Ramadan a Ding Dong Round Three

So what with all the upheaval of changing jobs, we decided to make life even more difficult by changing schools.
Actually, this decision was taken some time ago as we were unhappy with the British School and chose to place Jacob on the waiting list for the ABA.
To make things clear from the outset I should explain that the British School is an excellent school with fantastic teachers. Jacob was very happy there but found the regimented structure somewhat challenging and as a result his confidence was knocked. Aside from this we were unhappy with the administration of the school, and as such voted with our feet.
Becky had popped up to the ABA to deliver some necessary paperwork, talk about serendipity, two people had just dropped out that morning and Jacob had a place waiting for him!! Instead of ten more days of school holiday, term would start in two days, fortunately this sudden reduction of holiday passed by unnoticed.
So with some trepidation Becky took Jacob to his first day of school expecting a complete meltdown, only to find that Jacob took it all in his stride and made new friends at the drop of a hat.

So one month on and do we feel that we made the right choice? Emphatically YES! Within the first couple of weeks, Jacob had stopped asking the traditional question of “Is it a school day, I don’t want to go” and returned to being an inquisitive little boy absolutely bursting with questions.
We both went to see his first assembly in the auditorium (a fantastic facility that would put some theatres to shame) and thoroughly enjoyed watching all those children performing their songs for the parents.


An added bonus is that some of Jacob’s friends have since joined him at the ABA, so he is one happy bunny.
This year Ramadan came and went with reduced working hours, closed shops and restaurants, crazy driving and dinner parties for entertainment. With so much upheaval it kind of past me by. I left Oman on the 6th September as my visa was cancelled by my old company and I had to apply for a new one. Fortunately Becky and the boys were able to remain due to good will on the part of my former employer.
So off to Dubai I went, which for a lot of people would be a treat, but I can’t stand the place. The taxi driver from the airport refused to follow my directions to the hotel, hence I arrived at the wrong one. In the early hours of the morning, I was not in the mood to be diplomatic and it was with much apologizing that the driver finally delivered me to the right hotel (the only tip he was going to get was “be good to your mother”).
So with an early breakfast, and little sleep I spent a day trawling the Mall of the Emirates, Festival City and Dragon Mall (The home of ‘Made in China’). That evening I was able to break fast with a supersize McD at the airport whilst waiting for my flight home.
In no time at all Eid had arrived and Becky could see the end of having me under her feet for most of the day. I had a days diving planned with our friends Chris and Andrew, whilst Becky was to go for a short trip to Dubai with Jacob and Andrew’s Wife Gael and their son Hamish.
For our days diving we met up at the Marina with Tor Peebles our Dive Master for the day from Oman Charter and headed off to the Lima One wreck south of Bandar Khoran.

Donated to the Oman by the Royal Navy, the Al-Munassir (Lima One) was the first of its kind to be sunk to create artificial reef in Omani waters. The Wreck is easily accessible. From the upper deck there are two vertical lift shafts down to the lower deck where most of the rooms to port and starboard are open. The bridge including the wheel house, ops room and communications room can be explored, and explore it we did!!



Unfortunately the visibility was 3m at best, but because of the abundant marine life in Oman waters the Al-Munassir is already fantastic artificial reef and it was great to work our way through all its nooks and crannies teasing out its new residents secrets.

For those of you on the look out for a good dive outfit, I can recommend Tor and his company, a real pleasure to dive with.
The Dubai trip was ostensibly for Jacob and Hamish to go to Wild Wadi, but of course I was in no doubt that an extensive exploration of Mall of the Emirates was on the cards.
Maybe I will leave this for Becky to blog about but suffice to say the boys had a blast at both Wild Wadi and Ski Dubai!!!
James