International Trip - Part VI: The flight to India (aka The Cheap Uncle and the Stolen Camels)

After our few days in Dubai, we traveled to India (with our second layover in Bahrain) via Gulf Air. Before leaving Dubai, I thought it would be fun to get my nephews little stuffed camels. As we were waiting for our flight in the Dubai airport, I visited numerous gift shops to find that the only stuffed camels that they had were rather large and expensive. I didn't have much room in my bags and didn't know if the camels would fit. Plus, after splurging on Deidra's ring, I was trying to conserve my spending. So I decided that I would wait until we got to India to see what I might be able to find there that would be smaller and cheaper.

On the second leg of our journey - from Bahrain to India - a cute little Indian family with two little boys sat in the row directly in front of me. Before take off, the male flight attendant approached the family and gave the boys each a little stuffed camel, with a tag that said "Gulfy."


When I saw those camels, I was a little bit jealous. That was exactly what I was looking to get for my nephews! I suppose I could have told the flight attendant my story and asked for a couple of camels myself, but instead I just resigned myself to looking for something similar once I got to India and soon forgot all about it.

Upon touching down in India, everybody began disembarking from the plane. As the family in front of me left their seats, to my astonishment, they left both camels on their seats. Apparently, stuffed camels aren't much of a novelty in the Middle East or something. I quickly swiped them both up and stuffed them into my bag. Leaving the plane, I felt like I was getting away with a crime and that somebody was going to stop me and confiscate my goods before I made my getaway. But I acted cool and nonchalant, and nobody suspected anything. I made it off the plane, through security, and through customs without any incident. Of course, so did my roommate, who smuggled beef jerky into the "holy cow" country. I'm still not sure how he managed that.

Anyway, Bentley has since received his camel and the one pictured in this post is awaiting a new home with Hudson.

Blog-o-rama thwarted!

Deidra had a great idea for date night last night. We were both going to get on a computer and just blog all of the things we had been meaning to blog for a while. Except our wireless router wasn't having it. It has been giving us problems for the past week or so, but I thought I had gotten it fixed. Apparently, I was wrong. I spent over and hour trying to fix it again last night and then another hour on the phone with Linksys support - only to be told that the representative could not figure out my problem and that she would have to transfer me to a Senior Technician. She put me on hold and came back on a few minutes later, telling me that there were no Senior Technicians available, but that one would call me back within 30 minutes. It was about 11pm at this point, so Deidra and I just got ready for bed, said our prayers, read our scriptures . . . 30 minutes passed without a call, so we just went to sleep. I called Linksys back this morning, and they finally figured out (hopefully) what the problem was, so we're up and running. Now it's time to blog - better late than never!

Google Reader and Posting Comments

I was just musing on the fact that since most of the people I know have started using Google Reader to keep on top of blog updates (myself included), I have seen a sharp decline in comments on my blog. And I dare say that I comment less on others' blogs, too. Maybe it's the extra effort it takes to open up the blog page and then leave a comment, rather than having a comment link readily available. Maybe it's because I don't read other peoples' comments and, therefore, don't feel the need to put in your own two cents. Has anyone else noticed this phenomenon? I guess I shouldn't solicit comments like that. A lack of comment on this blog would only validate my point even more. Anyway, food for thought . . . 

International Trip - Part V - The souks

One of the things that I was most excited for in Dubai was a visit to what are often referred to as the "gold souks." The souks are the open markets and shops in Dubai, and they sell more than gold. There are souks that sell silver, cashmere, silk, crafts, spices, etc. It is an atmosphere where no one pays ticket price for anything and bartering is expected and encouraged. I had left on my trip with a request from my wife to get her a white gold ring, if possible. So that was my number one goal. 

After visiting a few different craft and fabric souks (and coming away with a couple of cashmere scarves), I started my search in earnest for a simple white gold ring. The record low exchange rate with the US dollar and record high prices for gold were two strikes I had against me. Luckily, I had two great accomplices to aid in the adventure - Chris, my roommate for the trip - who also was a veteran of working at a jewelry store - and Kathy, one of our advisors - who was well-versed in international barter markets. 

