Back To School....

So, I went to back to school night last night and it was great. Kate's teacher is amazing. But it was the mini-presentation that she gave, that was to be purely informative, that got me thinking. This is a young woman that grew up in the UK then moved to Australia after getting married and has the most fabulous accent and demeanor...everything you would picture from the national/life description as the perfect Mary Poppins for your first grader. Her presentation was beyond fabulous and I don't mean fancy, just very informative of who she is as a teacher and how she runs her classroom. It was once she got past herself and started to describe her amazing co-teacher that I realized this international (albeit at the "top American school in Dubai") education was not just beneficial for my daughter, but for me as well.

So, in describing some aspect of her co-teacher, the lead teacher used the term 'rich' as one of her first adjectives in telling us about her assistant. It took me taking in the rest of her sentence to realize in no way did she mean anything relating to money. She was describing where all this woman had lived, what she had expericenced and the people she tought, describing her as "rich". In passing, this may not seem so odd. But upon her third use of this term in this sense, I did find myself reassesing what she said to use the term in her proper meaning. I realized that in describing someone or something as 'rich' my first inclination was to tie it to wealth. While this is the primary definition of the word, there are apparently 18 more definitions of this word, and while the first fulfills what I originally thought, it was interesting to see that of the 18 other uses of it, more than the majority of the list from the online dictionary have little to do with monetary wealth :

adjective, richer, richest.

1.

having wealth or great possessions; abundantly supplied withresources, means, or funds; wealthy:

a rich man; a rich nation.

2.

abounding in natural resources:

a rich territory.

3.

having wealth or valuable resources (usually followed by in):

a country rich in traditions.

4.

abounding (usually followed by in or with):

a countryside rich in beauty; a design rich with colors.

5.

of great value or worth; valuable:

a rich harvest.

6.

(of food) delectably and perhaps unhealthfully spicy, or sweet andabounding in butter or cream:

a rich gravy; a rich pastry.

7.

costly, expensively elegant, or fine, as dress or jewels.

8.

sumptuous; elaborately abundant:

a rich feast.

9.

using valuable materials or characterized by elaborate workmanship,as buildings or furniture.

10.

abounding in desirable elements or qualities:

a man rich in kindness.

11.

(of wine) strong and finely flavored.

12.

(of color) deep, strong, or vivid:

rich purple.

13.

full and mellow in tone:

rich sounds; a rich voice.

14.

strongly fragrant; pungent:

a rich odor.

15.

producing or yielding abundantly:

a rich soil.

16.

abundant, plentiful, or ample:

a rich supply.

17.

Automotive. (of a mixture in a fuel system) having a relatively highratio of fuel to air (contrasted with lean2(def 5.)).

18.

Informal.

1. highly amusing.
2. ridiculous; absurd.

noun

19.

(used with a plural verb) rich persons collectively (usually preceded bythe):

new tax shelters for the rich.

Why am I letting my kids, or myself, think that 'rich' means something monetary. We try to provide them with a plethora of experiences, the most recent example being picking up and moving to Dubai for 2 years on short notice and telling them they will have Arabic everyday instead of Spanish twice a week, staying in a hotel room where they could pet and feed giraffes, skiing inside the mall, and a multitude of other things that are much more culturally obvious. We didn't realize that we were making them, and ourselves, 'rich' as people.

Once changing my viewpoint, our standard US salary seems like a gift. My fear of not having enough for my children to provide some of the 'finer' things seems trivial compared to the 'richness' we are giving them through life experiences.

Dubai is a city filled with monetary richness, no doubt. We are surrounded by it, whether it is a palace in the neighborhood, seeing the Sheik's boat off the beach or the 3 Lamborghini's at the red light with you waiting to get to the petrol station/McDonald/s (and yes, the rumour about McD's being better overseas than in the US is totally true. I have 10 lbs to prove it!). 

