Dubai it in Abu Dhabi

Red Bull Air Race- Abu Dhabi

I have a few busy weekends looming so really need to try and stay on top of my updates and photo filing. I should have gotten around to posting this last week, but at least I have gotten it done today- before the Tennis tomorrow!

So, a couple of exciting things happened last week. I was invited to an event where His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum was in attendance. It was definitely an insightful and interesting afternoon/evening- but I have been asked not to say anything more about it, so I shan’t.  Other than it made me empathize (yes, even I know what that is like!) with all the English Language Learner students we have at school.  The entire event was carried out in Arabic and I just had to watch when others (who I assume spoke Arabic) stood up, sat down, looked left, looked right and applauded.  I hoped I was copying the right people and I was particularly glad I was not allowed to speak, as there was no chance of not being able to give a required answer.

 

Last weekend was spent back in Abu Dhabi- a city I love. Walking along The Corniche, and enjoying the trees, the fountains and the cycle tracks without feeling like I am either in the middle of the desert or surrounded by glass and metal buildings as is so often the case in Dubai. Not that I don’t like Dubai- just that I do like the change. That being said, the drive to Abu Dhabi is totally mental.  The cars come at you from left and right and if you get a piece of paper between you and the car in front that is an invitation for someone to try and pull into the gap.  Not unlike driving in Dubai and at least this dodgem madness takes place on tarmac and concrete roads rather than the Ghanaian efforts. 

One of the ongoing events was the Red Bull air race. Last time we were in Abu Dhabi for the FI this time it was an airborne equivalent in/over the Marina.

http://www.redbullairrace.com/en_US/event/abu-dhabi

 It was pretty impressive to watch the planes fly that low over the marina and maneuver through the gates. I have no idea how they made their way through the chicane. Gate four seemed to be causing a few problems with a lot of the pilots clipping the edges.  I say this as thought I could do it better J

Dubai it away

Al Ain

 I definitely meant to post this in January, before too much time disappeared between actually visiting Al Ain and getting round to posting the photos. Al Ain is very different to Dubai, but a great place to visit.

In the boring fact section, Al Ain translates as The Spring and it is a very green oasis city, it was fab to be able to walk out of the hotel and straight into a green park- particularly in the January weather. It was just the right temperature to be outside and sit out with a Starbucks breakfast and just enjoy the surroundings.  

Al Ain is also the second largest city in Abu Dhabi, and right on the Oman border, which made for an interesting view as we headed up the mountains- Jabel Hafeet.

There is also a fort network built around this area, which was an interesting place to visit. I am sure I am the only person in the world who can get lost in a fort built around two different squares- but I get easily confused in these places and struggled to work out which side of which quadrangle I had entered and then left. I blame the interlocking rooms and the covered verandas.  My sense of direction was only mildly helped by being able to identify one side of the fort from the other by referencing the exhibitions. A tribute to the life of Sheikh Zayed was on the right, and a photo exhibition of the works of Wilfred Thesiger from his 1945 travels to the Empty Quarter.  It was amazing to see how the people were living then compared to what can be seen around you today.

 Fantastic place for a chilled and relaxed weekend- loved the greenery compared to the sleek glass skyscrapers of Dubai and the sandy desert from my window at home.

There and Here

Month of Contrasts...

I really wanted to make a few notes about the last month while we are actually still in December and upload a few photos of what has been going on.

There has been the Dubai times, National Day, the Rugby 7s and the run up to the vacation, and then the time in Enkirch; down time with log fires and snow.

 

Dubai first- the start of December was the 43^rd National Day celebration, so school was transformed slightly. Instead of 8^th Graders using the soccer pitch for their own version of lunchtime soccer we had camel rides and falconry displays taking place around a majalis, while everyone waited in line for the henna, and ate traditional food.  This of course led into a three-day holiday…

 

We made the most of the three-day holiday by heading out for some of the rugby 7s, not just about the rugby, but about the atmosphere- total expat party, and the people watching.

Where the month started with holidays and days sitting in the sun, it has ended with Christmas vacations, roaring log fires, ridiculously cute German villages, and Christmas card style snow scenes from the windows.

Best wishes for the new year!