Paris and Brussels

Though we went for the marathon, it wasn't all business in Paris. We posed in front of the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, and The Louvre for pictures on a cold and windy day. We also headed to Disneyland Paris for a flair of the magic, European style.  It was pretty much everything we remember Disney being, if not just a little smaller, but by arriving early, we never had much waiting to do.

The day before the race the girls ran their own race. At 1.2km, this was the farthest they had ever had to run. Facepaint and music pumped them up, but at the last minute Kaelia had a meltdown and cried. Taelyn took off and finished well.  Kaelia cried and slogged most of the way before rallying.  Finally, the reason for the visit, the marathon: Justin took off with another guy and they talked and ran together for 20 miles.  Since he wasn't in prime shape, that was the limit, and at 22 miles Justin did some damage control to bring it in, albeit slowly.

With the running nonsense out of the way, we headed by train to Brussels - the land of beer, chocolate, and waffles!

One unique stop was the Atonium, a large, metal structure that has information inside. Built for the 1958 World Exhibition, the Atomium is shaped on the model of an elementary iron crystal enlarged 165 billion times.  We didn't go in, but pictures in front were odd enough. Adjacent to this was Mini Europe, a crazy miniature replica of many of the buildings of the continent in scale size sprawled out on some putt-putt course looking land.  After a walk through here we ended in the water park for some slides and fun.

Most of our time was spent hunting out great beer spots.  We frequented Delirium, a popular one and perhaps the place with the most beer in the world (over 3000). We tried the Chevalier or "yard" of beer at the Raven and hit up places that were hundreds of years old. Amidst the hanging marionnettes at Estaminet Toone as well. We had fancy ones and good food on the plaza in front of the Grand Palace.

The girls had fun doing a city scavenger hunt and looking for the famous peeing statues. The most famous, Manneken Pis is of a boy peeing into a fountain. He has a sister, Jeanneke Pis, is squatting just in front of the Delirium Cafe. And the last, Zinneke Pis, is a dog on a street corner.

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India and Sri Lanka 2015

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"Your flight is full. We have bumped you to a later flight. It leaves at 1:30am but you will go direct to Delhi rather than to Sri Lanka, layover 8 hours, and then arrive at 6pm." is what we were told on arrival at the airport. Looks like hours of sitting in the airport. 20 min later a man says, "Sorry, that flight is full. We will put you on the original flight." So it goes in Doha.  So after many pre-flight cocktails, we boarded the plane for the 5 hour journey to Colombo. Arriving in Sri Lanka, we had 8 hours to kill, so we found a hotel in the airport allowing us to sleep, shower, and hangout instead of spending a day in the airport.  It made the flight to Delhi manageable. We arrived in New Delhi to a twinge of humidity we had long since forgotten coming from our mild, Middle Eastern winter.  Making our way to our private driver, we sped in and out of traffic while people flashed headlights at each other in both directions.  While lines painted on the road only seemed to serve as a general guideline for the direction of traffic, we did not experience the chaos and gridlock that we had come to expect from Indian traffic. That is, until the side streets.  Much like the later-mentioned Taj, one can only comprehend traffic when in it.  Bumper to bumper is an understatement but when 3 lanes become 7 and people creep forward inches apart on either side, it is a whole new definition of packed.

Our trip to Delhi was short, keyed in on just a few events.  First, we saw our friend, Faze and toured her school.  She took us to Old Delhi and we boarded bicycle rickshaws for a tour.  Poverty met productivity at every turn.  The city was not completely awake though many people hustled up and down the often one-lane road.  Cows ruled street corners, bicycles, scooters, and tuk-tuks were everywhere, dogs and goats roamed without restraint, and people sat in mud and on the street. One of our most memorable stops was the chili market.  We sensed it 100m before we got there.  Climbing the narrow stone staircases, we began to exert short, rough guttural coughs.  Our eyes began to itch and our noses ran like faucets. Our climb ended with a view of the central courtyard of the market.  All around people (all males) went about their daily business, cleaning their garments and washing themselves with water from jugs.  Some were naked and took no notice of us white folk touring through their homes.  Stall after stall held not more than a tone slab with a blanket on it and various amounts of chillies packed in burlap sacks.  It was a taste of local living I have not seen rivaled in any other country.  We ended our tour with a trip to a dress shop where the girls each picked out their own special Indian outfits.

