I think the pros and cons really depend on who you are talking to, their nationality, and where they are living as expats. We are Canadians who moved to the UAE. We moved here because I wanted to live abroad and DH came across a job opportunity here. Dubai would not have been my first choice as the city had none of the things that would usually attract me to a place - like historical buildings, famous foods, lovely nature parks. But we went because he got the job easily and other opportunities seemed to involve a lot more red tape. The first and most important pro about living in Dubai is the high salary/benefits packages and zero taxes. Another pro is that travelling to Asia, Africa and Europe from the middle east is cheaper and faster compared to similar flights out of Canada. I like the diversity of people here, the variety of restaurants. I love the weather in the winter and the beaches. Cons... as non-nationals we don't have the same rights, I miss certain foods and customs from home. I worry about what would happen if DH loses his job and we are given only a month or two to move. We can't contribute to an RRSPs or RESPs. Property values are so high here that we likely will never own a home. We can never ever be citizens so there is a sense of impermanence... like I don't want to paint my walls because it seems silly to spend money on that when we might not live here for more than a year or two. That feeling is very hard to live with. With my children and husband I've only ever lived in Canada and the UAE. Right now, the UAE is the right place for us. I love it here. How has it affected family... my mother and MIL miss us. But they get excited when they come and visit. We go home to see them for a month every summer. When we are done in the UAE, we do not plan on returning to Canada right away. We will retire in Canada, probably. Re: Culture shock... I was a third culture kid. I grew up in Germany though I was Canadian. I had a very tough time adjusting to life when I moved back to Canada because the customs and norms were different. Fashion was different, slang was different. I was not cool. I went from being normal to weird. I spent a lot of time trying to go back to being an expat, even though I didn't realize what I was doing. I tried for a while to get my mom to send me off to boarding school in Switzerland. ;) As a teen I spent a year in Brazil and once again coming back to Canada was hard. I went from being relatively wealthy and "special" to a lower middle class average person who talked about brazil too much. Went from having new experiences everyday to an average boring life. I went from lots of freedom to being underage again. It was hard. Some of this was also because I moved from a small town with not much going on, to a big city with lots of awesome things to explore, back to the small town. I'm a city person so going back to a town with very few activities for teens didn't help getting re-acclimatized. The other expats I met in Brazil as a teen are still my friends. Bribes are not a thing in Dubai. Re: Language... I learnt enough Portuguese to get by in only 3 months, but that's because no one I lived with or spoke with could communicate well in English so I had to learn. I also spoke some french so I had another romance language that helped with understanding some of the vocab. I think its great to take a few courses before going someplace, but true fluency will either take years of study or immersion.

Mine has rough housed with boys and I'm okay with it.

hmmm.... - Make salad for bbq - Wipe down tables + counters - wash sheets and make up beds - fold laundry on the line Not much else, easy day!

The UAE is not a theocracy. Women here have a much greater degree of freedom than you might have been led to believe. I get the feeling that people equate every country in the region with afghanistan and Saudi. The UAE is not perfect of course, but they are doing better than anyone else in the region. You missed the point of the comparison. My comparison of car seat laws and breastfeeding laws had nothing to do with bodily integrity. I wasn't comparing the effects of either laws on the concerned parties either. I was comparing how likely they are to be enforced. I gave an example of car seats as a safety issue that is not currently being enforced at all, but that would be substantially easier to enforce should people have an interest in doing so. This "horrific" breastfeeding law will be IMPOSSIBLE to enforce. Authorities themselves have said that they have no idea how they would enforce it. IMO, this won't impact the majority of women. It will impact women with young children in the midst of divorce/seperation, and it will impact companies that will have to provide onsite nurseries for working mums. That's it. The booby police will not be wandering around checking moms of children under two for signs of lactation. And on top of that, its not even law yet anyway.

I know this wasn't directed at me, but I'm going to answer anyway. Prostitution is "common", and though I've never seen them some of my bar hopping friends have. Not as common as other places in asia. They certainly aren't soliciting in malls or on the streets. There are a large number of unmarried expat males, and a large number of women who make a pittance... so its bound to happen with some frequency. People CANNOT have sex on the beach. Nononono. If anyone told you that was common they were mistaken. That sort of thing is what gets British expats thrown in jail.

