Well our Eid trip was really good. We had two nights away and we went with 4 other couples and associated children and grand parents and in all there was 17 of us. It goes along way in showing how tight the expat community can be that within a month of meeting people you're going away together on a holiday. Back home, you'd never strike up a conversation with people in the public pool, but here the communication barriers tend to be alot thinner and people are all essentially the same in that you need to have a social network as part of being a human being.
So, with our respective kids striking up friendships the parents have gotten together and I have to say its been really nice to meet new people. On our trip two of the other three couples were British and the other couple (who we had just met) are South African. Actually, she still lives in South Africa, but was here for one of her frequent visits.
Putting it all together, the Hilton in Ras Al Khaimah was booked and we set off in convoy and had a great 2 night holiday. Eid was declared on our first night there so on the second evening there was a big buffet banquet and entertainment put on to celebrate the end of Ramadan and the commencement of Eid so that was extra special.
Then it was back home again way too quickly and after having the final day at Eid at home yesterday, I am back at work today for a frantic two days before the weekend. The girls however should have been back at school as well, but we found out that Swine Flu has been confirmed at the school (6 cases) and as a precaution on the advice of the school nurse we have kept the kids back for the two days remaining in the week. All a bit weird to be having Swine Flu now, but apparently its hit the UAE a bit hard now because of all the westerners returning from their summer vacations and they have brought it into the country and its a bit of an issue in the expat community. The western media have sort of stopped talking about it but we're copping it here now... oh well!
In other family news, our dog Zoe is not doing too well either. She had an X-Ray yesterday and basically her back is fairly arthritic and in bigger dogs (she's a golden retriever) a genetic fact is that they have a very short and cramped vertebrae where her hips join her spine and now she is experiencing nerve issues due to calcification in that verterbae. She's limping badly and is struggling but we have her on painkillers, have been told she isnt in pain (yes, I know thats hypocritical) and that we should encourage her to exercise, keep her off the stairs and to give her massage in her back.
All sounds pretty normal, but the painkillers can only last so long and so we're trying very hard to get her better and I have been feeling pretty down about that. Her progress has improved slightly over the past 48hrs but she's still not back to normal.
So, with our respective kids striking up friendships the parents have gotten together and I have to say its been really nice to meet new people. On our trip two of the other three couples were British and the other couple (who we had just met) are South African. Actually, she still lives in South Africa, but was here for one of her frequent visits.
Putting it all together, the Hilton in Ras Al Khaimah was booked and we set off in convoy and had a great 2 night holiday. Eid was declared on our first night there so on the second evening there was a big buffet banquet and entertainment put on to celebrate the end of Ramadan and the commencement of Eid so that was extra special.
Then it was back home again way too quickly and after having the final day at Eid at home yesterday, I am back at work today for a frantic two days before the weekend. The girls however should have been back at school as well, but we found out that Swine Flu has been confirmed at the school (6 cases) and as a precaution on the advice of the school nurse we have kept the kids back for the two days remaining in the week. All a bit weird to be having Swine Flu now, but apparently its hit the UAE a bit hard now because of all the westerners returning from their summer vacations and they have brought it into the country and its a bit of an issue in the expat community. The western media have sort of stopped talking about it but we're copping it here now... oh well!
In other family news, our dog Zoe is not doing too well either. She had an X-Ray yesterday and basically her back is fairly arthritic and in bigger dogs (she's a golden retriever) a genetic fact is that they have a very short and cramped vertebrae where her hips join her spine and now she is experiencing nerve issues due to calcification in that verterbae. She's limping badly and is struggling but we have her on painkillers, have been told she isnt in pain (yes, I know thats hypocritical) and that we should encourage her to exercise, keep her off the stairs and to give her massage in her back.
All sounds pretty normal, but the painkillers can only last so long and so we're trying very hard to get her better and I have been feeling pretty down about that. Her progress has improved slightly over the past 48hrs but she's still not back to normal.
3 comments:
I really feel for you, our retreiver is 11 and is really slowing down with old age.. gut wrenching. Are there any herbal remedies recommended???
Herbal no... not really.
The vet did mention swimming, acupuncture and massage.
We're doing the last of those three but there isnt anywhere to swim in the desert of the Dubai and i have no idea if you can get doggie acupuncture!
Well I know they use acupuncture for arthritis in us humans!
You'll have to sneak her into one of the swimming pools during the dead of night when there are no witnesses!!lol
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