Woke up nice and early and headed to starbucks, just another day living in a global economy. But there is only one problem, their soy milk tastes different, for such a fancy pants place why does the soy milk have to take like crap?!? Anyways we are of to Al Ain today, the desert oasis and staying on Jebel Hafeet. (view from the room)
So we drove and drove and drove for a few hours through the desert and then up a mountain to the hotel. Ok, Al Ain, the desert Oasis, supposed to be a get away place from the city. So we are driving out there expecting a nice small place out in the desert with Jebel Hafeet next to it. But not really, it was pretty big and pretty big pain in the ass. For some reason they really LOVE “traffic circles” out here and don’t really like to use many signs, unless you’re a mile or so from your destination. We drove into the “city” three times from our hotel and each time we (eric and marie the navigators) would get so confused on where we were. It was like being at an amusement park, going around and around and around the traffic circles.. “weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee”.
Beyond the annoying driving, Al Ain was my first adventure out in the U.A.E. Our first stop after the hotel and a quick drive up Jebel Hafeet (more to come later) we stopped at the Mall. They freaking love Christmas out here, go big or go home I guess, they got to have it all here.
So we had some lunch, nom nom nom nom nom nom, which was accompanied by a gigantic fly in my drink.

Note: there were flies everywhere in Al Ain, so annoying, they weren’t even useful. If you are going to be a fly and bug the living ***** out of me atleast try to bite me or something instead of ruining my drink and chilling in the car with us, FIND A PURPOSE!
Al Ain, you want to know about it? Google it please. But we did learn at the Museum that boys are circumcised while sitting on a sheep skin log when they are 7 years old. They still continue you this practice, hurts just to think about it. Not really into typing that much more about Al Ain so please see all the select pictures / videos below . I hope you enjoy them.

One year on, and it’s nearly Christmas Day with an e-motional shift.  Himself and I are experiencing the reality of an e-Christmas. E-cards. Ex-pat gatherings. Ever-so-far away from home. E-gifts. One year ago, we blithely enjoyed precious time with our sons and their families and with our extended families. Time and distance soon puts the importance of loved ones into perspective. We are not alone in being far from home. We talk about how both our late parents always kept open-house and how there were always extra people at their tables.  We are experiencing similar hospitality, a warmth and generosity of spirit from people in the UAE.

Displays of Xmas trees and decorations in the malls tell us a certain festive day is happening. This is not that long after the Eid Adhar and National Day holiday celebrations. People here know how to rejoice and how to party. So as ex-pats, we will get together with others as a blended Kiwi family for the day. We’ll top up our mobiles for those long-distance calls. I remember how my English-born mother in the 1950s had to book an international toll-call days in advance with the local manual telephone exchange to phone her mother, brothers and sister at Christmas. And there were time constraints on international calls and because we were on a rural party-line. Never enough time to say the things that ought to be said to loved ones. Always tears. Always reaching across the miles to touch the other in some way. Now, it is technically so much easier for Himself and I to connect with our families while living in another country. Yet, I am experiencing that same reaching out to those I write messages on the e-cards for.

That’s the heart of the matter. The head, meanwhile, remains focussed on work. A few days ago, getting to work took on a whole new meaning. Rain. It rained in the UAE. And it rained day and night. Water spilled over the streets and into buildings. Water with nowhere to go. I think of it as nature’s way of giving this dry, dusty sandy city a wash. Before I came here, I’d never imagined that it could rain like this in the desert. I’m told the flows of water are spectacular in the wadis in the Hafeet Mountain Range.  It’s all go in this part of the world.

Al Ain (“the spring”) is an oasis city in the United Arab Emirates. I never visited, so I can’t say much more about it. I did drink plenty of Al Ain mineral water though. It was, well, watery.

Alain de Botton on the other hand, is a wanky pop philosopher, about whom I would have much to say, except I don’t feel like wasting my breath. “Life changing” if you’re a pretentious undergrad. Otherwise I wouldn’t bother.

I’ve changed my mind. In January, I mentioned My Garden blog was to go on the back-burner because Himself and I were leaving NZ to live and work offshore for a while. I thought it seemed easy enough to set up a travel blog and guessed I’d get organised eventually.  Well, that was then. Now that we are here in the Middle East, the contrast to the lifestyle we’ve left is remarkable.  Work – yes, that’s happening. Travel – yes, that’s happening. Gardening – no, that’s not happening. So how can My Garden be my  travel blog? Simple. I realised that as we travel about, I see how other people  grow plants and enjoy public park gardens. When I’m shopping, I talk with sellers at the souq about fruits and herbs I’m not familiar with. When I read the local paper, I read about environmental projects. When I’m at work, I chat with Emirati colleagues about their use of different foods in cooking. Always interested to explore and try Arabic flavours. Himself and I just love Arabic coffee with cardamon and saffron. Always, thecoffee is served with warmest smile and most gracious hospitality.

I am learning how UAE and Omani desert ecologies – oases, wadis, mountains and coastal areas teem with life. The oases support farming but not in ways as I know it. Date cultivation and the historical importance of the uses of this fruit fascinates me. Ancient falaj systems in Al Ain, still in use thousands of years later, are an amazing reminder of human efforts to irrigate gardens. On a recent trip to Oman, I learned that apricots and pomegranates are grown in Oman. I love pomegranate juice – it’s my new social drink. I’m in for a long lesson about agriculture and gardening in this part of the world. I applaud my Emirati neighbours who cultivate tomatoes, herbs and small stuff in pots without abundant water. They are gardening heroes. I think to myself, how well would I garden if I had to irrigate, if I had to cope with sand storms, if I had to garden in pots in a courtyard behind walls, if I had to cope with extreme high temperatures?  

Flicking back over posts interested me.  Number 2 Son who has taken over my garden in NZ doesn’t  know how lucky he is with water in abundance (albeit too much at times), soil (though it’s clay) that has nutrients for growing plants and trees that thrive in NZ’s sub-tropical climate.  I know the garden back home is on good hands. Yes, I miss Pushy the lazy tabby cat (he can dig his claws into someone else for a change). Yes, I missed the daffodils cheerful appearance in August and the roses flowering in October. Yes, I am missing the pohutukawa coming into its pre-christmas bloom. I did not miss the floods and the spring storms. I did not miss the rapid, rampant spring grass growth. However, we asked someone to mow the lawns (there’s lots of grass at our place) weekly and keep the roses pruned – Number 2 Son works, has his hands full with three sons, maintains the vegetable patch but he doesn’t ‘do’ roses. I noted several viewers have left comments - I had not anticipated this ongoing interest in January, so I will try to reply. Over time, I’ll evolve this blog into a gardening travelogue of sorts. I’ve been interested to see gardening sections in some local  shops.  But, I’m not tempted. I’ve chosen not to grow plants in pots. I’d rather get out and about – that’s why I’m here.

These things all happened a few days ago but I’ve been too lazy to write about them until now.

So late Thursday afternoon I finally found out that my car was ready. I rushed to the bus station and went to board a bus but was told that I had to wait for the next bus (half an hour later). I then noticed that there were about eight available seats towards the back of the bus. In this country women are supposed to sit at the front of the bus which I am okay with. However, I am definitely not okay with being told that I can’t take a bus with empty seats because some men decided they wanted to sit in the third row when there were plenty of seats towards the back! I had previously witnessed another bus driver tell men to move to the back so that women could seat in their seats but not this bus driver! So I said that as those seats at the back were empty that I wanted to sit there and the driver didn’t argue with me. The sign at the front only said “Priority seating for ladies;” it didn’t say that women had to sit there though that is clearly the expectation. Anyway, I got to Al Ain fine and with relatively little hassle got the key to my car and took a taxi to the kind of scary industrial area where my car was. I drove back home without incident. The problem seems fixed but for a number of reasons I thinking of not keeping this car for that much longer.

Anyway, Friday I drove to Dubai to see Mamma Mia on Ice which I had previously purchased. So I was happy to have my car back! The show was good but it was at least half empty and there were some people who let their kids run around during the show. Kids running around with no parents in sight seems to be really common here at places like malls.

I then headed to Sharjah. I was definitely glad I arrived there while it was still daylight as driving there is a bit scary to say the least. I found my hotel though I had to drive around a little to be able to actually enter it. I had it valet parked as that seemed to be the only option there. The major problem is that large numbers of people walk out on the street with no warning. But I later found that there is really no provisions (like crosswalks) made for pedestrians.

I found Sharjah very interesting as the contrast between the rich and poor seems even more pronounced than it is elsewhere in this country. This city definitely is the place with the most preserved historic areas, which are full of souks and museums. Yet there seem to be few tourists. The museums are all very insistent that you sign their guestbook. I guess they need some proof that some people actually visit! There are also a bunch of very attractive mosques in Sharjah.

