Above - Strong Winter Shamal's (NW winds) have been whipping up the Gulf, creating the occasional nice day for surfing off Jumeriah Beach, Dubai.
Above - The 'Last Super' from Nanny's visit in January, with B3, B1 and B2.
Above - Golfing with Duncan at the Abu Dhabi National Course. The previous weekend we had volunteered at the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship as Marshall's.
Above - B3
Above - NS and B1 enjoying the cooler desert temps during winter, back of Al Ain.
Above - Hosting a Murder Mystery Party; The eventual murderess, Miss Hagatha Twisty (Karla) and Fanny Shaker (FS).
Above - Getting onto the scene for the Murder Mystery were Izzy Gonyett (Lorraine) and Willett Fly (Mick)...smoking is not condoned in any way!
Above - All on board the S.S. Titanium.
Above - Another dress-up party...seems to be a theme in the UAE...was the lual party thrown by Kalli.
Above - Al Ain desert with Jebel Hafeet in back ground.Hard to believe, but we're already into our third year over here now, which when i consider, that i never thought I'd make it past the third month, means time is either really flying or we are having a bit of fun...both it seems.
All the talk in our house seems to be around how much longer we'll stay here, of course the uncertainty in the world and in particularly the Dubai job market, means even the best laid plans are likely to come unstuck, so despite going through all the scenarios, we're stuck to a decision of heading back home to the golden soils girt by sea, anytime between next month (March 09) and April 2010...we have no idea as you can see??
I've heard many people say that living over here can become a trap, but i never consciously subscribed to the theory, as i was (and still am)adamant that no place is better to live and be than Australia. With that now said, it is true however that there are certain luxuries that come with living here. There being no income tax is certainly the big draw card, but so is the apparent ease of accessing totally new experiences on regular occasion, travelling, meeting new people constantly, learning more about the world through these new people and having a couple of smaller luxuries that you'd not normally access at home. Of course all of this comes to an abrupt end when you decide to leave, so i guess that is the trap if you find yourself attached to these things. I don't think we've become overly attached and therefore trapped, we do recognise and appreciate the experiences we're having but i think we both agree that leaving here will be hardest when it comes to saying good-bye to so many good friends....I'd be lying if i said we haven't considered how we could possibly take little Mary with us too!
As 2008 came to a close, the talk on everyone's tongue was about the world economic crisis and the affects that countries like the USA and UK were already feeling. Rudd, appeared to be planning well, launching new infrastructure projects for Australia and awarding new baby bonuses to stimulate some spending, all the mean while, the UAE, were almost bragging about how protected they were from the ripple affects of such a crisis. Enter December 1st 2008. Suddenly the untouchables, were having to cancel projects and put others on hold, so that by the end of December, over 52% of projects in Dubai were stopped. Two months into 2009, i personally know of at least 15 guys who have been laid off in mass redundancy epidemic sweeping the UAE. Thousands of jobs have been lost and almost as many companies now struggling to survive. Abu Dhabi appear to be reaping the rewards of a more controlled growth strategy, but Dubai is certainly noticeable in the decreased traffic. So much of our own uncertainty with regards to how long we'll be here is based around this climate, not knowing if we'll even necessarily get paid for the work being done or if our number is up soon in any case. Must we're luckier than most in that having been here a little while now, we covered our costs and put a little away, so i am looking forward to an extended holiday in either case.
Away from the boredom of financial survival talk, our lives have been fairly mundane, with little to report in new news. In summary, I was stoked to be part of the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship, volunteering and landing the job of carrying the score boards for the last two days of competition. Walking down the centre of the fairways with the pros was great fun and a small insight into a professional golfers life...sort of. Fran and I entered the AAESS triathlon teams event. Neither of our teams won, but Fran looked a treat trying to do the bike length of B1's BMX, shades of Nicole Kidman from BMX Bandits as the other mountain and road bikes lapped her time and again.
Archie celebrated his 5th birthday in January, with Fran and i questioning the wisdom in purchasing a drum set for him every day since. As if the house isn't loud enough all the time with the 4 boys and house of testosterone, just add a drum set to go with it???
B1's rugby coach gave a a call from the Sharjah hospital to tell us B1 had broken his knee in a game, we arrived at the hospital (a 2 hour drive from Al Ain) to find him in a wheel chair with full cast from ankle to bum, FS adamant that he'd never see a footy pitch again! Two weeks later he was playing (turned out not to be broken but just bruised knee ligaments) in the Dubai international Knockout comp, and B1 was awarded player of the tournament' award. FS and B1 and B2 are off to Egypt in March to play in the Cairo Rugby Tournament. They're all excited about going and seeing the Pyramids and touring the Nile, so we should have plenty of good piccies from that and hopefully no flight dramas or incidents!!
The strong winds at this time of year cause havoc on the roads and everywhere in general with the huge sand storms they create, but the NW shamals also whip up The Gulf seas to create some nice little waves. I scored a couple of days surfing on Jumeriah beneath the Burj Al Arab, grabbing 2-4 footers which were respectable in shape and power.
