Sunset in Abu Dhabi

Today we awoke to a storm a brewin...the bottom picture shows the white sand being blown from the beach...then later on we had a beautiful sunset I caught the sunset just about perfectly. I also took a movie and I may upload it in a bit.

White sand being blown accross the breakwater onto the island. For about 1 hour the wind howled, the building cranes accross behind our flat were secured into the wind and evacuated. When I saw the workers running for cover, I thought one may have been ready to roll, but I think they were trying to get out of the blowing sand getting in their eyes

A Better view of the Flat we are trying to rent

This is a great shot of the Flat we are trying to rent. I took this during the Air Races (obviously), from the breakwater sandspit accross the bay. Looking back towards the Emerates Palace. On the Left the domed building is the Royal Entrance to the Palace Hotel. It alone is about 8 stories high and is basically just an entry way Arch (and this is the side view) the front view has a huge Arch. Behind that are 2 of the 3 new Apartment towers just about complete. There is a 2 bedroom up several floors on the End. The end of that building faces the Ocean and the main Emerates Hotel. The Flat we want is just even with the nose of the plane. I did not know I had made that shot until I was looking at these last night.

The Apt we like and hope to get soon !

We think we found an apartment we like that is in our price range...This one sits on the Corniche also, directly behind the Emerates Palace Hotel. I think I have mentioned the 7 Star Emerates Palace..probably one of the finest hotels in the world..This is the living room to the apt. There are 2 models, a 2 storey one and a 1 storey on the end...Either one will do as they both have tremendous views.

This is the view from the Master Bedroom, Beside the Emerates Hotel, the Ruling Sheikh is building a new Palace, that will be plainly visible below us and will not block our view.

This is the view from the living room balconey facing the ocean. The apt is kinda on a penninsula so there is an ocean view from 3 sides if we get the one on the end of the building. This is a brand new structure available in about 30 days...

Another view from the point / end of the balcony, you can plainly see the Emerates Palace Hotel. I can see myself sitting on the balconey at night watching the coming and goings of the ultra rich (rooms are up to $17,000 per night, start at about $1500 per night) Valentines Special for 1 week was $ 1 million included private jet to anywhere in the middle east. Smoking a Cigar and drinking a Mojito...

Now we only have the get the ever frustrating paperwork in order..the hospital requires about 6 forms to be filled out. And we have to pay a 5% commission on the yearly rental. Here you pay rent by the YEAR...1 check in advance for the whole year, but we pay the commission to the real estate agent. This is another difference then the USA, here you pay a realtor to show you an apt for RENT...you never speak to the owners as the Royal Family and their extended families own almost ALL the property in Abu Dhabi. It is a good thing we get our housing paid for as the yearly rent is more then the total cost of my first house..We will let you know if we get it and YOU are invited to our open house !

Driving in Abu Dhabi

Notice in pic above how in parking lots, if all the spaces are full, u just park in the middle of the parking lot and leave ur cell phone number on the dash so the cars u are blocking can call u to move ur car. This is done in every parking lot, so many people back in to have a better chance of getting out.

We rented a small Nissan Tiida for a month and I don't drive, I let Art do all the driving as it is pretty crazy and very very deadly dangerous. So in Art's words, here is his first day experience...

I picked up the car and drove to Marta's work, parked and when I tried to leave I found that I was pretty much blocked in ..I had to bump the car behind me to make him move..The cutoff seems to be the main driving tactic used here. When someone wants to change lanes, they edge just slightly ahead of you and then they move into your lane..so I discovered that you always need to be just a nose ahead of the next driver..I drive with 1 foot on the gas and 1 on the brake as the cutting in and out is constant. Stop signs are meaningless...You NEVER stop for a stop sign. EVER..I noticed the taxis all NEVER stopping and NO one stops..u do slow down to observe cross traffic, but you just merge into the flow as needed. I don't know why they waste time with the signs..Pedestrians are optional traffic obstacles.. They do NOT have the right of way. If you cross in a cross walk you need to yeild to cars..They never stop for a person in the crosswalk NEVER...so don't even try to think u can get accross. We were at a Left turn lane, waiting to turn left with the arrow, but here evey one else in the FAST lane to your right can Also turn LEFT from that lane AND make U turns..so anyway my first night taking Marta home, we were going to make a Left Turn from the turn lane, but the driver in the fast lane to our right decided to make a U turn, thereby cutting us off and forcing me to make a last minute U turn with him..he just laughed..he was a nose ahead of me so it now makes sense why everyone speeds, u control the flow of traffic when u are in front. So I have made it 4 days and have not had an accident...I will leave that for another entry as I am sure it will happen eventually.

