Sri Lanka, part 1 - Negombo

Our first 4 nights we stayed in Negombo, north of Colombo and only 20 min drive from the airport. The hotel was called Golden star beach hotel, it was 3 stars and the rooms were very basic but big enough to fit 4 beds, which was great. We also got a room on groundfloor, with a veranda towards the grass and pool area, which was even better, considering we had a very active 2 year old to entertain. We arrived just in time for a late dinner, 7.30 pm, which is standard in this part of the world. And of course, at the table next to ours, was a Swedish family, with two boys. This was actually great, since these 2 boys entertained our kids for 3 days and we were quite sad to leave them. The next morning we discovered the beautiful beach next to the hotel and the girls were very excited about the coconut and pineapple trees in the garden, and more than anything, the pool (as if they didnt have one in Dubai...). The breakfast was ok, but they didnt have fresh milk or real butter, which became a big issue as the days went by. The butter was some kind of horrible margarine and the milk was made of powder milk, so the last day Emma refused to eat breakfast...After breakfast, one of the pool boys, promised to show the kids a big lobster that they got that morning. He also asked if we wanted to eat it for our evening meal. Obviously, I said yes!
The rest of the day we chilled by the pool and enjoyed watching a big christmas party on the beach, catered by the hotel for a big factory in Sri lanka. The all danced and partied for hours to a local band that seemed to play nonstop.

Then I had my lobster and it was delicious. What an experience!

On our third day we decided to do a tour of Columbo. Jon had arranged a driver (it costs nothing) to take us round. We had a great day, but were quite shocked at the complete chaotic traffic. Youve got to see it to believe it. Colombo is buisy, dirty and pretty crazy. I got kind of stressed about finding a clean place to eat and we all cheered when we saw the sign for Pizza Hut. We stopped at a few monuments and some tourist shops, but it was more a car tour, which was fine. It was really interesting to see the mixture of shops along the roads, seeling fruit, bread, car tyres, motorbikes, table cloths, wedding dresses, old tvs, etc, in houses or huts that looked like they were about to fall apart. And everywhere were children, dogs, tuctucs and cows and you name it. And no pavements. I was surprised people didnt get run over. People drove like complete maniacs. It was probably the first time in my life that I have seen really poor people. But they still seemed so happy. People were just hanging round talking to each other, helping each other with different things. And everywhere they are building new houses and renovating old ones. I bet its going to look very different in 10 years time. And everywhere there were catholic nativity figures and big stars and fir trees to celebrate christmas, as well as budhist Budha statues and temples mixed with one or two muslim mosques. Pretty amazing. Anyway, it was nice to get back to the hotel.

Christmas Eve was fun and a bit odd. We all got dressed up and went to the pool bar for a drink. Then there was a whole turkey dinner with the lot, being an old british colony and all, even christmas pudding and brandy sauce. An then santa came, believe it or not. And he was Sri lankan! Who would have thought! James was still over excited, calling santa claaas, all the time. He got a sweet every time. Need I say that everyone at the hotel knew who James Kiely was...Blonde, sweet and always running all over the place. Then we danced to a coverband singing Boyzone and Take that (!) and all sorts of not so christmasy songs, but we had fun. About 11 pm Isabelle and James collapsed and we all went to bed. Then there were christmas crackers and fireworks for about 2 hours all over Sri Lanka, but the kids slept all through it...

So this is Christmas...

Another month has gone by, with a lot of work for us and the kids. And a lot of parties, and concerts and sweets and treats. It would be strange if I didn't feel a least a little bit of the old Christmas spirit, somewhere deep inside. But it's also mixed with pain, as I think of all our friends and family back home.

Today it is time for our big adventure in Sri Lanka. Apparently, there will be rain and tropical storms...oh dear. We have tried to celebrate Chrsitmas as well as we could, turkey dinner and christmas prensents already. No Santa yet, but we are bringing the stockings to the hotel, in case Santa finds his way to Negombo...certainly hope so or Isabelle will be slightly disappointed...Here are some pictures from our pre Christmas party and our lovely day on a dhow cruise in Oman last week. Cheers!

