Peggy in the MCM TV studio

Ceasar and the rope

My foster cat Ceasar has finally turned into the kitten he really is. He plays with the mice toys and hides them under the sofa. I found at least 7 of them this morning and was Ceasar happy. He batted them around, threw them in the air and carried them around in his mouth. He plays with the black cloth rope, a former belt to one of my slacks, every day. Watch him on the video. You may have to let the video run its course and then replay to see it without interruptions. And you can use "zoom in" to enlarge the video.

First week of class at AUS

Sharjah, 29 Aug 2009
It's Friday, the start of our weekend here in the UAE. The first week of class started with Ramadan which runs through to September 17. That means we will have to take into consideration how fasting affects our students. I'm teaching four courses -- two sections of T V production and performance, and one section each of field reporting with camcorders, and the multimedia course in which students will manage the e-media website we created last year. I'm really fortunate that my tech assistant Herman Coutinho from Mumbai is back from his vacation. We couldn't do the website or the TV studio course and field reporting without him. My students will be producing the 1/2 hour MCM Fortnightly News newscast and will manage the enewsmcm.com website, both planning for distribution on the internet. I'll start the TV production class with lessons on editing video with iMovie because the TV studio is in the process of being dehumidified after a summer of being shutdown. Our TV studio is located in the Architecture building across the quad from our A&S NAB building and was shut down because Architecture was under rennovation.

This week was the week of rolling brownouts in Sharjah. AUS was hit several times. My flat's electricity went out only once, on Wednesday from 4:30 to 11:30 p.m. It was warm with temps at 103 degrees, but because our flats are made of thick concrete and tiled floors, it remained sufficiently cool-warm. I went to bed early because I had no access to my computer or TV. The brownouts were only in selected parts of Sharjah. The University of Sharjah next door was not affected.

Some students are not showing up for class because there was a rumor (unfounded) that the dorm had swine flu. I heard some students actually have returned home. Several profs have suggested we teach online from our flats for the next two weeks. That's not possible for my classes because we need to use the mac lab. The faculty with young kids seem to be the most concerned.

I'm hoping to go to Sharafs tomorrow. It's our big box store, like Best Buy, that opened up in June in downtown Sharjah. Other news here is that the Sharaj Coop supermarket, just 5 minutes from AUS, is building a mall extension. New villas have gone up all along the route to Sharjah Coop. It really is a SimCity in progress here.

New foster cat Ceasar

Sharjah, 29 Aug 2009
I've started fostering again with the Sharjah Feline Friends. Feline rep David Oliver and I picked up just over a year-old male cat Ceasar from the newly built Sharjah Municipality Animal Shelter. He was in one of the rooms, all of them glass from floor to ceiling, all by himself because he intensely dislikes cats. He like people. Ceasar is over a year old. He grew up at a Sharjah restaurant. The chef became partial to him and would feed him under the table by slipping him raw chicken and beef. When the restaurant singer Theresa heard that the authorities were coming to round up cats, she took in Ceasar and others. She has 14 cats and because Ceasar doesn't like cats, she put him in the garden shed in a cage by himself. He was there for a month before coming to the shelter in June. He was put in the nice room all by himself where he stayed until I picked him up, about 3 months. That meant the room was not available for other cats and kittens.

The shelter has a total of about 33 abandoned cats and kittens. The new vet starts on Sept 1. She is Australian and works also at the Equine Animal Hospital which is located close by. The shelter is only 10 minutes from AUS.

The first night in my flat, Ceasar cried and wandered around, knocking things around. Daylight came and he calmed down and what a nice cat he is. He purrs, loves a good rub down, loves to be brushed.

His second day in my flat last Monday I had to go to campus to teach classes. He was in my flat alone. I checked on him during the day. He was sleeping under the blanket in my bedroom. He has since migrated to the guest room and sleeps under the comforter. He still is quite shy of people. My "maid" Anbu came in yesterday to clean my flat. Ceasar literally flew threw the air to his safe spot on the bed and under the comforter where he stayed the entire time Anbu was here.
Have you ever heard of a cat that doesn't snoop around in the kitchen? This is the rare one. When I'm fixing my meals, Ceasar comes only as far as the doorway and peeks around it to see what I'm doing. He is probably hoping for a gourmet meal!
Ceasar loves playing with toy mice, and he also loves the black rope that our Sharjah cat Jameela played with. He hid all the toy mice under the side table in the livingroom. It took me several days to find them. He was so happy to see them again, and he immediately threw them into the air.

Did you notice that one of Ceasar's ears is clipped at the very tip. This is a pratice that vet Jim from Belgium does. I think he told me he does this when cats are brought in and it looks like they may be released outside again. I think it is a signal to authorities that the cat has been vaccinated for rabies and neutered or spayed.

Ceasar will go up for adoption as soon as David and the shelter director Emma can arrange an adoption day, probably after Ramadan in late September. He will be a very nice "family" member, and especially if there are children to play with him.

