Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Creek Life, Not Greek Life...

The souqs live down by the creek.  And the creek is a happening place.  The great thing is that it's impossible to see all of the souqs without taking a ride on an abra to the other side of the creek.  That's how happening it is.  And because I don't get to be a part of Creek Life everyday, I took some pictures for you to see how amazing it really is.



These men know what Creek Life is all about.  
They load up this dhow in order to transport goods up and down the creek to the place they need to be.


Don't worry, I took this warning seriously.


This is an abra.
The driver sits in the hole in the middle and operates the boat while the riders sit all around him.


This is a picture taken from the Deira side of the Creek.
We wanted to get to the Bur Dubai side.


Amanda and I sitting in front of our fleet of abras.


There's our fleet again.


A man driving his abra and talking on a cell phone...
Priorities are everything, eh?
Get off the road!!!  Hehe.


One of the dhows in the distance.


Abras don't have any railings or seatbelts.
But they do have foot rests.

Monday, November 29, 2010

One Last Thankful Note

The "One Last" part of this title is a little misleading.  I'm sure that there will many thankful notes in the future, but this "One Last Thankful Note" is in regards to Thanksgiving this year.  And what a Thanksgiving it was.

One of the joys of living in an international community is being able to share.  We share time, food, fellowship and traditions.  This year, I'm so thankful to have shared all of those things with the people I love here.  After reflecting on thanksiness, my hope is that everyday will be full of giving thanks for the things our Creator has given us, but most of all, thanksgiving for our Creator himself.

So on the one last thankful note...
A short Thanksgiving Photo Montage.

Thanks-receiving...
Kristen- just so you know, it was the Best Thing I've ever been to!
(Full of lots of pictures of Nigel...)


Nigel & Edith


Kate & Nigel


The Spread before the other guests arrived.


Edith's Artsy Turkey... Beautiful!

Thanksgiving
Before the guests arrived...



Aliza, Amanda & I made Autumn leaves for the table.
(Because you can't find them on the ground...)

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Gobble Gobble

Remember when you were only 3 1/2 years old?  Whenever a holiday celebration was getting closer you would help prepare for it, right?  And every good American tradition has everything to do with food.  So, in preparation for Thanksgiving this past week we made Turkey Cookies with my favorite 3 1/2 year old girl.

Now... just put yourself in Aliza's tiny, little, petite, cute pink shoes...


You sit at the kitchen counter awaiting your destiny.
You're so excited that you can't help but touch the Spinney's bag with all of the ingredients.


As the grown-ups explain the process, you're anticipating the greatness you will accomplish.


Then you see one of the ingredients.
Something that is honestly a little distracting, something that looks really really good.


And you ask for one.  
Not forgetting what you're really there for, oh no.  
But just taking a pre-break from the creative labor that you're going to undertake as you're accomplishing your greatness.


And man, that pre-break is necessary and so good.


The finished product after many pre-breaks and mid-breaks...


Gobble Gobble.

Saturday, November 27, 2010

The Souqs with Big Boss

Amanda and I went to the souqs with our friend Brady... Who is commonly referred to as either Best Friend, My Dahling or Big Boss by the men trying to sell him fine spices or textiles.  That was an experience in and of itself.


Fruits and Vegetables for all, most of which are imports.


Dates, not an import and yummmmmmmmmy!


The entrance of the Gold Souq is over yonder.  Straight ahead.


The biggest gold ring in the world, which you can wear with your sparkly gold bikini.
Or Not...


My favorite part...  The spice souq.


Textiles


More fine textiles.  Text me if you want a textile.
Just kidding, that's just a little textile humour.


Hindi Lane

Thursday, November 25, 2010

The Question is...

Do you like fish?

If you do, when you come visit I'll take you on an adventure...  To the fish souq.


I like to call this portrait, "Just Hangin' Around with My Cuttlefish"
Cuttlefish are the inky, white ones on the bottom of the picture.


"Squid and Me"
Do you see the octopi?


"Antennas are all the Rage in Tropical Waters, so Get'chu Some"


"Sure hope these guys like Fish..."


"Nice to Meet You"

But you really don't get the picture until you hold a fish...


Wednesday, November 24, 2010

This just in...

I was wrong.  Things catch on in ways that I never expected.  I am NOT behind the times.  And either is this guy...



Well done, Glen, well done.


Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Card-bored?

Is never the case.  If you have some cardboard, you can make something out of it.  So how could you ever be bored?

One day after going for a walk Amanda spotted a LARGE cardboard box and said, "We should make a house out of that."  And thus we did...

After it was made it needed to be inspected...


Thoroughly...


I mean really, really thoroughly... because a new house is suspicious to everyone.
Ya know?


But don't worry, the house passed its inspection.


And you can't have a new house without a house-warming party.



(Side note: sometimes it's really hard to take a picture of an almost 2 year old...  
They're fast.  Like cats.)

Monday, November 22, 2010

I think they've caught on...

Skype is an interesting thing...  it's wonderful because it helps me communicate with the people I love on a regular basis.  And if I can't see the quirkiness of my family and friends in person, at least I'd like to see a semi-distorted image of them.

The other interesting thing is what I like to refer to as my social-blog skype hypothesis.  Sky Ranch Outdoor Education amigos- what is a hypothesis?  Seriously, raise your hands!!!  Yes Lyndsey?  That's right- it's an educated guess.  Very nice.

My hypothesis is that my parents (THE Rodger and Shirley) have caught on to the fact that I will very likely take a picture of them in the first few minutes of our weekly skype conversation and post it on my blog.  Now, what warrants a good blog post?  Answer: there has to be something of interest.  Therefore, they try to be VERY interesting.

If this is true, then they will prepare something interesting to show me with the motive of being put on the blog.

Test #2,452- The evening of Sunday, November 22, 2010 at 23:52 hours

1st data image: after calling my mum this is the first thing I see...


Yes, this is a true story.

2nd data image: conversation with Dad and accompanied story...



My father entered into our skype conversation with something that looked like the biggest lifesaver necklace I've ever seen.  In truth, however, it was a glowing camp light my mother and I used on our August road trip.  My father proceeded to tell me that because the electric bill had gotten higher with the addition of our skype conversations, my mother had told him to cut back on their electricity uses.  So, his solution?  Instead of turning on lights in the house, wear your own light-source to shed light on all of those pesky dark places...

What's your conclusion...?


Sunday, November 21, 2010

Glasses

This picture was taken by my most favorite Glozilla....


What does it mean when your eyebrows are two inches below the top rims of your glasses?  Does it mean that you are what they call "Behind the times"?  Does it mean you need new ones?

Someone at the conference we went to yesterday said that I looked just like Thelma from Scooby Doo...  should I take that as a compliment?  Does this mean that camp style doesn't stretch into the real world?

I think my life is changing...

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Baba Al Shams

Is the way I like to say it... but really it's called Bab Al Shams.

You're probably wondering- "What a strange way to start a blog post, I don't even know what that means."  Well, I'll tell ya- calm down.

In Arabic it means "Doorway to the Sun".  Bab Al Shams is one of the most impressive desert getaways in the world.  That's what I was told before I went and that's what I reasoned to myself as I enjoyed it.  Except when I say "enjoyed it", I really mean that I consumed a milk shake there and sat on the roof with wonderful friends.  But OH- what a roof it was...  And what a fitting name.







Everything past that white tent is desert.