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)