Anyone living in Dubai/Abu Dhabi/Gulf States?

[RomanGoddess]

DH has mentioned the possibility of us moving to Dubai next year or the year after. I have lived in Abu Dhabi for a six month period but that was without kids. Any tips on what it is like there with kids? Are there any things that kids can do besides swimming? My DD (at 3.5) is enrolled in theatre, swimming and ballet where we live now and I am thinking that options will be a lot more limited in the Gulf...

[waiflywaif]

There will probably be plenty of stuff for kids to do. I didn't have kids yet when I lived there, but all the families who did seemed to be pretty busy. Swimming, soccer, and dance classes at least.

It does depend on *which* Gulf state, though...Dubai and Abu Dhabi will be fine but I don't think you'd find much to do in Qatar...:)

[Jyotsna]

I am also interested in knowing about expat children in Dubai. I may be considering a move there, and as it is, my children have really enjoyed karate, swimming lessons, Indian dance lessons, choirs, Scouts, and so so much more.

Also, can anyone tell me about the expat community, and how they view mixed race marriages? (Indian and Caucasion (american). I don't want to be in a situation where my family and I are isolated due to our mixed races. Are people fairly open there, and how about work for wives?

[Shiloh]

we too are comtemplating a move to dubai we just spent three weeks on my dad's insane compound (theme parks, country club, golf, spa, malls....)and realised compound living ain't so bad its actually kinda nice sense of community....

http://www.gulfnews.com/home/
http://www.gulfnews.com/uaessentials/residentsguide/index.html

In my research its easy for wives to find work as they don't need to be sponsored as they are under their husbands so its cheaper for the employer to hire them.

http://www.dubaicityguide.com/geninfo/kids.asp

There are boyscout troops in Dubai!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emirates_Scout_Association

Not sure about mixed races but they do not have a problem putting preferences for races on job adverts...best to ask someone on the ground in your exact situation.

dance I googled and it seems that there is karate, indian dancing and other lessons http://www.balletcentre.com/classes.htm

[Janice in Canada]

Hello,

I have a contact who is looking for information about current breastfeeding practice and organizations in the Middle East, particularly the Arab states and specifically Kuwait. If there is anyone on this forum who can assist with networking or providing information about this area, please contact me directly at momsformilk@sasktel.net.

(I am not looking for help of any single mom, this is about breastfeeding promotion and advocacy).

Thanks

Janice

Saskatchewan, Canada

[Shiloh]

Janice,
In Islam breastfeeding is considered a child's right until the age of 2. I just came back from Egypt and asked this question, people said of course it is natural and if a child is not breastfed the child feels the difference...how many mothers actually breastfeed that long...I dunno..

Allah Almighty Commanded the mother to breast feed her child for two full years: "The mothers shall give such to their offspring for two whole years
The Noble Quran, 2:233 http://www.answering-christianity.com/breast_feeding.htm

Orgs- Unicef, UN, WHO etc..

http://www.bio-medicine.org/medicine-news/Breastfeeding-Decline-In-Middle-East-Worries-UN-4205-1/
kuwait studies
http://www.emro.who.int/Publications/emhj/0303/13.htm

In Saudi it looks to be higher...Around 94.0% of women initially breast fed their infants, dropping to 40.0% by the infant's 12th month.

Can you imagine 40% one year olds breastfed in America?
I hear its like 15%....maybe they could give us some pointers...

[Janice in Canada]

wow, thanks for the links. I will take a look at the Kuwait studies while I have my lunch.

I was aware of the Koran quote, as is my contact. I think we are looking at current practices, organized support and where the trend is going.

Thanks again.

