Rain, rain (don't) go away

I've been in Dubai now for a little over 6 months and it's raining for the first time!  We've had a few sprinkles here and there, but usually in the Marina area and I've never actually seen them.  But this morning I woke up and took Renard out for his walk the ground was wet!  There are even dark, grey clouds in the sky.  We made it home from our walk just in time because it started to POUR.  Then the thunder started.  Loud claps that scared poor Renard (and I may have even jumped a bit.)  I'm going to take advantage of this weather by watching movies on the couch in my PJ's and maybe even ordering a pizza for lunch.  Perfect rainy Friday afternoon!

It was raining pretty hard for quite a while

Dark clouds

Wet street

Election 2012

Smug Obama is awesome

Four years ago Ryan and I were lucky enough to get tickets to the Obama rally at Grant Park on election night.  We rode our bikes to the Regal Beagle (RIP) for a pre-election pizza and some beers and then continued onto Grant Park.  It was an unusually warm night for early November, which gave the evening an even more exciting buzz.  (It also turned out to be a great thing since I got a flat tire not even half way home and had to walk the rest of the way.)  It was an indescribable feeling when they announced that Barack Obama had won - so many people so happy and excited all in ONE PLACE.  I remember hearing him speak, but being so far away that I really had no idea where he was actually standing, but just being so proud and delighted to be there.

Proof!

Fast forward four years and I spent the morning (evening, of course, in the USA) on my phone, texting with my sister and family, streaming CNN on my computer, and obsessively checking Facebook.  It was obviously a very different election experience, but I somehow still felt SO connected, and it was great.  Ryan was getting ready for work for a portion of it and they announced the results just in time for me to call him with the wonderful news before he flew to Seattle.

It's not hard to guess who I supported in this election, and I'm obviously thrilled with the results.  But even more important, I'm just proud that I had the opportunity to vote even though I'm half way across the world.

Our First Visitor!

Last weekend we had our very first guest come to Dubai.  It wasn't surprising that our world traveller friend, Barry, was the first to make it here.  Ryan and I spent the months and weeks before his visit talking about where to take him, what to do, etc.  Needless to say, after 6-9 months of not seeing a familiar face, we were pretty excited to see Barry.

Here are some of the things we planned for our very first Dubai visitor (with a bit of a photo dump):

We were supposed to go to a friend's costume party, but it was so late on Thursday evening when Barry arrived, that we decided to take him to take him out for a quick drink instead.  We headed to Barasti and then to Rock Bottom, which are two of the three bars that Ryan and I usually attend.  It's nearly impossible to find a dive bar in Dubai since only hotels have liquor licenses, so our cool bar options are pretty limited.  But it was great to catch up and help Barry through his jet lag.

On Friday morning we woke up somewhat bright and early and got ready for brunch.  I've mentioned the Dubai brunch before, and it truly is a Dubai expat staple.  We decided to go all out and make reservations for Saffron at Atlantis on the Palm.  It was, by far, the most amazing buffet or brunch experience of my life.  It blew any Las Vegas buffet out of the water.

Halloween themed "blood martinis"

Mini bottles of champagne with a straw!
Given to us upon arrival.

Tons of seafood and sushi... yum

Dessert galore (also Halloween themed)

Boozy watermelon with straws

On Saturday we decided to do something a little more "old Dubai" and took a taxi to Bur Dubai and explored the souks.  We ate at a little Lebanese restaurant that our friend Dan introduced us to and then took a water taxi to the gold and spice souks.  Barry and I stood in corner and laughed at Ryan outrageously haggling with each shop owner.  But we both got some really cool lanterns and some other souvenirs.  That evening we decided to take it easy and spent our evening grilling and hanging out in the back garden area on our new outdoor furniture.

Waiting for the water taxi

I wanted to stick my hands in each barrel

SO SHINY!

Barry's final night in town was spent in the desert at a desert"safari" dinner.  We were picked up by the company and then taken out to the desert where we switched from van to 4x4 and a maniac drove us through the sand dunes to the camp site.  It was the scariest car ride of my life - on purpose, of course.  There was a BBQ dinner, camel rides, sand skiing, henna painting, shisha and other "traditional" middle eastern activities.  It was pretty touristy, but kind of a fun activity and probably the only time we'll ever eat on carpets way out in the desert.  It would be perfect if you have visitors with kids.  I got my hand painted with henna, tried grape shisha and saw some camels up close.  I really want to ride a camel but we ran out of time.

