Thursday, February 23, 2012

Shut the Front Door! Bling & Blackwater

My jaw hits the floor alot these days. And two little gobsmacking tidbits got my attention yesterday? Two very different types of water.

Bling, a term used to describe flashy accessories, also happens to be the lable of outrageously priced bottled water.  Their $50 bottle, already over-the-top and sold at places like Dean & Deluca, has now been one-upped by the macdaddy of all flash: a 750ml bottle of water, covered in Swarovski crystals that retails for $2600. Of course, this water is part of their "Dubai Collection".

Shut the front door.
Seriously?
It's water?
Not champagne or vodka or crude oil?

The company is the creation of a Hollywood film writer turned entrepreneur. Maybe he was a good film writer and possibly a famous one, but now he might actually make money in Hollywood.

Anyway, as my brain bounced around the multiple levels of irony in a $2600 bottle of water being sold in the desert, I came across the rather dated news that Dubai has a problem with Blackwater.

Blackwater is not just the name of the infamous private military company now quietly calling itself "Xe Services", ironically it is also a term for sewage.

In an astonishing reveal on NPR last November, an ugly little factoid surfaced about flushing toilets in the magnificent Burj Khalifa: The tallest building in the world has a poo problem.
When residents of the famous Burj "drop the kids off at the pool", the blackwater is hauled away by trucks to the treatment plant which then can que in lines for up to 24 hours before.....well, you know the punchline.
It is unbelievable but this pesky poo issue is actually a common one here. Many of the city's skyscrapers are not hooked into the municipal waste management system.
Why not?
Is waste planning just not as glamorous so it's treated as an afterthought? Surely there must be building regulations addressing waste management in new construction? Right?
Or will connecting all of these new buildings to a municipal system actually cause more stress on current water resources as water is needed to facilitate the movement of blackwater through the system?
But why couldn't you use sea-water?
Do they just need to build a bigger plant?
Who is in charge of poo here?
Hello?

Obviously, I won't solve this issue on just one pot of coffee and I don't fancy spending the rest of the day contemplating Dubai's doodie drama. But, it is rather perplexing non?

I'll be sure to keep you posted on new developments.


Thursday, February 9, 2012

"Familiarity Destroys and Trumps Fear"

I have been in Dubai for just over 2 months now and while I've been buried somewhat in the oddities of setting up a new house in a new country, my brain is wildly bookmarking thoughts, epiphanies, and experiences and my fingers have pounded out no less than 15 very unfinished posts.
However, I think I need to settle down and settle in before I unleash my brilliant observations on everyone :-)

In the meantime, I thought sharing this 2010 Ted Talk by Sheikha Al Mayassa of Qatar might give you a tiny insight into numerous interesting topics from this part of the world: The Abbaya, Arab Art and Culture, Women in progressive roles in the Middle East.
I've read much about Sheikha Al Mayassa but have never heard her speak. There is quite alot packed into her 10 minutes and I had to intently listen to it twice because my mind would start percolating on something she said and then she would be off into something else before I could catch up!

But she ended on a very poignant note - "familiarity destroys and trumps fear".

I agree.