The first couple of shop didn't have anything that caught my eye, and a bartering exchange at the third shop was unsuccessful. It was getting close to the time we needed to meet back with our group and I was beginning to lose hope. But we went to one last store where I saw a potential ring in the window. After pointing it out to the shop employee from outside, he grabbed it and we went inside. 

The price tag on the ring was asking about 1600 dirhams.* We took a look at the ring and offered 400 dirhams. The salesman scoffed at the offer, explaining the intricacies of the 18-karat white gold with the small diamond in the center. He offered around 1200 dirhams. I hesitated for while, trying to let the salesman know that I was interested in the ring, but wasn't afraid of walking away either. After discussing with my accomplices, I came back with an offer of 600 dirhams. The salesman was undeterred and was only willing to go down to around 1000 dirhams. It looked unlikely that we would be able to come to an agreement, as I was nearing the most I was willing to pay for the ring. I knew I could only afford to pay about 750 dirhams for the ring. With the salesman looking on, I discussed with Kathy whether or not I wanted to counter-offer at 700-750 dirhams. Then the breakthrough happened.

Chris was looking at the ring and all of a sudden exclaimed - "Hey, this doesn't have an '18K' stamp on it! How do we know it is really-18 karat gold?"

The saleman took the ring and looked all over, knowing that it must have an 18K stamp on it somewhere. But Chris was right - there was no stamp to be found. The salesman tried to assure us that the ring was, indeed, 18-karat gold. He even offered to stamp it right then. We explained that having him stamp it there would not prove to us that it was 18-karat gold. He then had another salesman find similar rings to the one I was looking at - rings that did have the 18 K stamp. I explained to him that I was only interested in the original ring, but would not pay as much because of the lack of stamp. 

Chris suggested reducing the offer to 500 dirhams, which I did. The salesman was still trying to dig himself out of this predicament and offered 800 dirhams. After a little discussion I came back with an offer of 600 dirhams, and we told the salesman that was our final offer. It was time to meet with our group and we were ready to leave if he rejected our offer. Defeatedly, he resigned and accepted the final offer.

After leaving the shop, Chris turned to me and explained how I really got a great deal. The ring was almost certainly 18-karat gold, and the diamond in the ring alone was easily worth the money I paid.  We talked like nerds about how our negotiating techniques mirrored what we had learned in our Labor and Employee Relations class. It was so much fun to negotiate to a positive conclusion. It made me feel like we did much better than your average tourist would. I'm glad Chris and Kathy were with me to assist me in accomplishing my goal.

Mission Accomplished!

* I do not remember the exact prices we haggled over. The prices in this post are estimates as close as I can remember.

International Trip - Part IV - The Desert Safari

One of the evenings we were in Dubai, we rode in SUVs out to the desert for a desert safari. Once we got there, we made our first stop so that the drivers could take air out of the tires to make it easier to get around in the desert. We used that opportunity to get our first pictures.

Then we got back in our vehicles and proceeded to ride the roller coaster of desert sand dunes. I did pretty well, considering I hadn't taken any dramamine. It was actually a lot of fun.

Along the way, we saw some camel caravans out for a stroll.

Our final stop before we got to our destination allowed us the opportunity to take in the desert sunset.

Finally, we reached our destination, where we were able to partake of a great feast of lamb and chicken, mediterranean olives, flatbread, and a lot of other things I do not recall. In addition to dinner we also had the opportunity to take camel rides.

We were also treated to a belly dancing show, part of which included some volunteers from the audience. I don't know if you should consider yourself lucky or unlucky, but I have not obtained a video or pictures of the belly dancing masterpiece of the two Chrises (myself and my trip roommate). 

We also got henna tattoos - a form of temporary tattoo that stains the skins and lasts about 2-3 weeks. I got one of a camel on the inside of my forearm and then this work of art on my upper arm to show my wife how much I love her. Pretty romantic, right? 

This was definitely the most authentic arabic/middle eastern part of our visit to Dubai. The city itself is so urbanized, that it was almost like being in the US. I am glad we were able to take part in this fun and very memorable activity to take in a little bit of the culture while we were there.

