December: Naaya's Surprise Announcement!

Hey hey hey!

Welcome to our final blog entry on our one-year adventure in Dubai!  I get the honor of writing our final blog entry - make sure you read through to the end as I ALSO have the privilege of sharing a special announcement with all of you!

December was a really busy month between our final visitors, packing up our lives here, and enjoying the holidays before we head back to the US.  The month started with Mumma wrapping up her last days at work and tying up loose ends in Dubai as well as securing her next role at General Mills in Minneapolis.  She will be joining the Pillsbury desk and is looking forward to experiencing a very different division from those she has worked in to date.  Da-da also wrapped up his work in Dubai with final proposal work and a few sporadic trips to Saudi to help drive more business for BCG.  He was thrilled on his last trip to Saudi since though it has been an eye-opening experience, he is ready to not travel internationally on a weekly basis!


During the second week, Mumma's Kellogg friend, Aunty Yaso came to visit!  We had a great time with her! Mumma, Aunty Yaso, and I met for lunch at the Observatory in Dubai Marina where we all caught up after a long time!  Then, later in the week, Da-da, Mumma, and Aunty Yaso went to eat tapas at 101, one of their favorite spots in Dubai.  Overall we really enjoyed our time with her and look forward to seeing her again!

Later that week, we had Mota Mama, Moti Mami, and Kahan Mama come visit from India.  We had a great time with them as we went to dinner at Bussola, Sahil's favorite wood-fired pizza place in Dubai, shopped at the malls (where I also met Santa and cried the whole time, of course :)), ate meals overlooking the fountains, and just had quality time together.  We shared a wonderful few days together and look forward to future reunions with them in the US! :)

In the third weekend, Mumma decided to make a quick trip to India one last time to see Nana and Nani before we all headed back to the States.  Though she really wanted Da-da and I to join her, she also didn't want to risk me getting sick right before we take a long flight back to the US.  Plus, Da-da needed to wrap up a few things in Dubai.  She was very sad to leave me, but she was also really sad that she was going to say bye to Nana and Nani for a year before having the chance to visit them again in India.  She told me that unfortunately, this is all part of growing up and one day she would tell me more about how she was feeling now.  I understood, and gave her a hug and kiss while telling her I'd see her very soon.  I wanted to make sure she focused on Nana and Nani without feeling too sad she was away from me for the weekend. :)  As a result, she was able to really enjoy her time with them and will always be grateful that she went on this final trip to India.  She gave them lots of love from all of us and she brought back gifts from Nana and Nani for us for Christmas! I loved them!

In our final days over Christmas time, we celebrated with our own mini decorative corner of lights, bells, and wreaths, Da-da put on Christmas carols, and I opened some fun gifts on Christmas morning!  We also spent our holiday time saying goodbye to our friends and even saw Darpan Kaka, Jaya Kaki and Priyana Didi!  We also spent time selling our things here on Dubizzle (the craigslist of Dubai) and had some success there!  And finally we packed, shipped, and closed out our accounts all over Dubai to get our deposits back - what a process!  Even with all that planning, somehow Da-da's visa cancellation process got delayed and immigration held up his passport past our flight date! Hence, we have been hoteling it all weekend in Dubai, with all of us being sick no less, in anticipation of his passport so we can head back!  Fingers crossed, we finally get it today so we can head out tomorrow morning!

For a final reflection, we compiled a top 5 list of things we will miss most and least in Dubai:

We will miss...

• Great friends we have made in Dubai - keep in touch guys and we hope to see you soon!
• Myla, our live-in nanny, who not only took great of me during the day, but also did our laundry, ironing, cleaning, cooking, etc!
• Being a short flight away from Nani and Nani in India
• Fine dining at its finest with all the glitz and glamour Dubai life has to offer (for Mumma and Da-da, at least, while Myla babysat me at night as I slept)
• Perfect weather 9 months out of the year!

What we won't miss...

• Face-time in corporate culture in this part of the world - looking forward to driving our own schedules again :)
• Public holidays that are never set in advance due to dependency on the sighting of the moon
• The summer heat combined with Ramadan (where we can't eat/drink in public during daylight hours)
• Handing over our passport for every single process here in Dubai and never getting it back (hence still trying to make our way back :))
• Stereotyping to the max by race as a general habit across the culture

As we close out 2013 in Dubai, we wanted to share exciting news with you in anticipation of 2014...drumroll please...I am expecting a baby brother as of May 1st!  Yay!  Though I have my own special place in our family as Mumma and Da-da's first baby and will always hold that spot, this baby brother will also have a special place as the first grandson on both sides of the family!  Everyone is very excited as we grow from 3 to 4!  We wish you all the best in 2014 as well and look forward to hearing updates from all of you!

Lots of love from all 4 of us,
Naaya, Itty Bitty (as we call him), Mumma, and Da-da

November: Diwali in India and Thanksgiving in Dubai

Hi friends and family,

This is by far the most delayed post, but we wanted to capture November adventures before we head back to the US!  We started the month by celebrating Diwali in India.  None of us had ever been in Diwali for India so it was wonderful to partake in the festive celebrations with Mana's parents.  It was also fun to celebrate Mana's Mama's bday with him on Diwali! We even watched the fireworks happen all over India from an aerial view on the plane - it was magnificent!

When we returned to Dubai we had Sahil's cousin Naman and his wife Ashni come stay with a us for a few days as they explored the city.  Though our time together was limited, it was great to see them and we all had a great meal at Fuego as well (our favorite Mexican restaurant here)!  YUM! 

As the weather cooled down through the month of November, we started to plan our farewells with our friends and colleagues as we were only one month short of returning home!   Between brunch with Nic, Ingrid, Dana, and Mahmoud at Pantry cafe and Diwali parties at Kapil and Shweta's, our social calendar continued to keep us busy.

In addition to hanging out with our local friends, we also prepared for a big visit from Mana's childhood friend Shilpa and her husband Ripu!  We were very excited to see our close friends and show them our home in Dubai before we headed back!  We had a jam-packed week week filled with dinner at Reem al Bawadi in Dubai Marina (great Lebanese food), partying with Arif and Tina (friends that Ripu introduced us to when we moved here), a crazy night at ACT - the nightclub, sightseeing in Abu Dhabi, the malls, the Souks, and a lot of catch up time with our lifelong friends!  It was an amazing visit and we had a blast together! We miss you guys and can't wait to see you hopefully within the next year, Shilps and Rips!


We celebrated Thanksgiving in Dubai, though we must admit, it was a bit unconventional from our usual celebration.  In addition to very few Americans living in Dubai, Mana was sick with the flu, so we didn't exactly have a festive Turkey dinner.  That being said, it was still wonderful for the 3 of us to get time together and celebrate with Naaya!

We closed out the  month with Mana joining Sahil's BCG team to throw him a surprise farewell party at Spin Dubai, a nightclub where people play glow-in-the-dark ping pong.  The party also marked the end of Sahil's weekly trips to Saudi!  He was very surprised and it was a great end to a great year for him professionally!

Naaya's progress continues to be entertaining and exciting for us!  She dances pretty much every time she hears any music and has a clear talent when it comes to identifying songs from melodies.  We think she has inherited the Bhatt music genes for sure and as you would suspect, Mana is very excited to cultivate it further!  She understands almost everything we tell her and she has her own opinion on what she wants to eat, sing, or participate in.  She is not shy to tell you right away if you need to switch the song or dish to one she prefers!  We are LOVING every second with her and can hardly believe how quickly she is growing up! 

That's it for November, but make sure you check out our last blog entry in December as it's Naaya's final entry and her surprise announcement!