“…is a gift God wrapped in beige!”

Molly and I really enjoyed reading all of your comments about our little digital Christmas card. We had a lot of fun filming it, and a little less fun (for me) editing it all together. I never thought I’d want to thank Brenda White for recording that little localized holiday ditty.

Christmas Eve was supposed to be spent in the kitchen making family dishes at a leisurely pace. I was to make my mom’s macaroni and cheese dish while Molly made her mom’s cinnamon rolls. Instead… much of the night was spent finalizing our video. Believe it or not, we did many many takes of that song and what you heard was the best. Later I did make the mac and cheese… however, the soymilk I used was secretly sweetened and it was a bust. When Molly returned from a holiday party she whipped up the cinnamon rolls with just a little help from me, finishing just seconds before Christmas.

Christmas morning Molly and I sat around the Christmas tree (my Eric Carle advent calendar) and unwrapped our packages from home. Thanks for sending goodies our way! Then we tidied up the place and ourselves to head out to a Christmas breakfast. Our breakfast was just the start of a food filled day. We had cinnamon rolls, eggs, pancakes, fruit, bacon (for them!), and mushrooms.

We piled in the car and headed out for a Christmas meal in the desert. Frances organized a little holiday gathering with amazing food! I was full after the first few bites but kept on eating. Later in the evening I called home on the phone while Molly skyped with her family. I must say, it was great to talk to loved ones and get a glimpse of Molly’s little brothers in their baby kanduras.

Overall, it was a nice holiday. Nothing like being at the Kessler’s on Christmas Eve. Nothing like Christmas morning with my mom, sister, aunt, and uncle. And nothing like Christmas late morning with my dad and Toni. But… all things considered, it went well.

“Don’t approach me. I’ll stab you.”

Way back before Molly and I embarked upon our desert based film career, we did a little camping there.

Sixteen of us packed up our camping gear and found a nice sandy spot in the dunes. It was a pleasant evening around the campfire (minus the one belligerent), complete with rides in a brand new dune buggy.

Full of sand the next morning we headed back to Abu Dhabi, only to be stopped in the road by some wayward camels.

More desert photos here.

xo, jill

You thought you loved your country.

December 2nd is National Day in the UAE. It marks the day in 1971 when the 6 emirates were free from foreign control and decided to unite together, under Sheik Zayed. (The 7th emirate joined about a year later). And it’s kind of a big deal. [Shauna… think “IR”].

This is how it works: About 3 weeks before the actual holiday, schools rearrange their schedules to begin to prepare. For example: My school shortened class periods to 35 minutes and combined the final 2 periods of the day into a mega long rehearsal timeslot. This is so the students can learn the songs and dances they will be performing at the school’s celebration. In addition to shortening periods, large chunks of the day are spent making flags, having a parade, and being filmed by tv and newspaper crews.

Finally, on the last day of school before break, the 25th, [10 days for Eid + National Day combined] the school hosted the official celebration. The students performed their skits/dances, families attended, and we ate traditional Arab food. This wasn’t your typical holiday assembly… it was nearly an all day event. Keep in mind, the kids are just running wild between the scheduled performances. And I’m actually not complaining.

But that’s just the beginning. On the official holiday, things get crazy.

Molly, Frances, and I walked down to the celebrations last night. From an outsider’s perspective, this is how it works:

First, decorate your car to the max in UAE regalia. If you can get actual photos of the sheiks, that’s best. If not, tons of stickers and feathers will work too.

Next, drive down to the Corniche (waterfront) where the Emirates Palace is blasting off the world’s largest fireworks display. The road will essentially be jammed packed with other Emirati’s showing off their own car’s decorations.

It’s also important that if you have children, they should be sitting on top of your car, or at the very least hanging out the sunroof or window.

Don’t forget to bring your snow spray or silly string. Exotic pets optional.

The rest of the town, (read: Expats), will be standing along the road serving as the audience, and sometimes participants, in the spectacle.

These people love their country. It’s kinda nice.

xo, jill

Thanks to Frances for the car and night photos!

Everything’s better in a shaila.

Thanksgiving this year was a little bit different than usual. It helped to pretend that it wasn’t really Thanksgiving… I was lucky enough to celebrate the holiday with four lovely friends.

Each of us chose a family recipe to share and naturally we ended up with way too much food! But it was good food…

Blair made a delicious pumpkin squash biscuit topper (thick soup) and pecan pie.
Frances made super yummy buttery biscuits, cranberry relish, and a cheese puff baked deal.
Trish whipped up very tasty mashed potatoes.
Molly assembled a vegetable spread and prepared tender green beans.
I provided Grandma Kessler’s wild rice stuffing (Guess how much wild rice costs in Abu Dhabi?! $10 for 1.5 cups, eek!) and Karen’s pomegranate salad.

It was a relaxing day and one I’m very thankful to have experienced.

xo, jill

It’s pretty much a mall.

Last weekend Molly, Frances, and I headed out to the Arabian Souk. (Souk is Arabic for market.) There are several types of souks around town… so you never quite know what you’re in store for. We were pretty excited to visit this one. Not only is it wedged between the two bridges with an awesome view of the Grand Mosque… it also offers boat rides!

Unfortunately… because we insist on being active on Friday afternoons (the Sabbath, basically)… most of the shops were closed. Considering that this souk turned out to be essentially a really fancy mall… it didn’t really matter.

We decided to dine on some sushi and enjoy the atmosphere of the golden hour.

Of course.

Things started to click today when I watched my lowest student consume graphite sticks intended for a mechanical pencil.