Riding the Dunes

"I know the desert is beautiful for I have lain in her arms and she has kissed me." from The Poet in the Desert by Charles Erskine Scott Wood

Friday, February 20th : Desert Safari Day

I started Friday morning by heading out to Safa Park for my last long run in preparation for the Mirdif Milers 10 Mile race I will be running on February 27th. Each lap of Safa is 3.4k or about 2.1 miles. I ran four laps, which was not an easy feat without my running partner, Natalie. While I was running Safa, she was running the RAK Half Marathon with several others I know, so I figured the least I could do was four laps in solidarity with them. After my run, we took Rachel and Ellyn to brunch at Carpe Diem / The Art of Living / La Cafette, a yummy cafe that has way too many names. We lunched on crepes with ice cream and deliciously fresh salads keeping in mind that we wanted empty stomachs for when it came time to depart for our desert adventure.

Our designated pick up time for our Footprints in the Sand Desert Safari with Arabian Nights was 3:15pm. Youssef, our Iranian driver, arrived right on time. We piled into the Toyota Land Cruiser with Ellyn in the front, me, Tyler & Rachel in the back, and Scott & Alex in the way back, and we rambled toward Hatta. Our first stop was a random grocery store along the way which seemed to be a meeting point for tens of 4x4's from many different tour companies headed on similar journeys. Outside the store there were coconuts with straws, a man with a falcon, and lots of random tourist tsotchkes. We decided to hang out in the car in the hopes it would expedite our arrival to the dunes. Once Youssef had visited the facilities and the other drivers, we were off again. We crossed the dividing line of the highway, making a u-turn, and then charged onto the adjacent desert. Climbing the dunes a short distance from the road, we stopped once again. This was the meeting point for all the 4x4's from Arabian Nights on the day's excursion. While we waited for everyone to arrive, Youssef prepared the vehicle. He deflated the tires, checked the fluids, and convened with the other drivers. While the drivers prepared the Land Cruisers, the kids played in the dunes, and we all gathered around for the photo ops.


Youssef and Ellyn


Alex as a Sand Angel


Can you tell they miss the snow?


Ready to launch

Once the vehicles were all present and prepped, we loaded back into the 4x4 and caravanned into and over the dunes.



Imagine, this is the view downhill as we are about to slide toward the other 4x4s.


Sand envelops the car, as we slide down a dune.

Now, I love roller coasters and so does Ty. Unfortunately, Alex and Scott do not. By the time we had careened over and down the third dune, Alex was in tears. I envisioned an hour of screaming hysteria, and took a deep breath. Then, somehow, Alex decided dune bashing was fun. He went from sobbing to giggling and hollering "Wheeee!". It was shortly after Alex had his change of heart that Scott started turning grayish-green. We slowed down to check out some camels, and Scott hopped out to get some fresh air. Once Scott's stomach eventually returned to normal, and he switched seats with me for the rest of the ride. Unfortunately for Scott, Youssef seemed to be getting a kick out of subtly torturing him over every dune. We were laughing, but Scott was getting greener....







Alongside all the tourist safari cars, locals and expats were riding the dunes, too. We passed all kinds of vehicles with all kinds of passengers.


Dune buggies


ATVs


Peace riders

As the sun began to set, Youssef guided our Land Cruiser to meet the others 4x4s in our group on top of a massive dune. We piled out, and the kids darted toward the highest sand peaks they could find. The sunset was stunning over the red sands and even though I had run almost 8.5 miles that morning, I found myself running though the dunes with the kids. It was smiles all around... except for Scott who was still recovering....





A Bedouin style camp was the next stop. At camp, you could ride an ATV, ride a camel, sandboard down a dune, smoke shisha, get a henna tattoo, dress like a local in an abaya or a kandura, eat traditional Arabic foods and drink Arabic coffee while sitting on cushions on Persian carpets, purchase personalized sand art and watch a belly dancer. Whew.











Proving what a small town Dubai can be, we ran into one of Alex's best friends from school at the camp, too. For the latter half of the evening, the children had an impromptu play date running up and down the dunes which suited them just fine. As the hour approached 9pm, we were given the 10 minute warning. The kids made one last pit stop, we found Youssef by the door, and we trudged back to the Land Cruiser. Giving us a few last thrills, Youssef shot us back into the dunes and at one point turned off his lights as we plunged through the sand. We had an amazing experience that we will each remember for a long time. Tyler's thoughts on it all were summed up with one phrase earlier in the day as we were sliding through the sands. In his very innocent and enthusiastic five year old voice, he said "Even my penis likes it!"

