Running in Dubai

My good 'ol running group back at home, Oak Park Runners Club, asked me to contribute to their monthly newsletter about my experiences running in Dubai. Below is my excerpt!

"When I first moved to Dubai about 9 months ago, pretty much every aspect of my life had changed. Several months had gone by and I still had not felt adjusted. What was missing? I had my own car, my own apartment, a job I was pretty satisfied with, yet didn't feel settled. Fortunately, as a physical therapist, I get a lot of time to chat with people and being a new-bee expat in Dubai, plenty of my patients wanted to offer advice. Although most advice revolved around eating and more eating (that is a big part of the life here), one bit of advice that particularly stood out was, "try to incorporate as much of your 'old' life into this 'new' life." Ah ha! The first thing that came to mind was all the exercise groups I had participated in - OPRC of course, UIC Masters Swim Group, random bike groups here and there. I've met some great people through these groups and it makes training fun! I had been doing my own workouts, but that is of course very individual and... not so much fun. I finally joined up with the Dubai Creek Striders, recommended by a patient. There were actually a lot more running groups out there than I had thought, and my decision was mostly based on convenience of location and time, and also intensity because some are pretty hard core. The group meets at 6am on Friday mornings (our weekends here are Friday and Saturday) and they run about 15K, just like the Saturday morning OPRC run. There are no fees to join, but basically at the beginning of the run everyone chips in a couple of bucks and after the group is divided by pace, someone is in charge of buying drinks for everyone in that group when we do stops along the way. Many people have been curious to the make-up of the group, and I have to say it ALL expats. Dubai is about 80% expats anyway, and exercise groups are about 99% expats.There are no water fountains around here because the water is highly chlorinated and bad. Once the groups are divided by pace, which can be between 20-40 people, we set off in any direction the leader takes us. Although it is interesting to go a different route each time, about half the times I've run with them we've gotten lost - no fun when it gets up to 15 miles in the heat! I especially miss the Saturday morning OPRC "The Big Ugly" route the most during those times! I started and am continuing with the "social" group, aka. slower group, and thankfully I have stuck with them because I have to admit, it took me several runs to get used to the heat. I know Chicago has had somewhat of a heatwave lately, but imagine consistent 100+ degree heat EVERYDAY for several months AND humidity, ranging from 20-60%. Sometimes you don't even start the run yet and you are dripping with sweat. During the +/- 15K, there are about 4 stops at gas stations for water, and this initially was a bit annoying to me because they were lengthy stops as you had to wait for everyone and it is very stop and go. But by the tail end of the runs, I usually can't wait for the stops.

As most people are aware, Dubai is a Muslim country and I was a bit concerned with attire. Would I need to wear leggings and a long sleeve shirt in this extreme heat? Fortunately, not. However, as of the 20th of July for a month, the holy month of Ramadan begins. This is the time when Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset, it is a period of self-discipline and self-control as well as a time to empathize with the poor and do charitable acts. In the gulf countries, they are particularly strict about the "do's and don'ts." We, everyone including Westerners, are not allowed to eat or drink in public from sunrise to sunset. You can get arrested and/or fined $300 if you are caught, and this includes drinking water in your car. I actually got scolded by a Muslim because I was still chewing a sticky date (this is the food of choice to break the fast, it is easy on the stomach. Although I wasn't fasting, I like them!) when I went by the elevators by my work. Oops. It is also stressed to wear 'conservative' clothing. Although I am excited about the shortened work hours from 50 hours a week to 30 hours a week (woo hoo!), the question arose again about what to wear when running? I came to the 1st run of Ramadan and saw that everyone was still in shorts and tank tops. Phew! I asked one of the group leaders about it and he said they never had any problem about attire, BUT, as most people bring their own water because sometimes we can go along while without it (example being the times we get lost), we can't do that. Also, when we do our infamous gas stations stops for drinks, we all have to hide and crouch down so that we are not seen to the public eye.  Overall, it's not as bad as I thought and... my exercise life continues with just a few little blips along the way. I have also joined a Masters Swim Group and this is in an enclosed school area so this hasn't skipped a beat for Ramadan. All and all, everyone living here should and needs to respect the culture here, even if it means awkwardly trying to run again after hiding and being crouched for awhile drinking water!

