Countdown!

The countdown is on for our next wave of visitors... Jared's twin brothers Brett and Scott, and my best friend Jess are coming to visit us together TOMORROW! We are very excited and I have been busy all week getting ready for the arrival of our guests. We had such a great time when Jared's Dad visited that we can't wait to play tour guide again. We have lots of fun things planned, so I will definitely update after our visitors leave (if not while they're here) with pictures of all the fun we're sure to have!!! I'm counting down the hours...

Loose ends...

Well, as of today I can say I FINALLY feel settled and like an actual resident of Dubai. I say that because as of this week I have finally finished all the kind of bureaucratic odds and ends that I needed to do to feel like my residency in this country is complete. I got my visa and driver's license about a month ago and then have been working on getting a bank account and PO Box for the last couple weeks. Not having a visa for all those months was really holding me up, but once that was done everything else could be done and has kind of fallen into place. I opened a PO Box on Tuesday and got my bank account sorted yesterday by getting my Debit card finally activated. Now, I can start living like a normal person again who doesn't have to always pay for things with cash like a drug dealer or have all my mail send c/o Jared at work. Yippeee. At last I can be a functional adult in Dubai society.

Friday Brunch, Deep Sea Fishing, and NEW JOB!!

Well, we had another busy weekend! This weekend we decided to host an American-style brunch for our friends, because getting a truly "American" breakfast/brunch out is completely non-existent here (trust me, we've looked -- the interpretation usually involves grilled mushrooms and tomatoes, which is clearly a British breakfast thing. There are no vegetables involved in American breakfast, unless you count potatoes...). So, we invited 8 or 10 friends over and decided to show them what a real American breakfast is all about. Bagels with cream cheese, croissants, and toast, spinach quiche, pancakes with real maple syrup ala Canada, fruit (watermelon, pineapple, and cantaloupe), Oscar Mayer Bacon, real American breakfast pork sausage links we managed to find at Waitrose, homefries, and eggs cooked to order. Anyone who has been to our Marathon Monday parties knows, we don't mess around with breakfast. Oh, and fresh fruit juice to drink (plus spirits of your choice to make it spirited). Everyone seemed to enjoy it and our American friends gave their approval on meeting 'American' standards and guidelines. :) It started at noon and people hung out and drank in the garden with us until about 4:30pm. A lovely and delicious way to spend a Friday.

After brunch was over, we decided to check out the Dubai International Boat Show which was going on at the Marina. Jared was dying to see the giant yachts, but overall the show was a bit disappointing because we didn't manage to get on any of the yachts (you had to make appointments and presumably appear to have an actual interest or intent in buying one, which we obviously couldn't really pull off). After a couple hours and a 35 minute shuttle bus ride later + a 45 minute wait to take the water taxi back to our car, we decided we probably won't be going again next year. Cool boats though. I want to be rich.

On Saturday I had my first day at my new job (!), while Jared spent the day deep sea fishing. Our American friends (I say that because they are the only Americans we know, literally), Marisa and Kevin, had invited Jared to join them when they were at our brunch on Friday. He was really excited because he's been dying to go fishing since we got here, because apparently you can catch some big fish. And big fish he did catch as he came home with two approximately 15 pound barracudas. Now, barracuda isn't really a fish I thought I would ever have any interest in trying, but Jared was so proud of his catch that we of course had to have it on Saturday night for dinner (grilled and seasoned with olive oil, lemon, salt and pepper). Luckily, there was a lot of left over quiche to supplement the meal.  

Jared filleting his barracuda. I have to give him credit, I would not know how to fillet a 15 pound fish and I would be completely grossed out. He did a really good job, however, our whole apartment smelled like raw fish for 24 hours despite lighting every scented candle I have. Yum. Although, I do have to admit that the barracuda tasted much better than we could have possibly imagined (despite the captain on the boat describing barracuda as the 'scavengers of the sea' and 'not really good for eating'). To me it just tasted like a grilled swordfish fillet, and Jared loved it!

