Bummer Blog Post

Last night I skyped for quite awhile with my sweet friend from Chicago, Denise.  I was pretty homesick-weepy and it so helped to see her warm smile and hear her awesome laugh.  When I moved to Chicago I met so many wonderful friends who still mean the world to today.  My Chicago experience and the cherished friends we made there are a HUGE part of the reason I had the courage to come here!  I knew what wonderful experiences moving out of your comfort zone could bring. Where am I going with this?  Denise was telling me how she has been following the blog and she could tell I was a little blue...It made me start thinking that it was okay for me to feel sad and I didn't have to hide it!  This blog is a way to tell our family and friends our adventures overseas but also a way to preserve my memories of this time.  So that includes the good, the fun, the stressful and the downright ugly!!!  So here goes details of a recent BAD day!!

Blake woke up last Thursday feeling blue!  She started crying again and telling me all the things she would NOT get to do this year not being a 3rd grader at Westwood Elementary in Friendswood, Texas.  Did you know she will NOT get to participate in the choir, the recorder club, the knitting club or take the TAKS test!?  I felt so bad for her because all these things make me sad too!!!  I tried to comfort her with promises of new clubs that she would get to join here, probably more than she could imagine!!!  And that taking the TAKS test..well, it's kind of great that you don't have to worry about that!  My words really didn't help so I was glad that we had made some plans for the day.  Distractions, distractions!

Through our camp we heard about a place called Kidzania that on Thursdays served FOOD! (ramadan) We made some plans to meet some campers there and headed out.  My friend the nav lady guided us there. Of course this place is in a mall where all things are in Dubai.  I safely arrived, parked in a teensy-tiny parking spot, unloaded all Bryant children, supplies and strollers only to realize I AM AT THE WRONG MALL!!!!!!  I knew that Kidzania was at The Dubai Mall but for whatever reason my brain took me to Mall of the Emirates.  Dubai, I cannot keep up with all your malls and all your kid-fun-lands!!!!  The kids were so bummed but luckily all malls in Dubai have some sort of wonderful indoor entertainment.  This mall had a place called Magic Planet which is basically Chuck E. Cheese without the mouse or the pizza..especially the pizza! (ramadan)  It was empty(ramadan) and the kids had it to themselves!  They had a great time riding amusement park-like rides and playing many games that earned them obscene amounts of orange tickets!  Using their earnings, Luke bought a plastic machine gun with sound effects (nice for walking around the mall) and the girls both got a new barbie!  Take that homesickness!

After playing I took them to the desolate food court (ramadan) and fed them Happy Meals. Yes, some places like McDonalds are open but only for "take-away" and for children.  "Take-away" is what we Americans would call "take-out" or "to-go" food.  You can order from many places but they wrap your food up in a brown paper sack and you must "take it away".  So I sat and watched the kids eat lunch as I starved and dreamed about an ice cold diet coke with sonic ice.  There was a security guard monitoring the food court to make sure noone was sneaking a french fry.  Yes, I am being a little dramatic but there was a food court security guard and I did sneak french fries.

After lunch we decided to search for school shoes (remember Luke and the machine gun during this paragraph please).  We found a store with some cute shoes and tried to try some on.   This was a very frustrating moment for me!  The salesman kept bringing out the wrong sizes.  Either way too big or way too small!  Our American sizing was confusing him and his European sizing was confusing me!!!!! It was getting to be late in the day, Lilly was about done and Luke..(machine gun with sound effects).  So I had one of those "we are outta here" moments and headed for the car.  Once again Blake was in tears.

I wish I could say that it got better but it did NOT!  A lady parked so close to me that I could barely get out of the parking lot AND I got lost on the way home!  It took me over an hour to get to my home that is 15 minutes away!  The navigation lady kept telling me to "make the next turning left" but there was no left turn to make!  The roads change here so much that she just can't keep up!  I finally figured out my way home..on my own thank you!  When we pulled in the driveway I looked in the rearview mirror only to see Luke had taken an ink pen and drawn all over himself during the long drive home.  The things being lost will do to you.  I really couldn't blame him.

The day ended with our sweet Latha.  She wanted to take us on a walk to show us the lake in our neighborhood.  I didn't even know that just a minute away from our villa is a beautiful lake with a fountain that has a walking path around it.  It takes about a half hour to get around the lake and will be great for me when the weather cools a bit.  We started our walk close to 7pm.  The kids were miserable!  They whined and complained about how hot they were and how tired their legs were.  I have to say at this point I ignored them all and enjoyed the walk.  I look forward to making this walk again...ALONE!

So there- That was a bummer day but there have been many fun days since!  Deric has been home and we have been having a great time!  I will no longer feel bad about sharing stressful moments.

I will wrap up with Denise again.  She and I decided that the nav lady in my car really is my best friend here.  She makes me mad sometimes, happy most of the time, and she is always there for me when I am in need.  We decided she needed a name!  I am taking suggestions!  She has a british accent, she starts our time together by saying "caution, restricted access on the route!" (to say the least nav lady!  you think!?) She often says "please make a u-turn, please make a u-turn, please make a u-turn"..this is when I have really messed up!  She also says "leave the round-a-bout at the 5th exit" or "please make the 2nd turning right"....WHAT?  So, any name ideas?

Magic Planet makes it all better!

Desolate Food Court

The lake in our neighborhood

"Booo-hoooo..it's soooooo hot"

A smile! Yeah!

I took these pictures while Deric was driving.  THIS is how the roads look and THIS is why I continue to get lost!  The red and white things change constantly taking you in a new direction. Usually in the opposite direction you want to go.