We found a beautiful apt. on the water, overlooking the Emerates Palace Hotel...it is in our price range, now we just have to go through the 3 months of paperwork to get it done....wish us luck

Click Here to see a Short Video of Air Races

Art uses some online software to make these picture collages with music
Air Race

Arab Wedding

So Art gets invited at the last minute to a wedding of a nephew of someone from Corporate. It is for Men only. Art, Dr. Tej the CEO, Eric, and Joseph, the husband of the COO get dressed up and head off..I will let Art tell the story.

OK, sorry, no pictures...none of know the groom, and I could not figure out who he was during the 2 hour wedding..There was no actual ceremony. We entered the greeting line, shook about 30 mens hands, at the end of the line there was a large incense burner that we waved the smoke into our faces...then inside there were chairs for all in a U shape at the top were all the 'throne-like' chairs, again we shook hands and congratulated everyone, then we sat in the front row. They had servers bring us the following CONTINOUSLY..'Coffee, Sweet Tea, chocolates, juices of all varieties, dates..I noticed that they used the same cups for everyone, each server had about 4 cups w/no handles and when u gave it back, he then gave it to the next person..
Then the music started..about 20 men in a circle singing for 1/2 hour..it went like this 'ya ya ya eh ! ya ya ya eh !, eh eh he ya !. sometimes they chanted to a song leader, other times they just chanted...they had canes and rifles and some wore symbolic fake pistols on bandelors..(hey they stole this idea from Mexicans)...at the same time in the middle about 3-4 men or boys dances and did circles..it kinda reminded me of a few Grateful Dead concerts where u see people circling to the music they hear in their heads....or San Francisco Haight district where u see people dancing on the corners...anyway I digress.
Several people came up and shook hands with the guys I was with..I only knew these 3, I met several others....

Time to eat...after about an hour of this swell dancing..all of a sudden, no announcement, everyone gets up and we head through large doors to the other side of the building (all 200 to 300 hundred of us) and there are large tables and a head table and it is time to eat...

An Arab friend of the group sat with us, we shoved our plates under the middle massive mound of Rice that is topped with Goat and Camel meat. He said, don't use ur utensils and do NOT use your left hand...OK, I am a lefty..anyway we shoved the plates under the bottom and came up with Rice, then he used his hands and tore apart the Camel Meat for each of us. Um mm Umm...it was good, I had that and chicken, and other meats and some pasta and some chocolates... Then our new Arab friend called for the most tender part...some Baby Camel Hump. That's right Camel Hump.....but alas most of it was reserved for the Head table...so we only got a sliver of greasy slimey baby camel hump...boo hoo.

When we were finished, we got up and started to leave..OK I asked Dr. Tej the dumb question..where are the girls and when is the ceremony...NO girls...they have a get together on Saturday afternoon after the wife consumates the marriage. This WAS the ceremony...at the end they are considered to be married, we are all witnesses. The locals can have 4 concurrent wives, they must all be treated the same, he can divorce her, ,but he must continue to support her forever. So anyway we checked out, shook hands with another greeting line of complete strangers and headed home....Another local custom under my belt !

Red Bull Air Races and a song abour Art

The Races are this weekend and evidently a very large party, here are a few pictures and a video of the set up of the stages and they are practicing Arts Song, something about being an assasin for love !!!! Oh Boy .

This is the video...

Thses are some pictures Art took of the Practice Sessions on Wednesday

Emerates Palace

We took a walk to the Emerates Palace on Saturday. It is one of two 7 star hotels in the world. This huge complex with a concert arena, golf courses and a private beach only has 300 rooms, that start around 1500 US dollars per night up to $17,000 per night for the Royal suites. For valentines day week, they ran a special, for 1 Million Dollars US, a week at the hotel, a private jet to Oman for 1 day, Beruit for 1 day and Baharain for one day. One Russian businessman took the special.