However, I feel that living here and experiencing everything we can, from the indoor skiing to the Old Souk on the Dubai Creek, the Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi and so many other things that the 7 Emirates and this entire region has to offer is contribuiting the the 'richness' of each of us. I like to think that upon our departure next year, we will be far 'richer' than when we arrived, despite what any credit card statement says, lol.

Language Barriers and Parking Spaces

I was at the school playground for a play date while Colin and his friend were playing. A little boy just a bit older, maybe 4 1/2 joined the boys and they were having a blast. We saw a woman we assumed was his mom. He was not in uniform, but neither were our boys, so we didn't think much of it. When it came time to leave, I noticed that the woman I previously assumed to be his mom was nowhere to be found, so I asked him if his mom was around as we didn't want to leave him alone (not that he seemed to be worried at all, lol.)

He just looked at me. My friend, Rachel, noticing that didn't register and is much more familiar with local custom thought to ask the better question of "Is your mom or maid around? Do you have an adult or person you are with? Do you have a person?" He looked at her quite confidently (not in an older kid snarky kind of way) and said with a straight, somewhat confused face "No, I have a vegetable."

Trying our best to contain our snickers, we looked around and saw two women sitting just beyond a horse statue (see picture).

So, Rachel proceeds to ask, pointing in that direction, "are those your people?" He looked at her like she was a fool and quickly said "No, that's a horse." As if to say 'you silly lady!' At that point we could no longer contain our laughter and how this simple act of making sure this child was attended to had become somewhat of a verbal spar between a small child and a 30-something year old mother. 

We gave it one last shot explaining that we meant the people behind he horse, to which he responded by pointing at his nose injury and saying, "My nose hurts." At that point, knowing that either the child had his own agenda or was just pure and simple not understanding us, we decided to head off knowing that he was in a safe, gated and guarded environment.

We'll just chalk this one up to the language barrier.

For one last good laugh today, I'll share with you what I like to call a 'Duba-irony'. This one being that the majority of cars here are oversized SUVs, on the side of Land Crusiers and Range Rovers, not CRVs and Muranos - yet the parking spaces are made for the hatchback Yaris' that are beloved by many of the 'workers' and car renters like ourselves. That being said, my rental accord is pushing the size limit on these spots. So, on a recent trip to the mall with my friend Beth, I actually had to park, then crawl into the backseat to be able to get out after of course first letting her out before I even pulled in. I apologize if this doesn't sound funny, but just picture me crawling back, over the car seat, then out of the car. Anyway, we found it quite amusing! This picture doesn't even begin to show the severity of how little room there was! I had to do an angle so the driver of the bohemouth vehicle on the other side could at least get in!

Independence Day

No, not the 4th of July, but UAE National Day, December 2, 1971 which according to the almighty Wikipedia is:

"National Day (Arabic: اليوم الوطني;Yawm al watani) is celebrated on December 2 each year in theUnited Arab Emirates. ^[1][2] [3] It marks the UAE's formal nationalisation from the British Protectorate Treaties which ended on December 1, 1971 and the eventual, federal unification of the seven emirates in 1971 which combined to form the modern-day country, headed by Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the federation's first president. Grand celebrations are held across the country to mark the event."

In other words, their Independence Day. So how better to mark it than with parades, Guiness World Records, and racing down Jumeirah Brach Road. As an American, I know we love our 4th of July celebrations, but I have NEVER seen anything like this even after living in Washington, D.C.! The real day is tomorrow but the events leading up to it have been nothing short of spectacular. I guess that's what happens when you are "only" 43 years old! 

To make it to all of the events offered on behalf of this holiday would be a world record feat in and of itself! We, sadly, missed the Grand Parade, which showcased the city's greatest (and most famous) police super cars...the Astin Martin, Lamborghinis, etc, which are above and beyond the BMWs and LandCruisers that you see on a day to day basis.