Janice

[Shiloh]

my mom used to comment on how even in circles where women were fully covered 'whipping out a breast' to feed a child was not considered immodest..so you'd get women in full cover with a breast out ;)

http://www.acclaimimages.com/_gallery/_pages/0332-0605-2505-0057.html
http://www.m-mc.org/mmc_search.php?sp=&ref_crmb=&ref_id=&step=results&view=detail&detail_id=PO_EGY_102&adv=mat

breastfeeding UAE
http://www.moh.gov.ae/moh_site/dept/mch/Breastfeeding.htm

sorry I got carried away with the posters ;)
they are so nice!
http://www.healthcomm.gov.jo/Default.aspx?tabid=87&mid=397&xmid=7&xmfid=1&xmview=2&xmmid=397

http://www.unsystem.org/SCN/archives/egypt/p102a.gif

http://picasaweb.google.com/global.breastfeeding/BreastfeedingPromotionPosters/photo#5157015991985025282

its odd how people here find boobies offensive when breastfeeding a babe but not when its sexual nudity..where comming back from Egypt this week shorts are obscene but a boob for baby no big deal ;)

http://breastfeeding.blog.motherwear.com/2007/03/nursing_in_publ.html

heres another cool photo contest on world breastfeeding
http://www.worldbreastfeedingweek.org/wbw2008_photocontest.htm
http://www.tulipgirl.com/mt/archives/cat_around_the_world.html
scroll down theres a really neat black and white on tandem nursing..

[elizaveta]

Well, we're visiting the States at the moment, but we live in Sharjah or Ajman! :) A bit far from Abu Dhabi and not Dubai, but close enough. ;) :wave

[elizaveta]

I am also interested in knowing about expat children in Dubai. I may be considering a move there, and as it is, my children have really enjoyed karate, swimming lessons, Indian dance lessons, choirs, Scouts, and so so much more.

Also, can anyone tell me about the expat community, and how they view mixed race marriages? (Indian and Caucasion (american). I don't want to be in a situation where my family and I are isolated due to our mixed races. Are people fairly open there, and how about work for wives?

There are tons of things! If you're in Dubai it's even better! In the Mall of the Emirates there is an Arts Centre where children can do drama, drawing, ceramics, painting and drawing classes, rhythm drumming (I saw it on hersay, which is our local womens talk show, sort of like The View or something), etc. You can get ice skating lessons, skiing lessons (I'm pretty sure they do that at Ski Dubai in the Mall of the Emirates), dance lessons, hockey, horseback riding, karate, Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts, etc. Plus there are tons of clubs that do things.

In Sharjah there is the British Club, which is what we've always called it (I think the real name is the Wanderers) - it's a really nice place. You buy a yearly membership and they have a lot of the fun things! They do yoga classes, men and womens football (soccer), have a small basketball court and place for tennis swimming pool, restaurant, etc. They do big parties for holidays. There is alcohol allowed there and gambling. Catch is: No Muslims are allowed membership. So, I'm not sure on the religion of your husband as Indians can be many different religions. :)

Mixed marriages is totally fine. I know a girl with an Indian boyfriend, Mil is married to a man who is a Yemini/Somalian local, etc. Tons of mixing and nobody would pick on you for it that I would know of. You can be picked on for being a women at times though.

Work for wives... well, there are jobs available to women on wives visas. I'm on one myself and work. I've seen ads in Gulf News before that hire women on wife visas to work in banks and so on. I'm not quite sure what the actual rules are on it though. I know that the women who work in the nursery my daughter goes to are mostly on wife visas. :)

[patty_g]

On the breastfeeding thing, the Dubai Gov't set up a breastfeeding hotline in both english and arabic for mom's to call if they need help, support, or having any breastfeeding questions recently. The had a huge campaign to promote breastfeeding complete with baby onsies that say "Happy breastfed Baby" on them. LOL.

When I had my son in the hospital in Abu Dhabi this last December, they promoted putting the baby to the breast within 20 minutes of birth. They also check with you throughout your stay in the hospital to make sure your aren't having any problems or questions. There is no nursery, all babies room-in. Except, of course, for NICU babies.

They have a breastfeeding clinic in the hospital that you can walk into at any time to get advice and help with breastfeeding.

Breastfeeding is a right of all Muslim children but, unfortunately, the formula companies had done a fabulous job of promoting their product and although most women *tried* to breastfeed, many, many had abandoned it fairly shortly after.

The Govt's in the UAE have been making a dramatic effort to get things back on track, really. I have to say, though, that I have breastfed both in the UAE and Egypt (currently nursing) and have never been in a situation or a place where I didn't feel comfortable nursing.