I agree with most of that review and I thoroughly enjoyed the book. The one part I disagree with is that I think the jumping back and forth chronologically was a bit annoying, especially since it tended to happen during exciting parts. I can say I really didn't expect the plot twists or development. At one point I recall thinking "I have absolutely no idea how they are going to get out of this". It is really refreshing when a book can do that. It was exceptionally well written and I enjoyed the characters. Like the reviewer you posted, I LOVED that Locke wasn't some sort of alpha male master fighter ... I liked that the book managed to walk the line between YA and Dark fantasy. Lots of blood but not to the point that you can't appreciate the beauty of the world building.

Finished reading The Lies of Locke Lamora. It was interesting because there really wasn't an undertone of romance or sexual tension anywhere in the book. I seldom come across fantasy that doesn't have at least a bit of that.

I've given up on ever having nice furniture because cats + kids. :/ But, if its staining you are worried about, I'd go with leather as they are easy to wipe down.

No, I think your understanding is flawed. These laws are not about imposing islam/the koran on residents. Though Islamic, the UAE is tolerant of other religions. They sell liquor here, they sell pork, they allow churches and temples of other religions, christmas is just as big a deal here as in north america, and women don't have to cover. Only 10% of residents are citizens, the rest are expatriates. If they wanted to start imposing Islamic values, there are easier ways to go about doing it than targeting the small demographic of nursing mothers. If it were being mandated only to get Muslims to adhere to the Koran, then the law would only apply to muslims (such as the laws around liquor), but they are being very specific that this is meant for all people regardless of nationality or religion. As mentioned previously, this article is just a small part of a larger Child's Rights draft law containing 77 articles. Some of those articles are: right to both physical and emotional safety, to healthcare, and to education. It prohibits sexual and economic exploitation, and gets specific on what that means. It strengthens the punishments for those that violate rights of a child, it defines what is considered violence against children (vs discipline), it calls for mandatory reporting of suspected abuse, and it establishes a judicial organization that can investigate cases of suspected child abuse. So, IMO, they are doing this to improve breastfeeding rates because they honestly believe that its better for the child. Its just unfortunate that with this issue they are going about it completely the wrong way.

I live in the UAE. The breastfeeding "law" isn't a law yet. It needs to be put before the Sheikh to become law. There is local backlash against it, so there is the possibility that he will not pass it. Its largely thought of as being unenforceable as well. You can't nurse uncovered in public here, so how would anyone know if a woman was nursing or bottle feeding? The real risk IMO is vindictive husbands. There are car seat laws here too, but the number of kids hanging out sun roofs and chilling with multiple siblings in the passenger seat is crazy. It, like the lactation law, just wouldn't be enforced. On the plus side, the breastfeeding bit is a small part of the country's first Child Rights law and would allow for the set up of a CPS type agency. Its a step forward, though parts are completely misguided. Unfortunately, this woman was given bad advice by her employer. After going to police and telling them about a rape, she then changed her statement on the advice of her employer saying the sex was consensual. When that turned into her being charged with sex outside of marriage, she went back to her original rape claim. I'm not sure there is a country in the world that would convict a person of rape with no physical evidence and a victim that went back and forth on consent. So, both she and the man she accused of rape ended up in jail for a few months for illegal sex and drinking and were deported. You don't get tossed in jail here for being raped, and you don't get tossed in jail for being raped even if they can't convict your rapist. You do get tossed in jail for admitting to illegal consensual sex and illegal alcohol consumption. It was a really terrible situation, and assuming she was raped I hope she finds closure and healing in her own country. :( The UAE isn't for everyone. But my lifestyle here is mostly the same as in Canada. I'm not oppressed. It is safe here, I can walk home alone late at night and not be afraid, I leave my doors unlocked and not worry about someone robbing me. I can do everything I want to do. I am happy to raise my daughters here and I don't want to leave anytime soon.

I assume some have more bottled drinks like sodas in areas without potable water. If someone is paying for bottled water anyway, it isn't a stretch to dish out a few extra pennies to get coke instead of water.

Dh loves his job. It is usually mentally stimulating and the pretty good pay/benefits are good considering our age. He comes home excited sometimes. Sometimes its stressful and he claims he hates it, but I don't believe him. Last night we got a call at 1am telling him he needed to fly to France. He was on a plane by 6am. :/ But I think even that he secretly enjoys. Before we started homeschooling, I worked 60 hours a week at a job I hated. I wouldn't wish that upon anyone.