Meanwhile, while Jared was catching our dinner, I started my first day at Sylvan Learning. I have decided to continue tutoring for the time being because I really do enjoy it and love working with the kids. I should be able make basically the same amount of money if I work enough hours a week (I might start out with only 15 or so, but then hopefully increase that to 30 when one of the teachers goes out on maternity leave in the next couple weeks). I really enjoyed my first day, observing for one hour and tutoring for two. It will be nice because it's a completely established program, so the lesson plans are all written and materials all organized and I just literally have to teach it. I'm so excited to have gotten another job already and to be starting just a week after quitting my old job. I'm sure it will take a little while to get used to, but overall I am hugely relieved and excited. And, my level of stress is sooo much lower now that I am out of the awful place I worked before. So, life in Dubai is good again.

The Chocolate Burj

I truly didn't think the World's Tallest Building (our neighbor) could get any better until I saw this...

The Chocolate Burj Khalifa. I have no idea who the 'artist' is, but it can be found currently on display in the Dubai Mall at the gourmet chocolate store Patchi. What could be better than the world's tallest building? An 8 foot replica made of chocolate of course (and it appears to be milk chocolate, my favorite). So, I just had to take a picture. Hopefully it sticks around for a little while so our next round of guests can get to see it too...

Caramel

Today I had the most amazing lunch! My good friend Angela's husband Derek is an executive chef and for the last 6 months or so he has been working on opening a new restaurant in Dubai. Yesterday his new restaurant "Caramel", located in the DIFC, opened. Angela's parents are in town and so she invited me to join them for lunch to try the new restaurant. I was really excited because we've been dying for Derek's restaurant to open (you know my love of good food) so Jared and I could go.

The interior of the restaurant is all cozy leather and caramel colored. It has a fun looking bar and a patio area outside that looks just delightful with teak furniture and wooden latticed arbors to sit under. We sat inside because it was a little hot out. Derek came out of the kitchen to greet us almost immediately, and then promptly ordered almost everything on the menu for us to try. The restaurant is owned by a company in Las Vegas and so a lot of the menu is American food, which I was extremely excited about because good American food is hard to come by here.

For Starters we had a sampling of almost all the apps: lobster tacos with mango salsa, crabcake sliders, black cod lettuce wraps, and my personal favorite, chicken "lolly pops" (ie, delicious buffalo wings with real blue cheese. I immediately had to brag to Jared about getting to have actual wings in Dubai).

Then for my main I had the sliders (Derek insisted that I try them, complete with Vlasic Pickles, which I'm actually not a fan of, but appreciated the American-ness). Angela had half a roasted chicken with mashed potatoes, her dad had sea bass over risotto, and her mom had salmon with white bean salad and lemon buttered asparagus. All delicious. And Derek also insisted that we try the side dishes, so had garlic and parmesan pomme frites and mac n cheese sticks with truffle dipping sauce (amazing!).

Then, when I didn't think I had any more space in my stomach, Derek brought out all the desserts for us to try. Apple crumble with vanilla ice cream, molten chocolate cake with coffee ice cream, and a bowl with mango and lemon sorbet with berries. Absolutely the most amazing lunch I've had in Dubai! I can't wait to bring Jared back to try the wings, although unfortunately, now that the restaurant is open, Derek is leaving the company... They will definitely miss him.

Dubai American Women's Association Ball

So, for my first five and a half months or so of living in Dubai, I kept asking myself, "Where are all the Americans??!" Because, during that time, although Jared and I have met tons of wonderful people from around the world and have made some great friends, we truly had not met a single American. I know there are about 19,000 to 20,000 of us here, so where are they? In my search for other North Americans, I did some googling and discovered the American Women's Association of Dubai. I discovered that they meet once a month and have a "Meet & Greet" coffee and pastry gathering the 3rd Tuesday of every month. So I promptly signed up to attend the next "Meet & Greet" which would be occurring the following week.

