The Burj Khalifa, the TALLEST Building in the World!

This weekend, we toured the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world, 160 stories! Wow! It was amazing! Security is very high, and you must present your passport, or identification, go through a metal detector, and have all bags inspected as well. We were surprised then, that we could go at our own pace and stop or walk as fast as we wanted.

We rode an elevator from the first floor to the observation point on the 124th floor. The elevator is also the fastest in the world, going forty mph. It was a smooth ride, but my ears popped as we went up so fast! The observation point is considered outside, even though it is glassed in except for the top. You can walk completely around the building, and see the view from all sides. The pictures we took were mostly from the top. You can see the fountain that we saw previously because the Burj Khalifa is next to the Dubai Mall and fountain area. They were all built as part of a $20 billion dollar development, including the mall and fountains. The building itself cost $1.5 billion to build, and took five years. WOW! The “fact” that stuck in my head was this: the concrete alone that was used in the building weighed as much as 100,000 elephants! I quit listening after that, as I was trying to wrap my thoughts around that one fact! It was an amazing building with an amazing view! A very fun place to visit!

This week we are traveling to London! Luke is meeting us there, which that, in itself, is very exciting! I can’t wait to see him...wishing Emily, Ben, and Dave could come as well! Then, Larry and I will go on to Paris! It is our "holiday," as they say here in Dubai! We are going to "beat the heat" hopefully! As through all years, God continues to give us many opportunities and blessings, as He leads us One Step at a Time!

"Sign" The Burj Khalifa

From the "ground"

Elevator going UP to the 124th Floor!

Fountain below

Picture taken looking up the rest of the way from the 124th floor to the top!

This one is my favorite!

Back at the bottom!

The Atlantis and a Happy Anniversary!

Last weekend, we went to see the Atlantis Hotel! It is located on The Palm, the well-known man-made peninsula. It had a very different look from where we live. Larry looked at a villa for us on The Palm. Here, a villa is just another name for a house with a yard! However, the one he looked at, shared one yard between four houses. Often, villas also share walls, similar to duplexes. At first, we thought this might be a better setup for Sammie, but then realized it would not, if we shared the yard. Other areas of the city also have villas with separate walls and individual yards. However, you really need a car or you are pretty much “stuck” in your neighborhood in these areas. The Metro does not go out to The Palm at all, so if we lived there, we would always be using a taxi. It is a beautiful area, very well groomed, with more flowers. The hotel was gorgeous! It has several restaurants and bars, a massive lobby, an amazing aquarium, and a waterpark attached at the back. It does have a beach, but we decided it must be a man-made one because “their” part of the bay would be very deep. It was fun to wander around. When I win the lottery, we will invite you all over, and we will stay there! Ha! In the meantime, you are all invited anytime to our humble abode! :)

This past weekend was our anniversary! We have been married 34 years, and have had many wonderful adventures! We went for a long walk...a different path! Then, we came back and went to the beach. The beach was fairly deserted because of Ramadan. Because it is a fasting time during the day, it is not a time to go to the beach and not be able to get a drink when you return home! We then went out to eat at El Chicos...yes Larry chose! We went at 6:30 when they opened, but they did not serve dinner until it was officially time to eat Iftar or time to “break fast” for Ramadan, which was around 7:00. The food was good!

I am so thankful God has blessed us with so many adventures! He knows our path, and He continues to guide us One Step at a Time!

Taken from the taxi as we were leaving.

Centerpiece in middle of the main lobby made out of glass. Beautiful and Huge!

Check-In/Out Desk

Light fixture over a desk as you first entered the hotel! There was a duplicate on the other side as well!

An "oyster" fountain! The "oyster" in the middle spun slowly in the water!

Looking down on the aquarium from upstairs.

I have had some "firsts" since we have been here, and some of them occurred this week!

