The dinner party

I really have to go get ready for work but have been sucked into computer stuff. I started two new blogs, they aren't ready for release yet but stay tuned. One is my journals from Africa, I have hundreds of pages of writing from each day in Ghana and have been trying to decide what to do with them for ages, I even typed them all up a while ago when we lived in TN so I am making a blog with them. The second one will be for all the other stuff I think and write about everyday but don't feel fits in with the theme of this blog...I don't want to lose my readers.

This is a photo of a dinner party we had last week. Chris was really tired so it was pretty low key. From left to right Andrea, Maria, Andres, Chris, Kristinia and Mauricio. Mauricio and Kristina had never met our other friends and thought they might all get along. Mauricio is from Mexico and Kristina is from Canada. It was great, I was excited to use my table to full capacity but Tomas got sick (Andrea's husband) so we had one empty seat. Later that night Chris fell asleep and I went out to meet Hanne and Roque for a drink at a hotel down the road. It is called the underground and is modeled after a London tube station. Not really all that glamorous in my opinion but I guess absence makes the heart grow fonder. It was however nice to catch up with them and on the way out we saw a famous Pakistani cricket player coming in to the hotel. It was also notably freezing outside for Dubai that night. The sun is moody lately so the desert gets really chilly at night, not Boston or Chicago cold but cold for here.

My new boss

Preface: spell checker is not working!

This is Nadia and she is my boss every morning these days. I am teaching her a preschool curriuculm privately in her home because her mom is just about to give birth and they are only in Dubai until March. This amazing family lives 8 months of the year in Saudi Arabia and 2 months here in the summer and 2 months here in the winter to oversee their business here. Brazilian by birth and US raised the mom is fluent in Arabic, the dad is Lebanese Saudi and the nanny is from Eritrea. I am around to help with Nadia's English development. It is a lot of fun but I am glad we have a ways before having a three year old of our own, it is a busy age!

Burj Dubai

The tallest buidling in the world was barely visible through the stormy clouds today!

Just when things were starting to seem dull

It has been raining for a couple of days now, the roads do not have drainage, people don't know how to drive anyway so it is a mess! I had to drive through many such lakes in the road today to get to work- it was a little stressful but I was grateful for having a car that sits up a bit higher...it made it a lot easier! People are saying it has never rained like this here-figures right? I am really missing the sun but hate to complain when so many of you are really living under the blanket of winter.

A national holiday

It is yet another holiday, this time because George W. himself is in Dubai for a day of meetings centered around democracy in the Middle East. All the roads of Dubai are closed and everyone has the day off. There is no noise because even construction has stopped. It is more quiet than any of the holidays that just passed, Christian or Muslim. Funny. The reason is that traffic has been so bad all over the region due to his arrival in Abu Dhabi yesterday from Bahrain. Yesterday it also rained, rained somewhat hard for an extended period of time which also made traffic awful. Not much else is new here. Chris went back to work yesterday and flew from Dubai to Bahrain before crossing into Dammam in Saudi. This week he is visiting different cities in Saudi and will be back on Wednesday. When I say visiting I mean checking in on his project, not sightseeing! I am sad without him now, I have gotten so used to him being here. My job is going well, it is not a lot of hours, good money and an interesting experience. I love my boss (the mother of the little girl I am teaching) and am getting a crash course in how to deal with a two and half year old (who is probably really my boss). Other than that not much is new here!