Carrefour party!

Last weekend, me and Jon were invited to a Carrefour party at a friend's house in The Lakes. Walking distance from our house, very handy. Carrefour is a huge supermarket that sells everything, including food and clothes. The party theme was carefour fashion - dress your cheapest and we had to bring a receipt to prove that the whole outfit was from Carrefour. We were lauging like little kids while we selected our brilliant outfits. Jon's was just outstanding. The suit he found was all of 50 dhr (100 skr), the shoes 20 dhr and the t-shirt 17 dhr. He looked fab and very cheap indead. AND....he won the prize ( real champagne) for best dress man! He was a proud (and little drunk) man on the way home.

Our weekend in Oman

2 weeks ago we spent a 3-day long Eid break in Muscat, Oman. It was a beautiful place and a lovely hotel, but a very long drive...

The amazing diving center. A real jem. Perhaps a shame we didn't catch one of the boats to see dolphins but they were all fully booked, and James had a fever, again. Poor little man.

This was the only dolphin we saw. Beautiful statue though. In the harbour near all the fishing boats...

and the private yacht of the Omani prince, of course....Took up most of the harbour....

The view from our hotel balcony. Not bad at all.

Lovely day at the beach. Lovely kids and lovely husband. Can´t believe they´re all mine. :-)

Here are some photos.

Happy Halloweeeeen!

I know Halloween was a week ago but I'm not that fast at updating the old blog. We had a great Halloween with lots of fun for everyone. The girls had a 'fall parade' at school (can't celebrate halloween here) and dressed up as witches. Both very cute. I watched them from my classroom, luckily Jon was able to be there to see it and blow them kisses. Of course we didn't take pictures since me and Jon are probably the worst in the world when it comes to remembering cameras. Luckily, the teachers took some nice one, this one is from Emma's classroom party.

After school there was a great party in our Zulal park at home. All the neighbours came out with their little ones in costumes and we had a fab picnic. Maryam had made the best pizzas ever and one of the mums made this amazing cake! Emma didn't really participate since she was much older than the rest of them, instead she waited until dark and went ou trick-or-treating with her friends around the whole block. We had kids ringing the foor bell for about 3 hours. James was very excited and had far too much candy. He was helping Maryam to put sweets in their bags, like 'one for you and one for me'...Then he had a sugar rush and ran down the streets like crazy. Had to look him indoors after that,

Now it is time for EID BREAK!! Yippi! 5 days holiday and we are going to Oman. Can't wait!

Nightinight

Another school year and a new job!

How do I start...it's been a while. I finally have my laptop back in order, after a 4 month break down. My harddrive crashed and now I have a new one. Happy times! Jon bought a voucher from PC care at gonabit.com, where you can find all sorts of great offers. They came and picked it up, fixed it and brought it back to my door, within 5 days. That's Dubai for you. Service. I had to pay for the new drive of course, but still. And they installed all the programs I wanted, including Skype!

So, I thought it was time I updated the blog....it's not like I haven't had a computer over summer, but it's not been a priority. I am now a working mum again. What was I thinking...

I actually really enjoy teaching again, I have some great kids and we are doing a lot of fun stuff. But it's been hard work, planning and marking and grading. More then I'm used to. Learning the curriculum and the standards and the rubrics...I just have to come up with a plan on how to ''do it all''. I obviously have to make the most of being in Dubai as well, so I've discovered that a great way of reading novels and doing lesson plans, is while you're doing a pedicure at the same time. It works, beacuse the chairs are so comfy and the room is so relaxing. There you go...

One of the highlights of my week, is my grade 10 class, who are all fantastic, so interested and clever and fun, and the fun we have studying the novel Life of Pi. If you haven't read it, do so. An incredible story.

