Visa Run

Hello from sunny Dubai.  I must admit I am a bit jealous seeing all the pictures of Facebook of the snow.  I do miss the first snow of the year.  The weather here continues to be about 30' during the day and around 22' at night.  We don't need to turn on the AC anymore.  We can open the windows at night and feel a breeze.  Not much has happened since the last time I wrote.  We did do a visa run to Oman.  In order for Paul and Evan's visa to be accepted they had to leave the country and re-enter.  So, we made a road trip to Oman.  We rented a car and set out.  It took just over an hour and a half to get there.  We passed through gorgeous desert scenery.  We had to be on the lookout for camels at all times.  Apparently if you hit one you will be fined 10,000 dirhams (around $2700 CAD). There is not much of wildlife here.  There are some really nice birds, camels, lizards and lots of stray cats that are really thin. Thedrive was so nice.  It was great to see the real desert.  At times I forget that we are living in a desert because we are surrounded by a great, magnificent city. After passing many security stops (around 5) heading out of Dubai, we arrived at the border.  There was a small trailer where you had to go to get the exit stamp.  If I wasn't watching we would have missed it.  There were no signs or warnings to let you know you were there.  After we got the exit stamp we headed a little further down the road to another gate.  We headed back to the Dubai border.  We went into another roody-poo building and stood in line only to find out that we missed a step.  We forgot we had to go to Oman.  We only left Dubai and didn't actually enter Oman.  So, we got back in the car and headed to Oman.  We drove about 10 minutes down the road and saw  the building we needed to enter.  We got there and headed into the building.  There were about 100 people ahead of us.  I played dumb and asked a security guard where to go.  He took us to another counter and we were served right away.  We were able to bypass the lines.  YAY!  Then I found out I had to pay 200 dhms for the processing.  So, I go to a bank machine and get out 200 dhms (or so I thought).  Turns out I took out 200 Oman rials.  This converts to about 2000 dhms!  Oops!  Thankfully there was a bank there that converted it back for me.  We got the entry/exit stamp and headed back to Dubai.  We went back to the border and were processed fairly quickly.  Paul had to do an eye scan and we were able to leave (but not before stopping at Duty Free to get cigs.  They were super cheap!  Around $30 CAD for a carton.  Less than $3 a pack).  It took about 4 hours from the time we left home to the time we returned home.  It was also really interesting to see what locals do for fun here.  We passed so many camp "sites"  It is just random tents set up in the desert.  People go here on the weekend and spend the weekend 4x4ing.  We are going to try it sometime. All in all, it was a successful visa run.  It was fun just driving around and seeing lots.


Nothing else is really new here.  Paul is still looking for work and waiting to hear back from the 100 resumes he sent out.  Evan is doing well at nursery.  He cries when I leave but then does OK.  I am going to put him in the preschool here for second term as a listener.  This means I won't have to pay tuition but he can still participate in the class.  He knows more than any other child in the preschool.  He knows and can identify all the letters and can count to 20.  He knows his colours and shapes.  My kid is brilliant (or at least I think so)!  I think he would benefit from something more stimulating than playing all day.











We have also been enjoying seeing more of Dubai.  We went to a great beach called Kite Beach.  It is popular for kiteboarding.  There were lots of people playing volleyball and soccer on the beach.  And, the Burj AlArab was really close.













This week is super busy getting ready for National Day (or should I say National WEEKS!).  There is so much time being spent in getting ready for this day.  At school it is a really big deal, as well as all over the city.  It is like there is a competition to see who can have the biggest flag on their houses/buildings/cars.  I will try to get some pictures because it is something to see.  The people here are so thankful to the government because of all that they do.  It is how they show their appreciation for the sheikh and his family. That is all for now.  Until next time...

Desert camping!