Che Takes Control!

Christmas Skiing!

Hey Che Che!

Remember I said I would take you skiing?

Well I thought we would have to do it in France because thats where all the snow is.
but then I found this place here. Its called Ski Dubai, and its like a whole ski resort indoors.
Its cold and the snow is real snow!

Its amazing! And Father Christmas was there with his reindeers!

Make sure mummy pack your ski gloves!

Tell her we are going Skiing!

Whoosh!

Tons of Tyres!

On Saturday I went down to Sharjah Creek docks and watched the men loading and unloading the boats.

There were so many different types of cargo.

Dates from Damascus

Coal for Cairo

Soaps from Somalia

But my favourite was this one;

Tyres For Tanzania!

Watch the film!

Rollin Rollin Rolling!

Rock With You.

Did I tell you Che Che when I moved into my house here there was an old rocking chair outside that someone had thrown away. It looked nice to me so I rescued it and put it in my back yard.


I liked sitting in and rocking in it but it was bit difficult to use the laptop at the same time.

So I decided to design something to fit on it to make it easy.


I call it the Rock-IT.


Here are the pictures of how it looks, and an animation of how the Rock-IT works.

A Very Grumpy Camel

Today I saw a man with his camel.

Here they are both smiling:

He was letting people have a sit on and then taking them for short rides.

But I dont think the camel liked it.

He made a huge growling noise like a monster and barred all his teeth!

On top of that he was very smelly. Like pooh.

I think I will stay away from Camels!

National Day Dancing!

Here we are doing a dance called the Ayallah!

Myles of Arabia

Me and Manfred in Emirati Garb!

National Day!

What a crazy week this week!

On Tues 24 th (the same day as Granny Mary's Birthday)
we had celebrations for 'National Day'.

All the students brought in lots of food and flags, and threw a big party in front of the college!

We all dressed up like Arabs and joined in the traditional Emirati dancing (Only the men are allowed to do it (the girls just watch!)

See if you can spot which one is me dancing in this video..

Gordon Gecko

The other night I got up to get a glass of water.
Then out the corner of my eye I saw something running up the wall and across the ceiling!
It gave me quite a fright!

It stopped in the middle and looked down at me and I could see it was a type of little lizard or Gecko.

I have seen him a few times since then.

Its getting cooler now at nights so I think he likes to be warm in my house.
I call him Gordon. Gordon Gecko.


Do you think I should let him stay Che Che?

Wind Tower Power!

Most of the buildings in Dubai are very new and tall.

But last weekend I went to the old part in Bastakia.
which has lots of lovely traditional Arabic houses.

They have towers in the corners which catch the wind and help keep the house cool.

I took Black and White pictures on a film camera and developed them in the College darkroom because my digital camera has broken :(

But I quite like them in black and white anyway.

What do you think?

You can click on the picture to make it bigger.

Grand Prix

This weekend its the Formula One Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi.

It's the first time they have held the race there.

This is a picture of one of the Racing Cars.
Its a Ferrari and its goes Very Fast!.

I bet you would like to drive it wouldn't you Che?

Well guess what.
They are building a place called Ferrari World
where you will be able to drive cars like this!

Shall we go and have a race?

Posh Hotels

Dubai is full of rich people who like to stay in expensive hotels.

Some are so big they are like towns.

Like this one called the Al Mina at Jumeirah Beach which has its own canals.

You can see the taxi boats which people use to travel around the hotel town, they are called Dhows.

The tall hotel in the background is where VERY RICH people stay.

Some of them arrive by helicopter and land on the special helicopter pad near the top!

Burj el Arab

The 'Helicopter Hotel' is called the Burj El Arab.

It is supposed to look like sail of a Dhow. Do you think it does?

Now you can see what how it looks in the day and at night.

On Sheikhy Ground

This is the entrance hall of the college.

Can you see the pictures of the Sheikh on both sides?

He is one of the rulers of the United Arab Emirates. (UAE for short.)

He is like a King but they call him Sheikh. You say it like Milk Shake :)

His name is Sultan bin Mohamed Al- Qasimi

He is very rich (he found lots of oil under his garden.)

He gave some of his money so they could build the best College of Fine Arts and Design in all the UAE and get the best teachers to work there!

Cheeky Monkey!

Hey Che!

You know sometimes I say the students are 'cheeky monkeys'!

Well guess what...

A student came into college with her own Monkey!

He had a nappy on and he was very cheeky!

Can you see him on top of her head!

Radical Medical!

On my Second Day At Work I had to go for a medical to make sure Im fit and healthy!

A man drove me to the Sharjah Public Health Centre. (The picture shows the waiting area)

I had to line up with lots of other men. They were mostly Chinese and Indians. I was the only white man.

We had to take our shirts off and then they Xrayed us one by one but very quickly!
Then I had to roll my sleeve up and they jabbed me with a needle and took a blood sample.

I hope the results are OK!

First Day at Work!

When I got to the University it was so big I couldnt find the building I was suppposed to be in!

I walked all around in the blazing heat trying to find it.

It was so hot I nearly melted!

This is a picture of me when I finally got there.

(But then I found out it was the Wrong Building too!)

Tall Buildings!

Next morning I took a taxi to the University of Sharjah which is where my new job is.

On the way I saw lots of tall building and lots more still being built!

Hot Hot Hot!

Hello Che Che & Sheran!

I landed in Dubai at 1.00 am in the morning 4 weeks ago today!

Even though it was the middle of the night it was Hot Hot Hot!
It was so hot my glasses steamed up when i stepped out the airport!

This is the first picture I took from the window of the taxi that took me to the Holiday International Hotel where I was booked to stay for the next 5 days.

You cant really see properly cos it was on my phone camera but there are big fans that are blowing out air to try and keep everyone cool!

You will see them when you land at Dubai Airport when you come to see me at Christmas.