testing, testing are you still there?

And we’re back!

After a nine month hiatus in Christchurch the road is once again beckoning. Not so much of the road as featured last year though and hopefully much more in the way of trains but figuratively at least.

So now America has been left behind and it’s time to focus on something infinitely more attractive, namely Europe and the Fifa World Cup 06. Germany’s not going to know what hit it when on the 12^th Grader, Downo, Skinner and myself (superhero names to follow) combine our powers Captain Planet style to take on the mighty event. We are all a bit worried about Grader though and what sort of shape he will be in what with his recent engagement, the yellow peril can really take it out of a guy. Actually just had a message from him and he’s safely in Dublin practising his Sieg Heil’s with the rest of the gathered Pom’s (I don’t understand either, I thought Dublin was an Irish city but that’s the advantage of having eyes on the ground and not just relying on other agencies to report for you ), hopefully he won’t get arrested before I get to Hamburg, I don’t know where I’m going.

In the meantime it’s two nights in Dubai, if you’ve got a crane bring it here. It seems that unless a building has about three attached to it the other building start gossiping about lying idle and general lazy tendencies. Some of these suckers are 30 to 40 stories high. It truly is unbelievable in scope in that it’s just happening everywhere.

To try and get a feel for the place I headed out for a walk and ended up playing cricket on some dusty empty lot with a bunch of young Pakistanis which I came to while meandering through the narrow lanes between the low slung houses of the predominantly Indian/Pakistani workers. The only real communication possible was listing players names but it didn’t really matter for the half hour or so that I joined in.

Being in an Islamic country sure throws up some contrasts – a woman wearing a full burqa but carrying a Coach handbag, even the most modest among us get caught up in flashy consumption. Like the burqa much of the beauty of the place is hidden away, only when a gate is left open do you get a glimpse of the idyllic courtyards that are hidden behind the high walls.

Walking isn’t the most sensible idea around here with the temperature and the humidity which I wasn’t expecting. Even at night it doesn’t really improve. Wandering the alleys and souks around the Creek with Tina the mercury seemed to rise back again about 10. And so after the third shower of the day it was out to sample some of the fabled Dubai nightlife that I had heard so much about when trying to match expectations in Christchurch. While a lot of progress has been made in Dubai in the last twenty five years and many new things introduced it doesn’t appear that they have discovered irony yet and are still in the superclub faze. Woo woo house music :) And man could some of her friends dance, on and on resolutely trying to go all the way through to the end.

Ah good times.