A week of fun

Last week my mom was here which was a great excuse to start cooking again, get out to the beach everyday and check out some tourist attractions. We only had 6 days but we managed to strike a good balance between chilling out and getting around. We even had time to watch a couple of movies I requested from the US, I was dying to see Out of Africa after reading the book this winter and it was amazing! My mom's trip also coincided with my baby bump finally making an appearance which was of course exciting for all of us. She is convinced it grew everyday and it sure does feel that way (I am about 18 weeks now). I don't think my condition is quite obvious yet but it will be soon. The annoying part is maternity clothes are still WAY too huge, I think the panels would fit over my head but my regular clothes are too tight. So I am limited to some skirts, dresses and my trousers unbuttoned. It certainly makes getting dressed a lot quicker! Chris unfortunately had to work the whole week (and work extra long hours) so he did not get to join in on our fun which was too bad but luckily we will both be back in the US in a couple of months for a vacation.

Fujairah

Yesterday Chris and I drove to Fujairah to check it out since it was our only unexplored Emirate. The trip there was uneventful. We drove on long stretches of uninhabited desert for a couple of hours until we reached the beautiful and mountainous area. I don't know if I can yet say it is my favorite Emirate but it might be! There were a couple of interesting sights along the way. The first was the Sharjah monument which was a large edifice on top of a small sand dune. The other (and I really wish I had a photo) was a sign at an exit that simply said "old person's home". All this time I wondered where they kept the elderly of the UAE and now I know, somewhere in a stretch of isolated desert between Sharjah and Dubai. Maybe next time we can check it out. We also passed an exit for an antique car museum which is probably also worth a visit since, as far as I know, they went from camels to Mercedes here. I have never seen a car older than a few years but who knows? On the way back from Fujairah, we learned that some people just flash their lights and cruise down the center line of the highway when they want to pass but can't because of oncoming traffic. I am not a fan of that one. We also got caught up in a gang of Harley-Davidson riders somewhere along the stretch of camels and sand. You just never know what you might see here.

Abu Dhabi Air Races

Last Friday Chris and I took a drive to Abu Dhabi to see the air races. I don't know enough about planes or the specific lingo to talk about it correctly but there were small planes flown by international pilots really,really fast through markers they placed in the ocean. It was fun to watch but really loud, hot and crowded since it was a free event. It was an excellent change of scenery though since Abu Dhabi is a bit older and doesn't have construction downtown. It also has innovative civil engineering devices such as sidewalks and pedestrain tunnels. Although I am ashamed to admit the end of the day, like most days in Dubai, resulted in a trip to the mall. Through some oversight of planning at the event there weren't any vendors selling drinks or food so after a few hours and a couple of miles walked in the hot sun we (ok I) was a bit thirsty, hungry and tired so our only choice was to cross the street and go to the mall to eat. It was actually a great plan though because by the time we left the mall the crowds had died down and the sun had set. The traffic was atrocious but luckily our car was parked at the other end of town so we enjoyed a relaxing and cool walk back to the car and were just in time for a fireworks show at the beach. I had a little nostalgia for Chicago at this point (and like all reveries involving Chicago it took place in the summer) remembering a trip out on lake Michigan to see the annual WXRT Venetian night firworks show. I have to pause for a moment to miss XRT...it is truly the best radio station and here in Dubai I have an option of only a few English radio stations and they are really, really bad. Not even bad in a good way. Anyway, back to my reverie. Well, this Abu Dhabi version of Venetian night was lacking in a few aspects. I wasn't in a cigarette boat overlooking the skyline of Chicago and the fireworks were not set to great XRT music. Instead the fireworks were set to an Arab version of a Disney score but I do have to say the fireworks were great. Limited in color to the UAE flag and lacking in variety but I am sure they were the biggest fireworks display after the biggest air-race in the world...

One of the streets in Las Ramblas, the area we stayed in. For those of who have been to Dubai you know why I was fascinated with the streets of Barcelona, it was nice to see things that had been around for more than 10 minutes. Seriously, I left our apartment yesterday and I found myself suddenly driving on a new bridge over the marina, that's how it is...you are just driving along, they shift some cones and there you go, new road.

