tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30634176934945701972024-03-12T22:25:30.283-07:00Misadventures of Ayanna & Ajenai Part DeuxAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11958518243787529410noreply@blogger.comBlogger52125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3063417693494570197.post-32518695556238865522015-09-04T11:13:00.001-07:002015-09-04T11:13:23.690-07:00The wilder Side of Kenya!<span style="font-family: 'AR CENA'; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;">I am in Kenya, y’all! On Safari! With, like lions, and wildebeests,
and hyena’s and shit!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "AR CENA"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">This is freaking awesome! Went on a little 2 hour safari tonight. It
was so beautiful. Lots of times a picture just does not capture the real beauty
of the moment. We saw, tons of wildebeests, I thought they were small! Like the
size of a pig. But they are huge! Size of like a donkey with really thick
necks. We saw tons of gazzelas and zebra’s and lions! Oh, the lions! We saw lion
cubs too! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "AR CENA"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "AR CENA"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">There is something to be said for seeing animals in the wild. Much
better than any zoo could provide. One of the cubs started stalking this bird!
But the jeeps kept grabbing his attention and he finally went back to his mom.
The sun was absolutely gorgeous. The light shinning through the clouds and the
glow in the sky. And then the sunset, ohhhh, magnificent! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "AR CENA"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "AR CENA"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">We are going tomorrow
morning as well at 7 am. And then we are taking a trip to a Masai tribe. Some
of the other guests don’t want to go because they think it is too expensive,
but hey, once in a lifetime thing, right?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'AR CENA'; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;">In our tour of Masai Masa, we have an Indian couple, a Kenyan woman
with her British husband, and the woman’s nephew and his new bride who are also
Kenyan. Everyone seems nice and well traveled. And everyone’s older, except the
newlyweds. There’s never anyone Ajenai’s age. But she is really
enjoying this which is cool. She said today was good and she likes the tent we
are staying in and the food was ok. Of course the animals were amazing! We
shall see how I sleep tonight! The beds a little hard but I’m loving the
darkness! No need for a sleep mask tonight!</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our Tent! Home for the next 3 days!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our 5 Star restaurant!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Add caption</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: 'AR CENA'; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;">2</span><sup style="font-family: 'AR CENA'; line-height: 107%;">nd</sup><span style="font-family: 'AR CENA'; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"> day visiting the Masai Mara Game Park. Today we
started at 7am and were going to stay in the park until 4. I was wondering,
what the heck are we gonna do for 9 hours!? I do have to admit that there was a
lot of sleeping going on in our van! But just when I was thinking, yea, nobody
needs to be in a game park for mulitiple hours, we say lions! Right on the side
of the road, less than 10 steps away from us! It was awesome. They were just
chilling, not afraid of us like some of the herbivores.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "AR CENA"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Ok, let’s see if I can name all the animals we saw today: lions,
zebras, giraffes, elephants, hippos, gazelles, wildebeests, buffalos, cheetahs,
mongooses, vultures, crocodiles, and tons of species of birds. Yes! I really
saw all these animals in their natural habitat! It was pretty amazing. I asked
if the lions are fed but no, all the animals have to hunt and live or die as
nature intended. Some of the wildebeests looked really thin, could see all of
their ribs. But I guess if I had just made a major however many mile migration,
I would need some fattening up too.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "AR CENA"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">This lion walked right towards and then around our van like it was just another bush! No fear!</span><br />
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I could lie here and say, wow, we totally heard him roar! But we didn't, he was just yawning! Awesome pic though!<br />
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These elephants crossed the road behind our van. A whole family, the driver said there was an Auntie and a grandmother with this group too.<br />
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Does it look like this male bull is heading right for us? Because he was! We were too close to his women, so he started walking towards us as the family crossed the road. I thought it was an everyday occurrence, but our driver said, let's hurry and go now!<br />
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This river separates Kenya from the Serengeti, Tanzania. I had no idea we were that far south!<br />
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Don't feed the animals! But of course, I did! This little guy actually took this banana right from my hand!<br />
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<span style="font-family: "AR CENA"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Last night when we were leaving the game park, we were stopped by
the rangers who told our driver to get out of the car. There were about 5 vans
in line to leave the park. The park closed at 6:30 and it was about 6:45. The
rangers talked to the drivers for a long time and the Kenyan couple in our van
said they were asking for money! I don’t know what ended up happening but after
about 10 minutes, we left without giving them any money thank goodness!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "AR CENA"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">So, I have a plan for the near future. I have been feeling bad about leaving Ms. Emily and the kids, I mean, the whole point of this trip was to volunteer with children. Now, here's my new plan: Ajenai and I will hang out this week, doing touristy stuff after the safari.
Then I will go back to Guthyri and live in the hovel of an apartment for the rest of my stay, and volunteer at the school. Ms. Emily was very excited when I told her and said of course I would be welcome! So, yay! Something is finally working out!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "AR CENA"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "AR CENA"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Ciao for now1</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11958518243787529410noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3063417693494570197.post-61043515447399211522015-08-28T00:56:00.002-07:002015-08-28T00:56:17.492-07:00End of the Kenyan road<span style="font-family: 'AR CENA'; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;">Sooooo, what I expected to come to pass, came to pass. Today, we
went to the Real Wood school about 11:30 because I had to pay the lady for some fabric I bought. Then we stayed and taught in the school and then went to the field for
sports. We didn’t leave their until 4:30. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD90M0kbm0EbQ0mVGIm3bxS_QJyQ6sIWnUg_Dsmn689meAeMlQpJIWaQDYHUHLpu_YWNuTuDkIgUNbk3n6MYI1QN0k3YazotCjYHuNZhZXtDhI_fD2voCiMUzQsrT-AjRj6wbPRFTMUiAn/s1600/20150724_162342.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD90M0kbm0EbQ0mVGIm3bxS_QJyQ6sIWnUg_Dsmn689meAeMlQpJIWaQDYHUHLpu_YWNuTuDkIgUNbk3n6MYI1QN0k3YazotCjYHuNZhZXtDhI_fD2voCiMUzQsrT-AjRj6wbPRFTMUiAn/s640/20150724_162342.jpg" width="360" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Every Friday, a bunch of schools go to this field to do sports!</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT_6gK9vF4xcFMnkEu1srwHhAqFNoH82sokhSMbed2Qr0IjJDSW9NdbpP_b2Uq68nXuLNjhpxe1MsYS0bp7xIf2vLiV9LTcQAsdINCN2SHnWlpZlAUy6ESfkokc5jgE0fLNrYSUpiIdDvV/s1600/20150724_162346.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT_6gK9vF4xcFMnkEu1srwHhAqFNoH82sokhSMbed2Qr0IjJDSW9NdbpP_b2Uq68nXuLNjhpxe1MsYS0bp7xIf2vLiV9LTcQAsdINCN2SHnWlpZlAUy6ESfkokc5jgE0fLNrYSUpiIdDvV/s640/20150724_162346.jpg" width="360" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_9th6H5o5A_7ppzlwt5Wt2MkKPsaqtUtjGmD21TMlzNwS8k-k7V5D7UWoSVhA0lqnn-yjiFG7Bg8pqw9dDM8CkFJeyMXh4vQW12HFU92WzxA1zJm_2JQInYqLc3OtueJ6SXQno7YHInPc/s1600/20150724_162432.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_9th6H5o5A_7ppzlwt5Wt2MkKPsaqtUtjGmD21TMlzNwS8k-k7V5D7UWoSVhA0lqnn-yjiFG7Bg8pqw9dDM8CkFJeyMXh4vQW12HFU92WzxA1zJm_2JQInYqLc3OtueJ6SXQno7YHInPc/s640/20150724_162432.jpg" width="360" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "AR CENA"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Then we headed over to the other
place. Justus said he had a photography class to teach. We sat there and had
prayers with the kids first. Then sat some more. Then he finally taught the
class, all about the parts of a camera. Took maybe, 30 minutes. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "AR CENA"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I had the
kids take photo’s with my camera cus how could you have a photography class and not take pictures?! Then we played jump rope and monkey in the
middle. It was fun!</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Justus' photography class</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "AR CENA"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I let the kids use my camera and take some "ecletic" shots!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "AR CENA"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Then we watched some news about Obama’s arrival. </span><span style="font-family: 'AR CENA'; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;">Then I told Justus we
were ready to leave when he was and he said we were waiting for the lady. So,
we played more games. Then he grabbed his stuff and snuck out the door! About
6:30 I called and asked where he was and said I was ready to go. He said he was
coming back, just wait. At 6:57 I called him again and said I didn’t know the
way home, where was he. Again, he said he was coming. 7:15 I finally heard him
talking and came outside and said bye to everyone.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw3wY3gkuibDRTnNDHDzPbMoPUTmTSxTthuYsrZrN929WyHME4jbK8aQYzQ5UU0B-g3PYLxRqXX2G7XdIbO1hAhGKXTqr7ry6TyJxbxUS1nGbwRUV5UZ39PIUYaw8V00jF8Z29ZbYBfapm/s1600/20150724_190204.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw3wY3gkuibDRTnNDHDzPbMoPUTmTSxTthuYsrZrN929WyHME4jbK8aQYzQ5UU0B-g3PYLxRqXX2G7XdIbO1hAhGKXTqr7ry6TyJxbxUS1nGbwRUV5UZ39PIUYaw8V00jF8Z29ZbYBfapm/s640/20150724_190204.jpg" width="360" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Making the fire for dinner</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "AR CENA"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">On the walk home I said, so, we’re leaving tomorrow, what time can
you give me my money? So he started. Basically he said something about the
landlord, he had to have a proper place for us. And kept repeating that. I
called him a liar and said I wanted my money. Eventually, I made him shut it
and listen to me. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "AR CENA"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I told him to put himself in my place: traveling 6,000
kilometers with my child, to a place I’ve never been and don’t know anyone
trusting only his word. This place has diseases and is dangerous for us and I
am placing my life and my child’s life in his hands. He of course said why did
I come if it is so dangerous and basically accepted no responsibility for
anything. He said I’ve been complaining since I got here and then he said that
he wished I had never come!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "AR CENA"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Then I just threatened him. I know, that’s low of me and I should be
above that but I really want/need my money! I said if I
don’t have my money I will complain about him on workaway and try to get him
taken off the site (which I am really going to do after our blow our in the
streets!); and I would take all the furniture out of this apartment and sell it
or trash it; and that I would go to his parents house and tell them everything
he’s done. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "AR CENA"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The only thing I will really do is report him on workaway as soon as
I have internet. I knew I should not have given him all the money up front. I
knew it even as we sat there on that hard ass ratty sofa and I passed over $300usd! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "AR CENA"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Now, I’d say live and learn but that’s just it with me. I never seem
to learn from my mistakes! And I know that is no one’s fault but my own, but I
always see the mistakes in hindsight and never while they are happening.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "AR CENA"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Anyway, we had a good last day. I taught grade 8 how to write an essay about
why tourists should come to Kenya. They didn’t understand me cus they call it
composition. Some of the essays were quite good and some needed help but they
all worked so diligently. Then I taught grade 5 the “we are stars” lesson. They
had to write 5 things they are good at and draw a star. I got the markers I
brought with me for them to use and they all were so surprised and asked where
I got them from. And some students from other classes came in to ask me to give
their class markers! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "AR CENA"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I saw a little six year old outside of her classroom and she smiled
at me and then kept fiddling with something in her hands. I looked closer and
she had a razor blade and was sharpening her tiny stub of pencil with it! I
just cringed but didn’t say anything. She was obviously used to using that
razor and was very effective with it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "AR CENA"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "AR CENA"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I just think of all the supplies I could have brought for them! They
share chalk class to class and usually have 1 tiny little eraser between them.
They have notebooks with very few blank pages in them and a handful of pens.
But I have to remind myself, I am having feelings of entitlement. They don’t have a
lot and need a lot but it is also something they are used to. They are not
begging or unduly unhappy with their lives. It is me, looking in that is
feeling so bad. And I can’t do everything for them. I have responsibilities of
my own to take care of. Everyone’s situation looks better or worse than yours
but you can’t know until you know that person. Would I like to give them a ton
of supplies? Yes. But do I
have money to use that way? Not really. I would really like to give Ms. Emily
some money for the kids, but I don’t think Justus would give it to her if I
gave it to him. I will have to call her and figure something else out.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "AR CENA"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "AR CENA"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The best thing about this trip has been the kids. They have been a ray of joy from beginning to end! I'm so grateful for them!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "AR CENA"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "AR CENA"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Ciao for now!</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11958518243787529410noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3063417693494570197.post-54771297043097998522015-08-26T09:28:00.002-07:002015-08-26T09:28:09.243-07:00Ungrateful Guest<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;">So, yesterday I decided that this weekend, we will be leaving our
workaway with Justus. There is just too much that was not true and Ajenai
really really hates where we are staying. Part of me feels like crap for being
such stereotypical westerners. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;">Caroline (Justus' sister) and Ms. Emily (the director of the
school) both said how nice this crap hole is. They had no complaints about no
kitchen to speak of, no hot water, a bed that sags so far in the middle it’s
deeper than the Great Rift valley, a toilet that does not flush, a broken window where mosquito's poor in desperate for our blood. And I looked
under the covers of the bed, it’s not even a mattress, it’s like some foam
thing wrapped in smelly, holey blankets! I quickly covered it back up.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It’s not just where we are staying, it is that this whole thing is
completely unorganized. I do truly think what Justus is trying to do is
wonderful. He’s trying to give back to his community. But he has just plunged
in head first without any thought and I am not doing well as his first guinea
pig! </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I, am a poor guest. I had to do it. I had to tell Justus what is
wrong with his program and I do mean <i>everything</i> that is wrong. Workaway.com (which is where I found Justus) is a website where travelers and people in
need can come together for a mutually beneficial period of time and work together. The
traveler finds free room and board (at least 1 meal a day) in a city, country,
continent, they have never set foot on before. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The homeowner receives free
services in their home, farm, camper, whatever. When I signed up for the
workaway with Justus, I was aware that he was going to charge me 5 euros/day.
His profile stated that as some small amount to help the family we would be staying
with as well as provide some much needed program fees. I didn’t have a problem
with that. His email told me I would be staying with a trusted family who he
was very close with and had used before. Also he had had other volunteers, not
many, but some others.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">None of that was true. It turns out, the host family was going to be
his own parents and sister, however, they are currently living in a home with
only 2 rooms complete and I told you about my bathroom experience there! I have no idea how they
cook! Justus wisely decided we would not be living there. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Instead, he put us up
in a teeny tiny ½ apartment which I still firmly believe is his, even though he
refuses to answer my question. His program has had 1 previous volunteer, and
she was with another program that provided her with room and board, and I
believe she just came once or twice to see Justus and the children he
represents. So, he basically has no experience in hosting foreigners. Today, on
the walk back from the program, I told him that he must be truthful in his
online profile. That I had planned a certain budget based on information he
gave me and it is not right or fair that he mislead me in his profile and
emails. I said I don’t have too big of an issue with things as they stand
(except for the food issue!) but he has to be trustworthy from the start. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I think he is mad at me. I am being obstinate and difficult, but,
damn it, this is not what I signed up for! Me and the kid only had 2 shared
crossiants and a bag of fries all day today! And the croissants were at 10am
and the fries at 5! The next day Justus cooked us dinner somewhere and brought it to
us, almost freezing cold and about 10pm! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">He said in the future, he would bring
food to the school. I said fine, however…. I would not feel comfortable eating
in front of the kids and we have nothing to warm the food up in! after thinking
a moment, he decided that we would go to his parents house after school to eat.
I’m definitely fine with that.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I made a hotel reservation for this weekend and, if it is a nice
place, I will go there next weekend as well. Maybe even the whole last week of
my stay!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I think because I am volunteering at a school, I’m kind of getting
the laundry list of what is needed in the hopes that I will give money, but the
kids are happy and are so smart! They are grateful and happy to be in school.
There are not enough teachers for all the classes and they can tell one class
what to do, leave the class, and the kids sit there and actually do the work
the teacher gave them! Then after play time, some kids get rags and go to the
water spigot and start cleaning all the benches in the classrooms as well as
the walls and the floor! Without any direction or instructions from an adult.
They told me they know their jobs and they are getting ready for tomorrow. This
is at 5pm by the way, and school starts at 8am. And Ms. Emily told me that some
of the students don’t even have food. So that is all day (and maybe the night
as well) studying and learning on an empty stomach. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Justus said that his future plans are to get computers so the kids
can edit their photos. Computers?! Almost every child I saw had holes in some
part of their clothing. In a class of 10 there were only 3 books. A child was
writing with a stub of pencil so small I couldn’t even see it in her hand. And
there are 200 kids in the school and less than 50 lunch boxes on the lunch
table. Where do you start? I understand wanting to bring some arts and wonder into
their lives, but what about the basics? And who can help with that? I’m sure no
one can buy every kid a new shirt, or a whole set of encyclopedias. But how can
you help? </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I commend Justus for trying to do something, to give back to his
community. Although I think his timing is not right. A lot needs to be done
before he can bring volunteers from other countries to help out, cus this is
not working. But the kernel of an idea and the drive and the will is there. I
so wish I could do something! But I don’t even know how to get money or items
to them once I leave here. Justus said the mail would probably be opened by the
government and the bank accounts are not international or something. If I sent
resources electronically, they wouldn’t be able to print them out. Sigh…<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The kid said one great thing about all the people she has met so far
is that they all look towards a bright future. Justus' parents and sister’s house
is terrible but she talks about how they are building and one day it will be
remarkable. And Justus sees a future with a full scale photography program.
These people look to their future with positivity and hope and ain’t nothing
wrong with that!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I told Justus we are leaving on Saturday, that I’m sorry but this
isn’t working out. He was very shocked. He kept saying, “oh wow”. I also told
him I would be needing my money back. He just looked at me and rubbed his face.
I’m betting most of it is spent already. And not on the “feeding program” he
said he was trying to do for the schools. He also kept asking me when I was
leaving the country. That is none of his business and I don’t know what he
could have been asking that for but I just reiterated, Saturday. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If I was
really in the classrooms and felt that I was working with the kids and that
they wanted my help more than my money, I would stay. But that is not the case,
unfortunately. But how can I tell him
everything I think is wrong in this situation? </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">How can I complain to the man
about a bathroom with an un-flushing toilet with no toilet seat, when his parents
and his sister live in a place where the toilet is a hole in the ground? How
can I complain about only cold water in the “shower” tap when they have one
spigot in the floor that provides all the water for the house? How can I
complain about the sagging foam “mattress” when they are sleeping on pallets on
the floor? If it was just the apartment, I would stay. But I am not helping
here. I’m doing absolutely no work and I think they just are seeing me as a
gold mine instead of a font of knowledge.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ugh, 2 more nights in this bed! I think I will be permanently
crippled!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">-----Later--------</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I am enlightened! Ms. Emily and I had a talk... Justus lied way more than I ever thought! Now I know why the kids and Ms. Emily were asking me for gifts and things!</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 17.3333339691162px; line-height: 18.546667098999px;">Basically, Justus has only been working with Ms. Emily for a little over 2 months, and he only came to her school 2 or 3 times to teach the kids. She said he told her he had a western "sponsor" coming to the school and if I was impressed by the school, I would give money and I was bringing gifts for all the kids. He said nothing about me volunteering in the classes! Only that I would be giving lots and lots of money and gifts!</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 17.3333339691162px; line-height: 18.546667098999px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 17.3333339691162px; line-height: 18.546667098999px;">We are definitely leaving at the end of this week, and I hope I never have to lay eyes on Justus again!</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 17.3333339691162px; line-height: 18.546667098999px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 17.3333339691162px; line-height: 18.546667098999px;">But here are some pictures of the school, at least I got to meet some wonderful kids!</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 17.3333339691162px; line-height: 18.546667098999px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhov5O_eIlTbmoAtdffedh2Z9bwRJN7k2XYITDNalrHKlvhgO5OoHrfcoCoaBVT35-MvGiARi-Xbz1Jo7MMFhJTbkxyCy4gAAKDnBnQO2-u6arBwqCl1NCVzGopSyGuvcQQPN4VygUkIqFb/s1600/20150804_105029.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhov5O_eIlTbmoAtdffedh2Z9bwRJN7k2XYITDNalrHKlvhgO5OoHrfcoCoaBVT35-MvGiARi-Xbz1Jo7MMFhJTbkxyCy4gAAKDnBnQO2-u6arBwqCl1NCVzGopSyGuvcQQPN4VygUkIqFb/s640/20150804_105029.jpg" width="360" /></a></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcrUEe5o_vRh90h-dwUKiuwdeEI5TJDpPd3WQx6cVqU2W1ZeBF7a5sUsxC2425ZXq9-PCZBJUUown4Dvk0hz_3UJ72D5j1zRlQHfS6jd171LXaWexo-9qISizX9YyAuNX85SQJhLn83kD8/s1600/20150804_105211.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcrUEe5o_vRh90h-dwUKiuwdeEI5TJDpPd3WQx6cVqU2W1ZeBF7a5sUsxC2425ZXq9-PCZBJUUown4Dvk0hz_3UJ72D5j1zRlQHfS6jd171LXaWexo-9qISizX9YyAuNX85SQJhLn83kD8/s640/20150804_105211.jpg" width="360" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">He was sangin'!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz-EhCdRkZypw6QIWRxSobGJwTTpnz8Emc2XgfkOkv1iyhR85qdewSGNp7FG4iBcGOITz-VmVmwhFrUGwpOVegJZETdcXm6MzOOp8HoB3qxUh-pz8kWKfwdt9yORFA-VEJu9zq55sRJXvA/s1600/20150804_110031.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz-EhCdRkZypw6QIWRxSobGJwTTpnz8Emc2XgfkOkv1iyhR85qdewSGNp7FG4iBcGOITz-VmVmwhFrUGwpOVegJZETdcXm6MzOOp8HoB3qxUh-pz8kWKfwdt9yORFA-VEJu9zq55sRJXvA/s640/20150804_110031.jpg" width="360" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV7KrNxf5SejMJ-bLFUmJfGaCvV8dYRsIbwFrYKFsNSRmNkkc9rfKDKshW1h23pS_gMAL7U1c1YZm-zavhiplxMIJ5FuOWGIWrZjuizMRpjBvk1TaY7trhLxQhAZ-35s50Rruqv7Ziqivh/s1600/20150804_110158.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV7KrNxf5SejMJ-bLFUmJfGaCvV8dYRsIbwFrYKFsNSRmNkkc9rfKDKshW1h23pS_gMAL7U1c1YZm-zavhiplxMIJ5FuOWGIWrZjuizMRpjBvk1TaY7trhLxQhAZ-35s50Rruqv7Ziqivh/s640/20150804_110158.jpg" width="360" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">They were focused!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVp4d9UgM0UTYWHvOgStRfLctqzgGj914Ea_bAF4OnyuupKgjPJ1SK08B9Ba8NEFpsmZz53rmmrCwEajuF4yowOx8CEdmaL-GG3CkPxCtR4r1kr4N4PE2N80b9-l1LBPzeN7ns0d71WviL/s1600/20150804_112024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVp4d9UgM0UTYWHvOgStRfLctqzgGj914Ea_bAF4OnyuupKgjPJ1SK08B9Ba8NEFpsmZz53rmmrCwEajuF4yowOx8CEdmaL-GG3CkPxCtR4r1kr4N4PE2N80b9-l1LBPzeN7ns0d71WviL/s640/20150804_112024.jpg" width="360" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What beautiful smiles!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11958518243787529410noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3063417693494570197.post-35423654494490041912015-08-24T10:21:00.001-07:002015-08-24T10:21:49.368-07:00Volunteering in Kenya!<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So, finally…we went to the school to volunteer. Well, I
thought to volunteer, but I’m not sure the schools knew what we were there for!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In his email and website, Justus said he had a program with
about 50 kids that he taught photography to. In actuality, he splits his time
between two organizations. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">One is a school, grades K-8 run by a director, Ms. Emily.
She started the school herself, and only funds the school through student
tuition.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">She has about 200 students, some paying and some are homeless
students or very poor that she drags in off the street to educate. she really
believes that all children need help if we can give it. She also doesn’t turn
away children if their parents can’t pay or are late with payments. We took a
tour of her very small campus and the kids sang for us and all of them (yes,
all 200!) introduced themselves by name. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Looking at the children in the school almost broke my heart. So many
had huge holes in their clothes and shoes. I mean their whole arm and elbow
out, gapping holes in the knees. One boys shoes, the whole front toe section
was missing and his foot was out. But they were so clean! And I remark on this
because I looked like a rag-a-muffin! There are only dirt roads in this town
and the bottom of my pants legs and shoes were covered in red dirt and sludge! They
stood there, in rows from littlest to biggest, singing songs about how happy
they are with Jesus and how Jesus has saved their lives, and it was everything
I could do not to burst into tears.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After the introductions, we went back to Ms. Emily’s office and she
talked a lot about how you have to help children and do whatever you can for
them. I don’t know, call me cynical, but it seemed like she was prepping to ask
me for money! Which I barely have enough of for this trip so I ain’t coughing
up much more!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I was expecting to into the classrooms, but after talking in her
office, it was 5pm and the kids started to go home and then we also left.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A woman who heard I was going to Kenya messaged me that she had a
ton of brand new reading books that her school wasn’t going to use any more and
that she would love to donate to my trip. I was just too busy running around
and to lazy before I left to meet her and go pick them up. I feel like such an
a_ _. I keep thinking how needed those books are here and how very grateful
those kids would be to have them. Sigh …<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The second part of his program is a bit different. The woman is sort
of like foster care. She collects children from various places, some are given
to her from the authorities, and she is responsible for their daily up keep and
food clothes, etc. There were about 29 kids in this little complex. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The first time we went to her home, the kids all filed into the
room, shook our hands, and then gave us their names and said they were born
again. Then they recited a completely sad poem about having no food or shelter
or water and what could they do. I was smiling at first but after hearing the
words I was like, a smile is completely inappropriate at this point! </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;">Then they
each recited a verse from the bible. Then we all sat there staring at each
other. I was like, I don’t know what the heck is going on so I’m not saying
anything! Justus was looking at his phone, the lady was staring straight ahead.
