Was just looking through my photos from the past year and ran across this one. Melanie is already a pretty awesome mom for all that she does for the boys, but this just further proves that she will do just about anything for them. Can’t wait for her to get home today, so she can continue to do things for them and give me a break. 🙂
Melanie had to fly to Australia for what she claims is work this past Friday night and now the boys and are living the college life for the next two weeks. This includes eating nothing but dip and burgers for the super bowl, ordering pizza, running from sporting event one after the other, and turning our underwear inside out in order to use them just one more time before having to do the laundry. Ok, that last part is a joke…we just go commando.
At first I was a bit stressed at the thought of dealing with these two monkeys by myself for two weeks, but it is actually turning into a pretty good time…aside from missing Melanie terribly that is. It started a bit rocky on Saturday, but after having several discussion with the boys that involved pleading for peace between the two of them, things have started to go really well. That being said, it is still very early in the trip and we can not wait for Melanie’s return.
At the airport hiding our apprehension as we said good bye to Melanie.
While gazing from the hallway windows walking back to our hotel room in Dubai, I noticed this mosque a few blocks away that had the tower lit up and I couldn’t resist the opportunity to take a walk and get in a few photographs. As luck would have it, the call for prayer went out while we were snapping away. I’ll be honest, when the call starts it’s a bit shocking and because this was pre education, I got a bit startled and we quickly walked back to our hotel. Fortunately Melanie and I both thought to hit record on our phones and were able to capture the call.
The morning of our last day in Dubai we finally got around to visiting a local mosque and were given a brief introduction into the Muslim religion. The tour is put on by a local organization in an effort to help educate those of us that have really never experienced the Muslim world. Although I am somewhat exposed to the religion on an almost daily basis, as I work with Muslims locally and overseas, I will say that this experience was rather enlightening and one that I wish we had had the opportunity to do much earlier in the trip.
Prior to our visit, when I was around mosques and the traditionally dressed Muslims I found myself feeling uneasy and avoided eye contact. One day when taking photos of a beautiful mosque just down the street from our hotel the call for prayer went out and I immediately felt intimidated and uneasy and tried not to look anyone in the eye as they entered for their prayer time. Even as I type I now realize just how foolish this sounds. The basis of religion aside, it is akin to feeling uneasy and not looking someone in the eye as they enter a Christian church for prayers. Put this way, it sounds ludicrous and after our visit to the mosque, at least for our one remaining day, I sought out eye contact and it was often returned with a smile and welcoming look. I now wonder if they feel the same when surrounded by Christians? I wonder if, because a very small percentage of extremist Christians behave aside from what our bible tells us, they too feel uncomfortable around us?
On our final day in Dubai, Melanie and I headed to the mall where the indoor skiing was located. Instead of skiing, we chose to go the movies. However we needed to kill some time before the movies and so we wandered around the mall for awhile and during this wandering happened upon a Katy Perry concert. Or should I say a Katy Perry wannabe concert. It was rather entertaining to people watch so many people gathered around to watch. It was especially entertaining to watch the three local men directly in front of us.
Today, our last day in town, we started the day off with a visit to one of the local mosques where we were taught about the Muslim religion as well as some of their customs. It was very enlightening and I have an entire post already written in my head to be shared, but I am just too tired to write something as insightful as I plan. We then wandered around the Emirates Mall, no skiing today, and stumbled upon a Katy Perry concert (another post to be), before watching a movie and listening to everyone talk around us. Lots to be told about everything, but it will all have to wait as I am still overdue on our dune drive, our trip to the market, boat ride up the Dubai “creek”,…and the list goes on. For now I am exhausted and going to pack it in, get on the plane, and pass out for our flight to London, then enjoy a three hour layover before heading to New York AND another three hour layover before finally getting to Dallas and our boys. I think we hit the maximum time away yesterday and are very much ready to get home and spend some time with our boys as well as kick back and enjoy the comforts of our home.
Another building that I have become fascinated, borderline obsessed, with during our visit is the Berj Khalifa. It is the tallest building in the world, standing tall at 160 stories and more than 2700 feet. When standing at the base, it is nearly impossible to get the entire tower in the frame…although we have tried and thanks to technology succeeded a few times. Today I took some photos from the window outside of our room and you can see that it dwarfs the others standing around it. In fact it looks as if it is doubling it in size.
Tonight, after risking our lives for in the market (a story for later), for some purse shopping we headed back down to the Dubai Mall that is next to the beauty where the fountain show occurs to see the show and naturally we started taking more photos. I do believe it is even more beautiful at night.
And finally, I have a video from the dancing fountain show. I posted one from the show during the day a couple of posts ago. I think this one blows it away. Very cool seeing it at night. I’m glad we survived our near death experiencing shopping for purses.
Tomorrow begins Melanie’s portion of the vacation as her work conference is over. We will be heading to the dunes for some “dune bashing”. Here’s to hoping for no car sickness.
And here I was worried that Melanie would be the one battling. I sat down to type this up 60 minutes ago and am only to get four words typed before falling asleep only to wake ten minutes later and start the process over again. Wow, I am tired. Jet Lag 1 – Aaron 0
Given my fatigue, I am just going to mail this one in and post some pictures from our short day wandering through the Dubai mall and of the Burj Khalifa…the world’s tallest building.
Oh and here is a video of a fountain show. Can’t wait to see it at night.
We have arrived in Dubai and quite frankly I don’t even know what day it is after losing an entire day to travel. Melanie got in late last night and I got here just a couple hours ago. Now begins the battle versus jet lag. Surprisingly I slept really well on the plane, thank you first class, and with me arriving in the morning I think I will be alright. Unfortunately for Melanie, the one that is here for work, she didn’t sleep well and I fear she will have a bit of a battle. Off for now to fake the lifestyles of the rich and famous.
As Melanie and I are about to head out of the country for a week, in comes Grandma, Aunt Pat, and Grandma Pam to stay with the boys. I thought at first the spoiling would wait until we left, then I looked at the counter in the kitchen and found a pecan pie, cinnamon rolls, chocolate cinnamon cake, fudge of all sorts, m&ms, and Swedish fish. Not sure if this is all for the boys or to help the elderly keep up their energy level. Either way, I sat down with Mason tonight and asked him to please try and watch over the asylum while we are away. Hope the house is still standing upon our return.
Team Fricke 