Emma and isabelle are really happy at school. Of course Emma complains about things from time to time (otherwise she wouldnt be Emma), but overall, I would say she likes her class. She is even doing her homework without too much fuss (as long as we pay her). And Isabelle is being Isabelle. Moaning is kind of part of her personality. She is as active as ever, and if we haven't got plans for a day, she gets bored easily. Always looking for entertainment and social events...very much like her father I suppose...

James is now a nursery boy, bless him, and he really enjoys it. Dare I say, that he now talks more English than Swedish. Today he has been singing Baa Baa black sheep all night and practiced counting on his fingers.

One of the fortunes in our life has been Maryam, our new nanny. She is like an angel, and a muslim one at that. She has just made our lives that much better, especially my life. I never, ever worry about anything when she is home with the kids. And she is forever making our house more organised, cleaner and better. And she cooks, basically anything. And she bakes. And she is constantly happy. I wonder if we can take her home to Sweden. Maybe I will write a letter to the Swedish government. Dear Sir, Swedish expat family wants to bring their filipino maid back to Sweden, since she bakes the best bran muffins and knows how to iron my silk dress. Can you please give her work permit for life. Kind regards

Good night to all friends and family, we miss you every day,

and we want you to come and see us!!!!

Anna

Atlantis weekend

We spent our last weekend in Atlantis with 5 other Swedish families; the big, beautiful hotel on the Palm. Since the hot weather keeps the tourists away, all the expensive hotels have big offers on in summer to attract the locals and the expats that are still round. The offer included deluxe room with sea view, free access to the waterpark, Aquaventure, the aquarium, evening meal in one of their posh restaurants and breakfast the next morning.

What an amazing hotel! Aquaventure was great for the girls but maybe not for James. A couple of hours in the sun was enough for him. I think he enjoyed the aquarium more. He loves fish, just like his dad. And I loved the meal, probably the best meat I've ever had. And probably the most expensive as well, good job it was included otherwise we would never have gone there.

In the morning, Isabelle asked for pizza when we got to the breakfast buffe´. I told her not to be silly, this is breakfast time....but then she came running 'They have pizza!" And they did....they had Italian breakfast with fresh pizzas, Arabic breakfast, Asian, European, American...you name it....that´s Dubai for you. I ended up eating a very typical Swedish breakfast, quite impressive.

James at the cinema

Just had to post these pictures of James finally out of the house at his first cinema visit, with friends Laura, Leina and Josh. It was Winnie the Pooh for under 3´s. He was so excited.His nearest neighbour, Laura is Irish-Scottish and Leina is French. who will it be? :)

From champagne brunch to stomache parasites and no maid...that was a high fall...

Feeling drained and exhausted today. No maid for two weeks and the house full of sick people. And outside it´s about 40 degrees everyday. Don't laugh. Noone survives in Dubai without maid if you have 3 kids...I´m completely serious.

First of all, isabelle and Jonathon has had stomache parasites and had to have antibiotics. Stupid as we are, we sent Isabelle to her friend's birthday party after that, not thinking that her immune system might be low. Result - another virus with high fever for a whole week. Which meant James had to stay at home and not have any of his usual fun. Well, he enjoyed having his sister home all day, but she was pretty tired, of course. James has had a cold for a few weeks, took him to the doctor but it´s just the usual virus. His bad mood and lack of apatite could be his blocked nose, the doctor said. Or the new teeth at the back of his mouth...Then we have Jonathon, poor thing, he has probably been to the doctor's more than ever in the last few weeks. First it was back pains, then the parasite in his stomache, then he had a massive root feeling in one of his teeth the other day, and today he is off to the doctor´s with a eye infection! Surely, this hot weather can´t be good for anyone...

So, you see, Dubai-life is very strange. It´s either over-the-top glamour or the complete opposite...anyway that´s how I feel at the moment. As I´m sure you have guessed, I´m looking forward to going home next week, yes, indeed. But first I will have a week of introducing a new nanny to our family. On wednesday I will have the pleasure of introducing Lynn! Can't wait for her to start. Just hope James will like her.

