This is a part of Jumeirah Beach that Liji and I love to go to because there are never any people around.  Once in a while there will be someone show up but for the most part we have this part of the beach to ourselves.

I am now taking Malayalam lessons.  My tutor is a 12 year old named Ana.  She was eager to teach me once she found out that it was my plan to learn the language.  She quickly pulled out a notebook and went into teaching me different phrases and writing them for me in English.  Not only did she teach me phrases, but she also taught me what specific words meant and even showed me how to write a few things in Malayalam (which I think is a bit advanced for me).

Ana is very outgoing and smart.  I asked her what she was planning to do when she was older and I was a bit surprised with the answer I received.  She told me that she wants to be in the military for India, then she wants to a be a nun, or a doctor.  She explained that she would have to do the military thing first since being a in the military and being a nun won’t work because you have to practice nonviolence.  I must say I have never heard  a kid describe what they want to be the way Ana did.

At the end of our lesson it was decided that she would come over to our flat and teach me Malayalam for one hour hour everyday.  I am looking forward to these lessons.  I realized how much I have missed communicating with students her age.  It makes me a bit sad to not be starting off the school year this year.  I’ve included pictures of today’s lesson.

Today we went to lunch at Calicut Paragon Restaurant in Karama.  While we were there I remember taking a video of one of the guys making Appam back in 2008.  Check it out!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ctH3yUNT4g]

Al Karama is where we are staying in Dubai.  My hubby, @Karmadude, made this fabulous video of the area.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIlrPOpuiNk]

I made this video to show those of you that are curious about what the apartment we are staying in looks like.  It is similar to U.S. apartments, but there are a few differences.  One difference being the floors.  Not many places in Dubai have carpet.  I am guessing it has something to do with the humidity and mold, but I don’t know for sure why.  We have a tiled floor throughout the flat.  I should have taken a better video of the sprayer.  This is the thing that goes next to the toilet.  I am pretty sure you can figure out what this is used for.  The U.S. should adopt the sprayer, it’s a much cleaner way of living.  Everything else is pretty much the same.

This is my first attempt at creating and uploading a video.  It is not that great, but I will hopfully get better at it.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWgB2l-qObE]