On February 16th I followed the directions that had been emailed to me to a villa in Jumeirah and headed to the Meet & Greet. I didn't really know what to expect and obviously was going on my own not knowing a soul, but figured I didn't have anything to lose and that if nothing else, I would at least get to spend a couple hours in the company of other people who 'talked like cowboys.' I immediately felt at home when I arrived though and was chatting away with lots of different women of all ages before I knew it. Just so much fun to be talking to other Americans about life here and what we missed about home (lots of missing Walmart and Target, etc.). I was able to find a small group of women talking who appeared to be about my age (late 20's or so) and so really hit it off with them. The group of women at the Meet & Greet was very diverse and ranging in ages from about 26 on the young-side to about 70 on the older side, with the majority of women probably falling between 35 and 50. So, not a whole lot of young professional types. I really enjoyed chatting with a couple of the younger women I met who were within a year or so of my age (although both married and very recently arrived). Before leaving we made sure to exchange emails and phone numbers.

So the following week, one of the younger women I met, Meredith, arranged for the 3 of us + significant others to get together for dinner. We all really hit it off and agreed to get together again. Then last week I had breakfast again with Meredith and Marisa. Marisa mentioned that she was going to be volunteering at the American Women's Association Charity Ball on Friday night and that they were looking for more volunteers. Jared and I had talked about going to the Ball (the biggest AWA event of the year), but decided that having just had visitors, it would be better to save our money and have a cheap weekend. On the morning of though, Marisa called and said that they still really needed volunteers and would we be interested in volunteering and therefore getting to go to the ball for free. Never one to turn down free 6 course meals at 5 Star Hotels, I promptly agreed.

The plan was for Jared and I to go together, but when he heard it was "black tie", Jared chickened out thinking he would stick out wearing just a gray suit. So, on Friday night I got all dressed up in my go-to black wrap dress, did my hair and make-up and took a taxi to the Atlantis Hotel on the Palm Jumeirah to volunteer at the Charity Ball. Marisa had been there all day working on stuffing goody bags and table settings, so I felt kind of guilty strolling in at 6pm when most of the preparation work had already been done. I didn't have much idle time though, as people started arriving by 6:30 or so for the 7pm cocktail hour. Marisa and I began working at the entrance table distributing tickets and checking people in almost immediately.

It was fun chatting with people and handing out raffle and drink tickets. Certainly not difficult work, and Lisa (the woman who organized the event) kept us hydrated by bringing over endless glasses of white wine and having the waitresses bring us a sampling of the passed hors d'oeuvres (shrimp with cilantro, salmon, and foie gras)  from the cocktail hour. Then, when the cocktail hour was ending, Lisa found a table where the people weren't going to be coming and the four of us were able to sit together and enjoy the entertainment (great live band doing covers of American songs) and five of the six courses of the meal. The meal was delicious too... It started with Ceviche of Pacific Scallops, Avocado, Lime Leaf, and Tomato Terrine, followed by Ginger and Soy Marinated Cod with Sprouts and Kai Lan. There was a Pina Colada Sorbet with dried Pineapple Chip intermezzo, and then Roasted Beef Fillet in a Thai Curry Sauce with Coconut Crispy Rice for the main.

In between courses we were able to mingle at bit, and I ran into some of the people from the new tutoring center I will be working at (Dubai is a smaller town than you'd think!). Then, just as dessert was being served, Lisa called us into Ballroom C where the silent auction was just wrapping us and told us she needed our help starting to notify the winners and collect the money for the silent auction. I grabbed a plate of dessert (Mango and Passion Fruit Pavlova with White Chocolate Ice Cream) that I was able to eat before beginning my running for the silent auction.

