It is no secret that we are beach lovers. I grew up in Central Florida and spent many summer days soaking in (probably too much,) sun. My teen years were driving back and forth to my favorite beach and some of my favorite college memories were days when I would finish class early and head to the coast for an hour or two of studying on the sand.
The beach in the Middle East is a different beast all of its own. Sometimes it seems very Western (people swimming, women in bikinis, kids playing with their families,) and other times it is very very NOT Western- but Middle Eastern! Women sitting in beach chairs wearing their abayas and shaylas while their nanny chases the kids into the tide. There has to be a strange balance between respecting the local culture and also relaxing in resort settings and letting your proverbial and literal hair down.
For these reasons, I wasn't too sure what to expect during our beach vacation but it turned out to be a great long weekend up in Ras Al Khaimah, UAE.
We went with some good friends of our and their two teenage kids. We spent most of the time pool hopping and occassionally running down to the beautiful beach but it was close to 120 degrees that weekend and so we had to take frequent water breaks and keep Luke inside whenever possible.
Our friends rented a paddle board so we all got to take a turn on it- reminded me of my "surfing" days in college but a little more tippable! I've seen people do paddleboard yoga and that just seems crazy to me! The girls both took a turn sitting on the board when we were at the shore and Sophia even rode out 10 feet or so from the sand but since we didn't have a life jacket for her we came straight back.
Our friends' daughter was about to start her senior year and I got to snap some Senior Pictures. They aren't professional quality but it was a good practice run for me before we retry over Christmas break when it isn't a million degrees outside.
We ended the weekend with dinner at a mall- they just opened a Dairy Queen there! Such a fun treat! Dairy Queen was where we always stopped on our way home from the beach to get ice cream. It was neat to share that memory with the girls and reminisce with Ian.
The beach in the Middle East is a different beast all of its own. Sometimes it seems very Western (people swimming, women in bikinis, kids playing with their families,) and other times it is very very NOT Western- but Middle Eastern! Women sitting in beach chairs wearing their abayas and shaylas while their nanny chases the kids into the tide. There has to be a strange balance between respecting the local culture and also relaxing in resort settings and letting your proverbial and literal hair down.
For these reasons, I wasn't too sure what to expect during our beach vacation but it turned out to be a great long weekend up in Ras Al Khaimah, UAE.
We went with some good friends of our and their two teenage kids. We spent most of the time pool hopping and occassionally running down to the beautiful beach but it was close to 120 degrees that weekend and so we had to take frequent water breaks and keep Luke inside whenever possible.
Our friends rented a paddle board so we all got to take a turn on it- reminded me of my "surfing" days in college but a little more tippable! I've seen people do paddleboard yoga and that just seems crazy to me! The girls both took a turn sitting on the board when we were at the shore and Sophia even rode out 10 feet or so from the sand but since we didn't have a life jacket for her we came straight back.
We ended the weekend with dinner at a mall- they just opened a Dairy Queen there! Such a fun treat! Dairy Queen was where we always stopped on our way home from the beach to get ice cream. It was neat to share that memory with the girls and reminisce with Ian.
2 comments:
Beautiful pictures! Glad you got to have a beach vacation!
The good old surf board memories - like the time we almost died going out to the non existent sand bar. Glad you're able to give the girls some beach memories too!
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