Born Sept. 8th, 2008 - 13:27 EST

Alessandro Luke Decker

Last day pregnant!

Tomorrow is the big day...stay tuned!

The blog is moving west

I leave for the US today! I am so excited and a bit nervous for that super long plane ride. I have to wear support hose per the doctors orders- Chris is having fun making fun of them, they are thigh highs but a medical supply store version of sexy stockings. It feels so strange to be going home after so long- I haven't stayed out of the US this long since peace corps days and I have never returned home in a whole new physical state of being- it is just too exciting, like a movie, girl returns home...pregnant. The only thing more exciting will be when we bring our new baby home next Christmas. I can't think of any more Dubai based updates, it has been hot here again, the past couple of days have been real scorchers. I had to go to the market to get pashminas for Lauren's bridesmaids and I really thought I might die it was so hot. It takes me about 30 minutes to cool down again once I get back in the car- definitely a pregnant thing, I always used to be on the cold side...not anymore. I have been meeting lots of new pregnant friends in my area, I go to a weekly coffee gathering with them. Some have started having their babies already which is so exciting. I am so glad our little boy will have so many friends around! Work has been really fascinating the last few weeks, I have learned a lot. I have gotten to research endangered species in the area, the cultures of gulf weddings, green architecture and peak oil theory. I love it when I get to do stuff like that as opposed to silly personal assistant type errands but really it has been a great and flexible job. Chris has been busy, as usual. I am really looking forward to seeing him in vacation mode soon when he joins me at home! I highly suggest checking out this you tube link- I had to research it for work. Queen Rania of Jordan has started a channel on you tube to create a dialogue between people of different of cultures but mainly to break down the stereotypes about Arabs and Muslims. It is really cool.
http://www.youtube.com/user/QueenRania
There are 7 videos on the channel so far (they are all under 3 min) but this one is my favorite so far:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9Vf0YfDUys

There was also a very nice French family on the boat who took this photo for us. Chris had just gone swimming. He did a fancy jump off the boat that impressed all the men, he then climbed up a small island that was nearby to check it out. I stayed on the boat, none of the women went swimming so I felt a little shy busting out the belly and climbing down yet another rickety ladder.

The romantic boat ride

It was hard to take one picture that really captured the boat ride. I booked a dhow (traditional wooden fishing boat) cruise for the afternoon on Friday. We were very lucky to have a lot of overcast weather last week so I knew it would be bearable in the afternoon. Everyone I know that has been to Musandam has loved the boat cruises because of the scenery (mountains, fishing villages and dolphins). When Chris and I arrived at the dock it was just us and a Lebanese man that had just moved to the area to work at our hotel. I panicked as we set foot on the boat when I scanned for a bathroom. The boat was much too high to jump off of and even in normal circumstances the chances of me being able to hold it for four hours is highly unlikely, as a pregnant woman I am lucky if I can make it 30 minutes without discovering the nearest bathroom. The good news? I now know every bathroom location in Dubai. All I saw was a rickety ladder that went below deck. That didn't look too appealing either. I looked at the other boats docked next to us. One had a visible toilet by the captains area, oh sorry head for you boat terminology people....I looked at our boat again and found we had the same structure- it just had a closed door. Big sigh of relief, big sigh and laugh from Chris who is still not tired of making fun of my baby bladder. I keep telling him to just wait- it surely won't be getting any better. So at this point I think wow, only three people on this cruise, cool. It would be better without the Lebanese guy but hey it is a big boat. All of a sudden I heard noises, the kind you might hear in a neighborhood around 3pm when the school bus does its drop off. I turned around and a mass of people were coming onto the boat. At last count there were at least 17 Children and about 15 adults. The atmosphere on the boat changed drastically to say the least. The boat became crazy with activity. The Muslim family on the right side of the boat set up a full on Indian buffet, the Hindu family on the left side of the family busted out cans of Bud and a bottle of whiskey. The children ran from one end of the boat to the other- always, always, landing on Chris's big toe. I made Chris get up and check the cooler to make sure there was enough water- I got nervous. The boat ride was so much fun, the kids were of course adorable and well behaved. We got to see dolphins on the way back and after that all of the children passed out with exhaustion- they just collapsed whereever they were regardless of whose body they were up against. I had a couple cuties near me. We noticed some pretty nice looking yachts in the water so next time we might splurge a bit more on the boat cruise... By the way the toilet turned out to be a hole in the floor- no biggie after my peace corps days but a bit trickier when the boat is moving and your whole sense of balance is a bit different...

The typical Dubai style dilemna

Well, there are only 2 hotels in Musandam. One is super swanky, probably 6 or 7 stars and it is highly recommended. It is also 700 US dollars a night and has a 3 night minimum for the summer because it is the "high season". Let me tell you, the Gulf is never in it's peak of tourism in the summer, most hotels have great rates this time of year but not this one. Obviously we stayed at the other hotel. It wasn't dirt cheap of course, everything is relative in this region...Well after our beautiful drive to the area the hotel looked great. Our room had a balcony and a sea view. That is however where the luxury ended. The entire hotel was staffed by waiters that seemed to have no training at all (not their fault) and an overly sarcastic Omani manager. He delighted in telling us no every time we asked for something- he was very deadpan about it until he saw the look of dismay on our faces at which point he would laugh and admit he was kidding. Everything had to be asked for at least 10 times, it was like a hotel run by stoners. The restaurant was as brightly lit as my high school cafeteria, every meal was a buffet of dry and cold food. When night time came I had to forgo wearing my new sexy maternity dress for linen pants and a tank top, it just felt wrong to wear a dress considering the ambiance. We were pleasantly surprised though as we tucked in for our evening buffet that we could sit outside so we did...and we were joined by 2 extremely loud cats that were either in heat or starving. They sensed our animal lover hearts and took up permanent residence underneath our table. As grim as this sounds we had a great time- we laughed constantly and reminisced about St. Lucia, now that was a nice hotel and it was cheaper!