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.

Dubai and Al Ain

The rest of our trip in Dubai was quite eventful.  We did lots more sight seeing, took a dhow dinner cruise, and the Big Bus Tour of Dubai.

flamingos at RAK wildlife sanctuary

Sunday was our day for the dhow dinner cruise so we had the morning and afternoon to tour by ourselves and relax.  We didn't just want to stay at the hotel so we ventured out to the Ras Al Khor Wildlife Sanctuary.  The drive there wasn't that bad, other than the fact that I went the wrong way on Emirates Road and we ended up in Sharjah.  Well, that's one more emirate that my visitors got to see!  OK not sure you can call it "see" but we were there:)  I got myself turned around and headed in the right direction, which can be quite difficult in the UAE.  The sanctuary was quite different from what I was expecting.  Evidently there are 4 "hides" and we only saw one.  I wasn't sure how to get to the other ones and we didn't feel like driving around getting lost (too much of that on this trip:).  So we just walked the short trail that led to the hide and looked at flamingos.  It was pretty neat!  There were a lot of flamingos, and one of the guys there showed me how to take pictures through the telescope.  I had no idea you could do that!  He took some pictures as well, so I have quite a few pictures of close up flamingos.  After we looked at the flamingos for a bit we headed back to the car.  We weren't quite ready to go back to the hotel so we decided to do some more exploring.

We ended up at the Jumeriah Grand Mosque.  It's a pretty nice mosque, nothing like Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, but nice.  I liked the brown color of the mosque.  We arrived during prayer time, so we couldn't go in the mosque, but we did walk around the grounds.  They have a cultural experience there, but only at 10 am and since we're not early starters we missed it.  Oh well. 

After the mosque I wanted to try to find the Jumeriah Souq so we headed out to Jumeriah Road, but I couldn't find that either.  We ended up on Al Wasl Road.  I took that for a while until we got to Jumeriah Road and I saw a sign for the souq.  I saw a sign, and only a sign.  I followed the one sign that I saw, but we never quite made it to the souq.  We had enough of driving and not finding anything so we went back to the hotel where we could rest and relax before our dinner cruise.

Dubai at night

Tour boats on the Arabian Gulf

The dinner cruise was great.  It was a wonderful night, not too hot and not too cold.  It wasn't windy like it was in Abu Dhabi either.  We were picked up from our hotel around 6:45 and we arrived early to the boat so we got to enjoy the atmosphere before the boat left.  The cruise along the creek was fantastic.  Nice views of Dubai at night along with great food!  This one was much better than the one in Abu Dhabi.  I am so glad that my parents and Amy got to experience a nice dinner cruise!  Part of the cruise was even out on the open water of the Arabian Gulf.  Quite neat.  It was actually very dark there.  The lights of the city weren't nearly as evident when we got out on the Gulf.  The dinner cruise was a great way to end our day!

Boats on the creek

Monday was our day for the Big Bus Tour so we got up early and headed to Festival City.  I knew there was a stop there and it was close to the hotel so that's why I chose that location.  The only problem was there wasn't really a stop.  It was just a shuttle service to one of the other stops.  I had no idea where Wafi was so we stayed and waited at Festival City for an hour.  We finally started the actual tour around 10:30 instead of 9:00 like we wanted, but at least I didn't have to do the driving!  Well, other than to Festival City and finding parking which was near the main entrance was quite an ordeal, but no more driving through the city of Dubai!  Once we started the tour we saw some pretty historical and informative sights: The Dubai Museum and fort, Sheikh someone's house, the old souq, and finally Atlantis.  We had seen many of the tourist attractions independently so we didn't need to get off at many stops so we were able to spend more time at the Dubai Museum and old souq.  The Dubai Museum does a great job of laying out and presenting the history of the UAE and Dubai in a pictorial manner.  We all found it quite interesting.  Even though I had been there before I still enjoyed the visit.  I really like the museum:) 

The sheikh's house was confusing.  I think it would have been much more informative if there were clearly labeled signs of what you were looking at and of where to go.  We had a hard time even finding the entrance.  We ended up in the history of camels museum, which was neat, but not where we thought we were supposed to be.  I really like the souq, even though I don't typically buy anything.  It's just a different feeling and a different experience.  The shop owners (men) are trying to get the women to buy their shawls and handbags and jewlery and they will come right up to you and put the shawl in your face and try to get you to touch it and want to buy it.  It's just not something that everyone will get to experience.  We had a huge lunch at a restaruant on the creek prior to exploring the souq.  Since it was a chilly day I needed to buy a shawl, but I didn't like the ones where the men are pressuring you to purchase one so we walked for a bit and I found a little stall where no one was harassing me to buy a shawl.  I found one that I liked and tried to bargain, it was 55 dirhams and I offered 30.  He turned me down so we left.  We walked a bit further down and I found the exact same one and I again offered 30.  We bargained for a bit and I ended up paying 35.   Not bad.  That was the only purchase of the day.  After walking around the souq we took a water taxi ride to the other side and then promptly got on the water bus to take us back to the side where we could pick up our bus!  The water taxi is a little brown boat that costs 1 dirham to ride.  Again, it's another different experience.  The water bus was included in our Big Bus ticket and it's air conditioned so that's why we took that back to the other side.

