in Dubai, but haven't heard back from anyone yet. I hope to go there in person and I also plan to contact my MP. We were trapped in the airport for 15 hours because of a stupid agency error (and their overall incompetence.)

There is no reason anyone should have to wait 15 hours for a visa that takes an hour to process through an online system. I also shouldn't have been issued a service visa when I clearly said I was a tourist and they shouldn't have issued a visa that was valid well before my travel dates. Plus, they shouldn't expect me to pay for a second visa when it's their fault I couldn't use the first one that I already paid for.

Moral of the story: Don't pay for someone else (i.e. an agency) to do something that you could probably do yourself. If you are travelling to UAE, fly Emirates and purchase your visa through the airline. I would never recommend this agency. Besides all of the hassle, they charged three times the going rate for the visa. It's just a total rip-off and they're a bunch of scam artists who need to be shut down.

Other than that, we're having a fun time with my cousins. My cousin's daughter is so cute and has warmed up to me and Mom very quickly, even though this is the first time she's meeting us. It is super hot and humid here, though my cousins don't think 28 degrees is all that warm. I can't imagine what it's like here in the actual hot season! Today is Diwali so we are going shopping tomorrow at Safeer mall to check out the good deals!

Sorry for the long post, but couldn't write yesterday because of all the craziness going on. Bye for now!

Bath time in Kerala!

2011-10-21T14:33:00.000-07:00

Guidelines for bathing in Ranny, Kerala as I remember from nine years ago:

1) Only cold water comes out of the shower head, so you will be taking a bath and not a shower. Deal with it.

2) Bathing in the dark is complicated, so time your bath in accordance with local (scheduled) power outages, sometimes known as rolling blackouts. Afternoon is best.

3) Boil a few pots of water about 20 minutes before you are ready to take your bath. This is your hot water to wash and rinse.

4) Take your hot water to the bathroom. This may mean having to walk outside with it if there are exterior facilities. Go quickly but carefully so that you do not spill and burn yourself or waste any water.

5) Start your bath immediately. That water isn't going to stay hot forever.

6) Eyeball the water and portion it appropriately. If you use too much for washing, you won't have enough for rinsing.

7) As per point four, don't waste any of your water by spilling it or knocking it over. It's all you've got, unless you want to resort to the cold stuff out of the tap.

8) Try not to splash water all over the place. There are no shower curtains or tubs and nobody wants to sit on a sopping wet toilet seat later on. Mop up when you're finished.

Primitive, isn't it? Kind of makes you appreciate being able to stand under hot running water for 15 minutes with next to no effort.

Many things change in nine years...

2011-10-18T22:04:00.000-07:00

As I prepare for my upcoming trip to India, I am reminded of the last time I was there, which was in 2002. Here's what my life looked like then:

- I didn't own a car.
- I still lived at home.
- I had no idea about a career. I'd only just graduated with a 3-year B.A. from U of W and was journalism-bound.
- I had a very different circle of friends. (I don't even talk to most of those people now.)
- Most of the people that I knew were not married.
- Most of the people that I knew did not have children,
- I had four piercings and zero body art.
- I still wore glasses and contact lenses.

Now I have a mortgage, a permanent teaching position, a lovable and adorable cat, four more piercings (two of which are not in my ears), two tattoos, almost 20/20 vision (it deteriorated a bit after the surgery), a bro-in-law, a sis-in-law, married friends and ones with babies... lots of new conversation pieces for the relatives back home, eh?

No Jets fever here

2011-10-13T02:35:00.000-07:00

I'm probably one of only a handful of people in this province who's not excited about having an NHL team again. I find it difficult to be excited about something I will more than likely never get to experience live (at least in the next five years.)

I used to go to Jets games all the time as a kid. Affordable tickets were relatively easy to come by. Now, thanks to Bettman and the "business" of pro hockey, I'd have to give more than just an arm and a leg to get into that arena on game day. And I'm supposed to be happy about this?

I'm a grown-up with a mortgage, utility bills, etc. I can't drop $90 on a hockey game. Too bad we didn't have the team a few years ago when I had a huge disposable income (thanks to working and living at home.) It would have been the ideal financial situation for buying NHL tix.

I have been fortunate enough to see two NHL games since the Jets left town - New York Islanders at Ottawa in '07 and Pittsburgh at Buffalo in '08. I guess I can just continue to visit other cities to get my live hockey fix.

Overheard at my polling station...

2011-10-13T00:25:00.000-07:00

On the "I Voted!" stickers (part of a campaign by Citizen Next):
"We get stickers this year!"
"Yay, I passed!"
"I get a sticker for voting? Cool!"
"Are you the lady with the stickers?"

On low voter turnout:
"[Voting] is so easy, I don't know why more people don't do it. I guess they're just lazy."