Working Girl

I think I have mentioned that I am going to be working full time in the ASD elementary school library beginning in March. The elementary librarian, Natasha, is going out on maternity leave, one of the library paraprofessionals, Naureen, is going to take over for Natasha, and I am taking over for Naureen. The library has been wonderfully flexible with me, allowing me to take a break in the middle of the day to head home to pick Ty up for school, which starts at 11:45am for him. Returning to work full time is a little scary for me, but I am thrilled to be getting the experience to match the Masters in Library Science degree I am working on. I had a sample of working full time the first week in February. It was exhausting, but I loved it. Seeing the elementary students come through the library and getting to know the teachers and paraprofessionals at ASD is priceless.

Since I have been subbing, as needed, for the library to get ready for working there full time, the elementary school assistant to the principal asked me if I would be willing to sub for other paraprofessionals, as well. If you know me, you know what my answer was. Because I need to match Ty’s schedule, I sub in the afternoon K1 classes (Ty’s class and one other). Tyler has been a champ when I sub in his room. The hardest part of doing that job is to not ignore him! He continues with his day as if I am any other teacher, but each time I have subbed in his class, the enthusiasm he has shown before and after school is readily apparent. The first day I subbed in his class, he said “this is going to be the BEST day EVER!” Whenever I see the children from the other afternoon K1, I am greeted with a chorus of “Hello, Ms. Cathy”. Heartwarming.

Surreality

It is February 18th, and I am sitting by the pool at Alex’s school. It is nearly 90 degrees, and it is FEBRUARY. I have to keep reminding myself what month it is. I feel so disconnected from the winter weather the Eastern Seaboard has experienced. Honestly, I thought I would miss winter more than I do. I am thoroughly enjoying running, barbequing and just generally being outside . In a few months, that will all change, and I will no doubt be complaining about the oven-like temperatures and overwhelming humidity that plagues Dubai in the summer months. For now, I’m just enjoying it while it lasts.

This week, Scott’s mom and her friend have come to visit from New York. They have been top tourists in and around Dubai, and it has been interesting to see Dubai through their eyes. We are all looking forward to a Desert Safari trip on Friday before they leave late Saturday night.

Last night, we headed to Global Village where we met up with Natalie and her kids. Global Village is like Epcot mixed with a church fair on steroids. There are pavilions for dozens of countries selling local goods, foods from all over the world, dancers, and musicians. Of course, the biggest attractions for our kids are the rides. Swings, roller coasters, bumper cars, the ferris wheel, and the trampoline kept them occupied for hours. Tyler ruled the trampoline with Greg Louganis style, and proved his iron stomach by riding the caterpillar roller coaster twice with Bethy followed by the Miami Dolphins roller coaster all by himself. I can’t wait until he is old enough to ride coasters with me.






This past Saturday, I ran the Predictor, as usual. It was the second week I decided to run two laps around Safa Park instead of one, which makes it a 6.8k race (around 4.2 miles). The first week I did two laps, I was slow, slow, slow. I was so slow that Graham (the ringleader of the Dubai Road Runners), started the wrap up meeting for the race before I even finished. On Saturday, I hemmed and hawed about even going. After deliberating the merits of racing that night with Natalie (who had just completed the Wadi Bih relay the day before), we finally decided to go. And WOW, was I ever happy that I did. I finished the race in 39:59, and I won the bottle of wine for closest prediction of my race time. I had predicted a finish of 40:00. My finish even got a shout out from Graham in the Predictor recap e-mail. I was all smiles, especially considering that I had such a hard time getting my butt out the door that night. Here’s what Graham had to say:

"Not surprisingly a low turn out following Friday's Wadi Bih race. Those who did turn up were either tired from Wadi bih or elated at having taken part. On the elated side was Alison McEllin who got a superb pb of 17:16 for one lap. Equally elated was Cathy Ogur who not only broke 40 minutes for the first time over 2 laps but also won the wine for closest to prediction. Star of the night was visiting runner Paul Holley who did 2 laps in 24:02"

Along with running the Predictor each week, I try to get out for a run with Natalie a few times each week. Keep your fingers crossed for me, because I am signed up for a 10 mile race in a week and a half. It will be the longest race I have run yet. I will let you know how it goes….

On Friday, last weekend, we piled the kids into the car for something completely different. The Dubai Marina & Yacht Club was hosting Dragon Boat races, so we drove down to the Marina to check it out. The Marina is a part of Dubai that has lots of potential, but it is still heavily under construction. It has a vibe similar to Battery Park in NYC. Watching the Dragon Boats glide through the water while we walked the path through the Marina was a great way to spend some time. We saw some interesting sights and stopped at a juice bar on the walk back to the car, where Tyler struck a distinctly California pose.









To take advantage of the amazing weather on Friday evening , we headed to the open beach where the kite surfers hang out. Scott and I hung out on a blanket, while Alex and Tyler collected shells, dug in the sand, and watched kite surfers and kites flying and goofed around. It was great to sit, relax, listen to the waves and breathe in the salt air. ****aaahhhh***** I love the beach and want to make an effort to get there more often. It does something for my soul to sit on the warm sand and feel the breeze off the water.