It’s that lucky time of the term where we have just a few days left before Spring Break — whoop!  whoop!  Our girls are testing, so no real classes this week, although we do have catch-up time with the girls.

I’m proud to report that most of my girls did really well with this country’s college-entrance exam, and now they’re on the tail end of other exams they’d rather not be taking, but they’re giving it their best shot — while we try to finish up their grades on time.

Because I didn’t have to worry about planning lessons and resources this week I thoroughly enjoyed my weekend — yeah I know who am I kidding?  I thoroughly enjoy every weekend, but I swear this one came totally worry free.

On Thursday I spent the night in my apartment with my neighbors — Ashley baked cookies while Haneefa and I inhaled said cookies as well as some awesome cheese brought via Amsterdam thanks to Shannan.

On Friday I went to Meena Bazzar, aka Little India, in Old Dubai near the Gold and Spice Souq.  Basically, it’s where Indian and Pakistani (and anyone else willing to try out something different) women can go for their pick of dresses, shoes, jewelry, and any accessories — including any extra bling you’d want on clothes.  If you want a handbag or luggage, no worries, it feels like Karama (another famous place to shop in Dubai, specializing in leather goods) is right around the corner because there is a man on every street waiting to take you to a best-price bag shop (we declined their offers).

Luckily, I went with my friend Sangita, who is British-Indian, who just happened to be looking for a few outfits for a cousin’s wedding in May.  I loved helping her find things, while I bought myself some adorable gold shoes, and having her introduce me to her family’s culture — including a meal at her favorite north indian restaurant (all vegetarian and yummy, although I’ve discovered that um, chickpea curry has its own scent that, um, your body releases up to two days later — who knew?).  Sangita if you’re reading this thanks for a fun night, and I’m totally looking forward to our next trip — where I’ll actually have the money to have some clothing made for me!

The next morning the skies were dark in Al Ain, but Abu Dhabi was sunny, so I met some other friends for a day on Saadiyat Beach, and the waves were busy.  It was a fantastic beach day where 40 and 50-something year old women played like sea nymphs and, unintentionally, showed off parts of our bodies not meant to be seen on a middle eastern beach — but hey what are you gonna do when Mother Nature whips you around like a rag doll.

Sunday morning I went to work sun burnt, but relaxed and at ease —all I’ve gotta do is proctor a few exams and finish marking.  I can do this!  Tomorrow, I get to have a spa day with Shannan in celebration of her birthday — and while the weekend ended Saturday night, it still feels like it’s going on (okay except for the morning alarm; could do without that).

You can buy made dresses, semi-made dresses, or fabric with patterns, which can be modified to what you would like.  While I’m not about the dress I’m holding up in picture — the man brought it to me because I’m tall, and he thought I’d like it — I am a fan of some of the pant/tunic options (they’re not what you think — will just surprise you with them one day).  I loved our final shop, which is where Sangita bought 4 outfits.  We were served Masala tea, while sewing machines buzzed upstairs, and sales men buzzed downstairs, and Sangita picked her fabrics and got measured.  A very busy place for a very tiny shop.

At the restaurant you sit down to a metal tray with tiny bowls.  Servers quickly come and fill the bowls with an assortment of vegetable curries and serve you a salty yogurt drink — to help cool the tongue.  I preferred using the raw vegetables and my bottle of water, but now I can say I sipped a salty, milky thing.  I learned that rice is served last not alongside the meal.

These pics don’t do the waves justice, nor the different shades of blue in the water.  A big ole thanks to Suzanne, her daughter Jenna who was visiting, Kelley and Craig for a fun-filled day — including our “it’s not ice cream it’s gelato” treat.  Thankfully, no one was taking pics of we sexpots getting bitch-slapped in the water.

One of the things I love most about here is the child-like wonder my friends and I continue to have despite our years of fighting all the metaphorical waves in our lives.  A night home, a day shopping, a day on the beach should always be as much fun as it was when we were little girls — may we never lose that!

In just a few days, Spring Break begins, and then we’re all into our third and final trimester for this year — where in the world does the time go?

Aaargh in that I was shaking from our hike, so didn’t capture all of the sun as she gave way to the moon, but you get the idea.  Miss Shams (sun in Arabic) rules whether she’s waking up or going to sleep.

Miss Qamar (moon) doing her part in the changing of the guard — she too rocks her reign when it’s time.  FYI:  the only reason I know the Arabic names is because I have a Shamsa and Qamar in the same class, and we joke about me having the sun and moon.  I keep telling the girls all I need now is someone named Star.

