Only in Dubai...

Last night we went to dinner at a restaurant overlooking the Dubai Ice Rink, in the Dubai Mall. There is nothing particularly out of the ordinary about that. However, for the day on Friday they had turned the ice rink into a go-cart track and were holding go-cart races on ice. So completely random and completely Dubai. I've been to plenty of ice rinks in my life, but never before have I seen one used for this purpose. Go-cart racing on ice is something that would absolutely never occur to me. But, in Dubai, the place of superlatives, of course they would race go-carts on ice. Next it will be indoor skydiving. Oh wait, they have that here now too at the newly opened mall Mirdif City Centre. Oh Dubai, you never cease to amaze me.

I do have to admit though that dinner was made just that much more interesting watching Arabs who have undoubtedly never heard of or been in go-carts before, attempting to go as fast as possible in them around an ice track... It almost looked fun enough to give it a try ourselves...

Back to School.

On Sunday I had my first day at school! Long story short, last week I was offered a new job working in the elementary library at the American School of Dubai (ASD) as a library aid for the rest of the school year. I had interviewed at ASD for a teaching position for the fall as a lower primary classroom teacher, but had not heard back yet. The school is expanding and is adding another class at each grade level so have been looking for new teachers.

Well, out of the blue, I got a call from the elementary librarian asking if I would like to interview for an immediate position since she has someone unexpectedly leaving at the end of April. Well, of course I said yes and went in to interview the following day. At the end of the interview, it seemed like she offered me the job, but not officially, and then the following Sunday I received an email with an official offer. I was ecstatic! After all of my job stress over the last 6+ months I thought that working in a well-established American school would be the best possible job.

And after my first week of work, I think I am going to love this job! I get to work in the elementary library, helping kids pick out books, occasionally teaching classes when they come in, and doing some of the administrative library stuff (checking books in and out, etc.). Not quite as good as being a classroom teacher, but probably the next best thing since I love literature (I was an English major after all, with a focus on American classics) and I've been told the ASD libraries (Elementary and Middle School/High School) are the best in not only the city, but also the region, as there isn't really a 'public library' system here like back home. And since this is an American school, the Elementary library is jam-packed with all the classic American children's literature I grew up reading and loving... Staff get to check out books too and so I've already checked out 3 books (I flew through "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" and have now moved onto "The Boxcar Children" -- one of my absolute favorite books/series as a kid, when I spent one whole summer reading them all).

The other people who work in the library are also so nice. There is a youngish librarian (American) and then two older women who specialize in maintaining the collection and book care (both extremely nice and helpful, one Latvian, the other Indian and are complete experts on the collection, to the point where if a child asks for a book about dragons, either one of them can say, Look in the 345.2's, quite impressive.). The only downside about this job is that the pay isn't great, but I am continuing working for Sylvan and doing some private tutoring for the remainder of the school year. Then we'll see what happens for next year... Kind of crazy that I went from knowing no Americans for my first 6 months here, to now working for two different American companies and basically being surrounded by them all day long at work. I kind of love it. In your face British people. I don't talk like a cowboy. I sound just like everyone else. :)

Happy 28th Jared!

Mrs. K's Carrot Cake. Jared wouldn't have it any other way. My decorating however is quite sub-par...

Yesterday was Jared's 28th Birthday! Unfortunately, we both had to work (me all day from 9-4pm, yuck on a Saturday). So we only had the night to celebrate, but we still had a really nice time.

I told him I would take him for drinks somewhere before we went out to dinner. We decided to try somewhere outside to take advantage of outdoor dining before it gets too hot (which it will be waay too soon. It's already in the 90's everyday during the day. not excited). So we decided to try the Park Hyatt Hotel in Deira on the Creek. A truly beautiful location and we were excited to learn that Saturdays from 6-9pm is "Happy Hour" with half-price drinks!

Dubai Skyline view from Park Hyatt Terrace.

Sunset over the Creek.

Then after our lovely drinks on the Creek, we headed to dinner at the JW's Steakhouse Restaurant at the JW Marriott in Deira. The restaurant had a very Mid-Western US feel to it (cattle decor and big fluffy leather arm chairs) and we had been wanting to try it since our chef friend Derek highly recommended it as the best place in Dubai to get steak. And we weren't disappointed! I had a delicious (and very close to as good as Grill 23) 8 oz. fillet and Jared had an absurdly big (16 oz.) Porterhouse steak.. and ALL American Beef! We ordered sides ala cart and tried grilled asparagus with hollandaise sauce and purple mashed potatoes. All delicious! At some point early in our meal the manager came over to chat with us (which seems to be happening more and more in restaurants these days) and we were sharing our enthusiasm for finding a good steak restaurant in Dubai. I mentioned we were there to celebrate Jared's birthday (not at all intending to get the restaurant involved), but after we finished eating, the staff came out with surprisingly scrumptious cheesecake and sang to Jared! Usually I think that is extremely tacky at restaurants, but somehow it seemed charming at JW's. Could have been the 3 drinks I had had... Oh well. Overall, a yummy and fitting 28th birthday celebration!

