A day with Flipper

Sometimes it just takes one person to move a mountain....and get rid of stress and anxiety! Thanks to Bexta's friend Christophe, we participated in a wonderful day trip to Musandam in Oman, where we boarded a Dhow with a group of 30 friends and sailed back into time.

Leaving glitzy Dubai behind, crossing into Oman at Tibat, we were soon in a more peaceful and slow paced Hattan mountain setting. That was after 40 minutes of red tape at the border which as usual increased my blood pressure to 210/150.

I don't know why I have such an issue with incompentence and inefficiency - I must work on that. But going through the procedures nearly paralyzes me.

Armed with car registration, car insurance, National ID, Passport and residence visa, National ID card and 25 dirhams, the whole car load (Simon, Bexta, Aric and I, plus Murat - a stray guy from Algeria we picked up at the border) worked our way through all the steps of getting out of UAE and into Oman. It's a bigger nightmare than US immigration - and I thought that was a endless process of bureaucracy!

Who has the patience for one guy to look at the passport, another guy to stamp the passport, a third guy to type the info into a 1984 computer, and the first guy to take "no cash, only credit card"....of course the entire ordeal would have been faster if this rude "Miss Lebanon" didn't jump the queue and constantly go in front of us to get her entry permit...the biatch!

Well, finally on our way around the mountain and into the small fishing village port (which doubles as "Smugglers Cove" at dusk, with fast open boats that do a runner of cigarettes to Iran). Illegal? Yes, but noone seems to care; even the police boat lays idle and ignores the smugglers.

Musandam is part of Oman, a peninsula above UAE to the North East, which sits between the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman, just south of the Strait of Hormuz and not far from Iran! We took off from Khasab and sailed around a point into a 14 km long fjord surrounded by rocky barren mountains. Shortly after the entrance to the fjord we were approached by dolphins and they followed us for a while as we headed towards several small villages.

Most of the villages we passed are completely cut off from roads and only reachable by sea. The inhabitants are less than 100, often just 2-3 families where the kids have to sail to Khasab for school (they stay from Sunday to Weds). Talk about cave dwellers and Flintstones! Must be very lonely and isolated. We stopped a few times for snorkling and swimming, and had a nice lunch on-board. It was a full day of socializing, napping, swimming and enjoying nature. Not until dusk did we set off for Khasab again and then had another two hour drive home. A great full day we simply must do again.

Ya ya ya ya ya Yalamba

Oh boy! Another brunch at Yalamba - where you only have one glass of champagne (but that one glass keeps getting filled and re-filled and re-filled....). Dangerous place. I know you think we do nothing but go to brunch and drink out here in the sandbox....and that's pretty much true :)

They are so much fun with a group of friends. The food is fabulous and it always helps after a series of stressful weeks at work. Not sure why we only get invited by Lorraine and Peter when they have Swedish visitors? Must be that Scandinavian connection and the fact that they actually like us!

Not much more to say other than that - a picture is worth a 1000 words so I'll just post a few.

Thanksgiving coming up next week and we've invited 14 people for Turkey and the whole nine yards. It will be our first real Thanksgiving in about 7-8 years, where we are actually off work like the rest of the US - and cooking as well. We will raise a glass for all you yanks back home!

Cheers!

A Dog's Life!

Slim is growing and filling out at 14 months and is currently blue – literally! While I have been to South Africa recently, the boys thought it would be fun to dye him blue. They talked about this a few weeks ago, but I always tune out their nonsense. Guess my response “whatever” was mis-understood as an OK to go ahead and give my puppy a new punk look.

No wonder Slim is developing a bit of an attitude, thinking he is the Alpha male of the Ault household. The way Aidan and Hunter treat him, he is acting just like the youngest brother on “Malcolm in the Middle”. Every time the boys near the kitchen cabinet where the dogfood and treats are kept, Slim goes completely bonkers, jumping up and snapping at their arms. It looks absolutely hysterically funny.
We get such a laugh out of this charade - Slim takes his food protection very serious.

I am convinced Slim thinks his real name is “Leave-It” – because that’s what I repeatedly yell when we walk around the Marina. His little nose is into anything…garbage, cigarette butts, construction debris; you name it he has to check it out for any edible value. So I sound like a broken record….leave it, leave it, LEAVE IT!!! He’s learning slowly but surely though he still eats the flowers and leaves off our plants.

The jumping has me worried. No doubt he could make it over the balcony railing if he took a running leap. So I’m relieved that we are moving to a house in a few weeks.

Our lease is up – can’t hardly believe it’s been a full year. This time around it is not as difficult to find a place, thanks to the recession. So I didn’t have to threaten Aric with my trip to Africa and the possibility of getting food poison again, in order for him to find us a place. After several viewings of various apartments in the Marina, and with the knowledge of Aidan leaving in June, we decided we don’t really need a large luxurious penthouse. True, that causes the “cool factor” to go way down but we like that we save money on rent. As a result, we have decided on a villa in one of the neighbourhoods closer to the school. The area is called The Lakes, because of several man-made lakes between the housing compounds. The boys can walk to school and that in itself eliminates roundtrips for me every day. Slim gets to pee on real grass! He can walk around the lakes and chase the ducks. The villa is owned by a Danish couple who are returning to Denmark. How perfect is that….we scored a couple of Ikea bookshelves in the deal. Moving day is around the 28th of November when Mutti (Pia’s mom) arrives to help pack all our stuff. We should be well settled, in time for Christmas!