I have enjoy tremendously a group of ladies who "craft" on Tuesdays! I have brought out my antique cross-stitch, and am sure I will finish it in due time! Some ladies are working on crocheting, knitting, quilting, and even beading. The neat thing about the group is how they have taken me in, and been so welcoming. They are from New Zealand, Australia, Portugal, Hawaii...very sweet ladies! Even though they speak English, I must listen very closely to understand what they are saying! Last week, we rode the Metro and then a Taxi for an hour-and-a-half just to get to "craft," because we meet in members' homes, and we live all over. Then, we turned around after and did the same ride again! At home, I would NEVER have done that...but life is different here!

This Tuesday, "craft" was just down the road, I walked, and made it in thirty minutes! However, I twisted by ankle outside of my destination! They were so sweet to help me, wrap my ankle, give me an ice pack, and bring me home! One of my best adventures!

Another first happened Monday! I rode the Metro by myself! I walked over (about a twenty-minute walk), and scanned my card, and got on the RIGHT train! There is a gold card section, which is a bit nicer...the chairs face forward, and they are larger. I did not pay for THAT card, and there is a women and children section where I can sit, or sit in the general section. I managed to listen for my stop which is announced in Arabic and English. I rode over to the Mall of the Emirates. It is the mall that has skiing! I stood for a good while and just watched those enjoying the snow....with it 106 degrees outside! I have included pictures of the ski slope! On the way back, I stood as there were no seats. Three men attempted to give me their seats, and then I sat when a seat was available. I did it...I am so proud of me! Ha!

It does seem to be getting hotter and hotter, and Ramadan begins next week. From what we can understand, at that time for the month of August, Muslims fast all day...from sun up to sun down. During that time, restaurants and cafes are closed during the day, and it is not acceptable to eat or drink in public. It will be interesting to see how it all works out. I have become accustomed to walking most places, but having an iced coffee when I get there! Experiencing Ramadan this year will be a FIRST for us...God continues to guide One Step at a Time!



Look closely for the Metro!




Entrance to Metro Station




From where we live, I can catch the Metro to most anywhere I want to go. I did not think they would be comfortable with me taking pictures inside of the station.




Ski slope in the Mall of the Emirates! You rent winter clothes along with skiis or sleds!



Ibn Battuta Mall and the BEAUTIFUL Dubai Fountains

What a great weekend we had last weekend! I had previously gone to the Ibn Battuta Mall on one of my outings with a friend. I wanted Larry to see it, and there is a very nice restaurant there, The Lime Tree Cafe! So, on Friday after church, we went! The mall is named after an Emirati explorer. It is a museum of sorts to his explorations, as each section of the mall resembles the countries where he traveled. It is beautiful! My mom is a real museum buff, and she would love to read all of the plaques. Me...not so much! Then on Saturday, we went back to the Dubai Mall in the evening. We ate dinner....we DO enjoy eating, then watched the "show" provided by the fountains. I wish you could have heard the music that went with the movement of the water. It was sharp, Arabic music, and the water seemed to dance to the beat of the music. It was amazing! It was also very neat to "people watch" as well! In the mall, they had an exhibit of Muslim dress, basket-weaving, and traditions, to go along with Ramadan coming very soon. It was very interesting!

We went to the Atlantis today (Friday) after church. It is the resort hotel that has been built on the Palm...the man-made peninsula. I have pictures to share very soon! God continues to bless us, and help us through...One Step at a Time!




Ibn Battuta's Travels





Waterfall with Beautiful Diver Statues in the Fall




We thought things were big in Texas! :)




Fountain Show...Amazing!



A Birthday and an Amazing Mall!

This was a good week! I do have two significant things that happened that let me know I'm not just here on vacation: I finally received my residence visa! It is good for four years, and lets me leave the country and come back! Larry and I went with a representative from Exxon to the immigration office. We took my passport and my application for a Residence Visa. Then, after bloodwork and a chest x-ray, our part was done. Then, Bahaa (Exxon Rep) had to take the paperwork to the American Embassy. About five days later, I have my visa! You must get your Residence Visa to stay longer than 30 days. The other event was a sad one: my allergies caught up with me! I have not had a stuffy nose for the last five weeks! After a beautiful morning at the beach...so calm and clear, the "sand" blew in, and my allergies were back!

