Fall Update

Well, in case you've noticed (and/or cared), I have been fairly derelict with keeping up my blog as of late. Being a full-time teacher is an obscenely greater amount of work than just being a teacher aid. The verdict is still out on whether the doubled salary is actually worth the approximately 4x as much work. Maybe not... It's been a good experience and certainly a challenge though. Even though I have broken down and finally given into the Dubai lifestyle of having a cleaner (sadly 2.5 years of being overly served in every avenue of life here has taken it's toll on me and I finally hired a cleaner to come once a week starting in October. I am so busy and it's only the equivalent of about $25 USD a week. Hard to not justify), I still seem to find no time for things like personal emails and blog updating. Admittedly though, we haven't actually been up to all that much other than attending weddings this fall. I figured I would do a little recap though, and share some photos of our fall in Dubai.

Before picture of my classroom (to show how far it has come)...

Another before picture...

And After... A virtual tour of Ms. Davenport's 5th Grade:

Tada! I'm not going to lie, I am pretty impressed with myself and how far my classroom has come since August 21st.

Another view of my classroom. We rearrange the desks every month or so and this was the second configuration of the year.

Yet another view. It took a lot of hard work, but I think I succeeded in making my classroom appear to be a functional 5th grade classroom.

So basically you could sum up my September and October with just saying: weddings and school. That is what consumed my life for those two months.

For Halloween in 5th Grade we had a Character Convention instead of a traditional Halloween Party (gotta make it academic since the kids are almost Middle Schoolers). It was also mandatory for teachers to dress up as well... So a quick visit to the ASD Costume Room and I was Alice (a la Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carol). I actually think I pulled it off, but also succeeded in making myself look like a 16 year old girl. No lie, I was confused with being a student 6 times that day.

* * *

We spent one Saturday evening this fall hanging out by the Dubai Creek and my friend Polly showed us a parking garage we were unfamiliar with that has beautiful views of Deira and the Creek.

View of the Creek from above Deira side (across to Bur Dubai and Bastakiya). We meant to get there for sunset, but it was still a great view even in the dark...

Another view across the Creek.

Looking down on a dhow full of goods: undoubtedly headed for Iran.

Deira Rooftops. We need to come back so we can catch this view during daylight. It's a window into how the other half lives in Dubai...

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For Halloween we carved our traditional Jack-o-Lantern, but Jared cut me off at three pumpkins because they were so darn expensive. I spent a little over $100 USD on three pumpkins, gourds, and Indian corn. Jared was distraught, but I told him that there isn't a price to be put on holiday spirit...

Our collective Dubai Jack-o-Lantern.

* * *

On 11/11/11, our friend Elizabeth rented out the upstairs of Buddha Bar, an upscale bar located in the Grosvenor House Hotel (and coincidentally one of our favorite places) for her 40th birthday bash. She provided 12 bottles of champagne and a fabulous time was had by all!

Me, Wynand, and Melissa.

Melissa & Dominik: enjoying the festivities.

Me & Wynand.

Melissa & Afraa.

Me & Jared, clearly enjoying ourselves.

Dom, Wynand, & Mel.

* * *

For Thanksgiving this year, we wanted to keep it small, but somehow on the night of Elizabeth's party, drunkenly agreed to host another big bash, so ended up hosting 16 people for our favorite American holiday...

Me + Jared + Our 22 pound turkey...

As usual, the dessert spread equaled if not exceeded the entree spread...

Another view of the dessert spread, which included: Pumpkin and Pecan Pie (our contributions) in addition to Guinness Cake, Carrot Cake, Pavlova, German Berry Tart, and Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins. Certainly more than enough.

I also learned a new party trick at our Thanksgiving... Our Aussie friend John brought Tim Tams, which are apparently a very popular treat in Australia. They are cookies composed of two layers of chocolate malted biscuit, separated by a light chocolate cream filling, and coated in a thin layer of textured chocolate. Our other Aussies in attendance (Clare and Melissa) chimed in and soon everyone had to try a Tim Tam Slam. To engage in a Tim Tam Slam, opposite corners of the Tim Tam are bitten off, one end is submerged in a drink, and the drink is then sucked through the biscuit. The crisp inside biscuit is softened and the outer chocolate coating begins to melt. It is recommended to do a Tim Tam Slam with a hot beverage... I much preferred Savanna Hard Cider, however...

