Eid Weekend

Shortly after our arrival to Dubai, the end of Ramadan arrived and we had a 4 day Eid weekend. It was lovely. One of the things we did was join some friends with all our kids and go to the Atlantis' hotels Aquaventure park for a 6-11pm evening adventure ending with fireworks. It was fantastic. The kids all had so much fun and Mia got to experience the Leap of Faith water slide for the first time! We were all shocked when she asked to join the big boys and daddies up to the top. We thought for sure she'd chicken out after waiting in line and climbing up to the top but my little dare devil went through with it!!

It was a great way to spend a very hot evening.

Trick-or-Treat

Just a few photos from this morning and yesterday evening. I love how Mia went to school today. We put a strip of orange into her hair and she wore this fantastic shirt that our friends Tammy and Craig sent over. Terence also had one (minus the pink heart and butterfly) but he chose not to wear it. Ali opted for a ballerina costume as her grade was dressing up in costume today. Tonight, we will have trick-or-treating in our neighborhood. We have some friends coming over to join us as our neighborhood is supposed to be one of the most active trick-or-treating areas in Dubai.

Pumpkin carving time.

The kids always leave the parents to finish up the work. Finished product will be posted later today or tomorrow. Curt did a fab job!

Pizza Making Ali

I now have a spare moment and thought I would try and give you an update on life so far in Dubai. First up is a recent photo of Ali (on 10/27) when she went with her class on a field trip to Pizzeria Uno in the Dubai Mall. They learned how to make pizza! What a fantastic outing for 20+ 4 year olds! Ali absolutely loved it and could not stop talking about making pizza. She has helped me at home make home made pizza but, as you can imagine, it's (unfortunately) not an event that we have regularly. Now that she has learned by the pros, maybe we need have a pizza making evening in the near future.

She was funny as she has told me a little bit about it every day. Probably because she remembers another small part of it each day. She made her own pizza, got her own hat (which she still has at home), and brought home a few slices to share. The thing she liked best was the fact that the pizza Uno team spoke to them in English and the teacher had to translate into French. In Hungary, it was obviously Hungarian. She understands Hungarian just as well as English but it's the first time she has ever been in a school atmosphere with English spoken so she thought it was fun.

One of the mom chaperons took this photo of Ali and sent it to me. I thought it was adorable. She looks very happy and comfortable. I have lots of school photos of Ali (from last year) where she maybe looking at the camera and smiling but she has an unsure look about her. Or, maybe it's just a bit of a scared or not so confident look. I'm pleased that she is settling into her new school and making friends quickly. It helped that she new a handful of friends already but none are in her class. This is actually a blessing in disguise as she is making friends on her own in her own class as well. The teacher always reassures me that she is very happy and socially active.

Life in Dubai, in general, is fantastic. The only disadvantage is that we are all SO busy. The kids are in school Sunday - Thursday from 8am - 1:45pm. I have only picked them all up once since they started about 6 weeks ago. We have our Hungarian babysitter here helping us as we are both working full time. She is not living with us but in a small studio apartment in town. I have managed to spend one afternoon alone with each child since the beginning of the school term. We try and organize a fun afternoon just the two of us. Ali went first and wanted to pick out new sheets for her new bed then have ice cream. It was so fun and we had a great time walking hand in hand together. We then popped into a great toy store called Hamleys (I've seen it in the UK so believe it is British owned) in the Dubai Mall and bought her some food for her play kitchen. While in there, she insisted on getting something for Terence and Mia. She is thoughtful like that and always wanting to get gifts for others.

On Mia's afternoon-with-mom, we went to get our toes and nails (manicure / pedicure) done together. It was fantastic. We sat next to each other and talked and giggled. She felt like such a little lady - something she strives for a bit too much. We took a walk and just enjoyed holding hands and talking about everything. She always has SO many growing-up questions and she really took advantage of this time and asked me 100s of questions. I was so happy to have the one-on-one time with her as she needed it so much.

Unfortunately, I had a 2 week period when I couldn't leave work early so Terence had to very patiently wait. Due to a conference and lots of trainings, meetings, I couldn't get out to have my afternoon with him until last week. It upset him so much but he stayed strong and waiting as patiently as he could. Unplanned, I managed to surprise him at school last week. It was so great to see his face. He tries to act so grown up and will not jump up and down or hug and kiss but he puts on a 'I'm too cool to have emotions' face. Once we got in the car, he just chatted away and was so happy! I felt guilty that he had to wait so long but thrilled to finally have the alone time with him. He is so incredibly mature and when I am alone with him I sometimes forget he is only 9 years old. He teaches me so much and is so smart. He reads and watches the news and absorbs so many facts that he is so interesting to listen to. When he asks questions, I cannot BS him at all. Maybe it's because he is the oldest, however, I think it is just who he is as well.

