Wednesday we spent the day running Simulator problems all day--learned alot about the way things are done here. I'm starting to get Dubai-ified...I can say things like 'traffic vacating right' 'climb not above 2 thousand' and the ever dreaded 'line up and wait'. I have mostly gotten out of the habit of saying 'Atlanta Tower', but I still let a 'Dixie' slip when I should be saying 'delta'.
Wednesday after work I got to watch the QE2 make her final Port of Call in Dubai. They are going to make her a floating hotel/museum, tied dockside the trunk of the Palm Jumeirah. She sailed in past the World Islands and had an escort flotilla of 40-50 vessels. I saw a few cannon flashes firing a salute on her way in. They also had an Emirates A380 (the same one we toured) making low passes on the ship. Sorry the pics are a little hazy--I'm about 2 miles from the port--but, that's the QE2 on the left approaching the harbor entrance. For better pics, click here.
After that show, our class hooked up with Ricky's class for some drinks at the Irish Village. A few other DXB controllers joined in for the evening. Aside from adjusting to life in Dubai, the big topic of discussion was the Dubai 7s Rugby Tournament this weekend...it's a very big deal for most of my co-workers. Teams are 7 on 7, for two 10 min halves--instead of twice and many on a side and 90 min contests. Scrums are a little lacking, with only 3 guys on each side butting heads...but it's good theatre. I'm still trying to get a grasp of the rules...if there are any.
So, while we are sitting outside enjoying some fish n chips, a few pints, the weirdest thing happened. It started raining...and raining...and raining...and lightening...and thunder; and no one really cared. We just sat there getting wet and enjoying the rare phenomenon. My first Dubai rain shower.
Had heard alot about how dangerous it was to drive in the rain here--roads are very slick and folks don't know to slow down (on a side note, landing at DXB in the rain is also an adventure. They do alot of rubber removal, but the runways are not grooved and are very slick in the rain).
Well, I drove home--sober, and didn't have any problems with the expressways, except I couldn't make out any of the lanes. Once we got on the side streets we drove thru alot of flooded streets...worried about the Yaris going u-boat on us. One area near the apartment was about 100 yds long and water was 18 inches deep--well above the bottom of the door. But the Yaris stayed watertight and didn't drown--may have floated.
They say it only rains 4-5 days a year, but this is the rainy season.
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