At the end of the first week of September, Father of the Tribe flies North to Europe and the Tribe start their new school, Horizon. Timing, as always, is impeccable. I cannot imagine how terrified they are – I certainly am! We have only been in Dubai for 3 weeks and they are about to embark on another new adventure. We are still rattling in our very empty home. Miraculously, they are all in their smart new uniform – gold and navy stripes. Even the purchase of this has been fraught and challenging beyond belief. But this is Dubai. School starts ridiculously early and as we don’t have a car yet, we are relying on taxis for transport. Taxis are incredibly cheap and efficient. With the thermometer hovering rather too close to 50 degrees, walking is out of the question. We catch the taxi at 7.25 to arrive at the school just after 7.30. The school is situated next to a beautiful park called Safa Park and has the Burj Khalifa (the tallest building in the world) rising dramatically not far behind it. I marvel at what an extraordinary world we are now living in.
Safa Park is around 160 acres of green landscaped park. It runs alongside the very busy Sheikh Zayed Road – the longest and biggest highway in the UAE. The Park is an oasis next to it and includes three lakes, fountains, waterfalls, tennis courts, various other sports pitches, barbeque areas and rolling hills (straight out of the Teletubies!). We are in a desert. It is incredible. It was created in 1975 on part of the desert surrounding Dubai, that had been inhabited by illegal immigrants from India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan, many of whom were families, all living in makeshift homes without running water. These areas became known as Plywood Cities and this particular one, Safa City. The government turned a blind eye as the immigrants were used as cheap labour. Due to the poor conditions, Save the Children provided food for volunteer expat wives to take into Safa City to feed the children. The immigrants were expelled from the area to make way for the creation of the park and later were given amnesty. I can guarantee you, that the majority of expats living here today and enjoying the beauty of such a lush space amongst the skyscrapers of Dubai, know nothing of Safa’s past. Today, the Park is home to over 200 species of birds and 16,924 different trees and bushes – wow!
The Tribe settle into school remarkably well. It is the smallest school in Dubai, but is still over four times as big as Abbotts Ann. At pick up time, I find myself having to be in three places at once, as each child has to be picked up from their classroom. And of course their classrooms are about as far away from each other as they could possibly be. One afternoon as I’ve picked up the six year old and am dashing to the next pick up point (with a baby strapped to my chest), she suddenly stops and says, ‘Mummy, look at that bird!’ Just in front of us, balancing on an electric cable, is a stunning little green bee eater. It is about 16cm long, bright green, tinged with a glorious turquoise around the face and neck and a horizontal black and burnt orange stripe across its eyes. It has a long tail and a curved black bill. Having seen it we do some research and discover that they eat insects especially bees (obviously!), wasps and ants. Before swallowing their prey, the bird removes the sting and breaks the exoskeleton by repeatedly bashing it. They sand-bathe and sometimes bathe in water by dipping into water in flight.
Back at our villa, we see plenty of mynah birds. They are cheeky and seemingly fearless (it is still too hot for the cats to venture outside). The mynah has dark brown feathers with a bright yellow bill and eye patch. In flight a white wing patch can be seen. In the evening, they flock to huge, noisy, communal roosts, much like our starlings in the UK. Another frequently seen bird is the white cheeked bulbul. With Dubai’s increasing ‘greening’ up, these birds and many others, are seen in ever growing numbers. The bulbul are vocal and we hear one daily in a tree just outside the villa late morning and afternoon. There is a huge ficus that climbs past our bedroom balcony at the back of the villa that reminds us of home, where we have left two mature ficus in the conservatory. Every evening and morning the tree is filled with chattering birds as scores flock to roost in it. They are house sparrows! The lack of house sparrows in the UK is obviously because they’ve decided that they prefer the blue skies and sunshine! I am most surprised – the cats sit inside and watch.
Towards the end of October, the weather starts to cool a little with temperatures now in the 30s! The nights are also drawing in and we are waking up in the dark – it takes some getting used to having such
warm weather. Halloween is almost on us and the Tribe are delighted that the school has a big party – it is mayhem! Approximately 350 children dressed as vampires, witches, wizards, ghosts and ghouls are running around the playing field at the back of the school. As dusk turns to night, the lights from the Burj Khalifa light up the sky.
We have a very tired baby pumpkin who falls asleep in her father’s arms as the rest of the Tribe (two witches and a skeleton), happily munch through their goody bags as we wait for our taxi. On Halloween itself, the Tribe and I are invited to join another family to go Trick or Treating. It feels bizarre to be wearing summer clothes at this time of year. Villas have been splendidly decorated with dead bodies climbing out of the earth and flares leading up paths to front doors where the Tribe and their friends are almost laden down with sweets and chocolates. When the Treating has ended I have a glass of wine with my new found friend as all the children play together. Walking back home, with a sleeping baby black and white cat, two over excited witches and an elated skeleton (he has enough sweetie loot to last him until next year!), I realise that it has felt just like being in Abbotts Ann – the only difference is the temperature and rather a lot of sand.
Mother of the ‘nearly gone native’ Tribe
We would like to wish everyone in Abbotts Ann a very Happy Christmas and a Healthy and Prosperous New Year, with love from all the Tribe in Dubai