The grass is always greener

Spent last weekend in Oman in the tourist area of Muscat. It has been so much fun having Chris around this whole time and actually being able to take a little vacation together. Now, I wish I could write lots of things about Oman but the trip was ill planned so this is all I can say: I heard Muscat was beautiful and only 3-4 hours away by car, that it has more history than the UAE, that the people are nice, that it feels more "real" and that the diving is great so obviously it has been on our list of things to do since we got here. So, on New Years day Chris told me to look into staying there and he gave me the names of the two most popular hotels. Well, they were both booked and about 500 USD a night so things were not looking great. Then I remembered the reward points that we had from living in the Radisson for almost 2 months. Well, the next day we were in the car as soon as Chris could get out of the office with no map, no information other than our reservations at the Radisson. I actually thought we were going north of RAK, one of the emirates here but we were actually crossing east over UAE into the bigger part of Oman. Luckily the roads were well marked and the only obstacles were lots of roundabouts, speed bumps and random pedestrians crossing the "highway" there. It was dark when we got in but we loved it immediately. The most remarkable difference between the UAE and Oman is that there are lots of locals there, they just have a much bigger population. Their lusher and mountainous landscape has also maintained more physical history when compared to the harsh desert of the UAE that until very recently was made up of mostly nomadic peoples. We went out for a relaxed dinner and actually had a local waiter, a refreshing change from the labor situation in Dubai and then we headed downstairs to a full bar rocking out to a Filipino band. The next morning we woke up to sunny skies nestled in breathtaking mountains. We went outside to the patio for a free breakfast (worth mentioning because hotel rooms in Dubai come with NOTHING) and were shocked by the number of Americans dining with us. There are hardly any Americans in UAE so it was noticeable. The trees and relaxed vibe reminded me of hanging out in old colonial haunts in Ghana, it had a very old school expat feel to it. It is crazy how fast you get used to the newness in Dubai, the Radisson seemed old and I am sure it isn't! We got in our car after breakfast and headed out on a beautiful drive across town to the dive club. Chris went for a dive and I did a refresher course in the pool. I have to say: I have really given the diving thing a lot of effort but I am still not sure if I like it. It has been a while since I have done it so now it feels new all over again...oh well. I am thinking about just taking the whole course over again here so I can get the full open water certification and feel more comfortable again. Anyway, Chris enjoyed his dive and the next day we went snorkeling off a boat. There were tons of fish, I wish I could name them all but I am horrible at that! Then it was back to Dubai. It was so nice there and it was so easy to wish we lived there, it seemed so much more authentic and mellow. I would love to live somewhere with great hiking and walking closer but it is not so far away. The roads were also even more confusing there if you can imagine. Less construction but the signs, maps and roads just didn't match up and don't forget we were also constantly avoiding the random guys on their bikes or guys running across the road. On our way home from an amazing meal of tapas on Friday night I had a moment of pure bliss. Chris was asleep a little bit next to me and I was thinking how great it was that our taxi driver was Omani and that he actually knew where he was going, we didn't have to direct him. Honestly, as soon as I thought it I picked up on a subtle vibe in the car. It was that feeling of someone being lost but he didn't speak much English so I just relaxed thinking he probably just knows a better way to the hotel (we never once found the same route twice)! and then we seemed to be in the desert. Brief moment of American paranoia thinking maybe he was kidnapping us and then 30 minutes later, many long and wordy phone conversations in Arabic later we managed to find our way back to the hotel. We were tired and dizzy from all the roundabouts but safe and sound. He apologised and only charged us what the fare would have been without all the confusion. So I guess the taxi situation is the same everywhere and you get what you pay for. Here an expensive taxi ride is 13 bucks and in Chicago they always knew where you were going but it cost a lot more!

Old Muscat

A fort and a mosque in the old section of Muscat which is nestled in mountains above the ocean.

Driving into the Muscat Dive Club

A road in Muscat Oman

Actual weather and other musings...

