Anyone living in Dubai/Abu Dhabi/Gulf States? - Page 5

[UmmRiyam]

It looks like that group has really died down.  The LLLintheME group is pretty active.  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LLLintheME/?yguid=369506092

[LauraN]

Originally Posted by RomanGoddess 
Hi, we may be moving to Kuwait very soon. Anyone know if the yahoo natural parenting group cited above is still active. I just checked and there has been no activity in the past seven days. In would sure be nice to know other crunchy moms there.

Yes, it's died down quite a bit, in large part because the women who started it have left the Middle East. I was asked to moderate the group, so I'm still there, and there are over 80 members, most of whom still receive the e-mails (have not gone no-mail). So if you have specific questions, I'd bet you'd get answers. The LLL group mentioned above is probably a good bet, too.

[LauraN]

Our homeschool group was featured in The National! (Local newspaper). Check it out!

[RomanGoddess]

Laura N, Do you know anyone from the natural moms group in Kuwait?

[LauraN]

Originally Posted by RomanGoddess 

Laura N, Do you know anyone from the natural moms group in Kuwait?

No, I'm sorry! I don't anything about Kuwait...

[Umm Bader]

hey im in saudi! :)

[RomanGoddess]

Originally Posted by Umm Bader 

hey im in saudi! :)

Well, that's not too far away :-)  We'll likely be moving to Kuwait this summer.  I would really like to get in touch with some "crunchy" expat moms in Kuwait about vaccination requirements for obtaining a resident visa (there seems to be a meningitis vaccine requirement?) and for entering school there - apparently the TB vaccine is required or just the TB test, I'm not sure which.  Plus it I'd like to get info on doctors who are pro-breastfeeding and not pushy about vaccines.  

It doesn't seem like the LLLintheME has anyone  in Kuwait either. :-(

[Heba]

Calling all Dubai/Sharjah mums!

Community peer group Breastfeeding Q&A is organising a morning of talks by IBCLCs and HCPs on Saturday 28th May at Al Wasl Hospital.  I would really appreciate your help spreading the word (and maybe coming along - it would be great to meet you!).  The event "Breastfeeding: Basics and Beyond" is aimed at breastfeeding and expectant mums, and will cover the Golden Hour, Baby-led breastfeeding (DVD: the Mother-Baby dance), Understanding your Milk Supply, and Introducing Solids (purees and BLW).  BFCs from LLL and the ABM will be available for individual support.

For more information, see http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=180011152051855 or e-mail [e-mail].

Thanks!

[Human_Being]

HI!

Happy to find this thread. We have been considering Al Ain.  I am a birth center/ home birth midwife from Florida now in Sweden. My kids are 6, 2, and a little baby. My friend is an american home birth midwife, and working as the director a new hospital in Al Ain that will be run like a birth center. It will be the first place in the middle east to offer waterbirth- the site is alaincromwell.com. It will be worth driving to! I am interviewing there.

I have been checking things in Al Ain out for my kids. We like Waldorf- steiner education, and lots of play.  I found this in Dubai, in case it helps someone!  http://acaciawoodwaldorf.blogspot.com/  

Anyone here still in Al Ain? Any neighborhoods you recommend? I've been reading the ME expat forum threads i find on the internet, very helpful. 

Edited by Human_Being - 5/25/11 at 5:20pm

[LauraN]

I think I just approved your membership to the homeschool yahoo group ;-) Welcome! There is a wonderful homeschool community in Al Ain, and if you post an intro on the yahoo group, folks will reply with contact info for the Al Ain group. There is also at least one midwife among the homeschoolers in Abu Dhabi and several MDCers.

It's great to hear there will be a birth center in the region!

[expat-mama]

Hi! I'm in Al Ain. We are enjoying HOT and sunny days all year! There is a great zoo and lots of parks.

I didn't know that Cromwell does/will have a waterbirth centre. We didn't even look there when I had my son last July as I had heard nothing about it.

I had my son at Oasis hospital in Al Ain- with midwives, totally naturally and it was a great experience. Oasis is building a huge new addition to the hospital including adding on to their birth centre- one of the nurse midwives told me that they will also be doing water births and will have lots of new facilities. When I have my second baby I am pretty sure we will be heading back to Oasis! But it's nice to hear there will be other good options.

Also, I thought that Corniche hospital in Abu Dhabi did water births? I may be mistaken.

As for neighbourhoods in Al Ain, I guess it depends on what kind of housing budget you will have, basically if you will be looking for a villa or an apartment. There is a lot of variety and a lot of new complexes just built or being built.  I live in a huge apartment complex with lots of westerners and foreigners- very family friendly with lots of kids- really, TONS of kids. It can be a little too noisy at night for me!