Young @ Heart Choir

There is a documentary out about this choir of old folks called Young @ Heart that sings all sorts of punk and rock songs. I really want to go see it. I found this particular video pretty funny.

Why my wife is cool - Sunday School

So this may be the first in a series of "Why my wife is cool." This edition is about our Sunday School class today. We attended the Marriage & Family Relations class, only to find out there was not a teacher. I went to see what was going on. One of my responsibilities is to oversee the Sunday School. There had been a mix up in teachers-- with moves, releasings and a new Sunday School presidency in the past few weeks. Deidra turned to me and said "Do you want to go get a teacher's manual? We can teach." So I did.

It was fun to teach a lesson on the fly and take turns engaging the class in discussion while the other person quickly read through the next part of the lesson. Even the Bishop agreed that it was a job well done. I am glad to have a wife with the positive attitude and initiative to take charge in that kind of situation. We used to teach Gospel Doctrine class together and I certainly miss that. So this was a good reminder of why I love my wife and how cool she is.

International Trip - Part III: The luxury suite

When we arrived at Dubai, we went straight to the hotel, where we were told that our rooms were not yet ready. After waiting for a good 30 minutes (the hotel staff told us it would only take about 10), they had some rooms ready. Being the gentlemen that we are, we allowed the women to take the available rooms.

After another 30 minutes of going back and forth with the hotel, our group leader sternly insisted that rooms be found for the rest of us. Apparently, there weren't any rooms that were close to being ready, because they instead put the rest of us into luxury apartments in an adjoining building. That, my friends, is the reward of chivalry. Normally, these apartments are for people who are staying weeks or months at a time. It even had a washer/dryer combo . . . in one machine! It was magical . . . except that it took about 4 hours to do one load of laundry. Here's a video detailing the room - though I'm not promising that the shoddy cameraman won't make you sick.

International Trip - Part II - Overview of Dubai

Dubai was referred to as a typical tropical "crane" forest

This will soon be the tallest building in the world

Just a few pictures from the streets of Dubai. This is where the old souks used to be.

from the rooftops . . .

how cool are these little shanties?

International Trip Recap - Part I - Manchester, England

Deidra dropped me off at the school at 3am on Saturday morning (Mar. 8) and we took two buses, with a total of 20 students and 3 adults (minus those that were meeting us at the airport), to the Salt Lake City airport. From SLC, we flew to Atlanta, and then from Atlanta to London on a red-eye flight (the first of many). Then we flew from London to Manchester. Because of our extended layovers at each airport and the time we lost going traveling east (6 hours), we arrived in Manchester on Sunday at approximately 3pm. We went to our hotel, took showers and got freshened up, and headed to a Pub for dinner. As an official tourist in England, I felt it my duty to get authentic fish and chips, which turned out to be quite tasty.

While in Manchester, we had breakfast at the hotel restaurant, The Beefeater.


We learned that a "proper English breakfast" consists of eggs, sautéed mushrooms, fried tomatoes, baked beans, sausage, and back bacon (which is about 100 times better than American bacon). I decided to substitute toast, fruit, and granola for the tomato and baked beans. But it was a great way to start your day.

We visited two Weir Services facilities in England, including the facility pictured in the previous post. In addition, we toured a Jaguar/Land Rover plant not far outside of Liverpool. The automated fitting and welding operations were pretty impressive.


The last night we were there (Monday), we had some free time in the evening to have dinner and walk around a bit. We split up into numerous groups and my group ended up eating in Picadilly Square at Barburrito - a Mexican Grill which seemed to be the English equivalent of Chipotle. I could not have been happier. We then walked around and saw the sights a bit. My camera (really, Deidra's camera, which she let me borrow) does not do well in the darkness, but here's a picture I tried taking of a cool fence and building.


Stay tuned for Part II - Dubai . . .

