“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!!!”

The behavior chart, that is.

It’s not a secret that student behavior is one of the challenges of teaching in the UAE. I won’t say too much, but I will say that it’s hard to stay engaged when you are listening to someone speak in a language you only partially understand. The expectations for students have changed and they are slowly adapting to a new style of teaching.

Managing my girls can sometimes be a real emotional strain. I can not imagine teaching boys. Especially when I see photos like this from Mike’s class.

Just a typical day on the playground.

That level of energy I do not want to deal with.

xo, jill

PS. Giveaway ends April, 29th (tomorrow) at 12pm Abu Dhabi time.

Another day, another party.

My school does not miss an excuse to celebrate. Last week the occasion happened to be Heritage Day, a time to celebrate the traditions of the UAE. I haven’t been able to confirm if this was a nationally observed day, or just something my school chose to focus on. At least one other school celebrated around the same time, but it wasn’t widespread.

The girls wore beautiful traditional kanduras (dresses) with gold jewelry and head pieces. The dresses are tailor made and feature amazing fabric selections. Since I don’t show too much of my students, I thought a textile mosaic would be fun.

The celebration began with the eating of traditional foods. I am all for upholding tradition… but seeing throngs of kids eating communal food with their hands (and licking them!) doesn’t do much for my appetite.

After devouring the food, the girls played traditional games, identified traditional items (such as a dallah), and sat for a presentation in the library.

I love how parties make the day and the week go by so much faster.

xo, jill

PS. There are still a few days left to enter the Giveaway!

Sort of.

Back in March, we had a school wide celebration to mark the 100th day of school. It wasn’t actually the 100th day of school (that was the week before), but no one seemed to mind.

In true Emirati fashion, the party included:

Dancing in animal costumes…

and eating copious amounts of sweets.

We also played “100” themed games like Sarah’s “Race to 100 Milliliters” and my “100 Unifix Cubes Challenge.”

There was even a strange looking cake that we collectively cut as a staff. That was a laugh!

I could not be happier that the end of the school year is just around the bend (at the end of June.)

xo, jill

Expensive, too.

Ferrari World is billed as a major attraction in Abu Dhabi. Located on Yas Island, the world’s largest indoor amusement park is just minutes from the Formula One race track. It is also home to the world’s fastest roller coaster. After a few delays, Ferrari World opened in November of last year.

Initially, the reviews were not exactly glowing. Between the high ticket prices (225AED/$61) and mechanical failures, the majority of visitors were not too pleased. The reviews on Tripadvisor ranged from: “Worst amusement park in the world.” to “Don’t waste your time or money!!” It seems that people were buying their tickets only to find out that none of the rides were operating once they had entered. Harsh.

Naturally, having heard about the opening troubles and not being a fan of Ferrari, I didn’t rush to check things out. But when half price tickets were on offer a few weeks ago, I figured, “Why not?”

First up on our agenda was the world’s fastest roller coaster, Formula Rossa. We arrived just prior to opening so there were no lines to toil through. The anticipation is pretty palpable when you know you are about to shoot 240km (150miles) per hour in the span of 4.9 seconds. That can’t be healthy. Fortunately, it’s super fun! The ladies in our bunch rode the coaster twice in short succession. I was ready to go for a third but to be honest, I had quite the headache the rest of the day. Your body just doesn’t know how to deal with such speed!

I do not mean to be lewd. The ride was literally blowing off my clothes!

The next thrill ride we rode was G Force. It shoots you straight up and out of the building, then lets you sit there checking out the view of Yas Island. Unfortunately, since you are outside it’s really hot. Waiting for the ride to begin was pretty uncomfortable. I can’t imagine what it would be like later in the season.

We also rode the Fiorano GT Challenge. This ride is actually two roller coasters that are racing each other down the track. That might have been cool… except during our visit there weren’t enough visitors to justify opening both tracks. (At least that’s my assumption as to why only one track was running). After riding the world’s fastest coaster, this one was just so-so.

The other rides at the park were geared either towards kids or teaching you about Ferrari. Speed of Magic (a 4D adventure!) was surprisingly fun while Racing Legends (the history of Ferrari) was pretty boring.

Oh yeah, there are a ton of Ferraris displayed around the park as well. If you like that sort of thing.

My recommendation: If you’re an avid Ferrari fan, it’s probably worth checking out. If you’re only in it for the rides, don’t pay full price and come early. You will be exiting through the gift shop so don’t forget to grab that 45AED ($12) 6-pack of Ferrari pencils!

Remember to enter my delicious Giveaway!

xo, jill

PS. John O. this one’s for you!