BAPS Hindu Mandir

On our way home from the farm, we passed the newly inaugurated Hindu mandir (=a place of worship).

This is the third Hindu temple in the UAE, and the first in Abu Dhabi. It only opened for the public a week ago.

The exterior is constructed in pink sandstone, sent from northern Rajasthan to Abu Dhabi. These stones are known for having the ability to withstand scorching temperatures, something that is needed here during the summers. It is the first traditional stone mandir in the Middle East.

Marble from Italy has been used to build the interior of the mandir. We were not allowed to photograph on the inside unfortunately. I would have loved to show you the domes, absolutely stunning on the inside, with symbolism embodying the essence of earth, water, fire, air and space.

This is the largest temple in West Asia, it can host up to 10,000 people. It has two domes, 402 pillars and seven spires, symbolic of the seven emirates of the UAE. It is a visual treat!

The carvings cover over 250 stories from the Hindu scriptures Ramayana, Shiva Purana, Bhagavatam and Mahabharata; there are also carvings of animals like horses and camels that represent the UAE. Each animal is carved without repetition and all the decorations are hand-carved.

The shoe houses feature 96 bells on the exterior. We didn't ring them, but a lot of people did.

The temple is open to people of all faiths and religious beliefs. The land to build this temple was donated by the UAE President, a Muslim leader, while the architecture is designed by a Catholic Christian. The construction project was managed by a Sikh and the director of the institution is Jain.
It really shows the significance of interfaith, and cultural harmony.

Colour me happy!

Last week I worked every single day at the museum, only doing Cartier tours, as there was a big event organised by Cartier in connection with our exhibition.
I felt totally drained after having given nothing but output all week - I desperately needed some input. Some inspiration, something new and something fresh into my mind!

My friend Susanne and I decided to go explore a Flower Farm I had heard about!

It was only about a 30 minute drive from our place, straight out into the desert. And can you believe it - in the middle of all the beigeness, we found this beautiful heavenly garden!

We enjoyed all the scents and colours for a while, before we started creating our bouquets.

You picked the flowers yourself, and then they were bound into a nice bouquet for you! All of this, for only 30 AED!

And look how pretty they are in my home!

Flying visit

This week we got to hang out for a few days with some (ex)Brunei friends, that had come to Abu Dhabi for a conference. They stayed in a hotel, and of course Fredrik had a busy program on his conference, but I got to bring at least Claudia to the Louvre Abu Dhabi.

We also took them for dinner at Craft by Sidehustle, of course! Where else?

Fredrik is Swedish, Claudia is German, and they live in Frankfurt. We hadn't seen them in a long time, so it was fun to catch up and show them our favourite Abu Dhabi places!

India ♥︎ Mexico

This weekend I went to my very first wedding here in the UAE, and it sure was an international happening as the bride came from India and the groom from Mexico.

The wedding was at the Saadiyat Beach Club, and the ceremony itself was done on the beach. An absolutely stunning location, especially in the golden hour of the sunset.

I didn't take a lot of photos as we were told everyone would get access to the professional photos, so I decided to just sit back and enjoy the moment.
It was so personal and emotional, a lovely mix of the traditions of the two cultures. I was reaching for tissues on several occasions, both when the mother of the groom said a prayer, and when the father of the bride gave a blessing.

The bride, Richa, is a colleague of mine from the museum. She looked stunning in her wedding outfit, and all the male guests had got turbans tied as they arrived too. The whole wedding was the most colourful and joyful happening!

The Education Department was well represented, my colleague Ann was a bridesmaid, and she looked fantastic in her sari! Her and her family were pretty in pink.

Here I am with Ann, her daughter and our colleagues Memoona and Sarah, also from the museum:

The dinner was certainly the best of two worlds, real fusion food; both an Indian buffet and a taco corner was on offer, as well as the bride and groom's favourite food - chicken shawarma!

The mixture of traditions continued throughout the evening, we got to enjoy both Indian drummers, and a Mariachi band! Loved it!

Their first dance was to 'Bésame mucho':

Cake time!

Then the party started, and the latino boys got to the dance floor first!

Then followed a beautiful mix of different music styles, to keep everyone on their feet!

I had such a good time, and I felt so happy to be invited to be a part of this beautiful night! Congratulations on your wedding Richa & Jose! (More photos will follow, if I grab some from my colleagues!)

Uge 7

It has been school holiday back in Denmark this week, uge 7 (=week 7), a holiday most people use to go skiing. Uncle Thomas had promised his bunch some sun, so they chose to come and see us for a bit!

We kept discussing how long it had been since they were last here. I seem to only remember one of their visits, but Thomas was convinced he has brought the kids here twice - although I can't find the second visit in the blog? Maybe they were here at some stage, when I was away?

They came for some sun, but unfortunately the day they arrived and the following day, the UAE had been cloud seeding. So we were in the middle of complete rain chaos! School was even cancelled and people were urged to work remotely from home and only go out if absolutely necessary..! Ah well... mall day it was for their first day!
And the brewery was still open for dinner, luckily!

They were only here four days, but they managed both to squeeze in a visit to Ferrari World, a desert trip and two visits to the mall. Plus, the rain stopped and they got some down time both at the beach and the pool as well!

Thank you for coming Juhl family! Until next time!

Food, food, glorious food

I have had such a good food week this week! On Monday we had Game Night and as it has just been Chinese New Year, our host Michaela had prepared a Chinese feast! Yum!

Then I was lucky enough to be off work for one of my very favourite Swedish holidays of the year - Fettisdagen! I met up in a park in the city to have fika with some fellow Swedes, and Viktoria had baked us all semlor, mmm! Not only were they really yummy, but they were super pretty too! Just look at these beauties!

Our very last International Day

On the weekend it was time for the highlight of the school year in my book - Global Village, or International Day! Our very last International Day...
I admit, I was actually a bit emotional.
For one, it is an absolutely AMAZING event that I have always loved to be part of, and secondly, it's another chapter closed for good. No more International Day celebrations.

I was actually not part of the preparations this year, as some of the other parents took it upon themselves to organise, and change things up a bit! They decided to pair up with Denmark and Norway and created a Scandinavian corner with a whole Viking boat and everything! So awesome!

The set up was absolutely fabulous! The ladies were dressed up as Vikings, all the decorations had Viking themes and they had been baking lots of treats - which also had Viking names!

 

There was huge printouts with lots of cool information about the Vikings:

Susanne and Laura, two Danish Vikings, and Linda:

There was Viking face paint, and Viking games to play:

As per usual, here are some more snapshots of the day, of some of the rest of the participants of Global Village. It felt massive this year, I think it must have been a record number of countries participating. Everyone making such an effort too, it was absolutely beautiful!

Such a great morning! I am so extremely happy our kids have grown up to get to know so many different countries, cultures and traditions. This is by far the best part of their schooling, hands down.