This weekend was fun! We celebrated Larry's birthday! We are somewhat limitted on cooking utensils, so we decided to make "mix" sugar cookies instead of a cake. We made icing with the vanilla that we bought at the spice souk! What fun! We opened the pod. Inside, it was like a black paste. I scraped it into the icing and it separated and became all of these tiny black seeds! It was similar to the look of "vanilla bean" ice cream. Anyway, the cookies were good! 


Saturday, we went to the biggest mall in Dubai! Now, I am not a shopper, so usually do not get too excited about a mall...if you've seen one mall, you've seen them all in my opinion. :) HOWEVER, this mall was very different! I wanted to go because they have an aquarium inside the mall. They hold the record in the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest one "sheet" of plexiglass for the aquarium. It was beautiful, and had a tunnel you could walk through to see the fish all around. They also had a small aquatic zoo. Each day, and mostly in the evening, they have huge fountains very similar to the Ballagio in Las Vegas. They were beautiful as well, with music included! The mall sits next to the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa. We plan to visit that another day, and eat dinner to watch the fountains...that is another day though! Back to the mall...the mall was very upscale! We rode the Metro Rail and entered on the lowest floor. It was full of shop-after-shop of beautiful Muslim dress. There were black burqas with all kinds of trim, and dresses that looked similar, but were gorgeous colors. There were also shops for men's Muslim wear. The rest of the mall contained all kinds of stores...they were on floors according to the type of store they were. It was very interesting to "people-watch" there. We saw many different nationalities taking pictures just like we were. Then, we saw people that looked like this was the mall they used to do their regular shopping. We noticed the clothing worn by customers was more upscale as well! :) 


I continue to appreciate and enjoy living in Dubai! When we arrived, I knew that we would be "ex-pats", but really had no idea what that would mean except that we were coming to another country to work. I assumed all "ex-pats" were working for oil companies, and that there were a handfull of us. I was so wrong! There are "ex-pats" from all countries, in all walks of work. Some come in to work for companies doing construction, some to work in nail salons, restaurants, maintenance, housekeeping, taking care of children...everything! I have heard that only about 20% of the people living here are Emaratis. 


So, as we enjoy the country, and learn more and more...we continue to take One Step at a Time, thanking God for the opportunity and adventure!

Old Dubai...What Fun!

Well...I took Larry on another adventure this weekend! We went to Old Dubai! It is TOTALLY different to me than anything I had seen in Dubai previously. You will see from the pictures that it is not new or modern, but much older looking, and more run-down. This is the area where there are the Gold, Spice, and Old Souks! We arrived by taxi, and I immediately felt like we stuck out like a sore thumb! This was the first place I felt like I should have worn more modest clothing! I did not see ANYONE except Larry and myself in shorts! 

As we reached the Gold Souk area, we were immediately bombarded by men wanting to sell us watches, bags, and t-shirts! I think our appearance definitely screamed "tourist"! It reminded me of a time I was in Juarez many years ago...The Gold Souk was a huge area with small shops for buying all types of gold jewelry. There was shop, after shop, after shop! It was AMAZING! 

We followed the narrow streets with tiny shop openings (doors were plastic "curtains) into the Spice Souk! This area was amazing as well! Each little shop had huge containers of all kinds of spices. Oh my goodness! Outside the shops going in were also huge supplies of spices. Some of the spices were: cumin, lavender, garlic, rosemary, myrrh, frankincense, pepper, coriander, curry, sulphur, cinnamon, coffee beans, ginger root...and SO MANY MORE! The vanilla was really interesting! It was in a special box, and was very expensive. We bought three "strands" and it was about $30. It smelled so good, and came from Madagascar! We met Aqeel, who bargained to trade Larry five camels for me! The "deal" was off when he would not include a goat! Oh my, what fun! 

From there, we rode a "boat" taxi across the creek to the Old Souk. By this time, we were very hot and tired, and finished up rather quickly. It was mostly various kinds of fabrics and textiles...more scarves! :) Again, I felt like I was back in Juarez. 

It was a very different side of Dubai, and so interesting to see how the people ran their shops!