A Few More Observations

First of all, the boys are doing much better in school. Everett has a new friend named Sanjero from the U.S. and Jonathan has friend named Trevor from Montana. This makes me happy! Jonji must be doing better, as he received a "warning" at school yesterday for calling out answers. Those of you who know Jonathan, know that this is "normal" for him! This too, makes me happy! Above is a picture of the boys at school in their PE uniforms.  They alternate PE, Music, and Art, each day.  I wish they had more PE, but am thrilled that they have Art and Music.  They also take Arabic every day and have learned to write their names.

We've made more friends in the neighborhood, or compound, and Lila and I have had a couple of play/coffee dates! This is good. We have a neighborhood coffee gathering tomorrow.

A few things I have noticed:

The culture here is extremely family oriented. There are numerous parks throughout the city, which seem to stay very busy with lots of family activity. On Friday afternoons the parks fill with families, who take grills, blankets, etc. and picnic all afternoon and well into the evening. The only downfall to that, is that they seem to leave their garbage. I guess it's all about change and awareness. I remember as a child, seeing lots of people throw their garbage out the window while driving. You don't see that in the U.S. much anymore...thankfully! Hopefully that will change here as well over the years. Back to the family...everywhere you go here, families are together, from the Dr. office, to the park, to the grocery store, etc. That's nice to see.

The kids and I went for a drive with Joe yesterday afternoon to look at a job sight called Saadiyat Island (I've spoken of it before). As we looked across the Arabian Gulf (aka Persian Gulf), we talked about the fact that Iran is just about 50 miles across the water. Many Expats here have traveled to Iran, obviously not the Americans, and say that it is a very nice place to visit. Not to worry, we won't be going there. It's just interesting to think about.  I think overall, their people want freedom just as we do, they just can't have it without being willing to die, and even still, may not be able to obtain it. We are so fortunate. When Joe first mentioned moving to The Middle East, I said "Are you kidding? Is it safe?" After living here, and exploring for just under two weeks, I feel that we are every bit as safe here as we are at home. The many people we have come across thus far, have been very friendly and helpful. I think one of the most amazing benefits of this adventure will be the "eye-opening" for the children, as well as for Joe and me.

That's all for now.  Lila and I are heading to the store, via cab, as I still can't drive.  Oh, and one more thing...To all of our dear PSJ friends:
Thank you all so much for the kind words that you wrote in our going away book.  I made a point not to read it until we got here.  I can't tell you all how much we miss you and our PSJ family.  You all made PSJ really feel like home for us and we feel blessed to have called it home for  six years.  Maybe some day we'll call it home again!  Love to all!