What Is An Expat?

I didn’t even know they still made these pants. Seen under the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

I have finally updated the Gallery with pictures from our June trip to the US and the July Mexico trip.

2007 06 USA Just a few really. Mainly at the river running through Golden, Colorado.

2007 07 Mexico Lots of good stuff in here. Dolphins, cats, other animals, Mayan ruins, underground caverns, jungle, the beach and sea…you name it. Unfortunately I didn’t have the underwater housing for my camera so there are no cave diving pictures, though there are a couple lower quality ones from a cave snorkeling trip.

I’ve updated the gallery with pictures from our recent trip to France and Italy. It’s broken down into subgalleries of Paris, Versailles, Rome, Sorrento, and Pompeii for easy viewing, though the Paris and Rome galleries are pretty good sized. These were actually uploaded several days ago, but I’ve been kind of busy preparing to leave again. Enjoy!

http://expat.savagenet.com/gallery2/2007+05+France+and+Italy/

Does anything about this picture look difficult to you? Does any of it look pointless? This was the most amusing of several “we’re in a ruined city with broken, cobbled pave stones and we are toting a kid in a stroller” type moments we happened across in Pompeii. Traveling with kids seems like it would be nightmare enough to avoid whenever possible. I mean sure, trips to see the folks are a different issue and point to point travel is not the same as vacation, but I am non-plussed to think that people would travel with a child for non-essential reasons.

For the first 5-6 years, the kid certainly won’t get anything out of it — won’t understand what’s going on nor remember it. They can’t really move under their own power, and if they can it’s probably the wrong direction and you’d want to avoid that. You’re looking at mobile, and therefore more difficult, babysitting. It costs the parents extra money and would dilute their enjoyment of whatever they are doing since they wouldn’t be able to focus on it. It seems like there’s only cost and no benefit. Leave the kids with relatives or stay home.

For the next 5-6 years, it’d be a little better. The kids would be generally self-motile at least, and would probably remember the vacation, though if you’re going to travel places as opposed to beach or camping trips, they may have trouble to “get” what they’re seeing. Stick to natural wonders and getting to know nature type journeys.

Once you’re dealing with teens, I think things open up more. Supervision is less necessary as they are now less dependent and not so much a danger to themselves. You can go places that take more appreciation and will broaden the kid’s world. You might be able to learn and teach something that they can grow on later on, making them a better person by seeing places and things in new towns, states, or countries. Give ’em something to have as stories back at school. Show them there is a whole world out there, full of people that are kind of like us, even! Keep them open minded.

Well, it was a little more long-winded than I’d thought, and maybe slightly preachy too, but there it goes. I’m all for travel but kids make it a whole different ball game. Traveling with 2 adults can be stressful enough without adding extra complications. 😉

I was out taking some pictures recently and came across something that might could fit under social commentary…

I like to call this one “We’re Gonna Need Another Maid”.

Where labor is so cheap, many Arab families actually have 1 maid/nanny per kid.  I know a couple who pay their live-in about $150 a month.  They got her before they even had a kid or she was even pregnant, no less.  While that’s on the low end of the pay scale, $250-300 is going to be the top end.  A round-trip ticket home once a year will be included as well.

Cheap labor is everything here.  The city is built on it.  Because of it, anything you could go buy in a store or restaurant is available for delivery.  It costs almost nothing to have a couple of guys that do nothing but drive stuff back and forth on a moped.  The easy availability of delivery has a tendency to make certain sorts of people lazy.  I’m lazy, but we’ve only ever had food delivered a couple-three times in these almost 2 years in Dubai.  It’s important to get out and about every so often, even if it’s only to go downstairs and over 2-3 buildings to get lunch instead of someone bringing it to you so you never have to leave your desk.  That said, come summer time you certainly won’t want to go any further than 2-3 buildings away as you will stink at your co-workers the rest of the day.