The place is huge. It took us 1 hour to walk around the perimeter

There was another concert accross the street. Some Italian singer and a musical set. They set up an entire stage for the 3 hour concert. A member of the Royal family must have attended as they set up the above tent for them with all the golden chairs

The set up for the Triathelon this weekend

This is the stage that took a week to set up for a 3 hour concert, then the next day it was tore down for the Triathlon apparatus

This coming weekend is the Red Bull Air Plane races over the ocean/breakwater just outside our Apt. Art will go and take pictures of course ! Never a dull moment in Abu Dhabi.

Wakeboard Abu Dhabi 2010

This past weekend, in addition to us going Ballooning there was also a 3 day Wakeboard Competition just accross the street. Art took these pictures. Most of the action was out on the water, but these 2 shots were from the pool and ramps they built on the Corniche. It took 2 days to build a 200,000 gallon tank, they put up an overhead pulley system to mimic a boat.

This guy hit his butt on the ramp. Out on the water they went zoom zoom up and down the beach doing wake board stunts, flips, etc. Most of the people were from the UK. At night they set up 2 huge stages and bands played until 1 or 2 in the morning.

Then the weekend was over they took down the pool overnight, and today Wednesday there are 2 NEW HUGE stages being assembled for another concert on the Corniche Beach...Art will look it up on the paper to see who is playing. It really seems that each weekend there is some activity we can do.

It is starting to warm up a bit, not too hot, in the high 70's but the humidity is starting to go a bit higher...we are seeing the windows frost up and the sidewalks are damp in the morning. Art thinks we have about 2 to 3 weeks left of decent weather, we still don't have a car so that is becomming a priority. We have not moved yet so a new apartment is also on the agenda...Too many things to do and work is very hard...I need a vacation after 4 months.....we are thinking about a weekend in Oman or flying to Cyprus to 'just get away'...I can only dream now...off to bed

We finally got off the ground...it was a hazy morning as we got up at 3:45 am to meet our ride Kevin to the pick up point on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi. At around 5 am all 15 of us were ready and we were bused about 1 hour out of town toward Al Alain, the desert oasis that was the birthplace of the Sheikh of Abu Dhabi. The founding Sheikh was born out here and we learned from our pilot that this part of the desert is kept especially cleaned up of trash so that the Royal family can come out here with their falcons and hunt...There is a short video at the bottom of our first attempt at take off and a couple of random pictures Art took from the basket

This is the engine, 2 hot burners and a 16 passenger basket, four people to a quadrant and the pilot from Russia in the middle

Too bad it was so hazy, but this picture of when we came close to the earth to search for wind direction came out pretty good, it is along the top of a dune and the wind had blown over the top here

There were 2 balloons today, our sister balloon was filled with tourists from Dubai

15 Minutes in America - By Art

So today I went to America......for 15 minutes or so. I had to have something notarized and the US Embassy will do it for a nominal fee. I had a taxi take me there, (making sure first that he did not hava a black kerchief tied to his mirror) ( a sign of a Taliban sympathizer)...anyway I was a bit aprehensive at first as this was my first time to an Embassy. Other then when Mr. Bourne goes in all 3 episodes...I could not take pictures for security purposes, but the building is Odd shaped like some geometric hexa something...kinda like a stealth fighter design with hard angles sloping back, no inside corners..I assume to thwart any type of attack. The doors, all glass were double thick and HEAVY to open and close. I had to go through 3 security stations and pat downs...I shared this with a REAL American..a biker dude with long hair and an American Flag bandana as a head scarf under his helmet, and a week old beard. He was my age and like me a dependant of a working American woman. We went through the checkpoints together as you have to go through 2 buildings to get the inside...we both said at about the same moment..."It's nice to be in America" and laughed and stopped for a few moments at a memorial dedicated to Marines who had died defending other Embassies in the world. He was an ex Marine and he saluted and shed a tear or two, then we proceeded in. It was totally empty of visitors other then the 2 of us. We had to take a number and we joked as we both wanted to have the other go first... The grounds were pleasant and shady, we did not see any Marines, although I am sure they were seeing us....I kinda delayed leaving as long as I could, talked to the Philipino Guards, picked up my Cell Phone at the first gate and caught a Taxi back. Told the biker I would buy him a beer if we ever meet up again at the Sheraton or Hilton Hotels...he was from the outskirts in a surburban housing area of Villas and his wife worked for an Oil company.

