Hi all,
Have I told you all how hot it is here yet? I don't think I've ever experienced such heat. It is on a daily basis right now averaging around 110*, give or take a few degrees. Now you might say, oh but it's a dry heat. Well that would be correct most of the year but during the summer months, which also include September and sometimes October, the humidity runs over 60-70%. Today it was about 107* with 75% humidity. Which I've heard from some people that these temperatures haven't been to bad this year. Someone was telling me either last year or 2 years ago they had a stretch of days that were around 135*, I can't even imagine. He said no one was outside, you just couldn't be outside in those temperatures. Right now, you literally walk out and feel like you are in a sauna. All of our windows have that fogged over look from the condensation. When you walk out of a building or even get out of your car, your glasses immediately fog over! And talk about sweating, you could be standing outside in the shade and you are sweating. Right now it is hard to get cold water to come out of the taps in your house. I've gotten used to brushing my teeth with very warm water and hot showers (which in my opinion are a good thing). Most of the pools including ours at our apartment are chilled. Emma was at a friends house today and the friends mom was telling me their pool chiller had broke and their pool water temperature was at 100*, so they haven't been able to use it. Everyone tells us if we can just make it to or through October the weather gets absolutely perfect. Chilly in the morning and evening where you need sweaters and light coats and then by mid morning it's usually in the 80's! So until then you'll find us inside or inside the pool!
Love,
Jennifer
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Monday, August 25, 2008
Drugs!
Hello all!
Well I have had my first trip to the pharmacy! Both Emma and Ava had terrible colds last week, hence the blog about our first Dr's visit, and I have been the lucky recipient of that cold! Today I felt like my head was going to explode and I could not stop sneezing and blowing my nose. So after a long day we arrive home around 5pm. We take the groceries upstairs and I tell the kids keep your shoes on we are going down to the pharmacy. (They have just opened a pharmacy in the bottom of our building.) So we head down on the elevator and we stop on one of the floors and a couple walks on, Emma proceeds to tell them that they have gotten me sick and we are going to get something to help my mom's head from hurting...they look at me with all 3 children and say "you poor thing", I tell them if I can't crawl in bed and go to sleep someone needs to give me drugs, so we are going to the pharmacy! They both laughed!
We walk into the pharmacy and the woman behind the counter immediately ask me what she can help me with and of course Emma pipes up, that they (the 3 girls) have all gotten me sick and can she give me anything to make me feel better. She starts asking me my symptoms, I say I have lots of sinus pressure, headache, runny nose, sneezing..she ask if I have a sore throat..no I tell her, she ask if I have had a fever, again I tell her no. So she pulls out one packet of something and tells me to take once in the morning and once at night, should help with the congestion she says. And then she ask about antibiotics, I say, well I don't know if I need those..she says, maybe small dose, so she pulls out a packet of antibiotics and says take twice a day as well, once in the morning and once at night, and then gives me some sort of tea and says to only drink this at night because it will make you sleepy. Again she ask if I've had a sore throat, again I say no and she says OK then these 3 things should do the trick! She rings me up and off we go! She also gives me a card and tells me if I should need anything else in the future to just call and they will deliver to our apartment until 2 am! How about that, I have a pharmacy and a "clinic" all in the bottom of my building. I love it!!
And by the way, whatever she gave me I took when we got back up to the apartment, and I will have to say I feel less congested...not 100% better but I don't feel like my head is going to explode anymore! I think next time I will have to find out her name because I will definitely be going back to her and the pharmacy!!
Love,
Jennifer
Well I have had my first trip to the pharmacy! Both Emma and Ava had terrible colds last week, hence the blog about our first Dr's visit, and I have been the lucky recipient of that cold! Today I felt like my head was going to explode and I could not stop sneezing and blowing my nose. So after a long day we arrive home around 5pm. We take the groceries upstairs and I tell the kids keep your shoes on we are going down to the pharmacy. (They have just opened a pharmacy in the bottom of our building.) So we head down on the elevator and we stop on one of the floors and a couple walks on, Emma proceeds to tell them that they have gotten me sick and we are going to get something to help my mom's head from hurting...they look at me with all 3 children and say "you poor thing", I tell them if I can't crawl in bed and go to sleep someone needs to give me drugs, so we are going to the pharmacy! They both laughed!
