Quick sidetrip to Dubai

Here are some images from the brief time I spent in Dubai just a few weeks ago. I visited the United Arab Emirates and this dynamic city while making my way home from India. It just took a few adjustments with my flight itinerary and cashing in some United mileage points to score my first visit to the Middle East. I also had the opportunity to visit the Manja family, friends and former colleagues from my time spent teaching and coaching in North Dakota. Joe, Nickie, and their son Matthew have been in Dubai for close to 5 years. They are wonderful people, and were so kind to open up their home to me during my visit to Dubai. We had a great visit and time of fellowship together, and they also prepared one of the best lasagnas I've ever tasted. I also want to thank them for their recommendations, suggestions, and list of attractions they provided for me to take in during my limited time there.

Residential area near Mirdif where I stayed--- This area is a popular choice for expats.

Sleek Desert Living

Marina near the Old quarter

The Bastakiya-- The old quarter consisting of original settlements

Remnants of a 19th century city wall

Narrow streets, touristy shops and boutiques, and some fascinating architecture

Construction fever alive and well in this city

Skyscrapers dominate the landscape in Dubai

Buildings here come in many shapes and sizes

Shopping malls are also popular here--- A safe haven when the barometer hits 115-120 during the summer months

The Dubai Mall--- Here are some interesting facts about the place

Is world's largest mall based on total area
Has over 1200 shops and over 12 million sq. ft. of floor space
Has over 120 restaurants and cafes and 54 million visited the mall in 2011
Has over 14,000 parking spaces & world's largest candy store- over 10,000 sq. ft.
Has an enormous aquarium, 22 screen cinema, ice skating rink, and much, much, more

Unique Diver fountains inside the Dubai Mall

Prepare for Impact

Kind of reminded me of Greg Louganis

Lunch Time

Believe it or Not, This aquarium actually sprung a leak last year, and the mall had to be evacuated!!

Ice skating at the mall

And connected to the Mall--- The Burj Khalifa
This is the largest building in the world standing at 2,723 feet
It opened in 2010, cost 1.5 billion to construct, and has 160 floors
The elevators inside are the world's fastest, moving at over 40 mph
Rental space costs over 4,000 U.S. dollars per square ft.
The building contains the world's 2nd highest swimming pool, a nightclub on the 144th floor
There is an observation deck on the 124th floor, but all tickets were sold out-- Maybe next time!!

Buildings adjacent to the Burj Khalifa fronted by the lagoon & outdoor fountains

Time for a visit to one of the fabulous beaches on the Persian Gulf-- Marina Beach

Clear seas and refreshing waters are the norm in the winter months-- I am told that water temps. more closely resemble bath tub water temps. during the summer months



Warning-- The Next Image May Be Disturbing to Some Viewers-- Viewer Discretion is Advised

I never realized that I bare a close resemblance to the Michelin Man--- Or maybe it's the Pillsbury Dough Boy!

The Atlantis Resort in the distant center-- Our family vacationed at the Atlantis Resort in Nassau, Bahamas just a few months ago & I would highly recommend it

These high rises overlooked the Marina Beach Area

Concrete and Steel Meets the Sand

After taking a dip in the sea, I realized it was time to regroup--- Starbucks seemed like a solid choice. What to do after lingering in the sun, sand, and waters of the Persian Gulf? Something much cooler of course

After a 10 minute adrenaline filled taxi cab drive where I demanded that the driver keep it under 100 mph-- it was off to the Emirates Mall for some skiing-- Yes, I said skiing in the desert!

From the beach to the slopes in less than 30 minutes!--- A winter wonderland inside the Mall

Skiing, Tubing, and an assortment of other delights await the winter sports lover

First, I must ditch the swim trunks and don the proper gear

The cold air actually felt great

The slopes weren't crowded, so it was an enjoyable experience for all winter sports enthusiasts

The lifts were slow, but they still do the trick of getting you to the top of the slopes

Always keep your skis somewhat parallel--- Especially on the chairlifts

For a small fee, you can have a BALL & reach the bottom of this slope by means of a large sphere

Ski Dubai was worth the price of admission-- about 170 dirhams (46 U.S. dollars and it covers 2 hours) for all clothing rental, skis, boots, and poles, lift ticket, and even an insurance policy--- A GOOD IDEA !!!

Fortunately, I didn't need the insurance policy on this day. I did cram a lot into my 30 hours in Dubai (29.25 to be exact) and I would certainly like to return with my family someday. It has now entered into my top 10 of world cities that I've visited. I'll not sure who gets bumped out in this ranking, but Dubai deserves a spot in my top 10. It is a dynamic city full of many contrasts and so full of people from all walks of life. I had 6 different cab drivers during my stay, 3 from Pakistan, 2 from India, and 1 from Bangladesh. The scene at the airport when I flew out was like being at the United Nations. Dubai truly has many different flavors and although a bit pricey, it was certainly worth the effort it took to get there.


