A Wedding Celebration

Note to self-If ever you are invited to an Emirati Wedding Celebration, GO!!!

This past weekend, my Prinicpal's son was married to a beautiful young lady in Al Wagan along with 21 other couples.  In many parts of the UAE, many towns hold large "group" weddings to help families defray the cost of weddings.  Now, that is not to say that PLENTY of money is not spent by the families, because it really seems to be no object.  The dresses, food, and jewelry is simply amazing.

The wedding itself took place on Friday at a large wedding hall in which males and females are separate-Men in one part of the building and women in another.  The gowns worn by the brides were a bit more "blingy" thn the dresses worn by brides int eh US, but still; quite beautiful.  Here is a picture of one of the brides and her henna.

But, as you can see, she isn't the only one who has it.  Most all women at the wedding had it done and each design was more intricate than the next. 

Anyway, the celebration at the wedding hall was much like any other wedding reception that I have been to, with plenty of food, dancing, and fun, except it was entirely made up of women.

The following day, Saturday, my principal held another reecption at her home to welcome the bride into her home and family.  Here, the crowd was much smaller and I had a better chance to chat with several of my principals sisters, daughters, neices, and friends.  Everyone was extremely welcoming to me and tried their best to communicate with me even though I can't speak any Arabic. 

Again, the dresses were beautiful and the food delicious and laid out for all to share.  Lamb, goat, camel, rice, salads, yogurt, fruits, sweets, juices, teas, coffees, and more.  I ate SOOO much! And this went on all afternoon and into the evening.

Finally, before I left to head back to Al Ain, I was shown the room that had been prepared for the bride in my principal's home.  This is where she will live, as they have decided to live with his family (which is very traditional). Here are a few pictures of the room.  As you can see, extravagence is what it is about.  I was told that the decoration of the room cost roughtly 60,000 Dirham ($16, 000 US). WOW!

All in all, it was an experiecne I will never forget and am very happy that

I was able to witness.  You can bet that the next time I am invited to an Emirati Wedding, I will be there-in my best Kandora and all!

Bowling Night

The last 8 weeks have been so much fun bowling on Sundays with my friends Joe, Andre, and his wife, Kenisha.  Occasionally, Mike would step in and sub if we were short-which we often were.  (All of these people are folks from my building).  There were several times that Joe and I had to bowl the 2 games all by ourselves and we felt it the next day.


Anyway, over the last several weeks we never lost a a game until the Championship Game last night.  It turned out to be much closer than it looked it the begining of the game, as my team, The Round Abouts, were just off to a bad start.  It was really too bad that we didn't bowl our first game of the night during that game.  I bowled a 167 during that game.

On a bright note, my average is definitely going up.  My best game of this season was a 172!  We will be signing up again in April-That's a sure thing!

Space Dog

 Well, this weekend has not been a good one for Jesse.  I took her up to the vet in Dubai yesterday to finish up her round of shots for the year and to have her spayed.  When the gentleman came out to get her and take her from me when I dropped her off, she knew something bad was going to happen.  She just sat and wouldn't budge.  He finally had to pick her up and carry her off.


Later in the afternoon when I picked her up, she was as happy as she could be, given that she was still woozy, to see me.  Now either she had too much to drink or she got into a fight with a lampshade, because she had one on her head.  It makes her look like a Space Dog.  Anyway, she slept the entire way home, and even went right to her crate when we got back.  She moved very little last night and is still sore. 

At this point, I'm having to carry her up and down the stairs since the movement is just a little too much for her.  She is much happier just laying around and resting.  I don't think I've seen her be sleepy for so long, but am going to let her get all she can.


I'm sure she'll be back to her normal self in a few days!

Camels in Trucks

I will never get over the sight of camels in trucks as long as I am here.  These creatures get crammed into the back of the tiniest trucks imaginable and drive through the middle town like its nothing.  I couldn't help but snap this photo when I saw it.  Three camels were packed in tighter than sardines and the one decided to stick his neck out continuously to greet other cars.  I love this!

A Cup of Tea

Okay...I have to brag a little.  There is this wonderful lady at my school named Fayeda.  She is from Sri Lanka and runs the copy room and if you need something, she's the go to lady.  She and I always seem to be able to communicate the important stuff even with her very limited English.

Anyway-every afternoon, she brings me a nice cup of Chai (not like our traditional Chai back home, but good none the less) and leaves it on my desk for me.  I so enjoy being away from my office for a little bit and coming back to find this little gift. Its rare that I have to ask for it anymore, since she seems to know that I enjoy it, and I can tell she enjoys bringing it for me.

So, Thank You, Fayeda!

A Dog Day Afternoon

Yesterday, Jessie and I went to the Rugby Club here in Al Ain and took part in the AIWA Dog Day.  Since I adopted Jessie from them, they asked me to bring her and tell our story during the day.  There were so many dogs there-More than I thought existed here because you just don't see them out and about.  It was nice to see so many people I know and their dogs too.  As for Jessie, she loved getting attention from all the kids, adults and other dogs as well. 

These are horses, not dogs if you ask me!

There were so many people who came up to me and asked, "Is this Jessie?" That's because she was in this month's copy of Oasis Living-a magazine here in Al Ain.  Otherwise there were plenty of others who knew Jessie from fostering here over the last few months that she has been with AIWA.

I ended up that we spent most of the day there and when we got home, Jessie crashed hard.  The poor girl was so tired from such a busy day.

This dog looked so much like his owner.

The Sun'll Come Out...

Each morning when I leave for work, it is still dark.  However, it isn't too long before the sun is coming up over the dunes.  Just the other morning, the clouds were perfect and the way the rays came through was just beautiful. I thought I'd share:

Meet Jesse...

Jesse is my new roommate.  She is a Saluki mix and is just a real sweetheart.  She moved in today and is already making herself at home.  She's got her toys, her bed, and crate.  She loves sitting next to my feet and playing, but I'll have to wait for that.  She has decided that she needs some rest and is taking a snooze right now.

In the mean time-here are some pictures:

The First Time it Really Rains...

Alright-I've been in the UAE for 5 months now and last night is the first time, I have REALLY seen it rain.  I was with some friends at the Palm Rugby Club for our usual Wednesday Curry/Trivia outing.  We never do very well with the trivia, but always enjoy having dinner and being cheerleaders for each other as we deal with the hectic things that arise at school and life in general in the UAE.

Anyway, as we were leaving, it was raining and everything was wet.  I had just turned and told my friend, Brittni, to be careful on the steps, and that's when I went down and landed on top of my left foot and shin.  I was able to get back up and they some ice for it. 

This morning, it was bruised, swollen pretty good, and sore so I took the day off work and had to go to the hospital for my medical certificate.  There, I had to get x-rays (even though I knew nothing was broken) and some pain medicine.  NMC really was a good hospital-I got in and out in and hour and a half for 300 Drh (less than $90 for the ER visit, 4 x-rays and meds)! 

So, this morning, I am spending my time propped up on the couch with a pillow under my footand ice for the swelling, drinking my tea, and watching the same episode of CSI I've seen 10 times already...but thats another story.

Where's my camera when I really need it?

At home, of course!  Even if I did have it with me it would not have done me any good because I was driving when I actually saw the thing I so desperately wanted to snap a picture of...a camel walking down the highway!  Not just in the sand along the road, but in the lanes of traffic.  Luckily there were only a few cars around, but still!  This is the first time I've seen this, but hopefully not the last.

My friend, Joe, and I saw this as we were heading back from Dubai this afternoon and could not believe our eyes.  We've seen some crazy stuff here, but this takes the cake.