Atlantis Hotel

Once we got back on the bus we rode it to the end of the red route so we could get on the blue route.  We needed to see Atlantis on the Palm and that was on the blue route.  Unfortunately we never got to see the palm.  I was looking forward to that.  I don't know if anyone else thought that we would see the palm, but I really wanted to.  We didn't get to see the palm because Atlantis is on the plam.  I thought we would have stopped prior to getting to Atlantis, but we didn't.  Atlantis is a cool hotel, but I wouldn't want to spend all that money for a nice hotel and have to deal with all the traffic that they have on the palm.  We got out and walked around the hotel for a bit and got something to eat and drink and then we boarded the bus again. 

After 9 hours on the bus we were ready to go home, but we had to stop at Cindy's to drop off the blankets, pick up the foam for Amy, and have some cake that Khulood bought for us.  I did the hour and fifteen minute drive in only an hour and five minutes!  I was ready to be home and in bed!  That was a long day:)

Jahili Fort

Back to Al Ain.  Our long days in Dubai wore us out so we were ready to relax and get some laundry and little things done.  We slept in and got some laundry done before heading out to the Jahili Fort and the Al Ain Palace Museum. 

Khanjar at the Palace Museum

The fort was very interesting.  There was a huge exhibit on this famous guy who lived with the Bedouin and travelled across the empty quarter two times.  Very informative and impressive!  The Palace Museum was neat, but not as interesting as the fort.


Our little bit of sight seeing was done for the day so we went back to the apartment so we could finish laundry and I had some applications to complete.  We spent the rest of the night at home and finished by playing some card games!

The plan for Wednesday was to get up early and get to the zoo before it got too hot.  Well, do you think that happened?!  The zoo opened at 9:00 and I wanted to be there soon after it opened, but we didn't get there till 10ish.  Oh well.  What difference was one hour going to make?  It was super hot.  What happened to the chilly, cloudy, hazy days we had in Dubai?  We walked around the zoo and saw a lot of the animals.  The gibbons were especially noisy today!  The big cat exhibit was disappointing, other than the 2 white tigers we didn't see many big cats just lots of empty cages.  I'm sure they were there just sleeping in the shade, doing what big cats do best.  After the zoo we attempted to find the Al Ain Oasis, but it wasn't in Freida (my GPS) and I couldn't find it.  There were a few signs, but none that really directed you right to it.  So we drove around for a bit trying to find that one, and the Qattara Oasis before heading back home so Mom could rest (get rid of the purple spots that she was seeing) and I could get some more applications finished and this blog done!  Yeah it's done:)  Well, almost.  We're heading out tonight to try to find the oasis and the paradise gardens so I know where they are for tomorrow.  We also need to stop by the heron round about so Amy can get a picture and I have to show them Jimi Mall!  I know I said I wasn't going to go there, but what else is there to do?! 

End of Phase 2 and Beginning of Phase 3

Phase 2 - first trip to Al Ain- ended on Thursday with a trip to Hili Archeological Park and a visit to Ammoryiah Primary School. 

Hili Archeological Park was very neat, but very small.  We only found 3 old remains of settlements and archological stuff.  They were very old and dated back to the second half of the third millenium BC!!  I have no idea when that was, but hey that sounds like a long long long time ago!  Maybe a looooooooong loooooooooong looooooooooong time ago!!  Anyway we saw 2 old settlements and 1 old tomb.  I thought it was pretty neat, but I also thought there was going to be more to see.  It was pretty much a nice park with archeological sites.  So we walked around for a bit and then we left.  Neat, but small. 

Since Hili Archeological Park was so small we had time to see my school before heading to Dubai.  I gave my parents and Amy the tour of my school and they even got to meet Charity!  They found the school very interesting.  I think "interesting" is a very kind word!!  It is quite different and I guess it would be interesting if you haven't seen anything like that before.  Actually I guess I thought the schools were pretty neat when I first got here, but I'm over that now especially since it's outside and I have to wear long skirts and long sleeves and it gets to be very very very hot.  Interesting is not a word that I would use to describe the school anymore!!