Lights out.

A Day In The Life Of ...

On numerous occasions throughout the day, I find myself speechless. Sometimes, I feel like our lives in this "Family of Five" would make great fodder for a television Sitcom. There is always fresh material, exceptional drama, cutting edge story lines, and a cast of compelling characters to say the least. Here is a short outtake from a routine morning in our household.

At 7:21--- Our oldest daughter Kamryn (age 12 going on 21) places the 2nd trash bag outside her room from the previous day's room cleaning debacle. The bus will be here in less than 5 minutes, and she still needs to take the dog (that's Jake) out and scoop things up after he does his business.

7:23--- I request that Kamryn take the two garbage bags sitting just outside her bedroom door down to the garage. Otherwise, these bags will sit there until sometime around the next Winter Olympics.

7:24--- Kamryn takes our dog (that's Jake) out into our side yard, where he doesn't belong. The side yard is right outside the door, but the open field where Jake (that's our dog) is supposed to do his business, is a mere 20 paces across the road from our garage door. Kamryn is an expert in locating shortcuts in life, so she allows Jake (our dog) to pee and poop where he so efficiently kills our grass on an annual basis. I appreciate that Kamryn is helping us contribute to the struggling U.S. economy by our consistent need to buy more grass seed and soil at Home Depot, but I'm determined to put an end to these shenanigans.

7:27 and counting--- Kamryn is running down the lane to catch the bus, while Jake (that's our dog) looks on, probably bitter over the fact that he had a mere 2 minutes to use the restroom.

7:30--- It is time to wake up the next crew, our son Kodie (age 10) and daughter Kaylin (age 5).

7:42--- There are still no signs of life coming from the room, so we need to do a second run thru of wakeup calls.

7:47--- Kaylin rustles out of bed, but there appears to be some noise coming from downstairs.

7:48--- Our gargantuan house cat, affectionately known as Pumpkin, is in some sort of distress in the basement of the house. A short trip down the steps reveals that Pumpkin is fighting a big hairball, and he LOSES. His partially digested breakfast is now on our entry level carpet, so we must head to our muster stations and locate the liquid spray carpet cleaner.

8:01--- A distress call from upstairs indicates that Kodie has finally found his way out of bed. He has plugged up the toilet again with a rather large wad of TP, and Estalita (my wife) springs into action. As Estalita engages in her well practiced routine to restore order in the upstairs latrine, my youngest daughter Kaylin tells me that this happened quite often while I was away in India. She goes on to say that mommy is really good at pushing down on the plunger 2-3 times, and eliminating the obstruction. I nod in agreement and explain that it's all about technique.

8:04-8:14--- A Period of Relative Calm

8:15--- An explosive event happens at the kitchen table and tears quickly spring forth from my five year old's eyes. It seems that Kaylin's hair is full of knots, and Estalita must again step up to the plate during this time of crisis. The painful exercise of knot removal begins and Kaylin is both angry and in pain over this desperate situation. After 5-7 minutes of blood, sweat, and tears, an executive decision is made regarding the knots. The conclusion: More braiding will be done at night before bedtime to combat these gnarly knots that form during night time sleep.

8:27--- Kodie heats up his breakfast of pasta, garlic bread, and a few meatballs. I explain to him that carbs are good, but too much of a good thing can lead to him one day looking like me. He hears what I have to say, but I'm not sure he is listening.

8:40-8:45--- This is the daily period where there is a mad scramble to finish getting ready, and catch the bus, which will arrive in roughly 5-10 minutes. Teeth still need to be brushed, animals must still be fed, jackets have yet to be located, shoes have to be put on, book bags have to be gathered up, breakfast is still being finished up..... you get the idea

8:50--- The bus arrives and we successfully make it through another morning. Wow, What a piece of cake!!! Now, it is time to begin our taxes. All kidding aside,

WE ARE TRULY BLESSED!!!

During the initial DE-Knotting stage, Kaylin had a no comment for the camera

No Pain-- No Gain

The Stage of Acceptance

Trash bags from a Room Cleaning exercise. I will wonder for many days how long that partially drank can of coke was under the bed??

The joys of self-employment--- Now on to the taxes!

Jake (that's our dog) just takes everything in stride

Pumpkin sitting in his favorite easy chair. He will honestly sit like this for hours on end. He spends most of his days eating, sleeping, licking himself, and watching traffic. Occasionally, a hair ball has been know to interrupt his routine.

