shaksilva

We decided to try to do more on the weekends. There are so many beautiful things to see here other then the malls. Now that the weather is cooling a bit we have decided to go on adventures during the weekends. We wanted to visit other Emirates and Oman which is the country neighboring UAE. In this blog we ventured to Buraimi, Oman which Al Ain borders. I actually live right across from the border so we have finally gone across to do more than just renew our visas. We decided to visit. We also took a trip through Oman mountains to get to Hatta UAE last weekend. Hatta was a quaint village we enjoyed visiting the fort there and the heritage village. The following weekend we ventured to Musandum, Oman going through Ras Al Khaimah ... read more

Can you believe we have been here 8 1/2 months already?! Time flies. In about 2 months we will have completed our first school year here. Alhumdullilah! It was a rough start but we are all settled in. I am looking forward to coming home for a visit though, I will be arriving June 19. I am trying to make a calendar of activities for myself so I dont waste anytime. I will be in Florida I believe the 16th of July for a little over a week and will only have a few days in RI before I head back to UAE, so lets plan some dates!!! Spring has arrived in Al Ain. These are pictures of Al Ain Paradise, which is a beautiful flower Garden. We went there after Juma (Friday) Prayer a couple ... read more

These are pictures of Al Ain Museum. I had a great time despite my children being bored to death and driving me crazy. You will see pictures of old texts, such as Qurans and Hadith (written on skins), Pottery from the Hili tombs, antique Jewelry, pictures of what Al Ain looked like in just the 50's and 60's, artillery, money from different Khalifat, and gifts that were given from other countries to Sheik Zayed and donated to the museum. I took a picture of the label which stated which country gave the gift, then I tried to put the picture of the gift right afterward. Note the pic. of the bag that said for Womens cosmetics, I thought that was so 'a propos. Enjoy! View pictures as large as possible to get writing and detail if ... read more

Jabeel Hafeet – I had been asking my husband for a while to go to Jabel Haffeet which is a mountain range that is visible from everywhere in Al Ain So one night out of the blue he says ok lets go up the mountain, I really wanted to go right before sunrise so I could get some awesome pictures but we went at night the mountain is very intense and high. I was nervous, not so much the height but the boulders that did not seem very secure from my view. Large big rocks on the side of the mountain unnerved me to say the least and they were doing construction digging so that didn’t help. But it was very beautiful when we got to the top we could see the entire city all lit ... read more

This month has been a very busy one for us. We were determined to get the children into school, Eid Ul Adha was this month, as well as National Day, which is the day UAE celebrates the formation of the Emirates. EID UL ADHA The Eid was very disappointing. We thought the celebrations would be amazing here, but it was really low key. the prayers were at 6:30 am and we missed it. We went anyway and people were just leaving as we arrived. There were not many woman at all at the prayer grounds so I made my prayer in the car. There were no festivities really, no excitement, you didnt see anyone slaughtering a ram. We did go to the Livestock souk but it was much too crowded. So we came home and ... read more