Guest post: Mom
As you may remember from a previous blog post, my JVT housewives group was a bust. Everyone was older than me and after the first coffee date, most people kind of made their own little friendships. I get that, but it was crappy for me, the group kept getting smaller and the last time I did it there were 3 people. Then it got too hot to walk there anyway.Exit: Lynette
One of the people from the group that I actually became friends with and hung out with a few times, since she lived a street over, was Lynette. She is from the Philippines but had lived in Dubai for the last 8 years, and is married to a guy from Britain that she met here. We would get together for wine in the afternoons :-). We would also go to another lady or two's houses for snacks and drinks as well. I knew she was leaving because her husband wanted to go back to the UK, and when I met her she was studying for her visa tests so she can get a work and spouse visa. She is so much fun and is the only person I have driven anywhere in a car with, other than Marcus, when I drove us down to the Marina one day. Before leaving she cooked Marcus and I traditional Filipino food and it was delicious. Then, two nights before they left I went out to dinner with her and her husband to say goodbye. She told us to let her know when we visit the UK! To be fair, I had been told that Dubai is a very transient place and I would make friends that would leave, still, it was sad. These photos are from our dinner before she left. Enter: British & American Expat Ladies Meetup
Well, I am on meetup and I am always looking at the new groups when they come up and match my interests. A few weeks ago there was "British & American Expat Ladies" and I am thinking, awesome, that's what I want, people who's first language is English that I can relate to. So the first meetup I RSVP'd to, it was a Suhoor (it was July 1, Ramadan was still going on). The night of I was scared and did not want to go, so Marcus drove me and pushed me out of the car, figuratively, not literally. I was the first one there because of my crazy chauffeur. Then the organizer girl came, I'll call her A. She was very nice. Then two more girls came that knew A. Also both nice, then three came together. So in all it was seven. Six were from Britain and 1 Canadian had snuck in the group. 4 were Muslim (varying degrees of religiousness) and then 3 that weren't, I guess we were all Christian? I didn't ask. The only reason we know the others were Muslim because they were discussing fasting the next day and how it was still too early to eat if they were going to fast. So we hung out, chatted, smoked shisha, and ate. Here is a photo. The waiter didn't do too good of a job, but it's a photo at least.
So, I liked the girls. The next meetup was at China Grill for a Ladies night, the plan was to eat then go upstairs to the lounge where the dancing and music was. Well again I was the first person. But shortly after I arrived someone trickled in. Then I get a message from A that her baby was sick and she will be late and can I be the "host" AHHHHH, not my comfort zone. But I did it! That night there ended up being 8 of us, no one from the first meetup was able to make it. This time there was an Irish girl that got in, and someone from Chicago, but knowing Chicago I know that she was not actually from there, maybe she lived there for a little bit, I don't know. Then a girl from Austria, and three people from Britain, and one girl from Iran that lived in Britain for a bit. Here are a few pictures.
After recapping the events and people from the meetup, A was none too pleased that people who weren't ACTUALLY British or American (not counting the Irish and Canadian) were in the group, because she wanted it to be people she could really relate to. She is now being more selective on prospective members. But I am finally making friends with people (mostly) my age who are FUN and NICE and NORMAL.
This week I went to Bounce for Ladies night. It is an indoor trampoline park and on Tuesdays they do Ladies night. It was fun to watch all these girls and women come in in their abayas and hijabs and then take them all off. It's strictly women only and there are curtains on the doors of the building. Again it was all new people, other than A. One of the girls, from Britain, was the only technical member of the meetup, and then a few other people that were friends of friends of A's. It was fun. I had previously been to a trampoline park with Jeni in TX.
Today we are going to afternoon tea. Let's see if I am the only American there again :-). We are going to Peacock Alley at the Waldorf Astoria on the Palm. That is actually one of the hotels that Marcus and I stayed at, so I know it is a nice venue. I haven't had the tea though. And I booked ahead so they can do a gluten free one for me.
Mehal
I got to see someone else from the US when my friend Mehal came to town for a wedding. Weirdly enough he actually knows cousin David from Courtland. But that is a different story. He and his date came to our place two days before the wedding festivities began, we ate their Indian food leftovers (yummy) and then we went out on the Palm so they could see the view of the Burj, and the visibility was good that day. 
Then we took them to a wine bar that we like and hung out there for a while. Later, we went to dinner with them and some other people in town for the wedding, which is when I learned that I actually knew the groom from hanging out with Mehal. So that was neat. That night I also met a girl in town for the wedding who was not going on the safari trip the next day with the rest of the wedding party, and wanted to go to the beach as she was staying down in Jumeriah Beach Residence. So I told her to let me know if she went cause I would maybe be interested and we exchanged numbers. The next day she texted me and we arranged to meet. However, it was a disaster trying to meet her because the building she was in was new so it wasn't on google maps. Then we tried to meet at a Starbucks but there are so many we were at different ones! Once we met up though it was fun. First we went to the actual beach, where I saw that renting a chair and umbrella was more than the guest access to one of the beach clubs Marcus and I get in to for free. So I told her, hey if you want to spend about 65$ US we can go somewhere with chairs, towels, pools, the beach, and discounted food and drink. So we hopped in a cab and went to Le Meridien Mina Seyahi. We hung out there until past dinner time when Marcus came to get us and we all went to eat. Here is a picture of me at the swim up bar.
Dust Storms
In other news, there were a lot of dust storms this last week, here is a photo, so you can see the visibility was crap. Our car gets washed twice a week, however, a few hours after it is washed it has a layer of dust/sand on it again. In the winter this will not be a much of a problem though.
My Second Home
So it's been hot, really really hot, temperatures are above 100 everyday, some days above 110. The heat index is usually around 118 but recently as high as 147! Yesterday (July 22nd) the UAE was the hottest place on earth! I feel bad that Rupert is trapped inside and not really getting socialization, so I wanted him to go to daycare (and there is a place he has been 3 or so times). Marcus says actually I want to try this place called My Second Home, it has a, WAIT FOR IT, indoor dog park!! So we made an appointment, because he first needed to have an evaluation (standard at any daycare) and then an induction day of daycare. So he got there and met Milo, a dog about his size, probably a Saluki mix (the desert dog). That went fine so he went on for the 4 hours of daycare. When we went to pick him up the guy said he had been doing great and asked if we wanted to meet him in the dog park. We said YES. So Rupert came bounding out and met the other dogs in the park at the time (2 huskies, he didn't like them), a Dalmatian, and some others. They have a pool in there which he ran to and looked at but did not go in, he went right up to the edge a few times, and someone else there was trying to throw a ball in for him but he was still hesitant, maybe one day. They also have a bunch of agility stuff, so I got him to (with some coaxing) go through a tunnel, over the triangle thing, over the tabletop thing, and over the see-saw, which he was NOT prepared for, it totally freaked him out when he started to go down. I could not get him to jump over the hurdles though. All in all it was fun and we can't wait to take him back to the dog park. He may even go to daycare some days (when we can't be with him) and he will probably board there when we go out of town (no plans yet, just in the future). This was him after playing before we went home. He was tuckered out.
That's all for now.
Love,
Megan