Sitting at our table on the carpets

Henna

The shisha made me cough like crazy

The guys left the following day for a quick trip to Paris to visit another friend, Pierre.  I spent that time recovering and catching up with AWA business.  Back to real life!  We loved having a friend come see where we live and what we do.  We get so many questions about Dubai and how our lives are here, so it was awesome to be able to share it with someone for even a few days.  We can't wait for our next guests (taking 2013 reservations now)!

Full Moon Yoga

My friend Amber is a certified yoga instructor and often inspires me to try and do more physical activities.  So far, I've signed up for a vertical flex class (I'll let you guess what that actually is,) a ladies only 5K in November, and for the last two months we've gone to Full Moon Yoga at Talise Spa in the Al Qasr hotel.

It's such a cool experience.  You meet at the spa and then they transport you to the beach via golf carts (or buggies if we're getting British about it.)  They have an entire yoga area set up right on the beach for about 125 people, with lanterns lining the area.  To the right is a super bright, gorgeous full moon and to the left is the water and the Burj Al Arab, which is one of the coolest buildings in Dubai.  It's all very calming and I can't wait to go again, especially when it cools down a bit.

Full Moon

The Burj Al Arab

Germany

A little over two weeks ago, Ryan and I embarked on a two week Germany adventure.  In all of Ryan's 5+ years at his last company he'd had ONE WEEK of vacation.  Combined.  Thankfully, his new company is much better and gives their employees a pretty great vacation package.  So, when we discovered they'd actually given him two weeks of paid vacation time (in a row!) we decided to make the most of it by renting an RV and driving all around Germany.

We started in Hamburg where we stayed in a tiny, but cute, hotel.  The next day we picked up the RV and started driving.  We basically went south east to Berlin, then down through Saxony, into Bavaria, through a small part of Austria and Switzerland, up to Frankfurt, through Cologne, and then back to Hamburg.  We returned the RV and stayed another night in Hamburg at a much needed hotel (7 days in an RV turned out to be more than enough.)  After that, we ended our trip by taking the ICE train from Hamburg to Munich and spending 2.5 days at Oktoberfest!

Here are some highlights:

Our ride

• A different campsite every night. 
• I learned to read a map!  We decided not to rent a GPS so I was the navigator the entire trip.  And I rarely got us lost!
• The scenery.  Everywhere.  It was just beautiful.  So many trees, so much green, lots of hills and mountains.  I think Bavaria and Saxony were my favorite. 

The Austrian Alps

• Dresden was probably my favorite city.  We didn't really get to see much of it, but I hope to go back one day and spend a few days there. 
• The people were so nice.  One instance that stands out to me is when Ryan and I were in Frankfurt we stopped in the city to stay at his company hotel (another RV break) and to do some laundry.  Of course, the directions on the machines were all in German and we couldn't understand a word.  The only other person in there noticed right away and jumped in to help.  And pretty much everywhere else we went we experienced really nice people willing to help us.
• Seeing the restaurant/town Ryan's ancestors started.  Unfortunately the restaurant was closed, but it was still awesome to see.

Herchenbach

• While "winging it" on a vacation is fun and adds to the adventure, next time we'll at least do some research.  We spent a lot of time figuring out what to do.  Plus, driving didn't go as quickly as we had thought it would so we didn't have as much time to see the things we had wanted to see.
• I really enjoyed spending time with Ryan.  We had a lot of fun just talking on the drives, making hot dogs and pasta in the camper, and playing Yatzee and Go Fish (the only card game we could remember) at night.
• I saw a castle!  We stopped and toured Neuschwanstein, which was King Ludwig II's castle.  It also inspired Walt Disney for his princess' castles.  It was pretty cool!  We saw a few other more ancient castles, which were also amazing. 

Castles and camping hair

• Oktoberfest was SO MUCH FUN.  Ryan has always wanted to go, but we were both a little afraid it would be more hype than anything.  Thankfully, we both really enjoyed ourselves.  We met so many interesting, really nice people.  I was afraid we wouldn't be able to get into any tents since we didn't have a reservation, but it was actually pretty easy.  And people were almost always more than willing to let us sit with them.  

Who wouldn't want to sit with these two?!

• The food!  We at schnitzel, currywurst (yuck), some of the best Thai food I've ever had, and lots of bratwurst (yum).  Oh, and we even had Mexican food in Berlin.  I guess I can't forget to mention the beer, which was also pretty yummy.

Schnitzel in Hamburg. 

