Who are you?

    Ummmm, I had 465 page views yesterday. I have NEVER had that many since the blog was created. Who is reading? Because clearly, I don't get that many comments. Just curious.....thanks for stopping by! 

School Evaluations

   This week is a big week at school. We are having out biannual school evaluation. A third party is hired by ADEC to come to school's and evaluate the teachers, students and administration. As you can imagine tensions are running high as a it looks great if you have a successful evaluation. 

    They will be at our school all week. One of the evaluators came to my class today, everything went well and the students were extra good, participating, reading and behaving the best I have seen in a long time. I was really proud that they could pull it together. I made a joke that we should be evaluated everyday so that they can always act this well in class. 

    I am trying to get my life right as my 35 birthday approaches in a few months. I have cut out soft drinks (honestly, it was getting out of control. I think I drank more soda in the last 18 months, than in the last 18 years). I have been eating better, eating more fish and vegetables and have been hitting the gym more regularly. I started recording my weight and I am really making an effort to drop some serious pounds by the summer. Short term goal is 10% of my weight, which translates to 25 pounds (apply some grade 7 math and you know how much I weigh). 

     All I gotta say is thank God I am  5'9''. 

This weekend I'm gonna head to a party at Saadiyat Beach Club on Thursday in Abu Dhabi to decompress from this stressful week. 

Al Ain Food Truck Festival

    On Thursday, my friends and I headed to the Al Ain Food Truck Festival. This was a first for the UAE. The festival went to the Western Region last weekend and they were here in Al Ain this weekend and they will be in Abu Dhabi next weekend. I am so happy that I got there nice and early Thursday because, within an hour the lines became super long and when my friends got to the front of many food lines, many of the yummy items were sold out. Here is a sample of the delicious items I tasted:

Camel hump sliders. Yes, I ate camel. This was the most delicious thing that I ate at the festival. The flavour and texture reminded me of roast beef. Honestly, where else in the world am I going to eat camel? 

    The first picture is the prawns and the second is the lamp chop, nom nom nom.

Finally, I had dessert. Churros!

Yummmmmmmm.

Since it is the 14th, happy valentine's day to everyone. Here is a truly canadian valentine. 

If you are in Abu Dhabi next weekend check it out, I think they will be on the Corniche. GET THEIR EARLY! 

Have a great weekend! 

Trip to the Zoo

  Last Wednesday, we took our grade 7 girls to Al Ain Zoo. In Science class we are doing an ecological relationships unit and I convinced the school to let us go. I had a great time. The girls loved feeding the animals. If you are ever in Al Ain take time to head to the zoo, it is a wonderful experience. 

Giraffe selfie! 

Thank You!

    Hello readers! I had made a lovely video, but I quickly learned that I cannot upload video from the blogger app that I use on my phone. I just wanted to take a minute and say thank you for reading my little piece of the internet. Last weekend I was out in the club for a friend's birthday and I was approached by a lovely young lady who had heartfelt words about this blog. She told me that many people were out here because of me and that I had a huge influence on her discussion to move out to the UAE. She told me that before she came out here she read every post and even took notes on them. Her friends and family also read the blog and knew that she would be ok moving out here because if the words I had written.  She was comforted in knowing that there were places she could get her hair done, as well as buy plus size clothing, I was more than flattered. I have said this before, when I started this blog I didn't do it looking to be known on these UAE streets. In fact, I was rather shocked the first time someone recognized me because of my blog. When I started the process to  move out here, I searched high and low for information on life in the UAE. I googled my heart out and found only a handful of blogs that reflected what my reality would be once I moved out here. Even the blogs I did find, dissppointingly ended mind year and often left me wondering what happened to the author. That is how Black Girl In Abu Dhabi was created. I vowed that I would try and blog as much as possible, so I could let others know what it was like to live, work and play out here in the United Arab Emirates. I am ecstatic that I have helped so many of you. Many of you I have actually met in person which is also pretty cool and I am do thankful to be here and to keep posting you on my life.

    I will continue to document my trials and tribulations. Please comment whenever you can, I love reading comments and I will always try and answer. 

    So what has been happening around here?

   I got to hang out with Za, founder of FCK Being Fat. We went out to Saadiyat Beach Club (stunning venue) to see my friend's singing performance. 