Finally I started to blather on about loving Kenya and I don’t know what else I
said. Then we sat for a longer bit, with small elements of conversation thrown
in. Finally, I stood up and said it’s been real, peace out! (not literally!)
And we left.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I’m supposed to work in the school 3 days a week and in the foster
care 2 days. None of the women have ever had a volunteer before so they don’t
know what to expect and neither do I! Tonight Justus was saying they are very
excited and the expectation level ls high. Then he said that I am to further
the kids along in all of their reading, writing, and English speaking. Then he
said I am to assist the current teacher in the classroom. Then he said I am to
teach the students lessons on my own. When I asked him which I was supposed to
do, he said, yea, yea. Sooooo, I guess we’ll see what the day brings!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We scheduled to return to the foster care home at 4:30 the next
afternoon. So today Justus came and took
us to eat at his sister Caroline’s house around 2:45. We were supposed to be at
the school at 4:30. He didn’t come back to pick us up until 5! He was so
lackadaisical aobut it! I really hate being late but I didn’t say anything this
time. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We walked the 10 minutes to Ms. Rose’s school (which, btw, is not
her name! Justus didn’t even know her name and now I can’t remember it! That should
have been the first sign to me that he really had never worked with these
people before even though he told me he had been doing this for 3 years!). We
sat in the same room we did when we first visited there. And sat, and sat. Then
2 kids came in and shook our hands and sat down. We sat some more. More kids
came in and shook our hands and the first kids left. We sat some more. New kids
came in and shook our hnads….. you get the picture.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Finally, my impatient self
had had enough. I went outside where all the kids were and just walked around.
I saw a little girl, about 6, with a notebook and pencil doing her homework. So
I sat with her and helped her write her numbers up to 50 for about 15 minutes. While
we worked, other kids surrounded us and some helped out. I caught Justus taking
some pictures and I thought, he’s going to put this up on his website and
act like he’s really doing something! Then I just stood around talking to the
kids. Asking them about school and then I told them to ask me some questions.
They were really shy and sweet. Then we were sitting down and the kids came out
with huge bowls of beans and corn for us to eat. The corn here is really hard,
like the corn in S. Korea and doesn’t taste great, so I was dismayed at this
huge bowl of food! They gave one to Ajenai and I said we could share. Then they
gave a bowl to Justus and his friend as well. I asked Justus if we were eating
their dinner, and he said no, but I know we ate there food! I felt terrible!
And no one else was eating, the kids were just running around and then watching
us eat!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After that, Ms. Rose came back, and we went into the little room
again. For like 5 minutes. Justus spoke in swahilli for a bit and then he asked
me to say something. I was like, say something about what?! And he said about
how today went.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I just looked at him. This dude is real slick. How today went?
What, me stepping outside, helping 1 child with her homework and then just
asking the others questions for an hour and a half? I wondered what he said to
Ms. Rose. Did he tell her we really did something?! I said, today was fine.
Then they talked some more about me and the kids supposed “schedule”. He
already told me we would be coming to Ms. Rose’s Wednesday and Friday. But
obviously he hadn’t cleared that with her. She said Sunday. And he looked at me
and said, Sunday ok? Knowing full well he told me I would have weekends off.
Since I’m not planning on being here Sunday I said, sure. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So yesterday, we were at Ms. Emily’s school. I already said how all
the grade levels sang Christian songs for us and then they went back to their
classrooms. Then there was a lot of sitting around in Ms. Emily’s office. After
about 20 minutes of her saying she’s trying to take a trip with the kids next
week, but they all can’t go cus she doesn’t have enough money…I stood up and
said, ok, what about us going into the classrooms. And she looked surprised and
said right now? I said yup! And she said let her go speak to her teachers.
Justus took this opportunity to mysteriously disappear. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I ended up going into a grade 8 math lesson and Ajenai went into a
grade 4 english lesson. They were doing algebra which I am completely rusty on.
I vaguely remember that I’m searching for x, but that’s about it! The teacher
was young and totally nervous that I was in there. I have to say, I enjoyed
freaking him out a bit! Hey, I get my kicks where I can! There were about 6
students and they had 3 books between them. The teacher read the problem (ugh,
algebra and word problems!) and then he did them on the board and just asked
the kids if they understood. Of course they said a desultory, yes, and he went
on to the next problem. After he did 2 he asked me to teach. I said ok. I
assigned 2 kids each 1 problem to solve and then had them write the answer on
the board 1 at a time as they only had 1 tiny sliver of chalk! Then I had the
students explain how they arrived at their answer. The teacher said, wow, I have
learned something of your methods that I will use already, thank you. I just
smiled prettily as I preened my tail feathers! <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Then class was over, and we went back into the office to sit some
more. Sigh, I have no idea what the heck Justus expects us to do! Then after
another 30 minutes of talking with Ms. Emily, where she made me again feel
horrible because her school has no money, she offered to walk me and the kid
home. And she walked us all the way to our place, came in, took off her shoes
and coat and stayed about 30 minutes! Talking the whole time while offering to
wash our dishes! I’m definitely learning something about Kenyan hospitality!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I’m not exactly sure how this experience will unfold, but I’m
considering going to a hotel for the weekend. And maybe, bowing out. Ajenai is
having a hard time roughing it in our humble abode, and I’m not sure what the
volunteering is going to shape up to look like…hmmmm. We shall see what’s next!</span></span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">*Note: I have to say internet was really spotty in Kenya, I've taken this blog posts from my journal this summer, but now I'm back in the UAE!</span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11958518243787529410noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3063417693494570197.post-22054304705863299262015-08-23T10:55:00.001-07:002015-08-23T10:55:23.161-07:00Kenya...Next Day! <div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Ok, so I'm a decent person, I try to be nice, really! But sometimes, my tendency for impatience leads my head! Justus was bugging me so much today! And it’s just cus things didn’t work out
how I expected them to. How can it? I’m in a different fricking country! Sigh,
ok, Ayanna time to realize that traveling is fun and a great experience again!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I had a plan today; go get our sim cards and go shopping for much
needed household items after the worst night sleep ever! So Caroline was here
this morning, Justus called her about 8am and she got up and washed the dishes
for us. He came and got her and they left. Oh, but first, I asked him about
money. I was really wondering what amount did he expect. The conversation was
confusing to say the least. English, it seems like it is a universal language
but it really isn’t. So,
after about 10 minutes, it boiled down to he wants 5 euro a day, for me and the kid 10 euros, just like he
said in his email, but he wanted it all up front, which I was not comfortable
with. What if I don’t stay? I told him I needed to think and I would give him
money later. He left.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">He said that he really needed the money. That he had some things he
wanted to do with the school like a “feeding” program for the kids. I asked him
if the money would be going to pay rent on this apartment, because I wouldn’t
feel comfortable with that. He had assured me I would be living with a family, and I was fine paying for my upkeep with a family, but not just rent on a random apartment. He assured me this was not the case. I have my suspicions
that this is in fact, Justus’s apartment. He told me he is really trying to do
important things with the school and that the money he can get from volunteers
is really important to this effort. So, like a bleeding heart liberal…I caved. But
I still told him I would have to think about it. He left.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">He came back a couple of times within the next hour, for no real reason and it was kind of creepy because we weren't up or dressed yet. </span><span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;">And all he said was if someone asks me for money, don’t give it to
them. Even if they said Justus said give me money. What, was I born yesterday?
Then he said ummm. And just continued to stand there. I have no idea what he
wanted. Then he said ok and left and then he came back. I did not open the
door. I just said, “Justus, I’m not dressed” and he said oh, ok see you at 1pm. Then he didn't come back til almost 2 to get us, when the phone place, Safaricom, closed at 2pm! </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;">I did end up giving him the entire 10 Euros a day for the kid and myself. And I told him that I couldn't wait to see the "feeding" (I hate that term! It makes the kids sound like livestock!) program he started.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;">The fun part was we took a bus to Nairobi. And it was just like the tv show, Sense8! First, it took us about 50 minutes to walk to the small town of Githiryi, all on a dirt road and the railroad tracks. It was really neat just looking at the different scenery. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKjXAY00A1W-o_YO-SlOhQkrYowsFxkHRVp0d3QopLL3dvMjWmnk_JYuMJzbIJzLouKXGOcHZGsH0B2zs9a77s1iD6Bsvp4vtWzmsee03dxHDTBstJ7chAlm1YeTPnLTNAEyCmt-LTq7lK/s1600/20150719_144504.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKjXAY00A1W-o_YO-SlOhQkrYowsFxkHRVp0d3QopLL3dvMjWmnk_JYuMJzbIJzLouKXGOcHZGsH0B2zs9a77s1iD6Bsvp4vtWzmsee03dxHDTBstJ7chAlm1YeTPnLTNAEyCmt-LTq7lK/s640/20150719_144504.jpg" width="360" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The road in front of our apartment building.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Walking to town!</span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOO72bftPMxIg0MIWqRG_TMhKB-Ig2mxu0uGX7fCK-DiF8U0raK84ZOKC1WeCO0HxyUErsppMB6iMDCQmoTFV6oAgg2IKbWqE2IVUSQ0L132tfD4_T0s0qTMD-8klqWNgdOyCOdXwCynjJ/s1600/20150720_141130.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOO72bftPMxIg0MIWqRG_TMhKB-Ig2mxu0uGX7fCK-DiF8U0raK84ZOKC1WeCO0HxyUErsppMB6iMDCQmoTFV6oAgg2IKbWqE2IVUSQ0L132tfD4_T0s0qTMD-8klqWNgdOyCOdXwCynjJ/s640/20150720_141130.jpg" width="360" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZOCtH4lUWeBTExAjflVd8gAQbukgK3ESxvq9z2doC_p-JHrmipJYYS0eQ59IWzCmXjJVCLKv7-a9U_lFHX4ezA3i_TE5Y9G5K4m50SUtSZwuCOsp6Dg4uIqBkF89WGGpUfoPJDNnynyhT/s1600/20150720_143203.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZOCtH4lUWeBTExAjflVd8gAQbukgK3ESxvq9z2doC_p-JHrmipJYYS0eQ59IWzCmXjJVCLKv7-a9U_lFHX4ezA3i_TE5Y9G5K4m50SUtSZwuCOsp6Dg4uIqBkF89WGGpUfoPJDNnynyhT/s640/20150720_143203.jpg" width="360" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For those of you who don't watch Sense8, I'll tell you about the buses! First of all, the buses are privately owned and they are painted all over, like the one in Sense8 is called "Van Dam" and it has painted pictures of Jean Claude all over it. Although I didn't see a Van Dam bus, I did see Biggy Smalls, Tupac, Rhianna, and a bunch more! So the buses are painted from top to bottom, they are covered in bells and flashing lights, and their is a man, I guess I'll call him the barker, who stands outside the bus, yelling for people to get on this bus. Yelling really loud and they bang on the bus and basically try to make as much noise as they can. Once the bus takes off, they are the ones who take the money and let the driver know if he needs to stop. They don't take off until every seat is full. And when people get off at a stop, they still try to get new people on and will wait! So you could be waiting quite a while to get to your destination! Me and the kid were so excited! </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijyZX_3UrcqzKWYwAw4vRKsbbhJl2DNxIpXZflJWPklWIVYO0SVJlxP9rwNqCKwOWQNOe_8o1meQ_sUuwqZttXB-q_tove97FJjECCW7Lw5ba0QVKISGO97H5zagyQ94h2HSQmk5elVH4o/s1600/20150719_153403.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijyZX_3UrcqzKWYwAw4vRKsbbhJl2DNxIpXZflJWPklWIVYO0SVJlxP9rwNqCKwOWQNOe_8o1meQ_sUuwqZttXB-q_tove97FJjECCW7Lw5ba0QVKISGO97H5zagyQ94h2HSQmk5elVH4o/s640/20150719_153403.jpg" width="360" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The kid and our "sponsor", Justus boarding the bus to Nairobi.</span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIaravbcUH8EJnboCzNr8bc85KTNV9QAfoqoGacbQx_Uzxivs85DT4DaxXfbJqx41SkaHDPDJXajzmtk88aNn2pKOBlUpUfX5XZRaevCHgKe3_NMJP2KmeQdliNjcnMbYJf-lvCXUYyGz9/s1600/20150719_153456.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIaravbcUH8EJnboCzNr8bc85KTNV9QAfoqoGacbQx_Uzxivs85DT4DaxXfbJqx41SkaHDPDJXajzmtk88aNn2pKOBlUpUfX5XZRaevCHgKe3_NMJP2KmeQdliNjcnMbYJf-lvCXUYyGz9/s640/20150719_153456.jpg" width="360" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6hHTVU90kb3iX4HwK_Q8-7c7qsNQ7dch03Znrq_cBTJmhl1eTrRvtH5sDuu2RnY42qJSBRizVlmn-epvvJgC0XLCJmmjFmzeBu96oqdzmcB8u8J7JzVfNejf80II5MgSOfqB2QArG32Kp/s1600/20150803_100752.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6hHTVU90kb3iX4HwK_Q8-7c7qsNQ7dch03Znrq_cBTJmhl1eTrRvtH5sDuu2RnY42qJSBRizVlmn-epvvJgC0XLCJmmjFmzeBu96oqdzmcB8u8J7JzVfNejf80II5MgSOfqB2QArG32Kp/s640/20150803_100752.jpg" width="360" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Unfortunately, once we arrived in the city, the phone place was closed. This was only a big deal because I had wanted to save my cash and use my credit card for big purchases. Just frustrating when we were ready to go with plenty of time, but Justus was why we were late.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We walked all over looking for another phone place so we got to see some of the city. We passed by a square, I forgot the name of it, but there were tons of people there...skating! They had all kinds of skates for rent and all kinds of people would come for a Sunday afternoon skate!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHqR3MPDjzFQ8QSzop6B9MTYKt7dsct2LtwpH-NDDa9qCfQy6mW70PEQvsCqB7cB1E-ISzqMurvvvnApGDOmytu5bPuhan4y3DE5AoBeNoRzlPEWjap94_nzzwFuW3_B06YUW3RgPU0yPn/s1600/20150719_161820.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHqR3MPDjzFQ8QSzop6B9MTYKt7dsct2LtwpH-NDDa9qCfQy6mW70PEQvsCqB7cB1E-ISzqMurvvvnApGDOmytu5bPuhan4y3DE5AoBeNoRzlPEWjap94_nzzwFuW3_B06YUW3RgPU0yPn/s640/20150719_161820.jpg" width="360" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We also passed some news stands, and it was so shocking and amazing to see all kinds of magazines; exercise magazines, parenting magazines, news magazines....all with black people on the cover. As an African-American, I'm just not used to that. We get so used to the reflection in the world just being white people all over, that it really took me a second looking at these magazines. I never really thought it would be that big a deal seeing a reflection of myself, in ads and magazines and stuff, but it really is! Seeing black people advertised just everywhere, really gave me a sense of...like, pride. I was like, hey, look at us! It really just gave me an unexpectedly good feeling! </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Did I mention that Obama came while I was there?!</span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-cv_ZEyms1wevVJ5z_9gJRm_gdCecVbP4wlMXIrFbh8lS0557j5hwKm1qvF9Jb1uNucG78KTe6VivYY2KAyLoWb0m1g4Q85TtzFcdLIyqGPlNQoA1vS1ttIBdBxdguwrKJ7kSH1Fm7neu/s1600/20150730_165304.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-cv_ZEyms1wevVJ5z_9gJRm_gdCecVbP4wlMXIrFbh8lS0557j5hwKm1qvF9Jb1uNucG78KTe6VivYY2KAyLoWb0m1g4Q85TtzFcdLIyqGPlNQoA1vS1ttIBdBxdguwrKJ7kSH1Fm7neu/s640/20150730_165304.jpg" width="360" /></span></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Black people were even on products!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After the cell phone bust, we went to two restaurants that were cash only. I ended up spending all my cash on feeding the 3 of us (yes, I paid for Justus too!), So by the time
we got off the bus back in Githurai, I needed money before we could go shopping. Here is another instance of English being a subjective language. I told Justus I wanted to take a tuk-tuk back
to our house, run in the apartment and get money and jump back in the tuk-tuk to go shopping. He said you want to come
back here? I was like yes, even though I had told him this already. Anyway, he
went off to find a tuk-tuk. Literally, forever later, we still had no tuk-tuk!
I asked him what was going on cus there were like a million tuk-tuk's on the street, and
he said the drivers didn’t want to wait for us at the store! I just looked at him like
he was insane. Then explained. Oh, oh, he said. Still took awhile but we
finally got a tuk-tuk.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Worse ride ever! More on that later. We finally made it to store,
purchased everything, including fluffy pillows! What a luxury! I paid cash. Then I asked him to checkout prices for
refrigarator’s (cus I couldn't live for a month in a place with no fridge!) and we waited. And I looked at a sign…the visa/mastercard logo.
This place took cards!!! 3 nightmare tuk-tuk rides could have been avoided, so
easily! <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;">I’m tired. Tomorrow we meet the kids! I’m excited! Pray I don't get
harassed by </span><span style="font-size: 17.3333339691162px; line-height: 18.546667098999px;">mosquito's</span><span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"> tonight! I promise not to gripe so much in future posts!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;">Ciao for now!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "AR CENA"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11958518243787529410noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3063417693494570197.post-22649226413162877842015-08-21T04:31:00.000-07:002015-08-21T04:31:08.928-07:00On our way.... to Nairobi, Kenya!<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">We
have arrived in Kenya! What a journey!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">So, how did me and the kid end up in Nairobi, Kenya? I've been thinking a lot about giving back in gratitude for all that I have. I'm a teacher, and I love to travel, so I decided to volunteer somewhere teaching. I found this organization just outside Nairobi, Kenya, one man really, who said he teaches photography to some street kids in this town. I started emailing with him and he said that he teaches about 50 kids, some of whom are homeless, through a local school he works with. He said I could teach English and the kid could teach drama or read them stories. It sounded perfect for us both so.... here we are!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The plane ride wasn't that bad, only 5 hours on Emirates Airways. I actually did good picking seats but I
forgot and was distressed. Then we arrived on the plane and had bulk head seats!
Score! And I have to say, I love when airlines provide you with a menu for lunch, even if they are out of option 1 by the time they reach you!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;">Immigration was quick and painless, even though we were told to
step to the right for bag check. The lady did not go thru our bags, luckily.
Then I noticed that only people of color were over in the bag check, whites
were just passed thru with a “good day”. Hmmmm. I can’t get into it.</span><span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHFge-Tlbp7lYrOMNHFCFwMmYxL8xccf8_oB-zwKHZDIHKkv9zuFKpNG_cv9FlfQpWmIJW92rP_dZrrhIYIieu6-YvHvAmP8ib5mzmPVy6z5uSf5qjJiJemRisrD5na8jwR_oB3vDq3jt7/s1600/20150718_091158.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHFge-Tlbp7lYrOMNHFCFwMmYxL8xccf8_oB-zwKHZDIHKkv9zuFKpNG_cv9FlfQpWmIJW92rP_dZrrhIYIieu6-YvHvAmP8ib5mzmPVy6z5uSf5qjJiJemRisrD5na8jwR_oB3vDq3jt7/s640/20150718_091158.jpg" width="360" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We've arrived! Nairobi, Kenya</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Once outside, there were a million people holding signs up. I was
frantically scanning for my name, then I decided to exchange money. As we were
walking towards the money exchange, someone approached me and said, “Ayanna?”
and I said “Justus!” He knew me on sight, how cool was that?! We were leaving
the airport via taxi and that really took forever. He had to go get the taxi guy.