It's 2:30 pm and time for the beach....the next post will have a lot of pictures as this weekend we are going ballooning and to the Wakeboard festival...it should be fun.

Lazy Day Off at the Beach

It's Friday, (our Saturday) and it is warming up just a bit to the mid to high 70's. We decided to go to the beach after breakfast as we heard music and saw lots of peope in black T-shirts. Today was a benefit called Terry Fox Cancer Awareness Fun Run. It must have started early in the day, we got there at 10 am and the festivities were over. A marching band was playing, and they were giving out free refreshments left over from the runners tables. We took a few pictures of the beach today.

Wake Board take off float for public use

For the next 2 weeks you can do free wakeboarding as this man is doing. They have a cable stretched about 200 meters accross that pulls peopled back and forth.

This yacht was anchored just offshore, earlier the Hull opened up on the port side and 2 jet skis de-boated and off they went around the marina and breakwater at breakneck speeds. Then the hull opened up again and swallowed them up. Art estimates it is about 100 fee in length at least, this is shot with the 12x zoom.

We are apartment hunting, so Art found a website that offers good like new used furniture from all the people who leave the UAE. They have some good appliances like Fridge and Oven (called Cooker) here. There is also bedroom and living room furniture. Quite a lot actually so this place is about 1 block behind our current flat and we visited it briefly, the owner was going off to pray at the moment we arrived, so we will go back in about 2 weeks to see if we can start to furnish our new place when we get it. We have a good furniture allowance, but nevertheless we want to be thrifty as much as we can

Quiet Weekend-Valentines day in bed

Not what it sounds like......trust me, I hurt my back doing "nothing", really I may have twisted wrong or turned wrong, but anyway it hurts like #@$#. Art was kind enough to keep me fed and in pain meds. The few times I got up were regrettable. By this morning (Monday) I am feeling good enough to go to work.

Last week was all work and no play although we did spend some time looking at 'flats' as they call them here. We saw a real nice tower that is almost complete and the 2 bedroom is in our price range the only problem is that it is not within walking distance of the beach. It does have good 360 degree views of the sea in the distance and it is right next to one of the largest shopping malls in town. We are in no rush so we will keep looking for the perfect 2 bedroom. We are working with a realtor "Suzy" that Art loves...(young and beautiful of course) and we have another showing. Agents typically get 10% commission of the annual rent and here u pay the entire years rent at one time up front ! Our allowance is for around $73,000 per year and that only gets us a good 2 bedroom apt or Villa. Not the penthouse, but something pretty decent. The rents here are outrageous and some of the people here only get around $20 - $40K that gets them a barely rentable place that is old, stinky, and in the middle of town with no view. I want a good view for the next 3 years I will be here.
Work is the same, the process here is at least 10 to 15 years behind what I was used to in the USA and I am tasked to bring them up to date in the Patient Financial Services world. I enjoy a challenge and believe me this is pretty challenging. On the good side, I made my initial evaluation of the systems and processes here and documented what I believe we need to succeed and made my first presentation to Senior Management for lots of new staff and processes to 'fix' everything. It was well received and now the tough work begins as I fight to get everything I need to succeed and put it into production....

This week we get our Liquor License and our Drivers License...then we can get a car and some Wine. The driver for the CEO has been here for over 30 years and 'knows' people. Getting the licenses can take weeks, but he gets past the B.S. and by the end of day tomorrow we should be just fine. Perhaps we will get a used car by the weekend. We are learning that around here you 'have to know someone' to get things done. You have to look like you know what you are doing (and even if u don't , u need to look the part) and be assertive.

