Henna

The girls were dieing to get henna painted on their hands again. We did this in January when we visited. I didn't get it this time, it's a bit pricey at 125Dhs per hand. So on Saturday we also went to Souke Mandenant which has a henna shop.

Pictures to come soon!

Shopping

There several enormous malls here. We are about 5 minutes from the Mall of the Emirates which houses Ski Dubai. On Saturday we went to Ibn Battuta Mall which is a little farther away. It is named after famous traveller and explorer Ibn Battuta. The names of the six courts of the mall are named after the countries to which Ibn Battuta travelled. The decorative architecture is amazing, but the stores were a bit of a disappointment. I expected more exotic types of stores that matched the countries, but same kind of stores that you would see in a US mall.

Here are a few pictures of the Mall of the Emirates.








Here are a few pictures of the Ibn Battuta Mall.

Wild Cats

There is a pack of wild cats living in our complex. They are cute. They live in a hole in the ground near the pool. Arab cats look a little different. They have big ears, long legs and long tails. The girls would like to adopt one but Larry says "No Way." We will have to work on him.

The Toilet

Mind you I am not complaining this time... toilets here have a hose with a kitchen sprayer and a double flush system (big flush for #2, little flush for #1). The hose is tricky to use without getting things wet - had to try it of course. Lucky for us that they do sell toilet paper here! There are also bidets in all bathrooms, which my friend Joan educated me that bidets are an alternative to a bath, not to wash after using the toilet. Who knew? I guess I do now.

The Laundry

I know that many of you who have lived abroad can sympathize.... laundry is a big chore here. We have an all-in-one unit - washer/dryer combo which translates to washer. We have purchased 2 drying racks. Luckily it is so hot that the clothes dry quickly but many things need to be ironed. Also the loads have to be small. I will appreciate my 12 year old dryer when I get back to the states!

A Car for Renee

Larry bought a car for me today, a Dodge Durango. Now we have 2 American cars – how very American of us. I don’ t know if we have ever owned 2 American cars at one time. I also drove today. Driving here is an experience all by itself. Larry has already adapted to their crazy driving. I hope that I get used to it in time.

Shopping and Jet Lag

Today and yesterday were filled with shopping, shopping, shopping! And I wish I could say shopping for something fun, but we needed staples and electronics. We basically did not bring anything electronic with us except computers so we needed many things – fan, outlet strips (despite the fact that we live in a new build there are still only 2 outlets to a room), iron, clocks, toaster, cell phone, lamps, drying racks (the washer/dryer combo thing doesn’t very well), and the list goes on and on.

Oh the jet jag is hitting the girls hard… they have such a hard time going to sleep at night. I bought some melatonin today. Hopefully that will help tonight. We have gone to bed after midnight after night since we have been here. Daylight savings is not done here so it starts to get dark around 7ish. Unfortunately not too many stars can be seen here because there are so many lights on the buildings. Hopefully more stars can be seen from the dessert when we go camping (when it is cooler).