We were standing there with a million people, going on safari, and 1 by 1, they
all disappeared til it was just us. Justus kept disappearing to go search for
the taxi guy; all in all I’ll say we waited well over an hour. Finally, taxi
guy came. Justus remembered everything I had asked him about in my emails and
was like, ok, lets go get your water and mosquito netting and phone, right? We
didn’t manage to get the phone, so I am dying without facebook (pathetic, I
know!)! but I’m all set for water and and lovely mosquito netting, which we
already totally need, thank goodness we got it! I’m slightly freaking out
without internet and hope my mom isn’t having a conniption, but we will
definitely get a phone first thing tomorrow!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We went to Justus’ parents home in a suburb of Nairobi called Githurai, and met his sister, mother, and
father. I thought we were staying there. He said how the house wasn’t finished
and it was still being worked on. I said fine, I just need a bathroom. Justus
and his sister looked at each other, and it was a few minutes before they
answered me. Then Caroline (his sister) told me she’d take me. I finally
understood the silence when I asked about the bathroom. She lead me down a
pitch black hallway that had a drop of 2 feet blocked by cement bricks, (where I
cut my finger on a nail sticking out of the wall, ouch!) then to an open stall
that had a pit dug in it with 2 more cement bricks for my feet placement. Hmmm, I knew I was coming to a 3<sup>rd</sup>
world country but…ok, just something to wrap my head around! <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You can imagine how happy I was to learn that we weren’t going to be
staying there! Whew.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Then Justus left to go find a taxi. He arrived 20 minutes later with
a tuk-tuk in tow. This is fine, I love tuk-tuk’s having used them a lot in
Thailand. However, 5 people plus 4 humongous bags in 1 little tuk-tuk was quite
a stretch! It was now night time and of course there are no street lights, we
really weren’t even on what could be called a street. Just a rutted and pocked
dirt road that was littered with huge pieces of cement and deep potholes that
canted sideways rather alarmingly. We had to hold on to our bags so they
wouldn’t fly out the back. I told Ajenai to hold on to me in case the flimsy
metal door decided to fly open and spill me onto the road. I kept asking if she
was ok and she said yea. I said, it won’t be long til we are driving on a real
road so hold on. I was mistaken, this <i>was</i>
the road! For the entire 20 minute very harrowing ride. I was fine, even with
the bumps and dips, until we went up one hugely canted road and I thought,
“hmmm, I wonder if we are going to tip over?” Why did I think that?! Once that
thought was in my head, I couldn’t get rid of it! After that, every bump and dip and sideways shuffle I was
just praying!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLdcln2VWu4jnkj0cT64X_ZvBuUneQtZLkUYzK8B-fwieyme0f_TxS7bbAyTEdjz_JLoNumsZ0N2ApjjN6jcMJH8roQo4ufPJkCobKznadIlGWpwFxQlsAbskZC2HM03R577hvH8-iTejE/s1600/20150719_183043.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLdcln2VWu4jnkj0cT64X_ZvBuUneQtZLkUYzK8B-fwieyme0f_TxS7bbAyTEdjz_JLoNumsZ0N2ApjjN6jcMJH8roQo4ufPJkCobKznadIlGWpwFxQlsAbskZC2HM03R577hvH8-iTejE/s640/20150719_183043.jpg" width="360" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Another harrowing tuk-tuk ride!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitj64jw8VTRUXzauqUTvTF08mBPv_fpGpwHLo9_zfBpnsUflk7mmgdIZ_JlkZiflef4aHxzwvykx4q0jWxpQIZV5lENVFV3mcYr4r0ASnGO2NIuKSj5lfRl3EQGad5JhS5Ys3csnkeUrKD/s1600/20150719_183635.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitj64jw8VTRUXzauqUTvTF08mBPv_fpGpwHLo9_zfBpnsUflk7mmgdIZ_JlkZiflef4aHxzwvykx4q0jWxpQIZV5lENVFV3mcYr4r0ASnGO2NIuKSj5lfRl3EQGad5JhS5Ys3csnkeUrKD/s640/20150719_183635.jpg" width="360" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Just regular traffic in Nairobi!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpykqG4noh1PziHcZ0Nq1pSQPmr5gzZY9lhtFwLn4OZKEdeKrvJ9fGk8zJCRStUTIparWZOYrH0mAkqd474cGlFbR-C6mzycDmEZi74E7rgl_JJzBULhuDX4jei1WDAy2cLj2p5qgsYBmC/s1600/20150720_113441.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpykqG4noh1PziHcZ0Nq1pSQPmr5gzZY9lhtFwLn4OZKEdeKrvJ9fGk8zJCRStUTIparWZOYrH0mAkqd474cGlFbR-C6mzycDmEZi74E7rgl_JJzBULhuDX4jei1WDAy2cLj2p5qgsYBmC/s640/20150720_113441.jpg" width="360" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The view from the tuk-tuk!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And I guess it worked because we made it! And we pulled up to an
actual 5 story building, not a shack. Justus carried our bags up to the 3<sup>rd</sup>
floor, I felt really bad because each one was heavy and he had to make 4 trips! </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We finally alighted in our home for the next month for me, and 2 weeks for the
kid. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1 room, 1 maybe full size bed with an alarming dip in the center (which turned out to be an inch thick foam mattress wrapped in several ratty blankets!), a
sofa, a bathroom with a toilet with no seat, a small sink in the corner and 2
water spigots that turned out to be our shower. No hot water tho, I’m afraid! A little tank of gas that turned out to be the
stove, a small sink next to the front metal door, … what more could 2 intrepid
adventurers ask for?! Oh, I almost forgot, of course there was a tv! <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The great thing about the bed was that it had space underneath so we
could shove our bags under there.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmgooMtCf_TPDq3uxh1iDQApR2Y673d7Pi0bc5girZhqODw0DGQyt8JKbxuIKbUMyNOcyV5OZUl290J2uqwP2qZ0vog6WJJDLbHnJOs96GRsEp3ib98X5W6DAKv48VQsjDeJy4vkggICMq/s1600/20150719_144136.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmgooMtCf_TPDq3uxh1iDQApR2Y673d7Pi0bc5girZhqODw0DGQyt8JKbxuIKbUMyNOcyV5OZUl290J2uqwP2qZ0vog6WJJDLbHnJOs96GRsEp3ib98X5W6DAKv48VQsjDeJy4vkggICMq/s640/20150719_144136.jpg" width="360" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Our apartment building....Keiriki Apartments </span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggt9X463P_9DKSvycXKmY2wmn3KAaK64NwMqpHCnxazvInyDPq6_GgFEfe57aHkiaDTlhFW3XgcbGKXAq-A8pgRQe8NRpVg6aZZRonXkTSot9osNu9ePOYwcN_MFRWTnJlZq57oS8M_FXV/s1600/20150718_203947.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggt9X463P_9DKSvycXKmY2wmn3KAaK64NwMqpHCnxazvInyDPq6_GgFEfe57aHkiaDTlhFW3XgcbGKXAq-A8pgRQe8NRpVg6aZZRonXkTSot9osNu9ePOYwcN_MFRWTnJlZq57oS8M_FXV/s640/20150718_203947.jpg" width="360" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Our bathroom complete with shower spigot</span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuvQEhG4-vSu5utN6Xegy1rFK-TGqvAj-PGY9nMbV7EHWej1q1Chdo7VAPv_4Chq6cVvsQooiUcBXVoePIeMWxQNltMRKgh4wVpmX1yNocYaUIeKDxySqjHmGQusunmjEXBW4lLarHAhAs/s1600/20150719_132325.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuvQEhG4-vSu5utN6Xegy1rFK-TGqvAj-PGY9nMbV7EHWej1q1Chdo7VAPv_4Chq6cVvsQooiUcBXVoePIeMWxQNltMRKgh4wVpmX1yNocYaUIeKDxySqjHmGQusunmjEXBW4lLarHAhAs/s640/20150719_132325.jpg" width="360" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Our front door, closes with a padlock...from the inside!</span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWZgFlsn27h-FbfkAOr4AEkWF6SQDeWQN5XLLckvuKBdAVfFgj2F9S8nGdotpPUmoIDzds34VtJ5mQ8i7N-ZHaeCk-bBR9Se2Yc9dCYGUty11P4sfda-2rAQdIM8r9X-fUwVQtjrRih9it/s1600/20150719_132318.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWZgFlsn27h-FbfkAOr4AEkWF6SQDeWQN5XLLckvuKBdAVfFgj2F9S8nGdotpPUmoIDzds34VtJ5mQ8i7N-ZHaeCk-bBR9Se2Yc9dCYGUty11P4sfda-2rAQdIM8r9X-fUwVQtjrRih9it/s640/20150719_132318.jpg" width="360" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Our kitchen, those dishes are clean!</span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj35wYOOJqLaY2qnwax7_gseRBeX22Y1xaf25R6HW2PK6xuyyURUdjsZSyw7ORSuic63xIBDU3etlSV7HuZxA19NqTM0A6WLKK6d2f7dXGD-DAl5YYPE-_1xWYIqE3OjVFh9KMFYhaoUTHI/s1600/20150719_132258.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj35wYOOJqLaY2qnwax7_gseRBeX22Y1xaf25R6HW2PK6xuyyURUdjsZSyw7ORSuic63xIBDU3etlSV7HuZxA19NqTM0A6WLKK6d2f7dXGD-DAl5YYPE-_1xWYIqE3OjVFh9KMFYhaoUTHI/s640/20150719_132258.jpg" width="360" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Our wonderful sofa...where the kid ended up sleeping.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVpGknqoei6cU-lnXt4CZTSwNbRKpV4yGGbb2lT5dPq5kvZXHTh7eS1RShEyz0DpkMGDBnkKnEeXCzrxdg2pFpeMdPtL7NFFEniV9pwfmnqCVKcCl0ujN8yZZtHduWSHwoQbL5P7ugAP1t/s1600/20150719_132239.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVpGknqoei6cU-lnXt4CZTSwNbRKpV4yGGbb2lT5dPq5kvZXHTh7eS1RShEyz0DpkMGDBnkKnEeXCzrxdg2pFpeMdPtL7NFFEniV9pwfmnqCVKcCl0ujN8yZZtHduWSHwoQbL5P7ugAP1t/s640/20150719_132239.jpg" width="360" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And our wonderful, lumpy, bed...</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The four of us were sitting there chatting in various small nooks
and grannies in the room, when I finally told Justus that we were in fact,
quite hungry! He said oh yes, I will go get you some beans and rice. Wonderful.
Of course I was thinking he would bring back food that was cooked, and that’s
what I get for making assumptions again! When he returned, (40 minutes and 2
phone calls later!) he just had a bag of uncooked rice and beans! We had to
cook them! Thank goodness Caroline was there and cooked for us. Justus showed
me how to turn on the gas tank, with pliers and a match, and then Caroline
proceeded to pour a gallon of tap water on the rice to start cooking it. Ajenai
was like, oh no, please use the bottled water! That is the fastest I have ever
seen the kid speak! The one thing I drilled into her about this trip was DO NOT
DRINK THE WATER! She listened! So, after a little assertion that of course the
water was fine, Caroline used our bottled water. And after another 20 minutes,
after 10pm, we finally had our second meal of the day!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Justus sat and talked a little bit until I made it very obvious that
we wanted to go to bed, and Caroline stayed the night with us. At first I was
freaked cus I thought they meant she was staying with us the whole time! But
she just stayed the one night because they didn’t want to abandon us on our
first evening. Wasn’t that nice? <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I made the grave mistake of sleeping with the window open after the
fan broke. We were assaulted by mosqitos! Even Caroline had to get off the sofa
and wrap the mosquito netting around herself. We quickly closed the window, but
of course it was too late. Once in the night, the kid woke up literally
screaming about “the bees! The bees! Buzzing!” and she was swatting at her
head. I had to calm her down and say, no, in fact, that would be the mosquito’s
and I’m so sorry!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But we all survivied the night and I’m excited to start my first
whole day in Kenya! I’ve got a list of
items to buy including a pillow that isn’t as lumpy and hard as the road
outside!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;">This trip turned out to be good .....and very bad, you will hear all my thoughts, uncensored! Which, if you know me means you will be hearing a lot! Hope you stay for the journey of </span><span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;">our Kenyan adventure!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ciao....</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'AR CENA'; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11958518243787529410noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3063417693494570197.post-47589889806643214452015-07-10T00:29:00.000-07:002015-07-10T00:29:07.922-07:00My First Iftar!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><strong style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background: white; font-weight: normal;">Ramadan Kareem!</span></strong></div>
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<strong style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background: white; font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="background: white; font-family: inherit; font-weight: normal;">That is the
official greeting of Ramadan! We have reached the holy month here in the UAE
and I was excited to experience my first Iftar.<o:p></o:p></span></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="background: white; font-family: inherit; font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="background: white; font-family: inherit; font-weight: normal;">A little background: Ramadan is the 6<sup>th</sup>
month of the year from new moon to new moon. It is a holy time of fasting and
prayer for those of the Muslim faith. Muslims will fast from sunrise to sunset,
letting no food or beverage pass their lips during that time. Once the sun has
set, they can have a meal that is to be shared with family called Iftar. They
can also eat before sunrise, usually at 4:30am, and that meal is called Suhuor.
<o:p></o:p></span></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="background: white; font-family: inherit; font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="background: white; font-family: inherit; font-weight: normal;">So, I definitely
wanted to experience Iftar and, of course, there is no shortage of places to
eat here so I just had to decide which Iftar to go to. Every hotel restaurant
here has an Iftar and most of the regular restaurants as well. There are budget
iftars, expensive iftars, and <i>really</i>
expensive iftars. You can go to iftar at the food court in the malls or nice
mall restaurants or <i>really</i> nice mall
restaurants. So I had a major decision on my hands! My coworker, who has been
here for 5 years, said if I was going to do iftar, I should <i>do</i> iftar! Which means go big or go home
of course so I decided to go big! I went to my first iftar at Emirates Palace
here in Abu Dhabi! Can I just say it was amazing!<o:p></o:p></span></strong></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHVYcngtndpUOVgncwDFAZCWjbuxuN_6B6Qihz6bAx97AG4oTapln3wEiRmmSxE5eaGQR49tRSoh7WMKEAcd3lxjHqAYYK-mOYmsABR7rSxEj21gHY-I9QIs9vB_r8nI-VOilo3-J4v0q8/s1600/Emirates-Palace-Hotel-Abu-Dhabi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHVYcngtndpUOVgncwDFAZCWjbuxuN_6B6Qihz6bAx97AG4oTapln3wEiRmmSxE5eaGQR49tRSoh7WMKEAcd3lxjHqAYYK-mOYmsABR7rSxEj21gHY-I9QIs9vB_r8nI-VOilo3-J4v0q8/s640/Emirates-Palace-Hotel-Abu-Dhabi.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; font-family: inherit; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Emirates Palace
is itself amazing. It is huge and gorgeous. Every time I am there I cannot
believe the immense size of the palace. Can you imagine a place with 7000 doors?! Inside the palace houses a number of restaurants, art galleries and
shops, a night club, and a theater where I have seen many stunning live shows.
The kid said that you would not have to see another person for a year if you
lived there, and it is totally true! Every thing is all gold and marble and
shiny in the palace. And inside is one of the places where there is the gold atm
machine! Yes, you can get gold out of an atm!<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKcBT6DbF3ABSPawgMlwCIOee0G6zbrhOsYviN0vn7FmfvRIlSBWUnRCFpe_WqXTsNbJ59tdB6MkJUGcr1sGXqpKiB2_XLKVUUyvM_HlzAmZBYXeBaetwKxEBHNI608hXl2Nrfwtgy4wWj/s1600/2014_2_emiratespalace_gallery.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKcBT6DbF3ABSPawgMlwCIOee0G6zbrhOsYviN0vn7FmfvRIlSBWUnRCFpe_WqXTsNbJ59tdB6MkJUGcr1sGXqpKiB2_XLKVUUyvM_HlzAmZBYXeBaetwKxEBHNI608hXl2Nrfwtgy4wWj/s640/2014_2_emiratespalace_gallery.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Iftar traditional tent at the Emirates Palace</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI_Uh8jrRh6q3sl3D2kPFzJSkls8FrSe_y5JAAfxO6ZR77xY8PWVbhTRMLC1dnx5mmjh5kOiAekTvBLOCVmuUWGuSz8LZViCJLc-08rtxXGfbfd21THudSKP1VVisopO02DQhQfaZ6e2Mp/s1600/2014_20_emiratespalace_gallery.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI_Uh8jrRh6q3sl3D2kPFzJSkls8FrSe_y5JAAfxO6ZR77xY8PWVbhTRMLC1dnx5mmjh5kOiAekTvBLOCVmuUWGuSz8LZViCJLc-08rtxXGfbfd21THudSKP1VVisopO02DQhQfaZ6e2Mp/s640/2014_20_emiratespalace_gallery.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Gold, gold everywhere!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpdXqioQ-edx2DCiAAJ3NjcjKFKXT451kue_54w9HFhDyNxnFta9a7oZLSALqwzIZQ77eO-m_bHU-VbsXM_4V1BSUEPavrJ8x1nWh2yn8tjDQiU7ISQsAwz-_0d0eVPlqkfgipRSyyrsud/s1600/resizedimage230307-NBAD-Ramadan-Pavilion.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpdXqioQ-edx2DCiAAJ3NjcjKFKXT451kue_54w9HFhDyNxnFta9a7oZLSALqwzIZQ77eO-m_bHU-VbsXM_4V1BSUEPavrJ8x1nWh2yn8tjDQiU7ISQsAwz-_0d0eVPlqkfgipRSyyrsud/s640/resizedimage230307-NBAD-Ramadan-Pavilion.jpg" width="479" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">At this point, <strong><span style="background: white; font-weight: normal;">I do have to
admit that the photos of the Emirates Palace above are not ones I took myself (as if you can't tell!). Sigh,
it’s very hard to get a good shot with people in the way! And my photos were
too dark. Also, you have to be careful here as you cannot photograph Emirati
women. But I swear, the palace looked exactly like this in real life! </span></strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span><br />
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<strong><span style="background: white; font-family: inherit; font-weight: normal;">So, back to
iftar. The Emirates Palace is a traditional iftar with all the traditional
Emirati iftar foods. I’ve seen them around and tried a few, and I’ll explain
them here.<o:p></o:p></span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong><i><span style="background: white;">Malfoof</span></i></strong><strong><span style="background: white; font-weight: normal;"> – which the locals here will say is a traditional
food, but it is exactly like the Greek food of dolma! Rice and spices wrapped
in a marinated grape leaf. Me and the kid used to always pick this great finger
food up at Whole Foods in San Francisco.<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong><i><span style="background: white;">Harees- </span></i></strong><span style="background: white;">A traditional Emirati dish of boiled wheat and
tender, slow-cooked lamb. I have to admit I haven’t tasted this because it
looks like really soupy oatmeal (which I hate!).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em><b><span style="background: white; border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #333333; line-height: 107%; padding: 0in;">Arseeyah</span></b></em><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background: white; color: #333333; line-height: 107%;"> </span><span style="background: white; color: #333333; line-height: 107%;">–
which is a simple and hearty rice and chicken dish</span>. Which also is
blended into the consistency of oatmeal. Not my bag of tea, but most people
love it!</span><span style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong><i><span style="background: white;">Samboosa</span></i></strong><strong><span style="background: white; font-weight: normal;"> – which is very similar to the Indian samosa’s but
without the chutney! Still, very yummy!<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em><b><span style="background: white; border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #333333; line-height: 107%; padding: 0in;">Thareed</span></b></em><em><span style="background: white; border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #333333; line-height: 107%; padding: 0in;"> –</span></em><em><span style="background: white; border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #333333; font-style: normal; line-height: 107%; padding: 0in;">which is a </span></em><span style="background: white; color: #333333; line-height: 107%;">crispy flat bread layered with a meat soup. </span><strong><span style="background: white; font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong><i><span style="background: white;">Lamb</span></i></strong><strong><span style="background: white; font-weight: normal;"> </span></strong><strong><i><span style="background: white;">ouzi</span></i></strong><strong><span style="background: white; font-weight: normal;"> – a whole lamb that is roasted and then laid out on
a platter surrounded by rice, raisins, and nuts. It is totally tender and
succulent and yummy!</span></strong></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<strong><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background: white;"><i>Chicken Briyani</i></span><span style="background: white; font-weight: normal;">
– which is a marinated chicken and saffron rice dish. Now, I know you are
thinking, hey, isn’t that an Indian dish?! And you would be right, it <i>is</i> an Indian dish! Which the Emirati’s
love and have fully incorporated into their authentic cuisine. Briyani is
always my go to dish at events at our school, I love it!<o:p></o:p></span></span></strong></div>
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<br /></div>
<br />
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<strong><span style="background: white; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Dessert baklava
& Umm Ali – yummy! Baklava, the Russian sticky sweet treat, can be found in
abundance here, in many different shapes and sizes. And Umm Ali is a sort of
bread pudding.<o:p></o:p></span></span></strong></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxUU3bbr90qofWjMhIIvzQd6S2_h5bMsgb-DNACgxBQH97tXo7vH4KMXD97AErNlYpNNe84Q1wYrCwzmPnzCb1rYdBT7dIwgJDQoLGD_DwTY2FZcw3_W5lkueRv7mHAiiW5CcrTL-0ysWe/s1600/IMG-20150626-WA0038.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxUU3bbr90qofWjMhIIvzQd6S2_h5bMsgb-DNACgxBQH97tXo7vH4KMXD97AErNlYpNNe84Q1wYrCwzmPnzCb1rYdBT7dIwgJDQoLGD_DwTY2FZcw3_W5lkueRv7mHAiiW5CcrTL-0ysWe/s400/IMG-20150626-WA0038.jpg" width="300" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Greeted at the door with traditional Arabic music</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoCZMm2fnLiaGwg8OmCanz-nZIEctuwTyn3Es0xAouqLpiqhtcWgKHvJY_F78wB3wrK0DHKz6ynDTmXGWxRrBOme4blYV9FPQOu2SXvDHcj5lMXNgEuE7WWkVVk-07fnOmV5orYubUEWpI/s1600/20150626_195531.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoCZMm2fnLiaGwg8OmCanz-nZIEctuwTyn3Es0xAouqLpiqhtcWgKHvJY_F78wB3wrK0DHKz6ynDTmXGWxRrBOme4blYV9FPQOu2SXvDHcj5lMXNgEuE7WWkVVk-07fnOmV5orYubUEWpI/s640/20150626_195531.jpg" width="360" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Our beautiful reserved table.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuI-gGLlQGUKqgo1WF3HwReYM50Xn_5UIZ9VLEK0LJBSpPS3mSsyrMTvqcPR8E5SNXt1ibeBrKlIp1Qn0j5_Mxz48fRYP1ChlEOhyHghnyoJHjEgDKBI7GrxHwHvmnUp2f8dtBb5EFeLi_/s1600/20150626_195640.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuI-gGLlQGUKqgo1WF3HwReYM50Xn_5UIZ9VLEK0LJBSpPS3mSsyrMTvqcPR8E5SNXt1ibeBrKlIp1Qn0j5_Mxz48fRYP1ChlEOhyHghnyoJHjEgDKBI7GrxHwHvmnUp2f8dtBb5EFeLi_/s400/20150626_195640.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL2_ZUGrK2C5b-XgyxtHVnPt2LGTZkcK-CHGQaugwlrCepdy6mPf93D0IGXzDiwwykv_a0R_yybbpI1-eKNNCa7EA7IIz3pVRbZAxFrszoLzB6mHAcSaCAdm01ynzk5qk20_kydOa5RkQ6/s1600/IMG-20150626-WA0013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL2_ZUGrK2C5b-XgyxtHVnPt2LGTZkcK-CHGQaugwlrCepdy6mPf93D0IGXzDiwwykv_a0R_yybbpI1-eKNNCa7EA7IIz3pVRbZAxFrszoLzB6mHAcSaCAdm01ynzk5qk20_kydOa5RkQ6/s400/IMG-20150626-WA0013.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">The spread!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXFKdbf04xUov-4lWkWAJr897GmfwrIkYT6fwNR0VJau8h208CSdkZOUoh4VjpclQVppBlZRi9E7iUiUzF0HHEZ80MQ2n0P5nbZvm8Wrqg7MibeBtacZij94o4Aj8ftnRFDRU-vMO0WgIC/s1600/food.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXFKdbf04xUov-4lWkWAJr897GmfwrIkYT6fwNR0VJau8h208CSdkZOUoh4VjpclQVppBlZRi9E7iUiUzF0HHEZ80MQ2n0P5nbZvm8Wrqg7MibeBtacZij94o4Aj8ftnRFDRU-vMO0WgIC/s640/food.jpg" width="360" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">The food table was massive! And there was a whole separate table for the lamb ouzi!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwPApiB87dimYD6bWW7c9ckxl0ilzfISkctJaWYfB2J2qqzf3oYssaGvlrWTssaQlKkKL3b_qSzrKsWd-uLgehCzZq1rKCiSr-lvIeiLa3V7k7_LKtnLUPSCfeMJCGK2dye5zdM1nTjGdP/s1600/IMG-20150626-WA0012.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwPApiB87dimYD6bWW7c9ckxl0ilzfISkctJaWYfB2J2qqzf3oYssaGvlrWTssaQlKkKL3b_qSzrKsWd-uLgehCzZq1rKCiSr-lvIeiLa3V7k7_LKtnLUPSCfeMJCGK2dye5zdM1nTjGdP/s400/IMG-20150626-WA0012.jpg" width="300" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Traditional Emirati tea</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwAlUrE7tjnLKGqwWnScRAemZjM3UGjwjaYvPwQRhtIcgHGc8Ul9w5M7oBk45I8p8HXdQdO3kgAtaJeSaU7B4lj1DuKsggwoPFfx_Jp4L2akdazWqceQ8tSoQ_0klt4ReXAKketnvCGgho/s1600/20150626_212919.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwAlUrE7tjnLKGqwWnScRAemZjM3UGjwjaYvPwQRhtIcgHGc8Ul9w5M7oBk45I8p8HXdQdO3kgAtaJeSaU7B4lj1DuKsggwoPFfx_Jp4L2akdazWqceQ8tSoQ_0klt4ReXAKketnvCGgho/s640/20150626_212919.jpg" width="360" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Yummy! Desserts!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht1y8GwR5YyW87WUBnh82H9Fanimua1rhtzj_M7HGtz2_962eNyEGKzn-X7pH2WyVyBjnmrdMl4Tx0bFjdNu7rFxQtg1hdPB-MEjqi1O3LcQT7037HBHMaUy53f1hP68G4RIMMDu_W8oTc/s1600/20150626_212932.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht1y8GwR5YyW87WUBnh82H9Fanimua1rhtzj_M7HGtz2_962eNyEGKzn-X7pH2WyVyBjnmrdMl4Tx0bFjdNu7rFxQtg1hdPB-MEjqi1O3LcQT7037HBHMaUy53f1hP68G4RIMMDu_W8oTc/s640/20150626_212932.jpg" width="360" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Gold dust on top of the cakes! </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZisCmN5YfoWd7A9db_x2U0iti0ssvUuFyiuMh0ArxbHlSKwrhgT2Evwwpprh_7rMyTNc63MXxcC9RH3VAFSFhwTAIhyphenhyphenW5Q7DbQHnCZ6hZ_IaPHIp9W1HPn3OED0-ydeh3aFU_h8AGvuKd/s1600/20150626_212943.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZisCmN5YfoWd7A9db_x2U0iti0ssvUuFyiuMh0ArxbHlSKwrhgT2Evwwpprh_7rMyTNc63MXxcC9RH3VAFSFhwTAIhyphenhyphenW5Q7DbQHnCZ6hZ_IaPHIp9W1HPn3OED0-ydeh3aFU_h8AGvuKd/s640/20150626_212943.jpg" width="360" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb4W3RHRc_sTUb3o6nHKMAJ2yIkmPkpPGUGr6SqsayL3iBfCIi6XMYj8GzC6fp1-iIu0__cpBxfxucm8ibUWUnyrPsnstMspAYdpBRnMGwS-jZO8itc_EudYGdPrEjpvEKFh_VLl2VgjkC/s1600/20150626_213028.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb4W3RHRc_sTUb3o6nHKMAJ2yIkmPkpPGUGr6SqsayL3iBfCIi6XMYj8GzC6fp1-iIu0__cpBxfxucm8ibUWUnyrPsnstMspAYdpBRnMGwS-jZO8itc_EudYGdPrEjpvEKFh_VLl2VgjkC/s640/20150626_213028.jpg" width="360" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsT3IeVT9yl2uA2PCyyZmDQG43kiwAKcR-SEno8LESZI9Wa1wG3OMVUI1D-TcdcjGetToxu07lJrBJ5ldoeBYqiyDedIQ_T86Cfrah2D0XtdlCrgakzbLQY7iwfezFQ-SjtuE7iIKLQNbY/s1600/ajenai.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsT3IeVT9yl2uA2PCyyZmDQG43kiwAKcR-SEno8LESZI9Wa1wG3OMVUI1D-TcdcjGetToxu07lJrBJ5ldoeBYqiyDedIQ_T86Cfrah2D0XtdlCrgakzbLQY7iwfezFQ-SjtuE7iIKLQNbY/s640/ajenai.jpg" width="360" /></span></a></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong><span style="background: white; font-weight: normal;">A little before
