We Have Visitors

Back in December, we were lucky to have my mom and dad spend a few days in Abu Dhabi as a part of a Middle East business trip.  It was definitely a treat to see them :)

I picked them up at the airport after work, and used my staff access badge to slip in a meet them just after customs :)  From there we swung by my jobsite so that they could see what all the craziness for the past 4 months had produced.  After that we were off to their hotel where Paul met us for a nice Thai dinner.

I love how my mom captured some of the “everyday” things that I don’t even notice as being bizarre any more :)

                   Little leaf bowl appetizers… yum!                                                                                            So many dates!

On Tuesday we had them over for dinner at our place for some of Paul’s famous grilled salmon and a greek salad.  We also had a mini-Christmas celebration.

Some key “essentials” brought out to us by my loving parents

I took Thursday off from work to spend the day with Mom.  Dad still had more meetings :(  We started the day going to a yoga class by my favorite instructor.  And I even got my Mom to do a wheel after the class! (I knew that if I could do it, she definitely could).

After yoga we hopped over to the Central Souk for a girly brunch at Shakespeare's, a little shopping, and pedicures.

From there we headed over to Mina (“port” in arabic) to take a look at the boats and stop by the nursery.

The best area to buy plants in Abu Dhabi

On Friday we went to church at ECC then headed to Café Arabia to meet up with W & C for lunch.  Unfortunately my dad still had more meetings :(

After lunch, Mom & I headed for Dubai to go to Global Village.  I had never been but had heard good things about it.  Knowing that it was a place Paul would never willingly go with me, it seemed like the perfect excursion with Mom.  Global Village is a “fairgrounds” that is open about 4 months out of the year and it has stalls/buildings for over 20 different countries selling their goods, pushing their street food, and providing entertainment.

It still amazes me how long the lines can be at the gas stations when the whole country is based on oil.  I think we ended up waiting over 20 minutes!

Chaos here we come!

There are some perks to being a female in an arabic culture.

Cute shoes from India, but in the end sensibility won out as they weren’t very comfy

I even nabbed a few yards of pretty fabrics for future projects.

Turkish lights (I bought the white one in the photo)

                 We also decided to try roasted chestnuts… the taste wasn’t amazing but they did smell good.

This was the baked potato we shared for something a little more substantial… topped with yogurt, olives, pickles, and some sauce… it was really good!

The middle eastern squat

The shop where I found a nice bowl for Grandma & Grandpa

At the end of the day, we made out well with quite a few treasures to take home and share with friends and family :)

Saturday was their last day in AD before heading of to “the Kingdom” (aka Saudi Arabia).  We had all planned to go on a kayaking trip through the mangroves, but the boys were struggling a bit when the alarm went off so just Mom and I went.  It was a lovely, peaceful morning and we finished just in time for them to finish packing and head off.