Doha, Qatar

Last weekend, Jared and I decided to go on a little getaway to Doha, Qatar. We thought it would be a great way to recover from playing host and we had two free nights at the Doha Ritz Carlton (Club Level, amazing). Flights on the budget airline Air Arabia were super cheap so we could see no reason not to take advantage. Why did we have two free nights at the Ritz? Well, my ever clever/resourceful boyfriend had been to a conference at the Ritz in Doha (for his firm) about a month ago and when he got there to check in, the Qatari government had commandeered a whole bunch of rooms at the hotel and he had to be moved to the Ritz's beach resort Sharq Cove (poor guy). So, after the conference, he complained that the move was inconvenient because the resort was 20 minutes away and he couldn't "go to his room and get work done in between lectures" as I am sure he would have undoubtedly done. Well, the fantastic Room Manager at the Doha Ritz offered him two free nights with hotel transport to "make up for his troubles." Sure, we'll come back and you can make it up to us...

So Thursday afternoon we took a taxi to Sharjah (the next Emirate over, flying budget has it's catches) and took the 45 minute flight to Doha. Now I had no idea where Doha was until we started planning this trip. Doha is the capital of Qatar, a peninsula country landlocked entirely by Saudi Arabia and located northwest up the southern coast of the Persian Gulf from the UAE (very near Bahrain). Doha is a very western and international city which I would compare to a slightly more conservative mini-Dubai. It's a smaller city, and we were really just looking forward to relaxing by the pool and beach and doing nothing.

We were greeted at the airport by a BMW 5 series waiting to pick us up (they really threw in all the perks. delightful!). Our wonderful driver David chatted with us throughout the drive and gave us a driving tour of the city enroute to the hotel. And when we arrived at the hotel we were immediately taken to the Club Lounge to check-in there (as opposed to the normal desk in the lobby) and they served us our choice of alcoholic beverages (wine and beer) to enjoy while we were waiting to be checked-in. As we kept saying all weekend long, the pampering of staying "Club Level" really makes you not ever want to travel again without it. Hmmm... After we finished our drinks, along with pastries and cheese and crackers from the 24 hour lounge buffet, we were shown to our beautiful room where our bag was waiting for us. There we found a personalized note from Ned (the Room Manager) wishing us a lovely stay, a fruit plate, chocolates, cookies, and bottles of European still and sparking water. Jared's 'troubles' had already been made up to me within the first five minutes..

Since we arrived at around 8:20pm, we had just missed the dinner buffet at the club lounge and so decided to check out one of the restaurants at the hotel for dinner (the only bad thing about the Ritz is that it is kind of far out of town and not within walking distance of anything, contrary to some of the other nicer hotels downtown... not that I can complain). We just wanted something casual and were directed to "The Admiral's Club" restaurant right on the Marina that is a part of the Ritz complex. Jared was won over when he saw wings on the menu, and I had a delicious grilled chicken club. After dinner we went back to the lounge for more free drinks (champagne for me this time around) and then called it an early night.

View of the amazing pool area from our balcony.

When we woke up Friday morning, we realized just how lovely our room was. We had a balcony overlooking the Marina and also the new land reclamation project The Qatar Pearl (a similar man-made island project to the Palms and World in Dubai).

The beginning of The Pearl

The main part of The Pearl, which our driver (the delightful David) drove us out to see on our way to the airport. Basically like a 100x nicer version of the Palm Jumeirah.

Jared on the balcony with the Doha city skyline behind him.

Doha skyline from our balcony.

Museum of Islamic Art

Islamic Art Museum

After soaking in the views from our balcony on Friday morning, we headed up to the Club Lounge for breakfast. When we checked in we were told to "think of the lounge as your living room while you're here" and we did, spending more time there than in our room. Three meals a day were served there (with all you can drink booze) and we literally could have just had all our meals there if we were so inclined. After breakfast we decided to check out the pool after seeing it from our balcony. We were greeted at a cabana hut and told to pick out our seats so that the pool boy could make up beds for us and bring us a buckets of chilled water bottles. Such pampering!

