Volvo Ocean Races

The Volvo Ocean Races is an annual event and this year they had a stop in Abu Dhabi.  It is an event that I wasn’t familiar with, but there was a bunch of stuff going on up at the Corniche so we took Cameron up to check it all out (the big kids were off at a friend’s house.).

 

           

There was a souk set-up when we first walked in and since I’ve been out and about quite a bit, there wasn’t much there that I hadn’t seen somewhere before.

The name of the area was “Abu Dhabi Destination Village”.  I think it’s like when there is an Olympic Village.  There are lots of things to see and do about the event, hands on activities and more.

                 

           Cameron was excited to find someone making balloon swords!             Brian tried out “the ride”, a simulation of the ocean races

               

We checked out a 3d movie about the ocean races.  Wow!  It’s incredible.  People train for an entire year and it’s a lengthy process building the best boat.  There are teams representing several different countries (although none from the US – at least not this year).  The conditions are harsh and they are at sea for several months, with stops along the way.   It’s very physical and amazing to see a film about.

                                             

There were things to see everywhere.  Including a cool video screen tower and different simulations.

                  

You could try and drive a ball out to the hole that was floating on the water.  This was art of a marketing thing set-up for the upcoming HSBC Golf Tournament.  If you made a hole in one you had the chance to win something.  Brian made it to the green, I landed in the water, pretty close to where I teed off.

                   

Cameron had fun playing too.  There was a little race track area for kids his age and he played on a tractor and road a car around the tracks.

             

They even had different lounges and restaurants that were erected just for the event.  You could also sign up for boat rides and other activities too.  We did as much as we could handle in one day and it was lots of fun and wonderful weather for it!

Goodbye to Mom……

My mom’s fantastic visit came to an end today.  We were all so glad that she mad the trip out and the kids had a fantastic time visiting with her.  We squeezed in lots of fun stuff, she helped us settle in a bit and I think she got a little more comfortable with the idea of us living here.  She can now see that we’ve got life under control and things are gonna be alright.

Cameron spent a lot of time with his “nana” and it was really hard when it was time to take her to the airport.  He broke down in tears and cries when she went through the security gate.  It probably didn’t help that my mom joked he could come with her and then there came the point where he realized that he wasn’t.  Not sure how far he would’ve made it anyway.  Through the airport?  Onto the plane?  All the way back to NY?  Who knows. 

But – we were all a little sad to see her go.  Fortunately, she’ll be back again!

Getting Threaded

So it has been 5 months since I moved here and my eyebrows are out of control.  I used to get a waxing done regularly back home.  Here they do “threading”.  I wasn’t looking forward to it, but enough was enough.

I laid back on a table and braced myself.  The woman somehow wrapped thread around her hands and went at it.

I didn’t take pictures of my actual threading.  But here’s an example:

 

Here’s how it basically sounds…..rip, rip, rip, rip, rip, rip, rip as every eyebrow is one by one ripped out of your head.  For a woman with lots of eyebrows to rip – owie!

Here’s the best I have for my own before and of course since I didn’t come right home for an after I can’t find one.  All my pictures show me with sunglasses on!!  I’m surprised I even had this one.  Needless to say the “after” is a billion times better!

Coldplay in Abu Dhabi on NYE

Here it is, the final day of 2011 and we are in Abu Dhabi.

We decided to attend the Coldplay concert with some friends.  They were playing at a venue up on the beach.  They were planning to take their son and so we decided to bring Alexander along too.  The concert was late and we decided to take a cab from our friend’s place.  We had to be dropped off and walk about a 1/2 mile because of traffic.

The concert was awesome!!  They put on a fantastic show.  They play their own instruments and actually sing themselves!  Fantastic performers.

When the concert finished we walked back towards where we came to try and catch a cab.  No luck.  We walked a little further to a grocery store and got snacks and waited a bit for a cab.  No luck.  We walked another 1/2 mile or so looking for a cab the whole time.  No luck.  It was incredibly insane.  My feet were killing me and I was walking with my boots in my hand by this point.  It was so ridiculous that it was funny if you weren’t so overtired and annoyed.  People were walking everywhere trying to get a cab and NOT A SINGLE one was out and available.  It was RIDICULOUS!

Finally……one stopped.  We knew that the 7 of us couldn’t fit into one cab so we sent some in one cab with the idea that Brian would get our car and come back for the rest of us.

They took off  (I think it had been about 2.5 hours since the concert) and we waited around in the hopes of maybe even catching another cab.  It was now my friend Yvonne, me and our two boys.  A cab stopped ahead and picked up a couple and then pulled over for us (the really nice couple asked them to stop for us).  The cab driver didn’t want to pick us up because they have a rule of only 4 people in the car but the woman spoke the same language and kept reassuring him that we didn’t’ care and it was ok and to just drive.  He let us all in and I tried hard to make the seatbelts fit us, but they didn’t.  I rode with Alexander on my lap and held on tight and hoped/prayed for the best.

We finally arrived back at the compound – exhausted but happy.  We all had a fantastic time ringing in 2012!

 

                          

It might say Happy New Year, I’m not sure….