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!
We still owe a bit of an update from our India trip last month. We first went to Bombay for 3 days to visit Simi's parents (who relocated there from Bangalore in late November) and then met up with two other couples for a 8-day tour of the southern Indian state of Kerala. It was a great trip, albeit not terribly relaxing. Had forgotten how long it takes to travel from one city to another in India; 100km can mean 5-6 hours in the car and our itinerary was designed so we went from one place to another every other day. Ugh.
Nevertheless, it's a beautiful part of the country, with a unique cuisine (lots of seafood and coconut), countless tea plantations, beaches, wildlife reserves, Ayurvedic massages, and houseboats that cruise the backwaters. Definitely something for everyone. 
Here's wishing everyone a safe and healthy 2009! New Year's Eve was the day after we arrived back from the US, so we planned for a small get-together of friends who were also in town. Menu was hamburgers, peanut butter cookies and champagne.
Our trip back to home was really relaxing and much needed after a frenetic few months in NL and UAE. We spent 3 days in Houston visiting with Chacha & Chachi, Herman (who turned 21!!), Roma Auntie and Natausha. It's also where we finally understood the Wii phenomena; Nat and Cam indulged us one night with a Rock Band marathon til 3am. We then headed to Edmond for Xmas with the Womacks, which was great. Did A LOT of eating, drinking Dr Pepper, shopping, seeing family, watching movies and general lazing around. It was exactly what we needed.
So we found one! I've just unloaded our stuff from NL to our new "1 bedroom villa" at the Marina Promenade and we move in on Saturday (Jon got off mad-easy since he's still in Europe). There isn't anything villa about it, other than it's on the ground floor (see the arrow?) and you could house a small family in the bedroom. It's not ideal for our future guests, but those of you used to our A'dam walkaround and sofabed, your expectations have already been lowered ;)
Winning point of the apartment? A terrace that overlooks the marina and yacht club at eye-level. Means al fresco dining morning, noon and night.....well, at least once Ramadan is over and it cools down about 15F (both expected by early October). The building complex has some pretty nice amenities, including squash/ badminton courts, gym, pool and is within walking distance to restaurants, shops and the beach. Jon, continuing his slacker streak, has a 5 minute commute to work, while I've drawn the short straw with 30-35 minutes one way to either the outsource zone or main RBS branch office.
And I've FINALLY gotten a local mobile: +971 50 189 86 89. For those of you who don't have Jon's, it's +971 50 2679 330.