One of Sharjah's many beautiful mosques

Historic buildings

Souk Al-Arsa

Saturday, after leaving the hotel, I drove a bit out of the city to the University City area where are the colleges and universities are located. They are all very fancy-looking with lots of grass and flowers.

University City

I ended up on Emirates Road, one of the two highways going through Dubai. I had previously only taken the other one. This is the highway with roundabouts which is just insane (especially since there are so many turcks)! As the traffic was pretty light, I didn’t have any trouble but I really don’t like this highway and will try to avoid taking it again!

We all had a wonderful, relaxing time in Al Ain, with two besotted grandparents constantly running after Milan the two of us could sleep in till late and have some time to ourselves. We even managed a trip to the mall one evening – that counts as a night out for the two of us currently! There were many offers by the grandparents to babysit Milan so we could go out for dinner, but when nani was there whipping up some tantalising dishes we didnt see the point of going out and paying for what would be mediocre in comparison. 

As for the plane journey – as Milan gets older its getting harder travelling with her in the plane. For a particularly active baby keeping her in one place for 7 or so hours is particularly challenging. We were lucky that on both journeys the plane was empty so we got plenty of space but it still didnt make it any easier – which makes us particularly nervous about the LONG journey to Sydney.

Milan thankfully recovered from her illness for her time in Al Ain – BUT – she’s come back home and gotten a much worse cold plus a terrible cough that keeps waking her up from her naps and night sleep (even more so!). We are going to monitor the cough and see how she gets on – fingers crossed she gets better soon.

Here are a few photos from our trip – as you can notice Milan’s a bit long for the bassinet and her head is a bit bent when placed in it. She will be longer in a few weeks for our trip to Sydney.

Assalaamualaykum,

Alhumdulillaahi Rubbil Aalameen.

“And among His Signs is this, that He created for you wives from among yourselves, that you may find repose in them, and He has put between you affection and mercy. Verily, in that are indeed signs for a people who reflect”   [Al-Quran 30:21]

Marriage & Destiny

Allah SubbhanaWaTaala has created and destined partners for us. Just like we strive to get the rizq that Allah Subbhana WaTaala has written for us, we also need to actively make efforts to seek the person we are destined to marry.

Marriages & UAE

I have lived in the UAE all my life. And I know, from what I see around me, that due to various factors, getting married has become a very difficult task in this community. So many Muslims are ‘looking to get married’ but don’t seem to be going anywhere. Besides other reasons, there is a serious net-working problem.

Match-making & Me

I have listened to the concerns of worried parents, I have seen the loneliness of single men & women who live here, I have felt for the reverts who hope to build their own muslim families & I have heard countless times from all sections of society that “There are no good men/girls around!!”

This isn’t true, alhumdullilah. There are many wonderful men & women here, but we don’t come across them due to limited social networking. With the help of Allah SubbhanaWaTaala, I want to do something about it. I have a desire to help. And I have a desire to see happy marriages inshaAllah.

I’ve been approached by strangers as well as people that I personally know asking for assistance in finding a suitable match for themselves or their children. I have noted their details with the aim of helping them if/when I come cross someone that matches their requirements.

Alhumdullilah, that Allah SubbhanaWaTaala made me a means to someone’s union. But, my list of prospective husbands & wives has grown. And as a result, today I feel the need to spread out and extend this assistance to all Muslims in the UAE who are seeking marriage. Fisabeelillah.

All nationalities (muslims only) are welcome to approach me to register themselves, their siblings or their single sons & daughters. I also equally welcome people who are widowed or divorced & those considered by society to be past the ‘ideal’ age.

Alhumdullilah, I have an exclusive phone-line dedicated for this purpose. InshaAllah, this phone-line will be opened everyday between 2pm-4pm except Fridays when it will be off. Calls made during non-designated time or day will regrettably not be attended to. InshaAllah, I will attend to all calls made during the assigned duration, but please do excuse me if you do not receive an answer immediately (for reasons beyond my control) and try calling again the next day.

So………..

Do YOU want to get Married?

“No” – Alhumdullilah. Forward this message to all your contacts in the UAE. You never know, you may become the link and means to someone else finding their spouse, with the Will of Allah.

“Yes” – Alhumdullilah. Forward this message to others and then proceed with the following steps:

1.     Refresh your intention to get married (remember its a sunnah!).

2.     Do dua. (Ask Allah to guide you and make it easy for you).

3.     Think about what you want and not-want in your spouse & married life.

4.    Read the ‘disclaimer’ (scroll down)

5.     Call me at the allocated time.

6.     Fear Allah and make sure you say nothing but the truth!!

- Hide quoted text -

Call Who –    Umm Zayed

Call When –  Saturday-Thursday 2pm-4pm (no Fridays plz!)

Call Where – 055-2331128

Call Language - English/Urdu/Hindi

Disclaimer:

* Registration with me is no guarantee for success. We only make the efforts and the result is based upon Allah’s Will.

* Verification & investigation of any information/contacts referred by me is your responsibility.

* I bear no responsibility for any harm that may be caused by false or misleading information that I unknowingly relay to you from a third party.

* For reasons of Islamic propriety & general safety I will not take down any girl’s information unless she provides her guardian/wali’s contact info for referral purposes. A girl’s direct personal contact info will not be considered valid for application with me.

* Requests for any service other than marriage-partner assistance will not be entertained.

* I have a right to refuse or remove any applicant any time at my discretion.

I ask Allah SubbhanaWaTaala to accept this from me and help me become the sabab (means) for many happy and blessed unions.

JazakAllahkhairun

Umm Zayed

Passados mais sete dias desde a minha última aparição aqui, volto com mais uma avalanche de gols brasileiros pelo mundo afora, e a manutenção do estilo de escrita em tópicos por países ou regiões do planeta.

Itália

Nenê comemora um de seus gols sobre a Atalanta

Antes de entrar de vez na “Terra da Bota”, é preciso destacar o superclássico europeu entre Milan e Real Madrid desta terça-feira, que acabou em 1 a 1, com gol de Ronaldinho Gaúcho cobrando pênalti.
Pelas ligas nacionais, o destaque ficou com o atacante Nenê, ex-Cruzeiro, que fez dois na vitória do Cagliari sobre a Atalanta. No mesmo dia, o lateral Maicon fechou o placar de 2 a 0 da Internazionale sobre o Livorno, e Adaílton não conseguiu evitar a derrota por 2 a 1 do Bologna para a Roma.
Pela Serie C1/A, Togni mais uma vez balançou as redes com a camisa do Arezzo, desta vez no triunfo sobre o Pergocrema. Emerson e Paulinho também ajudaram o Lumezzane e o Sorrento a conquistarem três pontos, respectivamente.

Espanha e Portugal

Na Península Ibérica, o verde e amarelo teve pouco destaque nos últimos sete dias. Na Espanha, apenas um gol, sempre dele, Luís Fabiano, nos 2 a 0 do Sevilla sobre o novato Xerez. Enquanto em Portugal, o atacante Cássio, que começou no Corinthians de Alagoas, fez o único do União Leiria na vitória sobre o Paços Ferreira, e Lima garantiu o importante empate do Belenenses por 1 a 1 com o Porto.

França e Inglaterra

Brandão fechou o massacre do Olympique

Além de Ronaldinho, outros brasucas que balançaram as redes pela Liga dos Campeões nestes últimos sete dias foram Hilton e Brandão, na espetacular goleada de 6 a 1 do Olympique de Marseille sobre o FC Zurich. O atacante ex-São Caetano ainda havia marcado no sábado, quando seu time empatou com o Tolouse por 1 a 1.
Também pela Ligue 1, o atacante Eduardo, ex-Joinville, garantiu que o Lens não saísse de campo derrotado em casa pelo Lorient.
Do outro lado do Canal da Mancha, local de poucos brasileiros desfilando pelos gramados, apenas Deco, comemorou com sua torcida, e foi nos 4 a 0 do Chelsea sobre o Bolton.

Holanda

Dois jovens talentos tupiniquins se destacaram pela Copa da Holanda, Jonathas e Jonathan Reis. O primeiro, criado na base do Cruzeiro, fez o seu nos 5 a 2 do AZ Alkmaar sobre o Spakenburg. Já o segundo, conhecido de quem acompanha a coluna, marcou na vitória por 2 a 0 do PSV sobre o Roda.
Pela Liga Holandesa, Leonardo evitou que o NAC Breda fosse derrotado pelo VVV, enquanto Everton, ex-Barueri, contribuiu para o triunfo de 3 a 1 do Heracles sobre o Utrecht.

