It wasn’t too long into our first safari drive when we happened upon the 2nd member of the Big 5 – the rhinoceros. It was a mother and a youngster out munching on some grass. When they saw us, they were at first a bit nervous and kept their distance. A few days later, we…
Close Encounters: The Elephant
When we first decided to move to Abu Dhabi, our eyes glazed over at the long list of nearby places that we could visit. Places that would otherwise be a long and tiring journey from the U.S. We narrowed that list down to 3 major highlights, and last week, we were fortunate enough to be…
Feelin’ Hot, Hot, Hot!!
So, we know it’s hot. We see the weather forecasts of 45 degrees Celsius (115 degrees Fahrenheit) and higher, and the “real feel” on our blog confirms the humidity is in the air. But, little did we realize how that can affect the things we “own”, like the car. In a nutshell, the reusable grocery…
Breaking Bread at the Most Iconic Iftar of Them All
We were happily invited to attend iftar at the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, a free offering to anyone who shows up. The mosque estimates that anywhere from 10,000-15,000 people are served nightly, from all walks of life. Our group arrived right as the sun had set, so the men were led to an outside area…
Iftar: It’s What’s For Dinner
Ramadan is most prominently marked by the fasting that occurs from sunrise to sunset. Those who are fasting – and even those who aren’t – are able by law to leave the workplace two hours earlier to rest and prepare for the evening. At dusk, people leave their homes to join friends and family at…
Fasting at 2,700 feet
Knowing when the sun rises and sets is extremely important during Ramadan. At sunrise, your fast begins and at sunset, your fast ends. Sounds pretty straight forward. But what happens if your line of sight was such that you saw the setting sun a little bit longer than the rest of us? Sound impossible? Well…
No Soup (or Sandwiches or…) For You!
With fasting from sunrise to sunset the most prominent observance during Ramadan, the holy month affects us all – even the non-fasters. At work, there are special, blocked off areas for lunch, tea, coffee, water and even chewing gum. Personally, I have to stand in a tiny kitchen for lunch, which is a very small…
Ramadan Kareem!
Today marks the start of Ramadan – the Islamic religious observance, marked most prominently by a month of fasting. I’ll be honest – up to this point in my life, the only thing I really knew about Ramadan was that it was practiced by Muslims. Sad, I know. However, there is good news – my…
It Was On, Ajman
In our quest to explore all seven Emirates that make up the UAE, we hit our 4th this week – Ajman. While the smallest of the Emirates (100 square miles – or roughly 1.5 times the size of DC), it did have a “5-star resort”. So there was no excuse not to go, especially with…