Dubai Part 1

decorated for Valentine's Day

Hello!

We just returned from our Adventure In Dubai.  On the way there, we flew 7 hours to Frankfurt, then 6 more hours to Dubai.  Coming back, it was a looooooong flight from Dubai to Washington D.C.  We were in the air for 15 1/2 hours, I think.  Then another hour or so to Boston.

Burj al Arab: 7-star hotel

FRANKFURT. (see previous post).

7-STAR HOTEL: BURJ AL ARAB.  We wanted to give ourselves a break the first day, since we didn't know how we'd respond to jet lag.  Dubai has the World's Only Seven-Star Hotel, Burj Al Arab.  They don't let just any Joe from off the street come in and take pictures or anything.  But they will let you in withOUT staying overnight in the hotel, if you have reservations for a meal in one of their restaurants.

We made reservations for a late breakfast, and oohhed and aahhed at all the elaborate fountains, chandeliers, and fancy architecture.  They had lots of heart flower formations from it being Valentine's Day the day before.  It was an impressive international spread for breakfast!

I really liked the fountains in the Burj al Arab.

It sounds a little silly, but they were very exact, as the water in the fountains shot out in a synchronized pattern, to the exact squares they needed to, to make patterns.  Sometimes in a stream and sometimes in little bursts, then they sounded like clapping or snapping.  It was quite the entertaining show.  Those fountains were very cool! (Okay, probably not $3000-a-night-cool.  But still cool.)

Burj al Arab: looks like a sailboat

BEACH.  Then we went with our friend Lori (our Hostess/Concierge/Tour Guide Extraordinaire for the week) to the beach.  With her club membership, we could play on the water toys and take out paddle boards.  It was a warm, peaceful place to spend the afternoon.

Teresa & Kara: definitely harder than it looks!

Frank & Kara on the floaty toy

CULTURAL CENTER.

Next day, we went to the Cultural Center, where the lady presented us with a full traditional Arabic breakfast!

Lentils, chick peas, flat bread with date syrup.  Little bread balls that you could also dip in syrup.

The lady explained about the traditional dress of Muslim people, and answered questions about arranged marriages, their 5 prayers a day, and briefly what is contained in Islam's religious text, the Quran.

Islamic prayers are given 5 times each day, determined by the position of the sun in the sky.  Prayers are given at:
1) pre-dawn
2) midday
3) afternoon
4) sunset, and
5) night.

Mosques (like church buildings) are scattered throughout towns and neighborhoods, and they have intercoms to the outside, to remind people of the prayer times.  Lori and Paul live close to a mosque, and we could hear the "call to prayer" 15-20 minutes before each prayer time.  They kind of sing, or chant scriptures from the Quran, with music in the background.  Then those who go to the mosque put signs in their shop windows: "Back in 15-20 minutes."

If they don't go to the Mosque to pray, they can put down a prayer rug and face the Kaaba (a black cube, the holiest Islamic shrine) which is located in Mecca.  Here is an Internet photo of the Kaaba, in Mecca.  Once in their lives, each devout Muslim will make a pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia.  Many go during the month of Ramadan, which is a month of fasting.  (Kaaba actually means "cube" in Arabic.)

Kaaba: holiest shrine (black cube) in Mecca.
No matter where you are in the world, all Islamic prayers
are said facing Kaaba, this cube/shrine

ATVs.  The next morning we took quad bikes out, where there was desert as far as the eye could see!  Rolling hills after more rolling hills after peaks and valleys and more peaks of sand.

CAMEL RACING.

We went to the camel racetracks, and a camel racing festival was just starting.

We were supposed to see an actual race, but there was a little confusion on the website info.

I think we got there the first day of the festival, and the camel teams were just arriving that day, too.

So there were 4 or 5 riders leading maybe 20 or so camels per team, to get them used to the track.

We followed them around like true tourists, and I think the riders may have thought we were crazy.  But a few of them smiled and waved, as they trotted the camels around.

They probably never got paparazzi treatment for warming up the camels before!

