Workin' it out in Dubai

Jessie and I went to Dubai for a work trip! I felt like a big city girl again- we commuted in one morning and slept over and then headed back to Al Ain the next night. We were exhibiting for our parent organization CURE International. CURE won the Hamdan Award this past December and we were hoping it would get some exposure at DIHAD: Dubai International Humanitarian Aid and Development Conference and Exhibition. Here is a quick snippet from a press release I put out about it last week:

"The award recognizes four individuals or organizations which significantly contribute to alleviating the suffering of a large number of human beings subjected to exceptional circumstances such as catastrophes, epidemics, famine, wars, and natural calamities.

Oasis Hospital, located in Al Ain, UAE, is the hub of CURE International’s work in the Middle East region. Oasis Hospital provides substantial financial, training, and staff support to the CURE hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan, and a medical clinic in Bangladesh. The hospital carries out the humanitarian work of CURE by bringing children from neighboring countries to the UAE to receive life changing surgeries and procedures. All of this work, along with CURE’s work in Africa and South America, were on display last week at the conference to bring awareness of the positive impact that medical staff from CURE hospitals are having around the world."

And here are Jessie and I in our booth the last day of the conference!

World Championship Wheelchair Race

Yesterday I headed out to take some pictures at the World Championship Wheelchair Races at the Al Ain Club for the Disabled. Oasis Hospital is the official medical sponsor of the events. We provide the ambulance and nurses for anyone injured in the races.

Athletes who compete here can qualify for the Paralympics so these can be quite exciting and important races for some of the competitors.

I put the pictures on my work computer and forgot to send them home so I'll try to get more up later but for now:

As part of the "medical team staff" I had to wear this orange vest to enter the competition grounds. Don't I look official?

Meet my Office

Last night we had an office outing. Being my American self I had made up my mind that I was not going, mixing work and life is a bad idea in my mind. At the last minute a friend called and said she was going and was bored and asked if I wanted a ride- she said her husband couldn't make it. I decided it's better to go out and be social- I really had nothing to do and I don't have an overwhelming number of friends here.

The outing was to Ponderosa- that's right PONDEROSA. Now, I have never actually been to a Ponderosa in America, probably because most people I know aren't actually huge fans of buffets. It was really not the best experience I have ever had. My friend and I were quite disappointed and I think that I have made a new rule for myself in this country. If it's available in America and I avoid it, then if it's available here I should also avoid it.

Now, meet my office-mates, we are an interesting mix. Not everyone was there but, this is a quick snapshot of most of us!

This is Fazilla and she works in the Special Projects Office with Jessie.

Roshna, she plans a ton of lunch parties in our office and works in the Quality Department. This is not her baby! It's Joseph's and here he is:

Here I am getting vanilla fro-yo with rainbow sprinkles- definitely the only reason to eat there.

Lissama, she is a nurse at the hospital, Gillian and Surrama are Home Visitation Nurses.

Jarrett works in Marketing with me. Jarrett and his wife Elizabeth were living on the North Shore before they moved here, it's a fun connection to have!

Dr. Koshi and his wife.

Old News but Good News

By now most of you already know that I will be Auntie Min by the end of this summer.

My sister Jessica and her husband Jeziel are expecting a baby at the end of July. Jess is a great big sister and taught me plenty of important lessons growing up (ie how to use a curling iron and how to put on lipstick) kidding aside, she will be a wonderful mom to her new baby! I will be home in June and will get to see her pregnant then and I will be home in the fall to see the new baby.

She might kill me for this but here is a cute picture of her at about 18 weeks. We are all so excited for them and can't wait to start wearing the new Auntie and Uncle hats!

Christmas in February

Most of you know that my Aunt Louyse was supposed to come visit me for Christmas and her flight was cancelled so she couldn't come.

She was here this past week and we had such a blast! It was even better than Christmas would have been.

Here is what we did in pictures:

Aunt Louyse turned 59 while she was in the air and lost 9 hours of her birthday because of the time change. She had her passport stamped on her birthday! Jessie and I (mostly Jessie) made this really good chocolate cake from Bon Apetit)

We made it to the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque where you have to be fully covered to enter. They provide you with an abaya and sheila when you get to the entrance gate.

We made it down to the beach where we sat at a coffee shop. One of the things Aunt Louyse and I both love besides travel is the ocean and the Gulf counts in this as well!

The top of Jebel Hafeet- the tallest mountain in the UAE is right here in Al Ain. It's more like a hill to most Americans it is 1294 meters high.

We went off-roading at our friend's farm. She was having the grand opening of a new tourism branch of her business. Aunt Louyse was braver than me and Jessie she didn't seem to be nervous about it at all!

We made it to the pool and did a ton of shopping and my favorite day of all was Aunt Louyse's second to last day where we got to watch the fountain show at the Dubai Mall. I think I could sit there for hours at a time!

Squatty Potty

Here in the UAE you rarely find homes with bathrooms like we are accustomed to in America. In public places like the malls or our hospital and even in homes for foreigners there are normal toilets. But at local people's homes you will find toilets that are in the ground. To use these bathrooms you have to be a good squatter. That means your thighs better be in good shape, right? Well, not exactly, but it might be a thing you need to learn from the time you are young.

You try:

1. Put your feet flat on the ground.

2. Bend your knees as far as you can as you squat to the ground.

3. Don't fall down and don't pick your feet up off the ground.

This is how most people here are accustomed to using the bathroom.

Trey, Jessie and I were visiting a friend with the "squatty pottys" and we decided to have a little contest to see who was the best squatter.

You be the judge:

I love it when we're cruisin together

Last weekend I went to Abu Dhabi with Trey and Jessie and our friend Ahlam. It was so refreshing to get out of Al Ain for the weekend. I thought I just loved the ocean in America, but it's not true I love the water no matter what country I am in. We spent most of our time down on the Corniche (the road that runs follows the water).

We rode this little guy- I am sure it was not made for the 4 adults we managed to cram into it and so were a lot of other people who passed by us.

We also rode these bikes. A little more appropriate but still... did I need 3 wheels?

Trey and Jessie surprised Ahlam and I with a really fancy dinner at Shangri-La Hotel. We ate at Pearls and Caviar Restaurant and then headed out to a pool/ oceanside bar to hang out for the rest of the night. It was delicious food and a cool atmosphere. The weather this time of year is like summer at home, just warm enough during the day and cooler in the evenings.