The Verows @ UAE!: The Dubai Weekend...

It’s hard to believe that it’s already February!

We just finished an awesome weekend in Dubai. We went to attend the Dubai pet show! Who would have thought that in country where dogs are typically looked at as dirty animals there would be a pet show. It was a Purina and Wiskas sponsored pet show too! And there were quite a few dogs there! It wasn’t your typical AKC or Eukanuba pet show. It was more of a “here’s my dog – isn’t she cute?” sort of show. They did have some competitions where they awarded best of show or something like that but it wasn’t some affair where the rich dog owner has that picture with the trophy and their handler in next to them. There was an agility course, which I liked the best, where anyone could have their dogs run the course. It was cute watching the dogs refuse to jump through the tire, or pee on the tunnel before going in it, or having to be forced onto the plank. We even went to a tent with some Arabian hunting dogs too. It was awesome seeing the photos they had and the kids got to pet the dogs. They had a falcon too but of course you can’t pet them – but Jennifer was afraid Cole would try. Talking about missing a finger! The kids played in various bounce houses. And Caralyn rode a pony and Cole rode a horse. They enjoyed it! We saw all kinds of dogs – big and small! Today I heard this story on the news (via the Dubai radio that we only get at certain times for some odd reason!)(from the 7Days website):

Terrier held by Dubai municipality

Owners of poodle reveal that the owner of the Staffy which mauled their six-year-old poodle ‘Pluto’ at the Pet Show went with them to Dubai police

The American Staffordshire Terrier which savaged a poodle to death at Dubai Pet Show on Friday is being held by the municipality. The owners of the poodle have revealed that the owner of the Staffy which mauled their six-year-old poodle ‘Pluto’ went with them to the police. Pluto’s owner Dr Nasanin Karimian said: “The municipality has promised me it will keep the dog and monitor him for 14 days. If the behavior of the dog is safe then they will return it to the owner and fine him Dhs5,000. “If they watch the dog and find it is not safe or is aggressive then I don’t know whether they will put the dog to sleep.” The Staffy is on a list of 16 dogs banned in the UAE since 2008. This means that no new dogs can be imported and those that were already in the country cannot be taken out without a muzzle. Dr Karimian added: “Pluto was part of my family. If it was a kid that was attacked it really just would have been a disaster. “It was the first time we went to the Pet Show. My son cannot sleep because he cannot get the splashing of blood out of his head. “It is a nightmare for the whole family.”

After the pet show – I couldn’t wait to go eat at Wendy’s! They apparently have on in Abu Dhabi, but I’ve only ever seen the one in Dubai. It tasted just like home! Then we headed to the hotel where we had a small hotel apartment – one bedroom. There were two king size beds, a kitchen area, and living room area. Awesome place. Too bad my cheaptickets.com reservation didn’t work but we got our refund and they still gave us a great price. And it was close to Mall of the Emirates which was where we knew we wanted to go that evening. Mall of the Emirates is where SkiDubai is located. That is the indoor ski resort. It’s crazy to think you can be in the dessert and go skiing! And they even have activites for kids. We just went to look but in a few weeks we’ll go back to play in the snow! The mall was so crowded! It’s still amazing to see such a large mall and so many people there. We decided to eat dinner at TGI Fridays and it was awesome because we sat next to the window where we could watch all the skiers at SkiDubai. Caralyn REALLY liked waving to the people as they were pulled up on this disk thing to the top of the slope. They have a typical ski lift and the individual one too. And there are some penguins there too now – not really sure what all there is to do with the penguins but we’ll look into that.

Saturday morning we picked up McDonald’s breakfast and ate on the beach. The weather was perfect! I wanted to get some photos of the kids on the coast. We then went to walk in the water just to enjoy it. And of course – take some more photos! At some point the water was too cold for Jennifer and was coming in too high (so she thought) and got excited and said something like, “oh god!” and took off out of the water. And what do the kids do? They follow suit! I think Cole was attempting to get his feet out of the sand when he pushed, or was attempting to use her as support, and of course she’s clumsy already on her own – and ends up falling into the water with just her face not in the water. And it’s not exactly warm – probably 65. So she wants to cry and whine and now she’s wet and full of sand. Fun times! But we change her at the car, and she was much more careful to stay out of the water. I had to bribe her with candy to get more photos of her! Cole, on the other hand, was all about getting in the water! So we’ll have to go back to Dubai and ski and swim!

