When in Dubai...Be A Dubian

Hello All!
So the rest of last week was pretty boring. Kids were leaving early for vacation so I had to keep my kids busy but not give them too much work so the students who were gone would fall too far behind. We started monologues in theatre class and we wrote scary stories in my speech class that I collected. The monologues are going to be pretty easy compared to most because they are stories that actually happened to them and they are heightened emotions-saddest moment of their life, scariest moment, happiest moment, etc. Some of them just found out today that they will probably have to re-write their story for me to look off of and memorize and act at the same time by themselves on stage *GASP* It’s quite fun to see their reactions when they realize these are things that happen on a regular basis in acting. Also, they always want me to show them exactly what to do because the culture here never really requires them to be creative or do any critical thinking. But this time, instead of showing them to start off what they’re getting into, I am moving right along with them but giving snippet examples as we go along. Mostly because I wasn’t prepared either but they don’t know that. In speech we’re taking a short break from doing complicated (for them) speeches and did a little bit of impromptu speaking and now we will read scary stories. They all wrote real or fake stories and I collected them. I plan on shuffling them around so that no one knows who anyone’s is and they will practice oral interpretation-take someone else’s words/story and making them their own. With Halloween coming I thought it would be fun especially since they don’t really celebrate that here.
This past weekend was a 4-day weekend so most of us teachers went traveling. I went to Dubai again with Taylor but Mohamed and Brendon joined us this trip. It was actually really fun because it was a different feel travelling with people I wasn’t best friends with and not planning a lot in a short amount of time. On Friday, we left around 9am and got to Dubai around 11am (time change). We brought all of our bags to the hotel first and dropped them off before Brendon and Mohamed went to the Burj Khalifa (tallest building in the world) in the Dubai Mall. Since Taylor and I had already been there, we went to the Mall of the Emirates and ate and just hung out for a while. We went back to the hotel to find the guys in the hotel pool so we joined them for a bit. We had to leave after about an hour to catch a shuttle to a comedy show that we were going to. If you know Dave Chapelle, he was the headliner. It was really cool just to see a comedy show in really life. Also, I was surprised Dave was performing because he has a sort of crude humor and because he had a sort of fall-out in the past years.
When we got back to our hotel that night before the comedy show, I got to explore our hotel room a little bit. This hotel was basically a 2 bedroom apartment with a kitchen full of utensils, 2.5 bathrooms and a living room. Oh, and a balcony that went all the way around our room. It was pretty sweet. Although we never used the kitchen except to store stuff in, Having all of the things we got for a cheap price was pretty amazing. The view from the balcony was pretty awesome and we got to sit out there in the morning and enjoy the sun and wind.
The next day, Mohamed, Taylor and I went to SkiDubai and got a pass that let us ride toboggans, sleds, zorg balls, and the chairlift in the mall. It was a lot of fun to be able to do it even though I would have liked to have gone skiing and I think it would have been worth the money more so than what we did. But I still had a ton of fun in the short amount of time we were there. The toboggans and sleds were pretty full with a lot of children and their parents because even though it was a short sled/ride, that’s the best thing to do as a kid. Not to mention that it made you go the fastest and you didn’t get sick. The zorg balls were probably my favorite part just because of what it was, not the ride itself that we got. Zorg balls are basically those gigantic rubber balls you jump in the middle of and roll down the hill in. I thought this was really fun…mostly because I figured out how to slide down in them and not roll constantly and get sick like Taylor did. The hill was small so that’s why the ride wasn’t as fun, but if it had been a longer hill, I think it could have been way more fun and way more worth it.
When we left SkiDubai and got back to the hotel, we only had about 30 minutes to relax before someone came and picked us up for our desert safari. This safari was very similar to the one we did in Abu Dhabi but Taylor and I wanted to go on it again because it was really fun. As the night progressed, I did notice quite a few differences. On this one, the dune bashing was not nearly as fun nor was it as long. It was maybe 10 minutes long and he drove a little slower and more carefully so I think he was a new guy but it was still cool for the guys to experience. When we got to the tents, Mohamed had paid extra to drive an ATV and so he paid for me to do it too since I left my money in the hotel. It was pretty fun just to drive an ATV in the desert for 20-30 minutes but they were slow because they were for tourists, they were small, and we could only drive around in a circle in this blocked off area. A lot of us still drove around wherever we wanted in the blocked off area but every once in a while, they would yell at us to go around the outside. Before the dinner began, we also had a lot of things to choose from to do.
Mohamed and I stuck together for the most part since we were the only ones to do the ATVs. The next thing we did was get in line for the camel rides, but that quickly changed as Mohamed has a short attention span. Instead, we found a guy who was giving rides on his horse for 50 dirham…about $13. Granted, it was a few minute ride but I still didn’t think it was worth it and the horse looked so sad but Mohamed was all for it. Next he found a guy who let people hold and take pictures with his falcon for 10 dirham. Once again, I didn’t think it was worth it since I was at the falcon hospital in Abu Dhabi but Mohamed hadn’t been this close to a falcon yet so he went for it. There was finally a short enough line for the camels so Mohamed and I got on one (this was included in the safari). It’s quite different than riding any other animal mostly because they had to sit down so we could get on and then we were just about thrown off the front or back when they were getting up or down.