Alemanha e Áustria

Maicosuel comemora gol com seus companheiros

Nos antigos aliados de guerra, começamos pela Alemanha, onde o Hamburgo foi surpreendido em casa pelo Borussia Monchengladbach e acabou sendo derrotado por 3 a 2. Zé Roberto marcou para os anfitriões e o zagueiro Dante, ex-Juventude, marcou para os visitantes. No dia seguinte, Maicosuel garantiu os três pontos do Hoffenheim sobre o Freiburg, e outro ex-palmeirense, Caio, também levou seu time à vitória, 2 a 1 do Frankfurt em cima do Bochum.
Pela segunda divisão do país, o Duisburg bateu o Koblenz por 3 a 0, fora de casa, com dois tentos verde e amarelos, de Bruno Soares e do ex-sãopaulino Caiuby.
Na vizinha Áustria, o trombador Schumacher continua infernizando os goleiros adversários, desta vez foi o do Wiener Neustadt, porém, o Austria Vienna saiu de campo derrotado por 4 a 3. Fora da elite, o meia Sidinei participou do placar de 2 a 2 entre Gratkorn e Austria Lustenau.

Escandinávia

É na Suécia que se encontra a maior concentração de brasileiros dentre os países da região, e por lá choveu gol no último domingo, de nomes que costumam aparecer por aqui. Wanderson, Antônio Flávio e o garoto Vinícius Lopes, criado na base do Cruzeiro, ajudaram nas vitórias do GAIS, AIK e Hacken, respectivamente. Enquanto o artilheiro Álvaro Santos fez mais um pelo Orgryte, no empate por 2 a 2 com o Gefle.
Na Noruega, apenas um tento, o do atacante Diego Silva para o Aalesund, no 1 a 1, em casa, com o Stromsgodset.

Grécia, Turquia e Chipre

Nas belas terras gregas, gols apenas pela segunda divisão. Gustavo e Rogério marcaram nas vitórias respectivas do Kerkyra e Olympiakos Volou. Já o meia Léozinho, ex-Vasco da Gama e Sport Recife garantiu os três pontos do Panserraikos em cima do Kalamata.
Na Turquia a situação foi diferente, e tentos apenas pela elite do país. No empate entre Kayserispor e Fenerbahçe, o ex-corintiano Cristian fez o único dos poderosos de Istambul. No mesmo dia, Jorginho deu a vitória para o Gaziantepspor sobre o Diyarbakirspor.
Fora do continente firme, na ilha cipriota, Roma e Rodrigo tentaram, mas o Doxa Katokopia saiu de campo derrotado para o Anorthosis por 3 a 2. Perto dalí, Gabriel Lima, que jogou no Fluminense entre 96 e 99, marcou, mas o seu AEP Paphos perdeu por 2 a 1 para o Apollon Limassol.

Leste Europeu

Mais uma vez, esta região européia proporciona várias linhas nas quartas-feiras, e para começar, a Rússia, onde o Spartak de Moscou aplicou um sonoro 5 a 1 no Rostov, contando com dois gols do ex-colorado Alex e um do ex-esmeraldino Welliton. O Spartak Nalchik também goleou, 4 a 0 em cima do Kuban, com tento de Leandro.
Na Ucrânia, jogos do Shakhtar Donetsk são certeza de brasucas vibrando, e desta vez não foi diferente. O time jogou duas vezes nos últimos sete dias. Na primeira, pela Copa, Fernandinho participou dos 2 a 0 sobre o Dinamo de Kiev, enquanto na segunda, Jadson garantiu a vitória magra sobre o Chernomorets.

Jadson vibra com a camisa do Shakhtar

Se os campeonatos russo e ucraniano recebem uma pequena divulgação no Brasil, os próximos não chegam nem perto de serem comentados. Na Hungria, Alex marcou para o Lombard-Papa no empate com o Paks. Já André Alves fez três, e o Videoton goleou o Vasas Budapest por 4 a 2, fora de casa.
Na Polônia, o jovem zagueiro Marcelo, ex-Santos, balançou as redes mais uma vez, agora nos 3 a 2 do Wisla Krakow sobre o Korona Kielce. Na Eslováquia, outro que aparece pela segunda semana consecutiva é o atacante Gaúcho, que deixou o seu na vitória do Slovan Bratislava sobre o Kosice.
Mais ao norte, na Estônia, o Nomme Kalju ficou no empate por 2 a 2 com o Narva Trans, e o zagueiro Alan Arruda contribuiu para o placar. Na vizinha Letônia, o Skonto Riga aplicou um belo 7 a 0 no Daugava, e o jovem Nathan Junior foi responsável por três desses gols.

Oriente Médio

Douglas festeja gol da vitória

Fora de solo europeu, o “Mundo Árabe” é o próximo ponto de passagem. Primeiro a turbulenta Israel, onde Hapoel e Maccabi se enfrentaram pelo clássico de Tel Aviv e o zagueiro Douglas, ex-Avaí e Atlético Paranaense, fez o único gol da partida, garantido a festa da torcida do Hapoel.
Já nos milionários Qatar e Emirados Árabes Unidos, houve fartura de gols, como de costume. No primeiro, o experiente Araújo deixou três na goleada do Al-Gharrafa sobre o Al Rayyan. Mesmo número de gols de Davi para o Umm Salal em cima do Al Shamal. O veterano Magno Alves ainda completou o 4 a 1. Perto dalí, outro que não se contentou com apenas um tento foi Leandro, fazendo dois nos 3 a 0 do Al Sadd sobre o Qatar SC.
No segundo, o ex-flamenguista Emerson continua balançando redes. Desta vez foi nos 4 a 0 do Al-Ain sobre o Al Shabab. No mesmo dia, o Al Wahda bateu o Al Dhafra por 2 a 1, graças aos gols de Fernando Baiano e Pinga.

China e Coréia do Sul

Como a rodada foi diferente no Japão, os destaques do extremo oriente ficaram, principalmente, por conta do futebol chinês. Na liga do país, José Duarte marcou dois, mas não conseguiu evitar a derrota do Chongqing Lifan. Mesma situação de Jefferson Feijão, que já passou por Goiás, Internacional e Botafogo, e agora defende o Changsha Ginde, fez o seu mas saiu de campo sem ponto algum.
Quem conseguiu somar pontos foram o Chengdu Blades, três, graças ao gol de Rodrigues, e o Shaanxi Zhongxin, um, pelo tento de Vicente.
Já em solo sul-coreano, apenas uma rede balançada por um compatriota, e ainda um que ostenta o nome da nossa capital. O meia Brasília, que iniciou sua carreita no Ituano, ajudou a construir o 4 a 2 do Jeonbuk sobre o Gyeongnam.

América

Maicon Santos no duelo contra o Galaxy

Cruzando o oceano rumo à América, o primeiro destino são os Estados Unidos, local que estreia nesta coluna. No domingo, o Chivas enfrentou o poderoso Los Angeles Galaxy e ficou no 2 a 2. Para a filial dos mexicanos, o brasileiro Maicon Santos anotou. Atravessando a fronteira, o meia naturalizado mexicano Zinha fechou a vitória de 2 a 0 do Toluca sobre o Queretaro.
Perto de nós, na América do Sul, o único brasileiro que saiu para o abraço foi atacante Roberval, que garantiu a vitória do Audax Italiano por 2 a 1, no Campeonato Chileno, sobre o Everton, mesmo jogando fora de casa.

Abnaa al Gebelawi (Children of Gebelawi), By Ibrahim Farghali, Cairo: Al Ain, 2009

In Ibrahim Farghali’s Abnaa al Gebelawi, all of the texts of the great Egyptian novelist Naguib Mahfouz suddenly vanish from the face of the earth. This happens without explanation, reason, or ostensible cause: wherever they might be found – not only in libraries and bookshops but also on bookshelves and bedside bedside tables – novels by Mahfouz in their original Arabic are simply nowhere to be found. The authorities’ attempt to remedy the situation in the face of worldwide and (notably, if somewhat incredibly) popular uproar are juxtaposed with sightings of Mahfouz’s characters in a variety of locales, seldom having anything to do with the settings in which they actually appear in Mahfouz’s books.

With six – now seven – books to his name, Farghali (b. 1967) is among the most prolific novelists of his generation. In his devotion to the genre and his formal conservatism, he is perhaps the worthiest heir to Mahfouz (1911-2006), the Nobel prize winner most known for his mid-century tales of Cairo. Unlike Mahfouz, however, Farghali is firmly steeped in a magical realist tradition. Running through much of his prose are echoes of Jose Saramago’s nightmarish humour or shades of Italo Calvino’s fascination with the fantastical nature of fiction. He is taken by twins, telepathy and teleporting, and his firmly middle-class characters – otherwise utterly ordinary – have been known to reappear after they have died.

