november catch-up

Just loaded up some pictures from last month -- if only to prove that we were, in fact, alive and well in the fall. It's been a busy few months for us, with long days in the office for both of us, weekends fixing up the house and Jon back out of town (to Barcelona for a client conference; to Ghent and London; and most recently, to Manchester, where he spent his birthday with Nikki).

In extracurricular news, Jon was elected treasurer for the UAE chapter of Democrats Abroad in October. It's a great group to be a part of, not only for politics-related activities, e.g. watching the presidential debates, but to meet new friends (many of whom live in our neighborhood, if not same apartment complex) and build a network of other Americans living abroad. For our American friends outside the states, we recommend that you check out your local chapter at http://www.democratsabroad.org/.


Here are some pictures from the DA election watching party / breakfast buffet held on the morning of November 5 (starting at 6:30am), where we took everyone's money ;) We also went to an event hosted by the US Embassy the night before (advertised primarily to UAE nationals), but of course, the very exciting bit took place the morning after! We're both looking forward to the inauguration 'gala' in January.



We also hosted our first BBQ, using our new patio furniture -- which we bought after bazillion visits to the mall, Ace Hardware, Carrefour and Geant -- and illegal grill. Since a number of our friends live in the Marina (or work nearby), our terrace has turned into an impromptu place where people come before heading out, for drinks or leftover dinners during the week.



Other notable event in November was the launch of Fishing Harbors, a Dubai Customs-sponsored commercial and residential project for local fishermen and the wealthy who want to tough it out in the 5-star restaurants that will dot the development. Jon swung a surprise invitation to the launch from the marketing lead for the project -- whom we met at the US Embassy election event -- and we thought it would be worth attending. We were the only non-press people there, but nevertheless, walked down the red carpet and got our pictures taken among the UAE government officials. The entire reception was conducted in Arabic; the English-speaking press received a press release afterwards. Welcome to objective journalism in the UAE.




We rounded out the month with a Thanksgiving brunch at the neighborhood Sheraton along with a few other Americans, still avoiding buying a car, hearing news of the global financial slowdown impacting Dubai (long overdue) and planning our Eid holiday in Kerala. More on that next!

In the meantime, we're both headed in the US for the holidays. We're in Houston the weekend of December 18 and then in Oklahoma til the end of the year. Looking forward to it!