40th Year Celebrations!
The UAE celebrated 40 years...an amazing time to be here.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Wow, time flies!!!
Hello again! My, how time flies. I can't believe it's already May and school will be out soon! That means the kids and I will be heading to the good ol' USA soon! The kids are beyond excited and I'm not far behind, however we will miss Joe...of course! The kids' last day of school is June 8 and we will fly out on June 12...not looking forward to the flight, but I guess it's just one day out of our lives, right??? We can handle it.
The children and I recently had an exciting experience. We were invited to lunch at an Emirati home, which we are told is fairly unusual. We gratefully accepted and went. I was nervous about going, simply because our cultures are so very different...didn't want to offend anyone! Joe of course, wise one that he is, said be yourself and you'll be fine. It's difficult to explain, but there are so many stigmas and so many "dos" and "don'ts" that you hear, right, wrong, or indifferent, that it makes one paranoid to even make eye contact with a local, or Emirati for fear of doing something offensive. That being said, we had a wonderful time. The kids were whisked away to play and the women were treated to Arabic coffee and dates to start. The women, mother and six daughters, were all beautifully dressed in bright colors and lovely jewelry. In their homes, with no men around (other than the father) the women do not cover themselves with an abaya or shayla. After visiting for a while we moved from the common area into to "dining room", which consisted of lots of large cushions on the floor. We ate a wonderful meal of couscous, chicken with prunes, pumpkin, and other veggies, along with stuffed grape leaves (my favorite), fatoush, falafel, salad, hummus, etc. I have never been served so much food. It was delicious! The mother made all of the food and expected us to eat a lot! I think we ate for a couple of hours and talked about the usual "girl" stuff...college, babies, schools, work, etc. It was extremely interesting and educational...for me! The women were all so kind and very easy to talk to. Several have graduated from college, in architecture and engineering, and a couple were still in college or high school, studying architecture, design, and engineering. Women here far outweigh men in college graduation rates and from what I understand, are very driven. This could be interesting for the future of Abu Dhabi. After finishing our yummy meal, we had more traditional tea and coffee (which I promptly spilled on myself, not once, but twice) then chatted more. We were then served MORE food. For dessert we had baklava, traditional date cake (yummy), and handmade "doughnut holes" with date syrup. They weren't actually doughnuts, but I can't remember what they were called and they were fried dough... Needless to say, we all left there "stuffed to the gils". Even Everett commented, on our drive home, that "they just kept bringing us more food"! It was a wonderful experience all around. The kids had a great time playing there and enjoyed meeting the kids. I am so glad we had that experience and hope to get together with them again. It was lovely!
Speaking of lovely, the women in our compound get together regularly. Twelve of us recently went to High Tea at the Emirates Palace Hotel. It is a beautiful place, which was built to house guests of the royal family, but was then turned into a hotel. We had about 50 teas to choose from and then typical "tea food" (scones, cakes, sandwiches, etc). It was a fun experience as well. On a separate trip to the Palace, with Joe and the kids, the boys got to ride a camel along the beach! They had a ball! We were just exploring the place and saw the camels. The kids wanted to take a closer look and were then asked if they wanted a ride...well what kid wouldn't? Oh, that's right, Lila wouldn't! She wasn't getting anywhere near that camel! She was too interested in feeding the mommy and baby camel some dates. I think the boys will be bugging us for another camel ride soon.
I recently joined a women's bible study and am enjoying it. One of my wonderful neighbors and friend, a beautiful lady from South Africa, organized it. We meet once a week. It's nice to have this fellowship. This same friend and I, along with another neighbor and friend, are going to Athens, Greece in just over a week! We are going for a long weekend, sans kids. Need I say how excited I am??? We are visiting another neighbor, who is from there and has gone home for the summer. It will be great to have a local tour guide. I'll post pics after the trip.
Joe continues to enjoy his work. It is crazy busy and chaotic at times, but he enjoys the challenge. He will visit the US as well over the summer. We're just not sure when. It will be a long couple of months without him but we'll all survive. I don't know what we'd do here over the summer in the heat. It was 104 here yesterday and the temp is climbing! Yikes! Apparently during the heat of the summer, there is no reprieve at night either, as the humidity rises once the temps fall a little. People say it is suffocating...sounds enjoyable, huh? Pools are usually cooled here in the summer, or they are too hot to even enjoy and the ocean water is like sitting in a warm bath!
We had a very nice Easter. Our Easter service was on Friday, but we are thankful to have a service to go to here, even if it is on Fridays. The kids had a fun Easter Egg hunt on Saturday with their friends, followed by a pot luck lunch. We are thankful for our nice group of friends here. They have made settling here much easier. I was talking to two girlfriends yesterday and we decided that friendships are accelerated here. You get to know someone here in three days, where it would normally take three months. Since we're all in the same boat, away from home, it makes it easier.