Quick update from Dubai

I have some time I purchased from the hotel internet, and thought I would update you all on the trip. My time is short, but luckily my wife is smart and made me take along her SD card reader so that I could upload photos. I'll give a more detailed description upon my return, but here's a few little tidbits:

my new Jaguar (pronounced Jag-U-ah in Britain) at the Jaguar/Land Rover plant we toured

The super cool Weir services facility that used to be a beer brewery/distillery in South Yorkshire, England

Ski Dubai - the indoor ski slope in the middle of the Dubai Mall

Some camels and the cameler in the sunset during the desert safari

Riding camels on the desert safari

To come later: more photos, a video tour of our super sweet suite in Dubai, a video of riding the desert dunes that might make you a little sick, and more!

I hope you're all doing well. See you later!

See you in a couple of weeks!

I know you won't miss me much while I'm gone, since I am only aspotty blogger at best, but I will be leaving at 3am tomorrow morning on an international trip for the next 11 days . I will bring back lots of pictures and stories and hopefully it will incite a veritable blogging wonderland. But until then . . . Namaste.

Gotta love free food!

Tonight, Deidra and I went to our stake Valentine's Ball. They had a buffet style dinner and there were a lot of people when we first got there. We got in line, hoping there would be enough food for us. A couple of hours later, long after we had filled our bellies and then tried to dance some of those calories away, the party wound down. Before it ended, there was an announcement that they had brought out plastic wrap so people could take some food home. I thought, Cool - we can take a few mini-sandwiches home for lunch tomorrow. But when we got to the food tables, they were bringing out boxes and boxes of sandwiches, salad, brownies, vegetables, etc. The picture below is what we ended up with . . . and that was only half of what they were trying to unload on us. I don't think we'll be spending much on groceries in the next little while. We'll be eating mini sandwiches and cinnamon rolls for a week!

clockwise from left: humongo bag o' salad, bucket o' pasta salad, cup o' valentine chocolate, pile o' sandwiches, plate o' veggies, bag o' chocolate chips, two-tiered box o' mini cinnis.

Raise your hand if you have the best wife in the world!

(by the way, my hand is raised . . . in fact, both of my hands are raised . . . In fact, I am typing this blog post with my nose because both of my hand are raised.)

Happy Valentine's Day, Deid!

What the tagness?

I got a message from Patrice that I had been tagged. Considering that I had 78 posts on my Google reader that I had not yet read (it's been about two or three weeks since my last blog reading). So here goes nothin':

10 years ago: I was in downtown Cincinnati serving a mission. It was one of the most difficult areas of my mission, as it was hard to find sincere people who were receptive to the gospel message. While serving in Cincinnati, I came across D&C 61:30-31 and then I understood why. :-)

5 things on my list of things to do today: Since is is past 10pm right now, my list is pretty short: 1. Change into PJs, 2. Brush teeth, 3. Pray, 4. Read Scriptures, 5. Set the alarm and go to bed.

Snacks I enjoy: Golden Oreos, Hot Tamales, Dots, Ice Cream, Jalapeno-flavored chips, etc.

Things I would do if I were suddenly made a billionaire: Pay off debt, buy my wife a Volvo station wagon, build a house equipped with my own music studio, quit my job and travel.

3 of my bad habits: plucking out my eyebrows with my fingers, not hanging up my coat, accelerating too fast (according to Deidra)

Jobs I have had: Cow milker, Sandwich Artist, Music Marketer, Administrative Assistant, Residence Hall Security, Ski Lift Operator, Hay Truck Driver, Unloading Grain Truck, Intern Coordiantor, Mail Manager, Staffing Supervisor, Interim Branch Manager, etc.

Things that people don't know about me: The first celebrity I ever had a crush on was Christine Taylor in Hey Dude! . . . I once broke a girl's nose when I was in Tai-Kwon-Do as a child (and that was the end of martial arts for me) . . . I once accidentally ran through a sliding glass door.

People being tagged: Kamilah, Robin, and you.