What fun! Even if I do look like a bit of a crazed lush...

* * *

The weekend following Thanksgiving saw the UAE celebrate its 40th National Day. We meant to go down to Beach Road to watch all the Emirati's drag racing with their cars pimped out in UAE paraphenalia for the occasion, but ultimately were too lazy so spent our National Day enjoying the Gulf on our friends David & John's boat.

Tower under construction in the Dubai Marina. Anyone who thinks Dubai is still suffering the effects of the economic downturn should visit a mall and/or check out the major resurgence in construction all over the city.

While we were out on the boat an air show passed overhead. You never know what you will see on a daily basis in the UAE...

Happy 40th UAE! The pilots were performing quite harrowing feats, but I was impressed with their skills. Can you see the 40 they sky wrote?

Parallel flying.

Lots of sky writing going on... I don't know what they were trying to say here... Unless it was in Arabic?

More sky writing. I definitely think this one was Arabic.

So that was our Fall... Nothing too crazy or eventful, but still fairly Dubai...

Autumn Weddings!

How do I love fall in New England? Let me count the ways...This year we have been able to enjoy autumn in New England for the first time since we moved to Dubai thanks to a plethora of weddings (3!) from October 1st through November 5th. Luckily, two of the three were on back-to-back weekends, so we only needed to make the trip home twice within a month.... Some people thought we were crazy, but my response was always the same... We are very very good friends. I'm just hoping our friends are all equally good friends when we get married next summer (more on that later...).

Our first trip home of the fall was from September 29th to October 9th. On October 1st we attended our good friends Steve & Lyndsay's wedding and then the following weekend on October 8th, we attended my best friend Jess and her (now) husband Matt's wedding. We love weddings and all that goes along with them (dancing + free-flowing booze always makes for a good time), so it didn't feel like a hardship at all (once we got over the jet-lag)... The week in between we had a great time catching up with friends and family and even spent a day looking at wedding venues of our own.

Our second trip home was a bit briefer, from November 3rd through the 7th. Fortunately, Eid Al Adha fell during that time so we didn't have to take any time off of work and then I actually had the remainder of the week off once we returned to Dubai on the 8th. We attended our good friends Justin & Michele's wedding on November 5th. I felt a special affinity to attending their wedding because I actually set them up when they started dating in 2005. Apparently I am a phenomenal match-maker because the only couple I have ever introduced got married! I'm 1/1! I think I'll stop there since I'm batting 1.00. :)

Below is a visual representation of our autumn wedding bonanza...

I love love love wedding cake, so I just had to take photos of all three. Steve and Lyndsay's cake: simple yet beautiful and very autumn-y.

Sadly, I didn't end up getting a photo of the bride and groom at this one, but did get the lovely centerpieces. It was an orange and brown color scheme which worked really well for an October wedding.

Jared, Jenn, and Brad at the cocktail hour. Lyndsay and Steve's 'signature' drink was a Dark & Stormy (very Dux), although afterward Steve advised everyone to "Never have a signature drink at your wedding!"... Hmm. We enjoyed it at least.

Jared & Jenn G. again at the cocktail hour.

Justin & Michele (Nov. 5th bride & groom) with Emily & John (July '11 bride & groom from the wedding we attended over 4th of July weekend in Buffalo)

Charles & Brianne at the reception.

Bradford & Jenn G. again, at the reception.

Me & Jared at the reception (I need to have this dress tailored due to the excessive amount of cleavage... oops).

Jared & Jenn: drinking to each other??

Emily & John getting down on the dance floor. Jared hates wedding bands with a passion, but I think this one won him over when they started playing James "Laid." An essential song on the repertoire at every wedding (in our opinion)...

After the reception we headed to the Hong Kong in Harvard Square which was conveniently located right across the street (the wedding and reception were both held at the absolutely beautiful Harvard Faculty Club [the bride Lyndsay attended Harvard - a nice perk for alums]).