On our way home from Dubai, we saw lots of camels of course, and I decided to stop at this random camel farm and see if I can take some pics. And of course they invite us in and let us pet camels and take all the photos we wanted! The worker we were talking to was telling us they get paid 700 AED, which is $195 USD) a month! And there is no real good drinking water there, and no electricity! It was baffling to think of! So we gave them 100 AED for letting us take photos. We would have given more but we didn’t have any more dirhams on us.

It’s moments like this when we get to pet camels, see pregnant camels, and see baby camels, that makes us appreciate living here. It’s still amazing to drive though Dubai and see all the buildings. It’s crazy! And Jennifer still loves the camels and sand dunes!

We’re finished with our round of observations and evaluations. We get observed twice a year and it’s like the typical observation we’re used to in the states. The new part is the portfolio we’re asked to create. There are like 18 areas we have to show our “evidence” on. And it’s even more hilarious that they want evidence for stuff that might have happened 3 or 4 months ago! Jennifer’s school was much more “on the ball” with informing their teachers exactly what to expect! My school – had an “official” meeting on the portfolio on Wednesday, and mine was “checked” on Thursday! Good timing! But it’s only a check and the official formal check is in April. It’s just funny that we have to have evidence for things our supervisor knows we attended but if there is no EVIDENCE then you don’t get credit for it! We just put that under inshallah regulations!

We’re still going strong with guitar and keyboard lessons. Well guitar anyway! Caralyn decided last week she wanted to do guitar too. But we told her not two instruments at once – just pick one! So they’re both doing guitar. Cole is still interested in it! And hopefully Caralyn will pick up and like it too!

And in case you were still concerned - I DID GET PAID!!!! We're saving it for the vehicle we're buying in March.

OH - almost forgot - so I picked up a 7th grade class. And I thought it might be easier than the others since they are younger and around the age group that I have the experience in teaching. NOT AT ALL!!!! It's something that is so hard to explain. They are so loud, constantly out of their seat, wander the halls, and just do what they want. And lets add that in an environment with no discipline in the school! Guess that is why they are that way! I did get the key confiscated from a kid (a kid in every class has a key - don't even ask why - I do not know!) and for a few days I'd lock the door after about 5 minutes after the bell. And it worked good except when a kid came climbing in the classroom through the window! YES - through the window! I guess I should have taken it as a compliment that he valued by teaching - only there wasn't any real teaching going on. It was like crowd control. I had my chart and started keeping marks and it really worked for several kids when they saw me constantly marking it. And so we went all last week where I'd teach the 10 or 12 kids who wanted to do their work, and they'd crowd the teacher desk and we'd work. We were getting our research planning done. Yes - they know very little English but are expected to create a product, In ENGLISH, after they've done some research. Yea - sure! But I guided them through most of the work and they're on their own now! Well today I was doing some vocabulary words and it was just note taking and such. Well believe it or not - hopefully I don't jinx myself - they all were seated and fairly calm. AND this was after the lunch break! And I NEVER even locked the door and no one walked out or anything. Not that all 26 did their vocabulary words. And how hard was it to copy and paste, right? Well I collected their books and marked them. SO maybe we'll be one step closer to a regular classroom. And when I say regular - I mean regular for this area! Baby steps, right?!?!?!

Other than that our life here has been fairly calm and we’re just enjoying this cool weather before the heat suffocates us! It’ll be here before we know it!

Here are some photos:

Just a cool sunset photo someone else took!

So I submitted two photos of things and they published one in the local magazine - Oasis Living! Love it! Can't wait to see if I can get more photos featured next month!

Guess what fast food chain this is?

I was surprised they served beer at the dog show. It being Friday and all. But anything is acceptable I think in Dubai.

Jeopardy in Arabia Land! Not sure what country it was in.

America needs to learn about real porta-potties! These were like full fledge restooms and they had a cleaning attendant and were spotless! Wallah!

Caralyn's favorite!

Ski Dubai from the Taxi window! The slope section was built on the ground and then raised up and secured to the building. This is at Mall of the Emirates!

It's interesting to me that so many folks are obsessed taking pics of these cars. I took a photo of about 8 people taking pics of the car. It's even funnier to see folks standing my the door as if it's theirs.

Burj Al-Arab. This is the building where (so we're told) there is the underwater hotel.

Cute little feet and toes!

This is actually a foot print. I think with the sun and the shadow it appears to be a raised footprint. Very nice!

I love this pic! Notice the left two guys holding hands. Very common here.

This was the housing the guys lived in. We gave them some money for letting us take pics there. They were VERY nice! We're going to stop there next time and bring them something more!