March 10, 2011
Mitchell had Field Day at school today. He had a blast! The school has a pool so the kids were able to swim and play water games. His favorite game was "drip, drip, drop" which was similar to "duck, duck, goose" but they used a FULL wet sponge to tap each other on the head while walking around the circle. So, the child who was "it" would walk around the circle tapping each child saying "drip", "drip", "drip" and when they wanted to pick a child, they would stay "DROP" and squeeze the sponge out on their head! Too funny!
That afternoon Chad & Mitchell met me at a mall near my office after work. We had a delicious dinner on the Festival Center waterway (similar to the Marina Walk by our apartment but just outside a mall - go figure, Dubai is the Mall capital of the World!) After dinner we went to a permanent carnival that's next to the mall. After wrestling my way to the front of the line to buy ride tokens (I believe I've mentioned how people have NO IDEA how to politely wait their turn in line - I actually used my elbow to block a little boy from cutting in front of me, not that I'm proud of that fact, just fitting in and adapting to the culture!), we were off to the Ferris Wheel!! There was no line at the Ferris wheel, so we didn't have to get nasty. We walked right up, gave the man our tokens and boarded the ride. Mitchell quickly noticed that there was a wheel in the middle of the car that worked like the wheel in the center of the "Tea-cup rides" where you pull it and it will rotate the entire car. So, in addition to going around the normal way Ferris wheels rotate, we were also spinning! UGGGHHH!!!! Why did I agree to ride this thing! I finally made Mitchell stop spinning us so we could enjoy the view. It was a clear night and all the buildings were lit up we could even see the Burj Khalifa in the distance (about 5 miles give or take).
After the fun-filled Ferris wheel ride, Mitchell wanted to ride the Dhow Boat ride. This is the basic boat carnival ride where you go back and forth, higher and higher making your stomach rise to your throat...over...and over....and over...and OVER. We were, not surprisingly, the only people on the ride. After about 4 trips back and forth, I was done laughing. Mitchell's head was between his legs and he was turning green. I kept patting him on the back, telling him it would be over soon and it wasn't ending. I finally yelled down to Chad and gave him the universal "CUT" sign and he asked the operator to stop the ride. WHEW! It was finally over! Mitchell was NO LONGER having fun at the carnival after only 2 rides. He was able to ride the bumper cars and I hoped that would erase the sickness and the memory of the vomit boat. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case (for either of us!)
By now it was about 8:30PM so we decided to head back to the car and home. On our way out of the mall Chad decided to by a local version of "TUMS". I had bought some in the airport in Munich that pretty much taste like eating chalk (or what I think eating chalk would taste like if I tried it). We thought the Dubai version may be better. We all popped one in our mouth at about the same time and started chewing. Chad first commented that they tasted much better than the German kind. At that point mine started growing in my mouth...it made me think of a Cement Mixer Shot (I've never had one, but heard the horror stories). We were all about gagging but were already feeling so bad we did what we could to swallow them hoping they would eventually make us feel better. We were all fighting for our one and only bottle of water. Needless to say, I have asked a co-worker who's coming to Dubai in a couple weeks to bring me two of the biggest bottles of mint-flavored TUMS he can find.
Friday, March 11, 2011 - Praise, Pinot Noir & Parties!
Friday morning we headed to church. Really enjoyed it again! Yippee! I met a really nice woman who lives close to my office. We made plans to have lunch during the week! YEAH, I'm making friends!!!
