Cheers to the Weekend

With the weekend quickly approaching (these weeks seem to go by so fast here), I'd be remised not to recap last weekend...

Wednesday
wednesday is not the weekend in the United States nor is it the weekend here.  Despite knowing this fact, we still chose to drive to the city for an event called Abu Dhabi Soul.  We went right after work, stopped at PF Chang for some bang bang shrimp, and then went to Saadyat Island for the event.  Saadyat Island (I am pretty sure I am spelling it wrong) is yet another beautiful place in Abu Dhabi.  The event itself was basically a showcase for R&B artists.  I enjoyed the venue and the singing was ok, but I did not enjoy getting home after midnight and trying to wake up to make that hour drive to work the next day.  I'm getting too old to be out on weeknights.

Thursday
After getting of work, we packed our bags and headed to the city.  The people that live out west with me claim to hate going to the city every weekend but it's funny how we always end up there.  Anyway, once we got to the city, we picked up a friend from Reem Island, shopped a little at the mall, and then headed to Vice Roy on Yas Island.  Vice Roy is a really nice hotel, and in it is Club Rush.  The club was ok, there was a nice mix of music (house music), and there wasn't a large crowd but enough people.  I heard the drinks at Rush were expensive, but since I don't drink that is an expense I don't often incur.  I was actually pretty tired at Rush and probably shouldn't have been in a club at all.  However, I told a friend from back home that I would find out about all the spots in the UAE so that he knows where to go when he comes one day.  Who am I to turn down a research project?

Friday
Around here, brunch is very popular.  There are brunches at hotels, brunches on yachts, etc.  We chose Vice Roy for brunch.  I know what you are thinking....yes, we were at Vice Roy the night before, and no we did not have a room there.  Probably not that bright of a decision now that I think about it, but oh well.  Brunch was great.  There was a variety of food including Asian food and even a little Mexican food (Mexicans did not cook it but that is neither here nor there).  More amazing than the food was the actual atmosphere.  On the balcony of the restaurant, you can see the Formula One racetrack which circles a body of water that holds a variety of yachts.  The view made me want to go to a race.  I lived behind Atlanta Motor Speedway for five years and never had that desire.  The race is actually coming up in November and Pharell is one of the artists performing after the race.  I might look into it if I can find the hookup on some tickets OR find someone to go with that doesn't mind paying for a race that we probably will lose interest in after 5 laps.

Formula 1 Track

Formula 1 Track

Formula 1 Track

Formula 1 Track

Brunch at ViceRoy

Brunch at ViceRoy

Brunch at ViceRoy

Brunch at ViceRoy

Brunch at ViceRoy

Brunch at ViceRoy

Rooftop of ViceRoy

Rooftop of ViceRoy

Sheena on her model behavior on the rooftop of ViceRoy

When brunch was over we went upstairs because they were offering a free drink to those that attended brunch.  We ended running into some people from the UK and South Africa.  This was not the typical group I would have thought I would be spending a Friday afternoon with but they were a lot of fun.  The couple from Botswana has been living here for six years as the wife was teaching at a private school.  She has now resigned and is going home in December.  They were so excited and invited us to Botswana.  We have their contact info so that might actually be a plan.

Once we left Vice Roy, we went back to the mall to find Halloween costumes.  I have never in all of my life dressed up or Halloween.  At my former school, I was the little dress up doll...I have been Dr. Seuss, Cupid, Ironwoman, and Superwoman.  But this year, I am actually doing the adult dress up and go to a party thing.  The costume I ended up going with might require a few sit-ups on the day of, so you may or may not see pics.  Stay tuned.

After the mall, we headed to Reem Island where our friend lives.  Walking into Reem Island we stumbled upon a house party.  Well, I stumbled on it because everyone else knew about it as it was posted in our teacher Facebook group.  I haven't been to a house party in years, and that one was interesting for lack of better words.  I don't know if all of those people were teachers but they were an interesting group.  The house party went on all night long.  The best part about it was the wings.  Brunch had worn off and those wings from Wing Stop were right on time.

Saturday
When we first got here we were given free tickets to Yas Waterpark.  It expires soon so we decided to use the ticket.  The waterpark was fun even though we got there in the middle of the day...too much house partying for my crew the night before.  It actually was not as hot as I thought it would be.  The rides cover the walkways and there is a lot of shade in the park.  Unlike Six Flags in Atlanta, they actually make it cooler than the rest of the city.  Six Flags is always at least 20 degrees hotter.  LOL.  But, the park was cool.  I don't think I would pay to get into it as the rides were weak, even for someone like me that cannot swim at all.

The only picture taken at Yas Waterpark.  SMH

Sunday
Sunday isn't the weekend here guys!  Back to work on this day.  It was green day at school.  Green Day was made up by the principal to encourage the children to come to school after the holiday (Saturday was New Years on the Lunar Calendar.  I was calling it Islamic New Year but was corrected and told that the New Year doesn't belong to the religion just as January 1st is not Christian New Year.)  Made sense to me.  And that was from a friend back home.  Learn something new three times a day here.  But anyway, Green Day consisted of dressing in green and learning about the color green all day.  At 11:00 children were dismissed from class into the hall (like our gym) to do green activities.  The only problem was that there were no green activities planned.  The teachers had to freestyle activities.  Oh well, they were cute and the day was short.  Chaos and confusion doesn't bother me because of where I came from before the UAE.  I'm good at free styling.  My children drew green pictures, identified green objects, played with green play dough, and jumped on the trampoline wearing their green attire (the last one was a stretch).  They might be shaky on the letters F, M, S, and T, but I bet they can show you the color green.  And the principal is somewhat of a genius because 22 out of my 23 children showed up for Green Day.  Lucky me!