Ava's Blog Entry

So, Ava really wanted to post a blog entry- I'm pretty sure because she watches waaaaay too much of the irritating show "Dog With a Blog" on Disney Channel. 

I can tolerate some shows on Disney channel- Jessie- and even like some others- Good Luck Charlie- but I cannot handle Dog with a Blog or ANT Farm. Overacting and laugh tracks never bode well.  But, I digress.  Here is Ava's blog:

u.a.e trip.

I have some relatives coming to visit but not now.

My friends are kind but sometimes mean like Noah, Harrison, Mariam, Alyazia, Hessa ,Lydia, and Khalid.

I normally play with Noah, Khalid, Harrison, and Lydia.

They are some of my best friends.

But in my old school my best friend was Mari she was by best friend in the world and then I had to leave 

her and come to the u.a.e.

Christmas Break

We are fortunate enough to have 3 weeks off for Winter Break!  This is awesome if you are travelling back home for Christmas.  However, we would have to save every single extra dirham in order to fly back home (and as such, receive no presents), so we're staying here.  It is mildly less awesome if you are staying here and have to find things to do for 3 weeks so you don't spend the three weeks crying because you're missing family Christmas.

Hili Archaeological Site Tombs

So, we've compiled a list of things to do over the break to entertain us.

1. Go play in the desert.

2. Go to Hili Archaeological site (it's a UNESCO World Heritage site that dates back to the Bronze Age), and is right next to #3.
3. Hili Fun City- an amusement park that someone gave us buy 1 get 1 coupons for.  Woohoo!

Al Ain Palace Museum

4. Al Ain Palace Museum- the founding father of the UAE, Sheikh Zayed (may he rest in peace), lived in Al Ain, and since his death in 1994, his Palace has become a public museum. It's in the middle of the town center, and has an oasis within the compound.

Global Village

5. Global Village- There is a world's fair- type place in Dubai that is open October through March that has trinkets and handmade items and food from all over the world.  We've heard that India's section is amazing.

Ski Dubai

6. SkiDubai- Indoor Ski slope.  We have no confidence that our children would go down a ski slope, but they do have a Snow park to play in with snow and a toboggan hill. buy 1 get 1 coupon woohoo!









7. Al Ain Oasis- The reason that this city has been inhabited for thousands of years.

8. Watch a list of Christmas movies repeatedly.  We've already watched Home Alone and The Santa Clause 1, 2, and 3 multiple times.  Still to go: Elf, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, White Christmas, Polar Express, and Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer.



9. Maybe drive to Dubai to watch fireworks from the Burj Khalifa on New Years Eve. Maybe. It sounds trafficky.

If you've ever wanted to see what it's like to live here, this magazine that shows a snapshot of life in Al Ain.  Oasis Living has good articles and lets you know about upcoming events.  This link is for the entirety of December's magazine.  Oasis Living Magazine December 2013

Merry Christmas!

Octoberpus

A'salamulaikum!

We've had a busy Octoberpus!

Let me start out by explaining Octoberpus.  I have to teach phonics to my students. Short O says AH like October and Octopus....you can see where this is going.  One told me the month was Octoberpus, and so it stuck.  Jason and I have now started calling October "Octoberpus."

First, we got a cat.  She's beautiful and scared to death of Jason, scared slightly of me, and LOVES the girls.  Sleeps with them, snuggles with them, meows at them, etc.  Her favorite toys are velcro cable ties and bottle caps. At 3am. We spent two weeks officially deciding on a name for her- the choices varied from Alli (because we live in Al Ain), Molly (because we got her at a mall), LuLu (because that's the name of a supermarket here), and Phineas.  The two finalist names were Rigby (from Regular Show) and Burj Katlifa (super jealous that Jason came up with that name instead of me). I voted for Burj Katlifa, but Rigby won out.  So, here is a picture of beautiful Rigby being super pissed that an adult is near her.

We have been in the process of buying a car for the past three weeks.  It really is easy once you make up your mind, but that was our problem.  We couldn't make up our mind. Kept going back and forth- sensible, cheap, or what we want-

Finally decided on what we want.  Fully Loaded 2014 Hyundai Veloster in Sonic Silver. I realized it was really fun to drive once I undid the emergency brake halfway home. D'Oh!!!!! I blame it on excitement. What's that burning smell?  No more renting a Hyundai Accent for 2000 dirhams per month. WooHoo!

Also- went to the hospital.  No, it's not what you think.  Need to go to the dr? Just go to the hospital.  That's where dr. offices are. Need a dentist? Go to the hospital.

Let me just say that it was amazing.  I have never been happier to go to a medical professional in my life. I didn't need an appointment- just walked in at 9 pm, and was seen within 10 minutes. Nice hospital, awesome facilities.  I didn't have an emergency- didn't need anything other than a prescription refill and answers to some questions. I left the patient room and went straight up to the dental clinic to schedule an appointment for my whole family, and a consultation with another doctor for me. I was home within 40 minutes, and only out $15 USD. Jason went to the dentist the next day, and in the same appointment had work done.  He left after one hour with a prescription and major dental work done for a total of 98 dirhams.  That's about $27 USD. A-MA-ZING.