On a side note, a friend of mine (British, non-Muslim so not covered) was fixing her DD a bottle of formula in a mall in Abu Dhabi one day (she did breastfeed but didn't like to NIP) when a local man approached her and said "Breast milk is much healthier for babies than baby milk". He wasn't aggressive about it or trying to be obnoxious, he was just passing on information. My friend got terribly offended (I'M the mother, who's he to tell me anything about my child, etc) but I thought it was rather sweet.

Also, the malls in Abu Dhabi (I'm not sure about Dubai), very often have "Nursing Rooms" equiped with play areas for older children, comfortable recliner or rocking chairs, foot stools, a table to put a drink or snack on, magazines/books, diaper changing area, very clean, decorated nicely, for Mom's who don't feel comfortable NIP or just want some quiet or a contained area for their kids. But no one looks twice at NIP. Well, except some of the Americans. :p

Also, about the "mixed" marriage: No one will even notice. You'll blend right in. :thumb

[RomanGoddess]

My biggest concern about a move to Dubai would be getting around. I don't drive and I don't recall Dubai having a metro or even a developed bus system. Have things changed since I was last there in 2001?

[trancechylde]

Oh WOW!!

I'm so glad I found this thread.

I live in Dubai so if anyone has any specific questions or needs any info I would be MORE than happy to help! :jumpers:

As pp's have mentioned, there seems to be a LOT for kids to do- even during the summer when it can get up to 50degrees Celcius here- they have a HUGE campaign called "Summer Surprises" which is VERY geared up towards kids.
There are different activities planned for them every day in almost every major mall.

Most "communities" here will have some kind of "Mommy group" to join too.

In the "winter" here, the weather is just amazing for beaches, swimming pools, dune-bashing, camping in the desert etc.

I would imagine it could feel quite isolating here if you didn't know anyone and didn't make the effort to get out and join these programs though.
The lifestyle here isn't really condusive to going down to the park and meeting other Mamas.

RE: breastfeeding- I have found them to be VERY PRO breastfeeding. I ended up having a c-section and the baby was brought to me ASAP after I got out of theatre for feeding. The nurses came back regularly to check how I was doing without being intrusive. The hospital I delivered at had breastfeeding "classes" every couple of weeks throughout my pregnancy and the place is PLASTERED with posters about the benefits etc.

I have to second though, that the formula companies have definitely carved their niche out in the market here- I would say the ratio of b-feeding to formula feeding Mamas I meet here is about 50/50 :bawl
But when I go to WBV's, it's not like they're giving me kudos for b-feeding, it's kind of like the "norm", or "expected"...KWIM?

To be honest, I haven't actually *seen* many Mamas NIP, but as was stated before, ALL shopping centres have "Mother's rooms" where there is a changing table, comfy chair, area for kids (with little sink for little handwashers :love), and those places are normally pretty full of nursing Moms.

IMHO, there is a HUGE race/class distinction going on over here. This is just from *MY* personal experiences, but Indian people are not always treated very well here.
Indians and Pakistanis generally make up most of the unskilled work-force over here, are paid what I consider to be slave wages, and alot of the time seem to be treated as second-class citizens; even those with higher educations in corporate settings.
I'm not saying this is ALWAYS the case, but I just want people to be aware :shake
I am South African BTW, this is just my observation.

As for the work visas- alot of companies PREFER to hire a woman that is on her Husband's visa, because then the company will not have to pay for it/organise it, which is the norm here.
I have been here for 6 years and have worked for most of that time on DH's visa with NO worries.
Although you will need a "letter of consent" signed by your DH to allow you to take a job in some circumstances.:hopmad

About public transport- taxis are probably the most widely used at the moment, for periodic use they are affordable, but I wouldn't reccommend using them every day- it adds up!
They do have a bus service, but from what I've heard, it's not always reliable and up until very recently, the bus-stops were all open so it meant sitting outside in the baking sun for who-knows-how-long...
They are in the process of building new AC bustops now. I think most of them are finished.

The metro-rail is also under construction and is supposed to be finished by 2010 and is also well under way.

