Spontaneous BBQ

So after we left Aquaventure, we decided we wanted to have a barbecue, but could not decide on a venue. Our friend Elizabeth had suggested her house since she lives right on the water in Jumeirah (where the Yellow Party was), but concluded that it was too windy. Then we talked about having it at a public park that has grills called "Al Safa Park," but thought that might be a bit iffy because all the grills might have been occupied and also we wouldn't have been able to drink (the main point of a BBQ, right?). So we suggested having it at our apartment since we have a nice outdoor area in our garden, and even though our grill hasn't arrived yet, we could use the communal grills in our pool area (another fantastic feature about our building I failed to mention before) that we could grill on, and then just eat in our garden. So at about 6pm we set the wheels in motion to have a BBQ Party at our apartment and had about 40 minutes to get showered/changed from the water park and also get our apartment ready for guests (as we had not been planning on company so had not cleaned, etc.). A bit stressful, but not atypical for when Jared and I throw parties (even planned ones... Jess, you know exactly what I'm talking about..). So Jared started feverishly hosing down and cleaning the garden (it gets dusty from the construction and could use to be cleaned daily if we were so inclined, but we try to not obsess about it and only clean when we're going to use it), while I tried to do what I could with the inside of the apartment. Luckily it was already 'clean' given my OCD tendencies, but a little dusty and the floors could have used a vacuum, and the dish washer needed to be unloaded. So after speed cleaning, people started arriving at 6:45. We did the best we could, and it turned out to be a success, despite the lack of planning.

Group picture at the BBQ. I was so psyched to actually be able to use our garden! We had lanterns spread around and lit tea lights on the ledges... Very pretty and created a nice atmosphere.

Some of our friends stopped at the market on the way, because on top of not having the house ready for a bbq, we also had no food to have a party with. We ended up with delicious chicken kebabs, burgers, PORK sausage, corn on the cobb, and salad... plus lots of chocolate, potato chips, and cheese and crackers. Plus people brought lots of wine and liquor, so fun could not be avoided with that combination of items.

Mahmoud and Ruch enjoying the glider.

Elizabeth, Diana, and Clare in our kitchen.

Clare cutting a watermelon.

So the use of the communal grill in our building was pretty convenient (although we had to improvise using our oven rack since there was no grill grate), and we were excited to be able to use our new grilling tools. People ate and drank a lot, an animated game of Uno occurred, and we were up late having political debates in the garden. Where else in the world would you have 2 Americans, 2 Australians, a German, a Brit, an Egyptian, a Kenyan, a Sri Lanken, an Iranian-American, and a Croatian in one place engaged in deep political conversation. Only in Dubai! Once our grill arrives, I can't wait to host another barbecue!