There is such a thing as a free lunch….sometimes!

If someone asks you to test out a new hotel, overnight, with all the amenities, brunch, cocktail hour and dinner – for free – don’t hesitate! Go ahead and play guinea pig!
When else can you get away from the kids and all the daily stress?

Aric and I were invited to “test drive” the new MediaOne hotel in Media City, a new hip, funky and modern concept of business and leisure stay. All we had to do in return was to evaluate everything and provide honest feedback. Where can I sign up to be a professional tester? We checked in around noon and were welcomed with a wicked Margarita and a brunch which more than satisfied our hunger. After two or three of the aforementioned wicked Margaritas we slept off the buzz by the pool.

Later we tested the bed, TV and shower just to make sure it all indeed worked to perfection. Surrounded by a very tasteful décor in lime, turquoise and pink nuances, I was sold on this hip funky place!

Early evening brought a Wine and Cheese happy hour where we mingled with all the other guinea pigs. Then off to dinner which had a huge variety of international cuisine available. Can’t think of when we were last spoiled this much for free!

We gave the place 10 out of 10, two thumbs up and returned home fully rested and re-energized!

Globe Trotters

Where do the kids get it from? OK, can’t really say that we have raised two boys who are growing up with the "American Dream" of a white picket fence, front porch and an Oak tree with a swing. Instead we are blessed with global nomads and citizens of the world, who have a Vampire’s thirst of Acqua Della Vita (uhm....Water of Life... for those not versed in Italian).

Aidan is right now planning his gap year, which will kick off in June after graduation, with a class trip to Bangkok and Koh Samui, Thailand; followed by a trek through Australia, New Zealand, and possibly one or two other countries like Vietnam and Korea. Along the way we hope that he will engage in community projects and part time jobs.

Aric and he are busy planning the trip. Once he returns to civilization he will embark on University of Arizona for a major in Industrial Design. That’s the plan and he is sticking to it…apparently.

Hunter has told us that with Aidan’s exit from Dubai, he is less than interested in staying here for his last two years of IB / high school. Hunter wants to get in touch with his Danish roots and attend a high school in Copenhagen, which teaches the IB diploma program in English. There are two or three options and is conditioned upon him living in a boarding school. We are fully aware that his idea of studying in Denmark entails living with his best friend Jonathan in an apartment somewhere in Copenhagen, but that just doesn’t reflect in Aric’s and my vision of separating from parents. That aint how we roll! So we have laid a few quid pro quos on him. I’m frantically communicating with several Danish counsellors to see if Hunter can in fact get in to the school and boarding programs.

If all this comes to fruition, we will have to take up Yoga or golf; because boy will we have END (empty nest disorder) with too much time on our hands. I’m considering starting up a Mothers Who Can’t Face Their Boys Leaving Home - support group. It will either require numerous boxes of tissues or a Martini Mixer kit; I haven’t decided what emotional reaction I might experience. The boys have left their [big] foot prints in the Arabian sand and at minimum they take a bucketful of experience and memories with them on their path of life.

Sweet Sixteen

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Work is getting in my way of keeping a diary of our life. I'm very behind and trying to catch up.

Hunter’s sweet 16 came (October 19) and went without the anticipated trouble we feared would happen as he walks in his brother’s footsteps. Without going into too much embarrassing detail – let’s just say that Aidan’s most recent “gathering” of friends, ended with him passed out in his bathtub. Apparently his friends and Hunter placed him there to keep him safe. Then they proceeded to go out for the night and left me sleeping without telling me any of this was going on. Aric himself was out with work friends so no one was the wiser that in Aidan’s pursuit of winning a shots game with his friend Laila, failed miserably since he has no real tolerance of alcohol. Yelling at Hunter did us no good – his comeback was that he had “made sure to turn Aidan’s head to the side, in case he would get sick – at least he knew how to handle drunks”! This is no way excused either brother of wrong doing and grounding for a looong time seemed the only right consequence.. Aidan for mis-managing his own party and thinking he could stand up straight after an undisclosed amount of vodka shots and Hunter for leaving a brother in need! Nobody gets left behind!! [Insert BIG sigh here] …. Ah the world of raising teen boys.

So, in preparation of Hunter’s birthday I read him the riot act and warned that under NO circumstances would there be ANY alcohol at the apartment or the pool. They could have chips and soda (what a horrid thing to do to a 16 year old boy who wants to impress his mates). Well, Hunter had arranged for a stretch Lincoln Navigator limo for 3 hours of touring Dubai with 15 boys and girls and of course the boys had also set up a rendezvous with “Dennis the booze man”. I suppose this met the conditions of “no booze at the apartment” and Hunter wasted no time taking advantage of the loophole.

Unfortunately for them, Dennis showed up 30 minutes before the tour ended so they had very little time to consume a few beers and Smirnoff Ice….so they left all the liquor behind in the limo (I write this in great agony as booze is a scarce commodity in Dubai, but I kept a straight face when Hunter told me, so as to signal that a rule was a rule!! But I was kicking myself for having said NO ALCOHOL IN THE APARTMENT). The group came up fairly sober and in a great mood. The birthday was a success and Hunter passed into manhood with no devastating consequences.