Today Chris and I woke up rather groggy since the construction crew under our building is currently doing something loud all night but my bad mood dissipated quite quickly when I saw huge stormy waves with white caps crashing on the shore. The sky was overcast and grey and if you blocked out the cars that can drive right on the beach and the Indian and Pakistani laborers it could have been a beach on cape cod...well, almost. I was even more startled when I got outside and it felt cold and even more shocked a couple of hours later when it rained for about 30 seconds. The variety felt nice but I miss the happy sun already. I have been in a contemplative mood all day and have come to lots of new understandings with my feelings about Dubai. It is a fact that too many people have stupid amounts of money but it is kind of like living around poverty, you can get used to everything. This is a lot more comfortable then the impoverished village in Ghana that I lived in don't get me wrong but almost everyone in the world is interesting, rich or poor and I have just as much to learn here. Now, these feelings did not stop my anger at some moron who parked his sports car diagonally across two parking spaces ( and I mean diagonal, not at a slight angle like some old people do in the US to prevent people from parking close to them.) Lately I have been spending a lot of time with my new boss, the mother of my three year old students and I have been learning a lot there. She is Brazilian American, brilliant, has an MBA and has lived in Saudi for a few years. She has shared so much with me about Islam and Saudi Arabia. Driving home today I thought about how much more I know about the Middle East already and I have only been here 3 months, how much more is possible in a couple of years? Sometimes I feel like there is no culture here because everything is new, everything is a hotel or a high rise, there is no place to walk, there are no dives to perch on a bar stool at and order a cheap drink but then sometimes I remember it just hasn't been built yet and even though the culture is a lot of going out, eating fancy meals and shopping the people who live here are amazing. Where else could I have a choice of over 14 languages to hear catholic mass in? Christmas was quite the experience since we arrived early and watched the end of a Sri Lankan mass. We also enjoyed the insane variety of church attire. My grandmother would still be talking if she had seen the outfits at the St. Francis of Assisi church here in Jebel Ali. Everything from proper Christmas dress to evening gowns to miniskirts and halter tops were present. Some people looked ready to return to the international version of the Norman Rockwell painting they stepped out of for a nice big turkey while others looked more fit for all night clubbing. I actually saw a mom of three wearing fishnet stockings in the row next to us. All in all it has become just one of the many reasons I heart Dubai today. Have I ever mentioned that we are watching them build an elevated commuter train around the city? It is very cool to watch a city emerge from the sand, I can't imagine how people feel that have seen the whole process! Again, loving Dubai today...

Best picture of 2008 so far

New Years Eve

After a day of working (Chris) and catching up on housework (dutiful housewife aka me) we hardly felt like a big night out but we put some party clothes on and headed out to a party hosted by friends of Tomas and Andrea, our new BFFs from Chile. The hosts of the party were a Chilean magician and a Mexican vet here in Dubai. The house was a miniature zoo full of snakes, birds, turtles and other creatures. There was music, drinks, yummy food and a karaoke machine. We met lots of new friends including Andres and his wife Maria, a very sweet couple from Columbia that have lived here a year, which is FOREVER in Dubai time. Maria is next to me and above her is Andrea. Needless to say too many cuba libres were consumed and the party was just getting really wild when we left at 4am. We managed to get home in a taxi easily and I dragged myself out of bed at noon to cook a massive brunch for Marc and his sister, Andrea and Tomas, Andres and Maria. I am not sure how the brunch got cooked on time but it did despite one close call when everything was in the oven and presumably cooking when I realized the oven was not on. Crisis was averted since everyone else was a little late and didn't mind a short wait over mimosas.

The beautiful dunes

Last week for Lauren and Tony's last night here we went on a desert safari. I must admit I thought the whole thing would be a touristy rip off but it was fantastic. Our driver picked us up at home and drove us an hour into the desert where we joined a caravan of other land cruisers for dune bashing. It was a little bit scary but tons of fun. After the dune bashing experience we were all a little car sick so the mini oasis they brought us to was just in time. They had a bar with the cheapest drinks in Dubai, belly dancers, camel rides, a henna painter and a great buffet. Pattie bullied the girls into getting henna done on our hands and I am wondering how long it will last! Before we left we all dressed up in traditional clothing but I don't know where those pictures were. We were always dealing with dead batteries or full memory cards, we must get more organized next year. The next day the boys went out in the dunes again on quad bikes and I took Lauren and Pattie to the Royal Mirage for some spa treatments. We all had lunch together and then had to say goodbye to Lauren and Tony. It went much too fast...

And the boys...

Tomas, our new friend from Chile, Rory, Rachels man, Bob and Tony.

Pretty Christmas eve ladies

On Christmas eve Pattie, Lauren and I cooked up a storm in record time for a few friends. These are some of the ladies Pattie, Jackie and Diana mother and grandmother to Rachel who is to the left of Lauren. It was a great party!