Dune Buggy in the Dessert!

Greetings all!! Things have been getting very busy!

First of all the animals are still doing great! Beta fish and especially hermit crabs don't have a very long life expectancy- particularly hermit crabs in captivity.But Cosmo the beta and Gotcha' the crab are thriving! Cosmoiseasy to care for- change his water once a month and give him a tiny piece of dried shrimp in the evening. Gotcha' is more high maintenance. We go to the beach every weekend and get fresh wet sand and seawater and algae if we can find any. We clean out his aquarium and replace it with the fresh sand and water. We use wet sandbecause I believe there are plankton andstuff in it he may need. Let me tell you carrying wet sand and water from the beach is heavy! Thank goodness it is a short distance! Must be working because they seem pretty happy. I wish we could get a puppy but there are no pets allowed where we live and it really wouldn't be fair to leave them in the apartment all day while we work. I miss having a furry pet but will be happy knowing I am a good fish mommy and Jimmy is a great crab daddy!

Speaking of where we live- we almost had to move. We love our apartment and are very good temants. Our lease came up for renewal. There is a law in Dubai (not sure if it is for all UAE) that states rent cannot be raised on the first renewal. The owner wanted to raise the rent or not renew. Jimmy played hardball. He did the research and learned the rent is in line with the area and an increase would be far above the market level. We accepted the owners terms and gave our notice to vacate. I began an Internet search for another apartment and found in our current building with the same view for about the same we are paying now. Two days later the owner called back and said he would renew at the current rate!! We are thrilled not to have to move! My Jimmy is so great- not afraid to make the hard decisions and understands the meaning of "calculated risk"!

We had some pretty major sand storms this past week. A lot of sand was piled up along the roadway dividers and the wind was very strong. Visibility was limited and everything was covered in sand. The apartment even had a light coating of sand with all the doors and windows closed! I believe we are done with that for a while- at least I hope so!

I still go treasure hunting every weekend with my metal detector and am proud to report my record still stands. Every time I have gone out I have found coins! No other treasure yet but I am going to the same area of beach across the street for 5 months and am still finding coins! I consider that a success. In total I have AED 164 and many fil and half fil and other foreign coins. The real treasure is the little Russian girl I befriended and the many other people I speak to every weekend. I had a wonderful conversation with a young man from New York who is considering moving here. The people, foreign and Emirates, are what make Dubai so special.

My family is coming in less than 2 weeks and I can hardly wait! One of the activities I have planned is dune buggy riding in the desert. There is no way Jimmy is going to let the girls do this until he checks it out to be certain it is safe so I organized a trip with some of our coworkers. There are several companies that offer this and I was fortunate to find a great one- One World. The representative, Kingston, was great. He answered his phone every time I called (several times!) and answered all of my questions. We had a group of 9 people - 3 couples in 2 seater dune buggys and 3 people on 4 wheelers. The driver picked us up where we live at the scheduled time (2:30 pm) and we drove for a little less than hour to the desert. As I said earlier we had some sand storms so the road going to the bedouin campsite was not passable. We stopped off the highway on a side road and were met by some drivers in dunebuggys. We piled in and drove across the desert to the bedioun camp. I under estimated how much sand would be flying around-I had grit in my mouth and on my face! We were suited up with helmets and goggles and given basic instructions on the operation of the vehicles. Jimmy drove us in a dune buggy. A guide lead our caravan of 3 dune buggys and 3  4 four wheelers through the desert. He went pretty fast sometimes so you really had to gun it to keep up. The exciting part was going up and DOWN the dunes. We would get to the crest of a dune and couldn't see the bottom. You just had to keep going! The trick is to keep your vehicle straight- don't turn the wheels or you will roll over. Don't hit the brakes or you may get seriously stuck or worse flip over if you are going too fast. It was also pretty bumpy. I loved it; Jimmy was a great driver and the whole group had a great time. One girl, Lori, and her brother, Ryan, were each on 4 wheelers and they were clearly the rock stars of the group. They zoomed all over, up and down dunes like professionals! Oh to be young again! There was one really steep dune that Lori wisely chose not go down. She went around the edge and met us at the bottom. It's OK to push yourself but it is wise to know your limits. I realized at that point there is no way I could have driven down that dune (and probably several others!). After an hour of tearing up the desert you end up back at the bedioun camp. Then there was about an hour wait while other groups arrived. In total I estimate there was 450 people. We caught our breath, drank alot of water and thankfully Rosa brought a package of wet wipes. We all availed ourselves of her generosity and wiped off the sweat and sand. Booths opened up offering all kinds of activities. They had henna painting ( I took a couple of pictures but unfortunatley they were blurry), arabic dress and accessories, sand art in a bottle, carpets for sale and other things. The camp is set up with a large round stage in the center with tables arranged from it like spokes on a wheel. In the bedioun tradition you sat on large pillows on the ground at the table. The food,  and other activities made up the outer perimeter creating a lovely atmosphere. It was very large but felt like a small community. The food was pretty good. You were allowed to serve yourself in line so you get what appealed to you and not foods you may not care for. I bought a silk carpet; it is machine made not hand made but it was quite nice and not too expensive. I was surprised they offered alcoholic beverages for sale! They had several beers and vodka and other liqours. Sure did help wash the sand down!

