Happy Christmas to Us!

We made it. We made it to Christmas Break and it is AWESOME: three weeks of no school, no students, and most importantly no waking up to an alarm clock!

Although we are bummed to be here for Christmas, rather than home with our friends and family, we are trying to make the best of it.

We celebrated the first few days with mini-vacation/road trip to one of the northern Emirates, Ras al Khaimah (RAK).  It's within driving distance of Abu Dhabi City (243 km or about 2 1/2 hours).

Driving through the desert is not what you would call pretty, although we did get to see free-range camels... 

                                     

...and I'm pretty sure we found R2D2's original home. 

A last minute Expeida booking landed us at a five-star resort, the Cove Rotana, for dirt cheap and it was fabulous. From a couples beach massage to charging meals to our room (firsts for both of us), it was three days of nothing but lounging by the beach and pool, simply enjoying being together, and NOT being at school.

Since it is "winter" here, there wasn't a ton of traffic by the pool. But for us crazy Americans, 82 degrees is plenty warm for sunbathing. 

 All you can eat buffets, the beach, and very little else equaled the perfect mini-vacation to begin our Christmas vacation.

-F