Awafi

As the semester is rapidly progressing we decided to spend one day this week enjoying a day out with the students.  They organised the event and we headed to Awafi.  You may remember some pictures of Awafi from a trip Jan made there last year.  It's where the Emirati families spend time relaxing and enjoying the outdoors.

Common activities include quad biking, sand duning, riding Arabian horses and falconry.  The students made sure we experienced most of these whilst they sat around smoking shisha and playing cards.

We were picked up from the College by one of the students and driven to Awafi where we were served drinks, lebanese bread and mountain honey.  Once we were satisfied it was time to try riding a beautiful Arabian horse and to do some wheelies around the premises on a quad bike.

Next they drove in convoy to the sand dunes where they released the air pressure in their car tyres and  drove at full speed at the sand dunes to see if they could reach the top.  Sometimes  they couldn't make it so we'd slide back down the hill and try again.   Other times they were successful and they'd turn around and drive down again turning our stomachs but we enjoyed the experience.

The morning was completed when a car pulled up and unloaded food  for a  banquet including freshly caught and cooked tuna fish and crabs.

The importance of these outings is that they have an opportunity to show us a little of their rich culture.  We spend everyday at College teaching them English and imparting a little of ourselves onto them and they really enjoy having the opportunity to show us their hospitality and generosity of spirit.

Yes, Ron is rubbing noses with one of his students.  That's a sign of affection between men in this part of the world.