Hello Dubai!!!! (It sounds funnier when you say it out loud.)

We hadn't yet recovered from out jet lag from Singapore, when we whooshed off to Chicago. And then, less than one week later, we were in the air again . . .



That package (above) that Peepy is holding contains a toothbrush and slippers. Why? Because Emirates Air gave it to us for our 16 hour flight to Dubai!

We checked into the uber super fancy Atlantis Resort . . .



From our balcony, this was the view . . .



Our room was lovely . . .



The next morning when we woke up and looked out, it was like, "Wow, there's water there!??!!!"



There was water everywhere in the desert. Even inside the hotel . . .



We saw this giant chocolate duck. Or maybe it was another kind of bird?



Here's the exterior of our hotel . . .



Outside, Peepy was careful to protect her delicate complexion by using sunscreen . . .





Inside was gorgeous . . .



Oh, look! Who's that? Why it's Harry Bliss, Angelina Jolie, ASA librarians Natasha Pollock and Carly Brown, and Nic Bishop discussing string theory, quantum mechanics, and our upcoming school visits . . .



Natasha and Carly are from the American School of Dubia. Harry is from Vermont and Nic is from New Zeland. (Nic won the "who flew furthest" contest with 21 hours in the air.)

Look! Wouldn't you know it. Peepy instantly made new friends . . .


(Yes, we know the above photo is dark, but we did it on purpose.)

The next day we headed to the American School of Dubai . . .



These students did a wonderful job introducing me during the assembly . . .



Here we are with the school mascot . . .



I spoke to some of the parents . . .



Then it was time fora swig ofcamel milk before heading to the theater to speak to the students . . .



Peepy and I spoke at two assemblies, as seen in these three photos . . .



And we also autographed our books . . .



After, we headed down to the old Creek area of Dubai to do some exploring . . .



Coffee anyone?

.

It was fun seeing the neighborhood . . .



We stopped for snacks. Harry had coffee. Peepy had lemon sorbet. Renee, a teacher from ASD, was our wonderful tour guide, had mint lemonade . . .



Then it was time to see more sights . . .



At dusk we split up and Renee and I continued our journey. It was soooooo wonderful to be with her since she knew all the side alleys and best shops . . .



We took an abra (a small boat) across the creek to Deira . . .



Oh wow, I fell in love with the Spice Souk and the Gold Souk . . .



Is this beautiful or what? (And the gold is pretty, too!)



We ended the day with a wonderful grilled dinner creekside . . .



The next morning, we had a great breakfast. Look at the fresh honey!



The library was our home base . . .


(Mo Willems had spoken at the school last year, hence Elephant. Also, Jack Gantos spoke the year before Mo.)

We taught three writing workshops on Day Two . . .



The students were so enthusiastic! We will have more on our school visit in our next blog. Plus, snow skiing in Dubai?



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