We walk into the pharmacy and the woman behind the counter immediately ask me what she can help me with and of course Emma pipes up, that they (the 3 girls) have all gotten me sick and can she give me anything to make me feel better. She starts asking me my symptoms, I say I have lots of sinus pressure, headache, runny nose, sneezing..she ask if I have a sore throat..no I tell her, she ask if I have had a fever, again I tell her no. So she pulls out one packet of something and tells me to take once in the morning and once at night, should help with the congestion she says. And then she ask about antibiotics, I say, well I don't know if I need those..she says, maybe small dose, so she pulls out a packet of antibiotics and says take twice a day as well, once in the morning and once at night, and then gives me some sort of tea and says to only drink this at night because it will make you sleepy. Again she ask if I've had a sore throat, again I say no and she says OK then these 3 things should do the trick! She rings me up and off we go! She also gives me a card and tells me if I should need anything else in the future to just call and they will deliver to our apartment until 2 am! How about that, I have a pharmacy and a "clinic" all in the bottom of my building. I love it!!
And by the way, whatever she gave me I took when we got back up to the apartment, and I will have to say I feel less congested...not 100% better but I don't feel like my head is going to explode anymore! I think next time I will have to find out her name because I will definitely be going back to her and the pharmacy!!
Love,
Jennifer
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Gas Prices!
Just a quick note on gas, since we are living in part of the world that has all the mega producers! I went to fill up the Jeep Laredo...I would say similar to a Cherokee, maybe a tad smaller. We are still renting a car since we can't buy one until we get Rich's work visa. Anyway we pulled in to the station, which I might add are sometimes hard to find. There don't seem to be that many and they are all the same, Enoc (I think that's right), occassionally I'll see a BP. Anyway with every Enoc there is usually a mini-mart attached and a McDonalds, so you can get your milk, fill up your car, and have your dinner all in the same stop!
You'll notice as you pull in that there are no gas prices published and you can only pay in cash. The government sets the price and I'm sure you can find the price somewhere but I don't know where that is yet! So when I pull in I make sure I know exactly how much cash I have so I don't go over that amount and end up with some fine I have to pay or a call to the local police! They are all full serve, so I tell the guy to fill up but I only have about 260 dirhams. He looks at me like he doesn't understand and then when it dawns on him he smiles and says something like don't worry will be much less! 260 dhms is roughly about $72. So he fills up my car, cleans my windows and my bill comes to 95 dhms, roughly about $26! I gave him 105 total which included a small tip and away we went!
You'll notice as you pull in that there are no gas prices published and you can only pay in cash. The government sets the price and I'm sure you can find the price somewhere but I don't know where that is yet! So when I pull in I make sure I know exactly how much cash I have so I don't go over that amount and end up with some fine I have to pay or a call to the local police! They are all full serve, so I tell the guy to fill up but I only have about 260 dirhams. He looks at me like he doesn't understand and then when it dawns on him he smiles and says something like don't worry will be much less! 260 dhms is roughly about $72. So he fills up my car, cleans my windows and my bill comes to 95 dhms, roughly about $26! I gave him 105 total which included a small tip and away we went!
First Dr's Visit
Hello all,
Well we had our first to trip to the Dr's! Ava had had a cold, runny nose for a few days and Monday night was up at least 3 times during the night, not able to sleep because she was so congested. Also on Monday evening Emma started running a fever and complaining of a tummy ache.
So Tuesday morning comes around and I decide I best take them to the doctor. I really wanted someone to look at Ava and tell me she wasn't dying of pneumonia and look in her ears to see if she had an ear infection. I had previously met a woman from New York at our pool that had 2 small boys, so I send her a text asking for any doctor information. She sends a text back with a name of Dr. Wasseem and a phone number. (Also telling me she liked him a lot and that he was very good with the boys) So I give him a call....well he is on holiday until the 24Th, so the nurse on the phone asks me, if I would like to schedule an appointment for when he returns and of course I'm thinking either Ava will be dead from bronchitis or pneumonia by then or she'll be fine by the time that date rolls around, or Rich and I will have to endure another 6 days or so of sleepless nights if it is her ears. So I ask her if it is possible to bring her in just to have one of the nurses look at her ears? She tells me that they can't do that and she refers me to another Dr. that is helping Dr. Wasseem out while he is on holiday.