Ramadan Kareem! (or "Ramadan is generous")

6:00am... ready to run!

Our pre-race meeting: welcoming new runners, talking about recent achievements (racing), events coming up, etc. 

One of the water stops.... since there are no fountains, we buy liters of water and cups and disperse and share!

Running during Ramadan - we are all crouched behind a gas station to avoid being seen in public drinking water (i.e. to avoid getting arrested and fined!).

Nice break in the 100+ degree heat!

Our route varies, but this one is nice - along the Creek

Part of the Creek route is taking an "abra" across the Creek. 

The group of runners on the Abra crossing the Creek

It was Murphy, the guy in the middle with the headband, birthday today and he founded the club and he has a "Murphy's" plaque on the bench they are sitting on. This is actually probably 1/3 of the group, it is quite large! 

(Pre) Ramadan!

So when people ask me "why did you move to Dubai?" You will hear a whole hodge-podge of responses (is that even a phrase?). BUT one of them is to experience a different culture. LIVING in a country during Ramadan is basically the best way to do that.

Throughout these 9 months (eek! It's really been 9 months already!), when people here I am fairly new, the first few words out of their mouths is "ooohhh... this will be your first summer" and kinda smirk at me like "good luck!" And then it will be ".... and your first Ramadan!"... and then I usually get another eyebrow raised at me. Hmm...... ??

Well, first off, Ramadan isn't always during the summer. It falls during the 9th month of the lunar Islamic calender, lasts about 29 or 30 days, and every year it is a a couple of weeks earlier than the year before. It depends on visual sightings of the crescent moon. So up until last night, we weren't 100% when it would be, but you can guess +/- within a day. Ramadan is the Muslim month of fasting, from dawn until sunset - this is that they have to refrain from eating, drinking, smoking, chewing gum in public and "sexual relations." Not only that, but they have 5 daily prayers. Then comes "Iftar" - or the time at sunset when the fast is broken. Usually, the fast is broken with 3 dates, not 1 or 2, but 3, because this is what Muhammad used to do. Then it's the time for the 4th prayer, Maghrib prayer, and then at least, the main meal. Over time, this has evolved into huge banquest festivals, buffets, and especially in places like Dubai where everyone wants to outdo one another, just a big o' feast. Iftar can be at a person's home, where it can be more intimate with your own family, or in larger spaces like mosques, restaurants, or banquet halls.

How does all this affect me? A non-Muslim?

Well, the gulf countries are particularly strict during Ramadan. From what I hear, if you go to Lebanon or even Egypt, you won't even notice anything different. Here though....

• You can arrested if: you are caught drinking, smoking, or eating during the fasting hours. No joke, if a local or Muslim sees you do this, they have the right to call the police and you can get fined.
• You must dress conservatively. Generally, we should all be dressing conservatively to respect the culture, but us expats have pushed the boundaries on this a little bit and a blind eye is turned to short shorts, skirts, tank-tops, etc. I am a victim of this as well, especially with workout clothes. Well, during this time, they lay down the law and again, can arrest you for wearing "revealing" clothing, such as short shorts, etc. 
• Traffic. How do you feel when you haven't eaten all day? Cranky? Irritable? Tired? Lethargic? Well, imagine that for a month. Then comes the time before you know it is the time to eat (between 6-7pm), it doesn't seem unreasonable that you will ... drive rather quickly to get to food, right? They say that accidents creep up to 40% of normal because everyone is rushing and it is generally crazy driving. Eek! Multiple and many people have warned me of this. I'm planning on NOT going out during this time or avoiding it if I can.
• Iftar and beyond. Okay, so you survived the roads to get home or to an Iftar. Now what? Well, time for engorging. No joke. From what I hear, the buffets are not only excessive and enormous, they last ALL night. Many locals admit they gain weight, expats can too because it is something fun and different to go to an Iftar. From what I hear, it really is feast after feast night after night. So no wonder people gain weight, huh?
• Work hours, this is the BEST! 9-3pm everyday for a month! Yessssssssssssssss! I'm cutting back from almost 50 hours a week to 30. Heck yeaaaaa! Sooooooooooooo excited about all this "new" free time. But....
• So I'm done early. I'm home at say 3:30pm. I want to go to out to eat. Oops, most restaurants are closed during the day (seriously. SOME have a curtain to block out being visible, but it's a bit of an effort to fine). I want to go to the mall, oops - all coffee shops, ice cream shops, snack shops are CLOSED. Fine, so I decide to go shopping... but then naturally thirsty. What to do? Well, you can't BUY water in a public space (grocery stores are open as well as you can get delivery, FYI), so if you happen to have a water bottle with you, which I ALWAYS do, you go to the bathroom, hide in a stall, and go ahead and drink. Same applies to some work environments or public places.
• Besides the time before Iftar, traffic is generally less. One, because many expats don't like all these restrictions, it's hot, so they go home. 2nd, the Muslims are soo tired from pretty much eating all night, most sleep during the day. 

