Eid Mubarak!!

Eid Mubarak!!

Or.... HAPPY EID!!!

Well, as this may not be as exciting to most everyone that is reading this, here it is exciting because Eid marks the end of the holy month Ramadan, and is considered like Christmas for Muslims - gifts are exchanged, there are a lot of festivities, lots of EATING, etc. For the last month, Muslims have fasted from dawn till dusk, and now it is over and they can all CELEBRATE! We too can celebrate because during that time we couldn't drink or eat in public to respect their fasting, AND all bars were closed and now they have re-opened.

Eid also marks a sad time. Why? For the last month we all have worked 30 hours instead of 50 AND in honor of Eid, we have 4 full days off. Total vacation, huh? I'm sad it's over and now it is going to be TOUGH getting back to work, I'll tell you that. This month was somewhat of mentally refreshing as it really felt like vacation... work was a bit slow (many people are out of the country) and I had lots more free time on my hands. Too bad it just went by too fast!!!

I had my pre-Ramadan goals, or things I wanted to do, and I think for the most part I accomplished them!

• Update my blog, he he - CHECK!
• Do a photobook from my trip to Rwanda/Uganda - CHECK! (it's at my parents house, BTW).
• Finally make a system for the 2098203982 passwords I have for various things - CHECK!
• Organize finances/$$ - Umm.... basically I LOOKED at my finances and realized how hard it is to save in Dubai. Does that count? haha. 
• Read up on educational PT stuff  - Kinda check.
• Back up desktop to external hard-drive - CHECK!
• Read 2 books - CHECK!! Read a good one my friend from Rwanda recommended: Land of Thousand Hills by Roseland Carr. It was very good. Then read The Leftovers by Tom Perrotta... umm.. very different book. I wouldn't say it was my most favorite book, just ... interesting. 
• Pick up a new sport - CHECK! Squash! It's actually pretty fun, and nice to do something different. I even doubled the CHECK by buying a squash racket just yesterday. Woo hoo!
• Work on 2 presentations I have to do back to back in September - Darn it, that is probably the ONE thing I REALLY should have done, but darn it, just kept procrastinating. I kinda looked into some information about it, but eh.... nothing more than that :-(
• Learn a few more cooking recipes - Kinda check. I didn't do that, BUT I FINALLY, after sitting around for literally 5 months, used this steamer I bought and steamed some veggies and chicken, which I was quite proud of (although it is very easy). So I at least did something related to cooking. :-) 
• Catch up with people (email, phone, etc) - CHECK! There are of course A LOT of people out there, but I did the best I could and am satisfied with reaching out. 
• Go scuba diving! CHECK! This was a 2-part process because as it has been more than a 6 months since I last had been scuba diving, I had to take a refresher course. Which, if you ask me, is just a scam, but whatever (I've gone years without diving and have jumped right in). I went and it wasn't as bad as I thought, and I guess I did refresh some skills I totally forgot about since I got certified in 1996. True story. Then TODAY I went to Fujeirah, another Emirate of the U.A.E. Although the visibility was a bit poor and the bottom temperature was surprisingly cool, it was nice to get out of town and be outside. Saw turtles, moray eel, lionfish, comet fish, and much more. And got some sun despite it being, as usual, muggy and sandy out.
• Watch American TV and/or a movie - I caught up on Glee (hehe), 30 Rock, and Modern Family. Then I watched Gorillas in the Mist to mark my full-swing Rwanda rediscovery, referring to the book I just read and now watched this 90's movie. 
• Watch Olympics - CHECK! That was super fun! As I don't have a TV, I used the BEST THING EVER, my new VPN! I use Witopia, logged on into London, so the computer things I am there, and then watched LIVE Olympics! Yea!! Then a few times my nice neighbors let me come over and watch it on their actual TV. Thanks neighbors! 
• Decorate my apt a little bit - No check :-( My apt is awfully.... bare and white, so I will have to change that. I have posters and paintings, but have been slow moving to get frames. Maybe I should make a goal to do that by next Ramadan? haha. 

Hmm... I think that was it on my list! Soo... overall, not too bad. Although I am still in a bit of a funk post not having Olympics to look fwd to and also my vacation to Serbia came and went too quickly, but what to do? That is life - all good things have to come to an end, unfortunately. But, alas, there is some brightness ahead - I am going to Jordan in September, and then the "cooler" season begins here in Dubai, so life things should pick up again - both sports and social life. Then come end of November, I'll be coming home! Yea!!! Time flies by here, so it will be here before you know it!!!

So wherever you are, EID MUBARAK!!! 

Home Away from Home - Serbia!

