Today is Alexander's 11th birthday. We would've loved to be able to go somewhere great like Ferrari World but since it's the holy month of Ramadan things are really low-key during the daytime.
So, we headed out ice skating. We were the only ones there.
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Hard to see but a lady from the counter helped Cameron the whole time and gave him a mini lesson. Customer Service people are really friendly and call me Madam over and over. It's a little weird but I'm getting used to it. "Excuse me, ma'am....". "Yes, madam. How can I help you madam. No problem madam"
After ice skating we headed home for lunch and to swim (thank goodness for an indoor pool in this weather!). We live about 5 minutes from the ice skating place but it took me 20 minutes to get home. I ended up driving over a bridge and then back again and I got stuck in two different roundabouts going in a full circle before finding my way. Sigh.... I'll get the hang of it the more I drive.
After swimming, we showered and dressed and headed to the store to buy a Garmin GPS. I felt much better after that!
When Brian got home from work we relaxed for a bit before heading out to church.
I was excited to learn there is ONE Catholic Church in Abu Dhabi. It's called
St. Joseph's Church. According to their website, they have 100,000 members and numerous masses in different languages. I found a Children's Mass in English and was thrilled to go. I thought it would be a great way to meet like-minded individuals and be around some Americans.
Not a Bit!! I left in near tears. I was looking for comfort and walked away with another reminder that I am a minority and there aren't a lot of like-minded people. It was crazy packed and different.
The website said it started at 6, but when we got there it was half over and it turns out it starts at 5:45. There were two different masses happening at once in giant rooms across each other in a courtyard and they were packed with East Indians and Phillipinos and maybe 2 other Caucasions. The host tastes different and they don't even shake hands for peace....they just bow to each other with clasped hands. I love the "peace be with you" part of mass, it makes me feel so connected to others. They do another Children's mass on Friday morning and I'll give it another try......
After mass, we decided to head out for Alexanders birthday, He picked Fuddruckers at the mall.
Yep, we are in another country with tons and tons of exotic foods and cool places to eat and he wants to eat American food at the mall.
At 7:00 pm, Muslims "break Iftar". This is breaking fast during Ramadan. So, when we went to the mall in the daytime the other day it was almost empty and lots of stores were closed. At 7:00 everyone comes out and several of the stores open at 8:00 pm (just during Ramadan it's like this). So there were people everywhere.
Cam calls the building behind the mall "the Space Needle". It's like a little piece of home!
Here is a shoe shop window.
There is a cool waterfall in the middle and every now and again it plays music and the water shoots out in rhythm.
Trees are decorated for the holiday time too.
Years ago, Mohammed broke his fast with water and dates before a big meal. Fuddruckers served us water and dates as soon as we sat down before ordering.
Alexander got to pick out some candy as a treat and I tried my best to take a photo of the woman in the traditional dress walking behind him.
Here are some people in different clothes heading to the mall.
Cam loves this car in the wall on the drive home.
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Now for the sad to me part.....I figured that his 3rd birthday would be a wonderful celebration filled with lots of friends and fun times and so far, no real friends. How sad is that? It probably bothers me more than him. It's just that last year I decided to NOT do a big birthday because he was 2 and it wasn't that big a deal so we just did cake and presents as a family but then I regretted it so I did another cake but no presents with his playgroup pals but I KNEW that for Birthday #3 I would do it up big and great like I did with my other kids and NO, it wasn't to be.
