Waiting in anticipation

It's a wonderful time of the year! The munchkins so look forward to the winter break. I so look forward to the winter break! In anticipation of our temporary return to the home country, a Lego inventory has been done (see above snap). Munchkin #1 has decided that he is bringing back just a massive bag of nothing but legos. Both munchkins are just plain hoping for new stuff no matter what! But, it never ceases to amaze me how this winter break, they are more excited about seeing the family and being back in the home country than they are about new toys. (Side note: I love Munchkin #2's pink rug with fish on it! - see the above snap)

If we were not leaving the region for the winter break, I would loved to have gone to a very special event taking place near AbuDhabi, the Al Dhafra Festival. http://www.thenational.ae/article/20081222/NATIONAL/388157011/1119 It is a giant camel sale, but more importantly it is a celebration of bedouin culture. It is not a tourist thing. It is a wonderful jolt of beautiful real life. If I ever have to spend the winter break in this region, I'm going to embrace it and go to this festival. Click on the above article and scroll through the photographs. Excellent shots of what life really looks like. Not to mention, the beautiful baby camel that looks almost white. Camels are such amazing creatures. This festival is an excellent reason for me to practice Arabic a bit more. For more information on the Al Dhafra Festival, click on http://www.arabiatourism.co.uk/events/2nd-al-dhafra-festival-2008-2009

Peace be upon you and don't forget to savor life.

A view of 'the world'

The husband had to make a quick business trip/visit, so the munchkins went with him. They were granted access to the roof which is where the husband took this pic. Quite the view isn't it? I love the blue sky with the fluffy white clouds - such a rare treat out in the desert.

Thinking of the sky, the weather here has been beautiful. Not too hot and not too cold. Absolutely lovely. We've even had the treat of a few drips of rain here and there.

I have recently discovered a hard to remove virus/trojan on my computer. In addition, we are heading for the home country in a few days. So, between the two, I may find it tough to post in the near future. Enshallah the virus/trojan has been 'deleted.' I'm running another scan as I type this.

Peace and may your computer stay 'bug' free!

Life isn't always greener on the other side

I recently had an experience that really got me thinking. Someone expressed some interest that they'd like to live where I live (specifically a bit too close for my comfort). I found myself really thinking about what I love about where I live and what I don't love about where I live. Really, there are more good points than bad. But the 'bad' ones are huge. I'm far away from family and old friends. I'm in a place that still feels foreign, but it is feeling less foreign every day.

The good points, are well, good. I feel safe. I have to drive to shop for everyday necessities, but the shopping malls are huge and modern.

Would I like to move to someplace with a bit more elbow room? Not really. The only reason I'd want a bigger place is so I could have a dog. I really miss having a dog. I didn't think I'd miss having a dog this much. My little Daisy Rat will have to be enough for a while.

Today's snap is of the Burj Dubai. Is it the world's tallest building? I'm not sure. I just know that I find interesting all the snaps of it that I see around. This is what it really looks like to folks living in it's shadow. I took this pic at dusk when in town. The red haze isn't the sunset but dust coming in off the desert. I'm reading that flats near the Burj Dubai are pretty pricey. I'm not sure why. The traffic down there is terrible (in my humble opinion). If I have anything to do in that part of the city (when I'm in town), I park someplace else and take a taxi. A new mall recently opened down there too. I have yet to go, and it boasts a massive aquarium. If you know my love of shopping and fish, then you'll understand what this statement means when I say I have not been yet. I should take the kids, however. They'd like to go 'see'.

And, a detour in subject....

It rained in the area last night and this morning. We had to go through some minor flooding and desert type mud with the vehicle of choice to get to school this morning. Needless to say, the munchkins were delighted. My thoughts go out to the teachers and other staff in that school this morning with all those kids seeing rain and dreaming about time off from school for the holidays!

Peace.

Here we come a wassailing

'Here we come a wassailing amongst the leaves so green, here we come a wandering so fair to be seen....' Wait, we don't have leaves here.

Ahem...'Here we come a wassailing amongst the sand so brown, here we come a wandering hoping to be found!'

We're all very excited about heading for the home country - 11 days and a wake-up. The whole family just sort of lies in anticipation. As we wait, we've discovered the joy of watching 'classic' Sesame Street clips on YouTube. It's been a hoot watching my munchkins watch things like 'Sesame Street News Flash' and 'Monsterpiece Theatre' for the first time.

We went to our favorite place of prayer today. The kids had a wonderful time. Munchkin #1 had a particularly good morning. He was able to dress up as a 'wise man/king' and carry part of his Grandma G's present we are bringing her! (No, Mum. It's not gold, sorry.) Truly, great fun.

My spare room (ie the unused maid's room) is FULL of suitcases/duffel bags and presents to bring home to people. As I keep double checking my present list, I keep thinking I'm going to forget something or a present for someone!!!

The snap posted above is of the strip of beach behind the hotel in which we stayed in Muscat, Oman. In the top right corner, you can see one of the 'rocks' that just sticks up out of the Gulf. And, please ignore the barely dressed gentleman in the top left corner of the snap, ahem... It never ceases to blow my mind how 'rude' some folks are with their dress in such conservative countries. Do folks who walk around mostly unclothed not understand? Or do they just not care? I don't know. As you can see from how the munchkins are dressed in the snap, we work hard to stay sensitive to the culture in which we find ourselves.

