Meeting New People

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. 

She was super nice and loved Rupert. She is from India and will be there later this year. Marcus and I might try to fly over there for a few days. It would be nice to go with a local!

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

Ramadan, Guest Furniture, Light, and Iftar

Quick Note: I realize some of you probably don't want to have to constantly check to see if I have blogged, so now at the bottom of the page you can put in your email and then when Mom helps me post, you will get an email.

Ramadan Mubarak

Meaning, have a blessed Ramadan. Ramadan began on June 6, so the Muslims here are fasting from dawn to dusk. It doesn't effect me because I am a dog. Mom and Dad just have to make sure they are not eating or drinking in public during daylight hours. Most restaurants operate as to-go only or delivery only, and if they are open they put up screens (like the Japanese folding things) and you eat behind those. The hours for public sector jobs and for school is shortened, and when you walk around the mall you will notice no music playing, and everyone is kind of moving slower. There are pretty decorations all around. Here are some from the Mall of the Emirates. 

More on Ramadan later. 

If you put furniture in, they will come...

Mom is channeling Field of Dreams. Recently, someone Dad works with asked if we needed any furniture, because her boyfriend was moving in and they needed to get rid of a bedroom set in his apartment because they would have no where for it but they didn't really want to sell it, but storage for it would not be cheap. So it was decided that this bedroom set would come and live in our second bedroom and then maybe one day they will get a bigger place and want it back, but for now they store it for free, and we have a place for guests. So Mom is hoping, since furniture is in, you will come. 

dresser and mirror (not hung up yet)

 

 

Bed, side tables, some lamps Dad bought, and bedding from home and also IKEA

Light

There was no chandelier in the dining room and that bothered Mom. So they went to Dragon Mart, which is basically a gigantic indoor flea market selling everything from children's toys to power tools to household goods to clothes to safes to carpet...just everything. Dragon Marts slogan is "Where you can find one in a million or a million of one". They bought a big ball chandelier, but couldn't hang it themselves because of lack of hardware and poor planing by the builders of the villa. So some guys came into my house today and hung it. I wanted to say Hi but Mom didn't want me to, what with ladders and tools and whatnot. 

 

Chandelier 

 

Up close 

Iftar

After the guys who hung the light left, Mom and Dad had to leave because they were going to an Iftar at the Sheikh Mohammed Centre for Cultural Understanding. This is the meal that Muslims eat during Ramadan after the call to prayer (adhan) for the Maghrid prayer which is the one at sunset. There were probably about 50 people from several countries at the Iftar, and also the volunteers who organize the whole thing. First our hostess told us some things about Ramadan and Islam and asked if people had questions while some guys handed out dates and water and Arabic coffee while we waited for the Maghrid adhan to all break our fast together (though some people apparently paid no attention to anything when they looked this up and booked it and as soon as they got the dates and drinks ate and drank them. Some other people (i.e. Mom and Dad) waited until the adhan, when the hosts and volunteers broke their fast. Then, the Muslim volunteers and also some Muslims in attendance did the prayer. BTW, we were invited to take photos or videos of any and everything. So I won't try to explain the prayer or the postures they go through, you can google, but here are some photos. You will notice they pray in a line shoulder to shoulder. Women would pray either in a separate prayer room or in a group behind all the men or with a gap between the last in the line of the men and women. This is so they are not distracted by others during prayer, like by the rumps of ladies being up in the air, or having their shoulder rubbing up on strangers.

Here is a panorama that Dad took of everyone watching while the men prayed. The food was smelling sooooo good according to Mom.
 

Then there was the food. Mom said it was yummy, she can't remember the names for everything, and she couldn't eat them all, but she had a lot of Biryani, chicken, meat, and vegetarian. She also had vegetable Saloona (a stew) and white rice. Dad was able to eat dishes such as Harees, a porridge-like dish made of wheat, meat and butter, and Thareed (think that's what it was called), Arabic bread layered with vegetables and meats and broth then baked. All of the food was very good and they brought some Biryani home, apparently not for me though. 

Everyone getting food

 

Can you believe they put the food on the floor?!?!? I would have hoovered through all that!!! Nom nom nom.

Next, Mom and Dad went to the masjid, or mosque. Again they were invited to take photos. Mom had a pashima she was going to use as a sheila for her hair, but she wasn't wearing long sleeves, so she had to put the abaya (long black dress like smock they wear over their clothes). They had these for the ladies in attendance to borrow. 

Mom and Dad in the masjid

Mom after she wrapper her pashima around her head
making it a sheila.

In the masjid our hostess answered more questions and told us more about Ramadan and Islam, and then there was an explanation of the prayer that is done. 

That is our hostess in the center explaining what the volunteers are doing. 

 

 

 Here are some photos from the masjid.  

 

Chandelier in the dome, the roofs are domed for the amplifying effect.

All worshipers stand in lines shoulder to shoulder facing this direction. The Imam stands up in front in the mihrab, that tiled niche thing, which faces Kaaba in Mecca. On the right you see where the Imam does his Friday sermon from, that is the Sunday equivalent for Christians and Saturday for Jews. That digital thing on the wall that you can't see well shows all the prayer times for the day.