In the van with the group.The adventure begins!

The driver who picked us up to get to the camp.

Jimmy and Greg. I sat next to the driver but since they were two seater buggy's Jimmy and Greg had stand in small bed behind us and hold on to the roll bar. You can tell by there smiles they didn't mind a bit! I took this pick over my head and behind me while we were zooming through the desert- not too bad!

Ryan and Lori in the back of a buggy on the way to the camp. Their mom is in front with the driver.

Quick lesson and passing out helmets and goggles. You can were your own sunglasses but the goggles offered more protection from the sand flying around- I chose the goggles. It gets pretty hot in that gear so don't bother with cosmetics or fixing your hair much!

Ready! Jimmy is so cool with his sunglasses!

These are "melons" that literally grow out the sand with very little vegetation as you can see. Our guide said they are poisonous if you eat them raw. Very unexpected to see this kind of vegetation in the desert!

I couldn't take a lot of pics while we were moving because it was so bumpy but this gives you an idea of how spaced out we were. Close enough to follow and not get lost but not too close. The 4 wheelers go first behind the guide then the buggys.

You drive for an hour then arrive back at the camp. Camel rides are available right outside the perimeter of the camp. A couple of people in our group did this but I am waiting to share the experience with my girls.

Another pic of the camel riders.

It's hard to see but that is Ryan sand surfing. This is set up right outside the perimeter of the camp but you can watch people do it from inside the camp. He made to the bottom without falling but said it was not a steep or long dune and not worth the major effort to get back to the top to do it again. Still a pretty cool experience though!

The falcon is the national bird of UAE. For 10 dirham you can hold the falcon in four positions and take pics with your own camera.

You knowI had to do it! That falcon is a lot heavier than he looks!

Water fountain inside the camp. Anyone who knows me knows I love water features!

Tables and seating around the stage. Sitting on the ground for so long is a little rough but the cushions are very thick and help a lot! I used two cushions and it wasn't so bad. We have a couple low sitting beach chairs with backs we are bringing for my mom and Jimmy when we take them. Gotta' take care of momma!

Another view of the stage and seating area. You can see the camp is quite large.

Lori went to the traditional Arabic dress tent and for a small amount she purchased the headdress and they taught her how to tie it. Pretty, pretty girl and just as nice!

Ryan got in on the action, too!

Desert garden! The sun is starting to set and things are really start to get started!

The first dancer was a man who performed a spinning dance similar to a whirling dervish. He spun in place very fast while using items like very shallow round baskets to enhance his performance.