'Love and joy come to you and to your wassail too!' whether you find yourself in the leaves or the sand!

Weather Update

The current temp outside is 74F.
The forecast low for tonight is 64F (on-line).
The forecast low for tonight according to a local radio station 12C or about 54F.

Brrrr! Getting cold now? We'll see. The water temperature seems to have dropped significantly over the last few weeks. Plus, we've had recent shamaal winds (Munchkin #2's asthma confirmed this).

Weather forecast for places we love in the home country:
Place 'up north': High of 20F with a low of 5F and light snow
Place not so north: High of 48F and a low of 32F with rain

Naturally, the kids want rain or snow not 74F and sunshine. Ah, the grass is always greener on the other side. Actually, the other side has grass. So I guess for us, the grass is greener on the other side, truly.

Enjoy the weather wherever you are.

Roads and the Last of the Holiday Shopping

I loved this snap. You can clearly see that drivers are being told "SLOW DOWN! BIG CRAZY DANGEROUS ROUNDABOUT AHEAD!!!!" Actually, these roundabouts in Oman on the way to Muscat were not as bad as others I've been through, but still they were a bit unnerving for this lady driver! And, I love the mosque in the background. A reminder to pray as you enter the roundabout? (No probably not, but still it's an interesting picture.....)

We went a did a touch of shopping this morning. I THINK I'm finally finished with my holiday shopping. The roads were blissfully clear as we headed into town. I went to a mall today that I'd never been to before because usually the traffic getting to it is so bad that it's not worth the trip. But, I had a successful hunting/gathering session and went home with three full shopping bags, the munchkins each picked out a new book, Munchkin #2 found a new stuffed toy hamster to add to her little rodent collection, and we had a nice lunch out with the husband. A very pleasant day as a family!

The Munchkins are currently gathered in the living room with a friend who lives nearby playing games. Truly, a peaceful day.

To change the subject:
Our aquarium now has a live clam, several LONG tubeworms that we rarely see, two species of crab (one is a hermit), and a little silver fish. Not much, but we're working on increasing the biodiversity!

Hope you're having a wonderful peaceful day wherever you are!

Rain in the Desert

I took this picture from the car on our way into Oman. Normally, we see camels behind fences. But that day in one place, they were all over!

http://www.gulfnews.com/nation/General/10265223.html

I've linked to the above article elsewhere, so some of you may have already seen it. Dubai has been getting a lot of rain!

For my current location: the forecast on my computer desktop says 'Sunny Skies', but it sure looks black from my bedroom window. Yesterday, when I went into town for groceries, I had to drive through flood water to get to my fave market (see the pics on GulfNews of Al Wasl Road - that's what it looked like!). Thank goodness for my new vehicle of choice! Never thought I'd need my 'desert machine' for flood water.

This morning, I woke up around 3am to some serious thunder and lightening. Our whole building just shook with the thunder.

Tomorrow is Eid Al Adha. I hope rain doesn't wash out the festivities for families. Eid Al Adha is عيد الأضحى in Arabic (hope you can see that script). You read it from right to left (the opposite direction of English). The straight line looking bit is the 'Al'. Eid Al Adha is the Festival of Sacrifice. It begins, essentially, after the Hajj pilgrims descend from Mount Arafat in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. There are two Eid holidays; the other is at the end of Ramadan. Where we are currently located, there is no work for several days around Eid. Thus, the husband is 'home' for a few days. But, he is currently at the computer just like me.

If you wish to know more about Eid Al Adha, Wikipedia has a pretty good article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eid_ul-Adha

Peace and I hope you enjoy the weather wherever you are!

Muscat, Oman

Oh my goodness. Oman is such a beautiful place! I have no idea what schools are like there, but I would not cry if I was told I had to move to Muscat! (No, that's not happening, but what a great place.)

We had such an amazing few days. Ok, I had an amazing few days with the munchkins. The husband was too busy working to play much. We did get to have some very nice dinners with some very enjoyable people! All 'work' for the husband, but great fun for the wife!

The day we left Muscat to head for home, we were invited to go out and do some fishing off shore. There was some red tide, so there were no fish to catch. But, the dolphins were out feeding in force. We saw hundreds. These dolphins are smaller than the ones I'm used to seeing back home, and they are darker in color. But, wow, when they'd jump out of the water - totally awesome to see. It was an amazing experience to be out on the water, surrounded by dolphins, beautiful mountains in the distance, storm clouds gathering over the mountains, and calm seas. Absolutely fabulous.

Oman could be a big ecotourist place. But, I think too many people are afraid to travel to the middle east, which is sad. Walking through the souq, Munchkin #2 was hungry. I tried to purchase a single large orange for her. The shop keeper, a very old Omani gentleman, said, "Just one orange? For her? [Insert large smile here from shopkeeper] She may have it." "But, sir," I replied, "Can't I pay you something for it?" "No, [big smile again]. She may have it." Warm and friendly people. Not all the middle east is war and sadness.

Peace.