January
We arrived back in Dubai from our trip to Cairo, just in time for the New Year's Eve fireworks at the Burj Khalifa. And when the festivities were complete, and the traffic jam outside lasted for hours, we happily toasted the new year from our own living room. My shipment of stuff arrived, and I was able to unpack some familiar items like books and little cozy details.
We ran the Dubai 10km.
Freddy came to town!
And we experienced our first sandstorm.
February
We roadtripped to Khasab, along the beautiful coastal highway, and saw beaches covered in seashells and dolphins during a dhow ride through the fjords.
Scenes from Dubai Creek and the Palm. (Also ran the RAK Half this month, great.)
March
We went to Beirut.
My folks came to Dubai for their first visit.
We saw the horse races at Meydan, with the opulent hats and dresses, though I found the other spectators even more fascinating.
April
Lots of exploring through new parts of Deira, e.g., enjoyed Iraqi food in Deira. India won the Cricket World Cup. Shake Shack opened in the UAE. There was a rainstorm (a rare occurrence, with lightning over the Gulf). We travelled back to Cambridge and London for a long weekend, which explains the lush green photos below.
May
We went kayaking in Dibba, and enjoyed the roadtrip to the Eastern Regions, through the mountains. We stayed overnight and had a hotel room whose window faced the loudspeaker of a mosque right across the alley. On the kayaking, we saw a turtle, schools of fish leaping in the air, and ghost crabs.
My favourite photo of the year.
And then we headed to Johannesburg and Cape Town. Beautiful. We mountain biked through vineyards, climbed a mountain, went down to the Cape, and enjoyed our time with friends.
June
Commence the summer mode. Indoor gym workouts in the morning. Stepping outside only to get from the front door to the taxi. Relaxing on the weekends with DVDs and good books. Checking out our neighbourhood galleries and local "cheap eats".
July
Another month survived in the Arabian desert summer. New adventures this month included my cooking classes, which inspired me to try a lot of good new dishes. The month kicked off with a Canada Day sandstorm.
August
Ramadan in the UAE meant that it was dormant in the city. The highlight of this month was our Trains Across Europe trip, wherein we landed in London and made our way through England, to Paris and then to Amsterdam, all via train. It was exceptionally restful even though we were on the move the whole time, and there were a million fun moments and memories. And one particularly memorable picnic in Luxembourg Gardens.
September
We enjoyed the end of Ramadan holiday of Eid, and the city noticeably came back to life, with far more people milling about the fountain and lake. Even though it was still hot outside, it was as if the residents were willing it to be milder again. Tim Hortons opened, much to the happiness of Canadians in the city. We enjoyed seeing the little hoopoe bird on the lawn when we'd walk to the gym in the morning. And we both celebrated birthdays with homemade cakes, each of us making a chocolate cake for the other.
October
Our good Dubai friends flew off to their next assignment in London and we enjoyed a last dinner before their departure at Special Ostadi, a Dubai institution. The gradual decrease in temperature meant that we had several mornings where we awoke to banks of cloud outside our windows. We saw some great movies at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival. We got our first box from the Garden Centre farmers market, full of fresh local goodies. And then we spent 24 hours in Qatar, checking out a movie at the Doha film festival.
November
I celebrated my one year anniversary as a UAE resident. Amazing how quickly time flies when you're enjoying the new scenery and company. We had another long weekend for a local holiday, so I went hiking in Dibba. I did the Dubai women's 10k, which turned out to be a 10.8k. My folks arrived in town, hurray! And we relaxed and enjoyed lots of time around the neighbourhood, along with a neat tour of Fujairah and the Eastern region. The tulips that we planted at the end of October started to grow. I ran a 10 miler in Mirdif. And on the last weekend in November, we enjoyed a nice abra ride across the creek to the Gold Souk. Can you tell that the temperatures were a lot nicer now, as evidenced by the fact that we were doing so many neat activities after the quiet summer?
December
Rugby 7's. Fantastic Dubai Half. Dubai Film Festival. Christmas in Dubai. And preparations for our holidays in Mauritius. It has been a fantastic year, with so many incredible memories and so many more to come before 2012!
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