We lounged at the pool for a couple hours before heading up to shower before lunch and then go to the lunch buffet in the Club Lounge. Since it was a Friday (the Islamic holy day) pretty much everything was closed in the morning, but we thought we would spend Friday afternoon taking in some of the culture in Doha. I was excited that there were actually proper art museums in Doha, as Dubai has NONE and little to no 'cultural' life. We took a taxi from the hotel and were dropped off outside the Museum of Islamic Art, located right on the Corniche (waterfront). The museum itself is really pretty and a work of art in that it was designed by the famous American architect I.M. Pei.

Ceiling inside the Islamic Art Museum

We wandered around the museum for a couple hours looking at ancient Qur'ans, beautiful Turkish pottery, and Persian rugs (Jared's fav), listening to the museum guide headpieces which were conveniently free to use. I just loved actually being in an art museum again, something I completely took for granted when I studied abroad in Rome. Dubai's 'culture' mostly consists of hanging out at the mall.

Museum Sign

The Palm-tree lined path leading up to the museum. So pretty.

Whole front of the museum. I was just a little bit obsessed.

Souq Waqif

After we left the museum we decided to walk along the Corniche (about a 4 mile walk) because most of the main sights to see in Doha are located in that general area. As it's such a small city, you can really see the majority of all there is to see in an afternoon.

A little bit up the corniche from the art museum we decided to check out the Souq Waqif, Doha's traditional Bedouin marketplace. It was much nicer and more authentic than any of the Dubai souqs since the locals actually shop there and continue to be the shopkeepers. In Dubai, all the shops at the souqs are run by Indians and Pakistanis, as with most other work which has been outsourced. It was really refreshing to see Qataris out and about enjoying their country.

Ceiling of the Souq

Souq View

My attempt at an artsy souq shot, with the Qatar flag.

More of the Souq Facade.

Animals!

The souq sold pretty much all the normal souq stuff... Traditional dress, spices, junky toys from China, etc. However, this souq also had ANIMALS! And cool/disturbingly enough, they do weird things with them...

Like dye chicks in technicolors! I kept telling Jared I wanted a pink chick to bring home... Cute yet disturbing.

Then there were bunnies, just hanging out on a tray. Not contained in any way, as was the general trend of the animal section at Waqif Souq.

Happy Easter from the Cadbury Waqif Bunny! They were absolutely adorable, but I was curious what the ASPCA would have to say about it.

Birds were just hanging out too... Not sure why they didn't fly away as it is an open air market. There was also a colorful toucan I missed taking a photo of that Jared was sure was going to peck off some woman's finger who was baiting it. Only in the Middle East!

Some sort of lizard. He was the only caged animal I saw the whole time. Needless to say, I was a little bit obsessed with the animals at the souq....

Walk on the Corniche

And after we left the Souq, we continued our walk along the Corniche, briefly befriending a lovely Spanish man who was working in Doha temporarily. We walked and chatted with him for awhile and took turns taking pictures for each other. We actually timed our walk pretty well, because if we had gone earlier in the day it would have been too hot, but since it was late afternoon when we were walking (after visiting the museum and souq) the temperature was perfect for a nice long walk.

Jared with the Doha Skyline and Islamic Art Museum behind him. The Corniche is curved and we literally walked all the way over to the tall buildings in the background. A loooong walk.

Islamic Studies Center near Waqif Souq.

Pearl Diving Monument, iconic spot on the Corniche

Close-up with the skyline in the background.

Jared with the Doha skyline... getting a little darker as our long walk progressed.

More Corniche

Both of us with the Doha skyline.

As we got to the more urban part of our Corniche walk, there were some murals painted on walls blocking the pedestrian area from the road. A Bedouin man is depicted in this one.

A desert scape.

We really enjoyed some of the road signs. Apparently Qatar appreciates their laborers more than the UAE.... "Take Care: Don't Kill Us. We Are At Work." Nothing like getting straight to the point.

Qatar is hoping to host the Olympics in 2022, after their bid for 2016 failed. To be honest, Qatar is lovely and I think it would be a much better place (with a much more established infrastructure and more development capital available) than Rio. An Olympics in the Middle East would be fantastic!

So after our 4+ mile death march along the Doha Corniche, we were quite knackered. We took a taxi back to the hotel and headed to our favorite place the Club Lounge for some drinks and pre-dinner nibbles. We debated what we wanted for dinner before ultimately deciding to go back to the Admiral's Club from the night before and then had more drinks in the Lounge before calling it another early night due to exhaustion. A really relaxing wonderful day though!

Ritz Lagoon

Our routine continued Saturday morning when we woke up and promptly headed to the Club Lounge for breakfast, before heading back to the pool for some R&R.

Jared at the Pool. Actually smiling. He was happy.