It feels so weird to be home after two weeks, especially since home is still relatively new to us.  I'm so grateful that we were able to spend such an adventure together, exploring another country.  I'm also very glad to be out of an RV and back in my home!

Dubai Friday Brunch

If you ever visit Dubai you have to go to a Friday brunch.  The weekends here are a bit different; Thursdays are the end of the week, Sundays are the beginning.  So Friday = Saturday.  The Friday brunch is much different than the brunches I'm used to in Chicago.  They are a big social event where people get super dolled up and usually go in big groups (whereas in Chicago I usually woke up, brushed my teeth, threw on yoga pants - or jeans if I was feeling sassy - and met Pam for a bloody mary and eggs benedict somewhere nearby.)  Almost every restaurant and bar in town has one and they range from 100 AED ($30) to 500 AED ($140).  They almost always feature a huge buffet and all-you-can-drink.  I haven't been to a fancy champagne brunch, but have been to two medium size/priced ones so far.  Yesterday I attended one at the Murooj Rotana's Double Decker bar with some Emirates friends.  The Double Decker is a UK themed bar and the food was pretty decent.  They had a ton of pork, which is usually pretty hard to find anywhere in Chicago.  So that was a nice treat, as were the unlimited Sols.  When I arrived there was a long line of people and it felt more like trying to enter a night club than a brunch buffet.  But it was noon.  At 4pm, when the brunch officially ended, the Double Decker turned into a true bar where people started dancing and general weekend whatnot-ing.

And that's when my almost 30 year old self went home to walk the dog.  I'm assuming the rest of the group continued on to a fun bar to have a great night :)

I can't wait for the next one.  I'm hoping for some people to come visit us so we have a reason to splurge on a fancy champagne brunch with lobster and steak!

Paris in 48 hours

I made a promise to myself when I was much younger that I'd get to Europe before I was 30 years old.  It seemed like a safe bet because 30 is so old and at the time it was so far away.  Of course, I figured that by that time I'd be super rich and probably have gone like 12 times.  But being a pretty cautious person, I figured it was a good number and very achievable.  Fast forward a number of years and I will be 30 next April and I had never been to Europe.  Woah, that happened fast.

One of the reasons we decided to take this opportunity in Dubai was so that we could travel.  Emirates Airlines gives Ryan great benefits, including super cheap travel for himself and for his family.  Earlier this week Ryan had a two day trip to Paris for work.  He'd been asking me to go along, but I had some appointments and a book club meeting.  After he mentioned it a few times, I decided to go.  I mean, appointments can be moved.  Trips to Paris with your husband don't come along very often.  So I moved some things around the day before, packed super quick, and called the kennel for Renard, while Ryan booked me a standby ticket his flight to Paris.  I woke up at 1am and headed to the airport for the 4:30am flight, which was unfortunately overbooked (the downside of flying standby.)  Luckily the 8:30am flight was wide open and I was issued a confirmed ticket pretty early on, which was awesome.  It was even in business class!

Ryan met me at the Charles De Gaulle airport and we headed to the hotel room, where all of the Emirates crew stays.  (Free hotel!)  Then we got ready and headed out for the evening.  We took the train into the city and stopped at Notre Dame.  It was closed for the day, but was still cool to see from the outside.  We then grabbed some dinner at a little cafe and then met up with our friend, Pierre.  Pierre  took us to the St. Martin Canal where we sat on the walls of the canal and spent the evening having a beer, catching up, and people watching.  It was nice to see a friend and do something relaxing and less touristy for our first, jet-lagged night.

Notre Dame 

Dinner

Sitting along the canal

Our second day in Paris was spent walking from site to site.  We wanted to take in as many tourist attractions as possible since it was our only full day.  And since it was absolutely beautiful weather, we wanted to walk.  We saw Notre Dame again, the Louvre, the Champs-Elysees, the Arc de Triomphe, and pretty much everything in between.  We ate chocolate crepes and had champagne in the park.  It was an absolutely perfect day and I'm so glad I went.

Loving this weather!

FLOWERS!

Eiffel Tower Hat

Arch de Triomphe

The coolest part of the trip was probably the flight home, though.  For the first time ever I got to be on one of Ryan's planes!  It was his "leg" of the trip so he was the one actually flying most of the time.  He announced the descent and landed.  It was a pretty proud moment for me!  Plus, now I know that Ryan really does fly planes, which is great.  (ha)

In less than two weeks we'll be on a plane headed to Hamburg where we will start our two week European RV adventure!