10pm, a waiter came over to our table and told us that Iftar would be over
soon. We said thank you and he left. In the next few minutes, he came to our
table twice more to tell us they were closing. Looking around, we could see
that the place was packed with Emiratis. We noticed that the waiter did not
approach other tables with his closing message so we were wondering what was
up. When he approached our table yet again, my friend asked him “is there a
reason, you are telling us this?” And he said yes, that at 10:30 Suhuor would
start and we were welcome to stay, but he would have to charge us an additional
195dirhams! We said, ohhh, thank you for the warning, we will definitely be
out! I asked him what were the hours of suhuor and he said 10:30 to 4:30am. I
said, but no one will stay til 4:30am?! And he said that they would! That
all the people there would stay and they would bring more food out at least 4
more times before 4:30am! I guess it’s nice to be in the Emirates during
Ramadan!</span></strong><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCEQqia-WYJKQ8k0eySx2JMMVXEvU9a7AKqn39HWBX7aNlLbRurLseL-9aLthNOieVYYMf-gnWuDETulP4xZD_9Q2ZZo8MkHkaxRSvM4Zsw660lyANfR9tpCsbOGqV-DlWD_Jo1-jh_8aj/s1600/20150626_211425.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCEQqia-WYJKQ8k0eySx2JMMVXEvU9a7AKqn39HWBX7aNlLbRurLseL-9aLthNOieVYYMf-gnWuDETulP4xZD_9Q2ZZo8MkHkaxRSvM4Zsw660lyANfR9tpCsbOGqV-DlWD_Jo1-jh_8aj/s640/20150626_211425.jpg" width="360" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Happy with full tummy's!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi06VPvL8vbeV4l38TQMZCY3lYyFtD1aZxTma-z4LWNW3Gdejsm4RYYsnvuv1p21g9YtBTqxjbUH4cFJODJFH3wxV5ForKIpJYr7-Wz5OF419xMIKvvL2rDLSqJzuDgSXVdlnd2_34A4v8H/s1600/gold.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi06VPvL8vbeV4l38TQMZCY3lYyFtD1aZxTma-z4LWNW3Gdejsm4RYYsnvuv1p21g9YtBTqxjbUH4cFJODJFH3wxV5ForKIpJYr7-Wz5OF419xMIKvvL2rDLSqJzuDgSXVdlnd2_34A4v8H/s400/gold.jpg" width="197" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Eating Gold!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Of course we had to taste the gold dusted dessert cakes! Really, I couldn't taste it at all! But the kid said it tasted, ummm, not good. But who is complaining when you're eating gold?!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">All in all, not a bad meal! I would recommend Emirate's Palace for a visit for everyone of course, and having ramadan there was just an extra bonus! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Ciao for now!</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11958518243787529410noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3063417693494570197.post-39249100547653439752015-06-26T02:43:00.002-07:002015-06-26T02:43:37.344-07:00Here's Looking at You, Kid!Yay! Morocco! I've always wanted to visit Morocco and I am so excited that me and the kid finally made it! Even though the airfare was a tad on the expensive side for spring and there could have been a chance of cheaper tickets at a later date, I really really wanted to go NOW! So, like the spoiled child my momma tried not to make me, I spent the money and here we are!<br />
<br />
*Just FYI, this blog is a scrapbook of sorts for me. So I can keep track of everything I'm doing and what has happened. I can look back in a few years and be like, yea, look where I've been. So this trip is chock full of photos! Hope you enjoy them. And you can always just page down quickly until something catches your eye!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV3970qHOyWDUcDvX8egX7A6HQ6nsrzrOUQ2mAuIPJeUnicrimFiP1il90OZ0AyG41VCyxIQiTD_W7xp91NVf6cYCVNCvSBs6zLyMl4CFJbgqh2HtG1pAVnbHQKc7mhngZ9btGLKNV6TEa/s1600/20150401_165946.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV3970qHOyWDUcDvX8egX7A6HQ6nsrzrOUQ2mAuIPJeUnicrimFiP1il90OZ0AyG41VCyxIQiTD_W7xp91NVf6cYCVNCvSBs6zLyMl4CFJbgqh2HtG1pAVnbHQKc7mhngZ9btGLKNV6TEa/s1600/20150401_165946.jpg" width="225" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2 happy campers headed to Morocco!</td></tr>
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<br />
We flew with Qatar airlines which was quite nice except we had a 7 hour layover in Doha!! Once we arrived in Doha, we went to the transfer desk, and there was some sign about hotels which I didn't understand. The lady took our tickets and clacked away on the computer for awhile then said, "I'm sorry but we don't seem to have a hotel reservation for you." I told her that we didn't have a hotel booked and she said, "but ma'am, your flight doesn't leave til 2am!" Luckily, we were able to purchase visa's for about $55 and we headed into town. The taxi dropped us at this huge square building and said go inside. We went in, and there were all these little shops and cafes.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvicvnDsTryGdD3aERzsnZ58TPFD_AIGr9zGQWnJ6V9f_LOv__JysT1jw_vASrcSIMULhwrzyxi5zW8gS4-FP5i54PH2bOsafv4wojE0dneOzKm34fdU0dMcuHEixDmlwz620IR9hfAy5T/s1600/doha1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvicvnDsTryGdD3aERzsnZ58TPFD_AIGr9zGQWnJ6V9f_LOv__JysT1jw_vASrcSIMULhwrzyxi5zW8gS4-FP5i54PH2bOsafv4wojE0dneOzKm34fdU0dMcuHEixDmlwz620IR9hfAy5T/s1600/doha1.jpg" width="360" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blurry but shows the air before the sandstorm.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8yAvHPy9NZiGXiGgaKFxKuqyLIPy6OdOk9UUSoxgMpLffbrGIFNGx5R7b96OgonHT3_nczk7Pp1BRewmWHDTi-DEK5o1YtTaw7_PDuGytQ7J8QqW7G7fmoFA2pJZJEklP40rb17FXxwJ0/s1600/doha2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8yAvHPy9NZiGXiGgaKFxKuqyLIPy6OdOk9UUSoxgMpLffbrGIFNGx5R7b96OgonHT3_nczk7Pp1BRewmWHDTi-DEK5o1YtTaw7_PDuGytQ7J8QqW7G7fmoFA2pJZJEklP40rb17FXxwJ0/s1600/doha2.jpg" width="360" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A fountain inside the artists studio building.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcnlDKWbI6UelRPlUGcNylN11D-zHIPJeytUU-1Y52-K2zGFQbhnkKI54CuCD5-_KOjaAQk793xntcBnLMNcibtKWXuoBmsd_hjLEd1SLIWtZ7EZWMYibofH6fG3mkzDd_Wor_JW9VvE17/s1600/doha3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcnlDKWbI6UelRPlUGcNylN11D-zHIPJeytUU-1Y52-K2zGFQbhnkKI54CuCD5-_KOjaAQk793xntcBnLMNcibtKWXuoBmsd_hjLEd1SLIWtZ7EZWMYibofH6fG3mkzDd_Wor_JW9VvE17/s1600/doha3.jpg" width="360" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The side of a building.</td></tr>
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So we looked around, bought some souvenirs and then, suddenly while we were eating, a sandstorm hit! And I mean it came out of nowhere! Suddenly people were running all over, a bunch of folks came into our restaurant, employees took masks out from somewhere. The sand was hitting the windows so hard you could hear them cracking.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Folks disappeared quick! </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ8MfxVN02nvh3VpL0tT5DD0diqviKngWtEiCHLsla2R0nsyUeumDolqhQpy2q4hkiOboj8tLVgqWThSi8hOY5xNz065aI9qo6Cshy8fzmJCQL4-0pX0p2KRibIPGlP81v1gkdnkEQGvNr/s1600/20150401_224545.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ8MfxVN02nvh3VpL0tT5DD0diqviKngWtEiCHLsla2R0nsyUeumDolqhQpy2q4hkiOboj8tLVgqWThSi8hOY5xNz065aI9qo6Cshy8fzmJCQL4-0pX0p2KRibIPGlP81v1gkdnkEQGvNr/s1600/20150401_224545.jpg" width="360" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Had to wrap up just to breathe!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKptLQODZBbG7adRRBa_u40DgWmyVVnllb9dTXLFZAOK6Cpk-k074skRWGwMXSVw8oyY_qU3ZuNhq_zQV9x8i7j-3_QQhVCcNAwAGSGtWGkdFPV-AqclAA13zz0Ik2bxt3HWZ3tmzsyrkJ/s1600/20150401_225951.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKptLQODZBbG7adRRBa_u40DgWmyVVnllb9dTXLFZAOK6Cpk-k074skRWGwMXSVw8oyY_qU3ZuNhq_zQV9x8i7j-3_QQhVCcNAwAGSGtWGkdFPV-AqclAA13zz0Ik2bxt3HWZ3tmzsyrkJ/s1600/20150401_225951.jpg" width="360" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Taxi ride in a sandstorm!</td></tr>
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Because of this, of course, our flight was delayed! I don't know if it was better or worse that they boarded the flight, but then had us sitting there at the jetway for forever!<br />
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But, at last, we arrived in Casablanca!! Where I rented a car (the answer to your question is, yes! I am crazy! Driving in Morocco!!) and, ask me if I knew the car was a stick shift, which I haven't driven in a million years! And we drove off to explore! I didn't even stall out, thank you very much!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Renting the car!</td></tr>
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So, apparently, they rent you a car with an empty gas tank, so you can return it empty, too! We barely made it to the gas station! Literally, the car was sputtering because it took forever to find a gas station. We kept stopping and asking people who only spoke french and they didn't understand the word "petrol". I thought that's how they said it in French but I guess not!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">So, I guess you wait for the green light in the middle of the round about here!</td></tr>
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We went to Hassan II Mosque and then to a restaurant to eat before leaving Casablanca for Rabat.<br />
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This close to the ocean it was really foggy, but not too cold. Ajenai said it reminded her of San Francisco. We miss fog! I think my hair was also happy to see the fog as it drank it up like a sponge!<br />
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I love the architecture here! It is amazing, especially the beautiful mosque's.<br />
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I was fascinated by the building. The architecture was completely beautiful of course. I loved all the doors!<br />
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I was told that you could see all the way across to the other side! On a clear day of course! There was this guy in the water swimming, of all things! I know his butt was freezing!<br />
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Oh yea, so this happened. So it turns out, for some reason, my google maps is really terrible. Like the kid has to move the map with her finger or else it won't move, terrible! It doesn't show landmarks or speak or even have written instructions! I don't know what that's about but we're having a bit of trouble with navigation! We found a good restaurant on TripAdvisor that was near us and set out to find it. Couldn't find it! Map said we were there but we obviously were not. We decided to park and walk around to see if we could find the spot. After 10 minutes, the kid said lets just forget it and drive to Rabat. We go back to our car, and there's a hideous, yellow boot on it! I was like, WTF?! This guy comes out of nowhere and is like, "didn't pay park". And I said where? He pointed vaguely down the block which showed no sign of any sort of parking meter contraption. He said, " you call." and then he started to write down something on his hand. I am not gonna lie, I almost started crying at this point! I haven't even been in the country 24 hours yet! And this! I took out my phone and asked him to dial the number. He puts a 50 into the phone. I just stare at him like, call this? And he says, "you give me". Ahhhhh, I got it... it's a shakedown! And luckily for me, 50 Moroccan dirham is about $5 bucks! So this ended with a win! I am going to be totally paranoid about parking this car the rest of the trip now!<br />
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Luckily, we found a restaurant and the food was delicious! And it had an attached bakery that was to die for! So of course I bought way more sweets then we could actually eat!</div>
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One of the main reasons I wanted to drive was to see the beautiful country side of Morocco! All along the way we kept seeing herds of sheep,with sheep herders too! I've seen lots of sheep on roads in different countries, but I've never seen people with the herds! And most of these sheep herders were women.<br />
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Finally made it to Rabat! Again, I'm amazed by the architecture. I love all the doors here! The buildings look old and kind of run down (probably because I am coming from brand new Abu Dhabi!) but the doors are so beautiful!<br />
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In Rabat we stayed in the heart of the Medina. Medina's are like huge outdoor shopping areas, but they also are full of houses. So you could have your shop right below your home. And the Medina's are the heart of every city!<br />
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Our next stop was the jewel city of Chefchaouen. I was dying to get to this town even if it was waaaay up north in Morocco. It is known as the "blue city". And it is a place where people of Jewish, Muslim, and Christian faiths resided in peace as exiles from Spain. The architecture is reminiscent of all 3 faiths; the blue paint from Judaism, the open interior courtyards from the European Christians, and the domes and minarets from the Muslims.<br />
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The drive was not that long and surprisingly easy; "first on the left and straight on until morning"! (Peter Pan for those who couldn't figure it out! lol)<br />
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When my leg got a cramp I pulled over to the side of the road. We saw this beautiful overgrown grave site and a road that curved into nowhere.<br />
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And we drove around the curve in the road, and the town of Chefchaouen opened up before us! It was an incredible sight!<br />
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Welcome to Chefchaouen! The door into the town.</div>
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Of course, even with a paper map and a bad google map app, I got lost! So we called the couple we were staying with and said "help!" And the lovely Ricardo offered to come and get us!<br />
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Watching some lovely boys play futball while we wait for Ricardo to pick us up!<br />
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Our room is so cute! The bottom floor of the house has 4 rooms which are rented out to Air B n B. There is a shared bathroom and WC. Their is an open air dining room on the roof and the tippy top level is the owners apartment.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYJFl6JNmkD_IM93Q33tyGeGDFh-z5Gne72y0xJc0o3Xrcyk4_cxRsr8oLEbUPxuAGJQxNndIulTF_pJ9iC88NjiDCZEdfCMT3jFQ8XGaj7bvN94Qy5qCG0fM-9G0Ea5T_YkOWdmYDbSxl/s1600/DSC_0762.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYJFl6JNmkD_IM93Q33tyGeGDFh-z5Gne72y0xJc0o3Xrcyk4_cxRsr8oLEbUPxuAGJQxNndIulTF_pJ9iC88NjiDCZEdfCMT3jFQ8XGaj7bvN94Qy5qCG0fM-9G0Ea5T_YkOWdmYDbSxl/s1600/DSC_0762.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Love this view!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is the open dining area.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The stairs leading down to our room.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The view outside my window!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The sign to look for to find our home!</td></tr>
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Ok, so, this was a loooong time coming! Of course I have 100's more photos and commentary and I will get those out as soon as I can!</div>
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Ciao for now!</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11958518243787529410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3063417693494570197.post-38039529009189079182015-06-25T21:47:00.001-07:002015-06-25T21:47:29.222-07:00Hello Again!!Hi! So I know it has been ages and ages since I've written, but I'm determined to rectify that! What happens is I get so overwhelmed with pictures and writing and blah and blah, so I just decided to start where I start! So here goes!<br />
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Last night I went to celebrity chef Todd English's Olives restaurant. I've actually heard of him because I love cooking shows and he was mentioned...somewhere. I asked my friend Dedra, to go to this restaurant with me. She says which one, I say I don't know. Then I looked in TimeOut Abu Dhabi and saw a blurb about Olives so I said, what about here. Dedra said great, where is it? I say I have no idea! So she did the rest of the research and found out it's in the Ritz Carlton hotel! Ohh la la!<br />
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Can I tell you how awesome the whole experience was?! From driving up this long, beautiful driveway, to valet parking, to walking through the lobby of the Ritz, to the restaurant itself, awesomeness!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiANFETHgWE8DDigPtAdbh9SajMpszHn02xw4iw-jUe1LIITrn_rOOfpaOhfd5m0_mPlmBXEk_uwRFa7DCvirZKVkIz5wkpDdXQBIOdRaPFWTvdK3KW1hsASlpKWlgxy-uz3BKhzkf8ST44/s1600/arches.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiANFETHgWE8DDigPtAdbh9SajMpszHn02xw4iw-jUe1LIITrn_rOOfpaOhfd5m0_mPlmBXEk_uwRFa7DCvirZKVkIz5wkpDdXQBIOdRaPFWTvdK3KW1hsASlpKWlgxy-uz3BKhzkf8ST44/s400/arches.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrsrggtnUj_a2_zwLpkONa3LlaBJ8csJvRbhTu6I-9LuaA7BHQZaERDorhgeGkw_qQpMWPlY2Lwi7YROUBmDkvsY8w06arf8QJqoioA8xiqh6Z7_S1jdxpU7KWsJqLFBFVr8v0Y276DIDp/s1600/ritz_carlton_abudhabi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrsrggtnUj_a2_zwLpkONa3LlaBJ8csJvRbhTu6I-9LuaA7BHQZaERDorhgeGkw_qQpMWPlY2Lwi7YROUBmDkvsY8w06arf8QJqoioA8xiqh6Z7_S1jdxpU7KWsJqLFBFVr8v0Y276DIDp/s400/ritz_carlton_abudhabi.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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The thing about the UAE is it's such a new country (had it's 43rd birthday this year!), that there is tons of construction going on, and also there is tons of empty space that is still desert. The Ritz-Carlton is located in one of these empty spaces. It is in a desert space with nothing else around it. The hotel is like a mini city unto itself! It is huge and is not just a hotel, but a shopping center, about 6 restaurants, a spa, and there is a dhow boat ride that will take you all the way out to the corniche or across the way to the Farimont Hotel.<br />
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And the experience starts driving thru the arches as you are greeted by a tuxoded gent with immaculate white gloves who is not even sweating in this 97 degree heat! All the employees are dressed in, I guess I would call it a sort of 18th century uniform, that have the same sort of theme but are all different and actually very beautiful and sparkly. Plus, the hotel and the employees were all extra sparkly because it's Ramadan!<br />
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After having a bunch of pretty unsatisfactory interactions with different customer service folks this week, the level of service at the Ritz was just over the top! All the smiles and greetings and offers to help, and they almost literally jumped to answer any questions we had! We were wandering around a bit because the hotel is huge and the restaurant is in the Venetian Village part of the Ritz, which is a relatively new part of the hotel.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiubPQNNbjZuiQ6-wXsinyhNO04IlHHsIEmwdI4vvmJ9dnOZUPWnCYoleqBrBnPJ2p1nOUbC1HNWr37k4sDW3tu4o1Z2FfeVVvls3oPnbdvcpqz3EogBC_Ceq6ZYGhdbjw9jmNCuAlede56/s1600/outside.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiubPQNNbjZuiQ6-wXsinyhNO04IlHHsIEmwdI4vvmJ9dnOZUPWnCYoleqBrBnPJ2p1nOUbC1HNWr37k4sDW3tu4o1Z2FfeVVvls3oPnbdvcpqz3EogBC_Ceq6ZYGhdbjw9jmNCuAlede56/s400/outside.jpg" width="258" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Outside view of the restaurant</td></tr>
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Then, the restaurant!! I hadn't realized that the restaurant is brand new and hasn't even had it's grand opening yet. We walked in and were greeted by two lovely ladies with adorable French accents (I dare you to show me any human who doesn't love a French accent!). We had a tour of the restaurant, and were greeted by the chef who had worked with Todd English for 17 years at previous restaurants. We got a peek inside all the different rooms the restaurant has including the areas for private parties. The decor was quite elegant. One thing I noticed was there was no art work on the walls, but it was still elegant with the different textures of the walls and the beautiful lighting fixtures.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVPC9rGf5ACGfan_Hud16ET6mpYIjWK5evMVEAEPx-bA9xRNYu2ij7HT_k9Fo1op1d0-WWLw3d8FIzaBRKF4l9TtGLZOiYAooqGk689Gn1j7HyfmHKErB9R7ZeiGlxxYILVX4hahwQXMYd/s1600/people.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVPC9rGf5ACGfan_Hud16ET6mpYIjWK5evMVEAEPx-bA9xRNYu2ij7HT_k9Fo1op1d0-WWLw3d8FIzaBRKF4l9TtGLZOiYAooqGk689Gn1j7HyfmHKErB9R7ZeiGlxxYILVX4hahwQXMYd/s320/people.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We were greeted by these two ladies!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPdubtWFRKUbX50xR3XRpB2KbZgIS-Z3DckEJfc0ur9SMg0SthMOFZa3cPCqS8gmOTBpbA7IVswrWC13hYf9FW5GOUvsW6Eh6u8xs5Tahp5hquSS8T9Ln23b7xkcBS9CaUXkVy7vaW2kW6/s1600/pasta.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPdubtWFRKUbX50xR3XRpB2KbZgIS-Z3DckEJfc0ur9SMg0SthMOFZa3cPCqS8gmOTBpbA7IVswrWC13hYf9FW5GOUvsW6Eh6u8xs5Tahp5hquSS8T9Ln23b7xkcBS9CaUXkVy7vaW2kW6/s400/pasta.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You can watch the chefs preparing the pasta</td></tr>
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So, what did we eat?! Well, I had a beautiful sweet potato brava for a starter. It is not something I would normally have ordered, so I was outside my little foodie box and it was definitely worth it! The sweet potato had ricotta cheese, a brown butter glaze, and a jalapeno sauce. It was beautiful and all the elements together had a perfect balance of flavor. I'm not a really spicy person so I was slightly worried about the jalapeno sauce, but it was perfect with the tartness of the ricotta and the sweetness of the brown butter glaze. I felt like I was a judge on Masterchef Australia!! Then I had a ricotta ravioli for my mains. It had veal Italian sausage and some little crunchy nuts that had a great texture. Dedra had butternut squash ravioli for a starter and an asparagus tart. The ravioli was surprisingly good! It had a savory flavored sauce but the butternut squash was actually sweet. Great surprise of flavors on your tongue. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU8mWWDxEG6aWB1QCShlIpUWTbx5KelsgZMqspTGla99Cs6NNgirNRPdFowz7D3__htyTSK2JCXNUd6g8Ewq20_y-0dKc6bKu-AEypoCXkxB7MtcWi4ZNYDz0cYpakLSW_ctlSZrLObJr_/s1600/ravilio.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU8mWWDxEG6aWB1QCShlIpUWTbx5KelsgZMqspTGla99Cs6NNgirNRPdFowz7D3__htyTSK2JCXNUd6g8Ewq20_y-0dKc6bKu-AEypoCXkxB7MtcWi4ZNYDz0cYpakLSW_ctlSZrLObJr_/s400/ravilio.jpg" width="225" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ricotta Ravioli, yummy!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitd2bEL80mLsrLINwzsq5v2rxOfItis5WHuzCK_U2rvU7nvIj3A1foNwCMUWjVjSzTtAxrUpSMjQWxtIYgSCnMQ25aIbTnKoF1_T7X0xoWysXfgevRutUtsrvyyYJOfT5nQb2E3VB8KZ9c/s1600/salad.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitd2bEL80mLsrLINwzsq5v2rxOfItis5WHuzCK_U2rvU7nvIj3A1foNwCMUWjVjSzTtAxrUpSMjQWxtIYgSCnMQ25aIbTnKoF1_T7X0xoWysXfgevRutUtsrvyyYJOfT5nQb2E3VB8KZ9c/s400/salad.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Asparagus Tart</td></tr>
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While we were eating, the wait staff kept us supplied with water and changed our silver service for each course, they even wiped the table of crumbs! As the server set down each course, he explained the courses and also how to get the perfect bite.<br />