Sarah and Faze having margaritas in India

Delhi briefly visited, we woke early the next morning for a long car ride to Agra.  After inching through the local traffic we opened up into the outskirts of the city and saw green countryside which expanded our perception of India.  Hours later we inched again into Agra and leapt out to buy our tickets.  I negotiated with a guide and we had a wonderful tour of the Taj Mahal.  Each place we stopped our guide pointed out the amazing symmetry of the building and surrounding structures. Quite impressive was the attention to detail in symmetry, the inlaid stone colors, and sheer size of the building built so long ago.  One of those buildings you see photographed so many times, the Taj is one that you would think would just be so-so when you step up to it.  However, it is anything but. The Taj exceeded our expectations in every way.

Our girls opted to wear their Indian dresses to the venue.  Our guide asked us early on if we minded if people took pictures of the girls.  We asked them and they shook their heads. The guide said something and about 5 guys walked away.  We hadn't realized they were all standing around us to take their picture. Throughout the tour, we were asked many times to let the girls have their picture taken.  We would take a shot of the girls in front of the Taj, and then the next 5 minutes would be other people shooting the girls in the same pose.  They were mobbed but enjoyed the attention.

Fast forward to our flight from Chennai to Sri Lanka.  We had just spent the day visiting a school in Chennai and headed to the island.  Sarah sat on the isle while I say one seat over on the other isle, the two girls inside on my row.  I heard a women coughing being Sarah. Annoyed by the sound and potential germs being spread, I glanced back to watch her violently convulse and vomit all over herself. As she spewed forth I lunged to push Sarah forward as she had her headphones on and couldn't hear the build up.  Puke sprayed her armrest and coated the isle.  Then, for some unknown reason, she started wiping it off.  Flecks were flung on my cheek and shirt.  I yelled for her to stop but not before the man next to her was coated.  I scrapped it off my shoe and counted the seconds until I could get to the washroom to clean.  Rather than apologize or ask for help, the moment the plane touched down she stood in the isle.  Not wanting to get coated, we squeezed in further until she de-boarded. To add insult to injury, we had to buy a second visa for Sarah once arriving. It was not a pleasant couple of hours. Add that to a 3-hour drive to the resort.

Our beach resort in Sri Lanka was very nice.  Palagama Beach Resort on the west coast of the island proved to be a rustic beach cabana with a flare of niceties.  Each room had an outdoor shower and palm leaves for walls. There was no AC and occasionally the power would go out for a few hours making it fairly warm at times.  There was an infinity pool and a beautiful beach, full of shells, sand, and crabs. Our daily breakfasts were buffets of eggs, waffles, and a mixture of local fare that was both plentiful and tasty.  Lunch and dinner were joined with local beers and cocktails while the children swam and played with the dogs and cats on the property. Joined by another family we worked with, this was a great few days of beach time.

One evening Sarah and I joined our friends for Salsa dancing lessons.  A movie was on every afternoon for the children.  The kids got down on the ground with some locals and learned how to weave palm leaves (which pretty much made up every wall and ceiling to the place).  But the highlight had to be the dolphin watching tour.  We saw hundreds of dolphins. They would come up along the boat, come at us, and go away from us.  There were flips and dives.  It was an amazing encounter.

While we didn't to Sri Lanka justice on this trip, we know we will be back.

European Christmas 2014

Given our never-ending quest to now spend Christmas in Europe and enjoy the wonderful Christmas markets, we had to scheduled a trip to Munich, one of our favorite cities.  Our choice to return to Germany has nothing to do with the beer, meat, or music. It was all about the holiday spirit. Really.

Staying in the Residence Inn Munich East, we were close to downtown (just a few minutes walk to a train and a couple of stops) and close to the English Gardens and a river trail which we ran everyday. Great runs were followed by great breakfast buffets.  But what we really wanted was to take advantage of the Christmas markets.  Full of the smells of cookies, spiced wine, and with holiday music in the air, the atmosphere can't be beat. However, the crowds leave something to be desired. With two little kids in tow, getting around jam-packed markets in the cold evening is not as enjoyable as one would like.  We did enjoy a parade of characters like knights and drinking wine from goblets at the medieval Christmas market, but long lines and no space had us exit for a beer joint where we enjoyed sitting with some friends from Hong Kong we used to work with in Joburg.

