Our Travels

A couple of weeks ago as I was driving home from work in the evening "Dance with my father" by Luther Vandross came on the radio and I turned it up to full blast. It transported me back to our wedding in Samoa on the 17th of December 2005. As the sun was setting and the party was still going, my eight year old niece Yvonne stood up on the platform to sing this very song for me. It was her favourite song at the time and she had learned the whole song but was too nervous to sing alone so she did like a duet with Luther Vandross. It was a beautiful moment and I'm sure many tears were shed during that very song. Anyway I looked across and saw my brother in-law Yvonne's dad wiping his own tears. . I wasn't very familiar with the song before then and as I was driving home I heard every word and I just started crying. It was so weird I just cried and cried while the song was playing partly because it reminded me that the song is about a little girl reminiscing about danc...

During one of my lessons this week I asked my students to make up general statements. I went around to check their work and was reading one of my Palestinian students work. He wrote a grammatically correct sentence but the content just made me want to run out of the room and laugh my head off. The sentence went like this: "Palestinian people are good at throwing stones." He looked at me and smiled and said.."but it's true" lol. It was hilarious. I had to keep it together to stay composed. Two weeks ago we were doing present perfect e.g. I have known... This was one of the beginnings I gave them to complete. One student who was in his early twenties asked about what exactly to write. I knew this particular student just got married last year so I said "How long have you known your wife?" And he said "aaaah..." lightpulp moment, he thought for a bit and I was thinking.. How long does it take for one to figure out how long you've known your ...

Just got back from Dubai tonight. Tired as. Went out last nite with Alex and Rich, Net's hubby from the UK to the Irish Village in Dubai. Of course a few beers too many later we moved to Rock Bottom... Next thing we were just wasted hahaha Because I was drinking for Nets and I...lol Left the club at 2am and went home. Woke up with the WORST hangover. I was supposed to go skiing at 9am with Alex's sister... I was still in bed by 11am. I was just GONE. Of course famous last words : I am never doing that again...!!! We went to sister-in-law's place and I went straight to bed. Two hours later I woke up revitalised and headed for the mall to catch up with hubby, C and our friends that we had planned to have lunch with. Heh heh! Let's just say I was a wreck choo hooo. And because of it I didn't even want to shop...darn it hahaha! After lunch had a quick look around then went home. I caught the 10.30pm flight back. The airport was packed. I was lucky to get a seat. Got to...

Wow I had 50 visitors yesterday on the blog! That's a record! I wonder why that was. Well it's the week-end here and I must say I'm enjoying it. This morning I woke up at 6am which was new and it wasn't too hot then. The pools looked inviting but wasn't inspired enough to make the effort! I know, hopeless. Ok the real reason: Last night I had one too many wines with dinner and I woke up sick as a dog... cliche but yeah I hate that feeling. It's moments like that, that I vow never to put that stuff in my mouth again! But seriously I wonder why I drink one too many at times. I wish I could just stop consuming alcohol altogether but hmmmm will do eventually. So today I went to pay bills and do some grocery shopping which was not bad. Just something to do to get out of the house. Poor hubby has been working hard so I let him sleep in and tried to tip-toe to give him peace....for a little while. heh heh! At 2pm we went to meet friends for coffee. Our friends that we ...

I thought I'd write a blog today on the triple 7 day. We went to Dubai for the week-end to see Alex's sister who lives there and catch up with friends. Alex arrived from work then we went back to the airport to fly to Dubai. We waited at the Crowne Plaza for Cesca for about an hour before Cesca finished work. Because it wasn't very far we walked it! In 35 degrees heat, it wasn't exactly the best idea. 20 minutes later and drenched in sweat we arrived at the house. It felt like a mission due to the heat and the high humidity on that day. What was nice was that, it was after 6.30pm and the sun was setting so the sky was beautiful and we walked through houses where the labourers lived. It was busy and it was so different from the other parts of Dubai. We werwe stared at as we didn't belong there but otherwise it was an interesting walk. From then on we figured out how to ring taxis so we wouldn't walk anymore:):)

Yesterday in one of my classes, I gave the students some exercises to complete and in the middle of it they erupt into a frenzy of Arabic speaking! They were obviously discussing something they felt strongly about so I asked what the problem was and to at least discuss it in English! One guy pointed at the one lady and said "She wants to buy a pick-up!" and shook his head. "So? She lost her car in the flood", I was a little confused about what the problem was. The lady spoke up, "Teacher, I want to buy a pick-up and they're all saying I shouldn't because ladies don't drive pick-ups" A classic example of cultural differences. And the lady continued that even her family were against the idea of her buying a pick-up!!! Moreover when she went to the showroom even the salespeople were discouraging her form buying one! I asked her why she had decided to buy a pick-up and she said she just wanted one and she didn't see the problem. Though her sist...