Monday and Tuesday once again came as blurs as it was work followed by the gym followed by some food and the house. Wednesday was once again my savior night of the week as it was the day to play some footy. We had two more games in which we won both again which put us in first place at the end of the first session. Not bad I don’t think. However, it was once again really, really hot out and the breeze didn’t help any as it was blowing around already hot air.
Thursday was a pretty fun night as I went to the gym and then caught a taxi to meet Joe and his aunt at the Reem Al mawadi restaurant. It was an authentic Lebanese place with vines and everything, man was this place sweet. It also was a place where a lot of the celebrities go to get some authentic food when they come to Dubai. It even served Nelly, which I thought was pretty cool considering the restaurant was off the main drag. The food was delicious and so was the company and the service as per the usual over here is excellent. After dinner, we took his aunts back to their apartment and decided to head back to the house, after all it was around 1 am and Friday was our fun day.
Friday was again a nice lay out and relax day. We then took our butts over to the mall to look for some jeans and ties for the wedding we are scheduled to go to in august. Also we had to get his uncle a gift because they were having everyone over to the house for dinner and this is the first time they have had anyone over since moving into the place in May. So we walked around for awhile and then decided to go get some drinks and play some backgammon in Downtown Dubai. We hung out there for awhile and then headed to dinner at his Uncle’s place. Dinner was fantastic and as usual it was a gigantic meal. First came the main dishes of lamb and rice, kidbe, chicken and pasta and some fatoush with hummus and bread. Then we all left the table the maids cleared it off and it was back to the table again for some deserts and fruits. By this time I was completely stuffed to the brim and then they offered coffee and tea with some biscuits and baked goods. I don’t think I have ever eaten so much but it was all so good I couldn’t resist. We headed back to the other mall to try and continue looking for some jeans and stuff but to no avail couldn’t find anything in the right size nor in the right price range….A pair of Levi’s cost almost $120. So we decided to pack up and head back to the house.
Yesterday was a nice relaxing day at work, not too much happened and at the end of the day I got offered a job when I finish college to come over here and work. Not sure how I feel about that but I will for sure take it into consideration. We hit the gym after work and then headed over to the lighthouse for some food before the big consolation game last night. The chicken was once again spectacular and the game last night was everything I was hoping for with a lot of goals and a good core of entertainment.
Today has been well busy and hectic and tonight I have practice once again. We are getting filmed again but for this time I have no idea. Last time it was for a world cup infomercial or something but I don’t really know the details. Anyway for now… good bye from Dubai.
Monday, July 12, 2010
More long time no post
Joe’s birthday dinner took place at a restaurant called Marooj Rotana. This place is for the lifestyles of the rich and the famous. I felt completely out of place because not only was the place way to ritzy for me but it was also a Lebanese place complete with a belly dancer and Arabic music. However, it was one of the best experiences of my life. When we sat down at the table, it was already covered in food. The first course was all dips and salad sort of things and man was it all delicious. There were vegetables, hummus, potatoes and much more. I had to make sure I watched myself so I could save some room for later. The second course was cheese, breads and some seafood. The calamari was absolutely amazing, not to mention the cheese. If you don’t know me very well, I LOVE cheese and I was almost done in for the night after that. The third course was all the chicken and lamb and other meats, by this point I was loosening up the buttons a little bit. Fourth course was an entire platter of fresh fruit and when I mean fresh it was practically cut right in front of us. Finally, we had desert which was a cake for Joe’s birthday and I don’t think I have to explain how delicious it was.
Meanwhile, the entire time we were there which was a period of almost three and a half hours, my glass was never empty and the food was always good. Not to mention there was a belly dancer for a good hour then a singer and man did the place start rocking when he came on. There was dancing and singing, clapping and swaying, pretty much all the ingredients for a great night. Although the cost was around 1,000 AED which translated into roughly $360.00, it wasn’t too bad. So if you are ever in Dubai and are looking for an experience, head on over it’s only a block away from the world’s tallest tower.
