Arriving in Dubai

At last, I am here! And yes it is hot!

The journey went really well. I set off from a very wet Sheffield station soon after three on Tuesday afternoon and enjoyed the views of the Peak District as I sped through Hope and Edale valleys. The trees were amazing, bursting into a profusion of greens as the English spring worked it's magic yet again. Being an English spring the views were set against leaden and angry skies which doused us a number of times before we got to Mancester Airport.

I had plenty of time to check in then wait around for my flight to be called. It was a relatively small plane to Paris, where I had an hour to change to a much larger one to Dubai. I just love flying, so I had secured a window seat to take it all in. The surge of power as the engines catapault you down the runway it so exhilarating, and the views of Manchester were good. We then broke through the clouds and entered the soft evening sunshine which reached orange across the billowing cloud-fields!

We were soon on our way down to Paris where the towns lay as clusters of jewels picked out in sodium street lighting. It was an eiry experience walking through the corridors of the, by then, deserted airport as I trecked from one terminal to another - hoping that I was going in the right direction - Charles de Gaulle is huge! When I arrived at section 2F, I was unerved by an entrance sign which said 'staff only'. Clearly this was a notice that the French knew to ignore (or more likely would not even notice!!).

We set off around 11.30 French time and the seven hour flight did not drag too much. I watched a film, listened to music, saw the sun rise about 4.00 am and even slept a little because breakfast was suddenly in front of me at around five - and I was hugry and pleased to eat! We touched down at 6, but this was really 8 Dubia time, and your body soon gets used to it being daytime again.

Steve ferried me the twenty or so miles from the airport past Dubai city to thier home near Jebel Ali. In the four years since I was here last, the place has grown enormously. The cluster of towerblocks in Dubai has spawned a number of other clusters - including one at Jebel Ali Marina not far away. Steve tells me that none of these tower blocks there would have been even thought of in 2004. Slowly more and more of the sandy scrub is being covered with concrete. First a yellow crane sprouts from the ground, followed quickly by grey contructions which are finally glazed to produce yet more offices, apartments and hotels. If you think there is a lot of building going on in Sheffield, you ain't seen nothing!

We drove past the massive Burj Dubai, which is, for now, the tallest building in the world. It is in various stages of contruction, looking almost ready at the bottom, but with cranes still working at the top. I muttered cynically to Steve that it was a modern day tower of babel, and he went on to say that it was just for show as the saleable space does not match the huge construction costs - imagine the problems of pumping concrete over 600 m up in the air - that's not far short of half a mile straight up! I have to say, though, the more I looked at the tower, the more impress I became.

I have a spacious room in the church flat with efficient air conditioning and I am gradually getting used to the shock of the heat hitting me when I step outside. The church building is about six year old and is a very international place. This evening I can hear a very livley Indian service gettting going in the room next door, they are singing worship songs in English with a loud band and even louder worship leader who are equipped with a massive PA system (for a room no larger than our Old Vestry).

You can visit the church web site by clicking on: http://www.christchurchjebelali.org/index.html
You will see a number of pictures of Steve (and he did look even more like Jesus when he wore his hair long!) of the church. Just look at the number of congregations listed!

I have met three people from Russia, a Philippeano pastor and his wife (who are staying in the room next to mine) and seen many people from Asia and the far East.

Tomorrow, Friday, is the big day for worship. Being the Muslim holy day, the weekend here is usually Friday and Saturday. Steve will have his main services tomorrow, with a smaller one on Sunday evening.

Steve has also found me a car to borrow! And not just any car - its a Volvo S 40! I think it might be the same as Graham Blakey's. So I will be getting out and about once I have bought a map to help me navigate the nightmare road system.

The church is in a cluster of places of worship for other religions (than Islam) - most of which are churches. They sits beside a walled complex of homes for the wealthy ex-patriates, which is where Steve lives. There are a number of British living there, but also people from all over the world. On the other side of the churches are labour camps. These are fenced groups of portacabins for the labourers to live in - most of whom come from India. The contrast between rich and poor is very stark.

This afternoon I visited the rich. Steve invited me to swim in the pool in their complex (and admitted that this would ensure I gave him a lift round to his house! - it is often too hot to walk very far). It was amazing to dive into warm water in an open air pool, and glorious to swim looking up into a blue sky dotted with light cloud. The sun had by then sunk beneath a larger bank of cloud on the horizon, so I asked if that meant the weather might change. "Well," said Steve, "that means it will be hot and sunny tomorrow!". A pretty safe bet!! It did rain a bit last winter but some years it doesn't rain at all. The major change is the amount of dust in the air, which usually softens the full blast of the sun.

After a very muted sermon (last night the preacher was much more vocal) the service is coming to it's last songs - lively again. I am not sure if they are singing in tongues, or if that is their native language. Anyway they will be finishing by 10.30, according to the caretaker, which is in about 20 minutes. It is very dark outside now, but will still be warmer out there than in here - and I am warm enough as it is!

The church wireless network does not seem to connect fully to my computer, so I am having to borrow a machine in the church office (one of three!), so you may not get posts very often, but I will try to take my camera with me tomorrow, so that you can see what it is like out here!

The spell checker does not seem to be working today, so appologies!

Best wishes