October Recap!

Sorry for not blogging much lately...we have quite living as tourists and finally are settling in to a normal routine. Also, I hate to bore everyone with more sun and sand pictures :). Fall has arrived with mild temps in the 90's! We have yet to see any rain and palm tree leaves really don't change color. Our week is filled with soccer and homework just like home. We had parent-teacher conferences and the kids are doing great...they both just need to work on neatness (BOYS!). Halloween was celebrated with trick or treating and a BBQ, which was lots of fun. We all now have resident visas so we are not illegal aliens anymore (although alien is still debatable). I had an interesting experience at the Iranian Hospital getting my visa medical work. Not that I stood out being a blond but thank goodness Steve was with me because on the TV they were playing an anti-American propaganda video in the waiting room...needless to say a little odd. But the one thing about being a woman over here is you have your own lines for everything, so I got to go ahead of about 35 men. There are even women only lines in the grocery stores!!! Now that visas are done, I can get a drivers license and legally drive my new Murano. I love the beige interior, sand blends nicely! We spend our weekends going to brunch with friends and going to birthday parties. We have another dune bashing trip planned for this weekend and we are less than a month away from heading to India for a wedding (a friend of Steve's from Acxiom).

We attended the newbie course on dune bashing. They learned how to drive in the sand, go down large slip faces and recover each other when stuck!

Standing at the top of a large dune ready to learn to drive down!

The Hummer got stuck only once!!! and Steve gave me whiplash when we hit this dune!!

There were wild camels everywhere!

Jacob is attending the Manchester United Soccer Academy. The coaches have all played nationally and it is an intense 45 minutes of skill drills and then they have scrimmages.

Drew has soccer too and I will post pics soon!

For Halloween we went to a coworkers of Steve's villa. Lars and Andrea hosted a BBQ and really did up Halloween. The kids trick-or-treated around their neighborhood.

Batman and spider ninja!This was one of the other dads dressed up...Drew was a little frightened to get his treat off the table!

The ninja bobbing for apples!

Andrea decorated her garden and the kids racked up the candy!

And here is a beautiful fall sunrise seen from our bedroom window...

Steve's New Ride

Steve finally got a vehicle!! As is everything else, the process is long and arduous...had to wait for visa, etc but he is thrilled not to be driving a Mitsubishi Lancer ( go ahead and laugh-he and the kids hated it). So he went with a navy H3...he is thrilled. When he got home, he took us on a drive and even let me give it a try (felt like driving a semi). Drew was so excited he fell asleep in about 2 minutes!! They have several 4x4 clubs to learn dunebashing and wadi-ing (dry creek bed off roading). So of course Steve has signed us up for one this Saturday. I'll keep you posted!



The kids enjoyed searching out crooks and crannies!!!

Makin' a run to Barracuda!!

So we were told of a legal place to purchase adult beverages in the UAE (without a licence). It is a resort (really more of a motel) on the beach about an hour from where we live. They have a restaurant that served pretty good food. But the reason you "make the run to Barracuda" is for the warehouse of alcohol!

Steve of course enjoyed the foreign beers! And they had a large selection of wines sorted by country. I bought several (i.e 3 cases :) bottles of wine! A good assortment of reds and whites.

Russell and Patrick, this one is for you. ABSINTHE!! For the rest of you, who have ever had the pleasure of watching the really good/bad movie "Eurotrip" you know what this is. Absinthe is illegal in the states if sold in the proper form. It is 150 proof , 75% alcohol. It takes like black licorice and is neon green, red or black. YOU DO NOT DRINK IT STRAIGHT!!! You mix with ice cold water and it forms a cloud of smoke...sounds safe, huh? Steve drank about 3/4 cup and said it felt like he had 4 well-made 7 &7's. By the way the price you see is in dirhams not dollars!
Gethin, a friend and coworker, showed us the way and came back with plenty of wine and irish whiskey!

Friday Market and FINALLY...the beach!

On Friday, we went down to the walk and enjoyed a great breakfast outside at a french cafe. Then we were off on our usual drive and headed to what is known as "Friday Market". It reminded me of border towns, with bartering and harassing sellers.

There are men slicing the tops off of fresh cold coconuts and sticking a straw in them. Jacob really enjoyed it. They also have roasted corn that they pile with salt and spices...delicious!

Beautiful plants, cacti, and trees are also sold and really good prices especially if you act like you are not interested in their first price.

The fresh fruit and vegetables were awesome, too. The different exotic fruits were very colorful!!

We picked up some mangos, fresh sliced coconut, watermelon, and pomegranates! All for less than $5.

Because the weather has finally cooled down to a comfortable 100 degrees we finally took the kids down to the beach. You see the occasional speedo and women in some very skimpy bikinis (some of which should have looked in a mirror before going in public). We went late in the afternoon and the waves were very similar to Gulf Shores, but in the mornings there are usually much bigger waves and people surfing. There are no jelly fish or seaweed but there are a ton of shells and the water is much saltier. It was busier than usual because of the holiday, Eid.

The boys body surfed and played in the sand. I couldnt move after morning bootcamp so I laid out and read a book :).