So I call the new doctor, Dr. Baghat. I talk to his nurse and set an appointment to bring the girls in at 6pm that night. I think goodness they keep late hours here, a nice bonus when you have children! I ask for directions and she tells me they are located on Al Wasl road, right across the street from Emirates Bank and that they are in a villa, aka house. So off we go, I make sure to get on Al Wasl road from where it starts since I didn't get any cross streets to go by and the whole time I am having Emma looking out for Emirates Bank. We finally spot the bank about 20 minutes driving time on Al Wasl and find the villa, luckily it had a big sign on it stating Medical Specialist!
In we go and after filling out some forms (just like in the States, nothing new there!) we are brought in to see the Dr. He is very nice and had a very good manner with the kids. He checked out Ava's ears and said she had fluid on one but the other looked clear. The fluid she did have was not infected, so that was good. Then he took us into a room where he checked the pressure level in her ears and told us that one ear was normal and the other with the fluid probably felt like to her like she was at the bottom of a pool! So we go back to his office and I start asking him about Emma's upset tummy/fever and even Ava's poopy diapers earlier that day. And he very nicely and politely tells me that if it should continue I should contact a pediatrician since he was only an ear, nose, and throat doctor!! The whole time I'm thinking I'm seeing a pediatrician! Oh well he did give me some nose drops to give to Ava to help with her congestion and they seemed to work, she slept through the night that night. An added bonus since Rich had left for Paris earlier in the day!
I suppose all in all a success and he wants to see her again when she does not have a cold to make sure the fluid clears up in the one ear. Will keep you posted if we ever see Dr. Wasseem, the actual pediatrician!
Love to all,
Jennifer
Well we had our first to trip to the Dr's! Ava had had a cold, runny nose for a few days and Monday night was up at least 3 times during the night, not able to sleep because she was so congested. Also on Monday evening Emma started running a fever and complaining of a tummy ache.
So Tuesday morning comes around and I decide I best take them to the doctor. I really wanted someone to look at Ava and tell me she wasn't dying of pneumonia and look in her ears to see if she had an ear infection. I had previously met a woman from New York at our pool that had 2 small boys, so I send her a text asking for any doctor information. She sends a text back with a name of Dr. Wasseem and a phone number. (Also telling me she liked him a lot and that he was very good with the boys) So I give him a call....well he is on holiday until the 24Th, so the nurse on the phone asks me, if I would like to schedule an appointment for when he returns and of course I'm thinking either Ava will be dead from bronchitis or pneumonia by then or she'll be fine by the time that date rolls around, or Rich and I will have to endure another 6 days or so of sleepless nights if it is her ears. So I ask her if it is possible to bring her in just to have one of the nurses look at her ears? She tells me that they can't do that and she refers me to another Dr. that is helping Dr. Wasseem out while he is on holiday.
So I call the new doctor, Dr. Baghat. I talk to his nurse and set an appointment to bring the girls in at 6pm that night. I think goodness they keep late hours here, a nice bonus when you have children! I ask for directions and she tells me they are located on Al Wasl road, right across the street from Emirates Bank and that they are in a villa, aka house. So off we go, I make sure to get on Al Wasl road from where it starts since I didn't get any cross streets to go by and the whole time I am having Emma looking out for Emirates Bank. We finally spot the bank about 20 minutes driving time on Al Wasl and find the villa, luckily it had a big sign on it stating Medical Specialist!
In we go and after filling out some forms (just like in the States, nothing new there!) we are brought in to see the Dr. He is very nice and had a very good manner with the kids. He checked out Ava's ears and said she had fluid on one but the other looked clear. The fluid she did have was not infected, so that was good. Then he took us into a room where he checked the pressure level in her ears and told us that one ear was normal and the other with the fluid probably felt like to her like she was at the bottom of a pool! So we go back to his office and I start asking him about Emma's upset tummy/fever and even Ava's poopy diapers earlier that day. And he very nicely and politely tells me that if it should continue I should contact a pediatrician since he was only an ear, nose, and throat doctor!! The whole time I'm thinking I'm seeing a pediatrician! Oh well he did give me some nose drops to give to Ava to help with her congestion and they seemed to work, she slept through the night that night. An added bonus since Rich had left for Paris earlier in the day!
I suppose all in all a success and he wants to see her again when she does not have a cold to make sure the fluid clears up in the one ear. Will keep you posted if we ever see Dr. Wasseem, the actual pediatrician!