    Got an amazing deal to the Philipines for July. I snagged a round trip ticket from Dubai to Manila for 50$, granted all I take is a 7 kg carry on but hey, I can do it, let us be honest all I really need is a bathing suit! I will be in Manila for two nights and then I will be heading to the beautiful Boracay island for 10 days. The Phillipines has been on my travel bucket list forever and not I am making my dream come true. 

   

   Got dolled up for my friend's birthday in Abu Dhabi. Had a lovely time as per usual. 

     Still girding away at my Grad school program. Finished with great marks last term, so I need to get back at it, I have to admit that I have been super tired lately, so I need to refocus.

Have a great weekend! 

   

 

Christmas Trip to India The Final Chapter:Goa

     After our tour of the Golden Triangle, we headed to Goa which is a two and a half hours flight south of Delhi.  Goa is known for its beaches and relaxed atmosphere. We were staying at the beautiful North16 hotel. Our friends from Al Ain were also staying there for five days so we had a wonderful time.

     The pool was the best part of the hotel, I also loved that they had these 'fishbowls' that you could order by the pool. 

   We arrived on Christmas Eve and it was nice to see that the hotel was playing Christmas carols and had beautiful decorations. 

    On Christmas Day we decided to go to Calangute beach which was a 20 walk away. The other thing I loved about Goa was that it was really safe compared to the other cities we had travelled too in India and it was nice to be able to walk the streets in the day and night. 

The beach was packed and it was also nice to have locals come up to us and wish us Merry Christmas and shake out hands. We were celebrities for the day with many people coming up to us asking to take pictures with them and their family.

   Goa also has a bumpin night life and we went to club Mambo, I was surprised at how much techno they played, but all in all I had a fun time at the in. The one thing that was ideas that you had to buy a drink card, Kim of like a debit card. You went to the station and put money on the card and then you used the card at the bar to get drinks. I guess they do this so that the bartenders don't have to handle money. 

   When we weren't walking we were riding tuktuks. We had to bargain up a storm, but we always found one driver that would pay our price. It is funny because when you ask the first driver they will tell us that we will NEVER find anyone that will take us for that price. Well, it may take us asking 4 or 5 drivers but we always found someone who was desperate enough to take us. 

    This is Baga beach which was about a half an hour walk away from out hotel. These lounge chairs had wifi access and we ordered food while we relaxed.

Spices for sale.

Fun chip flavors, the best was the West Indian Hot and Sweet Chili. 

Every Wednesday Anjuna market is the place to be. This maze of stakes was great for shipping but also overwhelming, everyone was hustling and trying to sell you something. After awhile, I just had to get out of there. If one more person asks me to buy a bracelet I swear...

    When we booked our hotel room we were told we HAD TO pay for the NYE gala. I was furious, yet as NYE approached my anger subsided because the streets of Goa were packed on NYE and there was not a taxi to be had. I was happy that I could get dressed. Put on my heels and just walk downstairs to the gala. We had Aubrey buffet dinner, dj, aerial gymnastic show, drinks and fireworks. One of the most memorable nye's ever. 

After midnight, we jumped in the pool, why? Because we could!

All in all another fantastic trip for the book. 

India Part 3: Jaipur

     The third stop on my Golden Triangle tour took me to Jaipur. 

   Our first stop was a 20 minute elephant ride up the Amber Fort. Now, I am not afraid of a lot, but something about sitting on the back of an elephant looking at the scene below as my foot touched the wall freaked me out a bit.  Just a bit. 

    At the top we ran into some traditional dancers that were filming a commercial, they were kind enough to pose for a picture. 

   The fort was extremely impressive, but the icing on the architectural cake was the 'wall of mirrors'.

   Pictures do not even do this wall justice. Imagine thousands of mirrors cut in geometric shaped that are over hundreds of years old, yet they are sparkling like they were placed their yesterday. 

    

  I also got henna (mendi) done.  Henna is pipped onto hands and feet and is usually done for weddings in India, although here in the UAE it can be done just for fun. The henna is pretty much herbs that are ground up into a paste and pipped out onto your skin in various designs. You wait until it is dry and leave it on for about an hour before you wash it off.   The henna usually lasts a week before it starts to fade. 

    One of my favorite pictures from this day was take in front of the 'winter' door. 

    This stunning piece of architecture is know as the Palace of the Winds. Granted it is not a palace but more of a wall that is composed of 953 windows.  This was was created so that women of the royal court could look out at the streets below because they were not allowed to go out in the streets. 

My friend got this for me in Egypt when she went last Decenber. I used it to carry around my rupees. 

Next stop Goa.