In Abnaa al Gebelawi – Farghali’s latest and greatest work – we face the prospect of a world without literature. The myriad voices in the book — for the young narrator cum author assumes many guises throughout these pages — express concern as to the fraught future of Arabic literature, about the erosion of the liberal and humane values that Mahfouz and his work represent, and (reflecting perhaps the essential fear of all true writers) about oblivion at large.

The events of the book are staged around a relatively uncomplex love affair involving the narrator and the eccentric daughter of a well-to-do family— occasion for Farghali to probe the psychology of class and sex in contemporary Egyptian society. Further in, however, the story breaks up and morphs into countless alternative and subordinate plot-lines, until it becomes clear (although it is never stated) that the whole of Abnaa al Gebelawi is but the barely coherent waste of a single pluralistic mind – the mind of a young writer concerned with the literary wasteland around him. The allegorical dimension remains predominant, and in this way recalls Awlad Haretnah (Children of Our Alley, 1959), the title of whose earlier English translation Farghali translates back verbatim for his own.

As it happens, Awlad Haretnah was the only book by Mahfouz to suffer censure from the religious establishment. In it the history of a popular residential quarter in Cairo stands in for the sum total of humanity’s spiritual experience. That quarter’s oldest, strongest and most benevolent resident – for many generations hidden away in his mansion – is called Gebelawi. Gebelawi has envoys or representatives, descendants or grandchildren, whose struggles to spread peace and justice make up episodes of the saga. Each is a retelling of the life of one of the prophets of Islam, starting with Adam and ending with the False Messiah. Moses, Jesus, and Mohammad all feature, but at the end a rumour spreads that Gebelawi himself has died. In Arab literary circles it is frequently claimed that if not for Awlad Haretnah, Mahfouz would not have received the Nobel Prize. But it proved too much for orthodox, let alone radical Muslims, for whom Mahfouz would become the enemy soon enough.

a letter from Mahfouz to Mohammad al Badawi

Radical Islam had claimed many lives since the 1980s when in 1994 Mahfouz barely survived being knifed to death outside his house in Cairo. The irony was that, of all the helpless octogenarians his bearded young assailants could have targeted for apostasy, he was probably the least secular. A typical Cairene of the pre-bin ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Laden era, the man had led an all but exemplary (for which read profoundly unadventurous) life. He did not seek revolution, he did not take great risks. He had no utopian or transcendental illusions. And perhaps it was thanks to this and this alone that he was able to invent and reinvent the novel, the youngest genre in the language, defining it for generations of writers down to Farghali.

Applying every novelistic model at his disposal, Mahfouz produced a phenomenal number of readable books: social chronicles, political critiques, philosophical manuals. None was too difficult or experimental to render it inaccessible to even the most common reader. None sought to undermine whatever pillar of the status quo it came in contact with. Notwithstanding the elaborately veiled, painstakingly respectful Ages-of-Man narrative in Awlad Haretnah – a Muslim treatise on the meaning of life if ever there was one – in Mahfouz’s books, the family, the creed, the government are never attacked for what they are or what they stand for, but only for their most striking deviations, omissions or excesses.

For a magic realist like Farghali, Mahfouz may not be the most obvious point of departure; the Nobel laureate is, after all, best known for devotion to the real even in his least realistic works, and one would have trouble imagining him so much as hinting at the paranormal or the fantastical. Yet in Abnaa al Gebelawi, the grand opera to Farghali’s various arias, Mahfouz is an embodiment of something not so different from the sense of sight. His books stand in for almost everything Farghali values: Literature, Thought, Freedom, Knowledge, even Love. The premise could not have been more powerful.

Certains aimant les routes escarpées, nous irons visiter les Green Mubazzarah au pied du Jebel, des montagnes de verdure, arrosées en permanence par l’eau de sources locales (uniquement ?), avant de remonter …. et de replonger !

L’après-midi, départ vers Dubai ! Nous nous arrêterons tout de même au fort Hilili où se trouve en ce moment une superbe expo photo d’un britannique du désert du début du siècle…avant de faire étape au Hili Archeological garden pour faire plaisir à Godefroy (qui n’attendait que ça depuis le début du WE…) et y trouver quelques (j’insiste bien sur le quelques…n’allez pas à Al Ain pour les voir) vestiges de l’âge de Bronze. A noter cependant, une belle tombe Hili !

Mais sete dias se passaram e, como sempre, redes balançando em verde e amarelo não faltam. Desta vez, além dos grandes países e dos já costumeiros lugares alternativos, dois novos locais exóticos foram descobertos e deverão aparecer aqui com maior frequência, Tailândia e Moldávia. Mas não são nesses lugares que a viagem vai começar.

Matuzalém comemora com companheiros da Lazio

A última semana já começou para a Brasucas com rodada cheia da nova Liga Europa e pelo segundo dia da Liga dos Campeões. Primeiro, a maior competição do Velho Continente, quando Kaká fez de pênalti nos 3 a 0 do Real Madrid sobre o Olympique de Marseille. Já na segunda competição em questão de importância, Matuzalém ajudou a Lazio a fazer a goleada de 4 a 0 em cima do Levski. Outra goleada foi a do Hamburgo sobre o Hapoel Tel Aviv, e, para variar, Zé Roberto deixou o seu. E ainda teve outro placar de quatro gols. O Shakthar enfrentou o Partizan e Jádson e Luiz Adriano fizeram os deles.

No duelo entre Werder Bremen e Athletic de Bilbao, o recém-convocado Naldo subiu ao ataque para marcar. E já que o assunto é futebol na Alemanha, Schumacher também balançou as redes. Mas esse foi o atacante revelado pelo Atlético Paranaense, que fez o gol do Austria Vienna no empate com o Nacional.

No Grupo A, o jovem Sammir, que iniciou carreira na Europa fez um do Dinamo Zagreb na vitória por 3 a 0 sobre o Timisoara. Enquanto no Grupo H, o bem conhecido Alex garantiu os três pontos para o Fenerbahçe, fora de casa, no embate diante do Sheriff.

Mas não é apenas na Europa que existe Liga dos Campeões, na Ásia também. E por lá, o Pohang Steelers passou por cima de Felipão e seu Bunyodkor. Nos 4 a 1, Denilson, que jogou por clubes como Feyenoord, Paris Saint-Germain e Atlas, fez metade dos gols dos mandantes.

De competições continentais, já foi o suficiente, agora o assunto são as ligas e copas nacionais. E para começar, a Escandinávia, onde, desta vez, quem marcou maior presença foi o futebol finlandês. Junto com o veterano Jari Litmanen, Rafael Pires ajudou o FC Lahti a fazer 4 a 0 no FC Jazz. Perto dali, Rafinha fez dois nos 3 a 1 do Tampere United sobre Haka Valkeakoski. Outro que comemorou duas vezes foi Álvaro Santos. Criado no América Mineiro, colaborou com os 4 a 2 do Orgryte em cima do Kalmar, pelo Sueco.

Um país que sempre aparece por aqui é o Chipre, e hoje não é diferente. Na quarta-feira, Gabriel Lima, que jogou no Fluminense entre 96 e 99 deixou o seu no massacre de 7 a 0 do AEP Paphos diante do Omonia Aradippou. No outro jogo do dia, Renato marcou para o Atromitos Yeroskipou, enquanto Joeano e Wender fizeram para o Ermis Aradippou no empate por 2 a 2. Já no sábado, o veterano Eduardo Marques, que teve passagem por Santos, Grêmio, Guarani, entre outros, contribuiu para o empate entre Aris e Enosis Paralimni.

Diogo, ex-Lusa, vibra com gol

Os próximos destinos são Grécia e Turquia. No primeiro, Dudu Cearense e Diogo saíram para o abraço nos 3 a 0 do Olympiakos de Zico diante do Levadiakos. Outro que comemorou foi o defensor Flávio, que atuou no Brasil por Fluminense, Santos e Figueirense, antes de chegar ao Aris Salonika e garantir o empate com o Panthrakikos Komotini. Já em solo turco, o craque Alex fez dois para o Fenerbahçe contra Gençlerbirligi e faz seu nome aparecer mais uma vez aqui. Porém, no dia anterior, o destaque ficou com o ex-santista Rodrigo Tabata, que fez o único do Besiktas na vitória sobre o Denizlispor.