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As we were leaving, the manager and the head of front of house asked us what we thought of the food and the decor and the service. They asked us for our business cards for their collection (sadly, I don't have one, but Dedra did). And when Dedra asked about validation for the valet, the head of front of house was so apologetic that they did not have that service yet and he pulled out his cell phone and added valet service to his to do list! Then he took our valet card and said he would check on our car for us. We were talking to the employees for awhile and then we said, ummm, where did he go. And she said he will be back don't worry. He came back and not only did he have the valet price waived, he had our car delivered practically in front of the restaurant so we didn't have to walk all the way back around the hotel! Talk about 5 star service!<br />
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All in all, it was a marvelous experience and I will definitely return!!<br />
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See you soon (I hope!)!!<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11958518243787529410noreply@blogger.com0Abu Dhabi - Abu Dhabi - United Arab Emirates24.466667 54.36666700000000724.0038875 53.72122000000001 24.9294465 55.012114000000004tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3063417693494570197.post-6550963427380258182015-03-05T10:55:00.003-08:002015-03-05T10:55:54.988-08:00Wild, Wild, West!I'm in the West! That's the west of the UAE. Visiting my friend Anika in Madinat Zyad. Another friend, Heather, and I made the 2 hour trek for the weekend. Anika and Heather were my life saviors during that looooong 10 month wait to get over here. I would not have made it over here without them!<br />
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So Anika was placed in Madinat Zyad and, even though she has been to see me a bunch of times, I have never made it out to see her. Until this weekend! Of course, we would decide to go, during a sand storm!!! Heather's little rental car was darting all over the road! The wind was crazy! And sand was blowing over, under and through the car! Driving on these roads with the wind blowing and the air con on, I'm always freaked out that we are breathing in all that dust!Straight into my lungs! If anyone out there wants to start a side business, make filters for the vents in cars! I'm serious!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0en90QHjNzoHYbNCXJ4M9mt0e2JM1lsA3IKo8bJeo3bCMIojhDWjMiLF4wceEyEibR4_xWC_y316Tp0C82ql7zH9VYtka5xBnq9DeJrS6eOK9WHGjtOChoj-pWy3tUzMl3aSziBj-x590/s1600/2015-02-20+12.58.11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0en90QHjNzoHYbNCXJ4M9mt0e2JM1lsA3IKo8bJeo3bCMIojhDWjMiLF4wceEyEibR4_xWC_y316Tp0C82ql7zH9VYtka5xBnq9DeJrS6eOK9WHGjtOChoj-pWy3tUzMl3aSziBj-x590/s1600/2015-02-20+12.58.11.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwb3as52dnmTYiD_w6tjCGXKD64NaXHR3V_cIYeeTeo5s_4yRoi7IwvpZ1me0wqReW4wfKUxsMB9mFDJ3lxGzB8nPBa1fP4OiUoRMYcI7G74k_AeGmGDEgFCBP2JkkNwoCFZ2PLtyyQU78/s1600/2015-02-20+12.58.12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwb3as52dnmTYiD_w6tjCGXKD64NaXHR3V_cIYeeTeo5s_4yRoi7IwvpZ1me0wqReW4wfKUxsMB9mFDJ3lxGzB8nPBa1fP4OiUoRMYcI7G74k_AeGmGDEgFCBP2JkkNwoCFZ2PLtyyQU78/s1600/2015-02-20+12.58.12.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrnT4UmENUwWpVKC_SyrI0icx7GoSS_cesZ-3gnUxs1dEpbxBV6PaJO7-nMgDWPJsC5gK4-mlurcn5FMKF3iBQi21KTTFYSXPgeMzWEDUlJTIn1LqmnuPi7w8MT5t2ReGQV34-r86FXDKQ/s1600/2015-02-20+15.06.42.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrnT4UmENUwWpVKC_SyrI0icx7GoSS_cesZ-3gnUxs1dEpbxBV6PaJO7-nMgDWPJsC5gK4-mlurcn5FMKF3iBQi21KTTFYSXPgeMzWEDUlJTIn1LqmnuPi7w8MT5t2ReGQV34-r86FXDKQ/s1600/2015-02-20+15.06.42.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a>We finally made it safe and sound. Just with a bunch of sand in our cracks and crevices! We were greeted at the door by Riley! He came all the way here by himself! </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSVXUT2eWEmWnsJv8UZF9bE0xn7nqQ6gZJulRWvjb3h4lDbuZlx3gcWkQ-29i1j2SdE4gXIKWGijOVIN-kF1VmfmnpWOngOp7QSmyZBXsdYP1X_s1uprChqtxaDS6Sm28HYImOJ4XVOiSF/s1600/2015-02-20+17.10.29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSVXUT2eWEmWnsJv8UZF9bE0xn7nqQ6gZJulRWvjb3h4lDbuZlx3gcWkQ-29i1j2SdE4gXIKWGijOVIN-kF1VmfmnpWOngOp7QSmyZBXsdYP1X_s1uprChqtxaDS6Sm28HYImOJ4XVOiSF/s1600/2015-02-20+17.10.29.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a>She lives in a nice complex full of teachers. She is surrounded by a bunch of huge villas, but most of them are empty! That creeps me out, living near empty buildings. I don't believe in ghosts... but everyone knows weird sounds come from empty buildings!! </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFuN9uu7hNIxft-2Fli_RoPwBdHVysEMGzziCq6XDxpSUCNSN794pv0ZZJj4aZ7f1VidMwK9Yi3pL7iJFc3OTrJe2VMZfeN6YcDf8xv8d_kNZWNrmA9kqW1QsN-utDSVO70nrQaX3CNCxr/s1600/2015-02-20+17.17.08.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFuN9uu7hNIxft-2Fli_RoPwBdHVysEMGzziCq6XDxpSUCNSN794pv0ZZJj4aZ7f1VidMwK9Yi3pL7iJFc3OTrJe2VMZfeN6YcDf8xv8d_kNZWNrmA9kqW1QsN-utDSVO70nrQaX3CNCxr/s1600/2015-02-20+17.17.08.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Anika's rooftop view</td></tr>
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Anika wanted to take us out for drinks at Tilal Liwa Hotel. In the UAE, you can only drink at restaurants attached to hotels. So off we went! But first, we had to stop for gas! Yes, that is the gas tanker instead of a pump!!<br />
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The Tilal Liwa hotel is really nice. It's a resort, in the middle of the desert. It was quite a scary ride out there. With the sand storm tapering off but still blowing. And there were mini sand dunes all over the road. Anika kept crashing through them and screaming. We almost didn't make it through one of them! We got stuck for a bit on one of them!<br />
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We finally pulled up to the entrance, and viola, elegance extraordinaire!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZudw7JtFInbUvI2b6Uwakm-S4vJVPFvyemARenIDh1AD88nSojg3GzhoVUf5XRNWj0zojRCeAHyQmMurI6qmnyMLo_uKSmNrqdjxxmob6FwR7eEwEb3ydQsLxjDcrOMxtE0FgayHvP38W/s1600/2015-02-20+19.06.03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZudw7JtFInbUvI2b6Uwakm-S4vJVPFvyemARenIDh1AD88nSojg3GzhoVUf5XRNWj0zojRCeAHyQmMurI6qmnyMLo_uKSmNrqdjxxmob6FwR7eEwEb3ydQsLxjDcrOMxtE0FgayHvP38W/s1600/2015-02-20+19.06.03.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyFGbjZBWImPPxrWKAEQ_Uou8AkVHXi_ZenXG4UBbl4fYZ2DZNYAkKtFhbI-rzFoQEoBsyUjv0K9gbdoi6_6HiBdgvt7-o1y72SB_um9FiAkoN3L6ueubsQt_6SnqzZ1_BylK7fJEFQFES/s1600/2015-02-20+19.06.27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyFGbjZBWImPPxrWKAEQ_Uou8AkVHXi_ZenXG4UBbl4fYZ2DZNYAkKtFhbI-rzFoQEoBsyUjv0K9gbdoi6_6HiBdgvt7-o1y72SB_um9FiAkoN3L6ueubsQt_6SnqzZ1_BylK7fJEFQFES/s1600/2015-02-20+19.06.27.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5QO500eHfK_M1ElpzLqkMH1RgW5kSDqWGOjjxKrJhEg39bPbSfOgu62Fndm9MgXRPhg-iNlw0vLsjM9-VysU2-n43kUIvgvHNdRBwanpX3uI1kzhsaUMb2H-ZufkDduQEahI-7vLVuwiV/s1600/2015-02-20+19.07.23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5QO500eHfK_M1ElpzLqkMH1RgW5kSDqWGOjjxKrJhEg39bPbSfOgu62Fndm9MgXRPhg-iNlw0vLsjM9-VysU2-n43kUIvgvHNdRBwanpX3uI1kzhsaUMb2H-ZufkDduQEahI-7vLVuwiV/s1600/2015-02-20+19.07.23.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJgPLNHx0AG2zUndyOZbt9qD5ib0ISTIH0wRtbwXxwoMvgzej0x1Wxt2vDN0xD8VuQvpeXVGy9agAXZgI50OKVml2T887kU9uDQmH-RvO7U_VO-2lL_ys6urHvIJ77sxh8EzWIa5awHXrH/s1600/2015-02-20+19.12.16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJgPLNHx0AG2zUndyOZbt9qD5ib0ISTIH0wRtbwXxwoMvgzej0x1Wxt2vDN0xD8VuQvpeXVGy9agAXZgI50OKVml2T887kU9uDQmH-RvO7U_VO-2lL_ys6urHvIJ77sxh8EzWIa5awHXrH/s1600/2015-02-20+19.12.16.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a>There was a big outside area with different places to sit. The pictures don't do it justice but, take my word for it, it was lovely!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN6gV_rYpXjzGEA2wDJ6oHbmOFiFbjG-tDaJUvtcqBoB5Tror-UB_t0ePRbZZIa4CjUSmmx5BYZh8cST5fSxw23YDnJY_ppUwRIpYw_fWUcB80y9MR5GUraKKxsti5UHPYLcl4qKxNHCdJ/s1600/2015-02-20+19.11.34.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN6gV_rYpXjzGEA2wDJ6oHbmOFiFbjG-tDaJUvtcqBoB5Tror-UB_t0ePRbZZIa4CjUSmmx5BYZh8cST5fSxw23YDnJY_ppUwRIpYw_fWUcB80y9MR5GUraKKxsti5UHPYLcl4qKxNHCdJ/s1600/2015-02-20+19.11.34.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8V2fDPBkD08O6ac-jIxO78t_AjJzasynsVTBKSf_hcmtv4tEsx_76ei8loPQdUOAa5TCWb2yraUQ2t4C_tZ9Ojrg1lkblJssD4W6pJnqdgYqggEx1sthh_INCpXeUegkSWey3i0ZzEp1G/s1600/2015-02-20+19.10.53.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8V2fDPBkD08O6ac-jIxO78t_AjJzasynsVTBKSf_hcmtv4tEsx_76ei8loPQdUOAa5TCWb2yraUQ2t4C_tZ9Ojrg1lkblJssD4W6pJnqdgYqggEx1sthh_INCpXeUegkSWey3i0ZzEp1G/s1600/2015-02-20+19.10.53.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbzwKjRwkW-2qaSID7kRm9OwRn2XBbN6TR3joqD6yBfZ7q5B-b92Kld0u6kMhCU7mImk-uP5Xo5ERrtarSPw-xi3Ar4Q8uxM-2MXPJzREsSUahfaL6bD_SzFwItYOgTd9w6UYC68WvzT5b/s1600/2015-02-21+08.59.58.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbzwKjRwkW-2qaSID7kRm9OwRn2XBbN6TR3joqD6yBfZ7q5B-b92Kld0u6kMhCU7mImk-uP5Xo5ERrtarSPw-xi3Ar4Q8uxM-2MXPJzREsSUahfaL6bD_SzFwItYOgTd9w6UYC68WvzT5b/s1600/2015-02-21+08.59.58.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a>The next day, it was still a sand storm! The wind was howling and you could hear the granuals being thrown against the window. Anika and I could have sat inside all snuck and warm, having an "Empire" marathon, but we need breakfast food! So we went off to the store, and I have to say, the store was just about the coolest thing in the entire west! At the entrance you picked up a scanner and then you scanned the prices of all the items you bought. Then at check out, you just handed over the scanner and you were wrung up! Futuristic! </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik9z9t1OpLCWo8A6Rn9ZqNQIrAYB0xDtboi1Gl_O9XD8Qj4JrdEMRBHrTYpOlWiqWP12YLn20pw9AkmMsKixGSIwFXcsm5CmhWZEc40hJf-LNNywtHYYGNIgyvbjkj_oAsCiHjEZVgQd-0/s1600/2015-02-21+08.59.38.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik9z9t1OpLCWo8A6Rn9ZqNQIrAYB0xDtboi1Gl_O9XD8Qj4JrdEMRBHrTYpOlWiqWP12YLn20pw9AkmMsKixGSIwFXcsm5CmhWZEc40hJf-LNNywtHYYGNIgyvbjkj_oAsCiHjEZVgQd-0/s1600/2015-02-21+08.59.38.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These are the scanners!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFuEZCP1VeynxwpR5mtFjhzoDcIf7usjtJWpffDGKYqC__HgBF8iGhYyVvs5cruxpiNjj13a0DcMEVAC4LEv6Q4DpDZ3UCIzuZRueSVDEdeQDqHixmCdMx0ymVlwsA5snCiujoiKlqgjsM/s1600/2015-02-21+09.02.05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFuEZCP1VeynxwpR5mtFjhzoDcIf7usjtJWpffDGKYqC__HgBF8iGhYyVvs5cruxpiNjj13a0DcMEVAC4LEv6Q4DpDZ3UCIzuZRueSVDEdeQDqHixmCdMx0ymVlwsA5snCiujoiKlqgjsM/s1600/2015-02-21+09.02.05.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scanning jelly for our crepes!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0cFbA0oES8TdSEHls-qKmKu6ZgxJVdWBFPFENdJu-1GhNjyV-JsEPZjAQ29Y7CUWgFNTlnS_fhcJSWJMRz4Kj16YdB7BmyKzB-61VB08QsmkdG4X3nSK4QC0cHuK-HfaYDxnkD_a43ZBi/s1600/2015-02-21+09.02.14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0cFbA0oES8TdSEHls-qKmKu6ZgxJVdWBFPFENdJu-1GhNjyV-JsEPZjAQ29Y7CUWgFNTlnS_fhcJSWJMRz4Kj16YdB7BmyKzB-61VB08QsmkdG4X3nSK4QC0cHuK-HfaYDxnkD_a43ZBi/s1600/2015-02-21+09.02.14.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Anika, happy shopper!</td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-g4bFmpJjSADKEYj-5132YmC7WhpFrr5SrAInYt5YpZkL-7sSSGMpsQEV96-uDKVm8HPsxqNslEPiYEz73htsO0SYUlUQVPIhvowrpQPn9R1olJWoXUxOye0tNSjPygmUi5fTzuSf7DVW/s1600/2015-02-21+09.04.36.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-g4bFmpJjSADKEYj-5132YmC7WhpFrr5SrAInYt5YpZkL-7sSSGMpsQEV96-uDKVm8HPsxqNslEPiYEz73htsO0SYUlUQVPIhvowrpQPn9R1olJWoXUxOye0tNSjPygmUi5fTzuSf7DVW/s1600/2015-02-21+09.04.36.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We just hand over our scanner and, viola! Shopping halas!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIRecSAcajWq8nJcex_RRKTA4eNBQHnJlXVug3cfTMeV8AtKAv09cmYD8_7U0K-HB0SYJ6GogSsM5iIVzm1sNcpPJg2wk4oJhKgoTu1hlhupFmgQDE_xP41zEc5PJb9mp6oVGmoeT2BOJv/s1600/2015-02-21+09.03.26.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIRecSAcajWq8nJcex_RRKTA4eNBQHnJlXVug3cfTMeV8AtKAv09cmYD8_7U0K-HB0SYJ6GogSsM5iIVzm1sNcpPJg2wk4oJhKgoTu1hlhupFmgQDE_xP41zEc5PJb9mp6oVGmoeT2BOJv/s1600/2015-02-21+09.03.26.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Of course, there were camel patties!</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibk_YkknNkT-iEtj_olhEinyvJvZ314ndwukCPSTSDs6Pr3rrsbrM-tdPm3G2v_6cWqeUIOWwsugKPoHGejBLtTTipPB_s46rVRPXGHqMVc_HhRixloWBJZ8GdBJbui9suNPKHS49pbjCN/s1600/2015-02-21+09.04.54.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibk_YkknNkT-iEtj_olhEinyvJvZ314ndwukCPSTSDs6Pr3rrsbrM-tdPm3G2v_6cWqeUIOWwsugKPoHGejBLtTTipPB_s46rVRPXGHqMVc_HhRixloWBJZ8GdBJbui9suNPKHS49pbjCN/s1600/2015-02-21+09.04.54.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a></div>
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After we left the store, Anika said she had to take us to the fish market. I don't really like fish, and, seeing as how it was breakfast, I was wondering why we had to go to the fish market. But, hey, it's her town!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmIJMbZ5J86y-DZDHKhngT1r0KlM1zKlQ7saPi4t1yk1fZzT1PHa65cVeP4O9fCV4_djFmx0NZjPXyr6OD-zonRAH5xf1qbjPBkMQU2h53xnZZJmMiFM7kDcSrBlu2GCK97x1BaoL7ioHJ/s1600/20150221_092037%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmIJMbZ5J86y-DZDHKhngT1r0KlM1zKlQ7saPi4t1yk1fZzT1PHa65cVeP4O9fCV4_djFmx0NZjPXyr6OD-zonRAH5xf1qbjPBkMQU2h53xnZZJmMiFM7kDcSrBlu2GCK97x1BaoL7ioHJ/s1600/20150221_092037%5B1%5D.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a>So yes, we pull up to this beautiful building. I couldn't get a picture of it to do it justice. The tile work and the dome were just stunning in the morning light.<br />
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This was the entrance to the fish market! I thought, jeez, is the market this big?!<br />
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<span style="text-align: start;">So, I know you are wondering what is so extraordinary about this fish market that we had to take a morning trip there, hmm. Well, this fish market is inside. . . the HOSPITAL! Yes, ladies and gents, a fish market inside the hospital! One stop shop! Get your flu shot and a mackerel dinner at the same time!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjwTjKzV8Hgt6agppMp4dQJ4MB84rhpYyb3YZDiUrWjS3rRy-VZXJfuXrUcofSyBV0jqs3fSQEZuAoZlpeAL5HHiS3mZ7w1mFyV75YdmlxkjzpMsv-yZBI8LygQwQW12Zokr7w1zzoPRXu/s1600/20150221_091952%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjwTjKzV8Hgt6agppMp4dQJ4MB84rhpYyb3YZDiUrWjS3rRy-VZXJfuXrUcofSyBV0jqs3fSQEZuAoZlpeAL5HHiS3mZ7w1mFyV75YdmlxkjzpMsv-yZBI8LygQwQW12Zokr7w1zzoPRXu/s1600/20150221_091952%5B1%5D.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a><br />
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After a wonderful crepe breakfast (crepes a la Heather!), we went back to the Tilal Liwa hotel for a teacher high tea (which actually was a promotion that had passed, but we still got to see the hotel in daylight!). We had to drive back there thru the continuing sandstorm though! Ughhh. Anika was freaking out a little driving! Over the dunes that were in the middle of the road!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP7Jlv5EvN9WZit8LDl3nH1hl8ARYdgxRgAUak9ZBFzBuP5FFVVnOKmyp08OHdm5jEFlc0baeDFH8qKKLP4_vaQxG68IhoeF9c6UiosoAgHZE439Ml5XsQWZvxfzKN9ztjAinbNfSMNZEt/s1600/20150221_123609.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP7Jlv5EvN9WZit8LDl3nH1hl8ARYdgxRgAUak9ZBFzBuP5FFVVnOKmyp08OHdm5jEFlc0baeDFH8qKKLP4_vaQxG68IhoeF9c6UiosoAgHZE439Ml5XsQWZvxfzKN9ztjAinbNfSMNZEt/s1600/20150221_123609.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Can you see the sand thru the front windshield?!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It got worse as we continued!</td></tr>
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We made it in one piece! Just for them to tell us there was no teacher high tea anymore!! But I did run in and get some day time shots of the beautiful Tilal Liwa.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8HTDFtD2geCIlyZn5u-izuXlPX2p5ERMHZqbKaro-Spaz6SIKPqJDzvGwtj8Wy0_7nuLNiC6WZUzFVNpWNY0HWa0w5eWG5MjKOTt6Hw59F_Ql0CzcKVhxENy7G38o9Fm5Y0eUCwZl4C7j/s1600/20150221_135917.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8HTDFtD2geCIlyZn5u-izuXlPX2p5ERMHZqbKaro-Spaz6SIKPqJDzvGwtj8Wy0_7nuLNiC6WZUzFVNpWNY0HWa0w5eWG5MjKOTt6Hw59F_Ql0CzcKVhxENy7G38o9Fm5Y0eUCwZl4C7j/s1600/20150221_135917.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGUU1RRs4jPWHeXuil7cp8ZEZ2uFwvHZDZxe2F8ma4c9OI16v8HEDO4n2MEKEADJ3GZ50sC42VJN3PsEzWvL-pZXyORkxQ28I4T-BnfVl5EUFm-cTkDhkd93_yyDqpEi33kMxEuRuStz4F/s1600/20150221_140031.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGUU1RRs4jPWHeXuil7cp8ZEZ2uFwvHZDZxe2F8ma4c9OI16v8HEDO4n2MEKEADJ3GZ50sC42VJN3PsEzWvL-pZXyORkxQ28I4T-BnfVl5EUFm-cTkDhkd93_yyDqpEi33kMxEuRuStz4F/s1600/20150221_140031.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGUU1RRs4jPWHeXuil7cp8ZEZ2uFwvHZDZxe2F8ma4c9OI16v8HEDO4n2MEKEADJ3GZ50sC42VJN3PsEzWvL-pZXyORkxQ28I4T-BnfVl5EUFm-cTkDhkd93_yyDqpEi33kMxEuRuStz4F/s1600/20150221_140031.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGUU1RRs4jPWHeXuil7cp8ZEZ2uFwvHZDZxe2F8ma4c9OI16v8HEDO4n2MEKEADJ3GZ50sC42VJN3PsEzWvL-pZXyORkxQ28I4T-BnfVl5EUFm-cTkDhkd93_yyDqpEi33kMxEuRuStz4F/s1600/20150221_140031.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
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On the way back, we say some camels going through their paces on the race track! You can barely see them in the right corner, but they are there!</div>
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Well, even though my visit was during a huge sandstorm, we still had fun! Thanks for hosting me, Anika! And next time I come out west I'm going to go camping in the desert!!<br />
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Ciao for now!<br />
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We went to a horse jumping show! It was awesome. I know many people may not be into horses, but I started riding at camp as a kid and I've loved it ever since. It was really great seeing all these beautiful horses and their riders were totally decked out to. The show was at the Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club, a very ritzy place. Fortunately, the friend I went with has been a rider there and knew exactly where to park and where to go. The minute we got out of the car, there was a horse and a groom walking by and I could smell horses on the breeze! It was great! It was an interesting experience being in the stands and listening to all of the different languages being spoken around us. People right behind us were speaking French, to the side they were speaking Russian, and the announcer was speaking Arabic and then translating into English. A global experience!<br />
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We also went to a professional tennis match. I've never actually seen a professional tennis match and I was so excited, even though it was only the men playing, no women. We saw two matches during the second day of the tournament. The first was Almagro vs. Lopez early in the afternoon. Then the evening match was the heavy hitters, Raphael Nader vs. Andy Murray. So exciting, I've seen these guys on tv!!</div>
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Below is the perfect serving shot of Murray. And I can't lie, I enjoyed watching the ball boys and girls almost as much as the match. They were so cute and taking their roles so seriously!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA8jtGsVtOYIM4c70uj7ZWgrZmigW9WcHohw2Ax1AkpdAcXoZnnG1i0MLSG8NNJDS6RojwSxqB16Xv_uiK0lUJ7SrGNBb0xz7lmOuY84x3asulcdzqUR70zE0ugVdEizmVO1YWpmMYpNAJ/s1600/2015-01-02+14.33.50.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA8jtGsVtOYIM4c70uj7ZWgrZmigW9WcHohw2Ax1AkpdAcXoZnnG1i0MLSG8NNJDS6RojwSxqB16Xv_uiK0lUJ7SrGNBb0xz7lmOuY84x3asulcdzqUR70zE0ugVdEizmVO1YWpmMYpNAJ/s1600/2015-01-02+14.33.50.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Great shot of the score board!</td></tr>
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They had several tents set up outside the stadium full of games. The kid was trying to play every game. They gave out all kinds of stuffed animals as prizes. Unfortunately, we didn't win anything :(. You had to have a ton of tickets or win the games outright to win and we couldn't manage it. I met this guy who said he would give me a stuffed animal he won for 20 tickets, but I only had 9. I was sitting next to his girlfriend, and she told me that about 4 of them were trying to win the prize of the Xbox for 3,000 tickets.They had been there all 3 days and just needed 20 more tickets to get it! I couldn't believe they played that many games, I mean, did they even watch the tennis matchs??<br />
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Happy New Year!! So, instead of going to some crazy parties for NYE, I decided to hang out with the kid and go to a mall, I mean, life here is <i>in</i> the mall. We went to The Galleria Mall on Al Maryah Island here in Abu Dhabi. I had never heard of this mall before and when we went there, our taxi driver said he had never been there either. He said, this is not the kind of mall where you buy things, this is the mall where you look! And he was right! </div>
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Among the usual high end stores, Dolce & Gabana, Coach, Marc Jacobs, Jimmy Choo. They have a Bentley <i>restaurant</i>!! A Bentley restaurant! You know, the luxury automobile company?! And I peeked at the menu and saw a split pee soup starter for only 95 dirham! That's $26 bucks for you USA folks. For soup! Ohh, and they have a Godiva Chocolate cafe!! You can sit down and drink chocolate! Not like a cup of cocoa, but pure Belgian chocolate! We tried to get in but the line was outrageous. </div>
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Fireworks here are <i>amazing</i>, truly amazing. You know how, in San Francisco at least, you go out at least 5 hours before dark, in a sea of traffic, trying to fight your way to a high vantage point to catch fireworks displays from not only San Francisco, but Berkeley and Oakland too? Then you realize the traffic is literally not moving and you better make alternative plans immediately if you want to see even a sparkler. So then you just decide that where you are is perfect, but then you still have to drive around and up and down one way streets to find a place to park so you can hope out and watch the show. Then you just end up double parking in the street and standing on the roof of your car. Finally, the fireworks starts, and mind you, you have been in the streets for literally <i>hours</i> by this point. The fireworks are a couple of white bursts, then red, maybe a lackluster yellow. The show last approximately 15 minutes and now... get back in the car and it's another hour and a half before you make it back home! Hardly worth it, right?!<br />
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Not so here! There are literally a ton of fireworks, all different styles and colors and it lasts sooo long! Like almost an hour! Yes, it does take about 2 hours to get back to your apartment from wherever you ended up but you feel like it's worth it cus the fireworks were so amazing!<br />
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I only took a few pics cus to many cameras were in front of me and cus who wants to see a picture of fireworks? The adventure is in being there!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This hour glass countdown was so cool!</td></tr>
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In November, my co-worker said, "hey, I have a Groupon for the pool at the Fairmont hotel. Do you want to come?" Little did she know what she started! The Fairmont is awesome! You go to the pool which is on the ocean of course, and someone walks you out to a seat, carrying your towels of course. When you pick a seat, he fluffs up the chair cushion, lays out your towel, then asks if you would like water or a menu. Then you just get to relax by the pool for hours and hours! I had a burger and fries, not very original but it was so good!<br />
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Well, I said she didn't know what she started because after that awesome experience, my little rooftop pool at my apartment looks even more pathetic! And I'm scouring Groupon daily for more pool passes!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIFsxHsvd4QDjDCFbcz-eKkTiLJqsUUpbz-eSvP8X3eBphdsU-DHKZPhKkcAu6WTo5tQLDcyFauCMuwwNuJZZadDAzK0H9oH40zegk4G1QTZ8SMUSsK8LCWphPO8X2zUjeOhwSvYYVsZys/s1600/2014-12-04+14.17.10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIFsxHsvd4QDjDCFbcz-eKkTiLJqsUUpbz-eSvP8X3eBphdsU-DHKZPhKkcAu6WTo5tQLDcyFauCMuwwNuJZZadDAzK0H9oH40zegk4G1QTZ8SMUSsK8LCWphPO8X2zUjeOhwSvYYVsZys/s1600/2014-12-04+14.17.10.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the beautiful Fairmont Hotel pool!</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwL5jgoW20XfeX5J0uBN_7Ta4etLmXh2UU0OUIO9rYK1LvqIkEMAm8yFecLUn2Xtoz8M4sofP6da3wDbWJy8ltqEg_8XUsP-kVBn1gnUJMm6Sp3vMxCWDyeYH6EeS0K2eMymcJUR22VjIJ/s1600/2014-12-04+15.16.54.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwL5jgoW20XfeX5J0uBN_7Ta4etLmXh2UU0OUIO9rYK1LvqIkEMAm8yFecLUn2Xtoz8M4sofP6da3wDbWJy8ltqEg_8XUsP-kVBn1gnUJMm6Sp3vMxCWDyeYH6EeS0K2eMymcJUR22VjIJ/s1600/2014-12-04+15.16.54.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is the pool bathroom! It is huge and awesome! And the hot tub is amazing!</td></tr>