Wow- that was long and inverted commas were WAY overused. :o

Like I said, any questions, just PM me or I will keep checking back here...

that is all :love

[RomanGoddess]

Thanks for your post, Trancechylde. It was really helpful. I sure hope that if DH gets posted to Dubai, there will be a metro system by then (as well as the air conditioned bus stops!). Regarding schools, do you know anything about the French lycee there? Does it have a good reputation? Is there any other international school there with a French language section?

[Shiloh]

ooh thank you so much trancechylde!
I stalk this thread ;)

Okay here's some specific questions I have...
arts - ballet specifically, my kids and need to keep it up, would finding a dance school or private teacher be difficult?

Most "communities" here will have some kind of "Mommy group" to join too.fill us in what are the mommies groups like there?

The lifestyle here isn't really condusive to going down to the park and meeting other Mamas. I found when we went to see my dad in Egypt that accessing women even to talk to was problematic as the men do a fair amount of socializing (too much compared to here... :)

RE: breastfeeding- I have found them to be VERY PRO breastfeeding. what about breastfeeding in public? older children? what is the ettique around it?

IMHO, there is a HUGE race/class distinction going on over here. This is just from *MY* personal experiences, but Indian people are not always treated very well here. I've read they think often if you are of a certain ethnicity they will assume you do the job in their minds that corrresponds...you are south african - white? what are your experiences around other races, ethnicities?

As for the work visas- alot of companies PREFER to hire a woman that is on her Husband's visais it easy to find part time work for a mama? I might want to do a little bit of work here as the kids get older and there but not 40 hours a week are there opportunities like that?

They are in the process of building new AC bustops now. I think most of them are finished. wow wonder what those look like!

[Carhootel]

I'm outside of Dubai in Sharjah. I just found out I was pregnant but I know a lot of other parents here so if anyone is looking for any resources let me know and I can try to get you some info. We're from the US and my husband works here in one of the universities where there are lots of families with small kids. I'm trying to find a midwife in Dubai - anyone know of one?

[RomanGoddess]

I hear that homebirth is illegal in the UAE (or maybe just Dubai). Anyone know if this is true?

[LukesMum]

I just moved from Bahrain but spent some time in Dubai. There are some groups of AUssie moms who have the australian version of La Leche. They also have an online natural parenting group. They are all so nice, when we went over on vacation, they had a coffee morning just because we were going to be there! I never met these women before but they knew I was feeling a bit isolated in Bahrain.
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/natural_parenting_ME/
this is there link. I would have moved to Dubai just to be friends with these ladies! I also know there is a homeschooling group there too.

[donnaintheuae]

Hi all :D

Another Dubai mum here!

Such kind words, LukesMum, I suspect I know who you are- hello :love

Do join us on the Natural Parenting group below, everyone, if you think you may be heading over this way. Just a small, friendly group, always willing to meet other mummas :D

There is also a UAE forum called Expat woman (or similar...), I don't visit there much as I don't find it terribly friendly, but it may be helpful for some of your questions. You can search through the archives and guaranteed your questions would have been asked before.

I have a toddler and we breastfeed often when out and about. No negative comments at all. We regularly attend the breastfeeding group meetings here too (feel free to PM me whomever was asking about BF in the ME).

I know some women with older children and they seem to have non-stop activities with their kids- ballet, music etc (check out the forum site mentioned above for more info, I don't know much about the older children activities).

Don't know much about French schooling (again, check out the expat forum).

I agree with the previous poster regarding 'mixed marriages'. It is unfortunate that many here assume people from certain ethnicities do certain jobs and therefore are somehow in a different class (ie most of the manual labour is done by people from the sub-continent). But, of course, there are many wonderful, normal people here too who have more cosmopolitan, modern outlooks. Eeeek, I hate talking about this, can you tell I have deleted and re-written the last paragraph several times?!?

Homebirth- I went home to have a homebirth. I don't know what would happen if you had an 'oopsie', I don't think there are any midwives here that could/would attend you......I have heard that you would both need to go to the hospital (if the baby came too quickly) to get a birth certificate (and therefore other paperwork) done.

Lots of good and bad here....Happy to talk more if anyone has questions :D

[phathui5]

How do you find work in Dubai? We're in the US now and several people have suggested moving to Dubai for a while.

