Max had his second birthday this week - many thanks to all who sent cards and presents. He had a great time opening all his presents. He has been a bit under the weather recently, having had a couple of chest infections, but seems to be better now.
Yesterday I got a team of 4 together for the 13th Creek Relay. This was a 35km run around the Dubai Creek. We called ourselves 'Dubai Creaks', a little unfair on Robin and Vicky who are in their twenties, but we did really well and came in fourth in the Open category. It was hot, around 30 degrees, and everyone found it incredibly hard even though it was only about 5 miles each. Afterwards there was beer and a barbeque at the Darjeeling Cricket Club. This was a typically English cricket club other than the huge roller that came out to roll the baked sand outfield and not the wicket (which was artificial). Things were marred slightly by Janet crashing the car into a water tanker on the way home. Thankfully, it was a very slow speed affair, there isn't much damage to the car, and the police were very good and sympathetic. Insurance may prove more problematic - the policy we got via the car dealer is all in arabic. We can't even find a phone number!
We have now been in Dubai for 6 months and I am embarrassed by my lack of arabic skills. You feel it most acutely in the occasional encounters with Emiratis (mostly the police!). If, say, we had moved to France or Spain I would have expected to have become quite proficient in the language and eventually become fluent. That isn't likely here. There is almost no incentive to learn the language. English speaking expats significantly outnumber arabic speakers, who nearly all speak english anyway. Even if I do take lessons there are very few opportunities to practice.
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