This is a section of the skirt from his costume he removed and spun all around never missing a beat!

All of the sudde his costume lights up!

The skirt split into two more sections. He is still spinning while the upper part of his body is inside the top lit up portion. Freaking cool!!! Next a fire dancer performed and it was great. Sorry no pics but our guide advised us to get in the food line before it got too long. We saw the whole thing but I forgot my camera on the table. I'll post pics when we go back with the girls. 

Last but not least was the belly dancer! She was fantastic as well. All the performers go all around the edge of the stage so there isn't a bad seat in the house. You get to see each performance very up close and personal. A belly dancer is as close as you are going to get to a stripper in UAE and the table next to us was all young single guys so you can imagine the hooting and hollering in our area. I believe she lingered a little by us because of all the attention she was getting!

Belly dancing babe!

Last one!

As you can see we had a blast. When the event was over our guide rounded us up and drove us back home. When my mom and the girls come Jimmy will 4 wheel drive with the girls and mom & I will wait at the camp. Mom gets around great but she has a bad back and I fear that between the dune riding and sitting so low to the ground it will result in some discomfort for her. I want this to be a great experience for everyone and I already did the dunes so mom and can hang out at the camp and wait for the others. Besides- I'm pretty sure I won't have the nerve to go down some of those dunes so this is my excuse to chicken out with dignity!

I'll check back again soon. Love to all my friends and loved ones. Jacob and Jeremy- I love you and miss you boys so much! Pam, Jay & Amy, Greg- you are always in my heart and my prayers. Keep the funny emails coming- I love them! Denny, John & my ILS folks- I sure miss working with such a great group.

Can't wait to share my life in Dubai with my girls and my mom!!!!! 

Peace, love and happiness to all-

M&J



The Real Treasure

Hello all!

I've been doing my usual thing- working, house chores, shopping and of course treasure hunting! I use my metal detector on the beach across the street as a hobby. I find mostly trash- pop tops from soda cans and other such kinds of trash. Sometimes I find nails and screws and other more dangerous items. I have small pouch type belt, like a flat fanny pack. It has two zippered compartments. In the bigger compartment I put the trash I find; the smaller one is for the coins I find. I always collect the trash and throw it away properly. It is good karma- good things come from good things. If I collect the trash I will be rewarded with a coin. I must be right in some way because I have found coins every single time I have gone treasure hunting! Since I started in late October I have found over 100 dirham and lots of other various coins. Besides, the beach is literally my front yard! I want to do what I can to keep it clean. Also, there are so many children enjoying the beach; it would break my heart to see one of them cut their foot or be hurt on a pull tab because I was too lazy to bend down and put in my pouch.

So this morning I was doing my thing; slowly walking the beach listening for beeps collecting the trash and I had one coin for my efforts. Mom, dad and a girl about 8 years old set up nearby. I could hear them speaking Russian. The girl was watching me and I smiled at her. She moved closer and she could hear the beeps and see me digging. She came closer to watch what I was doing. Mom & dad gave me a concerned look but I smiled at them and motioned that she was ok to be with me. I stayed near their beach camp so they could keep an eye on their daughter and not worry. In a short time they saw she was safe and would only glance over at us occasionally. I don't speak Russian and she didn't speak english but she was a smart, smart child! She quickly caught on that a beep meant something was there and would dig furiously at every sound. I was able to show her to move the sand more slowly and wait for me to tell her where to dig. She not only gave me every pull tab she found- she gave me EVERY piece of trash she came across! My pouch quickly filled with all kinds of junk! She was also facinated with the tiniest shells- and I mean very, very tiny shells. She could find the most beautiful shells that would be unseen by anyone else. After awhile she dug up her first coin. The look on her face was priceless. I knew in that moment that I had found a real treasure. I gave her a thumbs up and clapped for her and laughed out loud. She was so excited! She held it out for me to take but I folded the coin in her hand and pointed at her. She understood it was hers to keep. Her smile was all the reward I could ask for. I told her to go show her mama & papa and motioned toward them. She ran to them and proudly showed them her treasure. They looked at me and I smiled at them to let them know it was ok. We hunted together for about an hour and she had found 6 more coins. Each time she ran to her parents and proudly presented her coin. When it was time for me to leave she waived and smiled and gave me a thumbs up and clapped. We created our own way of communicating that required no spoken words.

