A Dubai Holiday

With the Haj and the Eid, the kids had a little over a week off school. It happened to fall the same weekend our church was holding their semi-annual meetings. They hold these meetings in Dubai where there is more religious tolerance. We thought it would be a great opportunity for Dano and the older kids to go. Since Emily was just over two weeks old we did not yet have a passport for her…or an iqama or an exit visa, nothing that would allow us to take her out of the country. So Dano and the kids flew to Dubai on Wednesday afternoon. Upon arrival, they drove around downtown Dubai. The kids were surprised to find that their taxi driver was a woman. The rest of the trip they rode Dubai's wonderful, clean metro system.

Of course they had to see the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. As reported to me, they loved the lights. The building had strobes of lights that flashed in different sequences.They also visited the souqs. Their favorite one (surprise, surprise) was this fabulous candy souq. Apparently this picture does not capture even half of the candy bins. I don’t know if this would be a dentist’s worst nightmare or dream come true by way of job security (cha-ching!). Dano was certain that everyone who visited this souq had washed their hands before touching the open bins of unwrapped candy; at least he kept telling himself this.The kids were beat tired and slept quite soundly. So soundly, in fact, that Erin didn't even realize her photo was being taken. They received these hilarious eye masks on the airplane. Believe it or not, two weeks later, they're still sleeping with them on.
On Thursday they did something we’d hoped they’d be able to do since we found out we were moving to Arabia…went skiing! One of the malls in Dubai has an indoor ski resort.It’s not the Rocky Mountains, but they all had a great time. For a reasonable admission, the resort rents ski clothes, skis, and provides a lift ticket.

Erin received the ‘most improved skier’ award. It was cold enough that they all thought they needed hot chocolate. Dano thought they all needed shirts that said “I froze in the desert.”
From there (much to Ethan’s delight!) they did a little shopping in the mall and then caught a movie. They were really excited about seeing a movie. The Lister family does not go to the movies very often, actually, hardly ever. In Saudi Arabia, though, there are no movie theaters at all. This is strictly so they can control what media is available within the kingdom. It’s one thing to choose not to go to the movies. It’s another thing to not even have the option. So, when the opportunity presented itself, they jumped on it. They saw Megamind which also happened to be in 3D movie…bonus!

Friday morning they attended their meeting which was conveniently at the Marriott hotel where they were staying…actually we planned it that way. They got ready and just hustled downstairs. There were about four hundred and fifty people at the meeting which surprised me. I think they really enjoyed meeting and gathering with others from our faith.

Saturday morning they got up early to meet a guide to take them on a desert safari. They rode out into the desert to the top of a sand dune, and let the air out of the tires of their Land Cruiser. Dano had to explain this one to me. Less air in the tires makes it easier to drive on the sand.
At the top of the dunes, the guide strapped a snow board on the kids and let each of them have a couple of turns sandboarding down the dunes. They found this to be terrific fun! Dano was even able to get in on the action. Hiking back up the dune for round two was the most difficult part. I think this was quite a workout for each of them, but the ride down was worth it.



They visited the Al Fahaidi Fort, the oldest building in Dubai built to protect the area from sea invaders. It also served as the office and residence of the ruler at the time.
There is a wonderful aquarium in Dubai. Kennedy loved the penguins, Erin loved the manta rays and Ethan loved the sharks, of course. But of all the pictures, I loved this tank created to be a reproduction of the Finding Nemo movie.
One of the highlights was the anticipation of coming home. Usually that’s not the case when you go on a trip…unless you’re Ethan Lister and you’ve been informed that your ride home will be on the Airbus A-380, the world’s largest airplane, the one you search the horizon for whenever you are out in the evening around 6:00. It’s the first two-story airplane the kids have flown on. Ethan’s comments, “It’s ginormous! It had stairs leading up to the lavatory. Every seat on the airplane had its own touch-screen television with lots of video games. It was so cool!”
Abigail, Emily, and I survived alone and had a quiet five days at home. These are two very sweet little girls. I enjoyed spending time with them, but we missed the rest of our family, especially Abby. She really missed those kids. We think Dubai looks and sounds like great fun and hope we will be able to visit it again with everyone.