Peggy's office with a view

My new office in the AUS-MCM Department faces the University of Sharjah next door and the clock tower toward the right. The domed buildings are on the campus of the University of Sharjah. The haze may be caused by the high humidity we are currently experiencing.

Jameela at home in Laramie (video)

A short clip of Jameela purring when she first came home. Turn up your sound to hear her.

Sharjah cat Jameela's first day on American soil in our backyard on June 9, 2009.

Jameela and cat friends, Laramie

Phil and Jameela, Jameela chasing Bambi, Moose watching Jameela.

Jameela in the backyard

Jameela and Bambi, Jameela by daisies, Jameela and Doqqi, Jameela under choke-cherry tree.

Beautiful Snowies

Rain over the Snowies

Phil and I drove up to the Snowies today. Here are photos of the mountains about 25 miles from Laramie -- on a rainy day.

Jameela in tree, Laramie backyard, July 2009

Our newest cat Jameela from Sharjah, UAE, arrived with Phil and me in Laramie on June 7, 2009 after a long flight on Lufthansa from Sharjah to Denver, through Frankfurt. Jameela took the trip well, even the 7-hour flight to Frankfurt, the 5 1/2-hour layover in Frankfurt, and the 9 1/2-hour flight to Denver. She was with us the entire time in the cabin and in the airports. Jameela is seen here in our backyard already climbing our trees. This one is a very tall Blue Spruce. She has climbed up to about 7 feet high on it so far. At first Jameela tried to jump the tall 6' fence that encloses our backyard. But after being sent inside repeatedly, she now knows her boundaries and stays in the yard without supervision. Some of her buddies are usually with her in the yard. They are Egyptian Doqqi, Wyoming Bambi, Moose and Sweetie. Dubai Myty-Myte and Jameela get along well, and Egyptian Zamalek is getting used to her now and likes her as well. She has been welcomed in our cat family by all our cats, and she loves to play, though only the Wyoming cats understand what her leaping and jumping means.

Phil waiting for shwarma at the Blue Souk

Phil Roberts enjoying local shwarma at the Blue Souk, which is Sharjah's traditional souk. This shwarma is made of chicken wrapped around a spit and roasted for hours. The shwarma here is as good as anywhere in the Middle East. I took a photo of this shy Shwarma "chef" and then he took a photo of us, neither of us speaking each other's language. (Click on photo and shift to right to see Phil.)

American University in Cairo: old Greek campus

Caravan Old Campus

American University in Cairo: new Journalism & Mass Communication Department

AUC-JMC, March 2009

Nesrine Azmy at new campus AUC (left); Peggy Bieber-Roberts at Cafe Riche, Cairo (right);



Maher El Meligy at Caravan, AUC; Student newspaper Caravan office.

American University in Cairo

Fostering Little Angie

Little Angie was found in Sharjah staggering into a feeding area with other hungry, abandoned cats in the vicinity of AUS and University of Sharjah. She was about 7 months old, emaciated, caked with mud, her hair matted, and drooling from her mouth. At first the woman who fed the cats thought she had a serious fatal disease, but Sharjah Feline Friends rep David came over and picked her up. He kept her for a couple of days, saw she was hungry and eating well, so he took her to Belgian vet Jim for a checkup. Jim's specialty is feline dental work. She had rotten teeth and serious gum disease. He fixed her teeth/gum problems, spayed her, and gave her the necessary vaccinations. She was put in a cage for one month and then brought over to my place to be fostered. She came in the same day that Phil arrived in Sharjah, just a couple of hours earlier than Phil. He thought she looked and acted like two of our cats, Sweetie and our first cat Cubby who is no longer with us. It's no surprise then that we are both enjoying her. She purrs all the time and follows us around. She is gaining weight and confidence. Generally, she is a very happy cat, but probably will remain small in size due to starvation in her early months of life. She will be "homed" very quickly, David tells me, because hers is a "rags to riches" story. He has never seen a kitten in such terrible condition. Now, he is very happy that she is safe and happy here in my flat in Sharjah while she awaits a permanent home with a lucky family.

And now for the rest of the story: Phil Roberts of Laramie, Wyoming, adopted little Angie whom he renamed Jameela which means "beautiful" in Arabic. See her photos above. Jameela stayed with me in Sharjah from December to June. During this period, she was often very ill and had to be taken to the vet about every two weeks. On June 6, we transported in the passenger cabin of Lufthansa, arriving same day in Denver, and then drove up to Laramie, a 2.5 hour trip. Jameela is now at home in Laramie with our six other cats, one who came from Sharjah-Dubai 12 years ago (Myty-Myte). She loves being in a big cat family, loves running around our enclosed backyard, and loves climbing our trees. She is healthy and happy now.

New homes for cats

Good news. Eleven-month old Meera and 4-week old Little Lili, my two fostered cats, were both adopted out to good homes in Dubai, last week. According to Sharjah coordinator of Dubai Feline Friends, Meera went to a British couple living in Dubai. And Little Lili who looks just like a miniature Meera (but no relation) was picked up by a Dubai Feline Friends volunteer. Little Lili now has a little "brother" just her age to play with. All will be so happy.