Even the kids schools, which are British and American, celebrated in full fanfare. The elementary school with the traditional face painting, decor, dress code of all green, red, white and black and a full feast of traditional Emarati food. The nursery (pre-school) with the same dress, teachers all dressed in abayas at the main entrance to greet the students, and a gift bag that would rival any Beverly Hills birthday goody bag from a "local" student. 

This weekend, we went to the event that showcased the painting of the Guiness World Record of the longest graffiti scroll. While that may sound dumb, it was sponsored by the Crowne Prince, which we learned after, meant it would be a great event...and it was! The kids got to try their own hand at the art, drank fresh pressed juice from stemmed glasses, tasted local fried dough honey dipped delacies done on spot, and even got some henna. 

Due to an ongoing lack of messaging here, we missed the parade but fully took in the graffiti, lol. I think Patrick and I were the disappointed ones as Colin thinks it's cool just to see the Maseratis and Lamborghinis and didn't know what he was missing from the normal daily drive. Let's just say that I am happy they are so young and don't know that what we drive is crap, nor to complain about it! Colin thinks daddy's white car is just as cool...and it's a rental Yaris...hatchback! Thank goodness for little ones, they put what actually matters into perspective. The house has been a mess but I've been volunteering at Kate's school to help get ready for the Santa's workshop event, so she thinks I'm like an elf....goodness I love kids!!!

What is the funniest is the late night wild stuff we can hear late at night, being 2 blocks from the beach, but only if we are out or have windows open, but for a non-drinking Muslim community, they sound like they can party--and drive super fast! Lol. 

  

Updates-attempt #2

So I had a lovely post all ready, was inserting the last pic, and the app died. Ugh! My first lesson in using the save button! Or maybe it was meant to happen as you all won't be as excited about the arrival of our Apple TV as we are (we've been living prehistoric basically, with 1 tv, bad cable and hdmi'd to a laptop). So maybe that post was not meant to be. Maybe I should tell about the amazing vintage/2nd hand store that I will be going back to tomorrow for some awesome Channel glasses and that I am now on the call list for once used Louboutins (yeah, that's how I roll, lol, but those that know me know as badly as I want a pair I can't drop the full $ on them!). Next time I will take pics as the stuff was amazing. I am half thinking of going back for the Christian Lacroix dress for the Marine Corps ball Friday, but still love the polka dots I bought for it. Pics to come on that one! I did, however, buy a kitschy little bag that looks like a phone to use as my main accessory (excuse the horrible gov't supplied chair it was photographed on! Oh, and its Aldo, not vintage - but doesn't it look like it could be! Lol)... 

I am like a school girl, so excited to use it! 

But in other goings on, we finally hit up Fortnum & Mason, the 300 year old London staple that opened its first doors outside of The UK in Dubai 7 months ago. We randomly timed it with the fountains at the Burj Khalifa, so the kids enjoyed some amazing ice cream while we tested their famous teas on the patio of the third floor. The first floor is shop, 2nd is for high tea and the 3rd is the Parlour for ice cream.

 Tasting the jams

The fabulous shop (where I hope Patrick will Christmas shop for me for the first thing that I want to own specifically to hand down to Kate someday. Their tea sets are beautiful!)

 The elevator waiting area

 The ice cream Parlour entry wall

 More sampling. Made in London, Churned in Dubai

 My little loves, with Vanilla bean and Ginger ice cream, while my grown love awaits the tea

 The view from the top floor patio while enjoying our treats

 Kate took this one once we got back down to the water. 

 Daddy's girl

Many more to come from the missed weeks, so forgive my back tracking, but now that unpacking the final shipment is almost done I will be posting a lot more frequently!

It's not always glamorous, but who says we can't try!

