End of Vacation

What a great 2 weeks with my Mom, Dad and Amy!  It went by so fast, but I am so glad that they came and that I got to spend time with them!

Me at the Al Ain National Museum

The end of our vacation was nice and relaxing in Al Ain, a trip to Dubai for church, and then to Abu Dhabi to be near the airport.  We went to the Al Ain National Museum, Al Ain Oasis, and Al Ain Paradise Gardens on Thursday.  Although it sounds like a busy day it was actually quite nice.  We started at the National Museum and saw a lot of old, really old, stuff.  This country is extermely old.  Although it's only been united for 40 years people have lived here for a long time.  It was very informative.  I especially liked seeing what Al Ain looked like in the 60s and 70s.  It has changed a lot! 

Date palm trees in the
Al Ain Oasis

The National Museum is right by the Al Ain Oasis so we went there after touring the museum.  The oasis is beautiful, but totally different than I expected.  I expected to see lots of green (which I did; I think there are over 5,000 date palm trees there), and water.  I didn't see any water. That's because the oasis is watered by underground irrigation called "falaj".  We could see the troughs that take the water, but no water.  It was weird.  Another interesting fact is that all the land in the oasis is owned by private individuals who planted the date palm trees.  I thought it was owned by the government.  We drove through the oasis.  Another weird thing.  I thought we would have to walk, but it was nice to drive.  Even though I had to stop driving and let my dad finish because we ran (not literally) into another car and needed to back up to let it pass.  I don't back up well, especially on narrow roads so I let Dad do the driving! 

Amy and I at the Paradise Gardens

After driving through the oasis for a bit we decided to go home so they could get the laundry done and packing done.  We would head to the Al Ain Paradise Gardens at night when it cooled down.  I didn't want Mom to see any more purple spots!  So I got some more job applications in (South Lyon, 2 in Missouri, and 1 in Iowa) while they packed and finished up laundry.

At about 5 we headed to the garden.  It's in the Guinness Book of World Records for the greatest number of hanging pots.  I can't remember how many excatly, but it's in the 1000s.  It really is quite impressive and beautiful.  We walked around a bit enjoying the fragrance of the flowers and the cool night before deciding that we were hungry. 

Mom was tired of going to the mall (can't say as I blame her:) so we headed home and looked for a restaurant on the way home.  Amy spotted Al Rawdha and we had a nice Arabic dinner there. 

Since everyone was packed and ready we played some more cards.  It was a nice day!  A great way to finsih our vacation in Al Ain!

We got up early Friday morning and loaded the car.  I think it was a bit easier to do this time since I didn't have my 3 bags to add to the mix.  We then drove to Dubai for church and had a nice lunch with the Wilsons before heading to Abu Dhabi.  I had a headache and wasn't feeling good; I think it was emotional stuff with it being the last day of the time spent with my family, so I went to bed early; plus we had to get up at 3am in order to be at the airport by 4.  I didn't get much rest, but my headache went away.  We got up at 3 and were on the road by 3:40.  Not bad!  Early, but not bad for 4 people to be ready in 40 minutes.  No showers.  I got them to the airport by a little after 4, we said our goodbyes knowing that I would see them in July, and then I headed back to Al Ain so I could get some rest and take a shower.

So they are on their way to London and I have to get some cleaning done, take the laudry in, return the car, and get ready for work tomorrow.  I have my lessons done, but I do need to review them and get resources.  Not too much work, but I would rather be headed to London!!

Back to the real world.