No trip to Munich would be complete without visiting our favorite beer gardens and halls at places like Hofbrauhaus, Augustiner, and Paulaner. Good food, good drink, good music and good fun. We also ice skated in the square to music and smells of food and drink.  The last highlight was spending the afternoon with our friends who live in Saudi but we worked with in China.  But we soon were headed south to Austria on the autobahn in a rented car. Next stop: Obertraun.

Located in the beautiful Lake Hallstatt region, Obertraun is a gem. A crystal lake, high peaks, and the feel of being away from it all is spotted with little shops and restaurants and the perfect compliment to our first few days in the big city. Staying at Obertrauner Hof, we netted a great 2-bedroom place with breakfast and excellent hosts.

Wanting to take the girls sledding but having little snow, we took a cable car up to the top of the mountain over town, and hiked to a site called 5 Fingers. With amazing views, we were not disappointed, and the girls were able to rock down some slopes with an old wooden toboggan. Never mind that the drop offs on either side were about 1000 ft.

We then hit up a water park on Christmas day, as it was the only thing open. There is something quite amazing about being able to swim in 80-degree water and yet it is snowing outside. Your hair freezes but you are warm.  Great slides kept us busy for a few hours and were a nice compliment to the Christmas movies we spent the rest of the day watching.

This trip marked our family's first skiing effort.  After a ridiculous amount of waiting in line to get sized up for rentals, then another line for the lift tickets, we dropped the girls in ski school, which at 65 Euros an hour did not really count as school (going "down" this nearly flat piece of land and stepping on a belt to be rolled back. Lather, rinse, repeat.).  Sarah and I headed up, spending 25 min on lifts to reach the top.  This is when the problems started. Sarah cant ski. Not even remotely. And the first steps off the lift (the ones she didn't fall on) got us to a precipice overlooking a huge drop. It was scary, even for me, and I can ski. Sarah proceeded to flop gradually down the hill, crashing every few feet, and looking like a person with a severe muscular issue. Arguing ensued, and there was a very real reality that someone would have to sled her off the mountain.  After threat of divorce and nearly 45 minutes later, Sarah was able to get to the final push. However, this too was a huge drop. She took of the skis and walked it down while I went on to pull the kids from "school" lest they charge us another year of tuition for going over. Sarah and the kids done, I tried to go up again to bring the cost-to-run ratio down to about 100 Euros a pop, but they were making snow. Having only skied in Colorado in sunglasses, I was blasted repeatedly in the face with ice and could not see. After getting down, it was time to call this what it was: a disaster. Needless to say, Walker family skiing isn't going to be repeated anytime soon.

A Christmas highlight was the horse-drawn sleigh ride. Starting in the town of Gosau, we rolled out through the fields under blankets and, as the sun set, up into the dark woods, stopping only once to do shots of home-made schnapps that were passed back by the driver. Sleigh bells and the sights of crisp, white snow completed a perfect evening.

Other highlights were running the trail that meandered the woods above our lodge. It was such a nice sight that we took the girls on a relatively long hike on it, stopping often. Not to be forgotten was the opportunity to build a snowman and have a snowball fight in front of the amazing Lake Hallstatt. The snow, which was absent at the start of the trip. Started on Christmas and got steadily heavier over the week. The day we left it was slamming, turning a 2.5 hour drive back to the airport into 5 hours, causing us to nearly miss our flight. But I will say if I have to get stuck somewhere, you can sign me up for Munich and Austria anytime.

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Driving in Doha

The process of obtaining a driver's license in Doha is insane. It requires multiple pieces of paperwork all done in Arabic that you have no control over. You also need an eye test before you even show up. Once you do arrive at the driving centre you need to go into a room and take a number. When they call you, you go up to the counter and pay your money. Here is how it went: The lady speaks no English but tells me to sit down after I pay. I sit for about 10 minutes before asking somebody else where I should be. They tell me the other building and tell me to hurry. So I walk into the other building and I push on the door as it seems wedged shut. I soon learned that it actually is a bunch of men behind the door. The room is the size of your typical living room, and has about 140 people in it.  I wedge in, look around, and try to find a number.  After looking lost for a bit longer a man stands up and yells at everyone crowding the desk. They back up. He sees me and waves me forward. I hand in my paper work and with no further instructions, find a place to sit down. There are seats for 6 across but people are 12 wide.  We wait.