Arabic calligraphy above the mihrab (verses from the Quran)

Shelf of Qurans

 

 

After going to the masjid, Mom and Dad went back to the room for tea and dessert. Mom could only eat the creme caramel and then a milk pudding that she has had a very similar thing at an Israeli restaurant, with pistachios and stuff on top. She is pretty sure it is called mahalabia. Dad got to have more exotic stuff, like the traditional Emirati dessert Lgeimat, which is basically a donut ball in date syrup, Mom is still jealous. There was also another dessert that was literally described as "wheat, cardamom, and saffron" and then also an Egyptian dessert Dad tried made with layers of dough soaked in cream with shaved almonds and golden raisins on top. And there were chocolate covered almond stuffed dates that Mom got one of.

After dessert they chatted a bit with some of the volunteers. And Mom and Dad picked up a pretty cool souvenir. Their names written in Diwani Arabic calligraphy.

They might try to cut them down and frame them. The calligrapaher basically worked non-stop from when everyone started to arrive. And at the end there were a lot of sugared up out of control kids wondering when theirs would be done. 

Thats all for now.

Dog out,

Woof

 

 

 

Past Month

Guest Blogger: Mom 

Puzzle

We did another puzzle, this one was given to us by Nain and Taid a few years ago. They go live in Hilton Head Island every year from about Thanksgiving to Easter. We visited them there twice and Marcus went every year as a kid and even one year I couldn't go. The puzzle also included a '5x7 souvenir puzzle.' It was poorly cut and about every third piece was the same exact shape so we messed it up a few times ha.

 Puzzle.

Kevin

At the beginning of the month one of our friends was here for work so we were able to get to get together with him a few times. We went out to dinner at a Lebanese restaurant with two of his coworkers and ate so. much. food.. We also went to the Jumeirah Beach Hotel, which is the one shaped like a wave that is right near the Burj Al Arab (the one that looks like a sail that is the only "7 star hotel in the world." It was fun and I went into the sea and played in the waves. Marcus was not interested in the water so stayed on the beach. It was nice to see someone that we knew.  

 

Photo courtesy of Kevin's FB page. 

Check Out

Marcus checked out on May 10 👏. He is now fully certified here. We went out that night for a few drinks.

 

From when we went out that night.  

After the other guys that were in his class check out we might have a small party. 1 other one is done, so 3 left. 

Anniversary and Rupert's Bad Hair Cut

On our 3 year anniversary everyone in the family went to the spa. We went to Saray Spa at the JW Marriott Marquis to get massages and Rupert went to be groomed. I provided a picture of what I wanted from a few years ago when he was groomed. 

 

Exhibit A. Hair cut in 2012.

We dropped him off at the groomer before we went for our treatments. My massage was spectacular and I also used the crazy lit shower thing whose name I cannot remember that you use after the steam room and Jacuzzi (both of which I also used). Marcus reported that his massage was also very nice. So then we left the spa and went back to the groomer. When picked up he looked like this.

 

Exhibit B. THEY SHAVED HIM  

When one or two days before he looked like this. Beautiful. I just wanted the extra overgrowth off the back of his front and hind legs and his ears and tail trimmed slightly and his belly taken care of. He isn't going back there. Now when a razor is turned on in the house he runs away. 

 Exhibit C. Him in all his glory

That night we made what we wanted for dinner on the grill (I made a grouper fillet, called hammour here) and marcus made burgers. We had some good wine too. And I made brownies for dessert. Special thanks to Aunt Liz and my Mom who sent us anniversary cards. It was much appreciated :-)

Feeling HOT HOT HOT

It is getting super hot. The "feels like" has been as high as 128 when I have looked. The actual temp above 100.  It's been in the 90s-100s mostly. But at night and in the morning it's in the 80s. Therefore, I don't let Rupert out for very long in the middle of the day. HOWEVER, he insists on cooking himself on the pavers, so I have to yell at him to come in because he is insane. But yesterday he was smart and decided to lay on the grass to bake.

Baking in the grass in the 100+ degree weather. 

Of course then today we was back on the pavers...sigh. And he refuses to use the like 80$ cooling mat that he is supposed to lay on that we bought him. Waste of money.

That's all for now.

Megan 

Guess we skipped April

It's getting hot friends. And as you know I have a lot of fur, yet, for some reason, I still enjoy cooking myself on the pavers 

so Dad tries to furminate me every so often, more often recently, and I'm not a fan.

Crafty

Mom bought stuff to make a wedding scrapbook back when they got married, and finally made it this past week+.

 

During the creating 

Cover of the book, she got it for her shower from her registry 

Here are some examples of the pages she made. Not the whole book but a good sampling.