[LauraN]

Oooh! I'm so excited to find this thread! We are also considering a move to Dubai. DH is really enamored with the idea and is networking like crazy to try and get there.

I lived in Egypt as a teenager, so I have a limited amount of expat experience, but I've never done it as a mom of young kids. And there, expat life revolved around the school, so as a homeschool family I worry that we'd be isolated.

So, I'm excited to hear that there is at least one ex-pat homeschooling group. What are the laws/rules around homeschooling? Is it necessary to be tested, evaluated, report to someone? What kinds of activities do homeschool groups do? Are the kids mostly older, mostly younger, or a good mix of the two? (Mine are currently 6, 3 and 10 mths).

Also, donnaintheuae--I seem to have missed the link to the Natural Parenting group, but I am so excited to hear there is such a thing...

[cutic]

HI,

we are also thinking about moving to Dubai. We need more info on unschooling and the laws regulating this in UAE. I am going to subscribe to this thread and most likely post more questions once we know for sure we are going to move.

Thanks a lot,

[Carhootel]

I know a lot of kids here in Dubai, but I don't know much about homeschooling here. I think someone else may have mentioned but check out expatmum.com or expatwoman.com both of those sites have good info and there are forums on there as well that I'm on a lot and have found a variety of good information.

We're actually trying to move from Dubai back to the US before this baby comes in March. I sure will miss it here though!

[LukesMum]

As far as I know there asre no homeschooling "laws". You'd be surprised..Dubai is progressive but theres the underlaying "old ways" and doesnt Dubai still have Shura (sp?) law???????? In general, expats just homeschool and have no problems. Im sure in the coming years , at some point, they will consider this at the gov't level but for now.....they have signed the UN Convention on the rights of the Child complying with mandatory education for all children. I once heard that a hs mom was questioned by someone and when she said her kids did go to school...at home...the response was simply "oh". I hs'ed in Bahrain and dont know the "law" because Im 99% sure there isnt one. Local poor kids from the villages often dont go to school and theres stilll a child labor issue.

Also, not to burst bubbles, but you can't just up and move to Dubai. Generally you have to be sponsored by your company and these positions are sought after. Its expensive for companies to send expats abroad. If you or your dh's co. has an office there-go for it. I dont think its as easy as people think to get there. Most jobs like electricians, plumbing, lower level sales jobs are filled by foreign nationals (Indians, Sri Lankans,, Phillipinos) because they can pay them less.

Just sharing....

[donnaintheuae]

Also, donnaintheuae--I seem to have missed the link to the Natural Parenting group, but I am so excited to hear there is such a thing...

The natural parenting group address is: http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/natural_parenting_ME/

Sorry, can't help really with the unschooling questions as it isn't something I have looked into as my son is only 2. I have spoke to a couple of women whose children are not attending school and they never mentioned any difficulties (apart from the usual anyway.....) or having to register or the like.

Good luck to those considerine a move, it sure is a big upheaval! :D

[LukesMum]

I LOVE living in Germany...but just found out we may be back in the ME in 3-5 years and it would be DUBAI. SHocker for me!! Donna, hope you'll still be there (and Nicole) and we'll finally be able to hang out! Susan

[donnaintheuae]

The thought of hanging out with you is almost enough to keep me in Dubai for a few more years, Susan :love

[Nirvana4freedom]

I am an Indian living in Dubai for the last two years. I have never heard of homeschooling here but would like to know more if anyone has info. Happy to have found this thread :thumb

[Carhootel]

I don't have any homeschooling info for Dubai either but I just wanted to say that I found out that the organic food store carries Bum Genius - woohoo! They also have a lot of fitted diapers and diaper covers by Lotties - a German company. All seem to be very nice organic cotton.

I was so happy to find cloth diapers here, are there other places they're available that you all know of?

It's always such a nice treat to find nice organic stuff here - I found wonderful New Chapter Organics vitamin and supplements as well as a full selection of boiron homeopathics and even wonderful Bach flower essences!