So, as you can tell I’m trying to do a better job of posting more frequently and doing more writing — or cheating by posting pics.

It’s the end of a lovely, easy weekend.  Thursday night I had a wonderful time meeting new people around a fire pit.  It’s been way too long since I’ve done this.  Friday we had a lovely breakfast at Circle Cafe — Al Ain folk, check it out — then lounged at the pool, and then did The Steps, which is literally a steep set of stairs that goes up a small mountain.  It’s a good workout and something Al Ainers often post about.

Shannan’s and my shadow as we begin the descent.

me happy to have made it to the top my second — or was it third? — try.  Sorry folk, but it’s been awhile so no where near my hiking-days shape.

a lil peak of Al Ain; boys are playing cricket below.  Yeah I know I could’ve given you a better shot than this — next time maybe.

Another glimpse

Today Haneefa, my neighbor, and I took a morning walk to get coffee and ended up socializing for three hours.  Is there any better way to end a weekend than a long morning sitting outside, sipping lattes and chatting it up with friends?

Other snapshots that I’d love to share but don’t dare snap because I don’t want to invade anyone’s privacy are:

1. Seeing the lines of men outside during Jumu’ah (I hope I wrote that right).  Muslims pray 5 times a day.  There’s a special prayer on Fridays, which is why we have Fridays off.  This weekend Shannan and I were lucky enough to drive by two mosques where men were praying outside.  The weather is beautiful here right now, so who can blame them for communing with God outdoors?  Sometimes you will also get to see people pray in the desert or alongside the road.  Sometimes you get to see this on top of The Steps as well.  It’s a beautiful thing.
   

2. Al Ain is known as an Oasis because we have underground water — not a lot, but enough to have patches of green.  This time of year when you drive by anywhere that has a garden (and we have several green parks) you will see families picnicking — especially on Fridays.  People are playing games, smoking shisha, grilling meat, chasing toddlers, laughing at themselves.  While it’s a little stressful driving past these families because you’re worried a child will dash out onto the street, it’s also another one of the beautiful things.

Tomorrow is my version of a Monday, so maybe I’ll be in the mood to post some of the things I don’t love — but let’s be honest I’ll be too pooped and will spend that time sacked out on the couch.

Hope you’re all having a lovely weekend as well!

• There’s an Arabic couple with two boys who walk together almost nightly.  Many times the mom leads the pack with her abaya flapping behind her while her husband meanders with their sons.   Sometimes its mom and dad together while the boys kick up dust devils.  This morning, early, for the first time I saw mom and dad alone walking side by side.  I don’t know these people, but I love seeing how much they love each other —- just in the way they walk.
• Sometimes a teenage boy sits cross legged in the shade of the anaemic trees across the street from my place, and he just reads for hours.  I haven’t seen him in awhile, but he always captures the escape of reading for me, and I hope I get to watch him again soon.  He reminds me of how much power and good our words can hold.
• In the same vein and not something I loved at first, when the weather cools to humane, at night men gather on the patch of grass in the middle of the roundabout that leads to my place.  They’re in tan, working man’s dish dashes.  It creeped me out at first, but you see there’s a mosque just a few feet away from there, and I’ve come to realise this is where they can relax and bond with their brothers in between prayer.  Why sit on the rocky, sandy side of things when there’s a patch of lush grass to enjoy?  The road that encircles them is nothing but a thing.

• The sun timidly tapping the mountains that lead to Oman as she slowly rises to take control of the day.  And trust me when she’s fully awake there is nothing timid about her.
• Those same mountains showing off their silhouettes during our foggy days —- demanding that we see them since the sand is not the only thing that adorns the desert.
• Although the sand sure does love to show off, especially on windy days when it imitates waves and snakes racing across the road.
• My favourite is watching the camels train for racing.  We have several training tracks alongside the road that leads to my school.  Yesterday a racer escaped and used the camel cross walk all by himself.  He ran, but stopped first to give us all the stink eye, letting us know we better damn well stop our vehicles so he could get to the other side —- which he did.
• The romantic picture of this, and maybe one day I’ll stop to photograph it, is the camels running with their veil of dust blending in with the mist and rising sun.  Inshallah one day I’ll post a pic.