Marisa and I then helped with the silent auction for the next couple hours, rounding people up to pay for and claim their silent auction winnings. It hardly felt like work because we were chatting with people and still getting to enjoy the endless flowing wine (I had switched to red by this point in the night) and enjoy the band. I didn't end up leaving the Atlantis until the ballroom was almost empty and got home somewhere around 1:30am. Overall, a great and very fun night. Maybe it was just my euphoria at being almost completely surrounded by Americans, but I really had a great time!

(notwithstanding the food poisoning I seemed to have picked up that led to unpleasant after-effects in the 36 hours following the ball)

6 Months

Having lived in Dubai for exactly 6 months today, I thought it might be fitting to reflect on my first six months here. Living in Dubai has given me a whole new appreciation for things I took for granted living in the US. It has also given me a much different and broader prospective of the world, that I truly do not think I could have gained happily going about my life in Boston. So, without further ado, here is a summary of our first six months living in Dubai:

Living arrangements: 2 weeks in the Belvedere Court Hotel in Bur Dubai, five and a half months in our furnished apartment in Downtown Burj Dubai. Having a furnished apartment has been great and not having any of our own stuff has retaught me the lesson I've learned every time I've lived abroad (previously in London and Rome at different times while I was in college): that you really need very little to get by and be happy. Our apartment in Boston was jam-packed floor to ceiling with all our stuff (both mine and Jared's parents handed over all our possessions from baseball cards to babybooks telling us they didn't want to store our crap anymore, so we actually have significantly more than an average couple in their late 20's. Most of our friends parents are less brutal and still have bedrooms, basements, and attics at their parent's houses stuffed with mementos from growing up. We don't). However, being here for six months with virtually none of my stuff and my wardrobe down-sized by 90% before I left (thanks Mrs. K!), I realize how much crap I have for no reason. I do miss my kitchen gadgets though, almost daily. Not sure what that says about me as a person, but we already know how important food (and good food) is to Jared and I.

Jobs: Jared, still fairly happily working for the firm who hired him right out of law school 2.5 years ago, me, one job found a week after I arrived, said job quit yesterday. Will begin new job at another tutoring company this week, with possible private tutoring and part-time English teaching, along with actual teaching prospects at an American school for September. Not too bad, I think, considering I left my first tutoring job of my own choosing. More than I can say for what my job prospects would be in Boston right now...

Health and Fitness: have lost seven pounds since I arrived in September, which occasionally comes back when I go home (such as for three weeks at Christmas) or when we have visitors.

Legal Status: FINALLY a legal resident of the UAE, am also licensed to drive here and have just successfully opened a bank account. This is an area of stress in my life here, but I think give it a couple more weeks for the health insurance and PO Box and hopefully I will finally feel settled in regards to bureaucracy.

Things I miss the most (other than my kitchen gadgets and Crate & Barrel/Bed Bath & Beyond [where I buy my kitchen gadgets]): My friends. My little cousins in Wellesley. Beerworks. Seasonal Beer and 3 Buck Chuck. Trader Joes. Target. Cheap toiletries. Seasons (although I can't say I particularly miss winter at the moment). Good cheese. Public Transportation (sadly, who could imagine I'd miss the T. You'd miss it too if you had to drive in suicide traffic everyday). Culture. New England weekend getaways. Boston sports. Starbuck's chai lattes. Being somewhere where everyone talks like me. Unlimited Nights and Weekends. Fast Internet.

Things I love about Dubai: Year-long summer (I'm sure I'll hate it come real summer). New friends. Ethnic food (particularly Indian and Arabic/Lebanese). Reserved seating in movies. Beach Bars and outdoor dining. Grilling. Happy Hour in the Garden. Our infinity pool and free gym on our floor. Running outside in shorts and a t-shirt year round (once again, there is a disclaimer here regarding the months of June, July, and August). BBQing all winter long.

Countries visited: Only Oman, 3 times, but will be heading to Doha, Qatar next month.

