Aquaventure at Palm Atlantis

This past weekend we went to Atlantis to check out the water park and the Lost Chambers (aquarium). It opened in late September but it's been crazy buy ever since. We were very lucky that the crowds seem to have died down. It is expensive to get in - 285Dhs which is around $77US. The Lost Chambers aquarium was around $28. The weather was gorgeous. The water park is very nice. We didn't have to wait in lines for any rides - even Shark Attack, which is a water slide that goes thru the shark tank. There is another huge water slide that also goes thru the shark tank that we did not ride. It's one of those with no tube and it goes straight down.

The have a great lazy river that has rapids interspersed throughout. It goes all the way around the park. You even have access to the beach from the water park. The beach however was different than other beaches here. It is man made and the bottom wasn't very sandy.

We forgot our camera but here are a few photos of Atlantis that I found on the web.

Kitty playing

Ramases was playing with Dani from behind a big mask. It was cute to see him peeking thru the holes in the mask and sticking is paws out.

The Elections

I am glad that were here during a big election in the US. It has given us all greater insight into how people from other countries view the US. Most everyone here was extremely excited when it was announced that Obama had own. We were too, but it a different way. I guess I've never really thought about how much the leader of the US impacts the rest of the world.

My pottery teacher was crying when she came into class today. She told us all how she stayed up late and woke up early to follow the election. And how she woke up her son to tell him about Obama and said to him, you remember this son, it's one of the most important days in history. She is Iranian with a British husband and has lived in the UAE for about 20 years. In my little pea brain, I was thinking why the heck does she care so much about who the US leader is. She thinks Obama is going to change the world and make it a better place. Who knows, maybe he will.

That's only one of the stories, there are others, but I won't bore you, you get the point. Who runs the US is a very big deal to the rest of the world. It's made me think that I need to learn more about the rest of the world and care more about what goes on in those places.

Go Obama go! Let's hope he keeps safe and sound.

Dani is going to Turkey!

The middle school here does something called Week Without Walls. The kids get to choose from several different events including space camp in Turkey, art, film making, living in the UAE (visiting lots of cool places in the country), scuba diving, desert camping and more. Dani had a tough choice. Her first instinct was too choose Turkey. But none of her friends were interested in going so she wasn't sure what to do. Most of her friends were wanted living in the UAE or camping. Dani wants to be with her friends but she also wants to go on the international trip.
Today was sign up so she had to make a choice. I told her to sleep on it and make the choice this morning.

Dani decided on Turkey and we were #7 in line this morning at 6:15am so she got her first choice. She is very excited but also a little worried about how her friends will feel that she chose something different. She just called me from the school to tell me that Turkey is full (she was worried that no one else would choose it and the trip would be cancelled). She's so funny sometimes. Larry and I are proud of her for choosing on her own. We know that she will have a ton of fun and learn a lot. The trip includes space camp, a visit to an ancient city that they studied in social studies, community service at a local school and some site seeing.

Undressing...

So the native culture here is modest with all their covering up. but when it comes to clinical type things it is very different. I went to the doctors a while back for an annual exam. The doc says take off your clothes and put on this gown. Well she means do it right now while I stand here and watch you. Same with the mammogram tech and same with the massage therapist. We found a great massage therapist who comes to you house, but yes you undress in front of them and they don't use a sheet to cover you as you get the massage. Weird, just kinda weird. But all the same I suppose more efficient. Why wait the doc leaves the room for you to change and then comes back. I guess I should also add all of these clinicians were Indian. Maybe this is an Indian thing. I really don't know.

What a perfect day

This morning we went skiing, came home and Larry and I had massages, and then we went to the beach. How's that for a day in Dubai! Where can you go skiing and swim in the ocean all in one day? The water was gorgeous today - such a beautiful blue. The temperature was in the mid 90's, a nice breeze was blowing, the water temperature has finally dropped (probably down to the upper 80's), and the waves were big. The girls spent a few hours catching waves on their wake boards. Our neighbors were at the beach as well so it made it extra fun. Even I spend over an hour in the water. I need to keep this wonderful day in mind on my next crappy day.

Ski Dubai

Well we finally went to Ski Dubai! Lift tickets are purchased in 2 hour blocks and all of the equipment except gloves and a hat some with the ticket. It is pretty cool inside but it's not nearly as fun as Ski Sundown... our little mountain in Connecticut. I decided not to ski as it is pretty expensive, but it still cost me about $40 just to get in to take pictures of the girls and Larry.

There are 2 sections of the... not sure what the heck to call it... place I guess. There is the ski section and the "winter park" section. In the winter park you can sled and watch skiers. There is this funny thing that I should have taken a picture of... it is like a pony ride only with inner tubes for sledding. The inner tubes are attached to a cord which is attached to a merry-go-round type thing. It went awfully slow and I can't see that it would be much fun, but I guess if you have never been in snow before you might enjoy it.

Dani starts ski club there next week. She will go after school for a couple of hours one day a week.