Is there a "Mother of the Year" award??

..........

If so, I really think deserve it.

Dodging cranes and bulldozers and even the odd, deep excavation hole in the road, does not bother me. But walking the 500 meter long path from the school parking lot to the front entrance, in 4- inch heels and short skirt, to hand in a piece of (oh so important) paper Aidan forgot at home - that takes the cake! We not talking just enhancing the sidewalk; the entire road is pulled up and in fact there is no sidewalk so one has to weave around traffic cones and cars. It's like an obstacle race which could have been avoided, had they not locked the lower school gates after 8am. Forced to go all the way around to the other side nearly cost me a broken ankle or at best, a broken heel off my Paul Smith shoes!

The whole family has resorted to carrying a black and a brown tube of instant shoe polish. We also keep one in the car. We can't get enough of this paste...I have cronic sand between my toes and forget about putting lotion on my legs - either Slim licks it off (he is addicted to lotion) or the sand gets stuck on my legs like flies on a sticky gluey gooey strip hanging in a dingy drug store!

There just is no way to avoid the sand or the eternal construction in this place. What's a gal to do?

Good Luck Jonathan!

Imagine what the world would have been like today, if the Africans had welcomed the European and Arab explorers [read exploiters] with open arms and told them: "Come and exploit our resources, oil, minerals, land, food, spices but please in return, invest in our infra structure and transfer your skills and knowledge to our people !

Africa may actually have been a United States of power, wealth and intellect beyond our imagination. As history goes, we know that wasn't the case. Nobody was asked to invest, contribute or give back to the country they ripped for their own selfish greed.

Three hundred years later I am sat in a hotel conference room, listening to the ministers of Nigeria, making their case for investments and development, of how governments, companies and people can make money if they decide to become part of the growth of the country, which promises to be one of the 20 top economies in by 2020. Having traveled to Lagos and seen the poverty, the thirdworld devastation, the unclean water, the corruption and general chaos, it is hard to understand why anyone would invest there when there are so many other places to put your scarce money.

Could there be another agenda such as search for fertile lands? The Emirates and Saudi import 100% of their food goods from elsewhere - not hard to guess that if they invest in agricultural land in Nigeria, they can dictate import prices of food grown there.

The excellence Vice President of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan, (looking very spiffy in his popstar hat and bling), made a compelling case for the cause - but I am not convinced that the money will start flowing or that knowledge will be left behind for the Nigerians to help themselves.

Good luck Jonathan!

A Perfect Prefect!

We no longer know our kids! I'm beginning to think that Hunter really was adopted (and I would know!)

Coming back to Dubai and starting our second year, has been a complete 360 degree turn from last year, which was a little more filled with trips to see the Dean of Students and the Principals office. Hunter announced he was going to run for Student Council and Class President. NICE!

A future politician in the family, that's a first. He should probably have taken better notes from "Napoleon Dynamite" - his favorite movie, and had buttons with "VOTE FOR HUNTER" made up; after Eid he told me that he didn't get elected. In fact he wasn't sure anyone even voted for him. He was genuinely surprised that this was the case. I asked what his platform was and how he ran his campaign. HUH?? "What's a platform - a step for me to look taller? - and don't only US presidents run a campaign?" Sigh!! - Only Hunter would have enough confidence to believe that students would vote for him because he is Hunter Ault.

After a 15 minute mini lesson on campaigns and voting fraud...I think he got it. Told me that it was a "stupid popularity contest" (welcome to the world of politics). He was pretty cool about not winning and instead signed up for volleyball - a less political game.

Aidan, on the other hand, has not only been selected to represent Dubai International Academy at the Model United Nations conference in Singapore in November, to argue how to eradicate child prostitution (he got Portugal as his country), but also surprised himself and us, when he was chosen to be a prefect. The school has never had prefects before and this year they selected 20 out of 70 students across the senior school, to be role models and peer leaders.

We aren't completely sure these two boys are ours...or at least the same boys who left Dubai in July and came back in September, completely changed! One can only hope they continue on the path to responsibility and moral high ground (unlike their parents).