The post is getting a little long, so I will close "Part One."  The next day we went to the Grand Mosque and that was pretty amazing...to be continued, as I go through more pictures :)

Kari

A Taste of Frankfurt

Hola!

I'm going through our pictures, and it is a little overwhelming...with 4 shutterbugs in the family going on vacation, we have multiple cameras clicking, phone cameras with selfies, plus video clips being taken!  We have an embarrassing number of photos.  But well, they bring me joy, and digital photos don't take up much space.  So it can't be ALL bad, right :)

I have posted some Dubai photos on facebook, and I'm doing a little bit of journaling in the blog about each activity.  So there will be Dubai photos in the next post in a few days, or tomorrow, or something.

Kara & Teresa in front of a vineyard

FRANKFURT LAYOVER.  But we also had a neat long layover on the way to Dubai, in Frankfurt, Germany.  We were there for about 6 hours, in the early morning on a Saturday.  Frank arranged a driver for us, to take us for a driving tour around Frankfurt.  We visited vineyards and monasteries, and tried German sausages in an authentic German farmers' market.  My internal body clock wasn't sure which time zone we were in at that point, so my eyes were pretty heavy for most of it!  It was still interesting.

WINE GRAPES. It is winter, so of course the vineyards were not lush and green, and ready to harvest!  But we still saw the huge fields and grids of grapevines, dormant but symmetrical to the sides of roads and beside the monasteries.  The grapes will grow this spring and summer, behind Teresa and Kara in the above picture.

ARCHITECTURE.  There were also pretty cathedrals and unique structures in the downtown areas of even the smaller towns.

TAX COLLECTOR IN A CASTLE. Another bit of local history lies in the castles along the "Main River..."

castle along the river

These waterways were the only way to get goods from point A to point B throughout the country.  So anyone transporting goods had to use that river.  They had to pay taxes at each castle, and there were dozens of castles!  It must have been quite expensive to use the river that way.

corner building that housed this
mineral water "Fountain of Youth"

FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH.  Germany has many natural springs, bubbling with water loaded with minerals.  This water is supposed to be cleansing and purifying, very good for your body and will cure what ails you!  So very often, even in the middle of small towns, there will be a fountain of natural springwater.  People go there daily to drink, or to fill pots or pitchers with the water so they can drink a little every day.

Our tour guide brought us little cups
to try the water...some said it
tasted like sulphur

FARMERS' MARKET.  It was quite cold, early in the morning and even after the sun came up!  But that did not deter the vendors and those coming to shop at the Farmers' Market.  We tried some German sausage at one booth, bought fruit from another, and stood in line for breakfast pastries to round out the meal.

colorful flowers to buy at the Farmers' Market
(even though it was about 30 degrees outside)

Farmers' Market

FEBZILLA

Hola! (subject line phrase coined by my friend Julie Berry...)

Yep, we're here... and yes, it's snowing.  Again!

I'M SO HAPPY THAT WE HAVE ELECTRICITY.
Should I say that again?
5 more times?? Ha.  It's been ultra-cold, and the snow is powdery for the moment.  This storm started last night and is supposed to continue through the night tonight.

SNOW DAYS.  Our kids haven't had a full week of school for four weeks!  Martin Luther King Jr. Day was Monday, Jan. 19, giving us a 4-day week.

Mound closest is our poor rhododendron plant :(

The next week was the first Big Storm (24 inches at our house): 2 snow days made it a 3-day week.

Last week was another Big Storm (18 inches)...most school districts took 2 days off, but we only had 1 day off, making that a 4-day week for us.

BAD, BAD icicles!

And now this storm!  For sure today makes a 4th snow day off from school this winter.  (Hoping we can dig out in time so they can go to school tomorrow, but it hasn't slowed down yet...)  Teresa is happy enough about that, since the seniors do not have to make up the days.  Kara, however, looks at the calendar and sees that now, our "last day of school" has been bumped around the weekend, into the next week of June!  The kids will go to school through June 22 now. Ugh!