• At home we shake hands when we first meet someone; here you do it every day.  I’m such a girl in this case, but it warms my heart every time someone genuinely grabs my hand, smiles and says “Good Morning, Miss Bettina.”  One day I will so miss hearing my name said with an Arabic accent.  I like feeling like I belong here.
• My students voices (when they’re not trying to get out of English class), and oh my goodness the smiles that come with them.  I have this at home too, and I’m so lucky my job includes the bond we develop with the young we learn from. (on the bad days I forget about this).   I keep saying after this I’m done with teaching, but I don’t know that I can quit it just yet  —- oh wait there’s the politics and paper trail part of it, but enough of that this is a ‘what I love” thread.
• The moments when we all get to be just women and girls together.  Obviously it’s work, so these times are rare, but it’s great when all of we Western, Eastern, Somewhere In Between, souls get to laugh and bitch about what women have been laughing and bitching about for eons.

Happy New Year … even though we’re almost into its second month.  As is usual, life has been pretty darn good to me.  There’s not much for me to complain about.  I mean there are things like: why do I have to get up early for work, why do I have to pay bills, why can’t I eat what I want AND lose weight?  I’m also bummed there’s no east-coast blizzard for me to play in, then groan about because it’s too cold.  I did, however, get a rare fog day in Al Ain, so driving in that to get my Starbucks was harrowing.

I’ve been back to work three weeks, and it’s been busy in a good way.  The girls and I are rolling along, prepping as much as we can for their big college-entrance exam in late February.  Before you know it it’ll be March, and we’ll be daydreaming about Spring Break.  Of course there are other work things I could whine about, but if I typed it out loud I’d just sound spoiled, so I’ll save any whinging for my work pals.

I never did get around to posting much about my last break, so here you go: Joe and I had a fantastic Christmas and New Years.  You already know how much I love visiting family in Germany, so I won’t bore you with how great that was (but oh my it was sooo nice to be with them).  We spent New Years in Copenhagen and absolutely loved it.  To all my English-speaking friends I highly recommend a trip there.  It’s expensive, but the people are fun and they speak English better than we do.  Plus, the city is easy to navigate, has amazing food (they even do hamburgers better than we do), and is quite a looker.  She’s a vixen, a mother, a bookworm, an artist, a bohemian, a nun; you name it she does it all.

We took a train from Hamburg to Copenhagen, which included the train parking on a ferry.  Sadly, that train route will end in a few months.  Apparently, they have a lot of issues with the diesel trains used for it.  Joe and I experienced the troubles first hand.  I bought first-class tickets for this trip because I wanted it to be special. Hahaha, well, it was in that the first train we were supposed to be on broke down and we were supposed to get on a bus instead, but we missed the bus.  You’d be amazed at how fast I can run with my fat ass and luggage when I’m trying to catch a ride — alas still not fast enough.  But, that turned out to be a good thing because we were then placed on the next train an hour and half later — no worries when the Bahnhof has a mini beer hall.

While our little first class corner was comfy, and we were seated next to two nice men, our train’s kitchen area was broken, so no food or drink service, and there were some issues with the bathroom, and no wifi (another first class plus).  BUT, we still had a great time — let’s face it we’re not first-class people anyway, who were we trying to fool?

Nothing can describe what it’s like to watch a semi truck park THIS CLOSE to your train on a boat that’s swaying on the sea.  The scenery before we got to the harbor was amazing too:  hilly farmland, stony villages and lots and lots of windmills.  Sorry, the train was moving too fast for me to get good photos.

I cannot compliment where we stayed enough.  Our hotel SP34 in the “latin district” of Copenhagen was awesome.  You check in at the bar, and our bartender was just what we needed.  He could tell we were wore out from the trip and immediately poured us a free drink — and got us checked into our rooms in no time.  He suggested the perfect meal for us at the Cock and Cow (who doesn’t want to eat at that name?), which is where I ate the best hamburger of my life (for reals!).

The trip only got better from there.  Long story longer New Year’s Eve was insanely amazing.  We had soooo, soooo much fun.  I don’t know how we’re going to top it at the end of this year.  Lord only knows where in the world we’ll bring in 2017, but we’ll worry about that 10 months from now.

As for life back in the UAE it’s still good.  I’ve been spending my off time relaxing at home with my neighbors or my netflix (or both), visiting my peeps in Abu Dhabi, and having some fun at our favorite places in Al Ain.  A Dubai weekend is coming up soon, and then there’s a Bahrain weekend trip planned in February, so again I don’t have a whole lot to complain about.  Oh wait, I do.  I really, really, really suck at the whole weight loss thing.  Inshallah I manage to shed a few pounds before summer vacation.

Okay finally, some photos for you (and I’m so sorry, but I’ve got to get some other things done so no real captions):  Although the 3rd pic on first row is of people climbing scaffolds for the fireworks in Copenhagen; the pic after that is of walking back to hotel.  Fireworks went on until like 5 a.m.