So, I definitively love the US and Boston much more than I could ever love Dubai. I am truly grateful for the opportunity to live here though, and don't regret my decision for one minute. The experiences I am getting are without a doubt once in a lifetime. 6 months down, 18 to go... It's not so bad, but I am certain when we are heading into Fall 2011 (when we are planning on moving home at the latest), I will be counting the days. Until then, I will embrace and enjoy the sun and sand of Dubai and my life in the Middle East.

Visitors!

The first morning, beaching, sunning, and swimming at JBR Walk Beach.

Last week we had our very first visitors! We were so excited when Jared's Dad Harry and Linda emailed us on February 18th to tell us that they had booked flights to come a week later on February 25th for 6 days until March 3rd. We didn't have much time to plan since I was in the midst of my visa bureaucracy craziness, but we were still so excited because we truly didn't think they would be able to make the trip.

They arrived about 8:30pm on Thursday night, having taken the Emirates direct flight from JFK. We weren't sure how they would feel after such a long flight, so didn't plan anything for that night, and just had some dates and figs and cheese and crackers and wine and caught up at our place. We were up chatting until about midnight and then wanted to let them sleep as late as they needed the next morning to avoid jet lag (we are 9 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time here!).

They actually woke up pretty early and we found them relaxing in our garden at about 7:30am. We got ready pretty quickly and headed out to show them a bit of Dubai first thing, by heading to the Marina and JBR beach for Starbuck's and swimming. It was great to get up and just relax. We usually have things we need to accomplish on weekends and rarely take the time to just get coffee and sit on the beach on Friday mornings.

We vegged at the beach for a couple hours and enjoyed watching the camel walking back and forth. Apparently, the little girl riding this camel, rides the camel every morning, despite the fact that she appears to be about 2-3 and like she could fall off at any moment. Oh Dubai!

Jared, Harry, Me at The Atlantis Hotel on the Palm Jumeirah.

After a couple hours, we decided to get out of the sun and head home and get ready to go to lunch. But before we went home, we decided to give them a driving tour of the Palm Jumeirah man-made palm-shaped islands. I find the whole Palms/man-made island projects to be highly unnatural and disturbing since it results in homes and hotels being created in what should be about a mile out to sea. Certainly not good for the sea life and tidal movement (not to mention what the dredging did to the reefs)...

Me & Jared in front of The Atlantis. Despite the negative environmental impact, the Palm is pretty...

Harry and Linda in front of the Burj Khalifa (World's Tallest Building), from the Souk Al Bahar.

Around Dubai

I think the best part of having visitors was taking the time to do things and go places in Dubai that we don't end up doing on a regular basis when we're caught up in everyday life. Since Harry and Linda were our first visitors, we naturally wanted to show them everything. We also planned a couple of day trips and organized tours in order for them to a get more well-rounded view of the region.

Harry, Linda, and Jared in the Bur Dubai Textile Souq (near Bastakia, the old part of town with the old wind tower houses and architecture along with creek).

The Aladdin Shoes stand in the Textile Souq. Quintessential Textile Souq (although, I don't know anyone besides my Mother who has ever wanted or purchased the shoes and/or wears them). Pretty and unique though.

Linda, Harry, and Jared on the Abra before our $0.30 water taxi ride across the creek to Deira. Please disregard the terrible expression on Jared's face. It was the day I was supposed to be paid my February salary and my boss yet again did not have it, so he was stressed, plus he really hates when I make him pose for pictures anywhere that makes it look like he's a tourist. I just thought it was a great shot though, because rarely, if ever are you on an Abra alone and not packed like sardines next to about 30 Indians.

View of one of the Dhow Dinner Cruises in the Dubai Creek while we were on the Abra. We've yet to try one of the dinner cruises. Most look pretty low brow, but I've heard still a fun experience.

Harry and Linda at the Deira Spice Souq. Traditional outdoor spice market which sells saffron, along with every other spice under the sun at dirt cheap prices (although coincidentally does not carry some Indian spices). Linda had a great time bartering and buying spices for friends and family back home (probably one of the best souvenirs if you ask me!)