Bentley at work

BENTLEY SHOUT-OUT.  See these awesome photos of snowflakes?  They're from the Internet, but I'm thanking Wilson Bentley, a man passionate about snow and nature.  Born just weeks before President Lincoln was assasinated, he perfected a process of taking pictures of snowflakes: catching flakes on black velvet in such a way that their images could be captured before they melted.


RECITAL.

Kara & her friend Isabel

Kara did great on her piano recital last Saturday!
She had been practicing "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey like crazy, and she did really well on it.  It's so fun when our kids latch onto 80's songs!  That was 1981.  I'm sure she'd play it for you over the phone or something, if you asked her to :)

Well, just checking in.  We're still alive and we still have power :) :) :) :) :) :)  I'm so happy about that, I may just...go out and shovel!

Kari

Snow, Celebrations, Upcoming Adventure

Hello and Happy February!!

We are having a sunny day today.  So bright and cheery-looking outside!

SNOW. We survived our "Big Storm" last week, which gave us a whopping TWO FEET of snow, and gave the school students 2 days off of school.  It was light and fluffy!

 After hours of all of us taking shifts, moving snow off of cars and sidewalks and driveways, the girls played in it some, too.

24 inches of snow...?!?!?!?

I'M FAMOUS!!  Tonight and tomorrow we're supposed to get some more.  But did you catch the news, and what they called the little storm between Wednesday's and tonight's storm?  WINTER STORM KARI!!  Yes, and they even spelled it right!  Here's my link: Winter Storm Kari .  It wasn't devastating or terrible. Just a small one that followed the big one.

Zipping down the hill at lightning speeds...well not really

Kara & her friend Liesel

NEW MONTH.  The big accomplishment is: we made it through January!!  Yesterday was the last day, and now we're into "short February." Teresa pointed out last night: have you looked at the calendar for February?  It's a perfect rectangle." Four full weeks, starting on Sunday, so no "leftover" days at the end of 28 days.  A perfect rectangle!

KARA'S AWARD.  Kara worked really hard on her "Personal Progress" in church, including goals and service projects in value categories like Integrity and Individual Worth.  She has also been studying scriptures to learn, and earn her Young Womanhood Recognition award.  It's very cool, and represents hours and hours of organized effort in different goal areas.  So she received it a few weeks ago!
 We went out to celebrate.  There's a great Mexican restaurant about 20 minutes from us.  Frank and I have been back a few times now -- which says something!  We usually say, "let's try something new,"  but we like this place: it's very small, not much to look at, but serves really good food.

FEBRUARY ADVENTURE.  The kids get a "February Break" from school: a week off, about mid-month.  So it probably sounds a little weird, but we're going to Dubai ("doo-BYE," like you're telling someone "bye") for that week!

 In Mexico City, we met quite a few other families "on assignment," who had different work-related moves and had lived in various countries for work.  The Andersons continued that trend, and are now on assignment in Dubai.  They had lived there 3 years, and then last fall they extended one more year.  They threw out the invitation: "Come visit us in Dubai!"  So we thought about it...and said okay.  We'll call it a "Senior Family Trip" in honor of Teresa's senior year, her last year of living with us at home full-time...?  (Just kidding.  The timing is because the Andersons are there, ha!)   Frank had some frequent flyer miles that covered 2 of our plane tickets, so that worked out well.  We'll leave on Feb. 13, a week from Friday.


We just got the recorded phone call informing us that school is cancelled for tomorrow.  Forecasters say "a foot or more snow expected."  (Me? I'm still in denial that winter's even coming...can you see me curled up on the couch with my hands over my ears and eyes closed, singing "I can't hear you...")

But don't worry about me.  Mentally, I'm on a beach somewhere, soaking up the sun with a good book.

Kari :)

Snowmageddon 2015

Hola!