Soo.... this is what I will be dealing with the next month. Most people I've talked to say it's an experience and don't mind. Some complain about it. All and all, WE are living in this country and out of respect for their culture, we should and need to abide to their rules. I'm actually looking forward to it. Yes, I'm excited about the free time (I seriously have a list of things to do!), but also interested in the experience. Let's see how it goes!! :-) 

Chicago Life to Dubai Life!

Sooo... I received some good (although late!) advice, and I wish I had heard it earlier, but then again, I think I needed all that time for "adjustment." The advice was to try and incorporate as much of your "old" life into your "new" one, i.e. doing things that you did at home.... here! Sounds simple enough, right? Why did it take me so long to do that? :-)

Hmm.....

So during months 2-4, it was eating... a lot. Then I realized that in my "old" life, I really didn't eat that much and then came my CLEAN detox as I wrote about. A BIG part of my "old" life is... exercise and activity! I had started exercising, yes, but boring gym workouts. To combat that back at home, I joined a lot of groups. Soooo..... why not incorporate that into my "new" life?

Here is what has made my life here 3-fold better:

• I joined a running group! Dubai Creek Striders. So as my "old" life, I ran with the Oak Park Runners Club, I did early morning Saturday runs with a good bunch of people that kept me motivated, and it's just fun to run with a group. This new group, we do about the same distance (although because our weekends are on a Friday, it is Friday early morning), about 10 - 13 miles. The people of course aren't nearly as cool as OPRC, BUT I have met some nice people. :-)
• I joined a Masters Swim Group! In grad school, I was more consistent swimming with the UIC Masters Swim Group because it was really close, then it became more around the times when I was training for triathlons... and I guess more or less in the summers. Here, summer is almost year around and although I don't have any triathlons planned, it's great to get back into a sport I grew up with. Again, it's not as social as my previous group, but I'm happy to get back into swimming and it beats my dawdling around in the pool at my complex.
• Yoga! I go through phases as well with yoga, but before I left OP there was a great NEW yoga studio called Core Yoga that opened up... it was more of a aerobic type of yoga with some classes in a warm studio. NOW what I'm doing is Bikram yoga, aka HOT HOT HOT yoga. 26 poses in a room that is over 100 degrees. It sounds.... not fun, but I actually enjoy it and feel great afterwards. I've been doing it after running and it feels great to stretch thoroughly after running, and/or just to relax.
• American TV! After almost 9 months and some people mentioning it to me, I thought it was too complicated, and although it was, slightly, I FINALLY (literally, just today), got a VPN! Virtual Private Network, aka I live in the Middle East and many websites are blocked, such as hulu.com, and this is a way to surpass that - the computer thinks its in the States. So NOW I can have a little taste of American TV! And it's especially fun because I actually DON'T have a TV (gasp) and this is a good outlet on those days you just want to veg out.
• Hmm... what else... similar social things - going out to eat, watching movies, meeting for coffee/tea, etc.  