Love to all,
Jennifer
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
First Day of School
Hello!
Emma had her first day of school yesterday! All of us went together and walked her into her classroom. Her classroom has a great view of downtown and the Burj Dubai! Her teacher's name is Mrs. Kelli Griffin. She's from Annapolis, Maryland and just arrived with her husband in Dubai 2 weeks ago. Her husband is going to be teaching at ASD (American School of Dubai) grades 9-12 Technology (Computers). She's young and Emma thinks she is very pretty! She met 2 girls that she likes, Justine and Mattie. Mattie is from Florida and I believe Justine is from Mississippi. She was very nervous her first day but hopefully the jitters will settle once she gets to know her 2 friends she met better. Of course our start of school was short lived somewhat because last night she was running a fever and complaining of a stomach ache, so she is home with me today! Hopefully this will be short lived!
Security at the school is like Ft. Knox. The whole school has high cement walls all the way around it with cement barricades or whatever those things are called that they put around a buiding in the parking spots. They have 4 entries, one on each side of the school, each is manned with security personnel in a booth and there are security cameras outside about every 50 ft or so. I would say there is not a spot all the way around the school that cannot be seen on one of the cameras. Each parent is given a card, imagine a credit card with your picture on it, attached to a string that is to be worn around the neck when entering or exiting the building. If you do not have your card, security will take your passport, id and figure out if you are allowed in before letting you pass the security gates.
Lily will not start her school until the 7th of September. Until then hope everyone is well. Rich is going to upload some of Emma's pix from the first day of school, so I'll have those up in the next day or so.
L,
Jennifer
Emma had her first day of school yesterday! All of us went together and walked her into her classroom. Her classroom has a great view of downtown and the Burj Dubai! Her teacher's name is Mrs. Kelli Griffin. She's from Annapolis, Maryland and just arrived with her husband in Dubai 2 weeks ago. Her husband is going to be teaching at ASD (American School of Dubai) grades 9-12 Technology (Computers). She's young and Emma thinks she is very pretty! She met 2 girls that she likes, Justine and Mattie. Mattie is from Florida and I believe Justine is from Mississippi. She was very nervous her first day but hopefully the jitters will settle once she gets to know her 2 friends she met better. Of course our start of school was short lived somewhat because last night she was running a fever and complaining of a stomach ache, so she is home with me today! Hopefully this will be short lived!
Security at the school is like Ft. Knox. The whole school has high cement walls all the way around it with cement barricades or whatever those things are called that they put around a buiding in the parking spots. They have 4 entries, one on each side of the school, each is manned with security personnel in a booth and there are security cameras outside about every 50 ft or so. I would say there is not a spot all the way around the school that cannot be seen on one of the cameras. Each parent is given a card, imagine a credit card with your picture on it, attached to a string that is to be worn around the neck when entering or exiting the building. If you do not have your card, security will take your passport, id and figure out if you are allowed in before letting you pass the security gates.
Lily will not start her school until the 7th of September. Until then hope everyone is well. Rich is going to upload some of Emma's pix from the first day of school, so I'll have those up in the next day or so.
L,
Jennifer
Saturday, August 16, 2008
A little video clip from our balcony!
Hi all,
Here is a little video clip that Rich shot from our upstairs balcony. You can't really see the Burj Dubai (the tallest building in the world, or I should say they are trying to make it the tallest, in competition with the Chinese) . You can see the Burj Al Arab, the sailboat hotel but Ski Dubai you can't really see. We will have to try on a more clear day!
Home Video 1
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Life in General
Hi all,
We've been enjoying our days by the pool lately. Emma has made friends with 2 English sisters, Issie (short for Isabella) and Millie (short for Amelia). Issie is 10 and Millie is 8. We had our first sleep over with them last night. We took them all out to dinner at Bidi Bondi, a sports bar up the path from our apartment building. Then they all came back to our place for the sleep over.
Emma has picked up quite a few English phrases:
*Ready, steady, go....instead of ready, set, go..
*just a pinch...while I was scratching her back one night, she told me "go up just a pinch, no 2 more pinches"
*I'll have some "chips" with my hamburger, and last night she told me she now likes fish and chips better then hamburgers
*I'll have some salad on my sandwich, meaning she wants lettuce..