I don't know of any waldorf or montessori style schoools, preschools or nurseries here in Al Ain but I wish there were one. I would like to go back to work part-time in a year or two, but I really don't like any of the available options for childcare or school here. I must admit as I do plan to stay at home for at least another year with my son, I haven't really researched it that much- I'm just going by what I have heard.

Welcome! When will you arrive in Al Ain?

[Human_Being]

Hi....I am waiting on HAAD to see if I am approved to work, first that. Glad to here Oasis was nice, they are hiring too. Waiting waiting for way to long to hear about my midwife license!!

If we come I will work as a midwife and my husband will stay home, at least at first. He is a programmer and will be on parental leave from his job. Any men in the home schooling group? My friend is a teacher there and she said amongst her teacher friends there are some stay at home dads. 

As far as where we will live we want affordable as possible to save $$ while we are there, but kid friendly, and with a pool on site. I am from Florida, and know how tolerable I find a hot climate is is directly proportional to how easy the access is to a swimming pool!  

There is a montessori school, i forget which one. I think we will just unschool/ waldorf home school as long as we are there. My girl at 6 will not be officially school age when we come, as school does not start in Sweden until age seven anyway, so it takes the pressure off us to about thinking she should be in school. She rides horses here, so we might check out the equestrian club, and maybe some house of arts stuff. And every pool in the region!!! There is also a swedish club in Abu Dhabi, so maybe we would head over for home school group and swedish club. How are you guys doing with arabic? It would be great to have my kids exposed to native arabic speakers, would want to pool with some kids to do some songs and childrens games in arabic if we come. 

Funny that is you on the yahoo group L. I saw that HS article months ago, it was very encouraging to me to see there are home schoolers. Might be a more active expat group than we have here in Sweden! Not many swedes stay home with their kids, and home schooling is illegal here. But the waldorf school here is great. 

We will see if it works out for us! 

[1jooj]

I'm newly in Dubai.  Have been watching this thread but didn't post before we moved; now we are here and working on moving into a home. We'll be living in Jumeirah, very close to the beach, moving in another week or so. Have been staying in a hotel while we looked for our housing.

We moved here for dh's job, and I just wanted to say, esp Human Being, that just this weekend I put my CV online, and already before noon today I'd received an inquiry from a company here in Dubai. I thought it would take a lot longer to start getting responses, so I went ahead and got started with the looking, but there is a lot of interest for western-educated people in the workforce, and being already here I think is a big help, too. My field tends to have some jobs that request men for the role, but if I got a nibble within hours of the start of the work week, I am hoping it won't be too hard to find the work I want to do (if I really do want it, we'll see). Check out Monster Gulf for an idea about at least some opportunities.

Anyway, I have two children (10 and 7) whom we have (for now) enrolled at an American academy...but we are frankly open to other possibilities if January rolls around and we need a change.

Can't wait to get into our house and begin our life here! 

[Heba]

Welcome to the UAE, 1jooj!  Good luck with the move into more permanent housing - hope all goes smoothly :).\

xx

[Brooke Bauer]

Hello to all the UAE mamas.  Just stumbled across this thread.  We're soon moving to Al Ain.  Would be great to meet up with some other natural moms who are living in the UAE or some who are on their way.  My husband and I have an 8 month old daughter.  I am a doula and breastfeeding support worker and will be doing that when I arrive in Al Ain September.  Hope everyone is well. x

[Heba]

*wave* hello Brooke - nice to see you here!  We've met on Facebook, hope to meet up with you one day when you get to the UAE even though I'm a few hours from Al Ain.  Good luck with the preparations for the move!

xx

[1jooj]

Hope to meet you ladies IRL. Heba, do you live in Dubai? I have met one mama friend so far--which I consider a success, since we've been in the hotel the whole time. Moving into the little villa tomorrow. SO excited to cook our own food, hang our clothes out to dry, and walk on the beach. I guess my closest mall is Mercato, though I have not been. Anyone do coffee meetups?

[Heba]

1jooj, I live in Fujairah, so about 2 hours from Dubai. 

Hope your move went well!  Living in a hotel loses its novelty rather quickly.

xx

[Human_Being]

Hi!

I thought I would share the article that was just published in Arab News about the Birthing center at Al Ain Cromwell http://arabnews.com/lifestyle/food_health/article467461.ece

Also, have you guys seen Aisha Al Hajjar's column on Saudi Life? She is a Bradley Instructor and writes lots about breastfeeding and natural birth. http://saudilife.net/motherhood

We are still not sure if we will be moving or not! 

[Heba]

Thanks for the links!
Here's another story, this one on breastfeeding support group Breastfeeding Q&A.
http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/community-reports/help-for-breastfeeding-mothers-in-uae-1.834945