Musandam, Oman

With Joe & Annie here last week, we decided to be a bit adventurous and head over to the neighboring country of Oman. We went to the northern most part called Musandam, about a 3 hour drive from Dubai. It is right near the straight of Hormuz, only 30 miles from Iran across the Persian Gulf. This area is commonly called the "fjords of the Middle East" because of the beautiful tall mountains that jet up out of the sea. We took a dhow (an old wooden boat) cruise of the whole area. We all went snorkeling and even saw some dolphins.

Bret, Drew and Cole sitting on the dhow. There were rugs and pillows to sit on, the traditional Arabic seating.

This is what the dhow looked like.

Drew, enjoying the beautiful scenery.

If you look real close, you can see the dolphins. There was one swimming right up next to the boat for a bit, but by the time I grabbed my camera, it was gone.

This is a little fishing village.

Bret & Cole ready for some snorkeling.

Snorkeling

Laci resting on Dad.

Drew hanging out with Abdullah and Waleed.

We've caved

So, after nearly 2 years of living here, we finally gave in and are living like most of Dubai - with a live in maid. We resisted for so long because we didn't want someone living with us, but after nearly all of our friends saying how nice it is, we thought we'd give it a try for our last year here. And after about a week, I can say it is soooooooo nice. The dishes are always done. The house is always picked up (well, almost - Drew goes around and pretty much destroys things right behind her). The clothes hampers are always empty. The best part is not having to clean up the kitchen after dinner, which she cooks. Tonight we had a Filipino dish called chicken adobo...very good.


Her name is Marjory and she is from the Philippines. She is very quiet and polite. She has been in Dubai for about 3 weeks now. She has a cousin and an aunt here, so it is nice for her to have some family here. Marjory was a maid in the Philippines for 2 years before coming to Dubai. This the first time she ever left the Philippines and her first time on a plane.


How am I ever going to go back to doing things myself?! I'm so spoiled.

A day at the zoo & Laci's new do

Last week was spring break and one of the days we went to the zoo. We went to the Al Ain zoo. Al Ain is a city in the neighboring emirate of Abu Dhabi. It was about a 90 minute drive. There is a zoo here in Dubai, but we haven't been and heard it's not very good. The Al Ain zoo was a good size and there was no one there, except for the group of friends we went with. It was great. The kids had a good time and thank goodness it wasn't too hot that day. Here are a few pictures. I'm a terrible photographer and only got one animal in a picture....oh well.

Bret and the ostrich

Cole - note the mountains in the background - we haven't seen mountains in months

Drew pointing at a bird

There was even a train painted with zebra stripes

In one of my previous posts, I wrote how Laci has lost most of her hair - well, all but the top. I know it's just wishful thinking, but I've been pulling that little tuft of hair up with an elastic and curling it. When it's up, you can really see how bald she is everywhere else. We call it her "Pebbles" do.