And you can't go to the Hong Kong without indulging in Scorpion Bowls...

Me & Bradford.

I think approximately 10-12 Scorpion Bowls were consumed following the wedding... Quite a classy way to end the night.

So with one wedding down we recovered from our inevitable hangovers and had a lovely week bopping around Boston Metro West and the South Shore (with stops to see my fam in Wellesley and a few days in Duxbury to see Jared's fam). On Thursday night, Oct. 6th, we headed up to New Hampshire for wedding #2, my best friend Jess's wedding, in which I was the Maid of Honor. I ran errands with Jess during the day on Friday and then we attended the Rehearsal Dinner on Friday night.

The Whole Wedding Party at the Rehearsal Dinner.

Me & Jess (the blushing bride).

The Lamb Sisters + Me (honorary Lamb sister).

Jess & Matty: the bride and groom.

Jess's sister Jen is a fantastic baker and made caramel apple cupcakes for the occasion (Jess's color was green and green apple was the theme).

Morning of 'before' picture... All wearing our matching sweatpants embroidered with our role in the wedding. Mine say "Maid of Honor."

Bouquet of ribbons from the shower (used to practice at the rehearsal the day before).

Just Married! The bride & groom in the limo after the ceremony.

Bridesmaids in the Limo: Jess's sisters Kristen and Shannon and Matt's sister Kate.

The Jen's in the limo.

Wedding Cake #2: Jess wanted to incorporate green apples into the presentation.

Me & Jared at the reception, which was held at The Derryfield Country Club in Manchester, NH. Notice the favors on the table: Lindt Golf Balls. A super cute touch since Matt is a golf pro.

Me & Jess. Cleavage seemed to be a major issue for me at these two weddings.

Showing off my hair updo.

Father-Daughter Dance: Jess danced with her Dad (fondly known as Tom, Esq. [although he's not actually a lawyer]) to Paul Simon's song "Father and Daughter," which I just love!

Me & Jared out on the deck. I appreciated Jared's willingness to wear his green tie to coordinate with my dress.

Another of us out on the deck, later in the night.

NESL (New England School of Law) Reunion! Jess, Adam, and I. We also got to meet Adam's awesome boyfriend Joe DiMaggio (his real name, he's a great grandson of Joltin' Joe) at the wedding.

Green Apple Centerpieces too! Jess was a big DIY bride and she was very creative in incorporating green apples into everything. I loved it!

Wedding #3 was Justin & Michele's on November 5th. Michele was the first friend I made in law school and Justin is one of Jared's Duxbury friends (and roommates for 3 years during law school). As I mentioned before, I introduced them in November 2005, and the rest is history... I did get a shout-out by the priest during his homily though at the ceremony, which totally made my day.

The beautiful bride and groom. I loved Michele's dress. Very original with the lace cap sleeves.

Their ceremony was held at a lovely Catholic Church in Cambridge and then the reception was held at the MIT Faculty Club. It's a fairly modern building on the MIT campus (Justin attended Sloan Business School) with beautiful views down over the Charles River.

Wedding Cake #3. Michele's colors were navy blue with orange accents. I never really thought I would want a fall wedding, but I love all the possibilities in terms of harvest-y colors and decorations.

John & Emily (aka Mr. & Mrs. Truelove).

Jared with John & Brad (two of his best friends who were also roommates during law school).

Me & Jared at the Cocktail Hour.

Jenn G. & Brad. They were our partners in crime at both the Duxbury weddings, and at some point in the course of our drunken wedding banter we convinced them that they should come and visit us in Dubai, so they've booked tickets to come see us in March!

JB, Jenn G, and Jared.

The Jen(n)'s.

Another NESL Reunion. Kim and Michele were the first two friends I made in law school (although Kim transferred after 1st year to American University in DC). We haven't all been together since the night our bar exam ended in July 2008.

So concludes our 2011 wedding schedule. It was probably our biggest wedding year yet, with 5 (of which we were able to attend 4). So far we only have one on the docket for 2012, other than our own of course... Until next year...