Saturday night was the big game between Ghana and the United States in the sweet 16 of the World Cup. I suggested to Joe that we head down the Barasti Beach stadium to watch it and he obliged so we were on our way. We had to make sure and get there early in order to guarantee us a seat and a table and when we got there, we were one of the last ones to get a free table. My friend Eddy from our summer team met us there and immediately the American flags started flowing. We met a bunch of other Americans and exchanged some high fives and beers and waited for the game to start. Not to mention we also were dealing with drunken Scottish women who wouldn’t leave us alone. That is a story in itself. Anyway, the game started and the vuvuzela’s were going crazy and then Ghana scored and I was about ready to kill someone. When Donovan scored the equalizer I ran around as much as I could much to the dismay of the Ghana fans. However, at the end of the night I was left heartbroken by our side’s honorable defeat. I couldn’t fault them for playing hard and I did get some encouraging words from the Ghana faithful not to mention a couple kisses from the girls, but it still wasn’t enough to comfort a broken World Cup dream so I went to bed.
This week has been a bit of an up and down because Joe is trying to fight off the flu so we have been kind of quiet and kept in to try and recover. I went out by myself on Tuesday for the first time and thankfully I didn’t get lost. I only went out to the gym for a workout and some small sided soccer then I went to the grocery store because we needed to pick up a few things. Last night held the usual Wednesday night summer league and we had the usual two games. We won the first one 3-2 even though we were playing a man down the whole time and we won the second one 2-0. I am not sure what tonight holds but tomorrow is our day off and I am thinking I might try and head over to the beach to get some sun and go float in the ocean for awhile. Who knows? So for know “Sabah al Kher” (goodnight) from Dubai.
I am skipping now to July 4th. Friday and Saturday were filled with the usual sleep in on Friday followed by a day laying out and working out with some good dinner and the World Cup at night. Yesterday was same old, same old with work and then the Lighthouse for some food and the World Cup… Today however was the day we celebrate our Nation’s Independence. Although it is kind of hard to celebrate in a country where America the Beautiful doesn’t go over to well. Anyway, we spent all day at work trying to find a celebration at an embassy or an American bar or something and we came up with nothing since all of the celebrations were on Friday. So we had to settle and make our own plans. We decided that we would first head to the beach and play some good old American football. Although we didn’t play it was the next best thing we could think of that was American next to playing catch with a mitt and a baseball which we had none of. So I went for a run and Joe enjoyed the night and when I got done we decided to talk a walk down the beach front walk to Bob’s Diner. It was designed to look like a 50’s diner which was impressive considering it was in a desert and boy did this place impress. It had the music the seating and all the interior decorating to make you feel like you took a seat back in the 50’s. We thought this was as close as we are going to get to some old fashioned American food that we might as well give it a shot. First on the menu were the milkshakes. I had to have a chocolate milkshake and so did Joe and man did they taste amazing. Then we had to order some burgers and these burgers were massive. Joe couldn’t even finish mine and as I was finishing mine, I yelled “this is for America”. I thought it was fitting. Then we decided that we ate way to much so we headed back for the house to indulge in a Budweiser and the most American movie on television…. Hoosiers.
Meanwhile, the entire time we were there which was a period of almost three and a half hours, my glass was never empty and the food was always good. Not to mention there was a belly dancer for a good hour then a singer and man did the place start rocking when he came on. There was dancing and singing, clapping and swaying, pretty much all the ingredients for a great night. Although the cost was around 1,000 AED which translated into roughly $360.00, it wasn’t too bad. So if you are ever in Dubai and are looking for an experience, head on over it’s only a block away from the world’s tallest tower.
Saturday night was the big game between Ghana and the United States in the sweet 16 of the World Cup. I suggested to Joe that we head down the Barasti Beach stadium to watch it and he obliged so we were on our way. We had to make sure and get there early in order to guarantee us a seat and a table and when we got there, we were one of the last ones to get a free table. My friend Eddy from our summer team met us there and immediately the American flags started flowing. We met a bunch of other Americans and exchanged some high fives and beers and waited for the game to start. Not to mention we also were dealing with drunken Scottish women who wouldn’t leave us alone. That is a story in itself. Anyway, the game started and the vuvuzela’s were going crazy and then Ghana scored and I was about ready to kill someone. When Donovan scored the equalizer I ran around as much as I could much to the dismay of the Ghana fans. However, at the end of the night I was left heartbroken by our side’s honorable defeat. I couldn’t fault them for playing hard and I did get some encouraging words from the Ghana faithful not to mention a couple kisses from the girls, but it still wasn’t enough to comfort a broken World Cup dream so I went to bed.
