Majlis

Wa'ed and 2 teachers (non-Emirati) are in the tent sitting on a majlis - Arabic cushions. We have put majlis in every classroom like we use mats in NZ. The teachers and kids love it, it is what they are used to. These couches are found in most Emirati houses and sitting at that level is a natural thing. Very often, they sit on the floor - even the adults - to eat and socialise. When I am invited to eat with the teachers I get cast after a while and they have a good laugh watching me try to stand without the bones creaking too much!!

Mandy is one of our advisors. She and Wa'ed both entered the women's race - a very leisurely ride around the edge of the school. No Emirati women went in the race, only the maids and workers at school. Exercise is not a big thing with the women here. It was a lot of fun, even in the heat!

Part of the day's celebration was a bike race with the boys. The Health and Safety rules would not have passed the test in NZ!!! All the boys in each grade lined up and then they belted along to the end of the concrete field. There were bikes everywhere and kids who could not stop, falling off, banging in to each other, etc. It was a riot. Wa'ed, our translator, is holding the start gun.

Prize giving

We had our prize giving at school last week and I was asked to present the medals and prizes. This photo is of the boys in the swimming team. They came home with a pile of medals from the Emirates competition. The top 5 boys from each class received trophies and the Mum's came along to receive a congratulatory certificate as well. It is interesting that the prize giving is at the end of Semester One! At the end of the year the boys only come in for the 2 hours of the exam - and then they don't come back after the exams. I suppose it would be hard to organise prize giving at that time of year.

Julia (in pink skirt) and I went to Myrese and Craig's for a BBQ. Myrese is an advisor in my school, and her and Craig are South Africans who have lived in NZ for years. Their friends are also South Africans and teach at the International school. Myrese and Craig are in a beautiful villa and their maid did a lot of the cooking! We had a fun night, and ate much more than we needed.

Fujairah Emirate

As the sun goes down the shadows are lovely and the mountains look so rugged and black. There is no vegetation at all, and at one stage we went through a long tunnel that had been cut through the range.

On our way back from Dibba we crossed the mountain range that borders Oman and UAE. The blue tones are beautiful, and this is waht it looked like for miles.

Dibba

Julia and went tiki touring to the UAE coast to Fujairah, along the Oman border, last weekend. We had lunch at the Hilton in Fujairah, then drove on to Dibba, right up by the Gulf of Oman. This beautiful Mosque is in Dibba, which is a beach resort area and a lot greener than the rest of the country. We covered a lot of miles in one day, but it was fun to see more of the country.

Ibn Buttata Mall

Julia, Karen and I went for a girls weekend to Dubai. We visited the Ibn Buttata Mall which was amazing. There were 6 separate themed malls all connected with streets. It went for miles, all at one level. There was Egypt, India, Tunisia, China, Japan and one other? but right down one end was "The Lime" cafe - a New Zealand owned cafe. We had lunch there and the food was great - the carrot cake was scrumptious!!!

Terry Fox Fundraising run (walk!)

A few of us from Cognition joined 300 others to do a fundraising 5km walk (run for some!) to raise funds for cancer. We had a lot of fun, it was a bit hot but not too bad.

It's times like this we advertise the fact that we are NZ'ers.

The Race

Kay and I were safely parked up at the car park while the 4 wheel drives and Toyota's screamed along. From a distance all you could see was a great dust cloud, then you could hear the beeping, then finally the camels came into view. It was alot of fun to watch. Almost no Emerati women would go to the races, but Western women seem to get away with it. It is definitely a men's sport!

Camel Racing

Kay and I drove out to the camel track the other day and had a great time watching the young camels being trained in racing. The camels have a little robot on their back which are remote controlled by the owners, who drive alongside the camels while they are racing. They toot their horns and yahoo all the way along the track with the camels, travelling at great speed! I think that is why camel racing is so popular! It's not the camels, it's the hair raising drive alongside the track to follow them.