Welliton abraça Alex após marcar

Hora de seguir ao leste-europeu, região que investe bastante em talentos tupiniquins. Na República Tcheca, Paulo Rodrigues bem que tentou, mas não conseguiu evitar a derrota do Pribram por 2 a 1 para o Brno. Na Hungria, o atacante André Alves, que saiu das categorias de base do São Paulo, ajudou o Videoton a derrotar o Kaposvar. Já na Ucrânia, o clube mais brasileiro da Ucrânia, o Shakhtar, contou com dois gols de Luiz Adriano mas apenas empatou com o Dnipro. No mesmo país, Jajá, que jogou pelo Flamengo em 2006, fez o da vitória do Metalist sobre o estranho Kryvbas Krivyi Rig. Já no país mais pobre da área, a Moldávia, Fred marcou para o Tiraspol contra o Academica. Para completar a região, a Rússia. Apenas um tento, do ex-esmeraldino Welliton, no êxito do Spartak de Moscou sobre o Amkar.

Um jogador desconhecido do público nacional é Marcos de Azevedo, porém, pelo jeito começará a ganhar maior fama, pois, mais uma vez, ele mostra sua cara por aqui, no empate por 2 a 2 entre Servette e Schaffhausen. Da Suíça para a Holanda, onde outro jogador vem ganhando destaque na Brasucas, o jovem Everton, que marcou para o Heracles na derrota por 3 a 1 para o Twente.

Nenê é destaque do Monaco

Se na Suíça e na Holanda, dois desconhecidos da grande maioria fizeram a festa, na França e Inglaterra, a história foi diferente. Em solo francês, o Saint-Etienne bateu o Bordeaux por 3 a 1 e o atacante Ilan deixou o seu. Jussiê tentou pelo outro lado, mas em vão. Mas quem anda bem por lá é o ligeiro Nenê, que marcou mais um com a camisa do Monaco, desta vez diante do Olympique de Marseille. Na Terra da Rainha, Geovanni levou o pequeno Hull City a vitória por 2 a 1 sobre o Wigan.

A peneira pela Europa chega a Itália. E antes de chegar à elite, as divisões inferiores contaram com tentos brasucas. Com a camisa do Frosinone, Caetano Calil, ex-Ipatinga, Avaí e Atlético Paranaense deixou o seu na vitória sobre o Piacenza. Outro time que saiu com três pontos com a ajuda brasileira foi o Cittadella, e de Diego Oliveira, diante do Lecce. No dia seguinte, foi o atacante Paulinho, ex-Juventude, que fez a alegria de sua torcida, na difícil vitória do Sorrento sobre o Benevento. Já na Serie A italiana, Fabio Simplício derrubou junto com o Palermo a poderosa Juventus. Por último, ele, Ronaldinho Gaúcho, depois de muito tempo balançou as redes, um belo gol, no empate por 1 a 1 entre Atalanta e Milan.

A Península Ibérica é a bola da vez. Começando pela Espanha, onde o atacante Reinaldo contribuiu com o Huesca para o empate por 2 a 2 contra o Girona, pela segunda divisão. Na liga principal, o Sevilla derrotou os galáticos do Real Madrid com gol de Renato. Os merengues marcaram com o luso-brasileiro Pepe. Outro zagueiro que balançou as redes foi Nivaldo, ex-Náutico, Fortaleza e Coritiba, no 2 a 2 entre Valladolid e Athletic Bilbao. Na capital, o ex-corintiano Éwerthon deixou o seu de pênalti pelo Zaragoza, mas o Atlético de Madrid fez dois e saiu com os três pontos.

Se Portugal nos colonizou, hoje em dia é a gente que manda no futebol do país. Pela segunda divisão, o Santa Clara bateu o Varzim graças a dois gols de Rincón, veterano que defendeu as camisas do Treze e Santa Cruz. Antes de chegar à primeira divisão, destaque para mais um tento de Lulinha com a camisa do Estoril, desta vez na vitória por 2 a 0 sobre o Beira-Mar. Já pela elite, o Naval recebeu o Rio Ave e venceu por 3 a 2. Diego Ângelo anotou um para os mandantes, enquanto Wires e Sidnei tentaram para os visitantes. Placar igual aconteceu entre Leixões e União Leiria. Com gols de Léo e Carlão, cada um para um time. Na famosa Coimbra, o Academica foi derrotado por 4 a 2, e Marcinho, ex-São Caetano e Santos, foi responsável por um dos tentos do Marítimo.

Antes de seguir para as outros continentes, Zé Roberto deixou mais um com a camisa do Hamburgo. Desta vez na vitória por 3 a 1 sobre o Hertha e parece que vai levar o time ao título da Bundesliga.

No Oriente Médio, chuva apenas de gols brasileiros. No Qatar, Juninho Pernambucano e Marcinho levaram o Al-Gharrafa e o Qatar SC, respectivamente, às vitórias. Enquanto nos Emirados, Pedrão, ex-Barueri, e Renato, ex-Flamengo, marcaram nos 4 a 3 do Al-Shabab sobre o Al Wasl. Outro ex-flamenguista que está se saindo bem por lá é Emerson, que deixou mais, agora na goleada do Al-Ain sobre o Al-Ahli. Outro time que goleou foi o Al-Wahda e graças a quatro gols brasucas, Fernando Baiano e Pinga marcaram dois cada. Para fechar a região, Ricardo Oliveira comemorou no êxito do Al-Jazira sobre o Al-Dhafra.

Rumo ao leste, na Terra do Sol Nascente, França tentou, mas  seu Kashiwa Reysol saiu derrotado pelo Jubilo Iwata. Mesma situação de Éder, do Yokohama FC, no duelo contra o Thespa Kusatsu. Já Edmílson, Renatinho, Pedro Junior, Marcio Richardes e Fabio, comemoraram vitórias com as torcidas do Urawa Red Diamonds, Kawasaki Frontale, Gamba Osaka, Albirex Niigata e Tokushima Vortis, respectivamente.
Mas a maior descoberta da semana ficou por conta do futebol tailandês. Recheado da ginga verde e amarela, o TOT bateu o Nakhon Pathom com gol de Valci Júnior, enquanto o Chula United empatou com o Samut Sakhon graças ao tento de Aron da Silva.

Itamar comemora com a camisa do Tigres

Como a Austrália agora pertence futebolísticamente à Ásia, é o próximo destino. E, entre coalas e cangurus, o Melbourne Victory honrou seu nome e venceu o Brisbane Roar por 2 a 1. O atacante Ney Fabiano, que já jogou com a camisa de Internacional, São Paulo, Bahia, Cruzeiro e Juventus, fez o seu para os locais, enquanto Reinaldo descontou para os visitantes.

Para encerrar essa longa volta ao mundo, o continente americano. No forte futebol mexicano, Itamar, ex-Palmeiras e São Paulo, abriu o placar para o Tigres diante do Cruz Azul. Mais ao Sul, pelo campeonato equatoriano, Renato fez os dois do Espoli no empate com o Tecnico Universitario. Já pelo Boliviano, Charles da Silva se faz presente mais uma vez por aqui, desta vez na vitória por 2 a 1 do Bolívar sobre o rival The Strongest.

Não dá nem tempo de descansar, os próximos sete dias já começaram e as redes já estão balançando em verde e amarelo.

Nous décidons avec deux autres familles de partir à la découverte d’Al Ain (prononcer halène), à une bonne centaine de kilomètres de Dubai. Al Ain signifie apparemment la source en arabe…et nous n’allons pas être déçus. La ville respire la propreté, la verdure … et surtout, à la grande différence de Dubai, elle semble achevée… point de chantier, de tas de sable, de plot multicolore. Et cela repose les yeux !

Direction le Wildlike park and resort pour aller visiter le plus grand zoo des Emirats. Armés de nos chapeaux et de nombreuses bouteilles d’eau, nous arpenterons le parc en long en large et en travers pour y voir (ou plutôt apercevoir) des animaux avachis à l’ombre dans l’attente d’un peu de fraicheur. Comme nous en quelque sorte

Exténués, nous nous dirigeons vers … la course de côte de la région, pour rejoindre le sommet local : le Jebel Hafeet à plus de 1000m ! Certains vous diront que les voitures n’étaient pas assez plates … A l’arrivée, nous profitons d’une superbe vue d’avion ou typique de LA sur le désert et la ville oasis, et surtout des toboggans plongeant dans la piscine de l’hôtel ! D’autres auraient même eu froid en en sortant vers 18h. Il faut dire que la température extérieure devait démarrer par un 2 !

