Life in Dubai

Two things that are everywhere in Dubai are car washers and motorcycle delivery men. It seems like every restaurant offers delivery from the fancy to Kentucky Fried Chicken and Subway. They also call "take-out" orders "take away".

There are also car washers in all of the mall and hotel parking garages. They have carts of soap, sponges and buckets of water to clean your car with while you shop. It is so dusty here that this is actually a great idea!

Below in a link to a 60 Minutes interview with His Highness Sheikah Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai and Prime Minister of the UAE.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=510EfQKxdKk&feature=player_embedded

The Grammies Have to Head Home

Tonight we had to take Chris' mom and Grandma to the airport so they could begin their adventure back home. It is always hard to say good-bye and it always seems to remind me how far away we really are. We had a great visit with them and I think they both had a wonderful time visiting with their granddaughter and great granddaughter. We look forward to whoever our next visitors will be!

Savannah's First Thanksgiving

Even though we are thousands of miles away, we have so much to be thankful for this year. Our lives have changed so much in the last four months and we are lucky to have the continued support of our family and friends. The holiday season is definitely going to be a challenge this year as it will be the first year that we are not headed home for Christmas and this is the first Thanksgiving I have not spent with my parents. It is great that Vickie and Grandma were here to celebrate with us. Plus, I prolonged cooking the turkey another year! This week I went to four grocery stores looking for Thanksgiving essentials. We had to improvise on the monkey bread, stuffing and cranberry sauce but everything turned out delicious! We spent the day cooking, playing cards, watching football (although it wasn't on until 10 pm here) and "skyping" with family back home. As you can see by the picture of Savannah sleeping by the time we got to the football and "skyping" she was exhausted!

Paddle Boarding

This morning Vickie and I went paddle boarding. I have been out several times now and Vickie and I went out their first weekend in town. Today was the first day we attempted to take a camera with us. We paddled around the Burj Al Arab again. The Burj Al Arab is a "7-star hotel" that stands on an artificial island out from the Jumeriah Beach and is connected to the mainland by a private bridge. The shape of the building mimics a sail and is the fourth largest hotel in the world. Today was the first day that I did not fall in the water as well! Not a bad way to start off Thanksgiving morning! I will take paddle boarding over raking leaves any day.

Mighty Ice Camels

Both the Burj Khalifa and the Dubai Fountain are located at the Dubai Mall. After dinner we went on a quick tour of the mall to show Vickie and Grandma the aquarium, waterfall and ice rink that are also in the mall. While we were at the ice rink we watched the Mighty Ice Camels play for a few minutes. The Ice Camels are a club hockey team that I think gave Chris the itch to play again. Although it is a much nicer rink to be a spectator in (not cold, in the middle of a mall, coffee shops all around, etc...) I do not look forward to storing hockey equipment in our apartment!

The Dubai Fountain

After our trip to the Burj Khalifa we went down to watch the Dubai Fountain Show. The fountain in located in the middle of the 30 acre Burj Khalifa Lake. Although the fountains were designed by the same company that designed the Bellagio Hotel Fountain in Vegas, it dwarfs it is size. The fountain in 902 feet long and shoots water 490 feet into the air (that is equivalent to a 50 story building). After the show we met Chris for dinner and enjoy another evening outside.

Burj Khalifa

Today Vickie, Grandma, Savannah and I went up in the Burj Khalifa. The Burj Khalifa is the tallest building in the world. The observation deck is on the 124th floor but there are 200 floors to the top! On the observation deck there are floor to ceiling windows where you can view the city, sea and desert. On hazy days your view is somewhat limited (my parents had a completely different view when they went up) but today was pretty clear. We could see the Palm Jumeriah island (man-made island where we live), the World islands (another set of man-made islands that no one lives on yet), down into the city, the coast line and of course the desert sand. We were able to watch the sun start to set as well. Savannah did great! I was a little nervous about the elevator ride up and down but she only cried on the way down. She can now also say that she has eaten (and left her mark) at the top of the tallest building in the world!

Traditional Arabic Dinner

Tonight we took Vickie and Grandma

to Khan Murjan,

a traditional Arabic restaurant at the Wafi Mall. The restaurant is located in a mall, but is open air with no roof. We have to give Vickie and Grandma credit for being open minded about trying many different foods during their trip here, this meal being the most adventuress. We ordered many plates to share including hummus, roasted eggplant, lamb, chicken kabobs, potatoes, fattoush salad, Egyptian bread, Arabic bread and freshly made juices.

Pool Time

As much as we miss home, we love that it is the end of November and we can still spend time outside and at the pool. Grandma, Vickie and I took Savannah to the pool several times during their visit.