After a while a man will come out and call a few names. Everyone rushes forward and it makes it impossible to hear what he is saying. This process repeats every 20 minutes with 5 lucky people going into the room, never to appear again. At the end of a couple hours my name was called and I was taken into the testing room. This is where I sat down in front of a computer and took my 20 question multiple choice test. The test was a total joke. It would show a picture and ask a question. Sometimes the question was read to you other times not. The answers often didn't make sense. For example, once I was asked quote what is this “Road feature?” and was given a picture. In the picture was a marking on the road, a sign above the road, a sign to the left and to the right, signs above the road… there must have been 15 signs. I read the answers and only one of them fit for any of the signs. 

The first four questions of my test were yield or give away. That means 4 out of 20 of my questions were about the yield sign. Sometimes when you click on an answer they will read it to you other times they will just say one word like give. It took me less than 3 minutes to answer the test and I got 20 out of 20. However when you leave the room they don't tell you anything and you end up wondering what to do next. A man walks into the room with his hands in the air and said “that's it, no more tests.” It is over for today about 50 people did not finish their test or get to take it. I was told to wait outside the door for two minutes. Ten minutes later I'm walking between buildings asking for more help. An hour later I am finally called and my paperwork return to me.

Then you go inside the first building, grab another number, and register for your next test, the road test. This is a couple of weeks after the theoretical test. On that day you show up at 5:30 in the morning. You pay your money to use their car. 200 riyals or about 60 dollars just for the privilege of driving in their car. Then you were told to sit down and they will call you at about 7:30. Around 8:10 I was finally called and walked out with 3 people into a car. A stone faced police officer gets in the car and barks instructions at the first driver, “turn left and right” but they are in Arabic. One by one we go through the process. I get into the front seat and immediately the cop starts texting. The radio is blaring. I make a few turns and drive us back to the driving school. Not a word is said. I returned inside and wait another hour. Rather than process people as they finish, everyone waits until the end and it is all done at once.

We heard horror stories about this process from other schools and other people. Sometimes the instructor would tell people to speed up or do something that was wrong to see if they could trick them into breaking the law and then they would fail them. When some people finish their test the person just says, “Fail.” Or they would stop the car and open up the engine and point to a random item inside the car and say what is this? If you could answer, you pass. If you can’t, you fail.  A man with a stack of papers will walk outside and everyone will rush after him gathering around. He will read named after name and show them that they failed right in front of everyone else. If your name isn't called, you assume that you pass and you wait again until they call you. Many people are in the driving school for the fourth and fifth time to try to pass their test. It is no wonder there are such crazy drivers on the road here.

I passed, 8 hours and 500 Riyals later.  Good thing I didn’t have to take it again.

Intro to Doha, Qatar

Originally we were disappointed to not live in ECCH, the housing close to the school with many other employees of the company. But we need not have worried. We were moved into a brand new complex. There are 55 units, all of them villas, and very nice. The house features 5 bathrooms and 3 bedrooms, plus a bonus second living room upstairs. All of the appliances are stainless and we have a patio and even a little grass! Stone floors and 10 foot ceilings make for a really great space. There is an air conditioner in every room. We do not pay for water, gas electric, internet or cable, so monthly expenditures are pretty low. We do, however, try to help the environment by being very conscious of outing the lights and A/C whenever possible.

Our complex features a small playground that isn’t much but something for the kids to go on. All the families here are members of the company we work for so although they aren’t all at our school or have kids at our school, there is a nice mix of people. There is a clubhouse in the center featuring 2 pools, a game room with foosball and billiards, and a weight room. The first few weeks they did not chill the pool. It was quite a shock to jump in and feel like you were under water in a hot tub! Fortunately, the pool is now nice and chilly. When the sun goes down and you jump into a chilled pool, the wind and air make you feel cold – cold when it is 90 degrees out. Weird. Being in the water is the easiest way to hang out outside during the early part of year. We live next to another family from our school and 3 doors from the director. Our drive to work is 10-20 minutes, depending on traffic.