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I think me and the kid are among the few people who love ice skating! We love skating and watching. So when I saw an advertisement for an amateur skating show, I got tickets. Unfortunately, it was <i>very</i> amateur, but it was still fun.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMdOI4pJMGDtFRzfZNTv5H4MVkwIWrnvK4-JUtT5uVuI_rxYj2QT9DTpiij-2QMqr-1HTwoOJ_Mmw8pvSOlJZ14__wCJOPQfEqo38M5cAswzU6bBcMz3_nninSK3C09x-NnSAACrV1mYD5/s1600/2014-12-05+13.33.23.mp4" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMdOI4pJMGDtFRzfZNTv5H4MVkwIWrnvK4-JUtT5uVuI_rxYj2QT9DTpiij-2QMqr-1HTwoOJ_Mmw8pvSOlJZ14__wCJOPQfEqo38M5cAswzU6bBcMz3_nninSK3C09x-NnSAACrV1mYD5/s1600/2014-12-05+13.33.23.mp4" height="179" width="320" /></a></div>
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I also went to an art show with a co-worker, at Manarat Al Saadiyat which is the art gallery on Saadiyat island. It was a show about light so most of the exhibits had different light displays. My favorite exhibit was the 100 names of Allah made into a sphere.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRC8aEqexlLnMIIaHNMkhtcJQeUIsYMFHeznmGDKlNVFhcgIzbSVBhFdP8_Hn6ZcCnQ7ztxGtErI2a3z-_TyYza4xfEyfaKWH-7-eIwHXDo4GlnDS1zXPL0Lj13utOykS2FMSWlcR7h_DD/s1600/2014-12-11+19.14.42.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRC8aEqexlLnMIIaHNMkhtcJQeUIsYMFHeznmGDKlNVFhcgIzbSVBhFdP8_Hn6ZcCnQ7ztxGtErI2a3z-_TyYza4xfEyfaKWH-7-eIwHXDo4GlnDS1zXPL0Lj13utOykS2FMSWlcR7h_DD/s1600/2014-12-11+19.14.42.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2BmTsoyBl0XBItzmifJHDwU9UTqOXD15nPoQFShHy2-nEzRDa7Wd84pK3tnaFgzxwWOPE8K68VWKApNtSmVMJ_lvJUglTXziK3bAmOKN5lf7N8o6WLGVQFmXGObfI5d_MmR8VSSO9XBCm/s1600/2014-12-11+19.15.24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2BmTsoyBl0XBItzmifJHDwU9UTqOXD15nPoQFShHy2-nEzRDa7Wd84pK3tnaFgzxwWOPE8K68VWKApNtSmVMJ_lvJUglTXziK3bAmOKN5lf7N8o6WLGVQFmXGObfI5d_MmR8VSSO9XBCm/s1600/2014-12-11+19.15.24.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a></div>
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They also had an interactive exhibit for kids where you could create a word out of thick paper and then put it on the entrance wall to the exhibit. They were illuminated so you could see the shadows of the words. Of course, we made some too! I think I was worse than the kids cus I needed a lot of help cutting out my word! But once that was done it was lovely!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitbc4Xtfgbptmyzpc9twyPmU4uqWa22zm8mKQuR4YjRGmo9epq4N0vZtW2djGO_1-0te8vnWREM09_ighEbLv8pIyept2jlY5ChaUANNK-ZURHmpxk8qsLrC4dr1eZPxfC1_GjNpgRz31c/s1600/2014-12-11+20.09.44.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitbc4Xtfgbptmyzpc9twyPmU4uqWa22zm8mKQuR4YjRGmo9epq4N0vZtW2djGO_1-0te8vnWREM09_ighEbLv8pIyept2jlY5ChaUANNK-ZURHmpxk8qsLrC4dr1eZPxfC1_GjNpgRz31c/s1600/2014-12-11+20.09.44.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0pwRjqeiTY0i2yQx1lFkvfeUE57ut9S7P4BzQs-z55PMsXhHmFNzsodA8bxfzsa4NvSi-K2nhRvPdK3KYy5SMptukAn7HhhkGaN6TRl1-ybY_Uqsv_ke7OUyLyipTFyQuCiQz4K6j2-DV/s1600/2014-12-11+20.13.33.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0pwRjqeiTY0i2yQx1lFkvfeUE57ut9S7P4BzQs-z55PMsXhHmFNzsodA8bxfzsa4NvSi-K2nhRvPdK3KYy5SMptukAn7HhhkGaN6TRl1-ybY_Uqsv_ke7OUyLyipTFyQuCiQz4K6j2-DV/s1600/2014-12-11+20.13.33.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxC9yB7V6soh4haQecy2n6hZc9WhYT29oQI3GSe4eQDXgKo0hbObOgzE1e6j4WoQIvOI1BoTzjxoVndOAusxKY5_V-7ahzgniSxbU0CWo2V6COgCL4UNQFqc-kQ2X6RxYwbixO8wqLY9cO/s1600/2014-12-11+20.16.01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxC9yB7V6soh4haQecy2n6hZc9WhYT29oQI3GSe4eQDXgKo0hbObOgzE1e6j4WoQIvOI1BoTzjxoVndOAusxKY5_V-7ahzgniSxbU0CWo2V6COgCL4UNQFqc-kQ2X6RxYwbixO8wqLY9cO/s1600/2014-12-11+20.16.01.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></div>
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A new mall opened called Yas Mall. It was anxiously awaited because it is huge and next to Ferrari world. There are a lot of cool restaurants from around the world there. Cheesecake Factory (which I hate but everyone else is so excited to have!), PF Changs, Texas Roadhouse, Steers, Shake Shack, Chilis and more! I have to admit, I rarely go to chain restaurants in USA, I prefer one off restaurants. The food is better, the atmosphere, everything, but, when in Rome. I did just find out that the USA restaurants here import their food, from America! I don't know if I'm too excited about that, but I have to say, the apple streusel cheesecake I had at the Cheesecake Factory was excellent!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0_X44s8-_nY4xKR_S_34nQwDHAMJfYbUCTGqb7v_mjZ_rw3bnnqJRSUHybJAOL-kc88u_MWNdy3hdqc4l5unzRGrlXoiWiPmAJrGBplB0RuOzZFabgMwhwXPkIHBRIp7vgsUEH1R94lse/s1600/DIAB+Divinycell+P+sandwich+core+Yas+Mall+673x295.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0_X44s8-_nY4xKR_S_34nQwDHAMJfYbUCTGqb7v_mjZ_rw3bnnqJRSUHybJAOL-kc88u_MWNdy3hdqc4l5unzRGrlXoiWiPmAJrGBplB0RuOzZFabgMwhwXPkIHBRIp7vgsUEH1R94lse/s1600/DIAB+Divinycell+P+sandwich+core+Yas+Mall+673x295.jpg" height="140" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcmhUY7mpEzKk2u62aY5IwEe8NbaLGcl-UZLysjdFTHwV7xi7tdzvFs1-duiYOoJjSgKd94LCxnnDvQ8h2CpfWoojQQGa3Mxp9Uglb1G0QtPXa0V8O5mkKFWDjcWt1oMqo18_hQ30gbhNo/s1600/2014-12-13+16.25.56.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcmhUY7mpEzKk2u62aY5IwEe8NbaLGcl-UZLysjdFTHwV7xi7tdzvFs1-duiYOoJjSgKd94LCxnnDvQ8h2CpfWoojQQGa3Mxp9Uglb1G0QtPXa0V8O5mkKFWDjcWt1oMqo18_hQ30gbhNo/s1600/2014-12-13+16.25.56.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipEtOaijfoTqjxDWneclZDsUYkyxixtXn7LDAXkAXbrn8wM8y8778yitO7JSqAhlS2DUH_sJrl4AYyaSUKsMNxiO1oyZQOpKjF9inFGGb7H0PE3ae-kEHxYc7HKXdfGf23_NG7rrmxe008/s1600/2014-12-13+19.20.21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipEtOaijfoTqjxDWneclZDsUYkyxixtXn7LDAXkAXbrn8wM8y8778yitO7JSqAhlS2DUH_sJrl4AYyaSUKsMNxiO1oyZQOpKjF9inFGGb7H0PE3ae-kEHxYc7HKXdfGf23_NG7rrmxe008/s1600/2014-12-13+19.20.21.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is a transformer in one of the toy stores!</td></tr>
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My new favorite store is the Virgin Megastore. They don't have run of the mill things there, the buyers buy unusual items and books. Plus they have a mega slide!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxMmqoiPAgkTTdfwLVr3IfG_k_nrah1W6Et-_ttwBgRSuycIEc5LE5ZJ_28a_q-CfvhelnPKaKui0UK2BamBOeIOAiPcki_slO9X1612iEP4lBvYv4BCbFiXCZbrMgIkLq3MIryOnVjVkD/s1600/2014-12-13+18.33.57.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxMmqoiPAgkTTdfwLVr3IfG_k_nrah1W6Et-_ttwBgRSuycIEc5LE5ZJ_28a_q-CfvhelnPKaKui0UK2BamBOeIOAiPcki_slO9X1612iEP4lBvYv4BCbFiXCZbrMgIkLq3MIryOnVjVkD/s1600/2014-12-13+18.33.57.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is a super slide in the Virgin Megastore!</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwyO3z5my3bfINn6FF-C7UiivBdkbPLrxS2wV0LhzSRq_lmBKEQFCT1Q16ySOByRPuECy9IZd-mc6Q7xmqaJw1nGtm-1gonzdXQHDQeCIKYMVDiDQ0rsAmAG-3YsKNiBnE9-wzLu60GL7E/s1600/2014-12-13+18.34.04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwyO3z5my3bfINn6FF-C7UiivBdkbPLrxS2wV0LhzSRq_lmBKEQFCT1Q16ySOByRPuECy9IZd-mc6Q7xmqaJw1nGtm-1gonzdXQHDQeCIKYMVDiDQ0rsAmAG-3YsKNiBnE9-wzLu60GL7E/s1600/2014-12-13+18.34.04.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a></div>
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And yes, it gets foggy here in the desert! This was the view outside of my window a couple of weeks ago!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpBbqORqghMlwdsF3KouWUDSY-hymXPsayMjS1Fz-NUqvWtOD81Q-JMpQkaIPWx4D8xEoNeBKJXWppZk6l4k_xfejXbLwNozYpQplXbC-Rgpb4d8gdowgPNSe1z_lhB0lna8XlRjUsDRfE/s1600/2014-12-29+10.26.03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpBbqORqghMlwdsF3KouWUDSY-hymXPsayMjS1Fz-NUqvWtOD81Q-JMpQkaIPWx4D8xEoNeBKJXWppZk6l4k_xfejXbLwNozYpQplXbC-Rgpb4d8gdowgPNSe1z_lhB0lna8XlRjUsDRfE/s1600/2014-12-29+10.26.03.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a></div>
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So, there will be more later so stay tuned!<br />
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Ciao for now!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11958518243787529410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3063417693494570197.post-20583561950069563152014-12-02T03:18:00.002-08:002014-12-02T03:18:45.694-08:00New Addition to the Hampton Family!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
So, we finally got the cat for the kid! The main reason I moved to this apartment rather than on Reem Island, is because we could have pets here. So after much delay, we finally manged to get a little kitty! Well, she's not a kitten but still, we love her already!</div>
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First we went to Cloud 9 out in Khalifa City A. If anyone had told me how far that place was I never would have went there, jeez! But I was not enamored of any of the cats there. Finally, last weekend we went to the Falcon Hospital. Which is really huge and we definitely have to go back for the tour! They had cats and dogs, and while I said we were getting a cat, the right little puppy could have made me change my mind. And although all the puppies were so adorable and I really wanted to take home almost all of them, they were too big! I am not a fan of picking up poop or walking big dogs so they were all out. Although several families adopted dogs that day so I was happy.</div>
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But we went into the cattery 2 (a word I have never heard before even though I've spoken English my entire life!), and we found her! Our beautiful calico baby!</div>
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She is so soft and was so sweet! It took us awhile to name her, because I wanted an Arabic name and the kid wanted to name her Darby after some cartoon! But we have finally settled on a name! </div>
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Meet Heliwa, which means sweet in Arabic.</div>
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Ciao for now!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11958518243787529410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3063417693494570197.post-67852702362108046242014-12-02T01:54:00.005-08:002014-12-02T01:54:45.493-08:00Taste of Abu Dhabi!So, Taste of Abu Dhabi came to, well, Abu Dhabi! Its a food festival with cooking classws and lots of food! Now, I am from San Francisco, and one thing we San Franciscans love is food and food events! SF Jazz Festival, Fillmore St. Jazz Festival, SF Crab Bake, Mission St. Festival, SF Street Food Festival, Garlic Festival, EatDrink SF.... whew, to name a few!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thousands of people at the <span style="font-size: x-small; text-align: start;">SF Street Food Festival</span></td></tr>
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And we have a mean food truck scene! Curry up now, Bacon Bacon, Hapa Ramen, Peruchi. And that's just off the top of my head!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwrl2lK_sibtbTb-4OS8LwLwE9LOD91IsHpXY2-j5w8cKtmRe4tj2jUlHzuj0mf85Rs_h0MAOG8OZxbR0mCxYyt6OTafN7e6orSFxFh2c9gYmPGryOHBcro6uIQKLhoSkEklL8xHnsEZ-e/s1600/4ecc0829-b4f0-4d3a-bc99-4b8e46204482.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwrl2lK_sibtbTb-4OS8LwLwE9LOD91IsHpXY2-j5w8cKtmRe4tj2jUlHzuj0mf85Rs_h0MAOG8OZxbR0mCxYyt6OTafN7e6orSFxFh2c9gYmPGryOHBcro6uIQKLhoSkEklL8xHnsEZ-e/s1600/4ecc0829-b4f0-4d3a-bc99-4b8e46204482.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Usually has a line around the block! Best green curry on the street!</td></tr>
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Suffice it to say, I am quite familiar with the foodie scene! So, what can I say about "Taste of Abu Dhabi". Hmmm, not so impressed. It was at Yas Island Du arena, but it was pretty small. About 20 or so vendors, not much space. Some of the resturants there were, <span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px;">Turquoiz, Villa Toscana, Blue Grill, Ushna, Sho Cho and Caramel. </span>And not many people there either. The food was great though!<br />
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This place gave me the best apple pie ever! So yum!<br />
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I went back twice for butter chicken and samosa.<br />
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I wish I had taken this cooking class with Food Network chef Jenny Morris. They were having a blast! Dancing while cooking! </div>
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I met another food network chef! I vaguely recognized him (Jonathan, I think? ) so thought I'd get a picture! </div>
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The kid in a race car! It was really deep inside there. I can see how 6 foot tall guys can fit!<br />
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All in all it was a lot of fun and some great food!</div>
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Ciao for now!</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11958518243787529410noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3063417693494570197.post-39597090622082330662014-12-02T01:53:00.001-08:002014-12-02T01:53:03.507-08:00Emirati Wedding!So, I was so excited to be invited to my first Emirati wedding! The vice principal at my school son married the niece of one of the other teachers. They invited all the staff to the festivities at the Fairmont in Abu Dhabi! The Fairmont is awesomeness in and of itself, but add to that a wedding, yay!<br />
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I was a bit bummed because they took our mobiles, so no pictures! But we took pictures before and after.<br />
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My coworkers and I dressed for the wedding and posing pretty in the Fairmont foyer.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizb_sDfFMB5RLPMHrlWkNF49KLBU_NhGm9SnMNt0bmA0mDGGWRAkKDNfVNMdQ0Lkp54AxNXHHv-x-PCxcMcmPR2CZuGUzkObwbIjWvvk2FKyFKl1mdZvMoUUAgmqLuVOrutPjR1aYzVVjR/s1600/2014-11-21+00.18.36.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizb_sDfFMB5RLPMHrlWkNF49KLBU_NhGm9SnMNt0bmA0mDGGWRAkKDNfVNMdQ0Lkp54AxNXHHv-x-PCxcMcmPR2CZuGUzkObwbIjWvvk2FKyFKl1mdZvMoUUAgmqLuVOrutPjR1aYzVVjR/s1600/2014-11-21+00.18.36.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi693doDnvlFPStoLzHcds5FttV0Nw4M6y2LH3KJVrdafHDOOceqPMZtecCXxX-CJQg0RPBfxUfjYQ6n2SseVRwh5ZAOuhFRIwE__XtQTni1xkJ-6nXmtJZWsAv0C0wNYOnNUN52JGYZ5j9/s1600/2014-11-21+00.17.39.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi693doDnvlFPStoLzHcds5FttV0Nw4M6y2LH3KJVrdafHDOOceqPMZtecCXxX-CJQg0RPBfxUfjYQ6n2SseVRwh5ZAOuhFRIwE__XtQTni1xkJ-6nXmtJZWsAv0C0wNYOnNUN52JGYZ5j9/s1600/2014-11-21+00.17.39.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtPTCIDm1QRIQrrUIghUS90czSfKS8z_-mQfne5nq5O5HEyd6prLgbWDxlHPEQJeHOYIYQ2b_amuIrbwS0K36dY-5Czmf-1OufVLR6cTSiceFXVQIixfmGs2wz0j_EMyQ7xxny9q7dc5UV/s1600/2014-11-25+17.59.05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtPTCIDm1QRIQrrUIghUS90czSfKS8z_-mQfne5nq5O5HEyd6prLgbWDxlHPEQJeHOYIYQ2b_amuIrbwS0K36dY-5Czmf-1OufVLR6cTSiceFXVQIixfmGs2wz0j_EMyQ7xxny9q7dc5UV/s1600/2014-11-25+17.59.05.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a>I was so shocked and amazed at seeing all of the teachers out of their abaya's and shayla's! I didn't even recognize half of them when we walked up! And our vice principal! OMG! She looked amazing! And a million years younger!<br />
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All the malls have store after store of floor length fancy dresses and lingerie shops. Now I know who is buying all those items! Picture people in the dresses below and you have the idea.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD5TK04UspgiFuefcW36-qpjzGsX4GHdy2pV2j2gtFKSFLrCN66lWrcXcL_3jrkjIkrRSA4ADmVBp4UVx4tUnw6JzWmKmqixJkQ9lG8nzTNE9uf1uA_CfPE-V6yuOjbXrhr17-dsx7cINk/s1600/20141125_175858~2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD5TK04UspgiFuefcW36-qpjzGsX4GHdy2pV2j2gtFKSFLrCN66lWrcXcL_3jrkjIkrRSA4ADmVBp4UVx4tUnw6JzWmKmqixJkQ9lG8nzTNE9uf1uA_CfPE-V6yuOjbXrhr17-dsx7cINk/s1600/20141125_175858~2.jpg" height="320" width="203" /> </a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSrjC6YF3qS5I3o3iK-hZd7kfEFesgkeaFxBL_MOMwclzmFDjOqjQPONmsSI6TSdgO6hdRREvG5PHAyEtphyJm2pXDD-t82Hlals2SHYDsh4BOzBPuBo2my8z01swDlR4NWLkTDEErxocJ/s1600/2014-11-25+18.19.17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSrjC6YF3qS5I3o3iK-hZd7kfEFesgkeaFxBL_MOMwclzmFDjOqjQPONmsSI6TSdgO6hdRREvG5PHAyEtphyJm2pXDD-t82Hlals2SHYDsh4BOzBPuBo2my8z01swDlR4NWLkTDEErxocJ/s1600/2014-11-25+18.19.17.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a><br />
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The room was beautifully decorated! A different center piece on every table, beautiful huge bouquets of flowers every where. There was a run way down the middle of the room. A DJ was behind a curtain playing loud, loud music. There were more staff then I have ever seen at an event in my life! </div>
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The ladies were dancing on the runway and there was a camera that relayed the image to huge tv screens placed around the room so we could get close up looks of everything. </div>
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The food was plentiful and delicious! So many items I can't even name them all if I did know the names in the first place. I was trying not to fill up on hors d'oeuvre but they just kept coming and coming! Finally the main courses started.... some kind of marinated chicken, bbq chicken, rice and chicken, fish smothered in some kind of sauce. A ton of fruit and chocolates!! I didn't stop eating the whole night! </div>
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Finally, the bride made her entrance! Her dress literally must have weighed at least 50 lbs! And she must have been told how to walk cus she took such tiny mincing steps it took almost 10 minutes and 2 songs for her to make it onto the stage. And the wedding planner or someone was walking with her constantly adjusting her dress. That would have driven me nuts! Having someone flitting around my feet the whole time adjusting my dress! But she looked truly beautiful.</div>
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All in all it was a night not to forget!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2f1vv-96nvz48yhLIE2tWuADl34JPQeenPpzMXnyhvFgjdUCL1YvaSc1Dc9N9ybk-oN0ady2hqHThlGJBVmOnfNEjlQNQ5yin5uu3MKY0c0HTo-leIjJUaB0Ay2FxOFq7-XCfPOFHY9eu/s1600/2014-11-21+00.01.45.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2f1vv-96nvz48yhLIE2tWuADl34JPQeenPpzMXnyhvFgjdUCL1YvaSc1Dc9N9ybk-oN0ady2hqHThlGJBVmOnfNEjlQNQ5yin5uu3MKY0c0HTo-leIjJUaB0Ay2FxOFq7-XCfPOFHY9eu/s1600/2014-11-21+00.01.45.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a>The beautiful chandeliers in the foyer of the Fairmont Hotel.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNtoPZvPbsJw7TTT901vjmKr6GcB4Uos3TutNLMNBwOVxy0ZfRzhpzn8ZlusIQzA95UF4FIv6l4RFgt5juN0qoDPWfKTbY4ebqavE0DycdwkKFhAXdIjPeeMEWSYwrrgiUCapjdTxKERYw/s1600/2014-11-21+00.11.03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNtoPZvPbsJw7TTT901vjmKr6GcB4Uos3TutNLMNBwOVxy0ZfRzhpzn8ZlusIQzA95UF4FIv6l4RFgt5juN0qoDPWfKTbY4ebqavE0DycdwkKFhAXdIjPeeMEWSYwrrgiUCapjdTxKERYw/s1600/2014-11-21+00.11.03.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a></div>
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On the walls of the hotel they display art from local artists I think.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHHGgRWK2UZ0Rztp91gzlFq-5Px6bznGIHSqasOR5_Rd6VquWhdkBgsl9EcOt6dB39InCw4R8PTb6DsQBj3v-xPyziMC1ma8lP49hxovARCDDKfu-3rb1YhZ-wgqWjYMhZdQuTU1D0nVeM/s1600/2014-11-21+00.12.02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHHGgRWK2UZ0Rztp91gzlFq-5Px6bznGIHSqasOR5_Rd6VquWhdkBgsl9EcOt6dB39InCw4R8PTb6DsQBj3v-xPyziMC1ma8lP49hxovARCDDKfu-3rb1YhZ-wgqWjYMhZdQuTU1D0nVeM/s1600/2014-11-21+00.12.02.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a>The incredible view from the hotel lobby!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPGlnW22ieQvT0jwY34_DVVCD3aKEvXgd0hZhcW9rM2egSBzcWtclqjK3IDtxih_5wAFTYSX3v1KvH4ER5ReUfqGymftQTWOFUoN7Kfi51te312GnFtIvxU1CjQZcuLV0bKTcpXvmSynvk/s1600/2014-11-21+00.13.06.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPGlnW22ieQvT0jwY34_DVVCD3aKEvXgd0hZhcW9rM2egSBzcWtclqjK3IDtxih_5wAFTYSX3v1KvH4ER5ReUfqGymftQTWOFUoN7Kfi51te312GnFtIvxU1CjQZcuLV0bKTcpXvmSynvk/s1600/2014-11-21+00.13.06.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The beautiful lobby!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1sEQP7r14Txvuu6uT6PK_YEqrr5iRkzcHbNy_4V1HOuC7ldR_FpzFg_c5RYUL8umxr1Ne5Ej7_crBQBq7GI-QFAGdJsniJ0zTldbAUVd9FqN7ADova_PI1qhsBm-2omLxR-GJ3E2hDAvQ/s1600/2014-11-21+00.15.35.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1sEQP7r14Txvuu6uT6PK_YEqrr5iRkzcHbNy_4V1HOuC7ldR_FpzFg_c5RYUL8umxr1Ne5Ej7_crBQBq7GI-QFAGdJsniJ0zTldbAUVd9FqN7ADova_PI1qhsBm-2omLxR-GJ3E2hDAvQ/s1600/2014-11-21+00.15.35.jpg" height="400" width="225" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This was in the middle of the lobby for some reason. All made of wood!</td></tr>
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Ciao for now!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11958518243787529410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3063417693494570197.post-54748310096093936862014-12-01T23:14:00.001-08:002014-12-01T23:14:33.173-08:00Monday Blues<div dir="ltr">
Today was just a day of a bunch of little frustrations that snowballed into one big frustration headache! </div>
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I should be sleeping in a hotel room in Sri Lanka right now but, sadly, I am in my own bed. Passport problems, sigh.</div>
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I've been trying to get the kids passport renewed for about 3 weeks now. We have been to the US embassy 4 times, have never made it inside! Until today! The rigmarole required to get into that place is ridiculous! We finally get in, they accept our paperwork, they accept our money, they don't accept the passport picture! Since tomorrow is a holiday, the lady behind the counter said, come back Thursday with a new picture. As I still have some small slim hope of taking a trip over winter break, which can't happen without the passport, and the first guy told us the process takes 3 weeks, I'm a little bit frustrated with the prospect of having to return on Thursday. I express this concern politely to the lady behind the bullet proof glass window, and she finally looks up at me and realizes I am human and says, if you can make it back by 3pm I'll take it. Now, once we were inside the embassy, getting to the office we needed, still took about 15 minutes to make it past all the security. I look at my watch, 2:10. Can we find a taxi, make it to the photo place, take the passport picture, get it printed , find another taxi, get back to the embassy, go thru security, in 40 minutes? Hmmmm. </div>
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Despite my formidable doubts. . . We made it! With 3 minutes to spare! Whoo -hooo. </div>
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One piece of the frustration headache complete!</div>
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Next I wanted to go pick up some things for the kitty! Lulu's didn't have as wide a variety of cat paraphernalia as I would have hoped. I had read a blog post about various places in Abu Dhabi that sell such things. So with a much lighter heart than I arrived at the embassy with, we head out on our next adventure. </div>
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I decide to go to the American Vet Hospital, its an American type of day I guess! We get into yet another taxi. He knows sort of the general area we are headed but not exactly where we are going. When we get closer to the place, I call the hospital and he talks to the woman for directions. </div>
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He says yea yea and gives me the phone. I distinctly heard the lady say 9th street. Where does the taxi take us? 19th street. But I see a sign up on the building that says American in big bold blue letters with some smaller letters underneath. He says is this it? I say I think so. Instead of pulling up right in front of the building , he pulls down a side street to let us out. He is so full of himself to, cus he says, I know where to go! The lady say 9th street but I know this is it. A small word of advice for y'all out there: never get out of the taxi until you are positive you are at the right location!! </div>
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After 25 minutes and paying 30 dirham, we walk around to the front of the building and; those small letters underneath the big bold blue American word say "medical and dental clinic"! Sigh. </div>
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We get the woman on the phone again, she says oh no! And tries to explain where to go. We're closer than 10 blocks, but still not there. I type the address into my handy dandy Google maps and realize its only about 10 minutes away so we start walking. Stupid arrows, with stupid " head west" headings, and stupid ladies voice saying " go straight then turn left. Then turn right"! Yes! We got lost! We stand at a random street corner for about 10 minutes hoping to flag down another taxi. We finally stand in the middle of the street and flag down another taxi, who, surprise, also has no idea where the vet hospital is! We call the clinic again, this is like the 5th time we've talked to the lady at the desk by now, and she's fast becoming an old friend! She tells us to make a u turn and it's some where on our right. Since we are in the land of no right turns and I'm extremely feed up with taxis right now, we pay the guy the 4 dirham, yes I gave him 5 for his troubles, and hop out. </div>