We're going trick or treating tomorrow at a Western community area, then to the Rugby Club so we can watch the kids have fun as we sit back, relax, and have a cold one.

Happy Halloween!

Ded the shep

    

That means Happy Eid-I think.  Eid al Adha is a big deal here, and we get an entire week off of school. I don't know what it is, but it has something to do with the Hajj to Mecca and sheep. My students told me that they get money and presents and sweets and go to family gatherings. I had them write sentences and draw pictures about their favorite thing to do for Eid. I had many pictures of children killing animals, and a sentence that said "I ded the shep"- which I finally figured out meant that the girl's favorite thing to do for Eid was to "dead the sheep" or kill it.  I'm glad a colleague told me that killing a sheep is part of the festivities, or I would have been calling several parent-teacher conferences.

Kandora and Abaya

We had an Eid celebration at school that consisted of kids dressing in Abayas and Kandoras and walking around a reproduction of Mecca.  They also re-enacted something with a sheep, but everything was in Arabic, so I don't know what was going on.  Not knowing what was being said, it was still neat to watch.  I had my personal kids stay and watch and experience it, too.  Most of the other expat kids were sent to the library, but I wanted mine to see it and ask questions.  We have interesting discussions in the car- the most recent being "Why don't they have 'Mohammedmas' if we have Christmas" (well, they do celebrate Prophet's birthday, but Eid is more like Christmas, plus, Mohammed was a prophet, not God's son).

I joined several Facebook groups for ADEC (Abu Dhabi Education Council) and EMT (English Medium Teachers) 2013.  They are very enlightening.  Enlightening in that I appreciate where I work every day when people post the things they are dealing with and going through. Are there things I would change about my school?  Of course- everything can be improved. But, I like it and I am happy both personally and professionally. My students and I are getting more and more used to each other- they know what to expect of me and know what my expectations are, too.

Road up Jebel Hafeet at night

Al Ain with Jabel Hafeet in the distance 

We spent the evening tonight driving up Jebel Hafeet and hanging out at the top of the mountain.  The weather was beautiful and windy- in the low 70s. The girls played, we chilled out, and then had ice cream and people watched. Jason loves driving the winding road up and down the mountain, and drives much slower for me than he would if he were by himself. I spent half the drive down with my eyes closed saying "I don't like it. I don't like it. I don't like it" while Jason laughed maniacally.  In his mind, he was picturing himself in a Porsche, drifting on the tight corkscrew turns at 100 km an hour, while in fact, he was actually in a rented Hyndai Accent with no power going about 60 km down the mountain.

This week, we plan on visiting Dubai's Global Village, and many free Eid celebrations throughout the UAE. Circus shows, fireworks, and whatever else we find out about.

Ma:a Sala:amah!

God Bless America (in Arabic)

Dubai Adventures

There were four things on our list of must dos when we took a weekend in Dubai-1. Burj Khalifa 2. IKEA  3. the Karama district and 4. Dubai Mall.  I'm sure everyone is familiar with 1 and 2- we posted about a thousand pictures on Facebook of the Burj Khalifa, and Jason previously posted about it. Ikea is the same the world over, so I won't focus our Dubai story on something that you can experience in the US. What I am going to focus on is our adventure to the Karama district and Dubai Mall.

1. Dubai Mall

Dubai Mall is ginormous.  We watched a Megastructures show on the Dubai Mall, and were amazed at the work and planning that went into such a huge undertaking. We didn't see 60% of the mall due to time constraints and its enormity, but what we did see was overwhelming.  The first thing we had to do was eat.  We were starving, and walked to the restaurant section- not the food court section- and found a Texas Roadhouse.  Holy Crap! Texas Roadhouse in Dubai- yes! Absolutely. Unfortunately, we couldn't wait the hour to get a table, so we walked in to the next place that wasn't too nice for kids, which happened to be IHOP.  We noticed that there was a balcony section, and being from Texas, decided to eat on the patio in the 96% humidity and 96 degree heat. We weren't skeered. We were rewarded with an amazing view of the Fountain show outside of the Mall.  We sat, ate pancakes and beef bacon, and watched the fountains dance.  It was awesome.  I was so happy to experience that and share it with the kids.  They thought it was the coolest thing ever!

The main atrium of the mall has Cartier, Tiffany, Rolex, and something else fancy schmancy on the first level.  However, when you look up, you can see Victoria's Secret on the second level and Payless Shoe Store on the third level.  The vast differences between floor one and three made me giggle.  

The girls are an oddity here, well, they're an oddity anywhere, but they stand out with their blondish hair, blue eyes and fair skin.  A few native ninjas asked to take their picture with the girls.  The girls felt like celebrities.
There is a huge aquarium with a plexiglass tunnel that you can walk through, and it is located in the center of an atrium.  You have great views of the aquarium from all three floors.  The tank is stocked with sharks, sting rays, and schools of fish.


