We rented a car for the weekend and headed for a day trip to check out more sights in Dubai with Gary. We saw the Burj al Arab from Madinat Jumeriah and didn't get much closer this time as we weren't properly dressed for a visit inside the world's only 7 start hotel!

We took a walk through the souk at Madinat Jumeriah, went to the Dubai Mall which gives a great view of the finishing touches to the world's tallest building. Supposedley construction has been put on hold to finish this one up.


In the evening we headed over to the older part of Dubai, checked out the Bastakiya quarter (which was empty since it was Friday, prayer day), went to the 'knock off' souk (I didn't buy anything as I'm waiting for Bangkok next week!) and ended up eating dinner at a great Mexican restaurant in Jumeriah. The only thing missing were the margaritas. It's a bit off the beaten tourist track and not attached to a hotel, so no liquor...very sad. But the food was great and guacamole made at your table is awesome!

Our friend Gary from Australia who Nick taught with at Taylor's College came for a visit last week, so we were busy showing him the sights and sounds (mostly honking) of the city. While Nick was busy working Gary and I visited the Emirates Palace and the Cultural Center. Nick joined us for a trip to the Heritage Village, which is set up to represent a traditional Bedouin village along with some older Arabic style buildings. While visiting the Heritage Village, the Red Bull Air Race was getting underway. They were practicing for the next day of races, so it was nice to see a little sneak peak.

Incredible India is their tagline these days and our trip, while short, was not necessarily 'incredible', but definitely colorful, eye opening and overall enjoyable. Thankfully and surprisingly it wasn't an overwhelming, that 'in your face' India experience in which we expected when visiting for the first time.

Did you get sick?? Obviously the first question we got asked upon our return...and the answer was initially, no :) But eventually I think a diet full of curries caught up to us and about 3 days after our return......we had spoken to soon on this subject :)

We had just a short trip to Goa in India during Nick's spring break and found it a relaxing beach destination only 4 hours from Abu Dhabi. Unfortunately, we went via Mumbai and had to spend 8 very long hours in the Mumbai airport. I don't think we'll be doing that ever again. We didn't leave the airport as people said that while it seems like a lot of time, getting into the city with the traffic could leave you missing your flight and we didn't want that to happen.



As we took off from Mumbai to Goa, you could see a birds eye view of the many patches of makeshift houses, dilapidated shacks, the slums where many live there daily lives. Spread amongst were a few apartment blocks, but for the most part this is what surrounded the airport. I couldn't imagine living like this...

We arrived in Goa and were surprised by the lack of begging and there weren't too many touts around trying to sell you anything they could get your hands on, hassling you to no end, similar to our experiences in some parts of China. It was the end of the tourist season so we have a feeling a lot of people who work there had already left to their home towns until next season. It could be a very different experience during the peak season, but this was a perfect time to head there.

We enjoyed trying new Indian curries and had one or two each day, but we did manage to squeeze in a steak and an Italian dinner one night to change things up:) There definitely isn't a lack of eateries in Goa. From traditional Goan food to more modern Asian and Italian cuisine, they sure have a wide range at each one of the beach areas. The cheapest places we found to eat were on the beach at the shacks. These are restaurants that are set up each season and serve food and drinks. They all have names and provide service to you out at the beach during the day where you can lay on one of their chaise lounges. Funnily enough though our favorite meal in Goa was at a restaurant called Republic of Noodles and it was in our hotel and not Indian...go figure. Although, most of everything we ate was delicious!





Enough about food even if it's usually the highlight of any one of our vacations!

Over the 5 days we visited Anjuna market which is a weekly market held on Wednesdays and quite a colorful array of textiles, bags, spices an clothing. It wasn't too busy and since it was the last one of the year people were ready to haggle down to next to nothing! Again it's hard to bargain down a couple rupees when 50 rupees is only a $1.


To see the sights we hired a taxi driver we met on the street the first night for the next two days. His name was Shekar and was a really knowledgeable and more importantly a safe driver! For about $25/day he took us all around Goa. The first day we went to Old Goa where we walked through the beautiful old Portuguese churches. While under rule by the Portuguese for quite some time, remnants of it's past still remain in Goa which gives this place a special charm.




In the afternoon, we went to a cashew factory and you can't get cashews any cheaper or fresher than that! We also ate lunch at a spice plantation and took a tour learning about all the different spices used in Indian cooking. At the spice plantation we had a chance to take a ride on an elephant. We missed out chance while in Thailand so we thought we would make up for it here in India. It really didn't feel as authentic as it was in the parking lot of the spice plantation and to be honest I felt kind of sad for the elephant, but our taxi driver assured us the he was well taken care of!



The next day we headed up the coast to check out some of the other beaches and small villages with Shekar as he told us about more Goan history and lead on to the changes it has been facing throughout the years due to a tourism boom. He seems to think most are excited about the increase in travelers visiting Goa, but obviously it has it's ups and downs. One thing that surprised me was the number of Russian tourist travelling to Goa.




The last day and a half was spent at Candolim beach and a bit lounging by our hotel pool as Nick tried to get some color. The beaches are nice, but in comparison with the Caribbean or Oz, not amazing or truly beautiful. The water was quite warm and not incredibly clear. But at the end of the day it was still a beach a place where we just relaxed, had a few cocktails and enjoyed the sunset.