Musandam Peninsula

Me and Jared on our Dhow, waiting for the cruise to begin.

On their second full day here, we decided to take Harry and Linda to the Musandam Peninsula in the Sultanate of Oman (the country bordering the UAE to the east and northeast). The bulk of Oman runs along the southeastern edge of the UAE, but Musandam is an isolated area at the tip of the Arabian Peninsula, completely separated from the rest of Oman and surrounded by the UAE (think Alaska in the US, but on the east coast).

Jared and I had been to Musandam before in March of 2008 when we went for a weekend to celebrate our 5 Year Anniversary. Jared discovered Musandam, and it really is a hidden jem in that it is extremely rural and underdeveloped, with only 2 hotels, and having only opened for tourism around 1997 (since it is located directly on the Straight of Hormuz, through which nearly 100% of oil coming out of the region must pass). Being situated right on the tip of the Arabian Peninsula, Musandam is positioned where the turquoise waters of the Persian Gulf meet the Gulf of Oman. In order to get there you have to drive on curving mountainous roads through the inlets and fjords that make up the region (and pass through two other more rural Emirates: Sharjah and Ras al Khaimah).

As you drive, the beautiful waters of the Gulf are on your left and mountains appearing to jut directly out of the sea are on your right. A truly breathtaking ride if you're a passenger with a guide driving you in a Range Rover (as we were the first time we came). Breathtaking in another way, if you're driving them in a tiny Mitsubishi Lancer, running late due to underestimating the time it would take to drive from Dubai, and having to pass oil tankers driving in low gear with Jared having a nervous breakdown in the passenger seat, thinking we're going to miss our 9am boat ride. In the end we made it though, despite a truly stressful drive there (Harry and Linda really are great sports!).

Once we got to our boat though, all the stress immediately dissipated and the 3 hour car ride from Dubai was worth every minute. We went on a full-day boat cruise on the old-style Arabic wooden boats through the fjords all day, stopping periodically for snorkeling and dolphin watching, along with a grilled fish lunch on the boat.

Breathtaking scenery from all angles -- islands and mountains coming straight out of the sparking clear water.

Harry and Linda lounging on the boat, most likely grateful to be alive and out of the tiny car...

Another view with a luxury yacht in the distance. Jared and I were contemplating the pros and cons of retiring on a boat, but then remembered the Somali pirates and decided we would probably never be able to afford a yacht anyway.

More Musandam

Jared and Me on the boat. We actually had perfect weather for our day in Oman, despite ominous forecasts predicting thunderstorms up until the morning we went. It got a little overcast in the afternoon, and was extremely windy (therefore chilly at times), but beautiful because it wasn't too hot, which would be uncomfortable if you're on a wooden boat all day.

Other than the snorkeling and dolphin watching, we were entertained on the boat by our captain fishing and actually catching two giant King Fish. I was in awe of the first fish... until he caught the second one...

Wrestling with the big catch.

The Big Catch. Probably 2 and 1/2 feet long, presumably heavy, and extremely frisky. After walking around the boat to show all the passengers, he was promptly stuffed into a cooler.

Mountain Village accessible only from the water. On our cruise you could see about 3-4 tiny fishing villages that have been built into the mountains and are only accessible by water. Each village has only about 100 inhabitants, although I'm pretty sure they do have electricity because you can see power lines going over the mountains. Still not sure I'd really want to live there...

Dune Bashing and Desert Safari

Me & Jared -- Desert self-take.

Toward the end of Harry and Linda's visit, we had planned a Dune Bashing/Desert Safari afternoon so they could get a complete picture of the region (urban in Dubai, coast in Musandam, and no trip to the UAE would be complete with getting out and seeing the desert). We booked a tour with Desert Rangers, the same company we had used when Jared and I went on our first desert safari in November 2007 (the first time I visited), and we definitely were not disappointed.