Update, Schmupdate

Ramadan is finally nearing its end, which means that summer is almost over as well.  People will start returning from their holidays and hopefully it'll start cooling down (ok, maybe not for another month or two...)  Ryan and I have almost made it through our first summer in Dubai.  I'm kind of glad I started with the most difficult season so that the rest of the year will just seem awesome.  And I've heard the winter weather here is just perfect.

Not many exciting things have happened recently, but here are some highlights.

-Ryan and his friend Dan took a 4x4 desert driving class.  We both have Land Rovers and the boys wanted to learn how to get them stuck, and unstuck, in the desert.  From what I understand it was a lot of fun.  I stayed home and slept.  Ryan's driving gives me panic attacks on man made roads (so does my own.)  I didn't think I could handle feeling like I was going to tip over a sand dune in the middle of nowhere.  Oh, and there was this thing about needing to bring a shovel so we could dig ourselves out?  Not my scene.

-Had a girl's night with some US Marines.  It sounds worse than it is.  The AWA girls were invited to an 80's party at the US consulate hosted by the Marines who live there.  Three of us girls got dressed up and went a week or so ago.  It was a lot of fun and the people there were so nice.  I hear they are a regular thing, so hopefully I can attend some more.  Thursday they had a toga party but we weren't able to make it.

-I found Miller Light!!!!!  And, wow, was it expensive.  This might be my only case of Miller Light for a long time.  Too bad I still can't find Coors.  I miss crappy watered down American beer.

-I went to Dragon Mart with my friend Amber.  It's a giant indoor flea market.  The building is literally shaped like a dragon.  It was pretty cool.  They had pretty much everything you could ever thing of in one shop or another.  I got some crazy nail polish and a super cheap knock off wristlet purse, which will be perfect for going out at night.  I hope to drag Ryan there soon to get some more items for our house.

-Tuesday I'm finally heading to an Iftar dinner.  The AWA book club I joined is having their monthly meeting at a place called The One.  I'm assuming it'll be smaller than some of the other Iftars held at hotels, but I'm looking forward to it.  I mean, it's a buffet.  I love buffets.

-The rest of my time has been spent working on the AWA Gala.  We have a committee meeting in early September and I'm ready to really start working on the "fun stuff."

-Most importantly, Ryan and I are planning a trip to Europe!  I've never been anywhere in Europe, and Ryan's never had a proper vacation through work (thanks for nothing, Mesa) so we're taking advantage by spending TWO WEEKS driving an RV through Germany, Amsterdam, Brussels, Vienna, and anywhere else we can fit in during that time.  We'll finish the trip with three days at Oktoberfest.  Any recommendations/tips/warnings you have for any of these cities, let me know!  I'm really wondering if we should dress up for Oktoberfest or if we are OK wearing whatever?

I'm on a boat

I can't tell you how many times in my six years of living in Chicago I said, "I need to make a friend who has a boat."  And it never happened.  I spent six summers enjoying Lake Michigan from the shores of North Avenue and Montrose Beach.  Sad, I know.

Luckily, Ryan met our Australian friend Dan pretty immediately in his training class, and he was kind enough to buy a boat that we can go on while in Dubai.  Thanks, Dan!

We've been out twice with him so far and it's so much fun.  We have to go early, which is pretty tough for Ryan, (he generally wakes up around noon) but it's nice to get out before it gets too hot.  The sweltering heat, paired with the fact that it's Ramadan, means we pretty much have the water to ourselves.  Dan has water skis, a wake board, and now a tube (which the weird Australians apparently call a biscuit.)  I haven't tried the wake board yet, but I love the water skis.

Dan about to "surf" on the kite board.

Me, holding on for dear life.

Ryan on the water skis.  What a background, right?

Burj Al Arab from the water.

Another fun thing I've done recently was visiting Dubai's only Hindu temples.  The temple complex is located in Bur Dubai.  We were only able to tour one temple, the Krishna Temple.  The line at the Shiva temple was way too long and we didn't have time.  I really wish I could have taken some photos, but we were asked not to take any within the temple.  Our tour guides were amazing.  Extremely kind and generous, genuinely wanting to share their space with us and teach us about their religion.  We saw two different services, both of which were very interesting.  Lots of chanting, a beautifully decorated altar, and we were even able to participate in the purchasing and offering of gifts - flower garlands.   I can't even begin to pretend I know even a little about Hinduism, but I am grateful I was given the opportunity to tour the temple and learn a bit about another religion and culture.

