Very Special Guest!

My brother delivered this week on his promise to visit me in Dubai. We have made a trip to the Mall of the Emirates to see the ski run, taken pictures of the Burj Al Arab, had dinner out with friends, eaten shwarma and hummus, looked for souvenirs, and lazed around the flat chatting. He has eaten his weight in bread and butter (not ice cream as I might have expected) as he cannot get that in China and apparently enjoys the comfort of my very long and squishy couch.

Will post pix.

So great to have him here....sigh.

Emirati Wedding

My colleague, Gloysis, and I attended the wedding of the brother of a friend from the university. Well, actually, we attended the new sister-in-law's wedding as there are only women in attendance until the end of the evening when the groom usually makes an appearance for pictures.  It was a very beautiful affair, with food (so much food) and music.  Our friend had done all the planning and it went very smoothly.  She looked stunning.  We had never seen her without her abaya and shayla.  Gloysis and I wondered, would we even recognize her?  You have to understand about these weddings for that to make sense and you would have to see it--the makeup, the hair, the gowns.

Weddings here serve many purposes, and one is certainly to showcase all the young girls to mothers of young men.  According to another Emirati friend, this is how many marriage proposals are born.  The power of women in this country is subtle, but present.

Thanksgiving

Anke's Birthday

Well, we had a big surprise birthday party for Anke on the 16th--actually it was entirely done by her students.  Then Wendy and I took her out for dinner and we had a great time at our favorite Italian restaurant.