For the uninformed, a desert safari is basically an off-road adventure through the desert in a 4-wheel drive vehicle from which some of the air has been released from the tires (think driving on Duxbury Beach x 1000). We got picked up by our guide Abbas in a Toyota Land Cruiser (we were only slightly nervous to be driving through sand dunes in a Toyota) at about 3:30pm. We picked up another couple from a nearby hotel and headed out into the desert.

We stopped at a roadside plaza to let out the air and rendezvous with the other vehicles (5-10 other Land Cruisers were a part of our group and we all met up before caravanning through the desert). After about 20 minutes of hydrating and giving the tourists in the other vehicles time to buy souvenirs (we obviously don't ever consider ourselves tourists. In fact, Jared gets angry if his name is ever put into the same sentence as anything referring to tourism), we headed off-road and into the desert.

We spent the next couple hours bombing through the dunes in what feels like a roller coaster ride on sand. Extremely fun and bouncy, although probably not for those with heart conditions. Often times it feels like you're going to flip when you are flying nose-first down a 45 degree incline, but the presence of multiple roll-bars in the vehicle makes you feel slightly safer.

Periodically we'd stop along the way in a particularly pretty stretch of desert for pictures and to pop the hoods on the Land Cruisers to let them cool down. We took advantage of the photo op and took a group photo.

Jared's desert modeling shot.

Jared and his Dad. Family resemblance in appearance and fashion.

The beautiful desert. Unfortunately, too often here people really treat the environment with complete and utter disregard, thinking nothing of littering and leaving the remnants of an entire picnic meal in the desert or beach. It disgusts me and I actually had a hard time getting a good desert shot that didn't have cans and garbage in it. And if destroying the natural beauty of a place isn't enough, it also kills the camels who will come across garbage (plastic bags and such) in the desert, eat them, and subsequently die when a plastic bag becomes lodged in their stomachs. Quite distressing me to. Maybe I'll start an "adopt a square kilometer of desert" program similar to adopt a highway in the US.... hmm...

More Desert Safari

Another beautiful desert shot, with only one piece of garbage visible on the left side. You think of the desert as being flat, so it's weird to see pseudo-mountains in the desert with rocks. Really lovely.

Following the hour or two of dune bashing, the evening continues at a camp in the middle of the desert where all the SUV's convene for a BBQ dinner with music and entertainment. Included in the 'entertainment' are camel rides, henna, sheesha, and of course, belly dancing. There is a bar to buy drinks, and they give you an hour or so to relax and explore, before the buffet-style Arabic dinner and the belly dancing caps off the night.

Linda listened when the camel trainer told her to lean back so Sheeba could stand up.

And she's up. Harry and Linda's camel ride.

Jared engaging in sheesha, with his best attempt at looking sophisticated while smoking out of a hookah.

My camel ride. I needed a more positive camel ride experience, because the last time we rode camels, the trainer made the camel stand up while I was still dangling over the side. A little scary because those guys are tall. I didn't fall, but I still needed to overcome my camel ride fears.

We really loved and appreciated Harry and Linda making the long and expensive trip to Dubai and had a wonderful 6 days with our very first visitors. We hope they had as much fun as we did showing them around...

And now the countdown is on for our next round of visitors... Jared's twin brothers Brett and Scott, and my best friend Jess are heading over in about 3 weeks... Poor Harry and Linda got to be the guinea pigs, and also be here through my job drama, but now we know the ropes and can't wait to continue to show our family and friends what Dubai is all about!

Free At Last!

Today I quit my job. It is the most liberating feeling in the world, after 6 months of constant stress and uncertainty about whether I would get paid (not to mention the fact that I was working illegally since he never provided me with an employment visa or labor card). I somehow amazingly was able to get my February pay (despite appearances the last couple days at work) and so was able to make a clean break, having only worked one day that I will not get paid for. Now onto bigger and better things. I can't wait!