12-16 From the Female Side

Well, I figured it’s time for the distaff side to chime in again. We came back to the U.S. for a wonderful Thanksgiving at G and S‘s; 23 people and 5 dogs: all the kids, Bob’s father and brother, P.W.’s in-laws, and G’s in-laws. It was great being back in the States. ‘There’s no place like home.”

I stayed in Atlanta after Bob returned to Dubai and had a wonderful time visiting with friends, Christmas shopping, and going to a very fun Army/Navy game. I can’t believe the coach has left Annapolis for Georgia Tech. Frankly, I don’t know why anyone would give up Annapolis for Atlanta.

I do want to thank each of my good friends who made time in their busy schedules to have lunch or dinner or just “play” with me. I had a wonderful time getting together with everyone and will miss seeing you over the holidays.

I guess I never had a chance to mention before the holidays our very good friends, JR and NR, came to visit on the back end of their around-the-world trip. They stayed with us in our tiny apartment for a week. That’s true friendship! We’re open for any other adventurers! We had a good time playing tourists while they were here. Poor Bob; that was the first week of operations for Safi Airways, so he was kind of burning the candle at both ends. We did the bus tour, which is a very good overview of the city, and stopped at Emirates Mall to take a look at the indoor ski slope. We will try that before we leave. We also made it to the Emirates Golf Club, which is fabulous, and the new ice bar, which serves no alcohol. It’s a fun place to visit once; not like the one K, J, PW &W visited in Hong Kong.

JR and I had a great time in the Indian tailoring area. They have absolutely gorgeous fabrics from India, and we found a very nice tailor to make us some fun, glitzy party clothes, followed by a dhow ride across the creek to the gold souk. It’s fun looking, but there are few deals to be had.

Bob, JR, NR, and I did our night-in-the-desert adventure, which entails four-wheeling on the sand dunes, an ethnic dinner under the stars, belly dancing, henna tattooing, and trying on local dress for photos. The biggest adventure was when our driver for the night was an hour and a half late and tried to make up the lost time on the way to the dunes. During the ride out there we reached speeds of roughly 140 kmh and at one point we were going the wrong direction down the highway. I’ve never been that fast in a car. It made the four-wheeling seem kind of tame.

Life is settling in a little as Safi tries to develop something of a monthly schedule. Obviously, there are a lot of changes, but a pattern is slowly emerging. Bob thought he might be going to Tunisia with a charter group of Arabs to go hunting with their falcons over the Eid holiday, but it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen now. Could have been interesting for him.
They finally had the memorial service for G in a very lovely park along Dubai Creek. It was very nicely done and finally brought some closure to this difficult time for his wife. He was my buddy in Kabul while the crew was pre-flighting and training, and it’s hard to believe that all of a sudden he’s gone.

We also this week found our way to al Mamzar Park, which is a lovely beach park with lots of amenities. It doesn’t compare to Pensacola, but it’s still pretty nice. They have little chalets one can rent for the day, so we might get the pilot group out there for a day of sun and fun over the Christmas time frame.

There isn’t a whole lot of Christmas here, but we are trying to make the most of it. Hopefully we’ll get a little tree for our little apartment, and at least Bob is not flying Christmas. We will be cooking turkey dinner for about a dozen Safi people. Should be enjoyable. After Christmas we would like to take a mini-vacation and enjoy some of the finer areas of Dubai overnight.

That about covers the latest here. We hope you all are enjoying the pleasures of the holidays. It’s amazing how we can miss all the hustle and bustle we complain about from year to year. Next year we’re thinking big on Christmas!

ASD