Well we are in the middle of our blizzard, here in New England and specifically Massachusetts.  I made it to the grocery store last night (didn't really NEED to...just did, for some extras...).  It is kind of funny, how the forecast of a storm sends people to the stores.  By 4 p.m. last night, the pickins were pretty slim in some aisles of Stop n Shop!  I did not have "water" on my list, but as I walked by the water aisles, the shelves were completely empty, except for 3 of those 5-gallon water jug things you put up in the office so people can get cups of water throughout the day.

NEWS. If you have the news on all the time (and I don't recommend it...I think 24-hour news is silly, given what they report as "important" most of the time), you would think we are all already dead!  Drama, drama, drama.  That gets people frantic and panicky.  That's not exactly healthy.

(I type these words on my computer, of course, meaning we still have power.  Knock on wood, count our many blessings, thank you, thank you!  My tune changes, you might recall, if the electricity goes out!  That is my own form of hyperventilating drama.  As of right now, we still have power and heat, and I am exceedingly happy about that!)

SCHOOL CLOSINGS. There has been lots of hype ahead of this storm, so schools pretty much announced they would be closed for today, by 4p.m. yesterday.

SNOW. So the snow started last night for us, and is supposed to continue ALL day, and into the night.  Wayland may get an additional 12-18 inches?  We currently have about that.  Maybe a foot? It's hard to tell.

Here's the front door, looking out.

Snow drifted against the front door

And also the view out the front window, towards the mailbox and street...

from living room looking out

same view (backwards) in the fall

Below, I've posted the same view, only backwards, withOUT snow...

It's supposed to come down all day today.  High winds make the snow blow sideways, and when it's so windy it drifts!  So you can't be so sure on the measurements.

So far, we are snug as bugs.  We still have power so Frank can work from home.

And I can still be in denial about shoveling until it stops tonight.

Then the digging-out begins!

Happy Tuesday from the Arctic North :)

Kari

Movies, Cooties, Patriots

Hola!  Today is the 16th of January...that would mean January is half over!  What have we done with the month so far...?

Elves...exceptional warriors :)

THE HOBBIT.  Yes, Frank and I held off watching "The Hobbit" until we could watch it at our leisure, and actually "finish" it, for Pete's sake!  None of this "3 separate movies, stretched out over 3 years, where you have to stay hanging, and wait a whole year in between each one" kind of thing.  Two weekends ago, we rented the first 2 Hobbit movies from Redbox and watched them, and then last weekend we watched the 3rd movie in the theater.  Amazing cinemetography.  Thoroughly disgusting "Orc" creatures.  And I really want those Elves fighting on MY side.

(P.S. I think Orlando Bloom -- photo above -- was born under a lucky star...how did he get the "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies, AND the Lord of the Rings starring roles?)

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS.  Well this will be WAY more exciting for our cousin Dallas in Show Low than for people in our house (?!?!), since he is the die-hard Patriots Fan.  But the Patriots are one game away from going to the SUPERBOWL!  Around this sports-crazy town, there is much rejoicing.  We'll see what Sunday brings.

STREP THROAT.  I couldn't remember why last week seemed so short...now I do remember.  I lost 2 days to laying in bed wishing I could disappear!  I don't think I have had strep cooties before.  I will say, however, that I am EXTREMELY glad to be born AFTER PENICILLIN.  Wow, what a difference that awesome stuff makes.

MIDTERMS. Kara and Teresa gear up for midterms at the high school...those will take place next week.  It's a new and rather daunting experience for freshmen.  Kara has 5 big tests, over the course of 4 days.  The high school sets it up like a college schedule.  The students have two 2-hour testing blocks of time each day of midterms, and no other regular classes.  It's "old hat" for Teresa the Senior, but having done it 6 times before (midterms, then finals each school year) does not make it any less stressful.

NEWEST FAMILY PHOTOGRAPHER. Teresa has taken some really cool pictures in her photography class this semester.  Here are some she took while we were in Florida...oh the first 2 are here at our house in Massachusetts.  If you click on these pictures, you can see them bigger.

alligator buddy in the canal behind Grammie D & Poppa Dave's

Creepy, huh?

Have a great weekend!
Love, Kari