Tonight I'm heading to the American Consulate for an 80's themed party that the Marines there are throwing.  I'm going with some AWA girls.  Thanks to H&M we were all able to get some good costumes.  Pictures to come!

Ramadan

It's obviously been a very long time since I've last posted, but things have been pretty quiet around here.  I'm attributing this to a few things.  One, it's Ramadan.  Two, Ryan is buckling down to finish his training and has been studying like crazy.

I've been hearing about Ramadan since I've moved here and was pretty curious about the whole thing.  I still don't know a ton about it, but what I do know is that it's a really holy month where Muslims fast from sun rise to sun down.  Like, no food or water of any kind.  They can't even chew gum.  Which means, out of respect, non Muslims are required to abstain from eating or drinking in public during this month.  I went to the mall last week and it was kind of eery to see all the food places closed down.  What was really strange was going to see a matinee and not being able to get popcorn and a soda.  Of course, the entire theater still smelled like popcorn, which made it even more difficult.  Many expats choose to leave the country during this time and go on holiday.  Not knowing any better, Ryan and I chose to stick it out.  Really, it hasn't been that bad, just very quiet.  There are a few restaurants that are open during the day, they just have the blinds drawn or screens up to hide people eating.  You can still find some bars that are open in the evening (Longs Bar!) but the music is really quiet and it just feels a bit different.  On the up side, all the malls are super quiet so I've been able to get some good shopping done without having to fight the crowds.

One thing you seriously want to avoid is being on the roads any time near sundown.  People are hauling butt to get home as fast as possible to eat.  It obviously takes some serious religious dedication to go without food or water until sundown.  I mean, I'm a cranky mess if I don't eat by 10 am.

Once sundown hits, everyone gathers to break the fast for an Iftar dinner.  I have not been to one yet, but from what I understand they are large, super delicious and awesome buffet dinners.  I'm hoping to attend one at some point this month, so I'll report back on that.

Tomorrow I'm going with the AWA to a Hindu Temple in town.  I'm looking forward to it!

4th of July

Well, we've had our first 4th of July away from the USA.  The day itself was pretty uneventful.  Ryan didn't get home until 7am or so from a work trip so he slept a good portion of the day.  I did a little bit of shopping (surprise, surprise) and then we had tacos for dinner.  I can't tell if that's very American or not American at all?

A week or two ago we did buy a grill.  Both of us missed the one we left with my parents back in Omaha.  It would have been expensive to ship and we weren't sure if we'd even have anywhere here to put it.  But two months into the summer without any grilled food was too long so Ryan headed to Ace Hardware and bought us a new one.  Other than the tacos we made on the 4th, we've pretty much grilled any meal we can since our purchase.

We didn't let America's birthday pass without any celebration, though.  My new friend, Valerie, invited us to her 4th of July and co-birthday party on the 5th.  It was in their super swanky 21st-floor apartment in the Marina.  They went all out with some really delicious food, awesome cakes that Valerie made herself (she's a really talented baker!) and tons of patriotic decorations.  One of their guests even brought face painting gear and painted people's faces.  It was really cool.

British cake (though it had a secret US flag on the inside)

USA!

My USA nails

Terrifying face paint.  His eyes are closed.

I have to say, though, the highlight of the evening is where my fellow American, Megan, and I beat out two Brits for the beer pong championship.  USA!  USA!

The Blue Souk

On Wednesday the AWA ladies loaded up another Zara bus and headed out for a trip.  This time we went to the Blue Souk.  The Blue Souk is an old-world style shopping center located in Sharjah, which is another Emirate about 45 minutes from Dubai.  It's a big blue tiled building, which is where it gets its name.  It holds a bunch of little one-room shops which are each run by a different shop owner.  Their goods range from pashminas and scarves, carpets, antiques, jewelry, pottery, and other Middle Eastern items.  My favorite shop was Sorma Novelties, a pashmina shop run by a man named Naveed.  We spent a good amount of time in this shop listening to Naveed teach us about the craftsmanship that went into the different scarves and pashminas - which ones were more mass produced and which ones were made by hand in Kashmir, his home town.  He was not only an interesting person, but extremely nice and well spoken.  I highly recommend his shop if you ever end up in the Blue Souk.  He had some really beautiful pieces.

Part of the souk shopping experience is haggling with the sellers to bring down the price.  I was told to always counter offer at half of where they start their price.  And use phrases like, "I live here, I'm not a tourist" or "Give me your best price and I'll bring my friends back next time."  I was super nervous about haggling, but did OK.  I walked away from a few things, got my way once, and once or twice didn't haggle at all because the shop owner came recommended and their prices were already fair.  I totally need to go back before my next trip home.  