On being an official future voter:
me to small child: "So you're going to vote when you get bigger, right?"
small child: *nods*
parent: "How old do you have to be to vote?"
small child: "Four."

Stuff I learned working for Elections

2011-10-12T23:53:00.000-07:00

10 Random Nuggets of Truth from my brief employment with Elections Manitoba:

1. Some people have unfortunate last names.
2. Some people have unfortunate first names.
3. The city of Winnipeg must be running out of ideas for street names because they have started using adjectives.
4. My electoral division had 100.75% enumeration.
5. 15% of people in my electoral division voted in advanced polls.
6. Even in the technological age, pencil and paper are used for voting.
7. Elections cost a stupid amount of money in paper alone.
8. It's hard to not be political when doing a job that is all about politics.
9. You don't need to show ID to vote if your name is on the voter's list. How's that for an honour system?
10.Working at a returning office means long hours, not always the most exciting tasks, and just minimum wage, but the experience and résumé references are priceless.

A lot can happen in 365 days...

2011-05-19T21:27:00.000-07:00

May 19, 2010 - a highly significant day in my young life for two reasons

1) I completed the first of three ultrasound exams that would later determine that I have endometriosis, which now requires daily oral contraceptives to regulate my hormones and avoid bleeding like I'm dying. The other treatment plan is a hysterectomy, which my OB/GYN didn't even consider because of my age.

That's the funny thing about your uterus - apparently you lose it if you don't use it. Endometriosis is my body's way of saying, "You missed the boat on having kids, girlfriend."

If I knew for sure that I didn't want kids, I'd have the hysterectomy and be done with the monthly annoyance. As it stands, I'm fairly certain that I don't want kids, mostly because I don't think I'm cut out for parenting. Nearly a decade of teaching junior high is the best birth control around. I also don't believe I'll ever meet a guy with whom I actually want to procreate, but I'm not taking that option off the table entirely. Call me a hopeless romantic with a penchant for covert optimism.

2) After looking at roughly 40 properties and making two offers that went nowhere, Norm and Mariette accepted my offer and agreed to sell their house to me a year ago today, around 7:15pm. I remember getting the text message from my realtor Eric and feeling a flurry of emotions - surprise, excitement, happiness, shock, fear (aagh, it's a mortgage!) What a huge milestone, not just for me, but for anyone.

Tim, (the guy with whom I was in a very serious relationship at the time) and I jumped in the car and drove to Mercato Gelato for a celebratory treat, then over to Windsor Park to see my new money pit. I had visited the house on two separate occasions, once with Eric and also with my parents, but Tim had never seen the place and I wanted him to do a walk-through since I envisioned us both living there someday. Mariette saw us coming up the driveway and gave me a huge hug when I reached the front door. We had never met, but she said she just knew that I was the one she'd sold her house to.

Tim and I spent good portions of the summer shopping at Canadian Tire and Rona, as well as doing various stuff around the house (like taking down a wall of wood panelling, sanding down the drywall, and painting.) It was lots of grueling work, but it was fun to do it together.

I moved a ton of furniture and kitchen stuff on August 21 and ate my first official meal in my home with my moving company (Jay, Char, Jen, and Tim.) Mark came over the same evening and brought a dresser with a mirror and a rocking chair with an ottoman that Tim's parents gave me. It really started looking like a home at that point. I spent my first official night here on September 11.

Fast forward a year - I haven't seen Tim since October 7 when he stormed out on me at Starbucks. I haven't talked to him on the phone since January 17 when I called to wish him happy birthday. Last Thursday, I finally got up the nerve to exchange stuff. Even thinking about it now makes me sad. That's not what I wanted or what I planned for. Not even close.

I have a renter in the basement, though he's moving out in two weeks because I'm not sure what's going on with my life right now and he didn't want to end up homeless if I decided to sell the place.

I also have the most adorable, lovable cat ever named Theodore (aka Theo and Tio bébé) and he is the best thing to happen to me this year, hands and paws down. It is nice to have something that loves you so unconditionally, especially after the blow that life dealt me in the fall.

So this is my life precisely one year later:
- I lost a really great guy (who I guess wasn't that great, on second thought)
- I feel like my single status has alienated me from my "attached" friends (which results in a lot of lonely weekends in front of my 47" tv)
- I'm taking an unpaid leave of absence from my totally awesome job next year to make an attempt at putting my life back together (which is weird because I'm leaving the one thing that is going well for me right now)
Ergo, I spend more days wishing I didn't exist than being glad that I do. It's not much fun.

Here's to another 365 days (366, I suppose, since 2012 is a leap year.) Here's hoping that things only get better from here on in and manage to stay that way for longer than eight months...