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...
What we won't miss...
Lots of love from all 4 of us,
Naaya, Itty Bitty (as we call him), Mumma, and Da-da
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
Lots of love from all 4 of us,
Naaya, Itty Bitty (as we call him), Mumma, and Da-da
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