We will be very sad to see them go. They leave tonight for England. They own an apartment here and spend 5 weeks during the summer out in Dubai. So if we are still in the same building next year we should see them toward the end of July.
The weather has been very hot and humid but it doesn't seem that bad when you are sitting in the pool, especially the baby pool that is completely shaded. They even cool the water in the pool so it is always refreshing when you get in. Rich can stand to sit in the lounge chair and soak up the rays but it is way to hot for my fair skin, if I am outside I am in the pool.
Emma and I go tomorrow morning for her school orientation. We'll get to meet her teacher and meet the other students and parents. Then her official first day will be Monday. We have her uniform all ready. Khaki shorts or skort with either a white or navy polo shirt. On assembly day she has to wear the skort with an actual button down shirt. We had to go to a specific store to buy her uniform, she can't wear just any white polo or shorts. Emma thought they were all ugly but as I told her everyone will be wearing the same thing, so even if you think it's ugly it won't matter. They also have to have 2 hats, one to bring to and from school and one to keep at school. It is mandatory for all students to wear hats when outside.
We now have the Wii hooked up! The girls and Rich have already been rocking out to guitar hero. Hope everyone is doing well and will chat more later!
L,
Jennifer
We've been enjoying our days by the pool lately. Emma has made friends with 2 English sisters, Issie (short for Isabella) and Millie (short for Amelia). Issie is 10 and Millie is 8. We had our first sleep over with them last night. We took them all out to dinner at Bidi Bondi, a sports bar up the path from our apartment building. Then they all came back to our place for the sleep over.
Emma has picked up quite a few English phrases:
*Ready, steady, go....instead of ready, set, go..
*just a pinch...while I was scratching her back one night, she told me "go up just a pinch, no 2 more pinches"
*I'll have some "chips" with my hamburger, and last night she told me she now likes fish and chips better then hamburgers
*I'll have some salad on my sandwich, meaning she wants lettuce..
We will be very sad to see them go. They leave tonight for England. They own an apartment here and spend 5 weeks during the summer out in Dubai. So if we are still in the same building next year we should see them toward the end of July.
The weather has been very hot and humid but it doesn't seem that bad when you are sitting in the pool, especially the baby pool that is completely shaded. They even cool the water in the pool so it is always refreshing when you get in. Rich can stand to sit in the lounge chair and soak up the rays but it is way to hot for my fair skin, if I am outside I am in the pool.
Emma and I go tomorrow morning for her school orientation. We'll get to meet her teacher and meet the other students and parents. Then her official first day will be Monday. We have her uniform all ready. Khaki shorts or skort with either a white or navy polo shirt. On assembly day she has to wear the skort with an actual button down shirt. We had to go to a specific store to buy her uniform, she can't wear just any white polo or shorts. Emma thought they were all ugly but as I told her everyone will be wearing the same thing, so even if you think it's ugly it won't matter. They also have to have 2 hats, one to bring to and from school and one to keep at school. It is mandatory for all students to wear hats when outside.
We now have the Wii hooked up! The girls and Rich have already been rocking out to guitar hero. Hope everyone is doing well and will chat more later!
L,
Jennifer
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Grilled cheese without the stove!
Lunch at the pool: no food in the house yet, so I head down to the local mini-mart in the bottom of our building. I was looking for some lunch meat, maybe a loaf of french bread, some cheese. What I find is some Arabic bread, which I might add is one of my favorite finds so far here. Imagine pita bread but softer and more flavorful. Everyone carries it and it always seems very fresh like someone just baked it. I also find some Arabic cheese, at least that's what we'll call it. It tasted similar to American cheese but the packaging was all in Arabic. So I get these things and some peanut butter and head out to the pool.
The temperature is a "pleasant" 110* with about 60% humidity. By the time the girls were ready for lunch (noone chose the peanut butter), I had to scrape the cheese off the little plastic sheet, get it on to the Arabic bread, fold the bread in half, squash, squash and VOILA: Grilled cheese sandwich!
They loved it, big hit! Who needs a stove when it's that hot outside!
L,
Jen
The temperature is a "pleasant" 110* with about 60% humidity. By the time the girls were ready for lunch (noone chose the peanut butter), I had to scrape the cheese off the little plastic sheet, get it on to the Arabic bread, fold the bread in half, squash, squash and VOILA: Grilled cheese sandwich!
