Dubai World Cup and Arabian Nights

This past weekend was filled with Dubai World Cup Festivities!  Thursday night we kicked off the weekend by taking the kids to Arabian Nights.  This is a special night in the desert full of arabic cultural heritage, horse shows and stunts, acrobats, yummy arabic cuisine and of course, fireworks! Dubai loves its fireworks!  They were amazing as always and my friend Elan and I laughed that they were maybe a little too close for our American standards!  It felt like you could touch them!  We ate our dinner in a beautiful arena with arabic style pillows and seating.  Sheikh Mohammad, the ruler of Dubai was there.  This was extra exciting for our kids who learn loads about him in school and see his picture all over town.  Deric and the kids ran down to where he was walking through the arena.  He stopped and chatted with some little girls and Deric got this picture!!  My children were starstruck!! hahahahaha  The rest of the night we ate and watched the horses perform...and of course there was some camel riding!  What is a desert outing without it?

HIS HIGHNESS, SHEIKH MOHAMMED-
BELOVED RULER OF DUBAI

LETS FIND OUR TABLE!

BEAUTIFUL ARENA WITH SEATING AROUND IT...

CHECKING OUT THE CAMELS....I THINK HE WANTED A KISS!

ITS AN ARABIAN PETTING ZOO!

AND YET AGAIN A CAMEL RIDE!  

THESE GUYS IN THE BACKGROUND ARE LINED UP READY FOR THE SHEIKH TO ARRIVE.

HEHEHEHEHEHE....JUST THOUGHT IT WOULD BE CUTE

TRYING AN ARABIC SWEET SIMILAR TO A DONUT

THOSE ARE HORSES IN THE MIDDLE ALL LIT UP!

After the show we had to find our cab driver and head home.  It was about a 45 minute drive home and the kids instantly passed out!  I was so glad they did because we saw a terrible terrible accident on the way home.  There were bodies on the highway..just a tragic scene.  It made me sick...Then our cab driver went on to tell us that he lives in a small room with 7 other cab drivers and he works 7 days a week from 3am to 3pm.  He was such a nice, intelligent man who spoke several languages.  This is the story of so many people in this country.  They have to leave their homeland to find decent work.  They send their earnings to their families and see them only once a year.  Why all the gloom and doom?  Just want to share the things we are experiencing here.  When we got home I felt so sad for the families of the people in the accident and our cab driver.  It's these moments that so make you appreciate what you have right in front of you!

Friday we celebrated the end of our baseball season.  Luke got his first t-ball trophy and we had a party with his team.  Luke made his first big catch at his last game!   My friend Cathy's dad Ron Cook was in town visiting.  Ron is a former Houston Astro!  He came to the party and signed pictures and balls for the team.  Awesome!  Luke loved playing t-ball and Deric really enjoyed coaching.  It was a great season with the Dubai Little League and we will for sure be back next year!

WORLD'S TALLEST BUILDING BEHIND
WORLD'S CUTEST T-BALLER!

LILLY LOVES THE BALLPARK!

MARLINS ARE THE BEST!

FORMER HOUSTON ASTRO RON COOK
WITH FUTURE HOUSTON ASTRO LUKE THE DUKE!

I will end this post with DUBAI WORLD CUP photos!  Deric and I ended our weekend at the Dubai World Cup, the world's "richest" horse race!  This meaning the payout to the winner is BIG! 10 million US dollars big!  Sheikh Mohammed (whom you saw in the picture) is a lover of horses. This race and the level it has grown to is one of his many dreams for Dubai coming true. Fun fact: The race's first winner in 1996 was an AMERICAN HORSE!  He is the United States Hall of Fame thoroughbred, Cigar, owned by Allen E. Paulson. Go USA!!!  


So I ask you, what is it really about?  The horses or the hats?  The week before the race my great friend Elan and I scoured the city looking for the perfect hat, or should I say "fascinator".   A fascinator is defined as a delicate, slightly-to-very frivolous head decoration.  Or, as a member of our group at the World Cup described it "a wrist-corsage you stick on your head".  HAHAHAHAHA!!!  The Dubai World Cup is all about the fascinators!  It is in my opinion a bit silly and somewhat out of my comfort zone.  Being the tall person that I am, I kept trying them on only to think I looked like an inhabitant of Who-Ville.  The hat vendors or should I say "milliners" set UP their booths in the malls weeks before the big race.  The hats are pricey!!!  I kept saying if only I had my glue gun and a hobby lobby.  I could whip these up!  Here is Miss Blake below trying on some of the hats.  Let's just say I had a hard time picking my hat!  She would have had no problem...

In the end this is the hat I chose.  It was Deric's favorite!    

LOTS OF ENTERTAINMENT BETWEEN THE RACES...
THIS DUDE LIT UP AND MOVED AROUND...

 

Congrats to Japan on their winner Victoire Pisa!  Sheikh Mohammed was probably not that happy about it but hey, you and your people deserve it!  God Bless Japan! 


Cheers from Dubai!