Saffron Brunch

Brunch at Saffron at Atlantis on the Palm

Ok, so I know I've blogged about Dubai brunch before, but the one I went to 2 weekends ago takes the cake! It was at Saffron which is in the Atlantis on the Palm....fancyyy! It cost about $150. Trust me, I realize how insane this is. This is why no one here has any savings! Anyway, needless to say, it was magical. Seriously. 

Imagine walking into the largest buffet you've ever seen. There's lobster tails on one side, Chinese crispy duck on the other, and everything else in between. There was beef wellington, pork chops, sushi, breakfast food.....and on and on and on. The best part was that everything was done so well. They definitely do not half ass the food preparation at Saffron.

The dessert table. OH MY GOD.  The dessert table. There was a giant chocolate fondue fountain,  gelato, tonssss of gummies, alcoholic chocolate popsicles. I don't really know what's in those but I had two. There were little cakes, made to order crepes, and even....wait for it....candy apples! It looked like Willy Wonka set up shop in there. I had to stop myself from licking the walls to see if they tasted like chocolate.

There were drinks in pineapples, coconuts, and whole watermelon drinks for the table to share. There were mojito stands and shot stands and really anything you would want stands. 

So that's what I did from 12:00 to 4:00 on Friday. What did you do? I definitely can't do it every weekend but I'm tempted to!! Sorry I didn't take any pictures to do it justice. I'm probably getting talked into this champagne brunch this weekend so I'll make sure to take lots of pictures for you guys!

From left to right, that's Laura and Karen. They're Canadians. I don't know why that's relevant but I feel that you should know ;) Also, checkout the pineapple drink.

The infamous watermelon drink. Almost every table had one. Yum!

Field Trip to Musandam, Oman!!

I was lucky enough to be chosen to go on a 3 day field trip to Musandam with 7th, 8th, and 9th graders last week!! This is located in Oman, which is one of the countries bordering the UAE. Mom says it's where the terrorists are. I didn't see any....but they could have been hiding ;). I have to say that it was weird going on a field trip with my passport! We would have gone through passport control really quickly if it wasn't for me and another American passport holder on the trip. I say 'passport holder' because her dad is from Iraq I think and she wasn't even born in the US but he had a visa or something in the US when she was born......? I don't really know the logistics but I think the moral of the story is......maybe we shouldn't be giving out passports as easily as I've come to realize we do!

......moving along.....

The girls and myself got to do so many awesome outdoor activites! We did real rock climbing (They made me do it and thank god I have my pride or I wouldn't have made it to the top.) We went kayaking and did some mountain biking in the wadi (flat area of the desert that used to be a riverbed). The mountain biking was amazing. We also did a nighttime walk in the wadi which was cool because it was pitch black and you could see the stars really well. 

I honestly don't know how some of the girls survived in the heat! We had a male instructor for most of the activities so the girls who do cover, had to cover the whole time. These girls were out in the desert, on a bike, in sweatpants, a sweatshirt, and a shayla (scarf for their head). I was dyingggg in shorts and a tank top. However, they never, not once, complained that they were hot. I guess they're used to it! 

Sorry if this isn't super witty....like my usual posts ;)......but I knew you were dying for an update! Below are some pictures of our trip. 

The wadi where we did mountain biking. We rode down lots of (scary) craters. I was terrified but all the little voices saying..."Miss, go first! We're scared!" meant I had to go first on everything!! haha

Impromptu talent show which was one of the funniest things I've ever seen. It's amazing what kids will do when you give them a couple of hours to prepare for a talent show. One girl held her breath for 1 minute, hahaha. These girls sang a song. Notice how they have on toboggans and it's 90 degrees out! Lots girls wear these so they can cover their hair without having to deal with a shayla (scarf). Weird but cool!

These girls did a hilarious skit. I have no idea what it was about but it was hysterical. Also, notice the girl in the hat and hoodie, this is her covering.

OMG as their talent, these girls did examples of how people from different cultures say hello in English. It got slighty racist, lol, but it was hilarious. Their American example was "Howdy, have you seen my new horse?" HAHAHA. I died. 

Musandam has mountains which is weird to see because Dubai is completely flat. Notice the awesome picture of the skeikh...

The pool at the hotel we stayed at on the trip. Not too shabby! However, I only had a bikini so I didn't swim because everyone else was in long pants and a long sleeve shirt!

Kayaking!!

These mountains are awesome!

This is where we went mountain climbing. It was amazing....and hard. All but 1 girl got to the top which was really impressive. Also, it was scorching and most girls were covered from head to to!

Border control. 

Ok, I hope you enjoyed my update! I'm going to brunch at the Atlantis on the Palm this weekend so I'll definitely be blogging about that. It's $150!!! All I have to say is it better be freaking amazing!!

Catching Up!!!!!

So I've been bullied by my mother to start blogging again! I'll try to bring you up to speed on life in the desert. We've been back at school for almost 3 weeks now. I got to come back to a newly painted periwinkle library that I completely rearranged myself. I'm in love with it. I have a new student assistant. She's a 12th grader. Her name is Maryam (along with seriously about 70 other girls at the school). She's Iraqi-American......say what? Apparently those exist. She grew up in America and wants to go back to college there. She's so hilarious and outgoing. She does cover, but only her hair, not her face. She helps me skim the new books to see if they are appropriate. So far she's pulled out on that talked about bong hits and one that talked about getting a boyfriend. I really appreciate her help because I would have let that bong hit one slide, haha.

In other news, it was my boyfriend's birthday yesterday so I took him to a really nice bar at the top of the Address Hotel downtown. There was an excellent view of the fountains and the Burj Khalifa. It was gorgeous. Too bad I forgot one tiny little detail. He's terrified of heights! Anddddd girlfriend of the year award goes to me!

Since I haven't blogged in so long, I'll give you a list of random things that I have found bizarre:

1. Arab teachers are always coming up to me and telling me how beautiful I am (I know, right?) They always say I have the most gorgeous pale skin. I want to say "girl, I layed out all weekend!" They spend so much money on bleaching creams here to try to whiten their skin, it's crazy.

2. I moved out of teacher housing into my new apartment and I love it! It's in a little community that has shops and restaurants.

3. My new landlord is this hilarious/crazy Iranian guy. The first time I met him he looked at my American passport and said, "Americannnnnnnnn! Are you scared to go to Iran?" I said, "Why the hell would I want to go there?" He said, "Good question." LOL. He also sang Justin Beiber to me on the phone. Everyone in that office takes their shoes off when they enter the door....a fact I realized on my way out of the office with my shoes on. Oops.

4. I'm in charge of all the textbooks at school, including the Arabic and Islamic ones. I can't believe that I now know which Arabic book students need without even knowing the language. Also, the Islamic textbooks are called I Love Islam which I find myself saying all the time when talking about the books. Ironic, lol.

5. I learned that Islam is based on a kind of scale where in order to get into heaven, the good you do has to outweigh the bad. It's basically a point system.

Ok, that's it for now. I hope this appeases you! I promise to blog soon. Let me know if you have any questions you are curious about and I'll try to answer!!!