Happy New Year

G'day

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We hope you had a wonderful christmas break.


I had to work, but Christina and I managed to get out for dinner with some friends and enjoyed a wonderful evening of good food, good wine and good company.


Dale, Meredith and Tory back in Central Australia visited their friends' place for the day. They have three boys around Tory's age, so apparenty they had a good time.

The photo of Meredith and Tory was taken in our house on 25 Dec 07 and is one of the best we have.

New Years Eve we are off to the Al Ain Golf Club for a bash with around 18 other people in our group. We'll no doubt run into others we know too as the circle of places to go here is small, despite the city being sprawling and having around 400,000 people.

We hope you have a Happy New Year event and a 2008 with all that you wish for.

Best wishes

Robin and Christina

Four Days in Damascus, Syria

G'day, Having been to Damascus during the National Day holidays in the UAE, I thought I'd best give a report. It was a busy weekend with a flight out of Dubai early Friday morning and arrival at Damascus early morning. We settled into our hotel and after a short break hit the pavement. Needless to say, we went to the souks (markets) which are huge and extend for miles. You can buy almost anything from needle and thread to food and canvas goods. You want it, they've got it.

Much of the stuff they have is available in the UAE, but Syria is much cheaper as their currency is worth almost nothing. Damascus is in a bad state of repair reflecting the difference between the oil abundant UAE and their dirt poor Arabian cousins. I never saw an Indian or Asian person while there (unlike the UAE whose population is mainly Indian and Asian) until we got to the departure line at the airport. White Caucasians like us and our travelling companions were also scarce which meant that everyone had a good look, even small kids, who had probably never seen whites before. Interestingly, jews, Christians and muslims all live together in Syria and do so apparently harmoniously sharing religious icons, churches, mosques and so on. It's an example that could perhaps be helpful in other less tolerant places.

We did a day trip to a place 60 kms away called Maalola and visited the Marsarkis Monestry built in the fourth century AD and naimed after Saint Sergius (Sarkis) whoever he was. We also toured The Monastery of Saint Takla which is set amid sandstone cliffs and while we were there, churchgoers were singing and the sound was broadcast around the neighbourhood.

During our stay we contributed to the gross domestic product of Syria while attending several lovely restaurants, most notable of which was yet another Golden Dragon (I've been to dozens of these!). The food was lovely and of course, our six companions were lovely to be with too.

Despite arriving back at Al Ain around 1:30 am the morning I had to front for work, it was a wonderful experience and made me yet again aware of how lucky we are that we can hop on a jet anytime and return to our beautiful country. We don't have to beg for a permanent visa or citizenship. Australians really do live in a Lucky Country and we should all visit overseas occasionally to remind us of that.

Double click on the photographic strip to make them larger.

Marselama.

Robin

PS: I love a sunburnt country, a land of sweeping plains ....

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From India With Loot

G'day

Today is an eventful day, even though we are in the Middle East. It's Federal Election Day in Australia, the outcome of which could change dramatically the future of our great country; it's our grandson Tory's sixth birthday, and Christina is back from India.

As would be expected (for anyone who knows Chris), she has brought a lot of "loot" back with her. (See photo)

The loot consists mainly of silk and cotton clothing, materials, a few metal bowls, incense, sandal wood scent, a silk tie for me, pashminas, and some small miscellaneous odds and ends. Some of the clothing is for Chris, some other items are for gifts and the rest is stock for us to sell after we return to Alice Springs.

We've decided that, because of the exchange rate between the UAE Dirham and the AUD, we are going to spend as much as we can here rather than bring money home where its relative value will be much less. The cost of living here is very much lower than in Australia. So anything we want, we'll buy before we leave eg, like a flat screen television.

Part of our plan is for us to stock up with some stuff to sell at the Todd Mall Market which runs every second Sunday in the cooler season. We'll have some Arabian and Iranian carpets, Indian clothes, some photo prints of places in the Middle East etc. If it works well, we may even import some of the products or visit annually and buy up ourselves.

Chris says she had a great experience in India and can understand how the many Indian expats living in the UAE, despite very low pay (in comparison with what I earn) and often poor accommodation, consider themselves well off. She saw some examples of extreme poverty in India and said that most of the toilets, showers, kitchens etc, were primitive.

Staying with an Indian family enriched the experience as she got a taste of life in an Indian family, how individuals relate to each other, and other insights that wouldn't have been available had she stayed in a tourist area hotel.

Next week we have National Day holidays and will by flying off to take a look at Damascus in Syria. We'll be there almost four days. It's a tough life, but someone has to live it.

Stay well.

Robin