Right this very second Joe is snoring on the couch while I upload photos and reflect on the passing of another year.  This is as it should be.   It’s pretty much how we spend New Years day every year.

New Years Eve, however, was quite different from the annual neighborhood cul de sac party (although I did get to call home today and wish my old party buddies well).  Lisa, Joe and I joined some friends from Abu Dhabi and did a desert safari/camping trip.  My friend Sangita, who is also in Al Ain, also happened to be on the same tour, so it worked out perfectly. Right now I’m tired and suffering bedouin butt — my new ailment thanks to getting up and down from the hard cushions on desert floor.  BUT, I am so grateful for the life I have been blessed with.  2014 was a great year, and I sense 2015 holds many more magical moments.

But, you’re not here for that.  You want to know what trouble we got into.  I’m happy to say none, but we did bash some dunes (basically it’s like riding a roller coaster in the middle of nowhere in, our case, a hummer — freaking awesome), ride some camels, smoke some shisha, watch all kinds of dancers (Arabian men LOVE to dance), do some dancing of our own, eat and drink well, and laugh with friends from around the world.  Somewhere around 4 a.m. we crawled into our traditional tent and passed out, only to wake right before the sun and stumble our way to the rustic (that’s a good word for it) bathroom.  I wish I would’ve thought to nab my camera because my words can’t do the morning fog caressing the dunes justice.  It’s one of those moments meant to be remembered and cherished, but that didn’t stop me from crawling back into my sleeping bag.  Mama needed to get some sleep before crawling back into reality.

My only regret is that I couldn’t pull all of my loved ones from home to do this with me.  It was the absolute perfect way to end one year and bring in another.  But it’s all good — we have all year to play and discover different parts of the world together!

party girls. Photos taken from Lisa’s Facebook page.

Suzanne I have your shisha directions flagged now.  I’m on a mission to buy mine.

our tent!

pre party — things are just getting started at ‘camp.’

 Camels!  Sangita has the best mount and dismount photos, but they’re not posted.  Um, we’re so not sexy in those…

 Dance!  That Sheik comes from Scotland and is visiting his son here…Crazy set of parents!  Hope to dance and camp with them again one day.

 Pakistani and U.S. girls having a blast. They would later dance with a Syrian girl.  Children raised here live such a magical life.  Let’s hope they bring some of that into their adult lives.

 hahahaha there’s that Scottish Sheik finding the nipple in my wine purse. my wine purse…

learning some moves from a young pro

time on the dunes!

woke to find puppies.

breakfast and remnants from the night before.  When the clock struck 12 it was glitter, silly string and fireworks galore.  Hahahaha since safety regulations are not the same as back home, the fireworks where shot off a dune over our heads.  This was fantastically awesome until some of those embers landed on dance floor, but it’s all good everyone just ducked and danced around them.  Not gonna lie it’s all good until someone loses an eye, but it was pretty amazing to have the flares blossom so close to you.

On our drive home we had to stop while three mama camels and their babies meandered on the long dirt road.  Apparently the lil ones got thirsty.  Great way to start the new year though.

I hope you’re all having a lovely day as well, and can’t wait to see what we all do in 2015!

Happy New Year, my friends!