Episode # 11 - Fear & Indulgance in Dubai- A friday Brunch at the racetrack

There are a lot of things to do in Dubai. One of the favorite expat pastimes here in friday brunch. These generally take place in hotel restaurants (hotels are the only places that serve alcohol) and are equipped with massive amounts of food. Our friendly history teacher organized a group of teachers to last friday's brunch at the horse racing track called Meydan.

I have never been somewhere that A) stretches the real meaning of the word brunch as it starts at 12 noon and goes to 4pm  or B) disguises an all out drinking event with the innocent sounding name like "brunch".  Needless to say it was a good time.  Everyone was dressed nicely as we sat overlooking the horse track, even though there was no races going on.  The place was packed with mostly British expat families, and given there was a bouncy castle and a cotton candy machine, it seemed obvious that it was designed to keep the kids happy while mom and dad downed as much booze as possible.  It really did feel very indulgent. Eating shrimp, English roast with  Yorkshire pudding (not as good as yours mum) and every possible type of sushi and desert.  The real indulgence hit me when our australian friend, without blinking or showing any signs of remorse, waved the waiter over and said.. "can I please have 12 more mohiotos please".   The table was filled with drinks the entire day until they cut us off at 3:30, which is when the bravest began mixing the ends of random drinks into glasses, playing the game "I bet you can't guess what I used to make this drink". This was around the same time that members of our party sauntered down to the grassy race track and did some sprint trial races until they were ushered off.

Later in the day, we headed over to Bur Dubai area of town to watch the UAE take on Korea in a World Cup qualifier that really meant nothing to either side. UAE were already eliminated and Korea already through.

Getting into the stadium was the first challenge. A few hundred Korean fans were outside the gate and weren't allowed in, even though there was space in the stadium. I use the term stadium loosely. I've been in high school stadiums that were bigger. We paraded as UAE fans and were granted entry into a back gate. The ladies with us were the only ones in this section and got an awful lot of stares as we found our seats In the stands was a sea of white dishdashes, some banging drums, most sitting, chewing sunflower seeds.   The Korean fans who were limited to a small section of the stadium were going nuts the entire game. At half time, the whistle blew and a few seconds later, the mosque which was attached to the stadium began the call to prayer. Outside on the practice pitch a huge group of locals lined up and began praying... wish i would have had my camera!  In the end, UAE were beat 2-0 by a much stronger Korean side.  For us, what an awesome experience. Watching the sun set over the skyline of Dubai, the crowd of locals cheering on their team, planes landing nearby, and the distinct sound of the call to prayer. There are moments here where you could be anywhere in the world, but this one, we truly felt we were in the middle east. 

Here's a few pics from our day...

The Meydan Hotel at the racetrack

Jonathon (a fellow Ithaca Bomber) his wife Ann, and Jenn

Chest hair display.

Face painting for kids.. and adults. Nice one Neng.

Counselor Scott and Jenn.

GO UAE!

Episode # 10- Eid Mubarak

 

It feels like it's been a long time since we've had a break.  Eight weeks of school plus two weeks of orientation.. it's been a whirlwind.  And now all of a sudden it's NOVEMBER!  hard to believe.  So the way it works for the Eid holiday is when the moon is sighted the Eid holiday can commence but this is a non scientific process; Therefore it wasn't until the middle of last week that they announced that we would have Sunday Monday Tuesday off this week.  So basically its a 5 day weekend for most everyone.. and a well deserved break for the students and teachers who have been showing major signs of fatigue.

We didn't plan any major travels for the Eid break given that the amount of time off we were going to have was uncertain. But many of the teachers have jetted off to some interesting places including Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, and one adventurous group flew to Georgia...  the country not the US state.

We decided on Thursday (which is our friday) to rent a car and keep it for the next month just to try out driving and see if we like or need to have a car.  Our first adventure was driving on friday morning to the beach for my first surf session on my new board.  Jenn hooked me up with the best birthday gift ever... a gift certificate to the local surf shop.

On Saturday we headed south east to the city of Fujairah and the nearby beaches for some camping. We ended up on a long stretch of beach with mangroves about 300 yards back.  We were within walking distance to the Oman border but couldn't cross since you can't take a rental car across.  We spent a really nice day on the beach. The water is the perfect temperature.  Although the bugs spoiled our dinner time, we ended up dragging everything down to the waters edge and slept next to the crashing waves.  Hopefully this will be the first of many camping adventures in the UAE and Oman.

Now tonight, we are headed to a beach bar to watch Fulham play Tottenham. should be a good time.

Happy Eid!

Here is a random assortment of pictures from our recent adventures.

This is at the Dubai Mall when we were waiting for the "Belagio-like" fountains to start.

Waiting for the fountains with Uzay, Adam, and Ella Ashton

During our desert safari the guide took us to a heritage village in Hatta.

At the heritage village.. when you enter it's all dark and the lights are motion sensored.. so when the light goes on.. this is the first thing you see.  Creepy!

Also during our desert safari. We went to a Wadi, a small canyon that holds water year round.

As you leave Dubai rocky mountains appear

This is at the Hatta Dam during my birthday desert safari

beautiful big long beach with lots of sea birds

We went with two other couples to for a quick camping trip near the Omani Border. The black car is Tilda our rental car.. she's a little rough around the edges but has been reliable so far. 

Surfing next to the Burj al Arab. small waves but lots of fun.

Episode # 9 - Hosting the Building Party

The two of us recently hosted a party for all the teachers who live in our building (Rabwah).  We were all ready for a cold drink after a week long inspection from the Dubai Schools Inspection Bureau in addition to report card completion.  Robbie and I got together some appetizers and our new friends gladly supplied 5 gallons of sangria.  These teachers were thirsty...parched.  We had a fun night meeting the teachers who live in our building and celebrating Robbie's 33rd birthday!  The party retired to a local bar for some dancing to a classic Dubai style cover band.  The next morning we had people stop my our apartment looking for missing shoes, a phone and keys.  Surely an indication of a good party, a great time was had by all.

 

Happy Birthday!

 

Happy Birthday to Robbie and Amy!

 My TA Sandy had a special birthday cupcake made for Robbie!

 Jenn baking in Dubai!

 

Sandy (my great TA) and I

Zumba-thon

Dubai supported many Breast Cancer Awareness activities in October including a Zumba-thon!  Some ladies from my Zumba class and our friend Lucy joined in the fun!