I really enjoy treasure hunting and finding coins and doing my part to keep the beach tidy but what  I learned today from that beautiful little girl is that true treasure is found in a smile, a kind gesture and sharing the adventure. Live in the moment, enjoy the sun on your face.  You don't even have to speak the same language; you just have to listen and speak with your heart.

Another great day in Dubai!

M&J

I'm Back!!

Hello all! I hope you all had a blessed and wonderful Christmas! I had a great Christmas break! We went home to Alabama and spent time with the girls, mom and the rest of the family. Thankfully it was warmer than we expected so we didn't freeze our butts off! We landed and went straight to work making preperations for Christmas. My oldest, Ashley, selected the perfect tree. That is her special job and as always she found the very best one. We always have a live tree and live garland strung in the house. I use fake greenery outside and thousands of christmas lights inside and out. My youngest, Tara, and my mom decorated the tree while Jimmy and I put up the outside decorations. The middle daughter, Dara, was with us when we got the tree and helped with everything else, too. We worked our fannies off but it was worth it. Another tradition we hold dear is cookie night. I buy cookie dough and lots and lots of icing, gel and every other cookie decorating medium known to man. The girls invite thier friends over and the party begins! Everyone wears an obnoxious holiday shirt and decorates cookies and makes gingerbread houses. We had a contest this year for "best worse shirt" and best cookie design. Congrats to Matt for the ladies sweater he purchased especially for cookie night and to Nichole for her gingerbread house. Afterwords we played a fun game of Pictionary on the Wii. Jimmy is really good! A great time was had by all!

I ran into Nancy, a former coworker and genuinely lovely lady, who scolded me for not updating my blog more often. She could only know I have been lax in my updates if she was checking it regularly. It means alot to me that people are keeping up with us here and reading the blog regularly. Thanks Nancy, and everyone else, for checking out the blog! Shout to Christie- great to see you again! Shout out to Shae- congrats on your beautiful baby girl- I hope the onesie I got her from Dubai fits! Shout out to John W.- sorry I didn't get to see you and I hope you are recovering well from your unfortunate injury. Shout out to the Penn. crew- we miss you and think of you often. Prayers to Wayne.

I got to spend time with my mom and my sister and my best friend, too. Pam looks amazing and Amy's laugh is music for my soul. Jay and Greg and the boys, Jeremy and Jacob, are doing great. We had everyone over for a big family and friends dinner on Christmas Eve. What a great time! I gave everyone the gifts I brought back from Dubai. They were very pleased and happy with the things I chose for each of them. My former boss and forever friend, Denny, came. I miss him so much and was so pleased he could make it for Christmas Eve. He really liked the leather box and pen I brought him. I was so glad Joyce and Tracey came this year again, too. Having all of my loved ones on such a special night was the best gift of all. Of course I didn't hate the diamond earrings Jimmy surprised me with! On Christmas day we exchanged gifts with the girls-what fun! Ever thoughtful Jimmy got them each a car emergency kit and I had items from Dubai for them. We loved the house shoes and robes and other items the girls gave us. They were all so thoughful.

We got all the decorations down and neatly put away before we left- major job! We returned to Dubai on 29 Dec. and I promptly got sick- big time! Jimmy was great taking such tender care of me while I was so ill. We didn't go out for New Years but we didn't have to. There was so much going on right downstairs even from the balcony we felt like we were in the middle of all the action. The Hilton, right across the street, had a big party with music and lights on their private beach. The public beach next to it was PACKED! I have never seen so many people on The Walk! At midnight the Hilton and Atlantis put on a fireworks display that nothing short of dazzling! From our balcony Atlantis is behind the Hilton so the fireworks were doubly bodacious!

