Thanksgiving in Dubai

Okay so as you can see from the title we went to Dubai for Thanksgiving.  Started out with a nice flight on Emirates airlines. I have to say they economy class seats were good size and plenty of leg room.  Service was great and the flight was only 2.5 hours.  So no problems there.

We rented a car but unfortunately the only drivers license I had with me was my Saudi license.  Fortunately, Jolene had her US license so she put the car in her name.  That was great for her since she can't drive in Saudi it was a chance for her to get behind the wheel for a few days, and a nice break for me.  So we checked into our Marriott hotel and got upgraded to a 2 bedroom apartment.

We were told about a gold souk so of course, Jolene and Crystal wanted to go check it out.  The gold was between 18 and 24 karat and this place is strongly regulated by the government for quality.  Needless to say I'm done Christmas shopping for Jolene.

One of 3 enterances to the souk

Lots of large breast plate like designs

And a little silver shopping too..

All I have to say here is Merry Christmas!

A few 24k bracelets

oh! and some gold!!!

With a few diamonds

and other people shopping.

So needless to say there is shopping to be done in Dubai.  After the souk and walking around all morning we went to a little desert dune riding in a Hummer and then a Bedouin meal.  This part was just okay, but the dancers were really good.

 This was the entrance to the desert area.

 Crystal found an Aussie friend to hang with 

 No trip is complete without riding a camel 

And that wrapped up a long day.  From here it was like an hour and half ride back to the hotel for a nice night of sleep and sleeping in.  After we got up and moving our first order of business was to find a Starbucks, Jolene and Boo need their Starbucks... and from there it was time to get wet at Wild Wadi.

And the view was pretty good from the high slides

The water park was really fun and it was nice just to run around and play in the water.  They had some really good slide and one that the bottom dropped out from underneath you and free fall a good deal of the way... Good times!

So after the water park it was time to go to the movies since there are none in Saudi Arabia.  We went to the Mall of the Emirates and saw Catching fire.  That pretty much rounded out our Thanksgiving, no turkey no table to sit at, just a bit of time in another country where the girls could where what they want, I could have a beer at a restaurant in public and Jolene could drive.  Kind of funny what you're thankful for when you can't have something you used to take for granted.

Cheers!

Short Trip to Brussels

So I had a bit of training and a little vacation time in Brussels.  Unfortunately the girls couldn't make it along, so I took one for the team and went alone :(

Training went really well, lots of good information and some good networking.  The best part of the trip was a chance to see an old friend and army buddy.  We were stationed at Ft. Bragg, NC, Ft. Polk, LA and did a tour in Bosnia together.  He and his wife are the ones that taught us how to play bridge and it's bee about 12 years since we've last seen each other.  I wish I had more time to catch up with them.  But hopefully they can make it out to Paris when we go on R&R.

So of course this usually tends to be a photo blog so here are some of the pictures. The full set can be found HERE.

 Of course I had to go to some local brew houses.

Cheers Brian!












So you did scroll all the way down to see what was next.  Congratulations your the 3 individual to do so. Not really... you're probably the first...

Anyway so when I get into the airport back in Jeddah, I call Jolene and she says she's at the Marine house for a going away party and that I should come over to the consulate to partake.  So being one to always want to support our Marines I do the right thing and go to the party... Yeah I know how that sounds. Anyways it turned into a very long day since I was up at 4am to get ready and catch my flight which landed at 7:30 pm.  I finally made it home around 1:30 am.  And we had a great time.  Though we didn't get up and dance on the bar, others did.

And to finish off our weekend one of our British friends had a birthday so we went over to their place and had a small get together and an excellent cheese cake.

So now I'm home fat and happy (literally to both :\ )  Tomorrow is the first day of the work week and after being gone for a week I'm sure I'll have plenty to do.

Until next time...

Long Time No See

So about a year ago when I found out we were going to Moscow for our first assignment, I posted on Facebook that fact and put out an invitation for anyone to come visit.  We had some half hearted interest by some, but one said she would definately be here.  Well Connie was true to her word and came out last week.
We started with a bang on the 4th of July.  After a bite to eat and a walk down the pedesterian Old Arbat Street.  From there we met up with Jolene and wound up at an after party at some cafe and from there we took a cab to some other bar that was decorated in Red, White and Blue for our Independence day.  Needless to say it was a VERY long day for Connie, but she hung in there.  We also met another American visiting from Turkey (I think).  He tagged along and came out with us.

We were up the next morning (not to early) site-seeing over the next couple of days, taking in all the touristy sites and some off the beating path.  I took her to see the Changing of the Guard at the Eternal Flame, Red Square area, the Armoury and the GYM (pronounced GOOM) mall.  We also made it out to Gorky Park and the nearby Statue Park.  The embassy community had an Independence Day picnic and I think Connie had fun there too, as you can see.

Unfortunately the first couple of days, Jolene had to work, but on Friday night, she was able to head out with us.  We made it to one of our favorite cafes SIM-SIM, for dinner.  

All in all, I think Connie had a good time and it was nice to see her again after 21 years... yeah we hadn't seen each other since high school.  It was nice to catch up and hear about everyone.  And thanks again to Jolene for being such a good sport too!

So hopefully in the next week or two we will be finding out what our next posting will be and the offer will be out there again, anyone wanting to visit and see the country we are in, just let us know!

Our First Visitors

Well we have had our first family visit, Jolene's sister Nickie and her husband Scott came and spent a week with us.  We were able to hit the major touristy sites like Red Square, the Kremlin and the Armory.  We also saw the changing of the guard at the WWII memorial, which was pretty cool...

Right before the changing of the guard a local woman went up to the Leningrad Marker and dusted off the snow.

Here they come down the path

Not sure why they cocked their heads, but it was a precision movement, if I had to guess it represents passing on orders or something.  If anyone knows please comment and share.

and away the go . . .

We finished off at Izmaylovo where they were able to get all their souvenirs.  Nickie actually came in under budget, which is a  major accomplishment.  The weather has been great too.  For two coming from the Midwest, our mild Russian winter was nothing to them.



Now after a 4am drop off at the airport, I'm back awake and enjoying my day off.  Crystal is back in school and Jolene went back to work today so it's just me and the cats hanging out.  So I took this opportunity to upload a post and check in with those few that follow this blog.

So if any of you reading this would like to know something, see pics of anything in particular or want me to try to pick you up a souvenir, post a comment and we'll see what we can do.  And if you want to come see it all for yourself, send me an email (link in the top right) and we'll get things rolling.  Outside of family, we've got one daring lady getting set up to come this summer.