I know many of you have seen this wonderful twisty road before but I thought I would show it again. It’s the road of Jebel Hafeet, a long winding road leading to an old palace at the top of the mountain in Al Ain, UAE. According to Wikipedia, the Jebel Hafeet Road “extends for 11.7 km up the mountain, rising 1219 m”, or 4,000 ft. It also mentions that it has “21 corners and three lanes (two climbing and one descending).” We need to discover more roads like this in the Middle East.

If I’m not mistaken, the first video is of Mohammed Bin Sulayam (legendary Arab rally driver) who’s carving out the road in the Nissan GT-R.

This next clip is from the TV show, Fifth Gear. Tiff Needell takes a ride in a BMW M3.

Now you know why I named this post “Lucky Emiratis”!

My apologies to this group as I did not ask permission to take their photo but neither did they ask us if they could use our car as a prop and background for their photos!

Vanessa and I took a day trip to Al Ain, a city in the Emirate Of Abu Dhabi which is an oasis in the middle of the desert. It was a full day with a trip to the Al Ain Zoo, shopping and a drive up the mountain Jebel Hafeet. This mountain rises over 1240 meters and gives you an impressive view over Al Ain and into the counrty of Oman. The drive up is quick with over 21 corners and tourist stops along the way to take in the view. Jebel Hafeet is home to many natural cave systems, hot springs and an array of wild life. This was just another pin on the map on our excursion living in the UAE.

A cada semana que passa, a viagem em busca de redes balançadas por brasileiros enfrenta maiores escalas. Como de costume, o ponto de partida é a Europa, e principalmente os países menos privilegiados da grande mídia. A região inicial será a Escandinávia, onde Wanderson vem marcando presença toda semana. O atacante marcou um de pênalti na vitória do GAIS sobre o Hammarby e dois diante do Orebro. Outro que anotou duas vezes em uma mesma partida foi Antônio Flávio, ex-Santo André, nos 2 a 0 do AIK em cima do Djurgarden. Ainda em solo sueco, o Jonkoping bateu o Landskrona por 4 a 2 e o meia Marcel Sacramento deixou o seu.

Antônio Flávio com a camisa do AIK

Perto dali, o futebol dinamarquês contribuiu bastante, ou melhor, os brasucas contribuíram para o futebol local. Fora da capital, uma das crias das categorias de base do Atlético Mineiro, Ailton fez o gol da virada do Copenhagen sobre o Helsingor. Outros que se deram bem fora de casa foram HB Koge e Viborg, que contaram com tentos de Roberto Saraiva e Alex da Silva, respectivamente, para somarem três pontos. Mas o grande destaque do país ficou por conta do massacre de 9 a 0 do Randers FC sobre o Vejen, José Júnior fez o dele.

Os fiordes não estão mais na paisagem, mas não muito distante, na Holanda, Wellington, atacante que passou por Inter, São Caetano, Náutico e está emprestado pelo Hoffenheim, comemorou duas vezes nos 8 a 0 do Twente no pequeno Joure. Três dias mais tarde, a equipe voltou a vencer, e desta vez com gol do jovem Douglas, ex-Joinville. Outro que saiu para o abraço duas vezes foi Leonardo, com carreira no país, no duro 3 a 2 do NAC Breda em cima do Willem II. Caso comum de jogador que sai direto da base para a Europa, Everton deixou o Barueri rumo ao Heracles e botou seu nome no placar no êxito de 2 a 0 diante do NEC. Outro exemplo é o de Paulo Henrique, mas este até chegou a jogar no profissional, deixou o Galo para defender o Heerenveen e marcou o seu sobre o Sparta Rotterdam.

Os “brownies mágicos” ficaram para trás e a neutralidade da Suíça toma conta. Na quarta-feira, Marcos de Azevedo colaborou com o 2 a 2 entre Servette e Wohlen. Já no sábado, o meia voltou às redes, mas não evitou a derrota de seu time por 3 a 2 para o Locarno. Com a camisa do Lugano FC, Silvio Carlos, ex-Santos, fez dois dos sete gols da sua equipe sobre o Gossau. No país vizinho, a Áustria, o ex-pontepretano Fabiano também chegou ao gol duas vezes, ajudando a construir o 5 a 0 do Wacker Tirol sobre o Dornbirn.

Carlos Eduardo imita comemoração famosa de Totti

Antiga aliada austríaca, a Alemanha sempre proporciona seu momento por aqui. Pela Copa do país, jogada na quarta-feira, o recém-convocado Naldo, o ex-palmeirense Caio, e o naturalizado alemão Cacau, fizeram as alegrias das torcidas de Werder Bremen, Frankfurt e Stuttgart. Já no domingo, pela famosa Bundesliga, Raffael fez para o Hertha Berlim, mas Carlos Eduardo, além de outros quatro gols, deram os três pontos para o Hoffenheim.

Se Áustria e Alemanha foram aliadas em tempos de guerra, uma grande rival era a União Soviética, e nessa região, brasileiros brilharam nos últimos sete dias. Na atual Bielo-rússia, Jefferson fez o único na vitória do Dinamo Minsk em cima do Granit. Na Estônia, o meia Felipe Nunes anotou o seu, mas o Nomme Kalju foi derrotado pelo FC Levadia. Mas foi na Ucrânia que o sucesso foi absoluto. O Shakhtar atropelou o Obolon por 4 a 0 e, Jadson, William e Ilsinho balançaram as redes.

Outro país que sofreu desfragmentação foi a Iugoslávia. Um dos que conseguiram a independência foi a Eslovênia, e por lá, Marco Tavares, que jogou pelo Furacão, fez dois na vitória por 3 a 2 do Maribor contra o Nova Gorica. Ainda na região de grandes conturbações históricas, mas na Sérvia, Cléo, outro que defendeu o rubro-negro de Curitiba, marcou de pênalti para o Partizan Belgrado, no sábado.

Como o tema entrou para rivalidades políticas, Turquia e Chipre são os próximos destinos. Na pequena ilha, Roma, que atuou por CSA e Sport deixou o seu nos 2 a 0 do Doxa Katokopia sobre o Nisou. Já no continente, Rizespor e Altay ficaram no 1 a 1 pela segunda divisão. Nascimento Ribeiro abriu para os locais e Tiago Bezerra, ex-Gama, igualou. Na elite do país, o ex-corintiano Marcus Vinícius deu, no finalzinho, os três pontos para o Istanbul Buyuksehir em cima do Sivasspor, enquanto Júlio César tentou mas não conseguiu evitar a derrota do Gaziantepspor para o Ankaraguçu.

Antes de entrar na rota dos poderosos do Velho Continente, vale a pena passar na Grécia. Por lá, o zagueiro Douglão, que começou no Inter e estava no rebaixado Nantes, deu a vitória ao Kavala sobre o Iraklis. Já nos 4 a 0 do Ergotelis sobre o Panthrakikos, os veteranos Junior Silva e Beto, que fizeram carreira fora, tiveram grande importância.

Lúcio com a camisa nerazzurri

Na “Terra da Bota”, o atacante Nenê marcou para o Cagliari, na quarta-feira, no êxito sobre o Bari. No mesmo dia, o capitão da Seleção Lúcio deixou o seu no 3 a 1 da Internazionale em cima do Napoli. Já no domingo, a Juventus tentou mais três pontos, mas Adaílton, ex-Juventude e Guarani, não deixou e a partida com o Bologna ficou no empate. Mas quem conseguiu vitória foi o Cagliari, que contou com tento de Jeda para passar pelo Parma.

Partindo da Península Itálica para a Ibérica, o ex-botafoguense Juca marcou duas vezes nos últimos sete dias. Garantiu os resultados positivos do Deportivo sobre Xerez e Villarreal. Na capital, Cléber Santana empatou para o Atlético de Madrid contra o Almería, enquanto Kaká fechou o placar vitorioso do Real Madrid diante do Villarreal, fora de casa. O camisa 8 merengue voltou às redes no sábado, quando sua equipe passou pelo Tenerife por 3 a 0. Outra equipe que está com a bola toda é o Sevilla, que marcou oito gols nas últimas duas partidas, diante de Athletic Bilbao e Rangers, contando com a colaboração de Renato, Adriano e Luís Fabiano.

Em Portugal, Adílson e Alan, vibraram com as torcidas do Feirense e do Sporting Braga, respectivamente. Em Lisboa, o zagueiro David Luiz e o meia Ramires participaram do placar de 5 a 0 do Benfica sobre o Leixões. Completando a rodada lusitana, Vitória Guimarães e União Leiria ficaram no 2 a 2, com gols de Roberto para os donos da casa e Carlão e Vinícius para os visitantes.