2. Karama

This is where our adventure turns into an actual adventure.  We were told that there is a specific district of Dubai called Karama district that's like Chinatown in NYC.  We drove around like tourists looking for some seedy shops that looked like they would sell fake handbags, watches, etc. I kind of expected someone to approach me and ask me if I was looking for handbags, but they didn't. We had researched the district as much as possible online, and kinda sorta knew what should be expected.  Walk into a shop, ask if they have any OTHER handbags, and that's when the scary magic happens. It would have been scarier if we hadn't read a few posts about it, but I kept thinking that my mom would be pissed if she knew I was doing that. With my kids.
Once we asked about OTHER handbags, they called someone to come and get us and take us up to an apartment.  Yep.  Strange city, strange dude, strange apartment.  We crowded into a very small elevator in a tenement building, and followed a man into a room with a lot of locks on the doors.  Special knock, the door opens, and there are many shiny purses, wallets, watches, sunglasses, shoes, and jewelry.  We spent an hour in that seedy tenement looking at purses that (if real) cost more than most people make in a month.  We left because the guy wouldn't come down on his price to where we wanted. Disappointment.
We went into another seedy shop and repeated the process.  This time, we were driven to an underground parking garage (true story) and went up to another apartment.  But this one was amazing.  Magical.  It was a labrynth of many apartments that had been rented and doors had been cut into walls and secured with heavy duty magnet locks and video cameras. There was a Louis Vuitton room, a Prada room, a Chanel room, a Hermes room, a Chloe, Juicy, Jimmy Choo, Burberry, and a room of scarves and wallets. It was amazing.  They even had professionally lit display cases.  So there we were, locked inside a labrynth of apartments in Dubai with someone who deals in black market goods shopping for a handbag.  I may or may not be the proud owner of a real or not real bag, wallet and purse.  They gave us business cards with maps and phone numbers on it to bring our friends and family.  It was a successful and safe adventure for the whole family.

I would love to post pictures, but my old phone is not cooperating.  My next post on Abu Dhabi will be 98% pictures and very few words.

Oh, and the title of this post- "God Bless America (in Arabic)- Every morning at school, the kids line up like in the 80's movie Gung Ho and do calisthenics and sing the Emirati National Anthem. I saw Landry singing along one day and asked her about it.  "Landry, what were you singing this morning?" "Oh, we sing God Bless America every morning in Arabic."

Masaa alkhair wa ma:a salaamah
 Rachel

First venture into Dubai

It's been awhile since our last post, so I'll try and bring everyone up to date on the recent Burgess activities. So....where do I begin? Let's see, among other things, we rented a car for a few days, went to Dubai, explored the tallest mountain in the UAE, the girls had their first day of school, and we enjoyed a fabulous dinner with some neighbors.

But it's late, and I don't want to bore you with a ridiculously long post, so I'll focus on our recent trip to Dubai tonight.

Let me just say, the renting of the car thing was so liberating I could hardly contain myself. You never realize how much you depend on a vehicle until you don't have one for a few weeks. We have a reliable taxi driver on speed dial, and it's inexpensive (DUH, gas is crazy cheap), but it's not the same. Once we were in the car (we're free!), we took off for a drive to Dubai to visit the Ikea store. It's about 140 kilometers away...isn't the metric system a pain in the but? Anyway, it's about an hour and fifteen minute drive, and is quite pleasurable. The amazing thing about the drive that kind of surprised me a bit was the beauty of it. The drive is mostly desert but the color of the sand is what struck me. It's not the khaki/beach color sand I was expecting. It was a beautiful reddish color that honestly reminded me a bit of good old red Texas clay. When the wind kicked up and moved the sand a bit, it had a beautiful wave that the sun reflected and was quite amazing.

Approaching Dubai

On our ride in we slowly started seeing the skyline of one of the most amazing cities in the world. Obviously it's dominated by the Burg Khalifa, the tallest building in the world at over 2700 feet! INSANE!

Another shot of the Burg Khalifa

Thankfully we had GPS in our rental and it led us directly to the Ikea store. Considering people rely more on landmarks as a general way of getting around, as opposed to the useful house/bldg number and street name, GPS is seriously the only way to go.

What we didn't know about the Ikea store in Dubai is that it's anchored to Festival City Mall which is CRAZY big. Apparently they don't know how to make a small mall in the UAE as even the 3 we have in Al Ain are massive. Anyway, we spent most of the evening browsing the store and picking up some home essentials we were desperately lacking.

We spent a few hours shopping in Ikea, followed by another couple of hours in the Festival City mall. I know we mention going to the mall quite often, but it literally is like the hub for everything in the UAE. Want a cell phone? Mall. Cable TV/Internet? Mall. Groceries? MALL. Sounds crazy, but it's pretty darn convenient, especially when you don't have a car! 

We enjoyed some Falafel's for dinner at this awesome place in the foodcourt named Just Falafel. Those things were amazing! I'm still shocked that the girls ate them, and actually enjoyed them. We'll definitely go back again. 

We had fun in Dubai and we can't wait to visit again soon! Hopefully we'll get more pics next time.

Stay tuned for more, including some videos!