The Heat:

Of course, the question on everyone’s mind is, “how is the heat?” Answer: it is hot. Some days bloody hot. The first few days were a shocker but slowly we started to acclimate. The body adjusts and although one cannot say it is cool by any stretch of the imagination, you do stop sweating and getting dizzy just by walking outside after a week or so. It is really the humidity that is the problem. When it is 107F degrees, it feels like 110 when the humidity is low – we have seen 21%. But on the day when it is 103F and the humidity is 71%, run and hide. It feels like 125, and your sunglasses fog over the second you step outside, you drip with sweat from just standing there, and you actually feel chilly inside because you go from 125 and soaking wet to about 61 F inside and freezing. However, the humidity fades and the temps drop after October, and we are promised 5 months of amazing weather. That is when most people venture outside for all of the amazing activities and athletics available.

Driving:

Roundabouts are the Middle East’s way of telling you life is short. These are psychotic in every sense of the word. People darting in and out, shifting lanes, exiting from three lanes over in a bolt – it is scary. Apparently, if you are Qatari you own a Land Cruiser, and you have the right away all of the time. It can be quite intimidating seeing a SUV come flying up behind you at 100 miles per hour and flash its lights as it sits about 6 inches off your bumper. Your best advice is to move over and let him pass. In many parts of the world this elicit violent gestures and road rage aggression, but here, you just let them pass. You never know if they are connected and can make your life difficult. We were convinced to buy a bigger car than necessary for safety and intimidation (think posting up in the lane of a basketball court – do you want Shaq or Mugsy Boggs?). Often someone will pass you on the left and come right over to the right, with you slamming on the brakes in order to let them over or they would clip you. Defensive driving is a must here. Let the fact that Premium gasoline costs about $0.85 a gallon and Super (even better than 95 octane Premium) $1.00 a gallon give you some satisfaction.

The Qatari people (and others who dress like them, such as Saudis) stand out because there are so many expatriates here. The national population is about 2 million, but only 300,000 of these are Qatari. The other 1.7 million are foreigners, and of those, 1 million of them laborers. So with such a mix of faces here, you often forget you are in the Middle East as it looks like the Philippines, Sri Lanka, or just about anywhere else. We have yet to capture the essence of what Qataris are like because every person that takes your order at a restaurant, pumps your gas, or works in retail is from elsewhere. Even the abundance of Mosques (they say there is one in Doha every 400 meters) doesn’t draw much attention. The evening call to prayer rings out in beautiful tones over the hum of the air conditioner units and that is one indicator we are in a different place.

Shopping:

Shopping is easy here, for the most part. You can get everything here, and I mean everything, that you want. Sometimes you will have to pay for it and no one carries all that you need, but trust me, it is out there. The most popular venues are the malls. There is one about every 3K apart, and each is overflowing with stores, play areas, and entertainment from roller coasters and ice rinks to movie theaters and high end shopping boutiques. Each has its own theme and movie theater showing the latest movies from the US. It has tons of stores, including just about anything you could ever want from the US or Europe. It is all there. Every mall also has its own kid’s area theme park with slides, roller coasters, games, etc. There is no lack of entertainment for the little ones. The mall by us has an ice rink and I play hockey with a bunch of Canadians twice a week. Any food you could want is there as well ranging from fast food (every major brand) to chains (Applebee’s, TGI Fridays, etc.) to high end steakhouses. One even has gondola rides where you can boat the length of the mall in water as if you were in Venice. Every mall has enormous grocery stores that carry a lot but are busy and difficult to get in and out of. We have started identifying local places closer to home to avoid the malls. Most stuff is comparable to shopping in a mid to large US city or in Europe. Lots of stuff is very reasonably priced, especially if you buy brands that are local or off-brand. Typically, prices are average compared to the international realm. We have been quite pleased with the price of meats, cereal, milk, canned goods, and dry goods. Fruit and vegetables are the exception. Nearly everything is imported and prices can range from reasonable ($0.80 for a kilogram of carrots from China) to extravagant ($10 for a head of lettuce from Spain). It pays to shop around and buy from places like Jordan, India, and Indonesia as opposed to Europe.

Speaking of costs, while we are free from utilities at the house, we absorb others. For example, the nanny/housekeeper here costs about 3x as much as in South Africa. Our family does not need a full time person but without securing one, we cannot be sure that someone could be here for when the kids come home. Another cost is the driver. The school does not bus its children to or from school so we must hire a driver to take them home long before we get out of work. These costs are fairly significant.