So, the last week here was Eid holiday which means not only were the kids off, but there were a few family outings as well as social events. I am being honest when I say there a lots of every day things to deal with, but it really is also still a vacation in the sense that we are much better at seizing the moment knowing that these are once in a lifetime chances. So, we spent more on 2 hours of fun at a French play area than we ever would've at home, and the kids loved it! We went to a barbecue, went to a club season opening where we were greeted by name and given a bottle, went to Abu Dhabi for a day and had cappuccino topped with 24 kt gold at a 7 star hotel (every 5 year olds dream, right?) and went to fashion shows - even getting a front row seat next to a Vogue editor who loved that Kate was so into it and pulled us down to sit with him. We topped it all off with a visit to a splash pad over looking the gulf with friends. So needless to say, now that my editing software arrived today, there will be some upcoming posts about these events since I am sure we are due a few days of downtime, lol. We miss everyone terribly but are trying to really experience all that is Dubai to the fullest! Oh, and the tooth fairy has great GPS! In a place that is known for no real addresses, she was able to find us after Kate lost her first tooth during a play date...and she carries different currencies as Kate was so excited to receive Durham for her tooth!!!

She's not pretty but she works!

Before you get offended that I am talking about a person, I am not. I am speaking of an oven...yes, it's been almost 7 weeks without a working oven, not to mention the other issues of our housing. Tonight we finally had a frozen pizza and I've never been so happy to see bubbling cheese come out of the oven! It's been very hard to walk into friend's homes and acknowledge how wonderful they are when we have an old tiny thing. However, what keeps us in check is :#1 a possible move would take months, #2 we have a backyard, #3. we'd have to pay for said move, and #4. Colin now thinks it's punishment if he doesn't get to have Kate in his room. 

Who thought the last one would have any bearing! Besides, we are steps from the beach (never mind that we still have to drive due to Beach Rd barriers), but it is 2 seconds away. Not to mention that our part of town, as Patrick puts it, is like a little California beach town. Let's be honest, in NoVa, our kids live pretty separate lives. In my eyes, this is their chance at an old school upbringing, you know, sharing a room. Dare I say that we can't complain too much, even if our place is small, they are sharing a room that accommodates both of them in queen beds with closet and dresser space, as well as some in room play space. It is a good reminder to all of us to be grateful for what we have at home, which like most is too much. But let's be honest, we all start to think we need more, so seeing the kids "enjoy" each other when they have no place to hide, is a great thing and something I hope will help their relationship in hoe long run.

Another thing that should help is that our stuff is still in customs, so they are left to their imaginations with the few costumes, cars and trains we have. The funny thing is they are happy even when we feel like they need more, they don't see it! The way the windows open they treat as a playhouse which is so cool. They are starting to think swimming after school 2 feet away and Friday breakfast on the beach is normal. Even if we never do anything cool a again, God, please let them remember this!

 

 

 

Practical Prioritizing?

As we prepare to leave Northern Virginia with its full set of 4 seasons and head to the desert for 2 years, the dust is starting to settle in one way - but in another, it is just picking up. We are winding down on the out of town family and friend visits as our departure date nears, but the pack out organizing has yet to begin. 

Instead of doing that, I am spending my time doing this - setting up a blog...I guess its time to admit that practical prioritizing isn't one of my strengths! But how do you start to 'pack' when you aren't allowed to 'pack'?! What I mean is that I need to organize the whole house based on where it will go: on the plane with us, in our small shipment that is very limited by size and weight and arrives in 2-3 weeks, into the shipping containers going by actual ship that take 2-3 months, or into storage. (Keep in mind that these timelines are hopeful, or Inshallah - Arabic for "God willing", as my husband has quaintly added to our vocabulary in preparation for, well, pretty much everything involved in this whole process!) 

See, if we 'pack' it, it can't be insured. I just have to have the house organized so that 5 men can come in and all at once start packing everything in sight while I try to note what went into each box so I can know where things are when the time comes to unpack. So, while I should be using my days off to get ready on this real stuff that needs to be done, I am paralyzed and don't know where to begin and instead head to Target and the mall for things like carry-on bags for the kids in their favorite purple and TMNT prints and to a Stella & Dot party at a friend's...all of these things are really priorities, just not necessarily in the priority order that I choose to do them, lol...

As I said, I'm not good practical prioritizing, people!