Other than that, it is very important to mention that sandboarding actually worked this time. There was only one board but thankfully we were the only ones attempting it when we were on the dune. Mohamed and I were both able to make it down the slope without falling off, face planting, or getting stuck halfway down. I’d say it was pretty successful compared to the first try. Later on, there were two dancers. One was basically twirling a bunch of things on fire and lighting the gasoline on the ground. It actually looked really cool. Then there was a guy who was a professional spinner-which apparently is very prestigious here because they train for years to become a professional. He spun continuously for like 10 minutes and did different things with some props and his costume. Parts of his costume had lights on and he had two parts of his skirt thing that lit up too. Finally they served us food and in my opinion it was better than the first one. They had a little bit more variety in the food, there wasn’t so much meat kabobs this time (for Taylor’s sake, she’s a vegetarian) but the hummus was terrible this round L Afterwards, they had a belly dancer again but she wasn’t as good as the first one. Plus it seemed more like a strip club because she accepted monetary tips from the tourists as she was dancing. Overall it was shorter and a little bit worse in most cases but some stuff was pretty cool. The guys loved it though so that’s all that really mattered.
The last day in Dubai all of us went to Atlantis Waterpark. This time, Taylor and I went to go to a sea lion encounter because then it would be a bit different than the first time we went to the waterpark. We got to the building and we met a Dutch family that was going to be interacting with the sea lion with us. We went over a few safety procedures after changing into our wetsuits (which were terribly hard to get on by the way, I think I got a burn on my ankle from it). Then we went into a cold room where we met our two instructors-one for us, one for the sea lion. We walked into the pool and met Mollie the sea lion who was 21 years old. Next door were some of her babies from previous years ages 18, 14 and 8 and they just played around in their pool. First they brought us into the pool and we just got to pet Mollie and take photos—sea lions are even softer than penguins! After we pet her the first time, we began to do a couple poses with her and a lot of group petting, which helped reinforce her good behavior. Then we got to let her kiss us either on the cheek or on the lips. Of course Taylor and I chose lips because how often can people say they’ve kissed a sea lion? She did a few more tricks for us like reminding us to pick up trash and recycle bottles (the trainer threw a bottle into the water and Mollie retrieved it and dropped it into a recycling bin) and showing us how strong she was by standing on her front two flippers. By this time it had already been an hour! We had to leave and go back to the waterpark to meet up with the guys.
Taylor and I grabbed some money and ate a quick lunch before heading off to ride some slides and search for the guys. Although we never really did find them on purpose, Taylor and I had found Mohamed and Brendon on the first ride we were going on-which was actually Taylor’s favorite ride. They were just a few groups ahead of us so they just waited for us so we could all go together. It was a big water tube slide that had about a 70 or 80 degree drop of 20 feet towards the end of the ride and then a tall side that brought us back down. After that we did Poseidon’s Revenge-my favorite-where the door drops down beneath you. Brendon and I were all for it but Mohamed and Taylor were a little hesitant, however, we all went down the slide and they didn’t think it was nearly as bad as they imagined. We stayed together for the rest of the day at the waterpark for the most part. We rode a few more rides and did the Lazy River for a little more than one round of it (about 30 minutes) before getting ready to go. The boys went back to change and get their voucher for food at a café in the waterpark and Taylor went back early to change since it would take her longer than me. I got in line to ride Leap of Faith again-the one you slide down a couple stories and go through the aquarium before coming out. However, by the time I needed to go back to change I had made it only ¾ of the way through the line so I just left.
We grabbed a taxi and went to the Dubai Mall. Brendon and Mohamed went off in search of something a co-worker wanted from there and to look around while Taylor and I went to Rainforest Café and ate an entire meal. I had a voucher for two for a main course and drink there because when we were there over Eid I wrote a very negative feedback sheet and put my contact details down. The first time it took a very long time to get anything past our drinks. Whole families had come in, eaten, and left before we even got our food and they said it would only take 20 minutes. Anyways, the manager sent me an email and extended the invitation to come back for two free meals so we did. It ended up to be about a $60 meal for free so I can’t complain. That was the last stop before we went to the airport.
On Monday night a co-worker, Rhonda, was hosting a small party at her house. Her apartment building has a pool and a sauna on the roof and she said she would make chili so I figured I couldn’t lose in the situation. But, in payment, we had to bring some treats and stuff Halloween bags for her students. Mohamed and I went together so we were on the roof in the pool and sauna for about 2-3 hours before going down to her apartment to eat and help her with her Halloween bags. It was a very relaxed evening and it was good to do that the day after coming back from vacation. Anyways, I need to do some more work, as always, so I’ll catch up with you guys later.