After touring the school we went back to my apartment so we could use the bathroom.  I didn't want to subject them to the issues if there wasn't any water.  I thought I would take the shorter route past the Hili border, but I shouldn't have.  We were stuck in traffic for about 20 minutes.  Oh well, at least they got to experience border traffic!  After our potty break we headed to Dubai to visit with Cindy and Sarah. 

Phase 3

We got to Cindy's and visited for a bit before Aysha and Hamdan came over.  So Mom, Dad, and Amy got to experience all of the excitement of being at Cindy's!  The kids just come over whenever they want and they play.  It's great!  Khulood also came over so that was neat.  She made us cupcakes with ice-cream.  Cindy says she doesn't bake so that's quite special that she made something for my parents.  She is so sweet:)  After we visited for a bit Amy and I took Aysha and Hamdan to the pool.  I went swimming with Aysha and Hamdan while Amy sat by the pool and watched.  The pool was so hot.  I think it was heated or they hadn't turned on the cooler yet.  It was quite unpleasant.  I swam for a while with the kids and then I had to get out to sit in the shade.  It felt good to get out of the water!  I sat there with Amy for a while and watched the kids and then I went back in the hot water for a bit to encourage the kids to come out and head home.   We went back to Cindy's and played for a while before the kids actually went home and we had dinner.  Sarah had made roast turkey and mashed potatoes.  It was delicious.  We had a nice quiet dinner and then enjoyed the cupcakes that Khulood had made!  They were yummy:)  A nice relaxing night visiting with Cindy and Sarah.  I am so glad that my parents and Amy were able to meet them!

Friday was a very busy day!  It started with breakfast at Gulf Pastries where I had an awesome zatar bread thing and Mom and Dad had egg and cheese and Amy had mushroom.  For a quick breakfast in an unfamiliar area it was quite good.  After breakfast we headed to church where they got to meet many of my friends and hear a great message by Pastor Dave!  Cindy, Sarah, and Merle joined us for the day at the Dubai Mall.  We had lunch and then went to the Aquarium while Cindy, Sarah, and Merle walked around and shopped.  The aquarium is pretty neat and I am glad that they got to experience it.  We were kind of rushed so we didn't have time to take the glass bottom boat ride.  The tunnel was so much less crowded this time than it was the first time I went.  I actually enjoyed the tunnel!  There was this cool part of the aquarium where you stood on a large thick plate of glass above the aquarium.  Pretty neat!  The aquarium is filled with 10,000 liters of water!  That's a lot of coke bottles:)  We did a quick tour of the underwater zoo before we had to head to the Burj Khalifa.

Oh my gosh, what an experience!  Going to the 124th floor of the Burj Khalifa was amazing!  The elevator ride was only 1 minutes and then we (Mom, Dad, and I) got to walk around the observation deck and see Dubai from 124 storeys up!  Pretty neat.  The views were great even though sand was in the air and it was hazy.  Sorry, picutres aren't uploading today so you'll just have to check my Fb page to see the views from the "top" of the Burj.  I wonder how much more I would have been able to see if it wasn't so sandy.  I know we all enjoyed it even though we couldn't see as much as we probably could have if it wasn't so hazy and sandy. 

The elevator ride down was just as fast as the ride up, although we had to wait longer for an elevator to go down than we did for one going up.  We had been doing a lot of walking so we were all tired and needed to rest so we sat down at a cafe and rested before meeting up with Cindy.  On our way to find Cindy we saw the waterfall and stopped for a few pictures.  Sarah, Merle, and Amy went to see Hunger Games so it was just going to be us.  I ended up walking around with Cindy while Mom and Dad sat and rested by the skating rink.  We met back up around dinner time and went to Madeline's for dinner.  Although Cindy and I left with Sarah and Merle because we weren't hungry and you had to spend at least 70 dirhams per person to sit outside and watch the Dubai Fountain.  We let Mom, Dad, and Amy enjoy the dinner on the balcony while we went outside and walked around.  It was a nice night, not hot like it was during the day, and we enjoyed the fountain from outside.  Our day at the mall ended at 10:00 and then we had to drive back to Cindy's so I could get a blanket because it is freezing in the hotel and we can't figure out how to adjust the air.  Although Cindy doesn't live too far from the Dubai Mall it took us about an hour to get there due to traffic leaving the mall.  Just getting out of the parking garage was awful.  We eventually got to Cindy's and I got my blankets so I could actually sleep and then we headed to the hotel for well deserved rest.  We had spent 9 hours at the mall!  That's a long time:)

Saturday was a slow day.  After spending 9 hours at the mall you can imagine we were tired so we slept in and just had a slow morning.  Dad and I went out to try to find some breakfast food and after driving around looking for a LuLu we ended up back at the hotel where church is held and went to Carrefour.  While I was paying and Dad was getting coffee he was chatting to some people who were visiting their daughter in Abu Dhabi.  It turns out that this daughter works as the hiring person for a private school in Abu Dhabi and she gave me her information.  Something else to try.  I'll give it a shot and see what happens.  On the way back to the hotel we saw a Spinneys that we could have walked to!  Oh well, we got to drive around the city!  More driving around an unfamiliar place. 

