I am now coming to the end of an interesting two months in Dibba, UAE. This place is not a patch on Scotland but has been awesome fun none-the-less. The UAE is only 42 years old as a country and its mad to think how quick it must have changed. I wish I had more photos of Dubai because it is a weird city! The buildings are elaborate and always immaculate but not inventive, they are copies from other cities in the world. There is more money in the UAE than I can imagine and we don't even blink anymore when we see a Ferrari, a Bentley, a Rolls Royce and a Lamborgini drive past all in 5 minutes. It all seems very fake and modern and yet all the ancient Muslim culture is still everywhere. As girls here at the centre, we wear strappy tops a lot, especially when it gets hot and its hard to tell whether we are offensive or accepted. The children we instruct at North Star are mostly international, and mostly speak English, though it can be interesting to have an entirely French, or entirely Emirati school come in. Most children here have influential parents who travel a lot and so they mostly have nannies and if I ever complained that the children we get in Scotland are spoiled, then I have been naive!
Anyway, the weather here is already hot enough that we have hours and hours at lunch time sat in the air conditioning while it is too hot for activities outside. The season is coming to a close and I am SO excited to be coming back to Scotland. There are all sorts of adventures planned!
A scorpion out at night in the Wadi. They do actually glow under UV light and this photo hasn't been changed in way from when it was taken.
Ewan playing in the waves on the beach.
An ancient Omani Fort. This Fort still stands exactly as it did when it was first built except for layer upon layer of plaster that is sprayed over the stones to keep it intact. It was built by the Portuguese in the 17th century to help control shipping trade through the Arabian Gulf.
A whole row of genies in an Omani Fort.
Pete playing in the waves
Watching humpback dolphins, while cruising through the Arabian gulf in a Dhow boat. Aaah, its a hard life.
Beautiful Oman view at the top of a walk we do with the children. The mountain range here is called the Musandam and we bring groups here every now and again. It is a treat to be working on one of these trips!
Now we about to have a BBQ at camp with some other people from various outdoor centres in the UAE and I have sunburnt my tummy while making the most of the sun for my last week here... Looking forward to coming home all tanned for spring in Scotland :-)