So...thats it. Goodbye for now

What I learn at dinner

This note is mainly about the wonderful opportunities we have to meet new and interesting people here in Abu Dhabi. We have been to several nights out with people we meet. Last night for instance we had dinner cooked for us by the gentleman who runs another department. He is of Chinese decent, from Canada, another guest was from the Philipines and yet another was from Palestine. We had interesting conversations and learned alot about their cultures. Most interesting was Fred from Palestine. He was actually born in the USA, his parents evidently went back to Palestine and he travels a lot. He tried to visit his parents recently, but they live in Israeli occupied Palestine and the soldiers would not let him in, even with a USA passport. So he had to carry his luggage around and between checkpoints to 'sneak' into the occupied zones..It was much easier to get in, then getting out...his stories were lively, I like him a lot as he 'gets things done', as they say here. One time he commandeered a truck that was driving in the parking lot of the hospital...He stood out in front of the poor driver, waved him down and insisted he load his pharmacy shelving into the truck and take it around to the other side of the large hospital facility and unload it into his retail pharmacy....he said the poor guys were'nt sure what to do, but is waving, and ordering about must have meant to them that he was some kind of authority (he's not), but anyway his stoires are amusing and we laughed a lot. Everyone here has a storey on how they came about to come here and just now Art got home in a taxi driven by a Nepalese driver who has been here only 6 days and did not know his way around. He already had been fined 500 Dhirams (he only makes around 700Dh / month plus tips. So Art tipped him well. All Taxi drivers want to go to America. Many are from Pakistan and 100% of them ALWAYS say "Taliban are bad and just kill people". The Mountain area is unsafe. Taliban must go".... Over and over we hear that from every Pakistani driver.. We don't ask, they just all tell us that once they hear we are Americans.

Yesterday we walked 7.5 Kilometers accross town. We were looking for a 30 story apt. building that was just completed and starting to rent flats. We never found it, got lost (kinda) but eventually found a mall that we had been to before. We had to rest before we took a taxi home. Today Art found the Apt. building way on the other side of the Island from where we were looking, actually just accross the street from the back of the hospital. We were so close all the time...Oh well, we all know how directionally challenged I am. It is a beautiful place, brand new and renting now. Tomorrow we will go have a look inside. They become available at the end of March and Early April . 30 stories, sea views from some, adjacent to a large shopping center and supermarket and liquor store and near a multitued of ethnic food establishments. And 1 block from the back of the hospital I work at. Art still does not have a job, he will apply at 2 other places tomorrow, my hospital still has not made him an offer after 4 interviews, we are not sure why....but there are several places here in Abu Dhabi for him to work. In the mean time he is a 'kept man'.!!!!. Here is a pic of the apts we are looking at, not a very good picture, but you get the idea. This was taken in August. They are almost done now, working on the interiors and finishing touches.

The Balloon Ride that didn't happen !

Woke up this morning (Friday) and discovered that the town has been swept up in a desert sandstorm. Not quite as bad as the one depicted in this picture, but you get a good understanding of what a desert blow can look like in a matter of minutes. The balloon company called the group leader late last night to call off the trip due to forcasted high winds and rain (a rarity for rain). So instead of getting high up on the balloon, we had a breakfast brunch instead. About 12 folks showed up and at least 12 bottles of champagne were consumed along with a lot of local flavors..An Eastman Inn Quiche, Indian Breakfast, dates, fruit and of course bacon and eggs. A good substitute for the balloon ride...although the headache will soon be arriving I am sure !!!

Dune Bashing, Camel Rides, Belly Dancing

This was our young driver who drove us up and down and around many tall tall dunes. We went down sideways sometimes and we thought we were going to turn over. He kept on trying to pick up on our young friend who was riding in the back seat. I wished he would keep his eyes on the dunes and not her.

This was my camel and he was pretty grumpy. Art tried to get on also but he would not get up with Art's weight. So I rode him alone. It was fun.

Art with a young camel we came accross in the desert. There was a herd of females that they use for milking out being walked and fed by their herders that morning

She was a friendly gal and once I started petting her, she followed me around. In the background are other people who went with us. Our group consisted of 8 people from the Hospital where I work

This is dune bashing, notice him coming down sideway on that steep hill, some hills were taller and steeper. The sand here is kind of red and VERY fine, when you walk, you sink in deep when going down a dune. However when walking on flat surfaces it is very firm. All in all it was quite fun. When the sun set we went to an area where they had tables set up for dinner under the stars, then a belly dancer. Art really enjoyed that part and I will not post those pictures.

