Ashley's Visit to the UAE

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May 13th 2011

Published: May 13th 2011

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mthiff

Ashley had difficulty keeping up in the heat during my routine roller blade/bike ride

....couldn't resist cooling off in a fountain we passed by

Well, my first visitor has come and gone.....Ashley (Mark's Mom Marlene and Bob excluded, since I was in Canada for the majority of their visit). She has been here for 27 days (just shy of the month that her visitors visa would allow).

Ashley began her first week touring with a co-teachers niece from Calgary, Stacey. They visited the Grand Mosque, went on a desert safari, and then to Emirates Palace for an evening of dancing (ladies night...where we returned to again for some final pictures during her last week). The week ended on Good Friday at the Le Meridan Hotel with Fish 'n Chips at a popular English pub there.

Her second week began on Easter Sunday with an egg hunt, a walk to church for Easter mass (after work for me of course , since Sunday is a work day here), then I cooked a turkey dinner for her and two of my co-teacher friends....it was very nice! That week she was on her own to do some exploring, sun tanning (which was top priority on her agenda, as you will see progressing with time in the photos) and shopping, while I was at work.

On

When Ashley visitied the Grand Mosque

her second weekend we hung with friends, went jet-skiing along the Corniche (and saw a shark nonetheless, or so she says....the jet-ski rental guy says, "nah.... only a dolphins", but Ashley is still convinced "150%" yet). We completed the outing at Captains Arms Pub watching the Royal Wedding live on the big screen and ....it was awesome! On Saturday we headed to Heritage Village and then to the top of Marina Mall Sky Tower to catch a view of Abu Dhabi from above and have a light lunch.

On week three, we laid low during the week. More tanning for Ash and a visit to the movies to see "Source Code" (which is a good flick BTW....two thumbs up, I would say...if my opinion matters..Siskell). On Wednesday evening we had a barbecue on the pool deck with a couple of my teacher friends (Claudia and Azemina). I bought one of those throw away one-time bbcues and practically burned down the hotel...lol....the steak turned out pretty good but it was a good thing I prepared scalloped potatoes in the oven to be sure we had enough.

As soon as I came home from work on Thursday, we headed by

Ashley dressed in an Abaya and Sheilagh (sp??)

bus (only 15 drms) to Dubai for the night, to see Sean Kingston. Never even knew who he was until Ash briefed me with a couple of his songs via Utube.....".Calling 911"...which would be "999" in the UAE...lol. We had well....let me say a very interesting visit. The concert was great (once he came on stage which wasn't until 1 A.M. I had been at the zoo with my class all day and would've liked an IV filled with iron to stay awake THAT late. We almost had to call 999...lol.). Oh yes, the hotel...another story. I won't bore you with the details of THAT experience but will summarize by saying never trust an establishment named "Easy" and that cheaper is NOT always the way to go because you may end up paying MORE in the end...which we did. With that said, other than Sean Kingstons stellar performance, our Dubai experience left a sour taste for us both. We scurried out of there earlier than planned the next day.

During her final week, Ashley finally visited my school and sat in on my class for the day. As I expected, she loved it! The children enjoyed her visit. We

On Safari

were beginning a unit about dinosaurs and she helped with paper mache' Dino eggs and created a Diorama model for the next week.

My friends Claudia and Terri joined us for a final visit to Emirates Palace on Tuesday evening (ladies night) for shisha and a few final pictures. On Wednesday, we headed to the movies to see "Something Borrowed"....a good flick from a book that Ashley is currently reading. A good 'chick flick"......that prompted me in having a really odd dream that night ( NOT to share with you....too weird!).

In closing, it has been a GREAT time for us both. I will be sad to see her go, it has been great fun having her around as always! I do have to admit however , I am anxious to get the remainder of the school year over, so I can come home and enjoy my summer vacation with family and friends. Only 8 more weeks (they will go fast I just know it!).

I will create one more BLOG entry after this (end of school with my class, graduation, etc....that will be a sad one to prepare for sure), then back to Canada for 7