Vacuum Bags Part 3 - Dubai

Hello all.

As many of you have apparently read about my vacuum bag saga, which I know because I have received many comments and suggestions, I will update you on the situation. Several people sent me links to sites online where vacuum bags may be ordered. For some odd and unexplainable reason, Siemens vacuum bags, at least the very ones I needed, were never to be found on any sites that I could find. Out of desperation, I finally sent an email to Siemens in Europe. A week later I got a response from a manager of a shop in Dubai where the vacuum bags I needed could actually be purchased. And, incredibly enough, he told which of the many numbers and codes on the vacuum booklet and the vacuum itself would, in fact, tell the shop personnel the exact bags I needed. (It is a precise number on the bottom of the vacuum and not at all the ones listed in the vacuum brochure.)

As it turns out, I was planning to go to Dubai this very weekend for an International Baccalaureate Middle Years Program (IB - MYP) training. I emailed the guy at the shop and asked if he could deliver the bags to my hotel. He said they did not do deliveries but that the bags were in stock in the shop. I emailed bag a very short description of my frustration and inability to find these bags anywhere and asked again for them to be delivered. He finally agreed, but it turns out I needed to head to the mall anyway, the famous Mall of the Emirates, so I took a cab and went there. Now, I have been dealing with this issue for about five months, though I mostly try not to think of it since it's not so important, truly, in the greater scheme of things, but as I was walking toward the shop in this very large and exquisite Dubai mall, I actually felt nervous. I walked in and asked for the bags I needed and - I am not joking - the man who worked there said that they were out because someone earlier that day had purchased them all! As Hayden would say, "What are the odds of that?" I nearly screamed but instead I just sat down. Eventually, I realized that he was the man with whom I had been in contact and he vaguely knew of my difficulties. He was able to sell me "permanent bags," which can be easily emptied out and reused, and he found two disposable ones floating around "in the back." I bought all the permanent ones they had, which are supposed to last at least six months but for us will probably last a lot longer, took the free ones and thanked the man. I assume they will work - and you will no longer read about vacuum bags on our blog.

On another note, there is, in fact, an indoor ski hill at the Mall of the Emirates. I did not believe it really, when people told me about it, but I went and watched people ski, snowboard, and sled on a hill inside this desert country. It was bizarre - but it did look fun!

Dubai is somewhat similar to Muscat, Oman, but very much more urban with more tall skyscrapers; in fact, the now-tallest building in the world, the Burj Calipha, is here in Dubai. The training has been mind-filling and overwhelming at times but also very useful and helpful. I head back home tonight, and I can't wait to see my three boys!

Thanks for reading. Jennifer