Next week we are going Ballooning over the desert in the morning. That too should be an adventure. Stay tuned

Art's Back

Today Marta went to Dubai for an Arab Health Care Conference. Leaving me to lay out on the beach. Oh such a tough life here. On Saturday we went to the movies, our first here in the UAE. There is a difference here when one goes to the movie theater, you get to choose your seat when you buy your ticket and when you go into the theater, an usher takes you to your seat. The cost is about the same around 9 or 10 dollars. We did not buy popcorn so I cant report if the same price gouging takes place at the snack bar...maybe next time. Weather her is still nice, in the 70 to 80's. Nice enough for us to take walks during the day. Not much else going on right now, just work for Marta and a couple of interviews for me. On Friday evening we have reservations to go on a desert safari. They pick us up at the apt., along with 3 other couples, then we head out to the desert to do some 4 wheel drive dune bashing in the sand dunes. Then they take us to a camel ranch where we get to ride for about 20 minutes to a place to watch the sunset and have a bedoiun dinner under the stars. I will take picture and post them later.

Art going back to UAE

I (Art) am going back to the UAE on Jan 19th. I found a 500 dollar flight, 1 way..what a deal on Lufthansa. I can't wait to get back and join Marta. I have spent 4 days with my new Grandson River and am anxious to join Marta. I just have to put together taxes and other year end paper work, then I am off. Marta is still facing challenges in her new work, many are quite interesting, some are cultural related, others appear to be process issues that have been going on for a long time and will take a while to resolve.

Happy New Years Eve Baby

We are thrilled and happy to report that we are Grandparents again. At 3 pm on Dec 31st EST, River Louis Michels was born to Arts Daughter Alicia. River is a whopping 10 lbs and 21 inches. River was born via C-section for obvious reasons...he came out round and pink...He is huge, happy and hungry...Both Mom and Son are doing fine...and Grand Pa Art is very proud !!!

Marta Can't Log In to Post

Oh My dear Marta cannot figure out how to log in in 'arabic'...I must admit, that you must put in your password first, then your user name....OK...rather then her not posting I will for her...I actually finally spoke with her yesterday..Thank You 'SKYPE'....she is deep into work...finding many issues that need to be resolved..The first thing that Marta did was create an 'issues' list in her first couple of weeks. It's a pretty long list but she has started to put together a plan and is still meeting with all the 'correct players' at the Hospital. Marta has started to make friends and since I have been gone she started meeting people for dinner and the 'rare' drink in this Muslim country. In February we will begin to look for a permanent place to live, that sounds scary, but she has met many 'expats' who have lived up to a dozen years here. One nurse just does 6 month stints and is about to move on to someplace in Africa. I would like to go on a Safari to see the Great Migration of the Wildebeest herds next summer. I head back in a couple of weeks, I am just waiting for Alicia to give birth to my first grandchild. She is huge, baby around 8 lbs and she still has 2 weeks to go. Big Ultrascan due on Wednesday to check on a more accurate Size...we are hoping for long and skinny to avoid a C-section. Here is a picture of her from last month.

Art writing for Marta

Well, I am back in America, with my internal clock all backwords, up all night. I was greeted by a huge storm today, the first of the winter. We have had between 12 and 14 inches of fluffy, then wet snow. Just in time for our Annual Inn to Inn Christmas Cookie Tour where 15 Inns in the Valley each cook around 1000 cookies and invite about 400 guests to tour the inns, eat cookies and other refreshments and get Holiday Decorating ideas. Our Inn was decorated by my loyal staff. Sherry created a Gingerbread house that is of our Local Village Train Station in the Middle of the Town...it's not finished yet. I suggest all of Marta's California friends come to New England next year to enjoy this annual festival Go Sleigh riding in the evening, Cross Country or Downhill Skiing. In the center of the town there is a public skating rink that is lit until midnight every night. Bring family and friends for a real New England Holiday...then you can fly to the UAE to visit Marta !!!!!!!

OK, blatant advertising and marketing is done for the day.....off to shovel snow !!!!!

Weekend Activities....it never stops

What a weekend for us. It seems we have more holidays then working days since I have been here. Everyday there is something new to see or do. We have been to check out about 5 shopping malls (since we have been here), altho we could not find the Gold Souk (souk=mall), but Art who is my GPS probably missed it on purpose....yes I am sure of that.