So we are back to work now. We work with some really great people. Bud, Salem and Julius are smart, funny and easy to get along with. We all get along great and joke with each other. Work is so much better when you like the people you spend most of your day with!

Remember the ring I found while treasure hunting with my metal detector on the beach across the street? I had it appraised in Bama. It is 18K white gold with real rubies and the white stones are not diamonds but white sapphires! It was valued at $400-$500 USD! I was very pleased. I still treasure hunt on the weekends and have found lots of coins. Today I found 19 coins- my all time best for one day so far! It is relaxing for me and I enjoy the thrill of the hunt.

The weather is very mild now in Dubai. It is rather cool- low 60 degrees fahrenheit in the morning and gets to upper 70/low 80 in the afternoon.  It will be much warmer when the girls and mom get here in March. I am so excited I can hardly wait! The Walk is bustling tourists and lots of activity.

I'll post again very soon and include more pics. Thanks again everyone for reading my blog. Take care of yourselves and each other!

Much love,
J&M

UAE National Day, 50 Ferarris and Treasure Hunting

Hello all!

I know its been awhile since my last post but it has been very busy on The Walk! So much to share so lets get right to it!

About a mont ago The Walk hosted the International Footvolley Championship. They removed that entire staging and erected another one for the International Beach Soccer event. I wish I could remember the 6 nations that participated and especially who won but I do have a few pics to share-

The main beach soccer field is surrounded by the red seats and a practice field is on the right. They brought in tons of very fine sand for this event.

Zoomed in on the playing field.

Opening ceremonies the first night. It is early so the stands aren't too full yet but it gets busier as the night goes on. By the last night of the finals the seats were PACKED with fans.

Close up of the teams during opening ceremonies.

UAE National Day is the commemeration of the 7 Emirates into one nation- the United Arab Emirates. Like the USA 4th of July. This year marked the 40th anniversary and it was a very big deal! People decorated thier cars, dressed for the occasion and celebrated the event in fine style! There was a major fireworks display in Al Safa Park but we didn't attend- we knew it would be chaotic and there was so much happening right down stairs we stayed and played on The Walk. The Walk was busier then I have ever seen it- traffic  crawled at a snails pace- everyone was showing off thier cars and enjoying the experience. And it was an experience complete with music, dancing and many special booths. So here are lots of pics!

I'm ready for the party! The wings are made of feathers and I loved the hat. I wore this all night on The Walk as I took pics and enjoyed the event and also the next day for another event I'll tell you about later. I took the wings to work and have them attached to the back of my office chair.

I mean it when I say elaborately decorated cars! And not just the high end sports cars either- even the regular cars were decked out. It was so cool!

Amazing!

Smoking HOT!

WOW!

This is one Jeep I wouldn't take off roading.

What a fun car! The whole family was inside waving and smiling.

Yes, this car is driveable even with the front window decorated. It is a see through screen type material.

WOW!!

He was happy to pause for a moment so I could get this shot. I'd be mighty proud, too!

Ready for the party!

Another one.

Simple but still cool.

Little girl wearing her UAE National Day dress and hair in red, green and white riboons. She turned around right when I took the pic but she was precious.

This little boy is too cute! Love that hat!!

This booth had ladies cooking traditional food and creating crafts- the old fashioned way!!

Next to the ladies booth was a small stage that had the men performing a traditional dance. I have to admit I got a little misty when I was told this dance is 1000's of years old and here are these young men keeping the tradition and culture alive. They were smiling and doing the steps perfectly in time together and truly enjoying proudly sharing their heritage.

Nearby there was a large wall set up for people to express good wishes and congratulations to the UAE. Many wrote in their native language; it was great.

This promotional display was built in the middle of the round about that I look down on from my living room window. It is to promote a new waterproof blackberry. That is real water; quite elaborate!