Houdini

A week or so ago mom let me out to roam around like usual and then like 15 minutes later went to check on me and I was NO WHERE TO BE FOUND. She started screaming my name and then in the house again just in case then got my leash and started to walk down the sidewalk no knowing where to start, a minute or so later her phone rang and a guy with a British accent asked her "Are you looking for Rupert?" She said yes yes yes I just noticed he was gone so went out to look. Mom is not sure exactly what happened but somehow I got out and was down near a yard with dogs in it when this guy walked by with his two dogs who I decided looked fun so I started following them. He figured I seemed nice enough so looped me into one of his dog's leashes and checked my tags and first called Dad who was at work and left a message but then called the second number which was Mom. I was right down the road so Mom ran down to meet me. She thanked him profusely and he told her that above information. Mom and Dad were still trying to figure out how I got out because I have a wide chest. They decided to be safe and a few days later went to get some chicken wire, which they put up on the fence along the carport and the front gate. When Mom was out getting the wire ready and Dad was inside she looked over and saw me halfway out between two of the pieces of wrought iron and yelled my name then went out the gate to get me, I was apparently trying to get out to pee/mark in front of the house. Mom isn't sure but it might have to do with the cats that come in the yard or the people that come and stick menus in the gate. Once I had marked who knows maybe I'd have gone off exploring again. The wire is up now (you can't see it probably but it starts at those horizontal bars part way up the gate and goes to the bottom) and sometimes she catches me doing this. She thinks maybe since I can't mark right in front I need to be there to ensure there are no solicitors or cats.

Hiding

I have also started hanging out in a new place in the house...mainly when mom is in the shower.

Other Stuff

Mom and Dad also drove to Ras al-khaimah (a different emirate) on Dad's last weekend to go stock up on alcohol as it is 30% cheaper out there. Worth it if you're buying a lot. They saw a whole camel drive on the side of the road but Mom couldn't get a pic so she just enjoyed it. They also saw a handful of other ones along the road in other places. 

Dog Out,
Woof

Coffee, Ducks, Patio furniture, Lights, etc

Mom did something crazy. There is a Jumeirah Village Triangle community group on facebook and Mom decided to post on it and see if any other 'housewives' wanted to get coffee at a place that she can walk to in the community since she doesn't have a car when Dad is at work. She got a decent number of responses so she started her own group and set up a coffee meeting. 10 people came. She was nervous but it was successful. No other Americans and everyone was older than her but it was fun for her anyway.  Here is a picture of their first meeting.

  Coffee meeting at the local coffee and french pastry shop. 

 

She did it again last week and had a few new people and some from the first week could not come so she had 9. She felt pretty successful. One lady's husband works in aviation for aircraft airworthiness so she is going to invite them over sometime for wine. The 4 UK ladies are the ones Mom can tell like to have fun.

There was a car show last weekend that Mom and Dad went to. There were lots of cars, from Chevys and Fords to old Bentleys and MGs. Even a few Triumphs, which Dad has one of. It had to stay in the US though, it costs a lot to ship a car. Mom and Dad walked 4 miles that day because the cars were all along a road. By the end they were speed walking ready to go home. 

A few more things have been hung around the house. 

 Photo booth picture uncle David made for our wedding.

 

 Something Marcus's coworker got for him before he left from the Air Force One pilots.

The other day one of the cats that comes to the garden came back. This time Mom decided to let me out there. It is a housecat you can tell because it wears a GPS collar. I was walking all around and didn't see it, so Dad was trying to get me closer to it, apparently I got about 1.5 feet away and still did not see it. Dad told me I am not a good yard protector. Then I came back in and Mom picked me up and showed me the cat out the window, I started flailing and knocked over one of their airplanes and the stabilizer broke off, then I ran out and over to the cat, got pretty close before he took off. Now Mom and Dad have to figure out how to fix the airplane.  

We have had an infestation of some bugs, so we called the bug guys and they came Tuesday, but they said when they sprayed we'd have to leave for 5 hours, so we went and sat in the car and tried to figure out what we would do. We had ordered patio furniture the day before but it wasn't going to be delivered until Wednesday, plus it was still pretty hot. We waited for the bug guys to leave before we left, but as we were thinking about going to the park by the Burj a truck pulled up that seemed as though it could deliver things of the furniture kind...and it was. So, we got our patio furniture! We waited while the delivery guys assembled it and by then had killed one of the 5 hours. Then we decided to go to this place called the Irish Village because it would take 40 or so minutes to get there and we had read there was an outdoor area that dogs were welcome on, and it serves alcohol...so we went and hung out there. Stray cats hang around but I wasn't bothered by them, BUT BUT BUT, there were these other creatures that kids were chasing around and trying to pet, apparently called ducks. I WAS VERY INTRIGUED.

Me staring down the ducks.

 

There were a few times where they were coming pretty close to me and Mom and Dad had to break my concentration. I was a pretty good boy and only barked a few times, but not too loud or scary. Still, they wanted me to settle. One time 4 of them came out of the water and started walking directly toward me, Dad told Mom to get up and shoo them away, they didn't know what would happen if they got right up in my face. It was really good food, and drink and other than sporadic screaming kids chasing and trying to pet terrified ducks it was enjoyable.

So today Mom and Dad rearranged the furniture and took the plastic of the cushions late this afternoon. 

 
And then we went out there this evening so I could beg Mom and Dad for some wine and cheese from my perch on the stool.
 

It was a pretty pleasant temperature and they brought out the bluetooth speaker and turned on the light Dad finally hung out on the back porch.  

 

 The next purchase will be an umbrella! 

Dog Out,
Woof