Fostering a cat

My new Sharjah kitty. I'm fostering her for the Dubai Feline Friends Organization that saves vulnerable cats, finds fosterers and then adopts out the cats. She reminds me of a combination of two of our Wyoming cats -- Moose and Sunshine. She is 10 months old.

Uptown Mirdif

Uptown Mirdif cafe

My friend and mass com colleague Ralph Berenger and I ventured out to Uptown Mirdif this weekend. Mirdif is a neighborhood near Dubai International Airport. Uptown Mirdif is an outdoor mall modeled on the round-about of three circles. Each circle contains shops, indoor and outdoor restaurants, and apartments on the second and third floors. The ground is covered with Emirati-styled tiles, giving it a cobble-stone look. The Center is so well organized that underground parking is just minutes away from entrances. The architecture is blended Emirati and European. You can see airlines flying over for landing and take-offs from Dubai International Airpot. Charming. This link tells you more about Mirdif. http://www.bhomes.com/uae/mirdif.xhtml

Bird in my backyard

AUS Library.

Dubai Gold Souk: an afternoon with Richard Gross and Peggy Bieber-Roberts

Souk Mushid shops, Deira-Dubai, next to the Gold Souk.

Marina at Intercontinental Hotel and Festival City, Dubai

Docking in front of the Intercontinental Hotel, Dubai. 28 September 2008
The largest yachts are the closest in to the hotel and the mall. The marina is modest in size, but the location is prime. While I was walking through the Intercontinental Hotel, a helicopter was landing at the marina. I was fortunate to be in the right place at the right time, took photos, from the hotel lobby, of the party on the chopper, right after it landed. This event illustrates the luxuries in Dubai.

Lobby of the Intercontinental Hotel, Dubai

Dubai Intercontinental Hotel. 28 September 2008.
The Intercontinental Hotel is a landmark. The old hotel close to the sea on the corniche was sold and this new Intercontinental Hotel was built at Festival City located at the inland tip of the Creek. Festival City is one of the popular malls in Dubai. The three pencil sketches of the Dubai Sheikhs line the lobby wall across from the check-in counter. Artistic arrangement of the flowers decorate the long hall.

Birds in my backyard at AUS, Sharjah

Back yard birds at AUS. 30 September 2008
Lots of active little birds spend quite a bit of time in my small backyard, eating insects, probably those big black ants. They are not only actively moving around, but they talk to each other allthe time. It's nice to hear the different voices of the various birds in my neighborhood. Several different varieties come in for a landing, but I don't know what they are. One day a stunningly beautiful big bird landed on the chain-link fence to the right of my yard. Its chest was a peach color, its top feather a dark grey to black, and its tail feathers a gorgeous sky blue. It looked almost like a parrot, bit it wasn't. I got out my camera, but when it saw me through the patio glass, it flew off -- at the speed of light. I've never seen birds fly so fast as these right here. Notice the round white spot on the side of the bird's face in the photo. Another identical spot is on the other side.

Jute bags: Gulf News' gift to its readers.

Sharjah, UAE. 29 Sept 2008
Dubai's prime daily newspaper Gulf News is distributing jute bags to its 200,000 subscribers for free. I received the two jute bags because obviously I'm a subscriber. Supporting its environmentally "Go Green" campaign, Gulf News is encouraging less use of plastic and supporting eco-friendly alternatives. These specially designed jute bags are multi-colored, differing from the usual single-colored jute bags. They were designed in Dubai and manufactured in India. It took three months to make them. According to Gulf News, jute is concentrated in Bangladesh and India where the soil is fertile and alluvial. Jute needs rain, too, and very little fertilizer. Gulf News reports that jute is 100 percet biodegradable. I wonder why U.S. newspaper don't do something similar, like inserting an item in their papers in an effort to promote environmental and needed social causes. These jute bag inserts definitely raise our collective environmental consciousness. It was a real treat to see the bags laying there outside my door with my Monday morning newspaper.

Abras parked on the Bur Dubai side of the Creek.

Kachins, Phil's tailor in Bur Dubai.

Souk Mena in Bur Dubai along the Creek.

Dubai heritage district

Dubai Museum

Downtown Deira

Souk Mena in Bur Dubai

Old wall at Souk Mena in Bur Dubai along the Creek.

A local at covered Souk Mena in Bur Dubai along the Creek

Dubai Museum entrance

Dubai Museum

Dubai Museum viewed by riders on the double-decker tour bus.

Looking at Deira side of Creek, from Bur Dubai.

Abra on Dubai Creek carrying workes and tourists from Bur Dubai to Deira.

Ship being pulled by a tug in Dubai Creek

Sharjah Heritage Museum

Sharjah Central Post Office

Sharjah Central Post Office

Sharjah Woman's Tailor

Phil at AUS

Palms at Sharjah beach

Palm view from AUS fountain

Walking home from AUS

Palms in front of Mass Com

New palms at AUS Main Building

New palm path at AUS

Date palm at AUS