[sixofnine]

wow..it's great to hear of other homeschoolers in the uae... we will be moving from saint augustine, florida, to abu dhabi in january of 2009 and i am still homeschooling my two younger children, son 15, daughter 13..have been burning up the internet trying to find homeschool groups there..does anyone know if there are some and what are the particulars of getting in touch with them..can't wait to start our new adventure!! any tips are gladly read!!! thanks

[UmmBnB]

Dh and I are toying with the idea of a move to UAE (again.):p Again in that we think about this every couple of years. He tired of running his own business and I've been with my organization for 14 years, climbed the ranks and am feeling like I could entertain a major change (if the right new thing came along.)

I'm wondering if any of you living there have worked through a reputable headhunter/recuriter. I'm an exec-level Human Resources professional and would be the primary earner. Dh would likely try and pick something up on the side once we were settled.

As you all know, there are more recruiters than you can shake a stick at. I've looked around through some of my professional organizations and have seen some things but so far I've not followed up....probably will soon.

I used to speak manageable arabic and I'm sure it would come back pretty quickly once I was around it regularly again. Ds's first words were in arabic although he doesn't recall much now (he's 7)....we are non-practicing Muslims and very familiar with cultural differences based on religion.

[aniwaniwa]

Hi guys:joy: (especially Donna, Susan & N4F) Bonnie here,

sixofnine, I am in Abu Dhabi & there is no homeschooling groups here unfortunately. I am considering HS but DS is only 2 and a half, I know of at least 1 family HSing here though.

[patty_g]

Hello again ladies.

Actually there *are* at least 2 homeschooling groups here. The one I belong to, which we don't have a yahoo group for or anything, and another one which I hope to participate in this year. The Yahoo Group is

http://ca.groups.yahoo.com/group/International_Students_Homeschooling_in_AbuDhabi_E mirate/?yguid=199489754

[IloveAllMyBabies]

my sil lives in Dubai she loves it there

iam moving to lebanon if not this month next month we r moving cause hubbys family is there and we want our boys to go to school there and also to read, write and speak arabic

i totally cant wait to move

[neveryoumindthere]

my sil lives in Dubai she loves it there

iam moving to lebanon if not this month next month we r moving cause hubbys family is there and we want our boys to go to school there and also to read, write and speak arabic

i totally cant wait to move

My sister lives in Dubai and my family (parents/siblings) are moving to Lebanon too! :)
What part of Lebanon are you moving to? Do you know arabic? What kind of work will you do there? I'm from there, but can't imagine moving there (though we plan to move somewhere in the middle east) so I'm totally curious :) Hope you don't mind the questions :)

[IloveAllMyBabies]

My sister lives in Dubai and my family (parents/siblings) are moving to Lebanon too! :)
What part of Lebanon are you moving to? Do you know arabic? What kind of work will you do there? I'm from there, but can't imagine moving there (though we plan to move somewhere in the middle east) so I'm totally curious :) Hope you don't mind the questions :)

iam moving to sida it is about 45 mins from buruit nope i dont know any arabic lol but my husbands family they speak some english soo it works our great as for work my husband started his own business there a long time ago and his brother runs it soo when we move there he will go back to his business and start up another one

i dont mind the questions heheheheh

i wanted to say the one thing that sucks about living in the middle east is the old wise tales i got into trouble by everyone for nursing my toddler while pregnant they kept telling me it is un healthy for the new baby then told me it will cause my toddler to grow up with bad knees lol

as for NIP i never did it there cause my toddler was too the point where he didnt want to nurse when out anymore i stopped that when he was 1yr

but i never seen one person NIP at all if their was a baby they pulled out a bottle and did both nurse and formula my inlaws were shocked i never did a bottle at all and my kids never had formula

but now iam going with a new born sooo u better belive i will be the only one that will be NIP lol and totally proud