Sometimes it pays to be in grad school

Near the beginning of this semester, one of my professors discussed with the class a moral conundrum that he was facing. He has taken a new job teaching different classes at another university, and this semester will be the last semester he is here at Utah State. He had a number of books that had been sent to him by publishers who hoped he would implement their books into his classes. He wanted to get rid of the books, but did not want to sell them and keep the money, since he had received them from the publishers for free. His decided the only fair thing was to share the wealth with the class instead of keeping the money for himself. Obviously, we were quite agreeable to the idea and talked about using the money for a pizza party in class or something like that. Well, today at the end of class, the professor said he had something for each of us. He then proceeded to hand a $20 bill to each of the fifteen class members. It was definitely a welcome surprise. How often do you get paid for going to class? And it definitely beats pizza!

Farewell, President Hinckley

As my wife just blogged, we saw the news tonight that our beloved prophet, President Gordon B. Hinckley, passed away this evening. I can just see him waving his cane like in this picture to say goodbye to the world. He has been the prophet since before I graduated from high school, throughout my mission, college, and what seems like forever. I'm sure he is overjoyed to be reunited with his wife again, but he will certainly be missed.

I got ripped off!

So accoridng to this article my alma mater is the most expensive University in the world! At least it wasn't quite that expensive when I was going to school. And, like the article mentions, they do shell out a lot of aid. My total price tag was about one year's tuition, after scholarships and grants are taken into account. Oh well - at least Utah State is significantly less expensive. I will come out of graduate school with very little (if any) student debt.

Package thoughts

Do you think FedEx and UPS get their mail delivered by the USPS? And do you think that UPS ever gets a package sent via FedEx or vise versa? Like, if UPS orders supplies by a company that uses FedEx for their shipping? That's my random question for right now. Let me know your thoughts.

The Game of Kings (and old folks)

I learned to play chess somewhere in junior high or high school - I'm not sure exactly how. Maybe it was my somewhat intellectual (aka nerdy) group of friends, or a late 80s computer game on 5 1/4" floppy disk. I'd like to say I wasn't on the high school chess team because I wasn't that nerdy, but really my high school was too small and we didn't even have a chess team. I'm scared to think of what side of the fence I would have landed on if they did.

Even as a missionary, chess was a hobby. The night that transfer calls were made by our mission president each month, my companion and I would play chess through the night after returning home from proselytizing. It was a perfect way to pass the time and get our minds focused on something besides whether one of us was going to get transferred.

It had been a while since I've played chess, but that changed a few days before Christmas. A few couples from our church congregation got together and made a number of fleece blankets to deliver to residents at a local care center. As we walked into one of the rooms, my eyes were first drawn to the old school computer with a three color 2D chess game on the screen. I then noticed a custom-made velcro chess board, complete with a number/letter coordinate grid. I was intrigued. The resident (Marlo) could not speak very well and had limited motor skills. We talked to him for a while and gave him his blanket. As we got ready to head to the next room, Marlo asked if I wanted to play a game of chess. At first, I declined, knowing that there were other residents to visit. But my wife kindly suggested that I stick around and play while the rest of the group went to deliver the remaining blankets.

As I sat down to play, I had a few thoughts running through my mind: 1) Are we even going to have time to play a game before everyone returns? 2) How good can this guy be with his limited capacities? 3) He does have a computer game and chess board, with pretty much nothing else to do, so maybe he'll be alright. But when I saw a large book on chess strategy lying on his floor, I got an inkling that I might be in over my head.

It took us a while to get the game going, especially since I had to learn that Marlo did not move his own pieces. What he would do is name the coordinates (i.e. "A5 to C7") and I would move his piece for him. I finally caught on to this and moved his first piece to begin the game. Then followed my move. Then his. Then mine. Then his. Checkmate.

What? Really? I surveyed the board and looked at everything that had occurred in the short space of about 90 seconds and five moves. He was right. I had been put in checkmate in less time than it takes me to brush my teeth (if I brush for the full two minutes recommended on the Oral-B Sonicare - which I usually don't). All the thoughts I had had moments before had been answered definitively and Marlo just smiled the kind of smile that made me wish he could tell me exactly what was going on in his mind at that moment. We played again and I put up much more of a fight in another losing effort. But at least I felt better about that game.

As we left the care center, I couldn't help but smile at the defeat. I may return for a rematch with Marlo soon, but I really need to brush up on my chess skills first. I hope Marlo enjoyed our games - I know I did.