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After a 3 minute walk, we made it! </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuT4alAJZ3MsOUkM7o_sgOaFxq_tZJOgJYO5onF6JTMncTyvKHpVd7aunzIY-AQuJarySX2fMLZhreipf2ZJh3Z2cJJDeKy6pqx2oqavMT-jDK2cn9X2Q-a6FXRj0LNfb4nSn2TDN1Dtkt/s1600/2014-12-01+16.23.10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuT4alAJZ3MsOUkM7o_sgOaFxq_tZJOgJYO5onF6JTMncTyvKHpVd7aunzIY-AQuJarySX2fMLZhreipf2ZJh3Z2cJJDeKy6pqx2oqavMT-jDK2cn9X2Q-a6FXRj0LNfb4nSn2TDN1Dtkt/s1600/2014-12-01+16.23.10.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO8sME80G6tR6guZEIm7fN3tBa8a4ycKO_Kl6lVcPqFgDy2_bD31Hp4d-W7YDjtKsPuG5_YVeJ8YR4eJTePOp3wMOvX-UYLDbLUo80hhEGkfLWFXXJ80K1XiwHyNwOvCk0PyaZ661jvclC/s640/20141201_162819.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO8sME80G6tR6guZEIm7fN3tBa8a4ycKO_Kl6lVcPqFgDy2_bD31Hp4d-W7YDjtKsPuG5_YVeJ8YR4eJTePOp3wMOvX-UYLDbLUo80hhEGkfLWFXXJ80K1XiwHyNwOvCk0PyaZ661jvclC/s640/20141201_162819.jpg" /></a>The lady behind the desk looked at us and said, oh so happy to see you! For real. So we buy a bunch of fairly heavy cat treats and leave the vets. We walk to the corner and then I see this...</div>
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Which turns out to be the exact same place where we stood for 10 minutes looking unsuccessfully for a taxi!! I kid you not! We were in front of the dang clinic the whole time! Sigh.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The back of the clinic where we were standing for 10 minutes awaiting a taxi to take us to this clinic!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7uEYv45dpdwfnnEj7zY1ag93xiw3BRcLkKUKfElIqrWyYnrBYBj5Jh9c3WN3v1WlVK7LM9HvQytM-_CJHEJsFHAGsiDAzMv8LnvhYYNPYc7XljsTjcP8bwNF7-jevhc8Ek55IDrwQdi01/s1600/IMG-20141129-WA0003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7uEYv45dpdwfnnEj7zY1ag93xiw3BRcLkKUKfElIqrWyYnrBYBj5Jh9c3WN3v1WlVK7LM9HvQytM-_CJHEJsFHAGsiDAzMv8LnvhYYNPYc7XljsTjcP8bwNF7-jevhc8Ek55IDrwQdi01/s1600/IMG-20141129-WA0003.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At least we have a happy kitty!</td></tr>
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For our next stop, cus, yes, we're on such a roll why stop there?! We try to find yet another taxi to go to the book store and by the kids books for her classes at the Sorbonne. We call the taxi, sorry no taxis are available right now, please try again later. We stand on the corner for 15 more minutes. </div>
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Finally, taxi. We get in and ask if he knows where this place is. He looks at me, and in incredibly broken English says, Ms. I'm new . Ummm, is it Monday or something ? Of course we don't get out of the taxi since it took a year and a day to find it. So he drives us to the general area. We try to get the store on the phone but they're not answering . In the directions the kid got from her teacher, it says across the street from this restaurant. I call the restaurant for directions. They talk to the guy and ask a bunch of, do you know where such and such is questions, to which his answer is, no Ms. Finally the lady says, do you know where All Prints is, which is the place we are trying to go to! </div>
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The lady on the phone gets frustrated and hands the phone off to a coworker. Then the taxi starts talking about, near the Corniche , which is about as far from us as the moon right now, and I can no longer take it and say, let us out. The taxi was 6.75 dirham and usually, I give the guys a couple dirham tip, like I'd normally give this guy a 10 and say keep it. But I am so po'd today I hold my hand out for ALL of my change. He looks at me with a baffled expression and says, Ms? And I say, give me ALL of my change! Poor guy. It sucks to be a new taxi driver in a new city!</div>
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We walk and make it to a major street and once again use our handy dandy Google maps, in walking mode this time, to try to find the place. The kid takes the lead and we go around a few buildings and finally, ta-da! There's the book store! Whew! Which only has 1 of the 4 books she needs for class! Ah well.</div>
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We stand outside awaiting another taxi for about 15 more minutes (our lucky number today!) And finally get a taxi. I ask the guy if he knows where our building is and, surprise , he does! I rest my head back and finally breathe a sigh of relief! </div>
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Ciao for now!</div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">So, <span style="background-color: white;">November 3, marks the day Sheikh Khalifa became UAE President and the Flag Day initiative was started on that date.</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span>This day is celebrated as Flag day because of that. There are UAE flags everywhere . And I guess celebrations as well, although I don't know of any! But at my school today, we celebrated with an assembly and lots and lots of chocolate!!</span><br />
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Whenever the students bring sweets around, they also bring this dark jelly like goo for us to eat too. I think it's some kind of date mash or something . Anyway, it's really sweet and the texture is an aquired taste I guess. But this time when they brought it to us, one of my students said, Ms. you are to eat that with coffee. You put some in your mouth, take a sip of coffee, swish it around and swallow . Ahhh, I've been eating it the wrong way! So I tried it with coffee and the tastes really blend together well! I was surprised it actually tasted good! But I still can't get over the texture! </div>
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The girls also gave us lots of UAE paraphernalia like buttons and, of course, flags. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The girls raising the UAE flag</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A bulletin board in our school<br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Ciao for now!</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11958518243787529410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3063417693494570197.post-57627481763406677992014-11-30T07:12:00.001-08:002014-11-30T07:12:54.273-08:00Meet Ups!!<div dir="ltr">
So, there are these groups on social media called "meet ups" and I have joined a bunch here in Abu Dhabi . AD adventures, AD scuba, escape AD, explore UAE; to name a few . I haven't done anything with any of these groups yet, I'm just a lurker. But finally I decided to get out there and do something! So yesterday I went to lunch with a group called pocket friendly lunches. The group administrator finds cheap eats all around Abu Dhabi and sets up dates for us to go. Yesterday was Indian and it was awesome. About 7 of us were there including me and the kid. It was a small restaurant next to Madinat Zayed mall. My taxi driver knew exactly where it was so that's a good sign!</div>
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One of the guys who came to lunch was Ahmed. . .</div>
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And he mentioned that he was going to a Halloween camping party in the desert after he left lunch. I was so excited! I saw this meet up in one of the groups I "lurk" in, So I said to him, I saw that! And he said oh really, in which group? I said I don't know. And he said, would you like to come? And, me being me, I thought about it for about 10 seconds and then said, what would I need to bring?! He said yourself! Maybe something to eat. I thought about it for another half second and then said, YES! Ahmed was so kind. After a great lunch, he took me and the kid home where we grabbed some clothes and mobile chargers (cus who could be without their mobile in the middle of the desert?!), and then we met up with the rest of the group at Carrefour, where I bought 2 sleeping bags, 1 camping chair, a gallon of water, some cookies, and some gummy worms (that was the kid). And off we drove, into the middle of nowhere!</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our google location!</td></tr>
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I do have to say that my kid was none too happy about this! She is not very into doing things without a thoroughly thought out plan! I told her, spontaneity is the spice of life, get used to it!</div>
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So we drove with Ahmed about half way to Al Ain, driving for about an hour almost. Then we made a left turn onto a paved road, then a left turn onto a dirt "road" and we were in the desert! We totally needed the GPS coordinates for the rest of the trip! We drove for about another maybe hour and a half. Passed several camel farms, a goat farm, so really rickety housing type structures, and then... nothing but sand. We saw the camping spot and there were several cars parked out on the "road". Ahmed said, "hmmmm, there's one car stuck. And another car stuck, but I think we can make it!" So he reeved the engine and we went barreling into the dunes! We passed no less than 3 stuck SUV's! But we made it to the top of a hill without incident! I clapped when we arrived safely! </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1 of the stuck cars!</td></tr>
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There was a huge mountain of a sand hill where we were camped. Everyone was climbing to the top to check out the view. This woman asked me, hey, you going up?! And pride wouldn't let me back down! It was ok at the start, but it quickly became almost more of a challenge than I could handle! But, at last! I made it!</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">this is the view from the top of the huge, mountain sand hill!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the kid at the top!</td></tr>
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There were quite a few people there when we arrived and more arrived over the next hour or so. It was quite nice. Their were several families there with little kids ranging in age from about 2 to 9. The camp organizers had several kid games planned which I thought was neat. </div>
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In one game the kids had to run to the top of that huge mountain of a sand hill to get bags of candy. Some of the kids ran up like 3 times! Up and down up and down! Then they just kept on running up and down for fun! Sometimes sprinting down, sometimes somersaulting down.</div>
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They had the carving of watermelons, because apparently they are much cheaper than pumpkins! And bobbing for apples, musical chairs, eating donuts off a string, making a toilet paper dress. The kids seemed to enjoy it. And I made my kid help out with the festivities to get her out from under me!</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ohhhhh, spooky... watermelons!</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK9xC_M84TAE6lRQvYoOpSwN8190zxcD8gzJIzAI2RaHbXvHwB3cIzr0FcbD54_50g2pWPa3GuzECCJLDeyilAo3eW1CYdDMjDHZu1VpFdVhcIxOb-2FKrWXN8qQ7cjPa264A_3ctqnops/s1600/2014-10-31+19.04.52.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK9xC_M84TAE6lRQvYoOpSwN8190zxcD8gzJIzAI2RaHbXvHwB3cIzr0FcbD54_50g2pWPa3GuzECCJLDeyilAo3eW1CYdDMjDHZu1VpFdVhcIxOb-2FKrWXN8qQ7cjPa264A_3ctqnops/s1600/2014-10-31+19.04.52.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></div>
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Of course since we were in the middle of nowhere, there were no, ummmm, "proper" facilities, if you get my drift! So my first foray into the sandy wilderness was quite interesting. First, I had to go far enough away from everyone that no one would walk by while I was doing my business! Walking in sand dunes is not very fun! You kind of look like a drunk at Octoberfest, stumbling around and pulling your feet out of the sand! There are a few very scraggly, very branchy, bushes in the desert. I finally found one and dug a hole. Mission accomplished! It was actually better than I thought it would be! But in the morning, it was horrible because it was full light and everyone could SEE!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn3tzTKgvdvwfHsqolCxLnAcJVih2vv4lE3l_m29G_dZVBg5DAJYLkP4HAhoazBXvH4XAVHUK7EuVgXbuaId3Y7XFQBGe8VVj4kPiOV4fBBE_d664njF7YhdwDI-FCaH0TPXrm4esgmLNN/s1600/2014-10-31+19.39.42.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn3tzTKgvdvwfHsqolCxLnAcJVih2vv4lE3l_m29G_dZVBg5DAJYLkP4HAhoazBXvH4XAVHUK7EuVgXbuaId3Y7XFQBGe8VVj4kPiOV4fBBE_d664njF7YhdwDI-FCaH0TPXrm4esgmLNN/s1600/2014-10-31+19.39.42.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></div>
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That night was fun. We made a bonfire. We made s'mores. We danced around the fire singing at the top of our lungs. Then it was finally, around 3am time for bed! So, this is camping in the UAE. Trying to open a sleeping bag on top of a sand dune with the wind blowing the sand into your eyes, into your pants, and into your sleeping bag that you are so carefully trying to lay out without getting sand into it! Then you get to lay down, inside the sandy sleeping bag, and roll around like a hotdog in boiling water, while trying to smooth out all the lumps of some of the sandest sand ever under your bum! I mean, I think I could have really slept, even with the wind whipping sand into my face all night, and sand crunching underneath my cheek, if it wasn't for the lumps of sand under my bum! And back! And knee cap! I was trying to push them down with my feet, and hands, and elbows! All to no avail!</div>
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But the sunrise was worth it!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo6y3jn_-rgRaAZEcJcQrG0HGU6TwW9zW611fcJvyvJ962Lbe_9MsOFfWGUVsvtr4__l1-nJFfSmmgdKhzbbdlIpCtp1qE6ey_pkQbPfFdGDHQ9Vj510886sRAXehaTaR_C5j72QGYB-Nz/s1600/2014-11-01+06.30.13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo6y3jn_-rgRaAZEcJcQrG0HGU6TwW9zW611fcJvyvJ962Lbe_9MsOFfWGUVsvtr4__l1-nJFfSmmgdKhzbbdlIpCtp1qE6ey_pkQbPfFdGDHQ9Vj510886sRAXehaTaR_C5j72QGYB-Nz/s1600/2014-11-01+06.30.13.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></div>
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The mornings sunrise was beautiful! The first time I saw real clouds in the UAE.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidX9drpEYb_XJjVONd-8puqeRWnuq6ijlQMenBD5Lsc5yRLcHlfh99FXYpV_eRMYQg0FXcmB3mH3V7-U5xfMM7PWWBClBVsaf2_ooeOnV8vNuLc3BjgmDErlhYRKVssoFfhDCzYvzjrksi/s1600/2014-11-01+08.08.52.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidX9drpEYb_XJjVONd-8puqeRWnuq6ijlQMenBD5Lsc5yRLcHlfh99FXYpV_eRMYQg0FXcmB3mH3V7-U5xfMM7PWWBClBVsaf2_ooeOnV8vNuLc3BjgmDErlhYRKVssoFfhDCzYvzjrksi/s1600/2014-11-01+08.08.52.jpg" height="640" width="360" /></a></div>
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And then.... it rained! Like, for real actual rain... in the desert ... in UAE!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVuLzAhj2wIgOHxO36mKhVXUlmpm5G5JaFDh2hWd62WhhgIWjy2uJsbsM9kvZ-CwTNyXUFn3WTYdJl1Dn9eLfU5wA1TFoI34kUwwSgfDobm51zJA4Fozy3D7Mn3E-EBhOWAyZnY6U0dJzF/s1600/2014-11-01+07.35.18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVuLzAhj2wIgOHxO36mKhVXUlmpm5G5JaFDh2hWd62WhhgIWjy2uJsbsM9kvZ-CwTNyXUFn3WTYdJl1Dn9eLfU5wA1TFoI34kUwwSgfDobm51zJA4Fozy3D7Mn3E-EBhOWAyZnY6U0dJzF/s1600/2014-11-01+07.35.18.jpg" height="640" width="360" /></a></div>
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For about 5 minutes. Then, sadly it stopped. Welcome to the desert!</div>
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So, first time camping, maybe last time?? No! I'd love to go again! Into the desert!</div>
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Ciao for now!</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11958518243787529410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3063417693494570197.post-47690209750681076542014-11-05T09:15:00.001-08:002014-11-05T09:15:20.229-08:00Ewww, water!<div dir="ltr">
So, I have just asssssumed that the water at my apartment; the water I wash my body with, the water I brush my teeth with, the water I wash my face with, the water in my toilet; is coming from the many pipes that I can see in the lobby (part of the ceilings missing! don't ask) of my building. But, low and behold, my co-worker informed me that these humongously old and crumbly trucks</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEyLCiS3qUhiJR4iR3zkaGsDjoQEAIcvigLUgrP90QBwk6bcbP4Tht0bZeqmExP0GcbkeReLNWBCqgyzlwD6F9oUFd5ONsZNUUtF5_N0w1zXXeO5GeK1Od5ik7ngNqltgNJR7Bfar7lXHE/s1600/2014-11-05+15.56.54.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEyLCiS3qUhiJR4iR3zkaGsDjoQEAIcvigLUgrP90QBwk6bcbP4Tht0bZeqmExP0GcbkeReLNWBCqgyzlwD6F9oUFd5ONsZNUUtF5_N0w1zXXeO5GeK1Od5ik7ngNqltgNJR7Bfar7lXHE/s1600/2014-11-05+15.56.54.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></div>
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that lumber up and down our little street daily marked with the words "drinking water", the trucks that I had assssumed were carrying water to the scraggly little plants</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcQS-LZmFgK-EILuWHiiYRzknzJWOE1SrAIup457c_5BSwz15QF_936q4u-RcMfZiXVUr4XAZembEIqtBP0dph2nSpZFbhDQw3ZDZIbnNnUNtdcdMsjAReTv9fFH_snzR6E9kknJ34P9Rk/s1600/2014-11-04+18.45.55.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcQS-LZmFgK-EILuWHiiYRzknzJWOE1SrAIup457c_5BSwz15QF_936q4u-RcMfZiXVUr4XAZembEIqtBP0dph2nSpZFbhDQw3ZDZIbnNnUNtdcdMsjAReTv9fFH_snzR6E9kknJ34P9Rk/s1600/2014-11-04+18.45.55.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></div>
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on the side of the road because, obviously, what else would water that is being shuttled around in a rusty old ancient barrel truck, regardless of the words "drinking water" on the side, be used for?! I mean, come on! But, no, the water inside these trucks (which, is the water just inside the naked metal of the truck so it's rubbing up against the rust, or is it wrapped up in sort of a plastic diaper so it's just getting all stale and plasticky smelling but not rusty? hmmmm) is the SAME said water that I use to wash my body, brush my teeth, wash my face, and is IN MY TOILET! Ewwwwwww! Color me disgusted, folks! I mean, really! That's just so gross!</div>
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The adventures continue!</div>
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Ciao for now!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11958518243787529410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3063417693494570197.post-72607837361556322022014-11-03T18:21:00.002-08:002014-11-03T18:21:55.230-08:00Scuba Diving Part Deux! Open Ocean!So, before we can do our Open Ocean Dive, we have to take a test on all 5 chapters of the thick book we were supposed to read. Well, I had a pretty stressfully hectic week, so, no time to read thru that book again. But the first tests we took, our whole group of 6 got to go over our answers together so it was no problem to pass. I was kinda hoping it would be a similar set up with this test. Luckily, it was, unluckily, it was just me and the kid and one other girl taking the test that day! Anyway, I finished the test first, I guessed some but didn't think it was too bad. We had to pass the test with 75%, no problem to get a C right? We go over the results, everyone passed. . . except me! I got 74%! 74%!! I cannot believe this! Even the kid passed! And the instructor said to me, you only missed by 1. Are you sure you got that one wrong? And like a dummy, I said yes! Sigh...I cannot believe I have to take the written test again! And he wouldn't let me take it again right then because it was 6:30pm and he probably wanted to go home.<br />
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Finally Open Ocean Diving! What I have been waiting for my whole life!! Even though I was not enamored of the pool dives, nobody likes those, so I was still encouraged.<br />
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We are supposed to do 4 open ocean dives to become certified divers. Me and the kid were scheduled for this weekend, 2 on Friday morning 8am, 2 on Saturday morning 8am. I am so not excited for this! This is something I really wanted to do but I am petrified I will not like it! So we get to Mina pier and into the boat with about 15 other divers. Only 6 of us were diving for the first time. The others were fun divers and could dive alone once at our location. The boat ride out was actually enjoyable. Very choppy but I just sat in the middle and rolled with the punches. We went quite far out, about an hours ride. Then the boat stopped in the middle of nowhere mind you, and our instructor, Lucy, said let's get going! I don't know how they distinguished one piece of ocean from the next, but I guess we were there!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beautiful view of Abu Dhabi!</td></tr>
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I was so nervous, guys! The first thing is, I hate doing things backwards! You know all the pictures of people diving off a boat, they roll backwards into the ocean. I decided I would just have to tell Lucy that I had to just step off the boat feet first and it would just have to be OK cus I would not let a simple fear of cracking my head on whatever the heck is behind me ruin my 1st dive!<br />
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So Lucy told us the rules and how to put on all the gear. Then I asked if I could just walk off the edge rather then diving, back first off a moving boat with 10 pounds of equipment on in the middle of the Gulf. And her answer,was no. No! She could obviously see the fear on my face because she said sorry, it is impossible to walk over the side of the boat with all the equipment on, and very dangerous. She also said, don't worry,she would push me off if it came to that! Once I had the equipment on, I realized the truth of what she said. That equipment was heavy!!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Us getting ready to dive!</td></tr>
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I volunteered to go first so I wouldn't chicken out. I climbed up on the side of the boat, picture a penguin waddling around a rolling ice berg. Then I sat on the edge. One hand on my weight belt, one hand on my dive mask and regulator, then back flip off the edge! And I did it! Made it with a splash! It wasn't nearly as scary as I thought, especially sense I had the regulator in because I could still breathe as I tumbled into the water.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2p1oqmAH8QO-oYl4XSJyM-MgP61UXWYV-6fhiPDZabv67U_HJfkWfQ1VEPOzfpqN0c9FngUAvFCGLhWXOLcvC3Kwnw_PB_2CC_TpOH-ahwcx0IPgczWmq90ZMRYIDPCUTCEKqIPk8AaM5/s1600/2014-10-24+09.29.37.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2p1oqmAH8QO-oYl4XSJyM-MgP61UXWYV-6fhiPDZabv67U_HJfkWfQ1VEPOzfpqN0c9FngUAvFCGLhWXOLcvC3Kwnw_PB_2CC_TpOH-ahwcx0IPgczWmq90ZMRYIDPCUTCEKqIPk8AaM5/s1600/2014-10-24+09.29.37.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is the edge of the boat!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-UC25Tk1FxVzZjlJ_F4vjOj9HHRHgg7PnMRYbhaoA2X08LQtDD8ognVAx_WyxfycMF8ykCjxmmHyLyBnDHlt872TmPlEvJ8XGvYcRmpnPNtrSvTcHED1BfyLMyFRJ1aEuVnmat2xf-j7Y/s1600/2014-10-24+09.32.52.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-UC25Tk1FxVzZjlJ_F4vjOj9HHRHgg7PnMRYbhaoA2X08LQtDD8ognVAx_WyxfycMF8ykCjxmmHyLyBnDHlt872TmPlEvJ8XGvYcRmpnPNtrSvTcHED1BfyLMyFRJ1aEuVnmat2xf-j7Y/s1600/2014-10-24+09.32.52.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me & the kid!</td></tr>
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Ok, so since I was first, I had to wait for everyone else to jump in. So the minute you hit the water you inflate, inflate, inflate, your bcd (buoyancy vest, remember), and move to your back. So I was bumping around on my back, unable to see, feet sticking up in the air, every wave pushing me around. Ummm, can't say I enjoyed that part. Equipment too heavy, unable to control my direction, I felt like a cannonball shot out of the cannon.<br />
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Finally, everyone else is in the water, and we grab hold of the anchor line and make our way to the bottom of the sea! We were going 6 meters down and I could feel my ears beginning to pop so, I was blowing my nose like crazy, which let a little line of water into my mask. Right under my nose. So then, every time I inhaled through the breather, a trickle of water was getting into my nose too. Then, for whatever reason, the trickle turned into a flood! Just like at the pool. My goggles were about 1/2 full with salt water! I kept blinking my eyes, trying to clear my mask to no avail. Ahhh well, I just had to live with it. (afterwards my eyes were burning something fierce!)<br />
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Since I was the first one down, Lucy, directed me to kneel at the bottom and wait for everyone else. Well, the same thing happened as happened before, I couldn't keep still. I was trying to keep my knees bent behind me but I was just bouncing around the bottom, my feet sticking straight in the air, my butt bumping the bottom of the sea, and then my tank would hit and spin me in a different direction. And just as I finally got it together and was sitting still on the bottom, someone would arrive and bump into me and send me careening around again!<br />