He was very uncertain about what he wanted to do alone with me. I think he was just happy to spend time together. He couldn't decide, however, he had been begging us to get a home computer as Curt and I only have our laptops which are always with us at the office. He misses having a computer at the house to play on.

Since it was on my to-do list, I asked him if he wanted to pick one out with me. He was so excited as he is a complete techie! I knew he'd been hoping for an iMac so off to the Apple store we went. He was so great in asking the store rep questions. Most of them went over my head. We asked her to hold the computer we wanted (last in stock!) while we thought it over and walked around. He wanted to get lunch (he didn't eat what I had packed him in his lunch box) so we went to one of his favorite spots: Yo Sushi. They send out the sushi on a revolving conveyor belt. As it goes by our table we pick out what we want to eat and pay for each plate piled up on our table. After lunch, he was STILL hungry. He eats so much these days! We went to see what other restaurants were around and he spotted his favorite: Krispy Kreme Doughnuts. So off to Krispy Kreme's we went for his doughnut fix. From there we visited some video game spots, then to pick out a birthday present for a friend's birthday party he is going to next weekend and then back to pick up our iMac that Curt agreed (over the phone) to get.

Terence, in true Terence-style, commented about how much money we had spent. He is very money conscious and always converting the dirhams into dollars and working out how expensive things are. He sometimes makes us feel guilty when we spend but we explain that we both work hard so we can buy these nice things. We also tell him we are lucky as we had opportunities to have educations and careers that many people from different parts of the world never have.

Curt and I are also doing well. We are slowly settling into our new home which we really like. We are almost unpacked and once we get one more dresser, should be just about there. We only brought about 1/2 hours things so were in need of lots (ie beds, TV, fridge, stove, washer / dryer, rugs, lamps, etc). The items we did bring, fit in really well.

I will slowly start to post photos of our home soon.

More photos and videos are coming. I promise. x o x o

Our Move One Dubai office

Just a few photos of our lovely office in the Greens area of Dubai. We moved in over the summer and it's so nice being in a new, modern office. Curt and I are both working Sunday - Thursday every week. Long hours and new challenges but loving every minute of it.

More soon.... just been so incredibly busy.

T sailing videos

Finally - the 2 videos showing Terence sailing! He's so sweet as he is so excited to be learning sailing and told me that he cannot wait until he can sail a large boat and sail our entire family all over the sea! I too look forward to that time...

In the meantime, it looks like he'll be stuck with this much smaller sail boat while he learns.

T's First Sailing Course

I will write about our weekend, sailing class, etc and include videos tomorrow. Just wanted to post these quickly...

School Daze

It is week 2 for Ali, 3 for Terence and Mia at their new French school in Dubai. We are slowly getting in the rhythm and used to 5 day school weeks. However, they tire much quicker and earlier then usual.

Our day starts with Curt's alarm going off at 5:30am (or earlier). He has been starting his morning by either going down to the gym in our serviced apartment to run on the treadmill or out to the sea for a swim. He's training for the open sea swim around the Burj Al Arab hotel. It's for a great cause as we, Move One, have met with the Medicine Sans Frontier and are doing it in conjunction with their organization. I'll probably do it too as it is only 1 km but I will not be in it for the race part. It's been a while since I have swam a fast, straight 1km but since it's for charity, anything goes.

While he is exercising, I start getting the kids up at about 6:20am (ouch). It is hard work as they all love their sleep and want to sleep in later. Terence and Mia shower every morning while Ali baths the night before. The shower definitely helps them wake up...

They have breakfast, get dressed and 4 out of 5 days a week they get dropped off at school by Curt. The other morning of the week I accompany them as it's good for me to go in, meet / see their teachers, see their new friends and chat with the other parents. However, in Dubai, about half the kids travel to / from school on the school bus and several are dropped off by drivers and / or maids. Still, I have met quite a few nice moms and find this French school a lot more international then the one in Budapest.

I have been trying to take photos of Ali almost every morning holding up her fingers with the number day she is on at school. Below I have her on 6 (thumb) and 8. The SIX is out on our balcony of our apartment in the Dubai Marina. I love the area and find it so central and easy to get around. However, unfortunately, there are very few houses in this area and the neighborhoods nearby that we have found are hugely outside of our housing budget. Otherwise, I would love to be down here, in the action and near the beach!