And of course a goal of mine here is to try NEW and different things. So far... umm... it hasn't been that much. Oops! I was apart of a Spanish/English/French intercambio - basically an exchange to learn languages. When I went, it was a mixed group of people trying to brush up on their French and/or Spanish, and it was pretty good! I feel I've lost a lot from not hearing Spanish here practically at all, so it has been good to practice - and has made me more confident to speak with the few Spanish patients that I see at work. Unfortunately, because so many people leave for the summer, it is on a bit of a hiatus. 

I also want to try Standing Paddle Boarding! It is what it sounds like, you stand on a surf-board type board in the sea, have paddles, and board away! I have had a few friends that have done it, and they say it is a great core and balance exercise - and fun! And again, here it is good to take advantage of sea/water activities... that's something I definitely can't do year around in Chicago! 

There it is! Bringing Chicago life to Dubai life!! :-) 

Rwanda and Uganda!!

Uh oh, I realize I've been a bit MIA! I won't go into the boring details of working crazy hours and not even having enough free time to write, buuut... hopefully I can make up for it with something fun! How about talking about my recent trip to Rwanda and Uganda! I have a friend from high school that actually lives in Rwanda, in a small village called Gisyeni, that borders the D.R.C. Her husband works in the Congo and literally commutes there everyday. So she is a super stay-at-home mom, and being that she lives there and was more than willing to have something to plan, she pretty much planned our whole trip :-) Which I didn't mind at all because again, I had been crazy busy and had hardly any free time anyway, nevertheless to plan a big trip. So my requirements to her were "nature, nature, and nature." :-)

Besides the excitement of seeing a friend I've known since I was 13 years old, I was also excited about being in nature, and the BIG event of going gorilla trekking! That area is one of the few in the world that you can do things like gorilla trekking. So it was a double bonus!

With my 6am flight, meaning I had to be there at 4am (and the airport was fairly crowded at that time!), I gained time so made it fairly "early" and just in time to meet her coming by bus. Ruhengeri is a nice small village which is pretty much known for being a base to do gorilla trekking. With an early start, we headed up to the Reception area of Volcanoes National Park and were greeted by the Sacola Traditional Dancers:

Besides a slight delay and us actually getting to the base of the forest to do the actual hike (this is what happens when you pick the "cheaper" car hire!):

Then we were off ... gorilla trekking! They kinda made us bring a porter guy, which we really didn't need him to carry anything, but it was good to have him there for balance and maneuvering - the trek I would say was moderate in difficulty, and we were all sweating.  Then da da dum...... we came close and they made us leave our bags and walking sticks behind and then, just like that, there were 3 right in front of us! We were ALL looking to the right to look at them and take pictures and then we hear, "move, move! Move out of the way!" and then we all look to our left and see 3-4 gorillas that wanted to pass us on the trail, but we were in the way! I literally could have reached out and touched them I was so close! It was crraaazzeeee!

And then for the next hour+ we followed this family of 11 around and watched them. It was breathtaking and awesome. Here are my fave pics:

Behind me is a big o silverback. It was monstrous! It "jumped" and literally the ground shook, and then, no joke, it "heard" something (you see it looking at something ahead) it literally pounded at its chest, like you see in movies, and took off. I have to admit, I was a bit scared - this one definitely seemed more agitated than the other calm and easy-going gorillas we were hanging out with! 

The experience was really gorillas in the midst, literally and figuratively. The pictures should say enough!

After that "high," we drove out to Uganda near Queen Elizabeth National Park to a beautiful lodge, Katara Lodge. Here are some views:

Hehe. Above is the view from the bathtub and shower - private yet open!

Nice! An infiniti pool overlooking the Queen Elizabeth National Park

THEN.... it was time for the Queen Elizabeth Safari!!! 

Yes, this is what you get when you don't have a fancy safari jeep.... just hanging outside the window!

(he was hiding from us, but above is a leopard!)

Above: Christina and I on a boat cruise around the Kasinga Channel

Above: Sooo happy I got that shot!!

Hyena! I have to admit, they are a bit scary looking!

We more or less stalked this poor lion!

Above: Kob and waterbuck

As you can see, our activities were fairly nature oriented! We also did a nature walk and more hiking and trekking:

The above 2 pictures are from a bat cave. Ew!

