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!