2011 Thanksgiving - Part II

by Cindy

Jeff and I were fortunate to have been invited to four different Thanksgiving dinners this year.  We stopped ourselves at two or else we would have been exercising off way too much pecan pie!  The second dinner we attended was with some of our faculty friends.  This time of year the weather is amazing so we just move the party to the back yard.

Thanksgiving 2011 - Part I

by Cindy

Today we got to celebrate Thanksgiving with the foreign exchange students here at our university.  Our friend hosted the gathering and I cooked for it.  It's nearly impossible to cook for 20 people with a tiny oven and one rack.  I kept reminding myself that people have been doing this for years and it could be a lot worse...

The meal turned out fine and we enjoyed hanging out with the students.  Not all of them are from America so some of them enjoyed turkey and all of the fixins' for the first time.  Mashed potatoes were a hit all the way around - I think they translate to "yummy" in any culture.

Our host, Gary, trying to convince Jeevan to try some of the food .  He was skeptical as he's never seen any of this food before!

The inside crew.

Thanksgiving UAE style - outside.

Tomorrow - another Thanksgiving feast with our faculty friends. 

Visitors!

by Cindy

November 16, 2011 UPDATE - At the request of those who read our blog and comment (thank you Carolyn and Trish!), here are some additional pictures of the indoor ski slope.  We don't have any of the indoor roller coaster, sorry.

The slope is actually a L shape.  The lift curves and this is headed up to the top/upper half.

Looking at the top half of the slope.  The lift is in the middle and you can ski down to the left or right of the lift.

Skiing down the 'expert' side.

There is a lodge half way up, at the turn, where all of these pics were taken.  This is looking back down the slope, right before the lift curves.  You can see the windows at the far end, the mall is on the other side of those windows.

Looking back down the slope, the lower half.  Again, the mall straight ahead through the windows.

The upper half of the slope.

Looking down the slope with a part of the lodge on the right of the picture.

Overall, the slope is not big at all.  Sabra and I were taking 10 minutes for a round trip of riding the lift up and skiing down the slope.

November 14, 2011
We have been very blessed this fall to have visitors.  Jeff and I had a great time showing them around town and seeing and doing things we have not done before.  We would love to have more of you come see this amazing place we live!


Here are some fun pictures of the new things for us:

Ski Dubai - I'm guessing you have heard of it.  First of all, it is located in a mall - very typical of Dubai.  You "rent" your clothes, boots and skis.  For the clothes, you just pull them over whatever you happen to be wearing that day.  When my brother and Eddie skied, they had on shorts underneath their outfits.  It was really weird to ski indoors when you know it is 100 F degrees outside.  I will admit, Sabra and I got really, really cold and quit early (they keep it at -1 C).  Very strange experience but glad I did it.

Ferrari World - the world's largest indoor amusement park is pretty cool but take note, the world's fastest roller coaster is only open on the weekends!  Bummer.

Burj Khalifa - the world's tallest building.

Seawings - we got to take an aerial tour of Dubai on a seaplane, it was really cool.

The Star of The Show

by Cindy

Jeff was asked to lead a lecture on Decision Making to the student workers on campus.  His picture was plastered all over the campus.  Jeff think he looks fat but appreciated our friend Nick who told Jeff that his arms look big and muscular.

Ko Yao Noi, Thailand

by Cindy

Jeff and I were fortunate to travel to Thailand for a few days in early November.  We didn't plan for it but it definitely turned out to be a second honeymoon.  It was secluded, romantic and quite fabulous!  We rested quite a bit, swam in the Phang Nga Bay, kayaked through a mangrove forest in the Ao Phang Nga National Park, enjoyed the sweeping vistas, learned some Thai cooking, partook in a couple of wine tastings and just really enjoyed ourselves.  I can never get too much one on one time with my husband so I enjoyed every minute of the trip!  Here are some of the pictures - if you ever get a chance to travel to Thailand, I highly recommend it!

The view from the pool.  Wow!

Our view at dinner each night

Us with the real chef.

Watching a movie each night while overlooking the bay.  It was rough, we know.

Our villa was amazing, we called it our "tree house"

 

Our yummy creation - Pork and glass noodle salad

Eid Al-Adha

by Cindy

We have just finished celebrating the Eid Al-Adha holiday here in the UAE.  Eid Al Adha is the holiday celebrated by Muslims to commemorate the willingness of Abraham to sacrifice his son Ishmael (not Isaac as Christians believe) as an act of obedience to God, before God intervened to provide him with a sheep— to sacrifice instead.

One of our friends passed along a picture she took of some stamps she saw in Lubbock, TX - celebrating the Eid holiday.

It's a little bit hard for me to translate since it's in calligraphy but Allah is definitely in there.

So, as we would say here, Eid Mubarak (blessed Eid)!