This week has been a bit of an up and down because Joe is trying to fight off the flu so we have been kind of quiet and kept in to try and recover. I went out by myself on Tuesday for the first time and thankfully I didn’t get lost. I only went out to the gym for a workout and some small sided soccer then I went to the grocery store because we needed to pick up a few things. Last night held the usual Wednesday night summer league and we had the usual two games. We won the first one 3-2 even though we were playing a man down the whole time and we won the second one 2-0. I am not sure what tonight holds but tomorrow is our day off and I am thinking I might try and head over to the beach to get some sun and go float in the ocean for awhile. Who knows? So for know “Sabah al Kher” (goodnight) from Dubai.
I am skipping now to July 4th. Friday and Saturday were filled with the usual sleep in on Friday followed by a day laying out and working out with some good dinner and the World Cup at night. Yesterday was same old, same old with work and then the Lighthouse for some food and the World Cup… Today however was the day we celebrate our Nation’s Independence. Although it is kind of hard to celebrate in a country where America the Beautiful doesn’t go over to well. Anyway, we spent all day at work trying to find a celebration at an embassy or an American bar or something and we came up with nothing since all of the celebrations were on Friday. So we had to settle and make our own plans. We decided that we would first head to the beach and play some good old American football. Although we didn’t play it was the next best thing we could think of that was American next to playing catch with a mitt and a baseball which we had none of. So I went for a run and Joe enjoyed the night and when I got done we decided to talk a walk down the beach front walk to Bob’s Diner. It was designed to look like a 50’s diner which was impressive considering it was in a desert and boy did this place impress. It had the music the seating and all the interior decorating to make you feel like you took a seat back in the 50’s. We thought this was as close as we are going to get to some old fashioned American food that we might as well give it a shot. First on the menu were the milkshakes. I had to have a chocolate milkshake and so did Joe and man did they taste amazing. Then we had to order some burgers and these burgers were massive. Joe couldn’t even finish mine and as I was finishing mine, I yelled “this is for America”. I thought it was fitting. Then we decided that we ate way to much so we headed back for the house to indulge in a Budweiser and the most American movie on television…. Hoosiers.
Long time no post
Ok So I haven’t wrote in my blog for a little over two weeks so this will take some catching up to do.
I am not going to write about work over the past two weeks because that would just bore anyone who reads this out of their minds so I will talk about some of the experiences and places I saw.
On the 20th of June I had another Sunday night soccer practice at the same field I had mentioned before except tonight was a heck of a lot cooler than it was last time. Tonight there was a market/festival thing going on right beside the field, and when I say right beside the field I mean it literally. There were tents and everything set up and the people were selling everything from toys to clothes to cameras and cell phones. It was your typical slum market in Dubai but it was different because it was right beside the field where we were practicing. So not only could I smell food the entire night, I was also in amazement at all the people who just sat around and watched us practice and scrimmage. This was no high profile game no world cup by any means and yet they loved the game. This just truly exemplifies that soccer is indeed the world’s sport.
The week held the usual dinners and world cup games. We left work early on 23rd to watch the US play. We got to the restaurant and it was filled with Algeria fans…just my luck. However, I calmly kept my mouth shut, and sat there with my USA soccer shirt and dress clothes on. The game seemed like it was going to give me a heart attack and then in the 91’ minute I believe I did. The Algeria fans had been yelling all game and I was waiting for the right moment to burst and when Donovan put that goal in I jumped in the air and shouted and then the place got silent and the only person yelling was me. I didn’t have a care in the world though because that qualified the US into the second round and I was now a happy camper and I didn’t care what happened the rest of the night.
The 24th was Joe’s birthday and we were planning a dinner but that got moved to Friday so we had to make a little change of plans. We went out and got some grub with his uncle and his aunts and had a good time. Then I and Joe went out to the Mai Tai bar on the beach for some beers and the world cup. It wasn’t bad actually the place was pretty packed and the beer was relatively cheap, in Middle East terms. However, we were extremely tired so we didn’t last too long on the night and eventually retreated back to the house for the night. On another note, we brought cake into the office for everyone today. It is a cultural thing that when you are celebrating something you bring the office some sort of desert or sweet. This is the entire office as well, so I and Joe had to go get two nice sized cakes. The cakes were delicious and the office was very appreciative of the thoughtfulness. Just today I received a Cadbury chocolate bar because one of the Customer Service reps downstairs passed his driving exam.
