Well, you may have thought it would happen, but I didn't...I had a brush with the law and the law won...Don't get panicky, it was minor but somewhat demonstrative. I was driving back to the office on the road that runs next to Dubai mall. There is an intersection in front of the theatre entrance at the mall. Its 3 lanes across, the far left lane turns into the mall, and has a separate light that is head high on the left, while the two right lanes merge into one shortly after the light to enter the highway. So I am the second car stopped at the red light in the middle lane. To my left, a gentlemen has rolled down his window and is trying to get me to give him directions in English that I could not grasp (and let's face it-I am not a good choice for direction asking)...So the straight away light (that is head high on the right side) turns green, while the red light on the left stays red. Unfortunately the Kuwaity gentlemen and his burka covered bride in front of me are not familiar with the traffic scheme, they start out on the green, then notice the red light to his left and think he may be running a light so slams his brakes on, I start following him on the green, admittedly (that can't be the way to spell it) distracted by the guy shouting out of his window for direction help (he is in the turn only lane- maybe he wanted mall parking tips..sigh) well to make a long blog short....bango I rear ended the car in front of me. Thankfully nobody was hurt and the impact was at less than 10 miles per hour so the damage was minor (my license plate was bent and the paint on my bumber scratched, the other cars bumper was slightly displaced.) We pulled off to the side of the road, that's when life in the Middle East reared its head....
The Kuwaiti gentlemen was a class act, he got out of his car, and assured me that he and his bride were not harmed. He also apologized and said he got confused by the lights....well the law here is that you need to immediately report any accident. Well the "911" system here is a little different, if you have a fire it is 997, an ambulance is 998, for the Poh poh its 999. So I dial 999 on my blackberry, and the communication is difficult, so my new found Kuwaiti bumper buddy had to get on my phone and speak Arabic to the dispatcher. They told us to go into the mall at the police station there and report our accident. So we had to pull our cars into the station, and enter the station. There were three officers present, we approached the counter then the keystone fun began. The officers would not speak English. My new Kuwaiti friend, asked them on more than one occasion to speak English so that I would understand and the officers refused. He spoke both languages, he would speak English, then respond in Arabic, I was deemed to be at fault (I did the rear ending, so it makes sense). Well, the officer starts writing the accident report in Arabic...
I am talking the symbols not just the language. He then starts writing me a ticket (I would have no idea if the other motorist would not be telling me what is going on). I feel very alone, and am a little nervous, so while the officer is filling out his paperwork, my new friend from Kuwait tells me that he went to grad school in Boston, and that he loves America and Americans. He apologizes in front of the officers for their lack of language courtesy (they all speak English, it is the official business language of the UAE and remember 85% of the population are from outside the country and English is every body's second language), he then was engaged in a heated conversation in Arabic with the police. I don't think they liked that he was disrespecting them with me. So they hand me the ticket (not one word of English on it) and instructed me to "sign it" awww, they can speak the language. I ask for a translation, he repeats sign, I say I can't read it, he puts his arm together like the handcuff symbol...I signed. I fought the law, but the law won...lol...fine 400 dirhams (100 dollars) lots of drama but end the end more bloginess than anything else...
Sheik Saqr bin Mohammad Al Qasimi, the ruler of the Ras al Khaimah emirate died on Wednesday. there is a little crisis in that Emirate as there is a power struggle between two brothers to take the monarchy over. The more powerful rulers from Abu Dhabi and Dubai quickly recognized the younger brother (who is more friendly to the west) and was the crowned Prince, while the older brother has actually seized the government palace and surrounded it with troops loyal to him. The older brother (Sheikh Saqr bin Mohammed al-Qasimi) is also closely tied to Iran. The straight of Hormuz runs past the Emirate and at that point Iran is only 60 miles away. The older brother has been very involved in smuggling goods into Iran against the UN blockade. Hopefully it will be resolved in the Prince's favor and does not escalate into something ugly. Probably not on the news radar in America, but can have serious consequences for the West. The UAE is in official mourning, no music (even on the radio)
Time to hit the pool, have to work tomorrow in Abu Dhabi, so I want to seize the day (low 90's absolutely beautiful fall Dubai weather) - and frolic and rest...
Love to hear from you....
John
No comments:
Post a Comment