Wendel é destaque no Bordeaux

Para fechar o continente europeu, Wendel, ex-Santos e Cruzeiro, foi para a galera no 1 a 0 do Bordeaux em cima do Rennes e garantiu a liderança de seu time na Ligue 1. Já na Premiership, o Hull tomou de 6 a 1 do Liverpool, mas Geovanni foi o responsável pelo gol de honra. O time do ex-cruzeirense também foi batido na quarta-feira, e o atacante Jô ajudou a deixar o placar em 4 a 0 para o Everton.

Um lugar infestado de brasileiros jogando bola que foi um pouco esquecido nas últimas semanas foi a Ásia, mas desta vez receberá a devida atenção. Pela Liga dos Campeões do continente, Magno Alves marcou dois para o Umm Salal sobre o FC Seoul, enquanto Juninho, ex-Palmeiras, garantiu a vitória do Kawasaki Frontale sobre o Nagoya Grampus.

O país do Oriente Médio que concentra mais tupiniquins são os Emirados Árabes Unidos, e foi por lá que o ex-flamenguista Émerson ganhou grande destaque logo em seus primeiros dias na terra dos petrodólares. Em sua estreia, marcou dois e ajudou o Al Ain a sagrar-se campeão da Copa dos Emirados. Na segunda partida, diante do Al Nasr, fez outro. Quem também conseguiu balançar as redes duas vezes foi Fernando Baiano, nos 3 a 1 do Al Wahda sobre o Ahli. Pinga, ex-Torino e Internacional, completou a vitória dos visitantes.

Emerson comemora com Valdivia na estreia pelo Al Ain

Ainda no maior pólo verde-amarelo em terras desérticas, Marcelinho fez para o Sharjah no duelo com o Emirate, enquanto o artilheiro Pedrão, ex-Barueri, fez para o Al Shabab contra o Jazira. Em ambas as partidas, os gols não evitaram as derrotas.

No Bahrein, a antiga promessa Rico, ex-São Paulo e Grêmio, deixou sua marca na vitória do Al Muharraq. Já no Qatar, o desconhecido Leandro da Silva fez para o Al Sadd no empate de 1 a 1 com o Al Kharitiyat.

Para terminar de vez a viagem pelo globo em busca de talentos brasucas perdidos, a terra do sol nascente. Na quarta-feira, Marcelo Soares e Roberto ajudaram os visitantes Vegalta Sendai e Sagan Tosu, saírem de campo com um empate e uma vitória, respectivamente.

No final de semana, o habilidoso Michael, ex-Guaratinguetá e Coritiba, tentou, mas não evitou a derrota do JEF United para o Yamagata. Mesma situação de Marquinhos, na surpreendente goleada de 4 a 1 sofrida pelo Kashima Antlers para o Nagoya Grampus. Outro grande time japonês derrotado em casa foi o Urawa Red Diamonds, que contou com gol de Edmílson, antiga dupla de Vágner Love no Palmeiras, no fracasso diante do Yokohama Marinos.

A cada semana que passa, o número de gols cresce, e fica mais provado que, tratando-se de futebol, brasileiro faz sucesso em qualquer canto.

There are hundreds of blogs about which is the best night club in Dubai, which is the best hangout joint in Dubai so on and so forth. My blog entry is not about any of this. I am not into clubbing and I am a teetotaler. If you are the freak-out globe trotter already you must be thinking I am so boring.

In peak summer Dubai goes into a lower gear, the roads become less congested and breaths free because many return to their home country or at least send their families home. I’ve also followed the trend and packed my family back home to join them at the end of Ramadan. No later than few days I realized my mistake , but mistakes are never without lessons to learn.

Good food is one of my passions and if you read my post Sri Lankan food in Dubai you would’ve realized this. But good food is nothing if you don’t have the right company to enjoy it, this is my latest realization. Though I am not the greatest cook I am confident that I can make out the ingredients of most of the dishes I try and replicate the results. And I used to take pride in that to the extent sometimes to my wife’s annoyance I even compete with her. But suddenly I seem to have lost the interest in cooking, First because I hate the cleaning up, second there was no one to share the joy of good food. And in peak summer non of my good school buddies who are in Dubai share the idea of eating out. So many a times I used to order food from a restaurant to be delivered home.

If you’ve been a family man in Dubai and suddenly when you are alone you cannot kick sense to your mind as to how to kill your time. Of course the month of Ramadan keeps you busy with religious activities but weekends are almost too much to take. Luckily I have high speed broadband internet connection which I’ve made wireless within my home. Most weekends I’ve been only surfing the net and watching the set of Discovery Channels for which I am paying dearly.

I’ve been carefully compiling this particular blog entry for one whole month, not because I had too much activity to cover, simply because there wasn’t much I did to report. During this time I spent 4 days in Riyadh and 4 days in Kuwait, which I enjoyed, simply because there was someone to do the cleaning up.

During my last two weeks before my vacation I spent most of my time with my soon to be married school buddy (and enjoyed playing “know it all” married man!!), did lots of shopping and some window shopping of Digi Cams.

This beautiful and sparkling BlackBerry BOLD Cover is hand-adorned with original SWAROVSKI crystals. The “Pretty in Gold” design of the Sarah Asfur Collection suits your BlackBerry during business meetings throughout the day or at wedding parties at night.

For sure, you will be the SHINING STAR of any event you are attending with this gorgeous and unique piece. The Cover can be added and removed easily from your BlackBerry. This way you may change your design as you change your fashion

Cover for BlackBerry: Bold 9000
Size: 7cm x 11cm (1.5 height)

Delivery in beautiful Gift box!

(Please note: this does not include the BlackBerry Mobile phone. Only the crystallized cover)

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-> DIFFERENT COLOR SCHEMES ON REQUEST POSSIBLE (duration: 2 working days)

This video was captured using my digital cam!

Early evening, I was with my wife and baby, plus a couple of friends, and we were riding a small shuttle bus on our way to a mall, when a fierce hail storm met us on the way!

It started out as a sand storm and we noticed that the streets became full of dust. It was followed by rain, then suddenly we heard loud noises coming from the roof of the bus and from our windows. There were some hails like pieces of ice coming from the sky! They were like the size of a cashew nut!

The wind started to become strong and we saw some trees starting to fall down. Our bus stopped on the side as we waited for the hail storm to finish. It was not my first time to experience hail storms, but it was my first time to experience it while I was on the streets, with my wife and baby. I feared that the window glasses would get broken, or worst, the whole bus would turn over because of the strong wind.

Luckily, the storm didn’t get any worst, and we continued our journey when it was safer to move. We reached our destination safely. It was one experience to remember.

After a generation of inaction – and increasingly bad traffic congestion – the six GCC countries (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE) have finally started to build decent public transport systems. Dubai’s metro opens in a few days’ time. Abu Dhabi’s metro is expected within five years, alongside an urban tram network. But the most exciting plans surround construction of an international rail network across the Arabian Peninsula and the whole Middle East.

A mammoth undertaking

It’s a mammoth undertaking. Although the terrain – and the long distances – suit train travel perfectly, there are only a few scattered lines currently in operation.

Saudi Arabia runs a passenger service between Dammam and Riyadh. Syria has a good network, which links – through the tenuous connection of the Toros Express – to Turkey. Israel also has a decent system, but for political reasons it is completely isolated from its neighbours: trains once ran from Cairo all the way along the eastern Mediterranean coast to Beirut, but the lines were cut in 1948.

Flying the Arab Revolt flag

And the old Hejaz Railway, built by the Ottomans to take haj pilgrims from Damascus to Mecca, blown up by Faisal and Lawrence of Arabia during the ‘Arab Revolt’ – and which, in its latter years, hosted passengers trains between Damascus and Amman in Jordan – is also no more. Jordan resurrected it as a novelty this month, running ‘Ramadan Specials’ between Amman and the nearby city of Zarqa, but hardly anybody took notice. As this article pointed out, Jordan has no culture of rail.

Big plans

Yet big plans are afoot. Jordan is planning a new national network, incorporating a commuter light-rail line between Amman and Zarqa along the route of the old Hejaz track. The intention is to link up with Syrian railways, and idealists envision that – once there is sufficient political will – Jordan might also link up with the Israeli network. Relaxing one day aboard the Galilee Flyer from Haifa to Irbid, or the Umayyad Express from Damascus to Jerusalem? We can only hope.

But the biggest plans are on the Arabian Peninsula. Saudi Arabia’s rail expansion includes a Landbridge project to extend the Dammam-Riyadh line as far as Jeddah, thus linking the Gulf with the Red Sea for the first time. The Haramain high-speed rail line from Jeddah to the Holy Cities of Medina and Mecca will be partly ready for next year’s haj, and a driverless monorail is planned within Mecca to ease the traffic problems caused by 3 million pilgrims a year. The intention is for the Saudi network – specifically a new north-south line running from Riyadh to Ha’il – to continue to the Jordanian border, forming a connection with Jordan’s domestic railways.