The most uncute picture of me

Chris thought it would be funny to document my morning sickness in Spain. Now that it is over I don't mind the picture, it reminds me of far I have come.

Ode to Allison

Just want to give a shout out to Allison and the Conison collective for being my most faithful readers despite my laziness and the fact that my blog is nowhere near as exciting or witty as theirs. I died reading about the Spanish ladies of the older generation- I noticed the same thing in Barcelona this time...they are a riot. I still haven't posted any pictures or stories from Spain on here but I will...tomorrow.

Once I got scrubbed up a bit

A slightly more flattering picture walking down to the Beach in Barcelona.

Crazy for vegetables!

Well, ever since getting pregnant I have really hated vegetables which is a little strange since I used to be a really strict vegetarian...I do however eat a lot of fruit. So despite the fact that I would rather lick dirt than eat veggies I keep trying out of guilt so the other night I got takeout from a local restaurant and I chose the pictured veggie plate. I wasn't expecting what I got though...there were 4 whole cucumbers in there along with several peppers, carrots, radishes, a whole head of lettuce and it was less than 4 dollars. I was picturing a cold platter of chopped veggies so this really didn't get me too excited but I certainly thought it picture worthy. Chris being the smarty pants that he is was not shocked by this picture- he claims everyone knows a veggie platter looks like this!

This little cutie did her own thing and I thought it turned out great so even though it is very unteacherlike to pick a favorite I did!

The return of the art lady

Last week I got to experience the love of teaching art again because I was hired to organize an art party for a seven year old's birthday party. Each child made a Picasso (Cubist) style portrait and frame it before it was time for cake and icecream. The kids were SO cute and British so they sounded really polite with their adorable accents.

Chris on his way to the Dubai World Cup

A couple of weeks ago Chris attended an all weekend long bachelor party here in Dubai for a friend from Thunderbird that now works with him. All the boys attended the social event of the year: The Dubai World Cup (horse racing). Since it is primarly a drinking kind of thing I sat this year out but Chris choose to wear an afro wig instead of the traditional hat and from the blurry pictures he took while he was there I can tell he had a great time!

A month after my last promise

Well, I didn't feel better for a little longer than I had hoped and trust me, there was nothing to write about, nothing you would want to read anyway. Luckily,my family still talked to me endlessly to hear all about my trials with morning sickness but I saw no need to subject innocent readers to the horrors of my first trimester...but the day has come that I do actually feel better. The spring is back in my step, I feel my sparkle and sass returning by the day and it is now safe for me to venture out in public without freaking people out by being hunched over a waste basket. Dubai is not New York or Chicago, you don't see weird stuff. You might see camels and fully covered women but you don't see crazy people or people puking in public! Not a whole lot is new over here. Chris is working on a local project which had me jumping with joy...at first. But really I don't see him any more than I did when he was in Saudi. He leaves before I can get up in the morning and comes home after I am asleep. Now, if I didn't have the sleeping needs of a baby or a very elderly person it might help but I am not much of a napper so I try to get my baby growing sleep at night. So, I still miss my husband! I am still working part-time for a news correspondent but she is on vacation right now so my job is primarily administrative at the moment. She comes back when my mom gets here (can't wait) and I am taking the week off so it might be a while before I get to do anything real exciting. I joined a pregnancy social group of sorts. We have coffee once a week and chit chat about all the things our other friends/husbands are probably sick of hearing about. All the other girls are a bit further along than me so I am getting the lowdown on all the strollers and car seats...they will have their babies before me too so I can actually get real life feedback on what you really need before we actually have to buy all this stuff. I think that is about it for updates. The weather is getting hotter by the day, I want to book some overnight trips to other emirates before it gets too hot and I need to start planning stuff for my mom's visit but I was just waiting to see how I felt. I really want to do a boat/snorkeling cruise but perhaps I still don't have my sea legs back? Time will tell.