One of the highlights of the vacation was getting a ring made! I wanted a copy of the way too expensive Georg Jensen 'Fusion' ring and they said they would be able to do it for a whole lot less! In the end I really like it, although to be honest it's not an exact replica and could've been finished a little better around the edges which is too bad because I just don't think we gave them enough time to do their best. But for what we paid and what we got, an 18k white gold with .5 carat of diamonds, it was a pretty good deal!



We were surprised with the terrain of Goa, hills and valleys along the coast, very green, very pretty! There were rice fields and rivers leading out to the ocean, and cows in the country and on the village roads were all apart of this scenery. In the end though, one of the most visible sights was the amount of garbage scattered throughout this land. If only they could control the trash problem. Obviously there are people who don't care and there is a lack of proper disposal, but it does put a damper on views.



We definitely enjoyed our holiday and while lots of people go back to Goa each year as it's a nice, cheap holiday, not sure we will be back again. There's no doubt, we'll head back to India to see the Taj one day, but there are so many other 'beach destinations' we're looking forward to visiting in the future!

Nick and I took part in the Dragonboat Festival in April. We joined one of 5 Abu Dhabi teams who competed in the weekend. A couple we met invited us to join the team and give it a go. We only trained for about a month before the race and to be honest it's a bit of a un-natural paddling movement, that can cause some real kinks in your shoulders and arms :) We had 3 races during the weekend and was exciting getting out there on the water racing against the other teams. We even won one of our heats! This is a big thing considering most of the other teams train quite often together.

We've decided to take a break from the paddling as we've got plenty of other activities going on, but it was fun to give it a go!

Here are some pics from the races at Festival City

I put some of my favorites pics from the last couple weeks up on the photo blog check them out here....

http://picsfromabroad.blogspot.com/

We saw Coldplay on Saturday night outside on the grounds of the Emirates Palace. It was a pretty good concert with the band coming out to the cheap seats 'standing section in the back' to play a few songs. Seemed impromptu, but most likely planned and very cool. Although I really get frustrated when the 'small' girls get on the shoulders and make it even more difficult to see, perhaps if I weighed 20 lbs less I might have been able to do that too.

All night there was lightning in the distance which made for a pretty cool atmosphere. The rain came....only a few minutes into the second song and it poured! Now of course rain can always be an issue at outdoor concerts in most countries, but here in Abu Dhabi, where rain is really quite rare, it was extremely odd. Since we got here in January, we've seen a few sandstorms, but other than that it's been clear blue sunny skies. It rained for a good half hour soaking everyone to the core, thankfully we brought along garbage bags to try and keep us dry :)



Today, it continues to rain here in Abu Dhabi...like I said extremely unusual, but it's refreshing and the sounds is quite soothing.

I thought it was time to add something new to the site and went for a complete new look...enjoy!

I've also started a new photo blog from photos I take around and yes perhaps a few might slip in there that Nick took, but no one will ever know. Nick got me (really it was for us) a new super fancy camera for Christmas and it's time to put it to good use. I've got an online photo course that a friend gave me years ago...it's about time to learn some new things in photography while I have the time right now.

I'm looking to get out on the streets of Abu Dhabi and capture for all to see what it's like living here along with the future destinations we visit!

Jen's new photo blog: www.picsfromabroad.blogspot.com

and yes there is a play on words there...

I did get my resident visa last week put in my passport.....and it's official...I am a "Housewife"
Hopefully I won't last long with this title....When I do find employment this will change, but I do have to get permission from Nick to work, he will have to sign me away from my 'housewife' duties..maybe he won't let me work..haha

We went over to Dubai this weekend as Nick attended the TESOL Arabia conference. While it was a quick weekend and Nick had some presentation to attend we still got a chance to meet up with a couple colleagues from Japan and hit the spice and gold souk (market). We really didn't even do that much shopping, only one mall for us and only 5...10 stores were visited :)

It's about a 1 hour 1/2 ride to Dubai and Thursday afternoon there was very little traffic which made for smooth sailing. Thankfully our friend Tara drove and she's become quite the expert driving here. Nick did get his license though...so he's up next.

Compared to Abu Dhabi there is a lot more....a ton more building going on over there and when you hit the city it is much more sprawled out then AD and over all a much larger city. Although, lacking from Dubai which is a pleasant addition in AD, is the greenery, trees and flowers. Very few were seen in Dubai. I know that both cities are trying to increase the number of green areas.

Here are a few photos from our trip to the souks, more photos from Dubai can be seen on Picasa
The gold souk was filled with tons and tons of gold and diamonds...I am sure I won't have a problem picking out something from here in the future!

We weren't exactly sure what an 'articulated bus' was when we saw it this past weekend in Dubai or why we should take caution?But being good English teachers we figured the double bus with the accordian joint in the middle must have something to do with it being 'Articulated' :)

A little out of focus, but a bit different sign for the ladies toilet here in the UAE. The outline of an abaya for the women.

While the weather is still very pleasant in Abu Dhabi, around 85 everyday, we have been able to enjoy being at the beach during the day. It won't last for long though, they say that in a month the heat and humidity will really start to set in...

Here are a few snaps from Abu Dhabi Marina where I enjoyed lunch one afternoon, trying to get a sushi fix with a take away from Carrefour. Just not the same, but beautiful views!