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Finally, everyone was down, and Lucy led the way. So, scuba diving! The ocean as my oyster, open for our eyes only, prepare to be amazed, blah blah blah. What did I see? Some grayish, brownish coral, about 3 tiny fish, and I scratched my knee and my hand on the coral! Coral is sharp! I don't know if you could take everything in the first time. All I kept thinking was you're ok, you can breathe, keep blowing your nose, keep breathing, keep swimming, you're fine. Like a litany in my head. Finally, Lucy makes the hand motions for us to ascend and I scampered up to the surface like a little mouse running from a hungry cat.<br />
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Made it back into the boat, took all the gear off, everyone was complaining that visibility was horrible. Lucy said there was a sand storm during the week and this churned up the sand in the ocean as well and that's why we couldn't see much. I looked at the kid and said, I don't know how you feel, but I don't think I'm going on the second dive! :( very disappointed in myself but I just was not that enamored of bobbing around in the ocean with all that gear on! And once I was at the bottom, I was just like, yea, ok, now what?) </div>
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But when it came time for the next dive, I just couldn't sit there. So I loaded myself up with all the gear again and made the backwards plunge to the bottom (very proud of myself for this I must say!). This time it was 9 meters. The kid was behind me at first but when I got to the bottom, I noticed she was not with me. This time I managed to sit at the bottom properly but I was still bobbing around like a cork in a bottle. And the waves were buffeting me right and left. I was tossed upside down as well! I just went with it and remained floating there. Just focusing on my breathing. At least there was no salt water in my mask this time!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoC8y4J1aYlobSp9lwHgvLs5f5b4P1yZjS1OrxceqBf8_48CTnHpcKq74CadlwNInaq7GQwbbSClbtn4FQWGAyMExNIF8OKAEl32Hddj1C9Ky2Wfpl8nt3Gj38Xt16N6KmxV_SxhSUw9RM/s1600/2014-10-24+10.02.21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoC8y4J1aYlobSp9lwHgvLs5f5b4P1yZjS1OrxceqBf8_48CTnHpcKq74CadlwNInaq7GQwbbSClbtn4FQWGAyMExNIF8OKAEl32Hddj1C9Ky2Wfpl8nt3Gj38Xt16N6KmxV_SxhSUw9RM/s1600/2014-10-24+10.02.21.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our second dive spot!</td></tr>
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Lucy had given us all these instructions about what she was going to do on the dive. Pretty much we had to do the same training as in the pool. Take our mask off, breathe through our buddies tank, etc. I was swimming right behind Lucy making sure I kept her bright pink fins in sight. It seemed like I was not moving fast at all, but I managed to stay with her for quite a bit. Then, when I would get distracted with my breathing or because I started to float up towards the top, I would lose her and have to swim frantically to catch up. <br />
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After what seemed a very short time, Lucy made the signal for us to surface. I was surprised because we hadn't done anything! When we got to the top, Lucy said half of our group was missing! They had gotten lost! And we had to surface to try to find everyone. I was relieved to get back into the boat, get all the heavy gear off, and have something solid under my feet. We had to wait quite a while for some of the guys so we swam in the ocean. That part was great! I really like being on top of the water!<br />
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So, I did not manage to complete my training course, I still need to pass the test and do 3 more dives. I'm sure I'll get around to it at some point, but not soon!<br />
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Ciao for now!<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11958518243787529410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3063417693494570197.post-79790445366901847602014-10-28T03:46:00.001-07:002014-10-31T00:24:05.046-07:00Classroom ManagementSo, I teach high school girls. You would think that high school girls would be motivated by, well, you know, girly things. And I guess in a way they are. If the girls were in fourth grade. My girls love stickers. And, inward shudder, pink things. I don't do stickers and I especially don't. Do. Pink! But here, now, they are slowly wearing me down. Sigh. Motivation is key here! And, truthfully, I just want them to be quiet!<br />
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But there is another way. Competition. Any task, if you say whoever is the first group to finish gets 2 marks or points, they rush to complete it. I love it! I used that trick just today. I wanted them to look up vocabulary words, which they hate, so I said whichever group can find and write the correct definition down in their notebooks first, gets 2 marks and can write the definition on the board. It was like I had thrown chum in the water with sharks around. And not only did the motivated girls work fast and rack up meaningless marks, the lower girls got to copy the definitions from the board rather than using the dictionary and got to ask questions in Arabic from the other girls. It was a win win! </div>
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Ciao for now!</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11958518243787529410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3063417693494570197.post-2359579879350130312014-10-24T22:37:00.001-07:002014-10-24T22:38:55.664-07:00Scuba Diving!!So...scuba diving...something I have wanted to do since I was 12 years old. Really. At first, I was too poor to learn, then stuff kept getting in the way of my learning. Every time I went to some exotic locale that had scuba diving (Thailand, Costa Rica, Bali), it was so dang expensive for lessons, plus, who wants to spend 4 or 5 days of their island vacation in a classroom setting watching videos and stuff? Not this gal!<br />
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So, here I am, in the UAE, a desert, right? Yes and no. UAE is surrounded by other desert countries on 3 sides, but the fourth side is the Persian Gulf. And there is actually a lot of water in Abu Dhabi. Almost every street corner boasts huge fountains of sparkling water. My theory is that water was worth more than gold for so long, that now that the country is richer than all of USA's founding fathers put together, they want to flaunt that wealth. And what better way to do that then having sparkling fountains of splashing water in a desert?<br />
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Anyway, I digress. So, being in the desert, scuba diving was actually the furthest thing from my mind. I've been thinking more along the lines of desert camping. But low and behold, I saw a facebook group for scuba diving! And there was a great deal for ADEC teachers! So of course, having an apartment almost completely devoid of furniture, and having no bath towels and no cabinets, what do I do? Purchase scuba diving lessons for me and the kid with my first paycheck! Don't tell me I don't have a healthy set of priorities!<br />
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So, training: We had to watch 5 videos, which was about 3 1/2, 4 hours (extremely boring!) then take a test, then there is 2 pool dives, another test on all 5 chapters of the book, and 4 open ocean dives to complete to become certified. I was excited for the pool dives but very nervous as well. I've been snorkeling, and I don't like it. There is constant water in your mouth with the snorkel and that feeling is just too weird. But I had higher hopes for scuba diving.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh71huvHeojPitZ78zQVE00krVShbopN8EucrE6bRtJQAV1X4Gw-mf7a9YYE8XUSg2bs2WG0ObNarRsaUdhBH-EXHW6_geMskC1mYdNN89FOMz5kuHzYTUkrzXvfzvSJK9Mh7UG8hxPxOZX/s1600/2014-10-21+19.28.09.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh71huvHeojPitZ78zQVE00krVShbopN8EucrE6bRtJQAV1X4Gw-mf7a9YYE8XUSg2bs2WG0ObNarRsaUdhBH-EXHW6_geMskC1mYdNN89FOMz5kuHzYTUkrzXvfzvSJK9Mh7UG8hxPxOZX/s1600/2014-10-21+19.28.09.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pool at One to One hotel, our classroom</td></tr>
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So at the pool, our instructor tells us all about the very intimidating equipment; we put it together 3 times in a row, and then we got to put it on. Have you ever tried to put on; a weight belt of 5 kilos, a BCD (buoyancy control device) vest tied to a tank of oxygen weighing at least that much or more, plus fins?! Then try to walk 4 feet to the pool?! It's almost impossible, I can tell you that!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My scuba gear is all packed up but it was a lot and heavy!</td></tr>
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Once in the pool, we went over a few hand signals and things, then we put on our masks, let the air out of our bcd's and sank to the bottom ! Where we proceeded to stay for about 2 hours! Yes, 2 hours at the bottom of the pool! The pool was at a hotel so I know the guests were like, what the heck is going on there!<br />
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I was really worried about my mask and the breathing regulator getting water inside, but that didn't happen. What did happen was me not sinking to the bottom of the pool! Now, I am not being self deprecating at all, but I told the instructor (Poaula from Germany) that I would need a lot of weights because, and this is a proven fact of physics, f.a.t. <i>floats</i>! She was like, don't worry all will be fine. As I'm floundering around under water like a beached whale, unable to fully make it to the bottom yet not at the top either, I thought, see, I told you! I mean, I literally felt like a beached whale! I kept tipping over to the side, spinning around on my back. The air tank would bump the bottom of the pool and send me tipping the other way. I was waving one arm around to regain my balance, while the other arm is jerking on my bcd to keep me from tipping too far over, trying to keep my knees pointed down so I can kneel on the bottom of the pool and trying to signal to Poaula that I need more weights! All while continuing to breath <i>slowly </i>and <i>deeply </i>cus that's the first rule of scuba diving! She finally grabs my bcd and puts more weights in the pockets. Yay, no more tippy tipster! I'm even feeling less beached whale and more yay, I got this! I'm even managing to kneel at the bottom of the pool; until my kid knocks me in the head with her fin! Back to tippy tipster! Sigh.<br />
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First day down, still, not an enjoyable experience! But, determination will out!<br />
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Second day with Poaula, she had the weight thing down, luckily! So, I put my locks in a lower pony tail, put my mask and regulator on and lower myself into the pool. But this time, somethings wrong! Immediately, as I start squeezing my nose to regulate my inner air spaces so my ears won't pop and my lungs explode (real fact! it could happen!), water starts to slowly seep into the mask and a layer of water is under my nose! And, the further I sink in the water, the more water flows into my mask, until my eyes are burning from the chlorine. And, if you have ever tried to breathe, you know that if your mouth is open, you are still breathing thru your nose as well. So as I am breathing thru my mouth, there is water bubbling under my nose! Now, I know, in my head, that oxygen is obviously still getting into my lungs and not water, but having that bubbling under my nose is driving me crazy! I try to clear my mask under water like they taught us, and the water just keeps on pouring in. Then I finally resurface to empty my mask and try again. Worse this time! Water is pouring in faster than a college student can collect beads on mardi gras! I finally figure out the lower pony tail is the culprit, I fix my hair, but there is still water coming into the mask. Sigh, I just decide to go with it and for the entire hour and half lesson, I'm breathing thru water in my nose.<br />
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So, second day of scuba, not the best either. I can only hope that once I'm in the open ocean I will love it!<br />
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Ciao for now!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11958518243787529410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3063417693494570197.post-44472483530377822902014-10-18T04:40:00.001-07:002014-10-18T04:40:29.936-07:00EID Holiday!Hi all!<br />
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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, <i>not</i> 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!!<br />
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Then we went to the World Trade Center mall, which is <i>huge</i>! 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.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I really want one of these for my bedroom!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These were little pictures made with sand! </td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg69M7v7uhp25EENZj7dxSARclRLnjGILHdTWI1liGSs33ncmIvrPxt8NH8iT3_fRie1fBtbq7X1SXEnVz5gs6RtP7GfKHwU9hot0sJJRtIK3z42bhJX7UoqUD7H96pYPhEOw75UhCMt2fV/s1600/2014-10-04+18.49.32.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg69M7v7uhp25EENZj7dxSARclRLnjGILHdTWI1liGSs33ncmIvrPxt8NH8iT3_fRie1fBtbq7X1SXEnVz5gs6RtP7GfKHwU9hot0sJJRtIK3z42bhJX7UoqUD7H96pYPhEOw75UhCMt2fV/s1600/2014-10-04+18.49.32.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Salt & pepper shakers!</td></tr>
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNMQQmuq976MeNgG_W7eZi8q1ewX6-g6GkruK7BPoZ0hlcSFEx_e8z2Rs74qdKXlXzGIYFe2RkYQu2FqYtLUVfQo2FGWQwV7h59-IntdMfz0Wpif7C5jLzIe94stmHxmT2JV1YYZpwCA5n/s1600/2014-10-05+18.17.26.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNMQQmuq976MeNgG_W7eZi8q1ewX6-g6GkruK7BPoZ0hlcSFEx_e8z2Rs74qdKXlXzGIYFe2RkYQu2FqYtLUVfQo2FGWQwV7h59-IntdMfz0Wpif7C5jLzIe94stmHxmT2JV1YYZpwCA5n/s1600/2014-10-05+18.17.26.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">No preamble...guy just walked up and did a back flip! On ice!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzxwMFAxOpPOwlZm0AeYjteAE7rY6KIlQBhqnBt1rdXFQyQCQ4R3h8IkzW98HgPnY5hl1N4v8qLoB5xokTftUUx6knxoPDifCEWH25PEPlQXMhlk4vV_Ynj1UPOeqRNUZ7EjX2taASDFON/s1600/2014-10-05+18.32.14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzxwMFAxOpPOwlZm0AeYjteAE7rY6KIlQBhqnBt1rdXFQyQCQ4R3h8IkzW98HgPnY5hl1N4v8qLoB5xokTftUUx6knxoPDifCEWH25PEPlQXMhlk4vV_Ynj1UPOeqRNUZ7EjX2taASDFON/s1600/2014-10-05+18.32.14.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I wasn't fast enough to get the whole move, but it was pretty awesome.</td></tr>
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Well, that's all for now. I can't wait until we actually hit the water in full scuba next week! </div>
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Ciao for now!</div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11958518243787529410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3063417693494570197.post-47508577294188621482014-10-03T00:08:00.000-07:002014-10-03T00:08:15.474-07:00Calendar Samalendar<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXZXg5clMR01_Gqzuh5o5n8cShVRzpBsnZXb4ZK9Rj-Y1Jb9ubbaEtYx6_s-fLVNP2zPx-zrsfgUviajlFz2VXTagX9LEmfFmZIME-QY3aYC3OvgK7Qe3Y9pAY2ra8vAuRFYjikPzFsX9a/s1600/2014-10-01+09.55.17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXZXg5clMR01_Gqzuh5o5n8cShVRzpBsnZXb4ZK9Rj-Y1Jb9ubbaEtYx6_s-fLVNP2zPx-zrsfgUviajlFz2VXTagX9LEmfFmZIME-QY3aYC3OvgK7Qe3Y9pAY2ra8vAuRFYjikPzFsX9a/s1600/2014-10-01+09.55.17.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the goodies from my students!</td></tr>
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Before school started we were given an official calendar, just like at any school. And then, when school started, we were given <i>another</i> official calendar. Hmmmm. Then my coworkers said, to not trust <i>that</i> calendar until we were told officially by ADEC what was up!<br />
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This Eid is our first official holiday. The calendar says we have Oct 5th thru the 7th off, so we don't have to come back to work until Wednesday. But people said, hey, we might have the whole week off, just wait until the holiday gets closer. So, here it is, Sept. 28th and low and behold, what happens? The official holiday gets announced! We have to be back to work on Tuesday! Tuesday! It went from maybe we'll have a whole week off to having to be back to work by Tuesday! The calendar here is decided by the moon and the official day of Eid Al-Adha is Saturday, so we get 3 days including that day, which is why we have to be back to work on Tuesday. Insert sad face, weepy eyes here!<br />
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I asked my students in every class, "who's going to be here next week?" They just looked at me like I was crazy and said, "not me Ms.!" One girl, one bright and shiny girl raised her hand and said, "me Ms! I be here!" I just gave her a blank stare. Then I looked at her and said, "Mariam, it cannot be just you and me here, like this" I placed my hands under my chin and smiled, "starring at each other!" She said very excitedly, "yes Ms.! Just me and you!" So, it looks like I will have one thing to do next week. Find wonderful activities to share with one student and me! Shiny happy teacher! By the end of the week she will either love me to pieces or hate me!<br />
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Yesterday, Thursday, was the last day of the week. In the morning, I had the same class twice. We played vocabulary spelling games. They were so into it that another teacher came to tell us to be quiet. Then after lunch I was like, do I go to my next class, what's happening? Another teacher said, you can go to class if you want! You'll be the only one in there!<br />
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I walked down the long, surprisingly empty halls, lugging my 2 ton school bag behind me. I was looking around like, where the heck is everyone?! Then I glanced out the window to see the yellow school buses loading up all the girls! I looked into the teacher offices I passed and they were all empty! I could hear a trickle of raised voices coming from one room. I couldn't tell if they were raised in anger or in the Emirate way, which is just loud. I slowly approached the room and peeked around the door with a small sense of trepidation. To find at least seven members of our administrative staff sitting around on cushions, drinking tea and having henna done on their hands! They waved me in and offered tea and continued their raucous laughter. I finally was able to extricate myself and return to my office, where everyone was packing up! Looks like, aside from those staff members getting henna, no one else was in the school! Yooo-hoooo! We don't have an extra day off, but we got to leave work at noon on Thursday! Not an even trade but I'll take it!!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-P87407CyHF0KTsYK1EqrbYw4d_ofkuTekjM3i_AWFIeHbkVkxkDeQAI5QWSApPTwXZB2RqhE8LY7x8K9XiUsQyNlWeKKTGxSr854SpinHXvU0Eq6j3DA-67Dae4cDBORB5qkGReOb4yh/s1600/2014-10-01+09.56.04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-P87407CyHF0KTsYK1EqrbYw4d_ofkuTekjM3i_AWFIeHbkVkxkDeQAI5QWSApPTwXZB2RqhE8LY7x8K9XiUsQyNlWeKKTGxSr854SpinHXvU0Eq6j3DA-67Dae4cDBORB5qkGReOb4yh/s1600/2014-10-01+09.56.04.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
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I said on my last post how the students kept giving us candy but I didn't add the pictures, so here's a few. I ate so much candy I made myself sick! But, of course, I had to eat most of the other bag as well!<br />
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Ciao for now!!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11958518243787529410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3063417693494570197.post-49660488576572654672014-10-02T02:56:00.000-07:002014-10-02T02:56:37.870-07:00Eid Al-AdhaSaturday is Eid which is a sacred holiday here in uae. It is in celebration of Abraham killing the fatted sheep instead of having to sacrifice his only son. The 10 days before Eid, is called Eid Al-Adha, Feast of the Sacrifice, where Muslims in uae prepare for the feast. They celebrate with all sorts if yummy food of course. Kapsa, which is the cooked sheep, briyani rice (which is really Indian but the emirates have incorporated it into their diets), halwa, which is a sweet date paste, and legimat, which is a fried dough covered in honey and white sesame seeds.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The kids decorate the classrooms with posters about Abraham and his sheep.</td></tr>
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They are to give a third of their food to charity, a third to the community, and eat the last third. Here at my school that means for the past 4 days the students have come around to each office and given all the teachers loads and loads of candy!!! If you want to win the heart of any teacher, give her food! I wouldn't mind some of that marinated kapsa either! I'm just saying! As the girls come around to all the teacher offices, they say a prayer," there is only one God. There is no God but God." When they pray here however, it is by singing ( singing is considered haram which means forbidden in the Quran. Actually, a student and I have a running argument on how to spell Koran in English. I've always seen it with a "k" but she swears, walla walla, that it is with a "q"!)</div>
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The students made these boards to show the journey to Hajj or Mecca, for Muslims.<br />
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At my school today, there are sheep in the courtyard. Yes, sheep, poor things. They are tied around a tent pool and looking miserable. When I went out to take a picture, one of the sheep had gotten loose. Luckily, it just went to the other sheep and was hanging out. All the girls were screaming and the school cleaners were trying to grab the rope, which was under his neck. I just walked up and grabbed it and handed it to her to tie up. Hero Ms. Ayanna saves the day!! They gave me some galaxy chocolate for my efforts! Takiah,takiah, takiah!! (Which means like hurray)<br />
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Eid Mubarak, everyone!<br />
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Ciao for now!</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11958518243787529410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3063417693494570197.post-78999999620939227162014-09-26T04:01:00.000-07:002014-09-26T04:01:13.151-07:00Furniture Purchased..the UAE Way!Hi all!<br />
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So, I was browsing FB this morning on the UAE swap n' shop page, and I saw a dining room table! Now, I'm all about a great deal so I messaged I would take it! First part of the UAE furniture process, down! Next, to get a ride! So, I took a trip downstairs and asked my doorman slash security guard (that's right! I gotta doorman slash security guard! Moving up in the world!!) if he knew of any boys with trucks. And of course, he did. He gave me the numbers of 2 guys and I thought this would be more than enough. Ummmm, I was almost proved wrong!<br />
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Having worked in South Korea, I consider myself somewhat of a connoisseur on understanding badly spoken, broken English. Since moving to the UAE, I've found that, unfortunately, I am not quite the connoisseur I believed myself to be! I'm great at understanding "konglish" but whatever the mostly Pakistan and Indian population speak here, has absolutely, positively no relationship to the English that I know and love!<br />
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The first guy I called, I have absolutely no idea what the heck he said outside of, "hello". I just told him what I wanted and where I lived and he said, "ok, ok" and hung up. 7 phone calls later, it occurred to me that he might not either, a) understand me or b) know where the heck I lived!<br />
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On to guy number 2! Who happened to say the exact same thing as the first guy! "hello. ok, ok." And hung up. But I'm not only growing older but wiser as well! So, by the 5th phone call, I calmly went downstairs to my doorman slash security guard and said, "Mohammad, could you tell this guy where I live please?" Problem solved!<br />
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And that's how I ended up sitting in a truck that was born in 1990, with all the windows down, 95 degree weather pouring in, puttering down the Sheik Zayed highway, with a swarthy and questionable gentleman talking a mile a minute in what I'm sure he assumed was English but which I can guarantee you was not!<br />
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I texted my friend that if I didn't contact her in an hour, to adopt my kid cus I was probably being cut up into little pieces and fed to the local desert cats!<br />
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Fortunately, other than his insistence on speaking what he thought was English to me, The guy was actually quite nice! And this ....<br />
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.... is the end result!</div>
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Happy days!</div>
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Ciao for now!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11958518243787529410noreply@blogger.com0