NOW, what you don't normally see in the States are camels walking down the beach! They offer rides for a price and have nice little dropping bags on so as not to poop on the beach!

This is a picture looking back at the JBR walk where we live.

We ended the evening with another beautiful sunset!

Children's City

This weekend we took the kids to Children's City during their holiday break. It is a large park with a children's museum and dolphinarium. They had a blast and the dolphin show was great!!!

How do they keep the grass so green..

Drew using his muscles to learn about pulleys!
Jacob propelling a jetmotor of an airplane!

Look mom...I'm magic!!!

The museum had an entire area about the human body (not my BIG mouth, I swear!)
This is the dolphinarium. They do daily shows with dolphins and seals. They have science summer camps and there is also a restaurant.
There were 3 dolphins...jumping thru hoops, playing basketball and dancing.

Here are the dolphins in action. Jacob said his Aunt Kristin would love this show!!

One dolphin painted a picture that was auctioned off and sold for about $125.

The seals performed very well, too. They danced, twirled hoops, and even sang into a microphone (not the most pleasant noise-sounded like a long burp!)
The kids played volleyball with the dolphins and Jacob got soaked! We finished the day with an excellent spicy Thai dinner. Thanks Grammy!!!

IT'S OVER!!!

Hallelujah...As-Salāmu `Alaykum...Eid Mubarek!!! Or whatever term of rejoice you choose, the holy month of RAMADAN HAS ENDED!!!! We can eat and drink in public, restaurants will be open! No more hiding in the car to eat or drink! WOO-HOO!!! Can you tell I am a little excited!!!

Pampering...

I finally treated myself to a little pampering here. I went to a nail spa just down the promenade. I thought I would get a manicure/pedicure. Now I didn't take any pics...would have really looked like a tourist but let me describe. I sat in an over-sized leather chair with a girl at my feet and a girl at my hands, scrubbing, masking, heat packs etc. But they do not have massaging chairs... ANOTHER girl came behind me and held up a towel and asked me to remove my shirt. Now most of you know I am the least modest person but wasnt quite sure what I had gotten myself into. HEAVEN...the girl wrapped a warm towel around my chest and proceeded to massage my neck, shoulders, arms, head, etc for an HOUR while they were doing my nails. No rushing to get me out of here! This has made the hard last few months very worth it...and the fact that it cost about $40 made it even nicer!!! Another must-do when visitors come ;)

Suvaroff

We went to a new Russian restaurant in our building for dinner, Suvaroff. It serves very traditional food. Steve chose a veal meat pie with potatoes and onions. His drink was called kvas, a bread crumb and raisin pressed drink (sounds appetizing, huh?). The owner said it was meant to taste like beer. Steve liked it enough to have 2 glasses. The boys split a chicken kiev...Drew licked the bone clean! I had a local fish smoked with alder wood, it was delicious. Jacob realized he liked blinis with ice cream (it is like a crepe). Steve and I split a baked apple with floral honey and cedar seeds...very interesting.

Planet Hollywood

This weekend we took the kids to Planet Hollywood, they have a great americanized Friday brunch. The restaurant provides great activities for children and a great children's buffet! They are sitting in front of Titanic movie memorabilia. Planet Hollywood is next to another huge Dubai mall named Wafi City. It is shaped like a pyramid with an egyptian theme and has scenes of Aladdin throughout.

Dunebashing!!!

This weekend we played tourists and went on an excursion...dunebashing!!! It was a half day event by Orient Travel called "Desert Wonder". Anybody who decides to come visit, this will be a must to do again. We were picked up at 3pm and returned about 830. Our driver was awesome!! We met up with a fleet of other drivers; mostly land cruisers and one hummer. Each car was filled with 5-6 people. We met a couple from New Jersey and Michigan. In our car, we had a newlywed Asian couple who spoke no English.

Our driver's name was Noufa. When we got to the desert he stopped to take the tire pressure from 42psi to 16psi so it is easier to drive in the sand.
It was a hazy, dusty day...108 degrees.
When we would make turns or slide down a hill, we were sandblasted!!
He drove us up and over big dunes...it felt like roller coaster!

Drew said, "I feel like a bobble-head!"

One car completely lost a tire off the rim and had to put a new one on. It was probably a good thing we stopped because the lady in the turquoise shirt was getting extremely car sick.

While we were waiting, the kids wore themselves out climbing the big sand dunes.
We went to a base camp where there was camel riding, henna painting, sand boarding, sheesha smoking, and a desert BBQ.
Jacob had a celtic design put on his arm with henna. It will last about a week.
Drew had a cobra, and I had an Arabic design put on my ankle.
I tried a double grape sheesha...it was ok, not something I would do often. Steve loves it!
Jacob did a great job sand boarding. Drew just tumbled down the hill for fun.
Jacob and I did the camel ride.
We posed in local attire...Amber, this one is for you!! (Thinking about making this our Christmas card:)
Falconry is a big hobby here also.
For the BBQ, there were hamburgers, chicken and lamb chops along with salad, rice and potatoes. The drivers are also the chefs. After sunset they served Arabic sweets, wine, beer and coffee.
We had some very worn out kids on the way home.