My Birthday Comedy Special (with Sausages)--by Randy

Wednesday evening, I enjoyed the main part of my birthday present. One of many Canadian couples in our building, Taylor and Tobin, came over to babysit while Christine and I went across town to the Beach Rotanna Resort, where we ate at the Brauhaus German Restaurant (really good German sausage and pork loin, etc...I had a lot of pork! Christine had some salmon that was very, very good as well). We dined outside because the weather has been so nice, so we enjoyed our quiet little spot along the water, looking out on an island that a year ago was uninhabited and now has a few dozen cranes on it and several skyscrapers well on their way to completion. Ahhh, progress. Ahhh, Abu Dhabi.

We have now dined at three of the many restaurants at the Beach Rotanna, but Brauhaus is my favourite now. The seafood restaurant Finz has a nice atmosphere, but the food isn't that great, especially for the price. Vasco's at the Hilton is much better. And they have a Polynesian restaurant called Trader Vic's which is fun but once you've been, you don't really need to go again.

After dinner, we went to a comedy show (in English) called "Comedy Arabia," featuring Ahmed Ahmed (an Egyptian-American who has lived most his life in Los Angeles). He brought with him several other American comedians, Erik Griffin, Bobby Lee, and Sebastian Maniscalco. Apparently, they have been on the Tonight Show, Comedy Central, etc...Sebastian Maniscalco is set to have his own Comedy Central special in the near future. The comedians tried to cater some of their routine to the locals, adding a little Middle Eastern humor here and there, but you could tell they're Americans. Apparently, every comedian feels the need to make an American Idol joke...

The audience was appreciative, though, and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. There were hundreds of people there--Emirati, Lebanese, Egyptians, other Gulf Arabs, and various white people (mainly Europeans). It was a fun evening.

By the way, here's a first. I've made a blog entry without mentioning you-know-who by name. Not even a picture of her!

Out for a Walk

FASHIONISTA or FASHION DISASTER?!

Anastasia is wearing a green onesie with Babylegs skeleton leggings, year of the Rat shoes from China and a headband with hearts. (PS- the headbank hasn't helped clear up the fact that she's a girl. I hear earrings would do the trick, but I just can't do that yet.)

36 Thunder Pigeons

We have some pigeons who have decided to nest outside our window- see the mother on nest, and father watching from above. Their nest is right at Anastasia's eye-level, so she gets a reality nature show every day. There are 2 eggs. We were really looking forward to hatching and babies, but a friend told of her experience and thus we are now excited/
trepidatious about the possible outcome. She had a nest outside her window too; the eggs hatched, the mother abandoned the chicks and they watched the babies starve. We're hoping for the "new life" lesson only. BTW- on Anastasia's back is a sticker from the grocery that says "Buy One, Get One Free." Guess who put that there?

Other excitement outside our windows includes the rain we had yesterday. This winter seems (to me- Christine) warmer and wetter than our last. We have had a few light rains. Last night Randy even saw some lightning and we heard some thunder. That was our first of either since moving here in August 2007. Remember how high schools make thunder for plays? That is exactly what it sounded like: a high-pitched tinny sound. Very different from the deep, rolling thunders of home. Maybe this summer Anastasia can hear what that thunder sounds like too.

Randy turned 36 on Friday. We met several friends at Chili's for an early lunch. Anastasia finally wore her "barf" dress with success. (In the photo I believe she knows I'm about to take away the sugar packet that she's getting dangerously close to munching through.) Later on, he tutored an Egyptian student and I hung out with her family. We have visited this family before and the youngest daughter was very excited to see Anastasia again. This is one of my few opportunities to actually hang out with an Arab woman, so I always look forward to what the conversation might involve. This time Obama, what we pay our nanny, how white Randy came from what she understands to be a black South, and what exactly zaatar is were all topics of discussion. They had made a cake and when I mentioned it was Randy's b-day, it became a birthday cake. So they sang "Happy Birthday" in English and Arabic for him. This week we will go see the comedy group "Axis of Evil" featuring Ahmed Ahmed to wrap up the birthday celebrations. I'm hoping Randy will make a post about that :)

And finally, an "only-in-the-UAE" moment I had this week. Our school-community liason (who deals with the royal and really rich of our school) asked me if I could tutor a girl in math for exams. I said I would give it a try, but that we would have to work around Anastasia's schedule. So, I go home and then am picked up for tutoring after I have a chance to feed her again. For this family that meant being picked up in a silver Mercedes-Benz limo. Which door would you get in if approached by a limo for a tutoring job? I chose the middle section, which seemed to be a good choice. I was in my own row of seats but could still talk to Ayoob the driver. After introductions, we both sort of just chilled in our own worlds, but as we drove past the school, then off the island, and continued toward Dubai, I started to wander "where in the hell is this guy taking me?!" The answer: Al Bahia, which is about half-way to Dubai. So I tutored for almost 2 hours and rode for 1.5 hours. Not sure if this job is going to work out :(

That's all I've got.

Sexy pose and soccer

In her Gamecocks' outfit. Sexy, but not smiling... (who could after their season?)

Now she's workin' it...keep in mind she does this dozens of times a day! It's sort of her resting pose. Neither Randy nor myself modeled this for her- W'Allah (I swear)!!!

Second only to doing the sexy pose is playing soccer. She will follow this ball all around the house and is surprisingly accurate with her kicks.

In news other than Anastasia's recent antics, school exams are approaching. Yes! We're only getting to the end of semester 1 during the first week of February- Ramadan and most of December off makes such things happen. Our school has been taking a non-policital, yet humanitarian stance on the Gaza situation. Many of the students are very fired up about it and are wanting to take action. Our student council's proceeds from next week's free dress and bake sale will go to the Red Crescent to support the cause. Last week, middle school girls went to Desert Camp; next week is the boys' turn. And lastly, but not least, we are now not only an IB school but also a PYP school. This accreditation makes us the first in Abu Dhabi and only the second in the country to be able to offer the Primary Years Program.

Randy will reach the grand old age of 36 next Friday. I've got a great surprise lined up that may make him question how funny he really is... stay tuned :)

My achievements of the week (besides the great b-day gift): learning how to say hello and good-bye in Amhara (teniystallin and chow), using Petit Appetit to serve up new homemade baby food to Anastasia, and writing a Physical Science exam.

Anastasia's First Political Protest (by Randy)

Yesterday, 9 January 2009, marked the beginning of our weekend in Abu Dhabi (Friday is the Muslim holy day, so our weekend is Friday and Saturday). I took Anastasia for a walk yesterday afternoon along the Corniche (or waterfront along the Persian Gulf), and we stumbled across a political demonstration in support of the Palestinians who are currently suffering through Israel's slaughter in the Gaza Strip. We joined the march along the Corniche, along with thousands of others there. At the time of this writing, over 800 Palestinians, two-thirds of whom were children, have been murdered; 13 (not a typo) Israelis have died. A humanitarian crisis is currently unfolding there--check out one of my favourite sites, http://www.helpupa.com/, for more details...and to offer much-needed aid. They are a trustworthy site hailing from Washington, DC.

In other news, Anastasia is eating rice cereal now (she loves it...she has quite an appetite), she is sitting up, and she's exploring our flat in her walker, although she can really only move backwards right now...it's a height thing. Her feet don't quite hit the floor all the way.

More from Christmas 2008

Christmas 2008 Go to the above link to see more from Anastasia's first trip to the USA.