Kidzania!

Whether you call it Kidzania (as in rhyming with Kid-Mania), or with a slight Arabic accent in a pronunciation like Kid-Zanya (rhyming with Danya) or the British style that makes it rhyme with Tanzania; Kidzania is an amazing make believe country where you can take your children at the Dubai Mall. In fact, if they are old enough, they can stay in Kidzania while you shop around the mall. And Kidzania is not just in Dubai.

To enter Kidzania, you actually go to an airport counter and 'check in.' In Dubai, Emirates Airlines sponsors the Kidzania airport. You clear customs, receive your ID bracelet and then enter a new country. The premise is that kids get to try many different jobs in a mini-country that is Disney-esque and after each job, they earn money. The money is called Kidzos and can be spent around town. 

Local businesses sponsor the buildings and activities in a marketing move that targets the next generation, but also educates by having the children at least partially understand what goes into each job. For example, before my girls could perform surgery on an ill mannequin, they went to training at the hospital. There they were given a 20 minute 'course' in how doctors help people, why surgery is sometimes needed and the importance of a sterile environment/equipment during surgery. 

So the kids walk in the shoes of workers from many different jobs. It makes for an entertaining day. I took Rosie and Bella and documented our adventure.

One year ago today

On June 27, 2010, our family sat teary eyed on a KLM flight bound for New York. It was our final departure from Stavanger's Sola Airport and our life in Norway. The four great years in idyllic Norway were ending.

Looking back, it was an amazing chapter in our lives. We were able to transition back into overseas teaching at a great school and immerse our children into the life of international students. When we arrived in Norway, Rosie was 5 and Bella was 3 and their parents had not hit the big four-o yet.

Our first week at ISS, August of 2006

When we left Norway, our kids were much bigger and more well traveled. Their parents were, shall we say, a bit older than when they arrived. We were ready for the Dubai chapter of our lives!

Our final week in Stavanger.

Desert Safari

One of the best things to do with visitors is head out on a desert safari. Outside the mirrored, modern city, there are the amazing red sand dunes. The ripples made by the wind create an ocean of sand stretching in all directions.

After riding for an hour and jumping through the dunes, you get to have a buffet dinner in a 'Bedouin' style camp. At the camp is the hookah, henna, camel rides, a falcon and a belly dancer. Sort of like going on a Arabian Luau and quite fun.

Here is a video made combining our two trips:

Home is Where the Sand Is

Me on the phone to a taxi driver: "Yes, behind the hotel, that is where we live. Behind the Hotel Ibis. No, not that Hotel Ibis, the other Ibis. After you pass the Ibis, make a left before the German kitchen store, down the dirt gravel road, next to the sand lot. Forget it, I'll meet you at the Ibis...hang on, I am walking there now."

Me on the phone to the pizza delivery guy: "After that dirt road ends, make a left at the next sandy road with no name, then your first right onto the dirt road." Silence. "No, it has no name either. Just follow the sand." Silence. "Forget it, I'll meet you at the Ibis...hang on, I am walking there now."

Me on the phone to the cable truck coming to install the latest digital plan: "Forget it, I'll meet you at the Ibis...hang on, I am walking there now."

Elementary School Assemblies

200 4th and 5th graders take the stage together! Wow!




Rosie dances, sings choral and rocks the solo.