Our plan for today was to go see a camel race and then go to the beach.  Well that totally changed!  We started out trying to find the camel race track and ended up finding some camel just roaming along the side of the road.  So we watched them for a bit and took some pictures before heading back to try to find the race track.  We tried to find the camel race and ended up at the Dubai World Cup!  I actually found the place where we were told the camel race was going to be, but it turned out to be the Dubai World Cup.  Who knew?!  That was not on our itinerary or in our price range so we left.  From the Dubai World Cup we headed to Jumeriah Beach.  It was kind of a cloudy day and it wasn't really a beach day, but we made the most of it.  We walked along the beach for a while and got some good pictures of the Burj Al Arab and some sailboats.  The water was kind of chilly when you first stepped in, but we got used to it and it felt nice and cool on our feet.  Amy found several shells and a sponge to take back to school with her.  Walking on the beach made us quite hungry so we had to find somewhere to eat lunch/dinner.

We decided to go to the Mall of the Emirates so we could see Ski Dubai.  Getting to the mall was actually quite easy, other than getting into the parking garage.  I had no idea the Mall of the Emirates was so close to the Burj Al Arab.  Once we had parked we walked around looking for a place to eat and ended up eating at Tribes, an African restaurant.  I'm not sure we had anything too African, but the atmosphere was nice and the food was good.  We did some souvenir shopping before heading to Ski Dubai.  We got the obligatory pictures and then left.  We weren't going to be paying 130 dirhams to go and play in the snow.

We got back to the hotel around 8 and have been chilling, literally since it's so cold in here (at least I think so:)!!  Who knows what tomorrow has in store other than our dhow dinner cruise at 7:30ish.

Sight Seeing in Al Ain

So here I am updating my blog again!  I know some of you are about ready to have a heart attack, but I have the time so why not?!

We had a pretty relaxing morning at the apartment and didn't leave until around noon.  Mom likes to sleep in when she's on vacation!  No problem.  It's nice not having to rush around in the morning.  I like hanging out in my pjs and having a cup of coffee:) 

Our activities for the day included the camel market, Bawadi Mall, Jebel Hafeet, and a trip to the post office (I know not all that exciting, but necessary:).

Oh the joys of the camel market!  I tried to forewarn Mom and Amy about the men there, but I'm not sure they really knew what to expect. I told Dad I was going to stay by him and let him protect me.  Poor Amy.  She truly experienced the joys of the camel market:(  She did get some good pictures though!!  Since I had been to the camel market 2 times before I didn't see the need for any more pictures, but Mom and Amy got some nice ones.

After the camel market we headed to Bawadi Mall.  The camel market is located right behind the mall so we didn't have far to go.  I needed to get contacts and Amy needed a book as well as some souvenirs.  So we walked around the mall for a bit and everyone commented on how nice and big and clean it is.  They do a good job of keeping it clean.  I will not be taking them to Jimi Mall, as it isn't as clean and always super crowded.  I don't like that mall so that's why I drive the 1/2 hour to Bawadi instead of the 10 minutes to Jimi. 

View from Jebel Hafeet

From the mall we headed to Jebel Hafeet.  I had warned them of the mountain road and the way the locals drive on the mountain road so they would be prepared to see some crazy driving, but no one was on the road.  I am quite thankful for that, but I kind of wanted them to see the way the locals drive. It's something you just have to experience:)  The drive up the mountain was very nice and we got to see some nice views even though it was a sandy, hazy day today.  We got to the top and had juice at the Top of Jebel Mountain cafeteria and restaurant.  We had our juice outside, which may not have been the smartest thing due to the blowing sand, but it was not too hot so we thought we would enjoy it.  We're pretty sure we got a ton of sand in our mouths.  It's just unavoidable, even if you keep your mouth shut.  So now they have experienced rain in Abu Dhabi and a sand storm (pretty mild one) in Al Ain.  What other weather will they experience?!

The last stop for the day was the Al Ain post office.  Mom needed to mail some postcards and I had received a call telling me I had a package.  The highlight of going to the post office was that they got to see the clock tower roundabout that isn't a clock tower or a roundabout.  Amy took a picture and I will have to get that one from her. 

Dinner tonight will be a truly American meal of hamburgers and macaroni salad, along with leftovers from Al Noor.  OK that isn't all that American, but the burgers are:)

Tomorrow we are headed to Dubai to visit with Cindy and Sarah and get some laundry done since she has a dryer.