A month or so ago, I got the sudden news that one of my good friends from Serbia was not only pregnant, but also was going to have a shotgun wedding in Belgrade. As I had recently been itching to get out of town, I was probably one of the first RSVP's. Because I am taking a full month when I go home to Chicago in December, I could only afford to take 5 days for this trip... which then I later found out I could have actually ended up staying for a whopping 5 days more (grrrrrrrr! Stupid moon and not knowing when it will be fully full. What am I talking about? After the one month of the holy month of Ramadan, they wait for the fullest day of the moon, and then starts the "eid" celebration - i.e. we get 3-4 days extra off work. So basically it was earlier presumed to be sometime next week, hence I got my tickets as is, but darn it, I came back to work 2 days and then have 4 days off... doing nothing. Don't get me started how angry I am that I could have easily stayed longer. Boooo!).

Anyhoo, of course I was looking forward to the trip, but I had an even better time than I ever could have imagined and it was not only JUST what I needed, but even more than I expected.

As a reminder, my dad grew up in Belgrade and has many close friends that still live there. My mom spent some of her youth there in between her time in Russia, and has a best friend Vesna, who married Slobodan. They have been best friends for 50+ years and they are both truly wonderful people and I love both of them dearly. They were as excited about my visit there as I was. They have a beautiful peaceful weekend home in Grocka, by the countryside surrounded by hills and the Danube River. As another reminder, what am I lacking here in Dubai? A lot of things, but most especially NATURE and fresh fruits/foods. What did I get there? Nature and fresh fruits/foods. I spent 2 and a half days there and it was paradise for me. They really treated me like a princess... I almost felt bad because they are twice my age and I should be serving and catering to them, but nevertheless, I enjoyed the VIP treatment. We talked and talked and talked, I hardly moved from this lawn chair to FINALLY get some sun, and ate and ate and ate fresh fruits and food. They have a garden and by some miracle, my favorite fruit PEACHES was in full bloom and it would be no surprise if I ate dozens during those few days. They were sooo sooo delicious and succulent, I don't even have words to describe it! I was in HEAVEN! Besides the lovely company, the FRESH AIR, it was CLEAR blue skies the whole time I was there (and beyond!). I saw stars!!! And just breathing the fresh air, I immediately felt rejuvenated and refreshed. Soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo nice! Here are a few pics:

We got a kick out of finding a "Africa" restaurant in Belgrade

View from their terrace

Slobo picking grapes from their garden

After sun, fun, eating (and more eating), it was time to head back to Belgrade to get out of my pajama's and lounge wear and get dressed up for my friend Sashka's wedding. And, in case you can't tell from the pics, she is 5 months preggos. :-) This was an intimate wedding with only 50ish guests at a beautiful Italian restaurant. We occupied the outside terrace (yea! Fresh air and beautiful weather!), and... what I enjoyed the most, was the "staro gradski" music.... shall I translate to "old school?" Hahah. Everyone was a bit relieved it wasn't "narodi" music, the local gypsy music that can get pretty intense sometimes. Instead, this was wonderful traditional music. It created a perfect ambiance and although I was probably the only one that didn't recognize any songs, most people sang along at some point. It was wonderful live music and surprisingly, there was only a couple of outbursts of "kola," the local dance former Jugoslavs do. Here are a few pics: 

Ahh.... good company, lots of good food, and lots of fun.

Next came my last full day which consisted of a flurry of visiting more close family friends. That too I truly enjoyed and although it was too short with some (you know who you are!), I am really happy and glad that I got to see them. I again had more food and good company:

Somehow between the socializing and eating (haha), I did some quality shopping. The dollar is fairly strong in Belgrade, even compared to when I was there 2 years ago, and honestly, if I brought a bigger suitcase, I would have stuffed it as much as I did this one. There were fab-u-lous deals, and I bought shoes and some dresses that literally would be at least 5 times more expensive here in Dubai.

Soo... to sum up my trip, it was AWESOME! Just being with loved ones, being in our apartment that we have there and all the family memories, was too nice. It really hit me how difficult it can be sometimes to be so far away from people that are close to me and I really needed this love and care. And of course, just being in a European city where streets are packed with people, and to be in a vibrant, cultural city was amazing to me. Belgrade isn't known to have the cleanest air of them all, but compared to Dubai, I might have well been in Greenland or something, and I enjoyed that as well. :-)

I left Belgrade and arrived in Dubai with a heavy heart and I have to say am suffering from post-travel blues, big time. Sigh. Now I have 4 days ahead of quiet time, a lot of my friends are out of town, and... well, we'll see where the weekend takes me! It's the finale of Ramadan, the celebration of Eid, and hey, can't complain about having 4 full days off (after having 5 days off, ha ha).