Speaking of the beach, it's where I have been spending most of my time these days. I have joined (actually it was involuntarily as a friend recruited me) the Dubai Sea Dragons dragon boating team. We are out training 3 days a week and after 3 practices, I have just been recruited for the competing team. These woman, even though they do not look like it, are power houses! It is the hardest sport I have ever done in my life! It's not my arms that ache for days afterwards but the rest of my body - including my legs. Next week we are traveling to Abu Dhabi for a competition. I will be on the pro team as well as the Move One company team that we just started. Curt will be on that team with me! I am scared senseless but also excited. It'll be fun to go and stay in Abu Dhabi (about an hour away) for the weekend with all my teammates and their families. The kids have been cheering us on from the beach during several of our practices. The photos will be uploaded soon!

In the meantime, here are my gorgeous babes...

notice the lunch boxes?

This is Terence the other day after a sleep over at a friends. The girls were on the Palm to play at a friend's home so we had him all to ourselves for a great lunch at an Italian restaurant in one of the hotels. He was so pooped after a long school week, golf, skiing, sleep over, etc that he actually fell asleep in the back of the car. It is SO UNLIKE T to ever snooze during the day so I had to snap it when I saw it.

By the way, he's in one of our new cars. We just had to buy 2 new ones as we didn't bring our car over. This photo is in Curt's new Toyota Sequoia which I have been driving a lot as it is huge and I love it!


More soon... Promise. xxx

Day 2 of School

Ali surprisingly woke up cheerful about school. Curt took them without me so I'm not sure how the drop off went but it was a better morning then I had anticipated. I was slightly worried about Ali being scared or emotional but she was quite a big girl! She even had input on her hair design. Often she is too tired or grumpy to let me even touch it but today we spent quite a bit of time fixing it up. I think in the heat she just wants it off her neck...

Back to School

Finally.... here are some back to school photos. Sorry that they are so dark but I have yet to unpack my Canon camera (or any others for that matter) so I've been using my iPhone.

Terence and Mia's first day of school was last week on Wednesday / Mercredi, September 15th. Curt got up extra early to make delicious buttermilk pancakes while I got the 2 up, showered, dressed and ready. Ali stayed behind with our babysitter.




Since it was our first time to visit the school since the one time we were driven there in May, we followed our friends. I took a few snaps along the way in case I needed to look back and be reminded. However, it's very easy and I haven't had to refer back and have found it perfectly every time since on my own. Just for you to see what the route looks like from our current location in the Dubai Marina, check out these 3 photos.

Mia just before entering her building. Terence getting ready to enter his building (behind him). He was so embarrassed of the photos. Could you imagine if I had actually pulled out my massive Canon camera? At least the iPhone isn't so obvious.

While Curt took Terence into his classroom, I went with Mia to scout out hers. It took us a while but finally managed to find her lovely, bright classroom with her incredible teacher, Anne-Sophie.

She was given a cubby for her lunch box and other belongings.

She had a minute of embarrassment too.

Below is Terence and Mia waiting for school to start (can you believe the Clements family was actually early??) Ali was with us as we needed to go visit her teacher with Curt.

My big girl, Ali. On the bottom right is us waiting outside her classroom. There were a few other parents there, too, so we had to wait our turn to meet her lovely teacher, Anne, and her assistant, Benedicte. I think it was such a great idea for them to have us come one-on-one to meet, visit the classroom, get to know each other, ask questions and familiarize ourselves.

Then we had weekend so she had 2 days before her official first day. Yesterday was Ali's first day when she joined Mia and Terence. She handled it perfectly. Do you notice that they are sitting on their little lunch cooler boxes? Mia taught Ali to do this. They serve a dual purpose!

BIENVENUE! WELCOME! We were the first ones into her class. I think that made it a little less overwhelming as there will be 28 children in her Moyenne Section class with her!

What I've learned in Dubai so far

We are starting week 3 soon in Dubai and so far, so good. Honestly, I really enjoy it. I was so ready for a change. Even though I left part of my heart in Budapest, for several reasons (mostly just relating to the country and it's lack of advancements and improvements) we were ready to spread our wings and fly.

Luckily, we have a really adaptable family. We've always traveled frequently with our kids and since we are such a close family unit, we travel and settle well together.