Well, If you are only counting productive work or physical labour, I do a lot less than you. :) However, I keep myself busy. My lifestyle (smaller apartment, no yard, minimalism) removes the necessity for so much outdoor work and housework. Saturday I went to the hardware store to buy lightbulbs and brackets. I changed the weird lightbulbs (takes a whole freaking 20 minutes each) and repaired my daughter's armoire with the brackets. I bought a cat box and treats and toys for the feral three legged cat living in my bathroom and I spent a time being in its company in an attempt to get it tamed. On the way to the pet store I stopped by the printers and had DD's math mammoth printed and bound. I went out for lunch with my husband and hit up a computer store to get a new harddrive for the PS3 and cords for the printer. I then set up wireless on the printer. I bought a present for a kid's birthday party and wrapped it. Then I did some regular tidying and laundry.

I'm another that wouldn't move without a job and source of income lined up, regardless of my friend situation. If you've got that lined up and you aren't happy where you are, then move.

I'd be interested in any curriculum you might know of with GCC arabic.

I thought I liked public school while my oldest was in it from JK - grade 2. It was a french school and she was learning french. She never got very good grades because of her hearing loss (now resolved), but the school gave her an education assistant so she never dipped into fail territory. When we moved overseas to a place where there are only private schools is the first time I seriously considered homeschooling. The tuition was anywhere from 8k-15k and my child would have been kept a grade behind because of her hearing loss. So we started with k12 and I was really happy with how well both my daughters were doing. English spelling tests from PS used to come back at about 70%, now she was getting perfect or near perfect every time, and this was reflected in every subject. I'm now fully converted. Even if we move back to Canada I wouldn't put my daughters back in school because this is working so well for us.

If you don't want to test at that age, could you not look up what your state expects children to have learned/mastered in every grade and show your DH how they are meeting and exceeding these? More work for you but no testing of young children.

I would ask yourself what you are interested in and base a trip on that. If there is a castle, ancient site, specific animal, special food, that you've always wanted to do/see/eat then go to a place to experience it. Have you considered Sri Lanka? The flight would be long, but you can get an English speaking driver with an AC'd van that fits a family and then some for pretty cheap. We went to Sri Lanka for a week last feb, and we stayed at an eco lodge in the knuckles mountain range. It was amazing if you like hiking and outdoorsy stuff and want to experience a really different culture. We also saw some cultural and historic sites - Sigiriya, Dambulla caves, temple of the tooth. Took an elephant safari (NOT riding the elephants, but getting in a jeep and watching them), visited a rural village where they made fabric without electricity, ate new foods, saw elephants and exotic animals everywhere, hiked through jungle.... Our first room was in a tree house open to the jungle - bats and monkeys and critters came in at night and you could hear them running around the room. In the second ecolodge, we woke up to monkeys on the porch. It was so much amazingness packed into one week. We intend on going again soon because there was so much we missed doing. Its a family friendly location as well. Not including North American, the first international vacation we took as a family was to Greece. It was easy. We went to Athens, Delphi and then Meteora. These places are built around tourism so there are enough english signs and english speaking people that you won't get lost. It you like the ancient world that would be a good place to explore. I personally wished we had waited until the kids were older to go to Greece, as the kids didn't share the same enthusiasm for museums and hours of walking that I did. Yours are older though and so they might enjoy it more.

Mine started cello at 5 years old (march 2013) and it took until now for her to play twinkle twinkle because of all the bow work and basic stuff they covered before playing. She likes the lessons, but compared to how fast they progress through piano it can be frustrating for a child that thrives on seeing results.

Our homeschool group is large and does a variety of activities. Some of the activities/field trips welcome 3/4 year olds, some don't.

Replacing the sim isn't expensive or difficult. And if one is taking their entire family across the world on vacation, it is not far fetched to assume they could afford to have their mobiles unlocked before they go on vacation.

When I was 16 I was an exchange student in Brazil for a year and spent the better part of it with little supervision. Based on this, I think 15/16 is old enough to explore, especially with the better communication options we have now. There are apps that can translate signs, help to navigate public transit, and gps apps that can tell me where the phone is if they were to call afraid and lost. Mine are too young to wander around alone. I do leave them in hotel rooms by themselves as we seldom stay in places that will let us all sleep in one room. I've left them in a hotel room to go get something at a store next to it, but I haven't left them and gone further than 3-4 minutes walk away from the hotel.

Same same but different.

nm. :)

Yes. I've had... 3 used couches in my life. I would check thoroughly and use the money saved by buying used to have it steam cleaned.