End of Term 2 and Beginning of My Parents and Amy's visit

Well, it has been quite some time since I have updated this blog.  But, honestly not much has been happening.  It's just been school during the week and Dubai for church on the weekends. 

The last few weeks of school have been quite boring.  All I've been allowed to do is teach/review for EMSA.  Nothing too exciting there.  The girls were bored and I was bored, but we pushed through.  We played a game to help review and try to motivate them, but that only worked when I offered candy.  Which of course I did!!  Hey, whatever works to get them motivated instead of just sitting there.  There was a point when I thought that I was teaching to about 5 girls in 3rd grade and 8 girls in 4th grade.  It was just too much for them.  Anyway the test is over and according to the girls "Easy, Miss!"  Yeah right!  That probably means they thought it was easy, but got it wrong.  Although I did hear the English part was easy.  That's according to the Arabic teachers who were adminstering the test.  They seemed quite angry that it was easy.  I tried to point out to them that English is their 2nd language so it should be easy, but they didn't like that reasoning.  Oh well.  I was asked to help the 3rd graders on the exam and the 4th graders told me that the teacher administering the math portion gave them some answers.  No surprise there, but I wish it would stop.  So two weeks off is going to be a nice break for all of us!

My parents and Amy arrived in Abu Dhabi on Friday March 23rd at around 9pm.  I was a little concerned that they wouldn't make it past the baggage check area because that's where I told them I would meet them.  Thing is I couldn't go down there.  They had to come up like they were exciting the airport.  Well, they did that!  I was quite surprised and very pleased to see them.  They survived the 16 hour flight, but they don't know how I do it all at once.  They had a 2 1/2 hour layover in Amsterdam and they loved being able to get off the plane and stretch.  After a wonderful greeting we walked out in the heat, although it wasn't all that hot!  It was actually quite pleasant.  A very different greeting than the one I got in August 2010!  We had a nice walk to the car (a great opportunity for them to stretch their legs) and then loaded all the luggage into the little Chevy Caprice that I rented for the trip.  God was good at providing that though because I thought I was going to have to rent an SUV for the 2 weeks which would have cost me a fortune.  This is only going to cost 1/2 a fortune!!  Just kidding!  It was much cheaper and I am thankful that He provided this and all our luggage fit in!  We had to do some manuervering to get the luggage in the trunk and we even had to put some in the back seat and passenger seat, but hey we got it all in.  The car was quite loaded down though.  I think we had 10 bags altogether, only 4 people though.  Try to figure that one out.  So, after we got the luggage  in we navigated the crazy streets of Abu Dhabi to the InterContinental Hotel.  We unloaded, with the help of a couple porters, and then checked in.  Since no one had eaten in a long time we had dinner at the piano lounge at 10pm and then went to bed.  Everyone was exhausted.

Me, Mom, and Dad in the Arabian Gulf

Saturday was supposed to be a scheduled rest day, but the visitors didn't want anything to do with that, so we walked along Corniche, went to Madinat Zayed, the fish market, and then ended the day with a dinner cruise along the Corniche.  The walk along the Corniche was very nice.  It wasn't too hot and it was nice and breezy.  Madinat Zayed is a shopping center with a gold souq next door.  I had to take them to the gold souq just so they could see the hideously large and garrish looking jewelery that they like to wear here.  After we walked around the gold souq for a bit we headed back to the hotel for some time at the pool.  Although it was cloudy and breezy the water was fabulously warm!  Amy and I didn't want to get out of the water for fear of freezing on the way to get our towels!  Relaxing in the pool was a nice way to unwind before our dinner cruise along the Corniche.  I must say that this was not a highlight of the trip, at least for me.  The cruise was nice, but the food wasn't good at all.  I have had so much better Arabic food.  I'm not sure anyone was pleased with that evening, but what can you do?  I thought the dhow was nice, I just would have liked to have more traditional Arabic food.  We had grilled salmon, shrimp, a quail egg, tabouleh, and hommous for appetizers.  The main course was some fish kabob thing along with stuffed lobster tail.  I liked the lobster, but I would have enjoyed it more if it didn't come in the tail.  It was just disgusting to look at!  We then had briyani rice and Arabic kabobs and then Umm Ali (mother for Ali) for desert.  I do not like Umm Ali, but Amy and Mom loved it.  Amy even had some the following night and looked for it on a menu!  I guess she really loved it:)  It's really just a texture issue, but since I can't get past the texture I don't know how to describe it.  Amy says it is a thicker version of rice pudding.  Mom says it was like a custard texture.  It has thick globby stuff in it, which is why I don't like it.  We had an eventful rest day!  After a rest day like that we were all exhausted and fell into bed at 11:30 when we got back to the InterCon.

