Archives for May 2011

Don’t feed the animals.

Last week we visited the Kids Park on a field trip. As a person who is not too fond of zoos, it was an interesting experience.

To be fair, the grounds were very clean and the staff managed our visit well (despite our showing up a day late, oops!). But… not a fan. Not recommended.

The animals are kept in extremely small enclosures and the climate may not be suitable to all of the species. I’m not an expert, but it didn’t feel right. A brief conversation with the manager confirmed my feelings. He had just imported a new species from Australia and was telling me that the “problem” was the animals like to dig. He had to put cement down in their pen to keep them from sneaking off. To me, animals engaging in their natural behavior isn’t much of a problem. It only becomes a problem when you lock them up.

It was interesting to see the wide variety of animals on display. The park has ducks, cows, goats, ibex, lions, tigers, ostriches, monkeys, zebras, peacocks, raccoons, house cats, and more. Have you ever seen a raccoon exhibit at the zoo? Or a house cat?

[Mom and those sensitive to snakes, look away now]

While the girls ate ice cream and candy (before lunch), the staff brought out a snake and a few turtles.

(Seeing the girls handle turtles while eating especially grossed me out considering turtles’ tendency to spread diseases.)

Despite all of my misgivings surrounding zoos, it was fun to see my students’ excitement. It was less fun when the girls starting buying their souvenirs…

Yep. Live fish.

I was prepared for a very interesting bus ride back. Luckily, all of the fish arrived back at school safely. It took a lot of convincing to get the girls to set their fish down on their desks and stop waving them around in the air. Poor things.

Are you curious as to what every one of my students named their new pet?

Nemo. Figures.

xo, jill

She almost fooled me.

It’s not uncommon for my students to return homework that was clearly not completed by them. Usually when I ask who wrote in perfect handwriting on their paper they will admit to receiving help from an older sibling or parent. Most often, it is the drawing portion of the assignment that has been completed by an adult. This week a student turned in a particularly amusing piece of work.

Here is the assignment completed in class by a Grade 2 student:

The possible event is sleeping. The impossible event is monsters under the bed.

Here is the exact same assignment completed as homework by the same Grade 2 student:

Ahem.

Another student finally explained to me, “girl clean up do” which translates to, “Her servant did it.” Uh-Huh! Sarah and I had a pretty good laugh over it… hope you did too!

xo, jill

“This is Festival Center. Take us to Festival City, please.”

On Friday, Mike and I booked a last minute hotel and scurried off to Dubai. While trying to locate our hotel on the map, I suddenly realized what we had done.

On a previous trip to Dubai Museum, Mike, Shauna and I ran across the street to use the facilities at a nearby hotel. When the doorman opened the door I had that experience when your eyes open wide and a look of disbelief mixed with slight horror crosses your face. Here, at this hotel, someone thought it a good idea to dress a small androgynous Filipino in a full on genie costume. Tiny vest? Check. Poofy pants? Check. Pointy curled-up-toe shoes? Check. Giant turban? You betcha. The works, people.

So you can see why I started laughing when it all suddenly clicked. We were staying at the genie hotel! Unfortunately, either the genie had the weekend off or it was out granting wishes. The instant photo I was so looking forward to did not happen.

We loitered out front a bit waiting for my car and the genie!

After checking into our Arabian themed room (down to the shampoos), we ventured out to Festival City.

Our goal for the evening was to visit Jamie Oliver‘s recently opened restaurant, Jamie’s Italian. We knew it was located near the “Spice Parking” at Festival City. Following the map, we ended up at Festival Center. We couldn’t find the proper parking and something didn’t feel right. The place was supposed to feature outdoor seating along the water. We were standing in front of an unfinished mall. The area marked on the map was pretty big so we decided to have a taxi take us to Festival City… wherever that was.

I think Mike was more interested in roller blading than taking my picture.

Turns out… we were at Festival City! After rolling about 10 feet in the taxi and speaking with the driver, we realized we were just on the opposite side of the mall. Oops! It turned out to be a fairly expensive mistake. Rolling ten feet in the cab cost us 10AED!

The restaurant was nice but a bit too spendy for the casual atmosphere. Luckily, the food and drinks were pretty good.

After dinner we walked around a bit and arrived at a nearby carnival. The pirate ship is such good classic fun. Watching the lady’s sheilas go flying made me giggle almost as much as the ride.

After a lengthy but failed search for Red Mango, we stopped for Frosties at Wendy’s. The only Wendy’s either of us has seen in the Emirates.

xo, jill

PS. Ann, you should know that part of the search for Red Mango included these words: “Red Mango reminds me of my friend Ann and I want to eat it!!!”