Bubbalicious at the Westin - finally!

Last Friday I finally had the opportunity to enjoy bubbalicious, a Friday brunch, Dubai-glamour-style, at the poshest hotel in town of course, The Westin. What can I say, it was truely amazing. We were 12 Swedish ladies who decided to give our friend Malin a goodbye-party that she would remember forever, and always make her wonder why they ever decided to leave Dubai. The brunch was a 1pm and included free food and beverage until 5pm. In Dubai that means incredable seafood dishes, goose liver, sushi, any kind of steak cooked to your liking, Indian curry station, Italian and French delicacies, any dessert you could ever imagine, including dark and white chocolate fountains...and of course free-flowing REAL champagne, coctails and whines. Oh my God, you have to be there to believe it. If you´re a food connoisseur, like me, or just a food freak...(maybe that´s more me) it´s equal to heaven...

Luckily, I didn't feel stuffed after the meal, must be because I mostly had fish and meat. No potatoes, past or rice at all. That would have been a waste of tummy-space. After the meal 4 of us took a lovely walk along the beach, jumped on a golf-buggy (it´s like the hotels´private beach cars) and went out on the pier, where the driver showed us the sheik's yacht. Pretty nice, we all wondered if he would like the company of 4 Swedish ladies. But then we realized that he wouldn't have any champagne on his boat, being a true muslim and all, so we went back.

What a day, like a dream it was...then I came home to a husband and 3 kids, ouch, reality check or what :)) No, kidding, I love them to bits of course. Have to say though, I was a little bit tired and grumpy the next day...

Maths helper and some history...and more swimming

Do you like my new cushions that I bought in the Marina sale? Beautiful aren´t they?! Hopefully I can talk Jon into buying the sitting cushions to match...

A lovely morning that started off with maths in Emma´s class. I was math helper today between 8-9am and really enjoyed it. A great bunch of kids, really polite and positive. I think they like having parents in the class. Emma´s teacher showed the class how to use division on the interactive smartboard. Yes, of course they have all the latest IT stuff, considering how expensive the school is. I was very impressed with Miss Katherine´s teaching. The kids were really quiet and she was making the kids interact with her in different ways all through the lesson, so that they wouldn´t stop listening.

Since I came home I have been entertaining James with different games while Chathuri has been cleaning the house for the last time. On Friday she is moving out. I´m sure we´re all going to miss her. Especially James. Very sad.

Today, if james sleeps that is, I am finally going to do some studdying. No more excuses, I just have to finish my work on what happened when Sweden allowed the Germans to cross over Swedish territort to get from Norway to Finland during the Second world war. Heavy stuff. Yes, how could Sweden do it? Cowards? Of course that´s what Jon thinks. We shall find out...What I do know is that it lead to a mayor crisis in the Swedish government.

This afternoon i will take the kids to the Lakes club for some swimming. It´s better that having them fighting in the house...the temp today; around 35, but the humidity is only 32% which is good!

See ya!

Weekend in Fujeirah

Ready for a weekend in Fujeirah. Isabelle took a picture of me in my new short haircut and my new huge glasses.

Playing in the fantastic pool was the best of course.

I kind of thought drinking at the pool was the best...no, that was a joke. I only had a mint cooler, no alcohol this time. How come Sam looks so slim and I look so fat in this picture?....must be something wrong with the camera...

Obviously we all enjoyed our free drink in the top bar between 7 and 9pm. The kids played pool and soccer games and James was charming the waitress the best he could. Or stealing peanuts at different tables, or jumping off different tables. However, after a double gin and tonic you don't seem to care so much...Anyway, he had a great time.



After a late evening, Isabelle thought the resturant chairs were great for sleeping in....bless her.

All in all, a fantastic weekend we great friends. Waht a hotel, we´ll definitely go back again!