Amy and Dad on the dhow

Getting ready to start our tour
Amy is on the top

Sunday was the day for our hop on hop off tour of Abu Dhabi.  We saw many sites such as the Sheikh Zayed Mosque (Amy didn't want to tour this and Mom and I lost Dad so it was pretty much just the two of us), Al Itihad Square (roundabout with an Arabic coffee pot), Saayidat Island, Heritage Village, Emirates Palace (although we couldn't get in because Dad was wearing shorts, we did see it from the outside), Marina Mall, and Abu Dhabi Mall.  We had lunch at Abu Dhabi Mall and we went up the sky tower at Marina Mall.  The Sky Tower was a waste.  You could only go up the elevator, and once you got to the top you had to either go in the coffee shop and get something or turn right back around and head down.  We headed down since we were meeting Kisha for dinner.  It was another long day, but I was so glad that I didn't have to do any driving!!!

Mom and Dad at the Emirates Palace

Monday was our scheduled desert safari at 3:30 in the afternoon so we had some time to go to the pool and then see Emirates Palace.  After breakfast we went swimming even though it was another chilly, breezy, overcast day. So un-Abu Dhabi like:( Where was all the heat and sunshine that we have in the desert? Despite the weather the water was nice, at least if you were in the water.  When you came out of the water it was cold.  Mom, Amy, and I enjoyed the pool for a bit and then we showered so we could go to the Emirates Palace.  Luckily the Palace isn't very far from the InterCon; you can actually see it from the hotel.  So I didn't really have any trouble driving there, other than all the construction.  We walked around the Emirates Palace taking in the views of the Gulf and the views inside the hotel.  I almost bought some gold at the gold ATM, but I didn't.  Phew!  I don't have enough money for that:)  After wandering around the hotel for a bit we headed back to ours to get ready for our desert safari.  The desert safari began with dune bashing.  I was a bit nervous about this, after my experience with Craig in Sharjah, but I had no choice.  Our driver, who didn't say much of anything to us, said "no problem, go slow, everything be ok."   So I got in the car and away we went!  Well, it was a problem.  I got sick.  Fortunately I didn't throw up, but I only made it the first 15 minutes to the camel farm.    The dune bashing was intense.  He went up about 5 dunes and for some of them it was like the SUV was on its side.  I thought we were going to tip over as we rode on top and then down a few dunes.  When we got to the camel farm I really thought I was going to throw up.  I mean the smell added to the fact that I was already nauseous, yuck!  I survived and got back in the car with Amy, Mom, and two other ladies who were going to skip the rest of the dune bashing, and we headed straight to the camp.  Even the ride to the camp was a bit nasueating.  I took my first camel ride!  It was nothing like I expected.  There were 3 camels tied together and some guy led them around with me on one of them.  It kind of reminded me of the camel rides Lexi takes at the zoo, only we were in the desert.  Kind of disappointing.  I was expecting a nice ride through the desert not a 2 minute jaunt around a circle.  Oh well.  Mom, Amy, and Dad also rode a camel.  Dinner was traditional Arabic food followed by a belly dancer.  She called some people up to the stage to dance and then all the women.  I went up and did some silly dancing and made a complete fool of myself, but enjoyed it.  Mom, Amy, and I got henna done while Dad put on a kandora and head scarf.  Unfortunately we didn't get to enjoy a desert sunset or dinner under the stars due to the cloudy and hazy conditions.  I must mention that it rained on our ride out to the desert!!  My parents and Amy got to experience rain in Abu Dhabi!!  That is almost a once in a lifetime experience right there:)  All in all a good night!

Dad, Amy, and Mom on camels



Tuesday was our last day in Abu Dhabi and we decided to drive to Yas Island to see what was there.  Nothing much.  There is Ferrari World, but that's an amusement park and we're not into that, and The Yas Marina Circuit, but that is for Formula One Racing and we're not into that either.  I saw a sign for a beach, but after driving around the Island two times we determined that it was still under development.  Not much there, which was disappointing.  I thought that it was supposed to be some sort of wildlife sanctuary, but I couldn't find that.  Maybe that's somewhere else.  Oh well.  We headed back to the hotel and packed our suitcases and then the car (with the help of a few porters) and drove to Al Ain.  Mom got some laundry done while Dad, Amy, and I went to LuLu's for groceries.  We had Al Noor for dinner because that is my all time favorite restaurant and I needed them to experience the food.  Everyone loved it, even the chicken tikka zatar which is something quite different and only available at Al Noor.

So that's been our vacation so far.  Tomorrow we'll do some sight seeing in Al Ain and then Thursday we're headed to Dubai.  Check in later for another update.