Friday the 25th was probably the best day I have had in Dubai so far. We woke up around 11 had some brunch and then I went over to the gym for a little workout. After a round of lifting and some abs I returned to Joe telling me to get in the shower. At first I’m like ok can I sit down first and he said no that we were heading out. So then I started to ask him questions and then he turned around and tossed me three toboggans and said pick one or you’re going to be cold. After that moment I knew we were heading for an adventure down the indoor mountain. We got there changed got our skis and headed into the icy cold temperatures in the middle of the desert and I have seen this place on TV but it actually felt like you were out in the mountains of West Virginia after a fresh snow. I had a heck of a time after my first run. I am not going to talk about my first run because it wasn’t pretty. Let’s just say I cleaned out the cobwebs more than once on that first run. For two hours I forgot I was in the middle of the desert and felt a little bit closer to home. That was until I saw the Arabic writing on the slow down signs ha-ha. It was a great start to the day and the perfect warm up, or should I say cool down, for the festivities that would ensue.
I am not going to write about work over the past two weeks because that would just bore anyone who reads this out of their minds so I will talk about some of the experiences and places I saw.
On the 20th of June I had another Sunday night soccer practice at the same field I had mentioned before except tonight was a heck of a lot cooler than it was last time. Tonight there was a market/festival thing going on right beside the field, and when I say right beside the field I mean it literally. There were tents and everything set up and the people were selling everything from toys to clothes to cameras and cell phones. It was your typical slum market in Dubai but it was different because it was right beside the field where we were practicing. So not only could I smell food the entire night, I was also in amazement at all the people who just sat around and watched us practice and scrimmage. This was no high profile game no world cup by any means and yet they loved the game. This just truly exemplifies that soccer is indeed the world’s sport.
The week held the usual dinners and world cup games. We left work early on 23rd to watch the US play. We got to the restaurant and it was filled with Algeria fans…just my luck. However, I calmly kept my mouth shut, and sat there with my USA soccer shirt and dress clothes on. The game seemed like it was going to give me a heart attack and then in the 91’ minute I believe I did. The Algeria fans had been yelling all game and I was waiting for the right moment to burst and when Donovan put that goal in I jumped in the air and shouted and then the place got silent and the only person yelling was me. I didn’t have a care in the world though because that qualified the US into the second round and I was now a happy camper and I didn’t care what happened the rest of the night.
The 24th was Joe’s birthday and we were planning a dinner but that got moved to Friday so we had to make a little change of plans. We went out and got some grub with his uncle and his aunts and had a good time. Then I and Joe went out to the Mai Tai bar on the beach for some beers and the world cup. It wasn’t bad actually the place was pretty packed and the beer was relatively cheap, in Middle East terms. However, we were extremely tired so we didn’t last too long on the night and eventually retreated back to the house for the night. On another note, we brought cake into the office for everyone today. It is a cultural thing that when you are celebrating something you bring the office some sort of desert or sweet. This is the entire office as well, so I and Joe had to go get two nice sized cakes. The cakes were delicious and the office was very appreciative of the thoughtfulness. Just today I received a Cadbury chocolate bar because one of the Customer Service reps downstairs passed his driving exam.
Friday the 25th was probably the best day I have had in Dubai so far. We woke up around 11 had some brunch and then I went over to the gym for a little workout. After a round of lifting and some abs I returned to Joe telling me to get in the shower. At first I’m like ok can I sit down first and he said no that we were heading out. So then I started to ask him questions and then he turned around and tossed me three toboggans and said pick one or you’re going to be cold. After that moment I knew we were heading for an adventure down the indoor mountain. We got there changed got our skis and headed into the icy cold temperatures in the middle of the desert and I have seen this place on TV but it actually felt like you were out in the mountains of West Virginia after a fresh snow. I had a heck of a time after my first run. I am not going to talk about my first run because it wasn’t pretty. Let’s just say I cleaned out the cobwebs more than once on that first run. For two hours I forgot I was in the middle of the desert and felt a little bit closer to home. That was until I saw the Arabic writing on the slow down signs ha-ha. It was a great start to the day and the perfect warm up, or should I say cool down, for the festivities that would ensue.
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