Then the six GCC countries are well advanced on plans for an international railway along the Gulf coast from Kuwait to Oman, which would link to domestic rail networks planned throughout this region. The Friendship Causeway, a massive engineering project to build a road link across 40km of sea between Bahrain and Qatar – thus reducing the journey time between Doha and Manama from almost 5 hours to 30 minutes, when it opens in 2015 – was hastily redesigned at the last minute to include space for a rail line. Both countries are designing railways and urban metros within their own, small territories.

And the UAE is planning a national railway, linking Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ras Al Khaimah and crossing to the east coast to Fujairah. In addition, a triangle of high-speed lines will connect Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Al Ain. Lines will extend into Oman to the capital, Muscat.

Finally, the GCC line would join with the Saudi network, by then itself linked with Jordan, Syria and Turkey. Syria and Iraq are already connected. Trains could, in theory, run the whole distance from Istanbul to Muscat, across half a dozen countries or more, making the prospect of travelling by train from Europe to the Gulf a real possibility.

Social cohesion

The potential for change is very exciting. Railways – or, more specifically, opportunities to travel easily and cheaply – make healthy societies: they foster social cohesion. Railways are progress. British policymakers forgot this in the 1960s and 1970s, cut lines and denied the railways decent investment. This contributed to the isolating, individualistic, London-centric reshaping of society which continued through the 1980s and which we are still grappling with today.

Mecca monorail?

In the UAE, where 80% of the population are from elsewhere, Emiratis are very unlikely to use their new mass transit systems – at least for another generation, until the individualism (and subsidised petrol) which ties people to their cars is abandoned. Consequently, building railways seems to me to be a rare, tacit acknowledgement by the UAE governments of the contribution made by outsiders, in particular by South Asian expats. It is – momentously, for these fragmented societies – a step towards integration.

Rail buffs in the West may get misty-eyed about all this, dreaming of historic lines converted for a new age, trains as harbingers of peace, new networks in virgin territory – and, of course, the romance of all those ancient cities of Arabia linked by gleaming new high-speed expresses.

But for the people in the region, the plans for rail are far more meaningful than that. Never mind all those skyscrapers and multibillion-dollar megaprojects; railway construction represents the most tangible, realistic move towards nation-building yet seen in the region. For the first time, virtually unlimited public funds are being married with level-headed, long-term planning policies. Two generations on from the biggest lottery win in history – the discovery of oil – the Gulf countries are starting to find their feet again.

Railways really matter.

UPDATE 7/9/09: A specialist rail writer friend advises me that the Hejaz line was in fact built by the Germans, under Ottoman direction, and also points out that it might be misleading to compare Syria’s network with Israel’s; the latter is far more advanced. Also check out this great video (5mins), posted today, of a journey aboard one of the ‘Ramadan Special’ train services along the old Hejaz line in Jordan – atmospheric visuals, “slumdog” scenery, but no toilet paper! Commentary is in Arabic, but the footage and music speak for themselves.

Emerson chegou ao Flamengo no primeiro semestre como “aquele cara que veio do Qatar”. Chorou ao vestir a camisa vermelha e preta em sua apresentação. Pagou a multa rescisória com o Al-Saad do próprio bolso para que o clube de coração não precisasse gastar com sua contratação. Rapidamente conquistou a torcida também dentro de campo, tornou-se o “Sheik da Gávea” e encaixou com o jogo do Imperador Adriano. Agora, poucos meses depois, Emerson deve sair. Mas esta saída está sendo muito mais complicada do que sua chegada ao Mais Querido…

Velho conhecido do Oriente Médio, Emerson recebeu assédio de clubes daquela região dois meses após sua estréia no Rio. A primeira sondagem passou batida e, quando tudo parecia um mar de rosas para o atleta, o Al-Ain, dos Emirados Árabes Unidos, ofereceu uma baixa quantia ao Flamengo e um total de aproximadamente 12 milhões de reais por dois anos de contrato ao Sheik. Depois de muita especulação, o próprio Emerson decidiu que não aceitaria a oferta. Porém, os árabes endinheirados são teimosos quando querem algo. Aumentaram a oferta para o Flamengo e subiram o salário do jogador para 17 milhões em dois anos. Por maior que seja o amor que o jogador tenha por um clube, não imagino muitas pessoas que recusariam uma proposta dessas, por mais que se tenha dinheiro. É a garantia de um futuro confortável para filhos e netos, se bem administrado. Esta rápida explicação já expõe meu primeiro ponto de vista: Emerson não é mercenário.

Mas o Flamengo recusou a proposta. O jogador, que veio de graça, sairia por quase R$ 6 milhões. O problema é que o Rubronegro tem uma penhora com o Atlético de Madrid (Espanha), que garante que grande parte deste dinheiro iria direto para os espanhóis.

Minha opinião: vende logo! Deixem o Sheik garantir o futuro das crianças, paguem de uma vez o Atlético de Madrid – cuja dívida gira em torno dos R$ 4,5 milhões – e ainda deixem a porta aberta para que o Emerson volte. Eu tenho certeza que ele volta, pois ele já viu que este é o lugar dele.

Excluindo a queda de talento que ocorreria no elenco do Fla, o negócio se mostra bom para todos. Acabar com esta penhora faria um bem danado, pois isso tem travado muitas ações do clube. Em certos momentos, temos que sacrificar um lado pelo bem do outro.

Se o Emerson realmente achar necessário sair, deixem.

Sightseeing Excursions from Dubai

Contribution from the Travel Blog Europe and Beyond

Dubai is known not only for its luxurious hotels, retail therapy and city sights, but also for its desert and mountain landscapes, interesting oasis cities and its wide range of unusual adventure activities. You can arrange a hire car in Dubai to go off sightseeing independently, or join a tour group for organised excursions from the city.

Everything about the city is immense – arriving at the airport sets the scale of things to come with transfers from aircraft to arrivals halll taking as long as half an hour by coach.  Frequent flights to Dubai are available from all major European cities and increasingly more regional airports.

Embark on a desert safari adventure

Dubai is a great base from which to enjoy desert adventure activities. Most desert tours pack in a variety of activities such as camel riding; sand surfing or skiing; a trip to a camel farm; 4×4 dune buggying; and ‘wadi bashing’ — a bone-shaking romp along dry, twisting riverbeds in a four wheel drive. If you’re lucky you may glimpse animals such as gazelle, or local tribes, during your excursion, and the day’s activities are usually followed by supper under the stars.

Your hotel can usually arrange such trips for you, or you can book through one of the city’s travel agencies. The best time to go is between April and October, avoiding the intense heat of the summer months.

Visit Abu Dhabi

If you haven’t had your fill of shopping in Dubai, there’s more shopping choice in neighbouring Abu Dhabi, which is only an hour and a halfs drive away. This hot, slower-paced, developing metropolis has a more sophisticated feel to it than Dubai.  Flamboyant new hotels such as the Yas Hotel have been constructed to provide ample rooms to satisfy the demand for major internationalevent such as the F1 Etihad Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in October November 2009.

Experience Al Ain, an authentic Arab oasis city

Rising out of Dubai’s desert sands is the oasis city of Al Ain, a settlement which dates back to the 4th millennium BC and is home to Jebel Hafeet, the UAE’s highest mountain. It takes about 90 minutes to get there from Dubai, and it is the closest you’ll find to an authentic Arab city in this region. It’s a pleasant destination in the mild winter months, when it’s not too hot to explore ancient archaeological sites, but it’s also a great escape from coastal humidity during the summer.

Al Ain has plenty of attractions to keep you busy, including historic forts, Al Ain Museum, and the palace museum of Sheikh Zayed. One of its most fascinating sights, however, is the busy camel market on the outskirts of town, teeming with a variety of camels from Sudan, Pakistan and Abu Dhabi, all vying for buyers’ attention.

Go sand skiing in the Liwa Oasis

The lush Liwa Oasis is too far from Dubai or Abu Dhabi to visit on a day trip as the journey takes about five hours, so you’d need an overnight stay. It’s well worth the effort, though, with camel markets, date palm plantations, freshwater pools, rugged landscapes and mountain peaks.

It’s also a great base from which to take desert excursions. Boasting the biggest sand dunes in the world, the Liwa Oasis is a sand skier’s dream. You can join an organised tour and they’ll provide some tuition and your sand board, so you can enjoy an exhilarating ride down the red-tinted dunes.