Nipo nyumbani!

I am home! (Singapore, that is, for those of you who can't keep up :))

After a protracted trip, with a stopover in Nairobi and another in Dubai, I am relaxing. I almost wrote 'finally' relaxing, but that would imply I'm always busy in Moshi -- which isn't quite accurate! There's always work to be done, but it's nothing like the pace of life in the U.S., which has been a welcome, if boring at times, change! More on this in the next post...

Stopover #1: Nairobi.

I was convinced/convinced myself to go to the annual Nairobi horse show. Terrie, the lady who owns the horses I ride in Moshi, had taken hers there and needed riders, and since I was flying through anyway, I just added 12 hours to my trip to do one dressage test -- and see my friends in Nairobi, of course :). (For those of you who don't quite know what dressage is -- wikipedia to the rescue! Although this description is the super intense, classical dressage, and what I did was far less demanding.)

What a production! As I always say, I wish I had pictures to show you -- but I was too stressed before my test to take pictures and had to leave immediately after for the airport. (And the groom, who was supposed to take pictures of me during my test, couldn't quite figure out my camera. Next time... if there is one). It's bit hard to describe, but I'll try... (especially for Becky, since you're probably the only one who can really relate!)

First, the horses. There were easily greater than 100 horses there, all of whom were groomed incredibly fashionably. Tails styled, manes braided, coats gleaming, tack shining. Simply regal, despite being a bit antsy given the new surroundings and overwhelming activity in the stables. R&B, the horse I was supposed to ride for one test, was so up she wouldn't walk properly and even stepped on me!

The grounds. It was quite a beautiful setting--Jamhuri Park, where all the expos in Nairobi occur. So many monkeys!!! And even more arenas -- main jumping, main dressage, practice arenas by the dozen, areas to lunge the horses, paddocks. I'm sure this is pretty standard as horse shows go, but never having been to one, I didn't know what expect from Nairobi.

The people. Probably the most interesting part. First of all, it was mzungu-central! All the riders were Caucasian, British-accented ex-pats or in-country 1st- or 2nd-generation individuals. With their African grooms; understandable, but quite a contrast nonetheless. Mostly women, of varying ages, mostly riding horses as their primary occupation. As much as I love riding, I could never imagine my livelihood being riding horses! So you can imagine -- an expensive sport to begin with, coupled with primarily one income source.. and obviously, some other source of wealth. As Terrie said, it's mostly rich women spending their husband's money! Although some people were nice, overall there was definitely an atmosphere of pretension... and condescension. To me, it felt like the 'insiders' were judging the 'outsiders' at the show.

The experience. I'll start by saying I had never practiced the test I rode. Granted, it wasn't technically difficult - circles at the trot and canter, diagonal changes, extensions and collections - but never having ridden a test or been judged, I was nervous!! I discreetly changed into britches, a nice white shirt, a black coat, and nice dressage boots in the stables. At least I now look the part of a rider, I thought -- a bit of a confidence boost, until I started thinking about the task ahead.

Mr. Bean, the horse I rode, wasn't picking up his left lead canter, so to encourage him forward I rode in spurs, which I've never done with him; thus, an additional challenge. Then, I had to find a stranger to call out my test because Terrie was jumping during my test. I started and felt good -- my trots were decent... but then came time for the canter. He didn't pick up the left lead, and in my battle to correct, I have no idea what happened but all of a sudden we were outside the arena! Automatic DQ, technically :(

How embarrassing! I was so frustrated and disappointed in myself. I finished the test, incredibly unhappy with my riding. I'm better than that, I thought immediately; however, it was certainly a humbling experience, and I realized I need to spend many hours, days, even weeks, riding, to feel comfortable going into another test. I asked the judge how I did: turns out I need to work on my left lead canter and staying on course. Go figure :/ I think she visibly saw the disappointment (bordering on tears, I'll admit) on my face and left me on a positive note: at least my position was nice.

So, there you have it -- despite my performance, it was worth experiencing. I realized that although I want to be a much better rider, I enjoy riding for me -- not for some artificial test in some artificial environment with judges. This is my fun hobby and I hope to keep it that way!

Stopover #2: Dubai.

In a word, opulent. Maybe it's just coming from Africa that led to my initial impression, although I think the blinding lights in the airport alone require more megawatts than Moshi's daily usage! You walk out of the plane into a giant, overlit arrival lounge where you take an elevator, whose door is covered with a humongous picture of the Atlantis hotel on Palm Jumeirah Island, down to an oversized immigration department... are you catching on to the supersized feel?

Palm Jumeirah Island (thanks, wikipedia!)

I spent a day in Dubai with my dad, who had a few meetings there. Here are some pictures, including the tallest building in the world. I did not get a picture of the hotel in the ocean, the Burj al Arab, because it was raining and no longer warranted a stopover!

It's interesting being in Dubai -- Muslim women decide if and how they want to veil themselves, and the result spans the gamut of possibilities. But no matter the coverage, they are quite stylishly dressed -- brand name clothes, I assume, but definitely brand name shoes, bag, and make-up, which is very obvious because those are the only things you can see sometimes!! Polygamy is totally cool, too. The Sheikh has 3 wives (or is it 4?), and it appears many other men do, too!

The Sheikh's palace -- Brandenburg gate, anyone?

It's yellow. Everything is yellow. The sand, the buildings, the haze. Thank goodness the city's many skyscrapers have unique architecture -- some variety!

Everything is really far away from everything else, which means lots of driving and lots of traffic! They have reclaimed lots of land, creating lots of islands off the coast -- all with cool designs, of course. Buuut, given the terrible state of the economy, lots of construction has come to screeching halt. So many half-finished buildings remain exposed to the environment (sandstorms, and apparently it RAINS in Dubai b/c of all the trees they've planted!!), which probably means that destruction is likely to follow the economic rebound, whenever that may be.

What's there to do in Dubai? SHOP! And eat. Just like Singapore :) And, on a good day, hang out with the lazy, smelly camels.... it remains a desert, despite their attempts at planting trees everywhere.

The Clothes Souk -- a gold mine :)
OK, no treasures here, though...

My most favorite parts: (1) the pretty jewelry in the Gold Souk (it was so nice to see some dainty things), (2) the amazing dried fruits and nuts -- probably the largest dates, figs, and walnuts I've ever seen, and they taste every bit as they look, (3) the fountains at the Dubai Mall -- a water show of rotating, swinging, alternating fountains in the main, soccer field-sized courtyard of the mall -- stunning!, and (4) the haggling at the clothing souks (personal experience!).

After my 1-day tour of Dubai, we flew to Singapore. Because so few people are reading this blog, I'll admit -- I got a sweet upgrade to business class! Lucky me!! A mattress on top of my seat that already reclines ~178 degrees, endless movies, decent food, and a starry plane ceiling that changes colors to match the night sky. Life was good :)

Finally, being home and talking to people about my life in Tanzania has given me much opportunity to reflect on my life for the past few months. More on that in the next post...

Oh PS -- we could see the Sheikh's exercise track for his horses from our hotel :)