You might ask -- how do we deal with all this stress? We do what most good Americans do when life just gets to be too much. WE EAT!! Today, it was a quick stopover at our favorite German restaurant (The Prost) for some Jager Schnitzel, Spaetzle, and some scrumptious German potato salad.

This was one of our great finds when we moved to Maryland.

Great Power Lunch with a few carbs as well

More carbs and more bliss--- This potato salad is my 2nd all time favorite, after my Grandma Slivoskey's of course. Nobody can beat her version!!


Hope you enjoyed this brief glimpse into my world. Things can sometimes seem so hectic, but I think the biggest regret I have in terms of children, is that we never had a fourth child. (At least not that I'm aware of)



Lights out.

Last minute visit to the Taj Mahal

I made it at last!!

Early morning photos of the monument

After flying to Delhi for a rather short stay of only 22 hours, I knew everything would really have to fall into place for a possible visit to the Taj Mahal. I had been working on putting the trip together all week whilst I was in Calcutta, but things just didn't seem to be falling into place. I had thought I'd successfully booked train tickets early in the week from Delhi to Agra and back, but every time I tried to purchase the tickets, my credit card was denied. I found out later that there are problems with trying to arrange a trip like this with an international credit card. My concierge at the Hyatt in Calcutta was working the phones daily to try and help me, but in the end it looked as though my flight to Delhi might be a waste of money.

I actually arrived in Delhi on Saturday night at 9pm with little to no help of seeing the Taj Mahal. The reason being is that Agra (where the Taj Mahal is located) is 225 kilometers from Delhi, and the trains had been sold out for several days. Renting a car and driver was an option, but prices were in the 175 dollar range, and I'd have to leave by 4am to have any chance of getting there and successfully making it back later in the day for my flight out of Delhi later that same evening. Driving was not only way more costly than a 30 dollar roundtrip train fare, it was also more dangerous. Driving in India is hazardous to your health under normal conditions, but driving from Delhi to Agra mostly in the dark, is even riskier. Heavy fog often adds additional hazards to the trip.

Fortunately for me, I arrived in Delhi and learned that one of my fellow coaches was also interested in making the trip. We found two other coaches willing to go, located a car/driver, and ultimately decided to give it a go upon learning that the fog would not be a factor. We went to bed after midnight, and set the alarm for 4am so we could get an early start. Our trip out was truly an adrenaline rush, weaving in and out of traffic, trying to avoid animal carts, rickshaws, pedestrians, and hundreds of other trucks on the dark roadways. There is really no sense of lane integrity in India, you just beep the tar out of the horn and advance as much as possible. There are no such things as right of way, yield signs, passing lanes, crosswalks, or any other symbols that serve to regulate the flow of traffic. It is survival of the fittest and even a simple trip on the roads here can leave one wondering if it might be time to update your will. Even short trips provide any rider with more thrills than a full day at Six Flags. The trip to Agra took 3.5 hours and the trip back took 4.5 hours, so everything worked out okay. Our driver did just fine avoiding all the horsedrawn carts, elephants, monkeys, donkeys, wild dogs, people, and large moving trucks without any lights on!!!! In the end, we lived to tell about, even if just barely.

Now on to the feature presentation...... The Taj Mahal and all its spendor. Let me first say a few things about this "Wonder of the World." The Taj Mahal is a monument of love that sits on the banks of the Yamuna River in the city of Agra. It was built by more than 20,000 workers over a period of 20-22 years. Construction began in the early 1630's and didn't finish until the middle of the 1650's. Materials to build the monument came from not only India, but all over Asia. In fact, more than 1,000 elephants were used to transport the materials during the construction of this magnificent structure. The Taj was commissioned by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan as a tribute to his 3rd wife, Mumtaz Mahal. She died while giving birth to their 14th child. Jahan was devastated and grief stricken over the death of Mumtaz, so he decided to do something grand to honor her.

Here are some images of this amazing place.

It took a camel, a cart, and one U.S. dollar for the 4 of us to make the 1km trek out from our taxi drop-off point to the front gate of the Taj Mahal

Beautiful white marble

Fine detail and craftmanship from the 1600's

The reflecting pool

It is said that the 130 ft. + tall minarets are showing signs of tilting

Shoe condoms are required before entering the mausoleum of the structure

A boatman is making his way across the Yamuna River

The level of detail seen in these rooms is just amazing

Etchings of flowers

This place was worth the effort to visit

One of our coaches from Northwestern University-- "Meech" always draws a lot of attention and many requests for photos

One of the red sandstone structures that lie to the east/west of the Taj Mahal

The crowds were minimal due to us arriving so early--- but things were much busier by the time we departed some 2-3 hrs. later




Lights out.