There were booths set up like tents along The Walk that displayed and demonstrated some of the cultural aspects of UAE. These men were playing instruments and dancing. Another one next to it had ladies applying very ornate henna tatoos on womens hands. I was going to do it but the wait was too long and there was so much to see I didn't want to miss anything!

This booth was giving away pamplets and information about UAE. They were also giving away UAE flags.

It was a very exciting night and we had lots of fun. Earlier I mentioned another event held the next day- as part of the National Day celebration The Walk coordinated with the Dubai police department and the Ferrari club to have 50 Ferrari's drive down The Walk. The club members met close by and the police department blocked traffic so no other cars could get in the line up and they all stayed together. We were curb side when the parade began! I spoke with a lady whose husband is in the Ferrari club and she said Dubai had the largest Ferrari club in the world until just a year or two ago when China claimed more members. She also said 50 were scheduled to participate but 60 actually showed up. I took so many pics I couldn't possibly share them all but here is a sampling-

First car of the parade. The sidewalk is empty now but in just a few minutes people realised what was happening and the streets were lined with spectators. One issue I have is the lack of advertising and promoting events on The Walk. If I hadn't seen about this and several other events on Facebook (The Walk is on Facebook) I wouldn't have known about it and would have missed it. I wish they would find a way to promote the cool events they host here!

One Ferrari after another reving and weaving their way down The Walk.

 

 

Sleek!

This yellow is anything but mellow!

White hot!

All the Ferrari's went in the public parking lot so the spectators could ogle and drool over them close up. This guy was demonstrating how with the push of a buton the trunk opens and the roof fits inside. They stayed for awhile while the crowd milled around  before reving off. It was quite a sight!

Last week The Walk hosted the 8th Dubai Film Festival. I took this pic from my bedroom window of the set up.

Zoomed in shot of the film festival area. The dark area on the right is VIP seating and where the projector was located. The dark rectangle on the left is the neatly folded screen. The screen is HUGE when inflated. I could see the movie clearly from my window. I tried to get a shot at night with the screen up but the reflection from the flash off the glass made a terrible glare and it was too dark without the flash. All those spots in between are hundreds of bean bag chairs that were brought in for spectator seating!

Last weekend there was speed boat racing in the gulf. A course was set up and the boats races all afternoon. Very cool surprise! 

Another speed boat racing pic.

Also last weekend, and as a part of National Day celebrations, there was an air show. All week there were parachutists falling out of the sky doing stunts. I just knew some were not going be able to get out of the downward spirals but they were obviously well trained professionals- thank goodness! We were also treated to a daily airplane stunt show. These pics were taken from my balcony of the last day. 



UAE flag colored smoke. The red smoke was spiraled around the green and white smoke- very cool effect.

Flying in formation with colored smoke trailing.

Last but not least- treasure hunting bonanza! Jimmy bought me a metal detector for my birthday in late October. I  go to the beach early in the morning every weekend to search for trinkets and coins. I find alot of trash- pull tabs from soda cans and such and I put it in a pouch in my fanny pack. I think it is good karma to remove the trash I find in hopes the beach spirits will be pleased and reward me.  Silly, I know, but it must be working. I have found coins every time I go and last weekend I found this ring!  Nearest we can tell it is 18k white gold with diamonds and rubies. I will have it appraised next week and let you know for sure. You can't imagine how excited I was when this appeared as I sifted through the sand!

Bona fide TREASURE!

There is always something happening on The Walk but the past few weeks have been crazy!

Jimmy and I are finally going home tomorrow for Christmas! We can't wait to see our kids and family and friends. We will be crazy busy the first two days because of the time schedule to decorate but it will slow down a bit the days before Christmas. I wish all my readers a blessed and joyful Christmas. May peace and love be with you all. Stay tuned for the next exciting update of life in Dubai on The Walk!!!!

Merry Christmas!

M&J