Since the whole weekend was just so lovely it is hard to say what my favorite part was, although it might have been the pool area/lagoon at the Ritz. An absolutely gorgeous pool made to look like a lagoon with rocks and a waterfall. I loved it!

Jared in the waterfall. His personal heaven.

Enjoying the Waterfall.

Once again, yet another thing I was obsessed with during the weekend.

Jared enjoying the pool area. Notice the little cabana hut on the left. They had underwater bar stools and the little ledge you see is actually the bar. You can enjoy drinks and/or your lunch while sitting in the pool. I thought it was pretty novel, although Jared kept saying, "oh, that's no big deal Jen, they have those everywhere..." Where I ask?? So cool.

The Ritz Carlton

By Saturday afternoon, I was getting seriously bummed out that we had to come back to reality. It was just the most perfect and relaxing getaway. I am going to be demanding to stay Club Level at the Ritz whenever we travel now...

Our room at the Ritz. I was obsessed with the bed too (yet another obsession) because it reminded me of my bed back home, all fluffy with a feather bed and amazing down comforter. I never wanted to get out... My only motivation was the free buffets in the Lounge.

Another view.

The Bathroom. All White and Black Marble.

Soaking Tub, which I kept meaning to indulge in but ran out of time.

The Ritz Lobby from above. When we finally had to leave on Saturday evening (in a 7 series BMW, hey at least they drove us in style) I was super sad. But the trip was a much needed escape and I can't wait for my next visit to the Ritz (perhaps in Istanbul??).... Oh well. Until next time...

Welcome to Dubai!

Can you spot the boys in the letters? It's like Where's Waldo...

What an absolutely lovely 10 days we had with Brett, Scott, and Jess! I can't even believe how much we were able to squeeze into that time, and I actually think they saw literally EVERYTHING worth seeing in Dubai.

They arrived on Thursday night, March 25th and after making the mandatory stop at Duty Free for booze and Cuban cigars, they met us at about 8:45pm. We weren't sure how they would feel with the jet-lag of a 14 hour flight (direct from DC) so left the night completely open to them. They were excited to get the fun started though, so we had a drink in our garden before heading out for some drinks and food. We decided to stick close to home and gave them a little walking tour of our neighborhood, en-route to our favorite South African sports bar, Nezesaussi. We had a couple drinks there, before deciding that maybe we'd get some food too and give them their first taste of the world's largest mall. We headed to the Dubai Mall food court, and despite no one (but me) wanting McDonald's we all ended up there (the food court was about to close and the ever crowded McDonald's was the only place still open). Welcome to Dubai, how about some American food? With our stomachs full of grease and beer, we headed home so our visitors could get some sleep on their first night.

Jumeirah Beach Residents (JBR) near our favorite beach on Marina Walk

On Friday morning, we let everyone sleep-in in order to (hopefully) avoid being too badly jet-lagged (we're only 8 hours ahead of Eastern Standard now with daylight savings since we don't spring forward here). When everyone finally got moving, we made a big American breakfast at home and then headed down to the Marina and our favorite beach at JBR Walk so the New Englanders could begin their base tan (or burn than tan as the case may be). We hung out at the beach for a few hours and when we needed a break from the sun, took them on a drive to see a little more of the Marina.

One stop on our little Marina tour included pulling up to the harbor so that we could get a closer look at Sheikh Mohammed (Ruler of Dubai and VP of the UAE)'s yacht. Second biggest private yacht in the world, following some Russian billionaire...

Me & Jess at JBR. Consider this picture Jess's "before" shot and watch her progress throughout the week on the tan she worked so hard on. :)

After seeing Sheikh Mo's yacht, we took a drive out to the Palm Jumeirah so they could see the Atlantis, etc. Then we headed home for a couple more hours at the pool. When everyone was satisfied that they had their base burn we all showered up and took another walk along Emaar Boulevard (our neighborhood) so they could see it during the day and also check out the Burj Khalifa up-close. We thought Arabic food would be a fitting first dinner (we aren't counting the little midnight McDonald's mishap the night before, which I am pretty sure we all want to pretend never happened). So, we walked to the Dubai Mall for dinner at my favorite Arabic restaurant Al Hallab. Delicious fresh fruit juices and Lebanese mezze. Mmmm.

Brett, Scott, Jared, Jess, and Me at Barasti. Group shot.

Then, to make a full day of it, after dinner we took a taxi to Barasti, our favorite beach bar at the Le Meridian Mina Seyahi in the Marina. The boys tried their first sheesha and we enjoyed buckets of beer on beanbags on the beach for a couple hours with our friends Marisa and Kevin. Quite the full first day if you ask me! And the first day just set the pace for the rest of the trip. These guys literally say EVERYTHING.