They loved it, big hit! Who needs a stove when it's that hot outside!
L,
Jen
the Italian Washing Machine
Hello!
I'm not sure who thought inventing a machine that does a wash and dry cycle in the same machine was a good idea but I have to say he/she was crazy. The only thing I can think was that someone thought it was a good idea for people who were tight on space.
So when I first arrive I have no luggage and one machine that will wash and dry your clothes in one cycle, with everything written in Italian. I finally broke down on the night of day 2 and tried to figure it out. It took me about 30 minutes to finally get my first load going! Imagine 1 knob with the number 30, 40, 50, 60, 90, 100, 110, 120, 140 on it and another knob with the numbers 1 through 19 on it. I suppose after doing about my upteenth load I will begin to remember what each number stands for but for now everytime I want to do a load I have to consult the manual, set to the English page (since everything written on the machine itself is in Italian), to remind me what each knob does. So you set your temperature and then you set your time and off it goes...and goes...my first load took about 2 1/2 hours at least. And did I tell you the drum holds about 2 beach towels comfortably, so if you've ever done laundry for a family of five, then you know from what I've described that I am doing laundry all day, every day! One load comes out and the next one goes in. And forget about trying to take something out to hang dry between the wash cycle and dry cycle, well at least I haven't figured that out yet. I tried to do just a dry cycle but as soon as the manuel started talking about turning off water valves and opening drying vents I said to heck with that.
Since we've been here everyone talks about someone that will come in and clean and iron for you. Well in the States I hardly iron, well now I know why they all iron. When your clothes come out of a machine so small everything comes out completely wrinkled. So now, added to my list of things to get is an ironing board and iron and maybe that someone who will come in and iron!!
Toys and stuff arrive last night, so today we will be unpacking. The girls were very excited to see all of their things, it's like they are brand new again!
Love to you all,
Jennifer
I'm not sure who thought inventing a machine that does a wash and dry cycle in the same machine was a good idea but I have to say he/she was crazy. The only thing I can think was that someone thought it was a good idea for people who were tight on space.
So when I first arrive I have no luggage and one machine that will wash and dry your clothes in one cycle, with everything written in Italian. I finally broke down on the night of day 2 and tried to figure it out. It took me about 30 minutes to finally get my first load going! Imagine 1 knob with the number 30, 40, 50, 60, 90, 100, 110, 120, 140 on it and another knob with the numbers 1 through 19 on it. I suppose after doing about my upteenth load I will begin to remember what each number stands for but for now everytime I want to do a load I have to consult the manual, set to the English page (since everything written on the machine itself is in Italian), to remind me what each knob does. So you set your temperature and then you set your time and off it goes...and goes...my first load took about 2 1/2 hours at least. And did I tell you the drum holds about 2 beach towels comfortably, so if you've ever done laundry for a family of five, then you know from what I've described that I am doing laundry all day, every day! One load comes out and the next one goes in. And forget about trying to take something out to hang dry between the wash cycle and dry cycle, well at least I haven't figured that out yet. I tried to do just a dry cycle but as soon as the manuel started talking about turning off water valves and opening drying vents I said to heck with that.
Since we've been here everyone talks about someone that will come in and clean and iron for you. Well in the States I hardly iron, well now I know why they all iron. When your clothes come out of a machine so small everything comes out completely wrinkled. So now, added to my list of things to get is an ironing board and iron and maybe that someone who will come in and iron!!
Toys and stuff arrive last night, so today we will be unpacking. The girls were very excited to see all of their things, it's like they are brand new again!
Love to you all,
Jennifer
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Stealing my tomatoes!
Well my first trip to an actual grocery store didn't go to poorly! The 2 things I will have to remember is 1 to order everything in kilos/liters. I walked up to the meat counter and ordered a pound of ground beef, which I did see right in front of me, so I knew they had it! However the woman behind the counter looked at me like she had no clue what I wanted. (Most everyone speaks English and I was in a British store so I thought she must speak English) The lady next to her behind the counter kind of jumped in and said to the other woman that what I wanted was 1/2 a kilo of ground beef. She just shook her head like oh yeah!
