Blogs from Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Middle East - page 12

Later that afternoon (see previous blog) we were advised that we would be arriving in Abu Dhabi at 9pm to the tumultuous welcome of fireworks. This is to celebrate the MSC Lirica's first visit to the Emirates. As we are on the late sitting for dinner (at 8:30pm) this meant we would miss all the fun so decided to forgo our dinner and moving on to deck at 8:15 watching Abu Dhabi appearing ever closer. 9pm came and went. Our first experience in Abu Dhabi was to witness red carpet treatment. On the quayside as the ship pulled alongside there were some men dressed in traditional Arabic garb twirling sticks around like a bunch of psychotic majorettes!! The 'belly' dancers behind them seemed to be nothing more than glorified line dancers who had forgotten how to ... read more

As I reversed my car out of the space (it was herring bone parking, drive in, reverse out) I felt a clonk. I found my back light hanging off by its wires and a gouge just under two feet long down the passenger side rear wing. You can't get a repair done here without a police report but they have relaxed the rules a bit recently so if there is no serious damage and no witness, you can report the incident later, and not call 999 to summon a Saeed officer (a private contractor working on behalf of the police who log and record minor traffic incidents) , especially during peak hours. Saket, my Ops Manager had suffered a similar thing a few months ago and said that the police station in Musaffah would be able ... read more

Hello family, friends and strangers! First week back to school with students is complete and I am LOVIN' it! I have been transferred to an all girls school, Khadeeja Al Kubra. Teaching Grade 4. A far cry from the all boys school that I requested but I really like my school, my co-workers, the grade level AND the girls are really sweet also....so an unexpected bonus. An even better bonus is that I am only a 30 minute walk from home...a short bus ride....and/or $2.00 cab ride (when my arms are too full to walk...u know teachers...lol). I have included some pics from my classroom (which I LOVE...don't neglect to notice the cool IKEA lamp in the reading corner...all the Arabic teachers keep coming in to my class to check it out) and my students. Also ... read more

So I made it to Abu Dhabi at midnight Tuesday. The limousine taxi ride to the hotel was interesting.. the taxi driver asked me to how to get an Australian visa and offered to pay me to help him do it! Umm.. no sorry buddy! Yesterday I battled the heat and visited the Heritage Village which was like a museum and had some trade and handi craft displays, then needed to cool down out of the hot dessert sun so spent some time in the citys largest shopping centre, Marina Mall. I cant afford any extra weight in my luggage so I left my spending for a lunch at the famous & luxurious Emirates Palace Hotel. For all my fellow hoteliers reading, I took a photo of the pre-function area for you - spot the chef! ... read more

What happens when an unstoppable force hits an unmovable object? I don't know. Nothing probably. But I can tell you exactly what happens when a Nissan Sunny hits a Toyota Land Cruiser as that is exactly what happened this morning on Al Fallah Street. After countless near misses over the past couple of years, someone made contact and stuffed his car into the back of mine. It was an exremely low speed accident , I couldn''t have been doing much more than ten miles per hour, and hadn't even come to a standstill when I felt the slight nudge and heard the surprisingly loud bang of the collision. I jumped out and ran to the stricken car to check if anyone was injured, even though it was a minor shunt, if someone was holding a baby ... read more