After church, Jim Tarum & his wife picked us up to take us to the liquor store in Barracuda Beach. (Yes, we did go straight from church to the liquor store...don't judge!) It's about an hour drive from Dubai and is in the next Emirate over...they have different liquor laws there than in Dubai - no need for a liquor license & no tax on booze! We took the freeway for quite some distance and then we exited onto a two-lane road which went through the desert until we arrived at the beach. There were a bunch of camels wandering along the two-lane road. We stopped and got some close-up photos. One was even trying to put his head in the car...must have smelled our PB&J sandwiches! If you didn't know the store was there, you'd never find it. It's off the road in a nice two-story building. It was HUGE and had an amazing selection. Chad was in heaven when he saw the Budweiser beer! He may have died if they'd actually had Bud Light! They were having a discount on wine - buy two of the same brand, save 10% so I took FULL advantage!!! We ended up spending 725 dirams (~$200!!!) We shouldn't need to go again for at least another month! Ha! Ha! Maybe 2 months! :-)
Later that afternoon there was a carnival at Mitchell's school from 4 - 8PM. We had pre-purchased tickets for about $15 each but had no idea what to expect. When we arrived, the large grass areas where there are soccer (football) fields and a track field were full of activities. There were tables set up with people selling jewelry, Persian rugs, and much more. There were two stages with different types of entertainment (singers, Zumba demonstrations, a magician and a fire juggler). There were a few clowns making balloon animals and swords and a lot of different moonwalks for different ages of kids. They had the largest moonwalk slide I had ever seen for the kids over 10 (Mitchell tried about 3 times to go on it but didn't realize he had to lie about his age for them to let him pass!) Mitchell's favorite attraction was THE CAMEL RIDES!!! Yes, Mitchell finally got to ride a camel!!! I'll do my best to upload some pictures. It was actually amazing watching the camel stand and sit while waiting for Mitchell's turn. Their feet have very unusual joints and you wonder how they can support their entire body weight (and the weight of all the riders) on bent ankles. Mitchell ran into a lot of friends from his class and we met some new parents. It was a lot of fun!
We were invited to an "after party" at our friends Judy & Jim's house (Judy is the woman from my earlier blog who I vowed to make my friend...it happened!) They had about 6 couples and about a million kids over. When we arrived, their housekeeper was making all sorts of delicious fried dumplings and spring rolls in the kitchen. They had veggie trays, cheese trays, fruit trays and desserts! AND they had a counter full of wine and liquor and coolers full of beer! AWESOME!!! Everyone was so nice and the kids had a ball swimming and then watching movies. We didn't get home until midnight. WE OFFICIALLY HAVE A SOCIAL LIFE IN DUBAI!!! AMAZING!!!
Saturday, March 12th
We had a fairly relaxing day on Saturday - unpacking and recovering from slight hangovers! Have I mentioned how much stuff we're trying to fit into a 3 bedroom apartment! Wow! Tight squeeze! Around noon, Chad took Mitchell to the grocery and I went to the spa in our building for a pampering session (mani/pedi, massage and eyebrow wax). I HAVE to tell you about my massage. I was led downstairs to the massage room and the masseuse gave me a robe to put on and asked me to sit on the table (not lie down) when I was ready. She came back in a short while later and fanned out a color wheel (similar to that in a paint store) and asked me to pick 4 colors that were most appealing to me. REALLY...you want to know my favorite colors?!?!? I just want a massage! I played along and picked 4 colors and she disappeared again and I waited patiently sitting on the massage table. When she returned she had 4 bottles of "Aromas". She told me each color represents a different aroma and each aroma represents something (like strength, serenity, achievement, etc.) I can't remember what mine stood for. She sprayed the first scent into one of my palms and asked me to rub my hands together then, spread the scent around my "aura" and inhale deeply three times. Luckily she demonstrated "spreading the scent around my aura" so I knew that she wanted me to wave my hands in front of my face (yep, I guess that's my aura!) She repeated this process with the first three scents and told me she would use the fourth and final scent to "wake me up" at the end of my massage! I was fully intending to stay away to enjoy the process!!!
After we were finished with the aroma/aura business, she FINALLY had me lay down on the massage table. Yeah, let's get this party started! I was ready to relax. Well, she must have been a mix between a Ninja and a Monkey because before I knew what was happening, she had noiselessly sprung up onto the massage table and was kneeling with her legs on either side of me doing some weird chiropractic moves...not giving me a relaxing massage! What gives?!?!? I was thinking if THIS is a Dubai massage, send me back to the good old U.S. of A! As quickly and silently as she jumped up onto the table, she got back down and FINALLY started giving me a real massage! It ended up being a great experience.
After my mani/pedi, I let them talk me into getting my eyebrows "threaded" instead of waxed. This is basically where they take a string and somehow rip out your eyebrows with it. I thought "maybe it will be less painful than waxing." I thought wrong. It felt like she was trying to give me rope burn on my eyebrows. I'll take waxing any day over this threading nonsense!
I hate threading too! Nasty isn't it?
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