Interview and Emirati Wedding

Alright, I know, odd things to combine in one blog entry but they both happened this week and I don't want to write 2 separate entries.
I had an interview for a 3rd grade position at the Amercian Academy for Girls in Mizhar on Wednesday.  The school is very western and I loved it!  I mean it is so different from what I'm used to in Al Ain. The classrooms are large, well resourced with books and technology, they have 3 media centers and 3 computer labs, and they even have math and science manipulatives.  Running a school with the approrpriate materials, what a concept!!

ADEC's reputation is well known, even in Dubai.  When the principal, who is from Florida, asked about my current job I told her I was working with ADEC and she groaned, and then laughed. She told me that they have several ADEC teachers and that she just told Teachaway that ADEC brings the teachers over, they complete their contract and then escape to Dubai.  How true!

I thought the interview went well and she said that I would hear from her this week.  I am continuing to pray about it as I still do not have a clear indication of God's will.  I am trusting that God will reveal His perfect will and plan to me in His perfect timing.  To my praying friends who are reading this, please continue to lift this up in your prayers.  Thanks!

Friday was the Emirati wedding.  Mohammed's (Cindy's neighbor) father's sister's daughter's (cousin, right? but those were his words:) was the one who got married.  Although I am calling this an Emirati "wedding" it wasn't really a wedding.  Emirati, and probably Arabic, weddings are simply signing papers so this was the party that occurs after, sometimes 3-4 months after, the official signing of the papers.

Unfortunately no cameras are allowed at Emirati weddings, so try to picture in your mind while I do my best to describe the scene.  These weddings are a place for show.  Who has the sparkliest dress, who has the most jewlery, who has the newest shoes, who has the whitest skin (they use skin whitening cream), who has the most makeup, who has the fanciest abayah...?  Consequently it is very important for all guests to dress to impress.  Now, there was no way I was going to be impressing any Emirati women, but I did dress very nicely.  I wore my long black skirt, black sparkly top, and some very nice jewelry.  The only thing I didn't like was my shoes, but I didn't have a choice.  I wore the only black shoes that I had and since I have a hard time finding shoes that fit in this country it wasn't possible to make a quick trip to the nearest shoe store and find a dressy pair of shoes.  Despite the shoes, I was told that I looked very elegant.  Elegant for American and Emirati are 2 very different concepts.  I felt totally underdressed.

Khulood, Aisha, Cindy, Sarah, and I arrived at the Radisson Blu (where the "wedding" was taking place) at about 9:00pm and there were a few guests already seated at the tables.  Oh, one more thing you need to know about these weddings is that the men and women do not attend together.  There is a separate party for the men and women, typically the men are outside and the women are inside if it's at a hotel.  So, Mohammed, Hamdan, and Myoud went separately.  We were led into the hall and seated at a table right by the band, which was behind a screen so they wouldn't be seen by the women.  The hall was set up with many round tables situated around a stage area.  The stage was glass with rose petals scattered on it.  Underneath the glass there were colored lights which made the floor light up and change color.  The stage was for dancing, the 7 tier cake, and a throne for the bride to sit when she entered. 

Prior to the bride arriving there was dancing by professional Arabic dancers.  They were amazing, they way they shake and move.  Quite spectacular.  We watched the dancers and snacked on the appetizers: hommous, taboulah, fatoush, bread, and pickled veggies while we waited for the bride to arrive.  The bride arrived sometime later, not quite sure when though, and she arrived very slowly.  She slowly and carefully made her way from the back of the room to her throne.  She needed help from her sisters as she was walking.  Her dress was huge!  Very poofy and she had a hard time walking in it.  Who knows about her shoes!  As the bride was entering the women were doing their high pitched yelling, which I cannot imitate or even describe, it is just something you have to experience.  Oh I forgot to mention the smoke!  Yes, smoke.  There was smoke as the bride was making her way to her throne on the stage.  Once seated, the dinner started.  Typical Arabic food was served: rice and mixed grill, along with some lasagne type thing.  It had to have been 11:00 or 11:30 by the time dinner was served.  That's way too late to be eating dinner in my opinion, so I didn't have anything. 

After dinner the sweets were served and then the groom came in.  Just before the groom came in the women were given notice so they could put their abayah back on.  No smoke for him, but he did come in with an awesome Syrian group that did a traditional Syrian wedding dance.  I thought it was the best part of the wedding.  They had swords, shields, drums, and sticks and they were chanting and dancing.  It was quite impressive.  There was picture taking and more dancing from the Arabic and Syrian dancers and then it was time to cut the cake.  We were told the party would go on till about 3 or 4 in the morning, but we left after the cake was cut at 12:30. 

