An Arabic Bridal Shower

As I said in my last post, last night Jo was invited to an Emirati bridal shower. She recounts the experience below.

I had my first 'real housewives of Arabia' experience last night when I was invited to go to an emirate bridal shower at one of the houses on our compound. I was pretty nervous about the whole thing although there were a few other girls that I knew were also going. I found out later that the Quran requires you to be kind and friendly to the 7 neighbours to your right which is why I got an invite. I guess if everyone abides by this rule the world is covered.

The party was ladies only so the ladies arrived in their abayas, which they quickly removed once inside to reveal some very flamboyant numbers. We were all feeling a bit underdressed at this stage. I would have loved to have taken some photos but it would be a big no no. The family maids brought round lovely chocolates and mango juice while we all sat in rows the the lounge rather like you would in a church.

We went around and introduced ourself and shook everyone's hands but it's very difficult to know how you should really greet someone here. The other ladies were greeting each other with several kisses to the right cheek. To us there didn't seem to be any particular formulae as to how many kisses were administered but nobody appeared to get it wrong so all the girls obviously knew what they were doing.

Each time the bride appeared there was much whooping and hollering. She was dressed in a beautiful turquoise and gold dress and was amazingly young, slim and glamorous. She then sat whilst various people (including myself) were dragged up to dance for her. Not my finest hour. I'm not the best dancer anyway unless it's post brunch roof top table dancing, where I seem to come into my own!!!!

Finally, just before 11pm (way past my bedtime) we had some beautiful food. I can't imagine how Emiratis function when they stay up so late. Especially given that the first call for prayer is loud and early, so even if you don't go you will probably still be woke at 5am. I wish I had that kind of stamina.

Most of the ladies downstairs were of the older generation but after our food the bride and her sisters insisted that we go upstairs. The bride and her husband have the top floor of the groom's mother's house. It had been beautifully refurbished to accommodate them. We were there with her and her three sisters who are all from Fujairah. It was lovely to chat to them as they were very keen to answer all our questions regarding various cultural issues. All very interesting.

By this time it was close to midnight all us westerners needed our beds. They seemed quite horrified that we were leaving sooo early!

 

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One year on

It was a year ago this week that I first got the phone call asking if I would be interested in being put forward for "a great role in the Middle East". I can vividly remember discussing it with Jo and deciding to find out more just for the hell of it. One thing lead to another, and twelve months later here we are, fast approaching the end of our first six months, enjoying our new lives immensely and relishing the challenges and opportunities at work. Life certainly takes unexpected turns on occasion.

It's half term already in the UAE, 2014 is flying past. The kids only get a couple of days off but we are taking the opportunity to explore a bit more of the country having had a fairly quiet January from that point of view. Tomorrow we are heading off to Fujairah for a couple of nights in a hotel. Fujairah is one of the other Emirates which make up the UAE, and the only one with a coastline solely on the Gulf of Oman, and none on the Persian Gulf. More about that when we return.

Flossie was "Star of the Week" last week

Since I last updated you it has been Jo's birthday, the celebrations of which she managed to stretch out for five days, starting with Friday Brunch at the Ritz Carlton Hotel and finishing with ladies night at the same hotel yesterday. I think I can safely say that she has enjoyed herself greatly.

Brunch with friends at the Ritz Carlton

We've also had another sports day for all three children, and Archie has had his swimming gala, finishing second in a couple of races. He also spent his first night away from Jo and I when he hasn't been at his grandma's, when his class had an "Aussie Sleepover" at school. He was very excited in the run up to it, and had a great time, although a week later and he still doesn't seem to have caught up with his sleep.

Sporting activities

Other than the above, the Candy Crush addiction continues, although I've now been stuck on the same level for a few days so maybe this is where I go cold turkey. I did drag myself away briefly to try the Flappy Bird craze but soon gave up in frustration, thank goodness that has now been withdrawn by its creator!

Hope all is well with you wherever you are, and that those of you back in the UK are coping with the wind and the floods.

Thanks for reading as always.

 

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A sweet addiction

I can't believe that January is almost over. Apologies that I haven't been blogging much, but it has been a busy time at work, and weekends have been busy too. Although I do have to admit that there have been times when I could have been blogging, but I decided to play Candy Crush Saga instead.

I'm sure you all know what Candy Crush is, but in case there is someone out there who doesn't, it is a "match three puzzle video game" (thanks Wikipedia), which in March 2013 apparently had an average of 46 million users a month. I'm rather late to the party, I've been aware of it for some time but have avoided downloading it as I had heard how addictive it could be. However that all changed a couple of days before Christmas when Ann (mother-in-law) persuaded me to have a go. Thanks Ann! ;)

From that moment I was hooked. Christmas and New Year passed in a blur as every spare moment (and some moments that weren't strictly spare) was spent playing, and this has continued throughout January although at a much reduced level as I have had to work as well (how inconvenient!). I've managed to make reasonable progress, enough to keep me returning anyway. And for those wondering, and I've had at least one email asking, you know who you are ;), yes, in the early days I did pay 69p once or twice so I didn't have to wait for my lives to build up again, but my total spending has been less than £3, and since returning to the UAE I have not spent a penny.

Away from Candy Crush our weekends have settled into a routine during January, usually involving doing something with friends on one day, and spending the next recovering. Two weekends ago we hosted a dinner party, which seemed to be a great success, although the song selection on Spotify did cause one or two tensions as the evening went on. This was due to the men (obviously) choosing proper music, but the ladies objecting to most of our choices as they didn't involve Gary Barlow, or couldn't be danced to.

Anyway the evening finished without major incident, other than one person landing flat on their backside whilst "dancing", and two people ending up with scraped knees due to forgetting about the steps outside our front door as they left. Needless to say the three individuals concerned were all female!

Last weekend some Australian friends on the compound decided to celebrate Australia Day with a "Aussies v Pommies" sporting challenge, involving cricket, netball and basketball. They had rounded up a number of their sporty mates, whereas the plucky English (plus a token Scot, Welshman and French man) were somewhat thrown together. Whilst we put up a brave challenge, unfortunately we were very narrowly (honest) beaten in all of the matches. We shall be better prepared next year, believe me, but it was a great afternoon and evening.

Action shot from the netball match

Work continues to be busy but in a good way. I'm splitting my time between Abu Dhabi and Dubai due to my new role, and continue to meet a wide variety of clients and targets. In the last week alone I've met organizations in the following sectors: health, education, dairy, retail, hotels (I knew my degree would come in handy eventually!), financial services, manufacturing, government, and night clubs. I certainly can't complain about the variety, and the important thing is I am really enjoying it.

Arab Health Exhibition in Dubai this week

Yesterday I did a 2.5 hour presentation at the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce, sharing my thoughts on audit committees, a relatively recent concept for the UAE. I wasn't sure whether I was going to be able to fill the time but there were plenty of questions from the audience so in the end it wasn't an issue, indeed I could probably have gone on for another hour! I managed to attract an audience of about 60, and got some really positive feedback, which I am really pleased about.

Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce

Jo and the kids are fine, having settled back into their routines. Flossie's reading is really coming on, Archie is enjoying playing touch rugby (despite rarely touching the ball, bless him), and Henry has relaunched his film career (see trailer below). Jo is as busy as ever, out and about exploring new parts of Abu Dhabi amongst many other things, and seems to be emerging as the social hub of the compound, the person who knows everyone, and everyone knows her.

That's all for now, I'll try and post a little more regularly from now on.

Thanks for reading as always.

 

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