Since we have been here, this is what we have done and what I have learned (in no particular order):

1. Arabic is written from right to left.
2. Arabic TV is boring (Curt always refers to it as Falcon hunting as this seems to be a popular sport televised on Arabic TV often).
3. The kids (and Curt and I, too) are loving fresh squeezed drinks and getting spoiled with them as they are offered everywhere.
4. I have not cooked much at all since we arrived as we are still in a temporary serviced apartment. However, it is still easy to get great fresh veggies, hummus, sushi, etc for healthy dinners and snacks. We have also had Papa Johns and Pizza Express pizza deliveries.
5. There are prayer rooms everywhere.
6. It has been over 40 degrees C every day since we've been here.
7. Driving here drives me crazy mostly because of the constant construction and lack of GPS capabilities.
8. It is incredibly diverse and international. I love hearing so many languages everywhere. The kids are tired of Curt and I constantly asking and / or trying to guess where people are from.
9. My three kids have all ended up with excellent teachers - all seem to fit their personalities really well. Terence has a young, male teacher and Mia and Ali both have very lovely, young female teachers.
10. The kids have already all made friends at school, which, I am sooo happy about.
11. I've signed all the kids up for activities but have only signed myself up for dragon boating. Still would like to find a good tennis league and resume golf again at some point. I have my tennis gear and golf shoes but the clubs are in our container (will arrive in about 2 more weeks or so).
12. I cannot find a proper Apple store but have found thousands of electronics stores selling Apple products.
13. I have only been in my bathing suit in the sun 1 day as we never have a spare moment! I thought I would have had a few lazy, poolside afternoons by now but will catch up on that when things start sliding into place.
14. We've changed our minds about neighborhoods 100 times. If we didn't have kids, I would so be living on the Palm. However, our kids wanted more of a community and now we are looking elsewhere. We hope to have signed on a rental property by the end of the week.
15. Curt shouts here just as much as he shouts in Budapest (it's usually customer service related).
16. Having a Friday, Saturday weekend is so confusing. I was on the phone with my US bank today and couldn't work out why they couldn't provide me with a normal business hour service. It was Sunday! A work day for me but not for others.
17. We bought a car today! A Toyota Sequoia so that is one step closer to settling in / down...
18. Our new car will have 2 built in cooler boxes - 1 in between the 2 front seats and 1 in between the middle seats. There is a 3rd row that seats 3.
19. Even though Curt may find certain things frustrating, he has been incredibly sociable in the pool, in the mall, everywhere. We are meeting so many people already and trying to increase the numbers of our upcoming house warming party! The list is growing!
20. We have been up to the top of the Burj Khalifa - the tallest building in the world - on the night before school started for Terence and Mia. We had made a promise to Terence to go up before school began. The lift took us to floor 124 in 60 seconds. Our ears popped and my knees wobbled while up there...
21. The kids have take a pack lunch every day in a cooler box with a ice freeze thing (you put in the freezer overnight and stick it in with their lunch / drinks so it keeps cold).
22. Terence and Mia are taking their first golf lesson tomorrow.
23. Ali is obsessed with swimming and has swam probably every day (except for today) since we have been here.
24. Mia made a good friend at school today who takes ice skating lessons indoors at the Dubai Mall (largest mall in the world).
25. I have never seen so many fancy cars - Bentleys, Rolls Royces, Ferraris, etc. Terence is learning them and pointing them out to me as I cannot tell the different usually.
26. I cannot get used to so many people (in the office, in stores) calling me Madame.
27. The kids said they are boring as they only speak 3 languages and most of their classmates in Dubai speak more than 3 languages!
28. We found a French tutor already. His first evening was today and it went better than I expected.
29. I drink more coffee here but from familiar chains like Starbucks and Costa Coffee.
30. The other day a Costa coffee attendant came up to my car while we were pumping our fuel. I was so excited to be able to multitask: fill up car and get an iced latte!
31. I'm really enjoying the longer opening hours of so many stores.
32. Mia went down the Leap of Faith - killer water slide - at the Atlantis' hotel's Aquaventure Park. I'm so impressed with my very brave 7 year old!
33. I miss our dogs (and cat) so much!

I promise to post the kids' back to school photos shortly....

Warmest Regards, the Clements Family in Dubai x o x o

We are in Dubai

Well, we have relocated. We arrived to Dubai on Thursday, Sept 2nd. It's day 2 in Dubai and I have 2 amazingly restful nights after 1 week of insomnia due to lists, packing and lots of responsibilities and very little free time. So, here we are! In Dubai!

Yesterday evening after our last afternoon swim, Ali asked me, "ma, how long will we stay in Dubai this time?" I smiled and thought carefully about how I'd answer her. Then, I figured I wouldn't sugar coat it so I answered, "Forever!" She smiled and shrieked "YEAH!" I guess that's a good reaction. I hope the novelty doesn't wear off too quickly. She maybe changing her tune after school starts (on September 15th).

So far, you can check out what I've written by clicking on my other blog here. I'll try maintaining both as best I can but until I manage to juggle my time a bit better, you'll have to make do with what I offer. All the best from the Clements family in Dubai, UAE!