Back To It

Hello again.

So my last post, when I said I'd "scrounge up a few posts while in Dubai?"  Well, sorry about that, I didn't intend to be deceptive.  It's just that after three full months in a third-world country I needed a break from everything.  A break from 100 degree heat and constantly sweating through my clothes, from the dust and dirt and smoke, from the spiders and ants and lizards, from the daily 6:00am wake-up bell, from beans and rice and potatoes, from constantly feeling the weight of all the suffering around me, and even the internet.  I promise I'm not complaining about those things (except maybe the spiders) because I was fully aware of such hardships before I moved to Sudan, but it had all become a bit much.  So I left and traveled to Dubai for 10 days and it was very, very, really, totally, wonderfully, great.  My boyfriend works there occasionally and we met up and didn't do any typical touristy things because we were too busy relaxing.  That's not entirely true, we did go to the jewelry district and we ate at the famous Burj Al Arab hotel, but shopping and eating are American past-times if there ever were any.

We ate lots of ice cream.

We went to the movies and saw "Unknown" and "True Grit" in English with Arabic subtitles.

I treated myself to an afternoon at a salon and got an unbelievable deal on a massage, facial, manicure, pedicure, haircut, hot-oil treatment, and blow-out - the works!

We hit up the beach or pool every day.

We visited the Mall of the Emirates to see the indoor ski-slope and for a bit of shopping.

We dined on Lebanese food, my favorite!

I perused the local craft vendors near the hotel.

We ate lunch on the beach at the Burj Al Arab hotel.

This holiday was the perfect escape to restore my spirits, refresh my mind, and reinvigorate my purposes for the remainder of the year.  School started this week and I'm excited to be teaching English in the P.5, P.6, and P.7 classes, resuming mentoring groups with the teenage girls, cradling babies, and playing some soccer!