My next deal was when I was checking out. I put all the groceries on the belt just like we do in the States but all of a sudden the guy bagging my groceries holds up my bag of tomatoes and my bags of fruit, says something and then runs off! I have no idea what he just said, and really the crazy thing that popped into my head was that he was telling me their tomatoes were bad to, the salmenella outbreak had reached Dubai! I had all 3 of the girls with me so at this point I and they were very ready to go! So I thought if I get my fruit, I get my fruit and if not then well I wasn't going to be chasing some guy down in the grocery store that I could not even understand in the first place! But low and behold right as she was about to finish ringing us up he appeared again with all my fruit. I had not put any labels on it! Here you have to put your fruit in the plastic bag, weigh it, and put the sticker on it. Oh well live and learn. And again this guy loaded all my stuff in the cart, walked my through the Dubai Marina and out to the parking garage, loaded my stuff, took the cart and waved goodbye! I do love all this service, especially when you have kids in tow with you!
I still haven't told you about trying to work my Italian washing machine...thank goodness the instrucion manuel was at least printed in English..I have to read the darn thing every time I go to do a load..how fun is that! Well more later, Ava just woke from her nap.
Love,
Jennifer
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My next deal was when I was checking out. I put all the groceries on the belt just like we do in the States but all of a sudden the guy bagging my groceries holds up my bag of tomatoes and my bags of fruit, says something and then runs off! I have no idea what he just said, and really the crazy thing that popped into my head was that he was telling me their tomatoes were bad to, the salmenella outbreak had reached Dubai! I had all 3 of the girls with me so at this point I and they were very ready to go! So I thought if I get my fruit, I get my fruit and if not then well I wasn't going to be chasing some guy down in the grocery store that I could not even understand in the first place! But low and behold right as she was about to finish ringing us up he appeared again with all my fruit. I had not put any labels on it! Here you have to put your fruit in the plastic bag, weigh it, and put the sticker on it. Oh well live and learn. And again this guy loaded all my stuff in the cart, walked my through the Dubai Marina and out to the parking garage, loaded my stuff, took the cart and waved goodbye! I do love all this service, especially when you have kids in tow with you!
I still haven't told you about trying to work my Italian washing machine...thank goodness the instrucion manuel was at least printed in English..I have to read the darn thing every time I go to do a load..how fun is that! Well more later, Ava just woke from her nap.
Love,
Jennifer
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Saturday, August 9, 2008
We have coffee!
Well day 2 and 3 were spent trying to line up the essentials for our apartment. And one of those essentials was the coffee maker! I went to a place called Carrefour (pronounced Car4). Imagine Walmart on steroids! They have a grocery side (which I didn't know at the time since earlier in the day I went to a separate grocery store) and the other side. On one side they are constantly baking fresh bread, which you can imagine smells so good and by the fruit section they have a huge section of fresh spices in large barrells along with huge barrells of olives from all over the world. There are a few guys in the middle taking orders and bagging. That aisle smells like you've just arrived in India. The hard thing about a new place and especially one that big is just finding what is on your list! And if you can believe from the above couple of sentences I couldn't find black table pepper, I ended up leaving without it! I figured most of the locals probably thought it was such a boring spice compared to all the others that they just didn't carry it! Those gringos they probably thought! (I did find it eventually at another store) At the end of my shopping spree, trash cans, clocks, broom, laundry baskets, diapers, etc...I can barely pull the cart up to the check out stand. And did I mention I had Ava with me? The other 2 were with Jacinta (an Australian girlfriend of one of Rich's co-workers), I figured it would be 2 much of an overload for her to take all 3 of the girls to the pool on her first time meeting us, so I took Ava and left the older 2 with her. Anyway no sooner had a pulled the cart up to the checkout stand then out of nowhere a man with a bright yellow Carrefour jumpsuit appears. He immediately starts putting my stuff on the belt while the lady is ringing me up. I tried to help but he just waved me off and told me no. Once I paid he had everthing loaded up in the cart and away we went. He walked me all the way to my car, loaded all my stuff and waved goodbye! Mind you our walk to my car was like walking from out of Dillards at Oak Park mall, through the mall over to Nordstrom, out of Nordstrom into the parking lot and to your car! But even with all the craziness my goal of being able to brew coffee the next morning was accomplished, even though I did forget the coffee filters! But that's where my good friend the paper towel came in handy, I had remembered those!
Jennifer
Jennifer
Thursday, August 7, 2008
We've Arrived!
