It's 5:45 in the morning of November 11th. Yesterday was spent in bed or on the toilet. I'm on one of those "Indian" crash diets. You drink the water and then lose 10 pounds, Actually it's no fun. Fortunately we had a baby sitter come, so she took the little ones out to the park so I could nap. Mark took Julian and Bella to the giant indoor ski park for the whole day. They took private ski lessons and are planning on going back again today. If I'm feeling better I will take the little ones and take pictures of them playing in the snow for an hour and then do a little shopping.

It just so happens that one of my good friends from Australia, who was also one of my bridesmaids at our wedding, lives here in Dubai. Meagan and her family have been living here for almost a year and plan to stay a few more years. They are starting a software company. They have three children, Hamish 14, Lachlan 12 and Amillia 8. They all go to a private school where they learn Arabic, French and German. Dubai is a melting pot of cultures. At the ground level of our condo are shops and restaurants. And while i sit there I here accents from all around the world and see children of mixed races. It is refreshing to see. The world is getting smaller! Meagan is Irish and Michael her husband is Indian so she has beautifully mixed children. Her father and mother are living in Cambodia where they took over a crisis center for women and children that was full of corruption and falling apart. They plan to turn it around and add some more. They have 33 children living there. They take in those in need for one year and help them learn a skill, get fed or whatever they need and then they return to their village.

Our first day here we spent the morning with Meagan and Michael and at night we left the babies with them while Pam, Mark, Julian, Bella and I went to a Dubai safari. A car picked us up and drove about an hour into the desert. Once on the sand dunes, he put the car in 4 wheel drive and went off-roading. Kind of like a roller coaster ride with sand flying up over the car. The kids loved it, I on the other hand hate roller coaster rides. So after about 15 minutes of another bumpy car ride I had to tell the driver to stop and let me out. Deep breathing and a little walk, helped me keep my lunch in. Next we were taken to base camp, where we got photos taken with camels and watched a belly dancing show. I didn't feel well most of the night and slept in the back of the car. We got home around 10pm.