[neveryoumindthere]

iam moving to sida it is about 45 mins from buruit nope i dont know any arabic lol but my husbands family they speak some english soo it works our great as for work my husband started his own business there a long time ago and his brother runs it soo when we move there he will go back to his business and start up another one

i dont mind the questions heheheheh

i wanted to say the one thing that sucks about living in the middle east is the old wise tales i got into trouble by everyone for nursing my toddler while pregnant they kept telling me it is un healthy for the new baby then told me it will cause my toddler to grow up with bad knees lol

as for NIP i never did it there cause my toddler was too the point where he didnt want to nurse when out anymore i stopped that when he was 1yr

but i never seen one person NIP at all if their was a baby they pulled out a bottle and did both nurse and formula my inlaws were shocked i never did a bottle at all and my kids never had formula

but now iam going with a new born sooo u better belive i will be the only one that will be NIP lol and totally proud

are we related? LoL
My family's moving to Saida too:) My brother moved there abt 3 months ago to start a business with his FIL.
I hear you abt nursing. Though I only nurse in the sling in public, I didn't see any babies nursing and they really don't get the need for privacy either. I'd go into another room of teh house to nurse comfortably and they'd just barge right in and turn on the lights etc. lol
Maybe we should start our own private thread, unless lebanon is considered a gulf state:)

[IloveAllMyBabies]

are we related? LoL
My family's moving to Saida too:) My brother moved there abt 3 months ago to start a business with his FIL.
I hear you abt nursing. Though I only nurse in the sling in public, I didn't see any babies nursing and they really don't get the need for privacy either. I'd go into another room of teh house to nurse comfortably and they'd just barge right in and turn on the lights etc. lol
Maybe we should start our own private thread, unless lebanon is considered a gulf state:)

when r u movin to saida we should totally get together and i bet my inlaws know ur family already lol since they know everyone just about lol and it wouls be nice to have some english speaking friends my family we live near the palestian camp like 5 mins away from there and our family last name is alnumairi

[neveryoumindthere]

PM'ing you :)

[Desert Rose]

Wow, I finally find this thread. I've lived in Dubai for the past 10 years, married to my Lebanese husband (he grew up here in Dubai), and I now have a 6 month old baby boy.

I wonder how many more people will move to Dubai now, given the global recession. Already a lot of organizations in Dubai are doing a combination of quietly laying off non-productive employees and re-assessing the benefits they provide to employees (all those nice expat life perks!). Most expansion plans that are not currently in progress have been delayed.

Umm BnB, as far as I know, a woman can only sponsor her family on her work visa if she works as a doctor or teacher. Your husband needs to secure a job in Dubai before moving so he can sponsor your kids' residence visas. By the way, anyone can teach as long as they have a Master's degree or higher in any subject.

About homeschooling, there's no official law, yet. I know a bunch of people who homeschooled to avoid the high cost of good quality private Western education (their husband's company wasn't picking up the tab). One lady used the Calvert curriculum from the States and she was pretty happy with it. When you do decide to enroll your child in 'traditional' school in the UAE, the child will first be tested anyway to determine which grade level to place your child in.

About NIP, I have an Australian friend who wears the traditional Muslim covering and she wears a specific head covering that is like a cape that goes over her shoulders and ends around navel area (it's called Egyptian khimar): she can nurse her baby very discreetly underneath that thing! I wear the more traditional Gulf style covering, the abaya and shela. If I need to NIP w/o access to a private area, I accomplish it with a zip-front abaya and using the longer end of my shela (head scarf) to cover baby's head and my chest. I've NIP in toilet stalls and changing rooms in clothing stores and the prayer rooms in shopping malls and it's been fine. My Indonesian maid tells me that in Indonesia, they do a combination of zip-front blouses and the tail-end of a ring sling to NIP discreetly.

There's a helpful BF Q&A group in Dubai, a La Leche League chapter in Abu Dhabi, a well-funded group in Sharjah called Breast Feeding Friends. The support system exists, it's just a bit difficult to convince moms to avoid the "convenience" of formula for their babies' well-being. Most moms I know who were initially helped with nursing their babies, continued for at least 4 or 6 months. I also know formula-fed babies who are nursed to sleep and nurse during the night. If bf is ever abandoned, it's often because the mom finds the bf demands "inconvenient" or because she wasn't taught proper latch-on and got very very sore nipples, or because mom is under too much pressure to continue with her "socialiate wife" role after her baby's birth and she is leaving baby home with the nanny.

My friend (from Tennesee!) is involved in the Sharjah group:
http://www.bffriends.org/

BF Q&A: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/breastfeedingqa/

La Leche in Abu Dhabi: there's a member named Eve on BF Q&A who is the La Leche leader.