Doha

Qatar is a very interesting place. It is perhaps the richest country in the world as it sits on the 3rd largest natural gas field. It is a tiny place, as the country itself is only 100 miles long and most people live in Doha. Doha has some amazing buildings. The Qatari people have no problem showing off their money as buildings are both creative and massive. Nice cars rule the road. There are less than 300,000 Qatari people and the rest of the country is made up of 1.8 million expats, with about half of that as laborers. Everything is being built at once, with the city expanding and preparations to make it an amazing place for 2022 FIFA World Cup.

There is much to do here. People take advantage of the desert with dune bashing (being driven in a Land Cruiser at top speed up and down sand dunes), desert camping, walking/running down the dunes, camel riding, etc. There are many beaches. The golf course is amazing and hosts world class tournaments so if you can’t afford to play, you can watch the pros. There are many parks as well but these are visited much more often from November to April due to the heat. There are all sorts of clubs to join. I will mention the many within the clubhouse and rec center, but there is also ice hockey, rugby, running, triathlon, cycling, scuba diving, sailing, wind surfing, kite boarding, etc. You name it, someone is doing it.

Being a member of QF, every employee also has access to the major benefits of the organization. This means that you can go to the ECCH Clubhouse anytime. It is a place with a spa, workout facility, pool, and restaurant (highly subsidized so you can eat much cheaper here than other places). There is a playground, squash courts, tennis courts, and many classes like aerobics and circuit training. They play kids movies on the big screen 3 times a week. All free. Otherwise, you can go to the Recreation Centre. It has a giant, Olympic-sized pool and smaller training pools for the kids. It has a workout room, gym, courts, etc. Lots of classes here too ranging from free to a small fee per term. Kids play in a supervised play area while you work out. There is also a bank, post office, cell phone place, and travel agent to get done lots of stuff while on campus. Right across the street is another rec center where you can take classes or swim or workout. While some people pay $30-99 a month for gym memberships, it is all free here, whether you have one in your complex or use the QF ones.

It is a very family friendly place. There are always these events going on, most of them free, with bouncy castles, face painting, etc. for kids. There are opportunities for 6 movies a week (depending on the location) where your kids can watch a free kid’s movie in a theater, sometimes with juice and popcorn. Parks, pools, beaches. Camel and horse riding. There is an amazing outdoor waterpark. Disney on Ice was just here. There is lots of support for kids in QF and in Doha in general.

Alcohol

Alcohol can be purchased legally by expats in one store. It takes a letter from your work to allow this. Wine and liquor are about the same or slightly more than most other places, but beer is much more. It is one of those things that you just accept about living here. If you want it, you pay a bit more for it and you make your choice. Most people drink less here than other places in the world because of the expense. It helps the belt stay thin and wallet stay thick but it is good to have now and then if you want it. Bacon can also be purchased here. Otherwise, the major hotels have restaurants with bars (Belgian Bar, Irish Pub, etc.) but the cost is insane. Most just have it at home.

The other option is to partake in a brunch. On Fridays (day off) people go to the big hotels and eat a brunch. It is all day, all you can eat, 5 star food. Very delicious, and for the price, all you can drink. It is an amazing way to get fat and live large, if just for a few hours.

Religion

It is a fairly conservative state as Muslim goes. Expat women do NOT have to cover up at all, they can drive, and they can be in public without a male escort. However, it is considered courteous for them to not wear shorts and to cover their shoulders, which isn’t typically a problem since it is so cold inside there aren’t complaints. Men mostly wear pants and can pull off shorts in public if they are long. There is call to prayer 5 times a day like every Muslim country, but here it doesn’t seem to slow things down. With the exception of Fridays, it is business as usual and most things are open daily and late. There are churches in specific areas that are allowed to operate, but otherwise religion (other than Islam) are not openly discussed.

Money

The Qatari Riyal is pegged to the US dollar at 3.65 so your salary never changes or devalues. You are paid in local currency so must people wire money periodically to their US accounts. Credit cards are widely accepted here and ATMs have a $15,000 daily limit. Good thing there isn’t a casino around ;)

Vacations are nice. We take a week in October, February, and April. We get 17 days at Christmas. There are a couple of days off during the year for national events, plus some PD days. School starts around September 7th and ends about June 21. Travel within the Gulf region seems somewhat expensive (with the exception of Dubai) while trips to Europe don’t seem all that bad comparatively.