Hello all,
Well a lot of you suggested I do a blog about our adventures in Dubai, so here goes!
Shall we start with the 28 hour travel day with 3 children? Yes it takes a crazy long time to get over here. Our first 2 legs were very hectic and fast. Our seats were assigned all over the place for both flights which left us scrambling with gate agents and flight attendants to try and get us somewhat all together. For some reason Rich's reservation was made separately and not connected to our 4 reservations (me and the girls), so he was being upgraded to first class on both flights and the rest of us were all separated in coach...oh what fun! He did let me sit in first on the way to MSP..but on the way to JFK we had to give up our first class seat so one of us could sit with Emma and Lily, Rich was sitting with Ava in another row. What a lucky day for some woman who got my first class ticket for free! We finally made it to New York with only 2 outfits lost...Lily with a glass of OJ dropped smack dab in the middle of her pants, and poor Ava soaked through since our connecting time in MSP was only long enough to run across the airport, grab some milk, 3 cheeseburgers, and one mac/cheese! Thank G for Burger King since that was pretty much all we ate all day until dinner in Times Square!
We had a 6 hour layover in New York. So after getting checked in for our Emirates Airline flight, we checked our carry on luggage in their lounge and headed into the city. We took the girls to Times Square and had dinner at ESPN Zone. My cousin Kristine was in NY, so she met us for dinner, our last family member to see us before we crossed the pond! ESPN Zone was perfect for the kids, loud and lots of TV's. They even had a TV in each stall in the bathroom, Emma thought it was absolutely the coolest thing ever! We rented a stretch limo back to the airport and told the girls, "better enjoy these long seats now, lay down, relax...cause this will be the last time your body will get to be in the reclined position for about 15 hours!"
So some of you will think a 12 hour plane ride would be absolute torcher with 3 kids, but then you might not have heard of Benadryl! Only kidding...really our flight out of NY left at 11pm, so by that time the kids were exhausted. Ava was asleep during the take off roll, and Lily only made it through about 10/15 minutes of her movie before she was out...Emma was to excited about her own movie screen in front of her, so she watched a movie, played some games, had another dinner and then passed out. It really was good for about 8 hours and then they woke up! And we still had 4 hours to go! But really all and all they were good...I really think no matter how you look at it sitting in coach for that long is really just inhuman...I mean really couldn't they make those seats a little bigger, recline a little more with some sort of foot rest..not quite like business but meet somewhere in the middle. I know I would gladly pay a little more for that on such a long flight...for goodness sake our cattle car tix were around 2000, a business class seat is 8000, you'd think there would be room for something in between!
So we finally arrived, 7:45 pm Tuesday...remember we left our house in KC 8:30am Monday! Dubai is 9 hours ahead of KC/Chicago...they don't have daylight savings so once we lose an hour in the fall Dubai will be 10 hours ahead of KC! So the stoller that we gate checked is nowhere to be seen as we are exciting the airplane...in the States they usually bring them right back to the gate so you can put the little buggers in them to get to baggage claim. Well not in Dubai, you have to get them in baggage claim. (Not the children..the strollers!) I will say they do offer you complimentary strollers to use while you are waiting for yours but that will have to be a little note to self for next trip since we didn't realize that until we had already passed them and you know how the airports are these days, once you pass a certain point...no going back! And then it only took about 2 hours or so down in baggage claim for us to realize that they had lost my bag and we still didn't have a stroller. Only on our way to fill out a claim, 2 hours later, did Rich see some guy walking toward our baggage carousel with a trolley full of strollers, ours being one of them. And we werent' the only ones waiting for those things! All I can say is that someone must have been smoking a pretty strong "shesha" to make a bunch of families wait 2 hours for strollers after the kids have been on a flight for over 12 hours...either that or they just don't have kids themselves!
And did I mention that my bag finally arrived, delivered to our apartment, while I was sitting here typing. A full 48 hours late. Thank G I had put all my bathroom stuff in another suitcase along with a random pair of shorts and flip flops. I finally had to break down and learn how to use our Italian washing machine today because I couldn't stand the thought of being in those clothes another day without a wash. More on that Italian washing machine later, but all I can say is that it really made me appreciate American ingenuity...
Well I have a lot to say already on Dubai..but will write more later on that, now that I have some fresh clothes and an actual chair to sit on!
Love and miss you all,
Jen
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