Well, I'll stop rambling. Thanks for reading and for the support! We miss you all so much and look forward to seeing lots of family and friends over the summer in TX and FL! Love and hugs to all!
God Bless! Bloom where you're planted!
The children and I recently had an exciting experience. We were invited to lunch at an Emirati home, which we are told is fairly unusual. We gratefully accepted and went. I was nervous about going, simply because our cultures are so very different...didn't want to offend anyone! Joe of course, wise one that he is, said be yourself and you'll be fine. It's difficult to explain, but there are so many stigmas and so many "dos" and "don'ts" that you hear, right, wrong, or indifferent, that it makes one paranoid to even make eye contact with a local, or Emirati for fear of doing something offensive. That being said, we had a wonderful time. The kids were whisked away to play and the women were treated to Arabic coffee and dates to start. The women, mother and six daughters, were all beautifully dressed in bright colors and lovely jewelry. In their homes, with no men around (other than the father) the women do not cover themselves with an abaya or shayla. After visiting for a while we moved from the common area into to "dining room", which consisted of lots of large cushions on the floor. We ate a wonderful meal of couscous, chicken with prunes, pumpkin, and other veggies, along with stuffed grape leaves (my favorite), fatoush, falafel, salad, hummus, etc. I have never been served so much food. It was delicious! The mother made all of the food and expected us to eat a lot! I think we ate for a couple of hours and talked about the usual "girl" stuff...college, babies, schools, work, etc. It was extremely interesting and educational...for me! The women were all so kind and very easy to talk to. Several have graduated from college, in architecture and engineering, and a couple were still in college or high school, studying architecture, design, and engineering. Women here far outweigh men in college graduation rates and from what I understand, are very driven. This could be interesting for the future of Abu Dhabi. After finishing our yummy meal, we had more traditional tea and coffee (which I promptly spilled on myself, not once, but twice) then chatted more. We were then served MORE food. For dessert we had baklava, traditional date cake (yummy), and handmade "doughnut holes" with date syrup. They weren't actually doughnuts, but I can't remember what they were called and they were fried dough... Needless to say, we all left there "stuffed to the gils". Even Everett commented, on our drive home, that "they just kept bringing us more food"! It was a wonderful experience all around. The kids had a great time playing there and enjoyed meeting the kids. I am so glad we had that experience and hope to get together with them again. It was lovely!
Speaking of lovely, the women in our compound get together regularly. Twelve of us recently went to High Tea at the Emirates Palace Hotel. It is a beautiful place, which was built to house guests of the royal family, but was then turned into a hotel. We had about 50 teas to choose from and then typical "tea food" (scones, cakes, sandwiches, etc). It was a fun experience as well. On a separate trip to the Palace, with Joe and the kids, the boys got to ride a camel along the beach! They had a ball! We were just exploring the place and saw the camels. The kids wanted to take a closer look and were then asked if they wanted a ride...well what kid wouldn't? Oh, that's right, Lila wouldn't! She wasn't getting anywhere near that camel! She was too interested in feeding the mommy and baby camel some dates. I think the boys will be bugging us for another camel ride soon.
I recently joined a women's bible study and am enjoying it. One of my wonderful neighbors and friend, a beautiful lady from South Africa, organized it. We meet once a week. It's nice to have this fellowship. This same friend and I, along with another neighbor and friend, are going to Athens, Greece in just over a week! We are going for a long weekend, sans kids. Need I say how excited I am??? We are visiting another neighbor, who is from there and has gone home for the summer. It will be great to have a local tour guide. I'll post pics after the trip.
Joe continues to enjoy his work. It is crazy busy and chaotic at times, but he enjoys the challenge. He will visit the US as well over the summer. We're just not sure when. It will be a long couple of months without him but we'll all survive. I don't know what we'd do here over the summer in the heat. It was 104 here yesterday and the temp is climbing! Yikes! Apparently during the heat of the summer, there is no reprieve at night either, as the humidity rises once the temps fall a little. People say it is suffocating...sounds enjoyable, huh? Pools are usually cooled here in the summer, or they are too hot to even enjoy and the ocean water is like sitting in a warm bath!
We had a very nice Easter. Our Easter service was on Friday, but we are thankful to have a service to go to here, even if it is on Fridays. The kids had a fun Easter Egg hunt on Saturday with their friends, followed by a pot luck lunch. We are thankful for our nice group of friends here. They have made settling here much easier. I was talking to two girlfriends yesterday and we decided that friendships are accelerated here. You get to know someone here in three days, where it would normally take three months. Since we're all in the same boat, away from home, it makes it easier.
Well, I'll stop rambling. Thanks for reading and for the support! We miss you all so much and look forward to seeing lots of family and friends over the summer in TX and FL! Love and hugs to all!
God Bless! Bloom where you're planted!
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