Christina, as you can see, is quite the nature lover... and quite knowledgeable I have to say about birds! It was a tough call between her and the guide who knew more! 

Christina and I with the Kyanmbura (Chambura) gorge behind us... we trekked down there to see chimps (which unfortunately, my battery decided to die and these are taken with my 'back-up' point and shoot camera!

The Alpha chimp hanging out.

After a looong journey, which had 6 hours added to it because somehow when we went to fill up with gas, the lady put in diesel (d'oh!), we made it to Gisyeni, where Christina and her hubby Brenden and baby Evie live. The village was literally, just that, a village - very quaint and pretty. We went to the beach, rode motorbikes around town, went to the market, and even did this nice 4 hour hike at the Gishwati Forest Preserve where Christina, the super mom, took with her baby Evie (I think she is a born outdoors person, she was happy as a clam!):

We had socks pulled up because of red fire ants... which sting pretty bad, so I hear! (we were safe!)

Christina and a chameleon!

Sunset in Gisyeni

Christina, Brenden, Evie and I! Our last evening together!

I know there are a lot of pictures, but sometimes, pictures speak louder than words and this trip especially, we did a lot of sightseeing. I've been to West Africa, and my impressions were that the people are fairly boisterous, fairly smiley, and fun. In more East Africa, Rwanda and Uganda, the people were much more subdued and serious. They obviously have gone through still a somewhat "new" atrocity, the 1994 genocide. That is one of the reasons why I love traveling so much, to learn, or I guess, re-learn about a nation's history and in this case, the more or less recent aftermath. In the case of Rwanda, the history is fairly complicated, but I'll try to do a little synopsis: Rwanda was colonized by Germany and then Belgium. Even prior to this, there were 3 different groups, Tutsi's, Hutu's, and Twa's. It was the Belgium that segregated them, often based on appearance alone. Like Tutsi's were known to be more tall and lean, also the "tutsi" name alone means something like "rich in cattle," and the Hutu's were shorter and bigger, and the name translates to "slaves." This is a super super basic version of what happened, and this is even similar to South Africa, but the Tutsi's (the 'rich') took control of all high-power positions, and then Hutu's were the "laborers".... but took up the majority of the population. So little by little, the Hutu's obviously wanted to take more control of their country and finally they did it, but Tutsi's still more or less ruled the country with their high-power positions. It was when the assassination of the Hutu leader happened in early 1994 that the Hutu militia and rebels set out on a government-supported rampage to "get rid" of Tutsi's. Much of the hatred was spread out by radio, which the uneducated took way to literally. They say that in 100 days, 20% of the population was murdered and that 99% of the population witnessed some kind of atrocity. The propaganda, especially international, is also unremarkable because they more or less ignored and/or didn't comprehend what was going on, and it was a disaster all the way around.  

I saw firsthand when I met Christina's acquaintances that many didn't have too much of an immediate family. Her nanny was an orphan because her parents were murdered. It definitely seems like a taboo subject to talk about the genocide and especially bringing up the whole Tutsi or Hutu thing. Most people didn't talk into detail, just "since the genocide, etc etc." It's no wonder the people are somber and actually, from what I saw, very hard workers and relatively honest (which, no offense, is surprising sometimes in Africa!). Again, the above synopsis is extremely basic, but if you do have time, it is a very complicated yet interesting history and it is worth reading about. When I got back, I re-watched Hotel Rwanda, and am about to read "Land of 1000 Hills," which is supposed to be good.

Random FYI, the local language of Rwanda is called "Kinyarwanda." The 2 words I picked up the most (and I try to do this every country, at least learn something) is: "Murakoze" (they say this A LOT, which is nice!), which means, thank you. And "murabeho" which means "bye." 

Sooo.... here are some final pictures of just random "life" pictures I took along the way:

A refugee camp near the border of Uganda - now many displaced Congolese. 

Sunset somewhere over Africa on the flight home.

Both Rwanda and Uganda are beautiful countries, very hilly and green. There is a lot as a tourist in both places, and as a recent patient told me, "Africa changes the soul," and it's true! I hope to be back and travel to more of it!!! 

Murabeho!