Misadventures of Ayanna & Ajenai Part Deux: EID Holiday!

Hi all!

So last weekend was the Eid 4 day holiday. I really, really wanted to go out of town but we just couldn't swing it. Especially with the holiday being cut from a whole day regardless of what the calendar said. So me and the kid decided to just do a few touristy things in Abu Dhabi! The first thing we did was actually something I have wanted to do since I was in high school. We signed up for scuba diving lessons and had our first class that weekend! It was only watching a bunch of "how to" videos. But I was just excited to finally be starting something I've wanted to do, like, forever! Even though I received a dressing down from my friend helping me with my budget here ("because why would you take your first paycheck and buy scuba diving lessons when you don't even have curtains or a sofa!" she said. Honestly, not doing scuba didn't even cross my mind! that's why I need a friend to help me with my budget in the first place!). I'm really excited to do our first open ocean course!!

Then we went to the World Trade Center mall, which is huge! There are 2 parts of the mall, a souk, and then a regular mall with normal boring stores. The mall itself was all wood interior and ceiling and was absolutely beautiful. I loved all the items on sale in the souk. Lanterns, and carpets, and all kinds of traditional looking things.

I really want one of these for my bedroom!

These were little pictures made with sand!

Salt & pepper shakers!

We also went ice skating at Zayed Sports Center which is close to our house. It was really fun! I haven't been ice skating in years, but the kid loves it. Of course, I was the oldest person on the ice! I don't have a problem with that, I adore being the oldest person everywhere! There were quite a few little kids careening around the ice. I love little kids. They just took off, didn't matter how many times they fell down, they'd just get back up and take off again. I skated with a few different little girls about 8 or 9 years old. They were sooo happy I spoke with them. Kids love practicing their English! And it turns out, almost half the people on the ice were related! This girl was like, that's my cousin, that's my brother, that's my cousin.

The immediate difference between an ice rink in Abu Dhabi and one in USA, was lack of supervision. There were groups of boys, from 11-16 racing around the rink. Dancing, having races, careening off people right and left. No one stopped them. But really, with all their racing around, they didn't knock down anyone. And at one point, the boys gathered into a circle in the middle and started dancing! On ice skates! They were pretty awesome. I managed to snap a few pics on the iphone.