Art went to the Abu Dhabi Adventure Challenge, a 6 day (hiking, biking, running, swimming, kayaking, mountain climbing, desert hike). He went to the leg of biking and kayaking as it was close by, here is a link of a video of the race http://www.abudhabi-adventure.com/videotheque.php?page=VIDEO&lang=gb&codej=anglais video #2 is the best, # 3 breaks up a lot for unknown reasons. Art is thinking of volunteering to help in next years event as they need a lot of support staff for all the stages......

On Friday Art drug me to the Power boat races....they went round and round..
On Saturday after we slept most of the day away, in the evening we went to a Heritage Village, but it was closed...we were about to leave the area when Art noticed that down the block they were having an event. We checked it out and it was a Free concert held in a magnificent theatre. The Russian Folk Orchestra was going to play in 1 hour...we had time for a quick bite at a lovely restaurant right on the water. We ate outside and had traditional Gulf Food. The concert was excellant, we had to wait for some dignataries to arrive 1/2 hour late, they had special chairs in front (like thrones, with water, sweets, tea, candies) on table in front Turned out 1 was the Minister of Culture, the others were big shots too. The Russian Orchestra was flown in for the holiday events this past week, we were lucky to get to see them...Well that is the end of the holidays, but Soccer FIFA UAE is holding a tournnment in 6 days...more fun !

UAE Sports - Every day

It takes awhile to get used to seeing women dressed this way, but it is starting to seem more natural to us as we learn the culture. Art watched the movie "The Messenger" the story about the prophet Mohammed and the beginning of Islam....it makes more sense to him now the calling to prayer 5 times a day and to see people praying at the plethora of Mosques or the landscapers stopping and setting up their carpets on the lawn they are mowing to pray

Me on the Corniche admiring one of hundreds of fountains they have here in this desert. Art read that they de salinate the water for drinking

Not a week goes by without some kind of sporting "Championship Game" of some sort. They have a Sports Council that sees to every sport possible. I won't be able to sleep during this tournament as the locals stay up to the wee hours when their team wins (soccer)

Another round of powerboat races...not the huge F1 40 footers as 2 weeks ago, this time just big fast boats. We walked down there on Friday for day 1. The boats go round and round...Like Nascar, which I don't care about either...oh well, boys and their toys go round and round

After the race, Art got to go up to the display...oh boy...another boy with his toy. There is a shopping mall just behind the boat !

Fireworks Grand Finale from 4 barges

I was wrong about the barges on the beach, there are now 4 of them and they turned out to be the ones used for fireworks on Friday, Dec 3rd. It was awesome, the barges were barely 100 yards offshore and they shot massive fireworks for 45 minutes. We were right in the middle of it. Surely not OSHA approved as we were directly under the fireworks breathing smoke. This brief movie is of the finale, again we missed the 'smiley' face at the very end. It was the most spectacular loudest and brightest event I have ever seen !

National Day (Like the 4th of July)

38th National Day Celebrations !

Dec 2nd is UAE 38th National Unity day, The day the 6 of the 7 Sheikdoms in the area came together under 1 constitution to form a government. Bahrain and Quater declined...a year later a smaller area became the 7th and final emerate to become part of the UAE. so it was party day

All day long the streets began to fill with Partygoers..and honking, people decorated their cars with the national colors and pictures of the 3 highest rulers as shown above. Some were quite elaborate!

This barge appeared on the beach in the morning, we thought it was for the Fireworks later, and thousands of others did later in the evening, but that never happened. We think it just washed up. It was too close to the shore to safely shoot fireworks..they ended up being about 1 KM away at the Emerates Palace Hotel. They had Guinness World record staff there to record the " largest display of fireworks ever" . By pure luck we had walked down to that area to take pictures so we had a pretty good view.

The crowds were overwhelming, the streets came to a standstill around 10 pm, Honking, people singing and dancing in the streets, waving flags and tooting horns, it was loud. The Palm trees in the center divider were all lit up, what u cant see in this picture is that the spiky things on the palms had 'moving' lights that shot out from the center to the bottom of the tree, hard to describe, but beautiful to look at

This is a short move of the fireworks and the crowds.

It was a pretty good day, it went on way too long, we went to bed around midnight but the noise, firecrackers and singing and dancing in the streets went on until past 4 am according to Art who got up several times to watch the streets below !