Field Trips, Pink Cabs, and Christmas Trees

Field Trips:   

I got selected to go on the 4th, 5th, and 6th grade field trip to the desert! We went to Dibba which is on the northern coast of the UAE. I felt like we were in the middle of nowhere/scary desert land. Anyway, we went to a camp where the girls go to climb a rock wall, archery, swimming activities, etc. I would liken it to 4-H camp...in a way. We took a night walk into the desert which was cool and might even have been scary if there weren't 55 screaming girls with us. We all slept in cabins (scary trailers) and even had a campfire! The camp team searched high and low for marshmallows to roast over the fire and finally found some. One guy told me it's hard to find them in the middle east because they are made with pork gelatin (ew). They finally found some that were made with beef gelatin (double ew). The girls were soooooo excited to roast their marshmallows. Several of them had never had one before! Can you imagine??? I asked one girl if she had ever eaten a marshmallow before and she said "Yeah. I had one last year at Dibba!" One marshmallow a year....how sad. In the U.S., we really take summer camp for granted. They don't have it here and the girls LOVED this overnight 'camping' experience. They even got to learn one of my 4-H camp songs :)

The girls getting ready to climb the rock wall!

The amazing Ms. Kathy who was trying to read her Kindle in the middle of 55 screaming girls.  She also personally tucked in every single girl. 

Check it out! Camels running right across the road. They were headed toward a dumpster that about 4 other camels were rummaging through....This was awesome.

Pink Cabs:  

 I just discovered the phenomenon that is the pink cab here in Dubai. There is 1 taxi company here (that I know of) and each car has a different colored roof. One day I saw a ton of taxis with pink tops, and what do you know, those cabs are driven by women only. When you call for a cab, you can request a pink one. I think this is awesome. For safety reasons alone, it is a great idea! The pink cabs exist purely because many Muslim women are not supposed to be alone with men who they are not related to....this includes cab drivers. 

This was our cab driver last weekend. She was a nice mix of awesome and insane.

Christmas Trees:

Well, it's Christmas time in Dubai! I really can't believe how many Christmas decorations I see at the mall. They tell me that starting in December, there are Christmas decorations EVERYWHERE. Yup, even in the Muslim world, you can buy a Christmas tree....which is exactly what I did this evening, along with the world's tackiest ornaments. If you want to meet some Americans, just go to the Christmas tree aisle at your local grocery store. We are everywhere.

WOAH

Istanbul was Constantinople.....I just got that.

We had a 10 day break from school and myself and 2 friends went to Istanbul. Not to sound cliche, but it was amazing! I will post a few pictures here. I'm adding all of the pictures to my Shutterfly account where you can checkout the rest (roughly 400) at your leisure. I'll make a new post with the link when I get them all on there. 

I'm so thankful that I get to travel like this. It's so crazy that I went on a trip to Turkey in the middle of the school year. It was a nice escape from the heat. Oh, and they have trees there. I missed those guys. 

The city of Istanbul is separated by the Bosphorous. Half of it is on the European continent and the other is on the Asian continent. That's pretty impressive when you think about it. We crossed the only bridge in the world that connects two continents separated by water. Not too many people can say they did that! There are stunning mosques everywhere. The oldest one, the Aya Sophia, was first built in the year 300 as a church and was later converted to a mosque. We went to some palaces...one of which had a 4.5 ton crystal chandelier! We also got to tour the Harem sections of one palaces.

Let's get a little education on Harems (ha). Harems are groups of women including, but not limited to wives, mistresses, daughters, concubines, etc., Most Harems today contain only wives and children.  There is one right by our school. There are 4 houses in a row, each containing a wife and her children. All houses are equal, in accordance with the Koran. Anywayssssss, In Islam, the word Haram means forbidden. Some of the Haram things are pork and alcohol. The word Harem comes from the word Haram, meaning that a man's Harem (or group of women, whatever you want to call it) is forbidden or Haram for another man to touch. Confusing, I know.

Soooooo, whole entire areas of palaces in Istanbul were housed by the women in the Harem. These areas were guarded and serviced by Eunuchs....castrated men. Wow, look how much we've learned! 

Ok, here's a few pictures.

Blue Mosque (The tiles inside the Mosque are blue. Those blue tiles are all over the city, in palaces, in mosques, etc.

Basilica Cistern: The largest of 100s in Turkey, built to capture and store water for the city.

Medusa Head in the Cistern

You're looking at the coffins containing the Sultans! Incredible! You can see the signature Ottoman blue tiles in the background.

Inside the Aya Sophya. Pictures do not do this place justice. This place is unbelievable. The plaque is one of 4 containing the 4 pillars of Islam. They were added much, much later.

Aya Sophya (Eastern Orthodox Cathedral from 360 to 1463,  Converted into a Mosque in 1463 and remained a mosque until it was turned into a museum in 1931.)

Aya Sophya at night. The towers or 'minarets' were added when it became a mosque. Most mosques have 4 of these to represent the 4 pillars of Islam. The Blue Mosque has 6, due to the architect's mistake. After the blue mosque was built, minarets were added to various mosques so it would not be the only one with 6 of them. I think that's the story anyway, haha.

Inside the Blue Mosque. You have to remove your shoes!

Hallelujah, we found canned pumpkin!

It's amazing the things you miss when you aren't in your native country. For instance, I (along with my friend Laura) were ecstatic when we found canned pumpkin here. I can't find pumpkin pie spice or a normal sized cake pan, but let me tell you, that pumpkin made my day. There are a few real pumpkins at the store, but they are expensive! I love seasons, and well, there is only one here and it's called HOT! Actually it's starting to be really nice here. The mornings and evenings are in the 80s and there's a nice breeze for a change. Lovely. I've been using the rooftop pool more...which is awesome.

It may be 399882 degrees in the summer, but dang the fall is nice!!

Anyway, my friends Todd and Laura graciously hosted a Halloween party and let me tell you. Laura doesn't play around.

Laura and I

I thought he was Indiana Jones. Apparently he's an Indian Johnny Cash

AAM Ladies in their best Halloween gear

I am starting to see Christmas candy in at the store, and apparently Ikea has its Christmas decorations out. I've heard that the malls decorate for Christmas also. This is obviously bizarre in a Muslim country and don't worry, I'll be sure to take pictures.

Another random thought....The nail salons have to be completely covered from the outside in case men walk by. There are bare legs in there for heaven's sake. I'm adding a picture of the one I usually go to.

No one is looking in there!