It was an interesting night filled with a totally different cultural experience.  I enjoyed the night, and if I have the opportunity to go to another wedding I will invest in a more sparkly dress!

There was a sandstorm almost like that in Mission Impossible 4 this weekend.  It was the worst I have ever witnessed.  Sand everywhere, even on my teeth:(  Yuck!  I know that there will be a fine layer of sand everywhere at school tomorrow.  It's quite disgusting. 

82 at 6:30

Salvation and Baptism

So, based on the title I am assuming you can figure out that this post has nothing to do with school or travels.  But, as this blog is supposed to be a journal I am recording some extremely important events that have happened in my life in the past 2 1/2 months.  I have been putting off posting about my new found salvation due to fear of some responses, but I have realized that I am here to bring glory and honor to God and to please Him and share the message of salvation with others.  So it's about time that I obey my God and give Him glory! 

Some of you reading this may know a bit about this already, and for others of you it may be a surprise because you thought (just as I did) that I was already saved, and still for others it will be completely new news for you.

My testimony began 16 years ago when I thought I had accepted Jesus as my Savior.  My roommate in college was a Christian and she invited me to a Bible study.  After one of the Bible studies she asked me what I thought about Jesus.  Having grown up Catholic, I told her that I knew that Jesus died for my sins.  She asked if I had accepted that Jesus died for me and I again told her that I knew that He died for me.  Eventually the conversation got around to what would happen if I died.  I told her I thought I was going to heaven because I was a good person.  She told me that wasn’t good enough and I needed to accept Jesus’ forgiveness.  She led me in a prayer, and then gladly pronounced that I was saved and going to heaven.  Good news! 

I continued to attend church, Bible studies, and retreats, but nothing really changed.  I even got baptized, tried to lead a Bible study, and to disciple new Christians.  Over the years I had many struggles with sin and accepting that Jesus had died for my sins.  I was trying to be perfect, thinking that was what God wanted, but never reaching perfection.  I would share my struggles with one of my close friends who would always ask me if I knew that God loved me and died for my sins.  My answer was always the same: I know it in my head.  It had never made it to my heart.  This pattern continued for 15 years and then God brought me to the UAE.  I was miserable.  Nothing seemed to be going right and I was depressed, angry, and lonely, and ready to go home. 

In October, 2011 I began attending Redeemer where I was hearing messages totally focused on Jesus and for three weeks the messages were on letting Him be the Lord of your life.  In addition to that there were also discussions about people who think they are saved, but really aren’t.  Jesus definitely wasn’t Lord of my life and I thought I was saved, but was I really?  After praying, reading the Bible and other books, and talking to Christians I determined that I wasn’t saved.  I had simply agreed with the fact that Jesus died for me.  I needed to trust God to save me through His Son Jesus.  Jesus died on the cross for me so that I wouldn’t have to face the wrath of God for my sins.  He took my punishment and gave me His righteousness.  I needed to truly accept His gift of salvation through His Son Jesus Christ, repent of my sins, and surrender my life to Him.  So, on Nov. 19, 2011 I asked.  I truly asked God to forgive my sins.  I repented of my sins and had faith that Jesus died for my sins.  And because of that sacrifice I was made acceptable in God's sight and He adopted me as His child and gave me the right to go to Heaven.  In that moment things changed.  I really believed in my heart!  I knew that there was nothing I could do to earn God’s love, forgiveness, and salvation.  God did it for me through Jesus.  I was forgiven and loved and I was changing.  I didn’t feel weighed down by my past sins and failures.  I had a desire to read the Word and apply it to my life.  I wanted to pray and spend time with God getting to know Him.  I experienced joy!  Praising God became something that I longed to do and I have every reason to praise Him.  He set me free and I could truly say thank You God!  All praise, glory, and thanks to God my Father and Jesus my Savior!

I continued to attend Redeemer and grow closer to Jesus and stronger in my faith when the subject of baptism came up.  Due to the fact that I had already been baptized I didn't know what this meant for me.  After talking to Cindy and Dave (the pastor at Redeemer) I realized that my baptism when I was in college meant nothing since I had not truly repented of my sins and had faith that Jesus was my Savior and Lord.  So on Feb. 10, 2012 I publicly declared my faith and got baptized.  For real! 

Now all of this doesn't mean I'm perfect and that I don't sin.  I still sin and make many mistakes, but I know that God forgives me and I am considered righteous in His sight because of Jesus.  He justified me through faith and now He is changing me; making me more like Jesus.

For those of you reading this that don't know Jesus as your Lord and Savior I am praying for you; I pray that one day you will experience the salvation and freedom that I have experienced.  If you have any questions please talk to someone.  Don't hesitate to ask me any questions.