Here's what I came back with:

A necklace made out of old coins.

A scarf (not pictured)

A coffe table mat set.  I'm using the longer piece for decoration on our dining room table.

After our shopping adventure we headed to nearby Pizzaro Pizza.  We were all starving at this point and hoping for some good food.  We weren't disappointed.  I had the best Margherita pizza I've probably ever had in my life.  And the restaurant gave us each our own much with our Zodiac sign on it to take home!  The hospitality here can be amazing.

I put an embarrassing dent in this pizza all by myself

My only other update is that Renard has a girlfriend.  Our neighbors also have a rescue dog with separation anxiety and we watched her the other day while they were out.  In return they took Renard to a horse farm!  Their dog's name is  Maggie and she's a total sweetheart.  Plus, she looks like Falcor, the Luck Dragon from The Never Ending Story!  Here are some pictures from their "date."

Daiso

Can we talk about Daiso Japan???  Yesterday I went to the Oasis Shopping Centre, which has a few clothing stores, a Carrefour Market, and a bunch of home good stores.  I was on the hunt for curtain rods and office supplies (so I can organize my AWA Gala stuff!)  I was pretty successful with the curtain rods at Max, which is a store that seems to have a little of everything.  I couldn't find any good binders or notebooks, though.  I wanted something somewhat stylish and cute.  If my stuff is pretty I'm more likely to stay organized.  I ended up wandering into some back corner in the mall and found Daiso Japan.  Seriously, this place is amazing.  It's all Japanese imported items and just chalked full of super cheap, cutesy, weird Japanese items.  I could have gone nuts on random things I don't really need but look cool and come in fun designs.  In the end I got a neon green binder, a hole punch, two notebooks, two pocket notebooks, the perfect sized plastic bin for Renard's food, a coin purse (which you need for all your Dirhams), and paperclips all for AED 70 (about $19).  Not bad!  My favorite item, which I just had to have, is this notebook.  The poor translation made me giggle.  So adorable.

When I separate a hand, where does you fly to?

I may have found my new "happy place."

Abu Dhabi

I keep finding myself stepping back and thinking "Holy Crap.  I actually live here.  I am living in flipping DUBAI."  I'm sure the novelty of that will wear off soon, but right now it's extremely fresh.  The nice thing about a place like Dubai is that everyone here was once the new person in a strange country, so people are more than willing to make new friends and invite you along to social events.  So far I've met quite a few really nice, fun people.  I went out for "ladies night" Tuesday night and had a blast.

Monday I went to Abu Dhabi with the AWA for a trip to view the Treasures of the World's Cultures exhibit.  We all met at the Ibn Battuta Mall (which I have to check out next time I'm in the mood to shop) and took a bus to Abu Dhabi.  Once we arrived, we discovered we couldn't quite go in yet because a Sheik had just shown up and wanted to tour the exhibit.  We have no idea which Sheik, but still very cool!  Well, except for the part where we had to sit in the bus for a bit, but that wasn't too bad.  After they let us go in, we had lunch at a really adorable cafe in the museum.  The food was delicious and they had the best chocolate ice cream I've ever tasted in my life.  I might have to make a trip back there with Ryan, just for the food.  The exhibit was very interesting and featured ancient and modern art from all around the world.  Photography wasn't permitted inside the museum, but I took some outdoor shots.  From what I gather, Abu Dhabi is much more into the arts, culture, and conservation.  They are opening a group of new museums soon, including the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, which will house a spectrum of modern and contemporary works, and the dome of the Louvre Abu Dhabi.  They are all part of the Zayed National Museum and you can read about it all here so that I don't mess up any facts.  I'm really interested in the history of the UAE, ancient and current, so I'd like to find some good museums with that information.  Also, I learned that there is an excavation site that is as old as the pyramids, and isn't too far from where we live.  I'll definitely have to check that out!

The Zayed National Museum.  We didn't see this as I don't think it's open yet?

Our table set all pretty for us.  NMF people - gave me NBTI nightmares ;)

The entrance to the museum

My last bit of news is that I've agreed to chair the 2013 AWA Charity Gala on February 8th.  Since I learned of the AWA, I assumed that I'd volunteer to help with the gala - it just made sense with my event planning background.  But it turns out they really needed a chair so I said I'd do it.  I'm hoping I can live up to their expectations!  The event looks like it was beautiful last year and I hope I can keep up that tradition.